Customer Reviews

You in Reverse [Vinyl]

5 star:		(25)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(7)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I'm not a BTS fanatic. I've never followed them around the country, looked up anything about Doug Martsch's personal life on the internet, or any other weird, obsessive behavior concerning the band. I simply really like their music. I own the albums between "Perfect From Now On" (their best, imho) and this one. All four are fantastic, and honestly any of them could be your favorite. "Perfect" is lengthy indie/prog rock. "Keep it Like a Secret" is more loud indie poppish. "Ancient Melodies" is pop, but with dry production for a cool, low-fi feel. And finally, "You in Reverse" is an all out jam album.

BTS stays fairly true to many of their past formulas; up-tempo, obvious opening track (Going Against Your Mind), Radio-friendly ballad at about track 3 (Liar), killer lead single elsewhere (Conventional Wisdom), and a mellow closer (The Wait). In this regard, it's very similar to "Ancient Melodies." The biggest change is a focus on riffs. Yes, some of those riffs end up sounding like Neil Young, but remember their version of "Cortez, The Killer" on the live album? The band has an abvious affinity for Young, and a lot of their typical sound is indebted to him, so no big surprise. In the end, a lot of the sound of the album is pretty similar. If you can't get into it by track five, there's little hope you'll like the rest. But for those of us who enjoy the album, it's excellent music.

Overall: 7 out of 10.

Forget anything you have maybe heard or read about this record. If it doesn't say how great, how supercharged, or how monumental it is, then whoever wrote it or said it doesn't know what the hell they're talking about! 5 years in the making and Doug Martsch and crew are back and better then ever. Starting with an 8-minute plus fist in the air opus that makes your heart start racing and your whole body bolt wide awake.

While so many of their indie rock contemporaries have either broken up, burnt out, or become static recorders of nostalgic nothingness, Built to Spill prove that you can get older and better and wiser. Listening to this record over and over and over as I have, I've realized how wise Doug Marstch actually is about life and living. This is someone as in touch with his present moment as he was when he was 21. That's something that seems to be so lacking in most rock music. It's not rare for people to be really insightful and interesting and living in the moment when they are 21 or 22 and just coming of age but all so often as they get older they seem so out of touch and disconnected with what growing and learning and changing is all about. Martsch seems to have embraced all of that so well and this record is like the masterpiece of that maturity. Not the kind of "maturity" I talk about when people start making softer, safer records. This is the real kind of maturity. A group growing into themselves so perfectly. Guitars twisting and twirling and ringing so true. Melodies that build and bloom and take such nice form. While so many of the bands they helped influence (Modest Mouse, Death Cab For Cutie, etc.) have gone on to reach greater commercial success, you get the feeling that they couldn't care less. It doesn't seem too far fetched to start thinking about Martsch as his generation's Neil Young.

Timeless, iconoclastic, always stretching and exploring, even at the risk of failure. Martsch is someone who with their words and guitar makes you feel like you are being given the kind of jangly indie rock hug that you never want to end. Highly recommended!

This really is an excellent BTS album, and brings them out of a relative slump (Ancient Melodies was not their best). It has a nice blend of the spacious jamming and creativity of Perfect From Now On, while maintaining the melodic sensibility and cohesiveness of Keep It Like a Secret.

If you are new to BTS, then Keep It Like a Secret is still probably better to start with because it is slightly more accessible, but You in Reverse doesn't give up much ground on that front either.

The single, "Goin' Against Your Mind", is a triumphantly great track, which Doug and the Boys have been playing live for about 1 1/2 years, and it great to hear how it has been polished up and more layers added in the studio version--although their live shows are an indie tour de force.

Also, you can hear the influence of Doug's solo project, Now You Know, etching out its place in tracks like "Liar" and "The Wait" (which is much improved over the version they were playing live over the last year or so).

All the songs are winners, but in particular, I also enjoy "Traces", "Wherever You Go", and "Conventional Wisdom."

Built to Spill already has a lot of tour dates lined up to show off this album, so check out their web site and see if they will be near you; they bring magic to the stage.

i can understand why some fans are a bit disappointed. but this is mostly due to 5 years of anticipation. i am a huge music junkie. this year alone i have gotten around 100 new albums by various alternative/modern rock bands. and this album still ranks in the top ten. the guitar work is amazing. amongst all the dribble and pop out there, this is worth the buy. besides, if this album was like the last one in 2001, people would be complaining that the band didn't change in 5 years - so damned if you do, damned if you don't.

This is really good stuff! I've always been a casual BTS fan. I respect them, and enjoy re-visiting 'There's Nothing Wrong With Love' or 'Perfect From Now On' on occasion. Two very different works, yet the best that Martsch and co. have created thus far. This effort changes that equation. As in, this surpasses both of those albums, and that's impressive indeed!

The trademark expansive, spiraling Built To Spill guitar sound is still there, and in spades. Particularly in the second half of the record, so older fans of the band should be pleased. This is SUPERB, front to back. There's not a weak song among the ten offerings on 'You in Reverse'. Apparently some hardcore BTS fans have issues with the first half of the record, and honestly, that's just stupid.

