the books studio albums (2000 - present)

Only heard the first three, would be between Thought for Food and The Lemon of Pink.

Child: "Mommy! Daddy...Mommy! Daddy!... Mom? Dad?"

Man: "You have no mother or father."

Child: "Yeah I do!"

Man: "No, they left; they went somewhere else."

Child: "No, you're right here! I do!"

Man: "I'm not; I don't know you."

Child: "Daddy … "

Man: "Don't touch me; don't call me that in public."

kinda want to relisten to that new one to see how it held up
always loved the track "I Didn't Know That", especially the video

i like the first one and the new one best. voting new one solely on the first+last track being the best thing

im listening to the newest one for the first time right now, and i like it quite a bit. its strange how much more structured and unsurprising it is tho

they never topped the first one

and really a lot of it is just novelty factor--the first one was extremely striking from track one and it became clear over time that they had a pleasant-but-easily-exhausted bag of tricks. there was just a little bit of extra emotionality on the first one that they never really recaptured.

yeah at the time the first album certainly felt sorta sui generis, but i half think thats simply cuz i hadnt really heard that much music in 2002, as much as the next couple feel like diminishing returns i think that 'lemon of pink' is probably a stronger album, with more coherent and less gimmick-y tracks? idk its weird listening to them all now, it makes me feel old and cynical

yeah lemon of pink is more consistent; thought for food is higher highs. i kind of missed lost and safe so it was definitely weird listening to the new one.

cad otm

The Lemon of Pink is my vote but i don't all of these albums.

Feel like their newer stuff is sorta underrated.

"I Am Who I Am", for example is sort of astonishing, and i couldn't imagine it fitting onto one of the first two albums

yah theyve developed their technique a fair bit i think. the songs on the latest albums are much more recognizable as 'songs', theyre more structured and purposeful. its hard to imagine a semi-joke track like 'contempt' fitting into the new album

at the same time it does feel less spontaneous and exciting, i think theres something abt the gnomic quality of the first record in partic that is exciting and idk... open? like you can imagine so much abt it, some of the samples on the newer album border on didactic

Lost & Safe is not only their best one but top 10 of the past decade material for me.

Whichever one Tokyo is on.

i think theres something abt the gnomic quality of the first record in partic that is exciting and idk... open? like you can imagine so much abt it, some of the samples on the newer album border on didactic

― є(٥_ ٥)э, Thursday, December 15, 2011 12:59 AM (6 hours ago) Bookmark Permalink
really true--they got much less creative in transforming the samples into something unexpected

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Don't sleep on "The Way Out"

:-)

They're all good. I really liked The Way Out when it was released, but in hindsight, I think I like the less conventionally-structured material better, especially The Lemon Of Pink.

lemon of pink is the best. also been feeling the tracks zammuto's put up on his website lately.

"I Am Who I Am", for example is sort of astonishing, and i couldn't imagine it fitting onto one of the first two albums

yeah that one actually kinda scared me when I heard it for the first time. because usually the Books have this very calm element about them, whereas this track goes pretty insane with the preacher's voice. IMO their first is the best though, mostly because they did a lot of cool things melodically, especially on tracks like "Getting the Job Done"

i mean relistening here "The Way Out" does seem so much deeper and well thought-out than their other three releases, but its also kinda labored and low on inspiration

still I think its roughly on par w/ Thought for Food and Lemon of Pink, Lost and Safe is their only one that isn't all that good

Lost & Safe is not only their best one but top 10 of the past decade material for me.

― Moka, Thursday, 15 December 2011 08:22 (4 days ago) Bookmark Permalink

totally agree with this but didn't see this poll so didn't vote.