Ok Go’s most recent release, Of The Blue Colour Of The Sky, was not their best. It wasn’t bad, but it was in no way as well crafted as their self-titled debut or 2005’s Oh No, which brought the world the GREATEST VIDEO EVER! Of course I am talking about “Here It Goes Again” and the ridiculously awesome dance moves on treadmills that set the world on fire. I saw them in November of 2006, at the age of nearly 16, and the average age in the room had to have been thirteen, which made me look like a creep. The smell of Beatlemania was lingering... or maybe that was smell of piss from the girls who peed their pants. “This Too Shall Pass” has brought the world yet another amazing video. Without a doubt, I think this will be my favorite video of the year. I also just love this song. It is one of the few songs on the mediocre new album that is not Ok Go attempting to be Prince.
- Greg
YOU felt a little creepy?
ReplyDeleteHah!
Mark
I think the new album is far from mediocre. In my opinion, there are only two complaints that can be given.
ReplyDeleteThe first is that some people might perceive the record as too loud: the producer, Dave Fridmann (producer of The Flaming Lips' Embryonic, At War With the Mystics, Yoshimi Battles the Pink Robots, The Soft Bulletin, Zaireeka, Clouds Taste Metallic, and others, MGMT's Oracular Spectacular, Clap Your Hands Say Yeah's Some Loud Thunder, et al) has of late increased the apparent volume of his tracks, incorporating clipping and other distortion into the songs, giving them a blown-speaker feel. Then again, it's likely a conscious style choice, seeing as OK Go chose to work with Fridmann.
Second: the latter half of the album, while having some great songs (Before the Earth Was Round, Back From Kathmandu), does not hold up to the precedent by the first half. The first bunch of songs are loud and exciting, whereas the songs after Last Leaf are on the slower side, feature sparser arrangements, and are in general lower-energy tunes.
And as far as OK Go trying to be Prince goes, I see the same style on Oh No's Invnicible, A Million Ways, and A Good Idea At the Time, as well as others. I think the Prince-esque sound comes mostly from the loud guitars and Damian Kulash's falsetto vocals.
I give it a 7/10, and if it were only an EP of the first 7 songs, a 9/10 or 10/10. Not the best OK Go could do (unfortunately probably already done on their first release) but still way better than "mediocre".
This video is spectacular
ReplyDeleteSo, by these comments, would it be best to start with their debut? I'm only familiar with the youtube stuff, but that seems to be the place to start with these guys.
ReplyDelete