Built To Spill poll

Inspired by Built to Spill: 'Perfect' vs. 'Keep it Like a Secret', which leads one to believe this will be a close contest.

Perfect From Now On

"Perfect From Now On" or "Keep It Like A Secret" for me. They are both my favorites

There's Nothing Wrong With Love

^that one

keep it like a secret 4 sure

Perfect From Now On is almost perfect.

Almost? I can't think of a flaw.

There's Nothing Wrong With Love

Yeah the real rivalry here is Perfect... vs. There's Nothing..., and I can't make up my mind. The elusive & cohesive slab which grew with each listen, or the pop knockout with the best Side A of the nineties?

Nothing Wrong With Love holds deep teenage angst memories for me ... GOOD TIMES. Don't listen to it too much these days because of that, but it is probably still my fave. That or Perfect ... HMMM.

yeah, that record is full of angst. uh, what?

Kick you in the head!
Kick you in the head!
Kick you in the head!
I'm gonna
Kick you in the head!

Baby you know that I'm a rebel
I'm a rambler!

yeah, that record is full of angst. uh, what?
isn't it? just saying that hearing it makes me think of being an awkward teen, which is what I was when I listened to it the most.

nothing about that record speaks "awkward teen angst" to me in the slightest.

Maybe he's thinking of the Treepeople records from 5 years before?

well, gosh, I am sorry -- it does to me!

how the hell do you do this?
change the colors shapes and size
I'm clueless
not one thing I recognize
so foolish
every now's a big surprise
help me to get through this
stay with me until I die
there's nothing else I wanna try

^^^^do we have a different definition of "angst" here?

I agree with tyler. I don't remember most of the album, but what I do remember seems pretty twee and teen-angsty to me.

i was just looking over the lyrics and it's practically an emo album, dudes. it's great, don't get me wrong ...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Angst

helpful post^^^

also, not an emo album, unless your definition of emo is any album with some reference to emotions in the lyrics

annnnway, not gonna argue anymore, so I'll leave you with this ANXIETY FILLED lyric

you get the car
I'll get the night off
You'll get the chance to take the world apart and figure out how it works
Don't let me know what you find out
I need a car
You need a guide
Who needs a map
If I don't die or worse I'm gonna need a nap
At best I'll be asleep when you get back
I wanna see it when you find out what comets, stars, and moons are all about
I wanna see their faces turn to backs of heads and slowly get smaller
I wanna see it now

I want specifics on the general idea
I wanna think what I should know
Want you to do me what to show
I wanna see movies of my dreams
I wanna see movies of my dreams
I wanna see movies of my dreams
I wanna see movies of my dreams
I wanna see it when you get stoned on a cloudy breezy desert afternoon
I wanna see it untame itself and break its owner
I wanna see it now
I wanna see it now

which lyric? that's the whole song. you must consider everything in your record collection anxiety filled angst.

now, modest mouse's first record, THAT is angst-ridden

do not get the emo comparisons really. anyways, keep it like a secret i guess, for the first half. my favorite song of theirs hands down is "stop the show" but "carry the zero" going into "sidewalk" is about as exhilarating as they get on record. their live show is still more my thing though, ever the first time i saw them do a transcendent half hour "cortez" cover out of nowhere and doug handed his guitar to some guy in the crowd before walking off

and once again, allmusic.com decides the argument for us

TNWWL:

Plaintive
Passionate
Melancholy
Freewheeling
Trippy
Rousing
Quirky
Earnest
Yearning
Searching
Dramatic
Brooding
Acerbic
Earthy
Poignant
Organic
Bittersweet

TIALDFSWNTTA:

Bittersweet
Melancholy
Volatile
Urgent
Self-Conscious
Searching
Rousing
Reflective
Passionate
Fiery
Exuberant
Energetic
Earnest
Confrontational
Cathartic
Brooding
Brash
Angst-Ridden
Quirky

jesus. you keep pulling me back in ... do you really think this is a happy-go-lucky kinda record? Not that there aren't moments of lightness/humor, but as a whole it seems very melancholy/yearning/anxious/dramatic -- in other words, sort of how I felt a good portion of the time when I was 15 or 16. That is all I'm saying here.