I listen to this and I hear a terrific Built To Spill album, with touches of Crazy Horse, Meat Puppets, and Television. Not a bad mix, eh? If the solo break to "Conventional Wisdom" isn't a nod to 'Marquee Moon", well then, I've completely lost my mind...

For some time now, Doug Martsch has been considered a guitar god by some. I always sort-of understood this sentiment, but then again, sort-of didn't. This is the GREAT album I always suspected Built To Spill had in them. This is really top notch, and should be heard...

To simply get to the point, this is an excellent album. It has yet to leave my car's CD player since I got it 5 days ago because it has such great listening pleasure from start to finish. I'll admit it doesn't have the sheer mesmerizing power of Perfect From Now On, but it sure makes you appreciate Built to Spill. This is the kind of band that gets you really excited to see live even if you're not a huge fan. I only had one of their albums and about 15 songs on a mix the first time I saw them live, and words cannot describe the experience. Buy this album and go see them live on their long summer tour at a venue near you. You will not be let down.

I love BTS...and as most fans will tell you (and I've read that Doug agrees) Ancient Meodies was a letdown , save for 4 songs. I would like to say that this is a return to the BTS of old, but it is not. Although impressive upon first listen (and 10th listen!), this is a different sounding band. To me, it sounds more like a "band" effort, not one guys mad overdubbing experiment (which I love). There are varied influences here, and I hear odes to many of my favorite musicians of the past...Neil Young, Floyd, and dare I say Grateful Dead? (maybe I'm reaching on that last one) So many fused styles here...ska riffs, middle eastern solos, straight 60's mindbending solos, so much more...This album sounds like the band has truly merged into one entity, and the album seems to capture the band's live sound very well.
From what I can make of the lyrics, some personal Doug stuff, some that seem that they are bordering on political (COnventional Wisdom comes to mind). I can't make some of them out...which brings me to my one dissapointment..which may have been an inevitability..sometimes the sound gets "muddy". The album sounds lo-fi at points, but since there is so much going on here, maybe it was inevitable that everything didn't come out crystal clear (I'm no producer!)
I'm not going to say that this album is better than Perfect from Now On or Keep it Like a Secret, but it is still worthy of 5 stars (I'd give it a 4.5 if I could, but it's BTS so I rounded UP!) A great listen from beginning to end..thanks Doug, Scott, and Brett(s)!!!

I have to say that I was a little skeptical that Built to Spill still had "it" before buying this album, given the 5 year layoff and the disappointment I had felt after buying their last album (Ancient Melodies...). However, I was very happily suprised to find that Doug and Co. have gone and put together a very solid album. Not their best work, but the songs are very tight.

The quintessential aspects that originally drew me to BTS are stamped all over this album: guitar jamming, great muscianship, and their unique quirkiness. The album as a whole flows from song to song seamlessly and it keeps getting better with each listen. I could highlight favorites, but what's the point with BTS? Everyone has their own favorites.

Get this album. You should definitely enjoy it.

The last BTS album in 2001 was, without a doubt, a disappointment. Most of the songs had a formulaic, poppy structure, and were honestly just boring. You in Reverse brings them back to a more expansive, schizophrenic sound, where songs can and do change pace and tone halfway through and aren't afraid to break the five-minute barrier. Buy this...it's a welcomed return to great music that BTS has always been capable of putting together.

I feel compelled to write my first ever review for a CD on amazon.com because this album is THAT GOOD.

Built to Spill is my favorite band of all-time. This is my favorite album by BtS. When I see reviews here and there about BtS albums, I consistently see that many people have many different favorite albums (except nobody really loves Ancient Melodies of the Future, though it is still a solid album). People say There's Nothing Wrong with Love is amazing; Perfect From Now On is an epic piece of artwork; and Keep It Like a Secret is stellar. I agree with all of those opinions. I say that You In Reverse shows the most growth by the band in any album, and it took five years to achieve. This is the first LP release by BtS that I have lived through as a die-hard fan, so yes, I feel biased because I felt the anticipation before its release and the cathartic release of joy after listening to it tens of times in the first several months.

YIR is a successful mixture of older BtS sounds. I am referring to the epic, long, flowing, stream-of-consciousness songs from Perfect From Now On and the catchy, powerful, rock songs from Keep It Like A Secret. On YIR, you'll experience the same poignant, relevant, timeless lyrics found on all albums. You'll find a return to longer songs (a la PFNO) with some sweet, upbeat riffs (a la KILAS). There is tight, meandering guitar-work with lengthy interludes and bridges using a number of amps. It is a fully matured, calculated, refreshing effort by the world's greatest band. The band feels "for real" in YIR, and not over-produced or fake in any way, which is the way the band felt after producing their previous album (AMOTF).

Also, this last paragraph is a general overview/review of Built to Spill's overall sound. If you like this album, then you will not be disappointed by other BtS albums. On that same note, if you like other BtS albums, you will definitely enjoy this one. Give it a chance.