it's called "there's nothing wrong with love" ... yes it is a happy-go-lucky record. it's wistful and melancholic without being angry or bitter at the world.

tylerw otm, I dunno why this is even an argument tbh. some people are apparently listening to a different band.

cutty seriously

are you

i mean

shall i keep going and waste almost as much space as you have?

i am very serious, this record is near and dear to my heart

Without me there's nothing
I'm the only thing that dies
If it came down to your life or mine
I would do the stupid thing
And let you keep on living

happy go lucky wheeee

Me getting sonned up and down about using AllMusic as factual reference:

AMG Top Thrash Bands (Minus Slayer, Metallica, Anthrax, or Megadeth)

cutty do you even realize that the precious wikipedia entry you linked points out the differences between the actual definition of "angst" and the colloquial grunge definition that you keep harping on about?

i believe that you love this record, cutty, i love it too! just apparently we hear it differently. let's be fwends.
http://www.boomspeed.com/1631951/hugs05.jp

There's Nothing Wrong with a Paleo Diet

Without me there's nothing
I'm the only thing that dies
If it came down to your life or mine
I would do the stupid thing
And let you keep on living

That's just yer standard "I wuv you so much I would sacrifice myself to save your life". With a solipsistic twist thrown in, but it's hardly "I hate myself and want to die".

still angsty! if it were a cheerful album he would be singing "I am glad it doesn't come down to your life or mine cause it's awesome that we both get to live"

Everybody stop using w's in place of other soft consonants in this thread or I'm gonna start sb-ing dudes.

also somebody needs to rep for you in weeverse

wep

Ultimate Alternative Ravers could use some defense too

did ancient melodies get a bad rap from us critics as it didnt here(UK). Its like the same with wowee zowee by pavement.

I don't know about the critics, I'm just speaking for myself. It's decent, but not even in the same league as the three that preceded it imo

i agree but i still like it

its my 4th fave easily. it does get a bad rep on ilm so maybe some wanted to show support for it? its not like it beat the other 3 anyway.

I too am amazed that Ancient Melodies came anywhere near beating KILAS. And bummed that NO ONE voted for Ultimate Alternative Wavers, which is a pretty cool little record. sadface

did ancient melodies get a bad rap from us critics as it didnt here(UK)

did it even get released here?

I'm gonna assume that everyone likes Wavers, but it's just not anyone's favorite?

that's what I'm assuming too. some of their best songs on there. like I said upthread, it's the slightly wonky production that pushes it down a bit. always love it when they play stuff from that record live.

is "ultimate alternative wavers" the same thing as "the normal years" or was "the normal years" just not polled because it's a singles collection?

no it was their debut album.

i used to play the shit out of this song: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-6rLtS5QU80

oh yeah i used to have that album

"used to"?

yeah i realize my phrasing was confusing but see i previously owned this album and now i don't, it's almost like i got rid of it at some point. hope that clears things up!

a Perfect From Now On poll? someone?

Maybe later? a new POLL would not be welcomed at this time I sense.

then you forgot it existed at all xp

Hardcore fans: is Doug a Xtian?

I just listened to KiLaS for the first time and thought it could be interpreted in a born-again context.

there's nothing wrong with love, but my favorite song of theirs is "liar" from you in reverse

kinda surprised some dude is a BTS fan

interviewed doug for nme for KILAS and boy was he a dick

Got that impression when I saw them last year at Primavera. For literally the whole set he was complaining to the sound guy at the side: the drums were too loud, guitars too quiet, just an endless litany of whiny complaints. Stop being a precious muso, stfu and play yr songs.

Still gutted I missed the 'Perfect From Now On' full album tour tho.

nothing wrong with love

"car" and "big dipper" and "in the morning".. the whole album is just perfect

^^^^^

yes!

I've only seen them once probably in 2000 or around there and it was incredible. Sad to hear D might be an asshole. :(

wish i'd had the chance to see these dudes :(

they were an incredibly boring live band, you didn't miss much

i guess unless you really like aimless guitar solos

Hardcore fans: is Doug a Xtian?

I always got the impression from Perfect From Now On that he was atheist (or at least agnostic). The lyrics to 'Oh Yeah' seem pretty unambiguous too ...

I don't think they've broken up or anything, have they?

I saw them twice and loved them, for the most part. What killed it for me was the second time I saw them, they played this long (in my memory) video of an eco-terrorist justifying his actions overtop of the band just jamming on stage for what seemed like 10 minutes. It was an uncomfortable moment for the audience.

i guess unless you really like aimless guitar solos

― congratulations (n/a), Wednesday, February 23, 2011 8:23 AM (14 minutes ago) Bookmark

see, well...

doug was incredibly friendly when i interviewed him a couple years ago. ended up asking me questions! very much a regular dude imo. don't think he's a xtian.
love 'em live, though maybe some people wouldn't tolerate the guitar jamz. i like guitar jamz.

actually tho, come to think of it, they were terrible the first time i saw them play (96-97?). seemed extremely under-rehearsed. otherwise, they've been awesome.

yeah one of my fave albums of theirs is LIVE and the most listened to track on it for me was always Cortez the Killer

which is like 25min of jamz

yeah it jamz so hard.

My GF in the late 90s 2 most favorite bands were Modest Mouse and Built to Spill. I knew Doug from his days in the Treepeople but lost interest with most of Ultimate Alternative Wavers and the Nothing Wrong With Love which is where my GF jumped on and dragged me to see them everytime they came to town (same with Modest Mouse). I really wasn't interested in that kinda music, I was kinda deeper into post-rock/minimalism/experimental at the time (Laddio Bollocko was our happy medium). So now I'm hearing these records for the first time and kinda lovin them! Keep It Like A Secret is def underrated on this poll, it's worth revisiting.

Also, BtS seemed to go through phases live where they were more structured and then later tours got really loose and free (probably my least favorite times I saw them, the Cortez cover was the worst!!!) and then tightened up again. I saw them probably 10 times?

Oh I forgot the punchline, that XGF now is kinda reknown for her minimalism/experimental music these days.

4 some reason i think i know all the words to 'twin falls' the wistful 1983 is like an abyss

keep it is def tighter & better than perfect imo but nothing beats nothing

i kind of disliked keep it like a secret when it came out --something about the shinier (kinda generic alt-rocky i thought) production values put me off. sounds great now, though.

same reaction as you, tyler, to Secret, except I've never come around on it except for "Broken Chairs" which I like more on Live anyway---kinda think Live is the one record by this band I need except for "Velvet Waltz" which is such a fuckin jam.

the live record really is stellar -- that version of the halo benders' "reel around the fountain" is incredible, too.

keep it like a secret was the first built 2 spill album i ever heard so i didnt even really notice the production but idk if built to spill were ever the most interesting or distinctive sounding band they just have some sweet fukken songs

i havent heard the live album

yeah, i mean, i don't really hear the production probs on secret that i heard back then -- i remember my friend and i going "what is this -- everclear?" but it doesn't really sound like that to me now.

"Time Trap"'s bassline is kinda like a more-melodic take on the main guitar line of Slint's "Washer"

idk if built to spill were ever the most interesting or distinctive sounding band they just have some sweet fukken songs

this, pretty much. I love them, but I kinda think of them as being 90s dad-rock in a way

yeah

found KILAS disappointing at the time, mainly because it wasn't so overdub-crazy as Perfect, but in the years since I've come to really appreciate it. Their last album was pretty great as well...

pfno was a huge event in my 90s. i haven't heard it in quite a while, but for many weeks, i listened to nothing else. i liked tnwwl and kilas, but they were not even close to pfno for me.

kinda surprised some dude is a BTS fan

― kl0p's son (k3vin k.), Wednesday, February 23, 2011 12:57 AM (15 hours ago) Bookmark

i'm not, really. i fished Keep It out of a used bin when it was new, was turned off by it at first but it's grown on me over time and i love a few songs on it but don't really rep for it hardcore. got Perfect later and saw one of their shows with they played it in its entirety but just cannot get into that record.