it doesn't have a guitar solo though
― imago, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 18:32 (six years ago) link
The emotional spirit of this album is incredible
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Tuesday, 6 March 2018 19:16 (six years ago) link
my bad! it does have an ever-building orchestral-synth-and-drums instrumental crescendo
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 6 March 2018 19:48 (six years ago) link
on repeat, love every track
― nxd, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 20:18 (six years ago) link
I've been listening to Party Mindset on repeat all day so I'm gonna go with that one
― had (crüt), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 02:54 (six years ago) link
(also crying)
― had (crüt), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 03:01 (six years ago) link
Guys
I've just discovered Close Calls With Brick Walls
Why didn't you tell me about this earlier
― imago, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 12:41 (six years ago) link
Not Going To Bed is like the starter pistol for joy itself
― imago, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 19:20 (six years ago) link
This album is so amazing! Def. album of the year so far for me, and it will be hard to usurp the position. There's so many good songs on this one... Party Mindset is of course a clear stand-out. I'd also like to give a shout out to Total Freedom... it's just such nice melodies and his voice is so pretty on it, I've listened to it quite a bit on repeat.
― Frobisher, Thursday, 8 March 2018 22:19 (six years ago) link
kinda feel like when in Bill & Ted they reveal that Wyld Stallyns would be an all-important inspirational band that brought world peace, this album is the closest thing we have to that irl
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 00:14 (six years ago) link
Whoa that’s super otm
― frogbs, Friday, 9 March 2018 00:17 (six years ago) link
yeah that's very otm
― Simon H., Friday, 9 March 2018 00:20 (six years ago) link
"Ever Again" recently unlocked for me. i love it now. it's like an Ozzy song! "They made me think I was crazy"
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 01:24 (six years ago) link
"I Don't Know Anything" is like an "All Things Must Pass" song written and played by The Ramones.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 01:27 (six years ago) link
this album is like the new Sgt. Pepper of power pop.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 01:28 (six years ago) link
wall of sound/noise has always been a big part of the Andrew WK-Ramones connection
"The Party Never Dies" is SUPER Ozzy. this album is hot
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 01:32 (six years ago) link
Ozzy at the Olympics
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 02:06 (six years ago) link
Went with "Beyond Oblivion". It is truly massive and if you're ever able to sit and watch large ships leave a dock while this is playing, you should, had a pretty magical experience doing this. I also watched a good amount of Dunkirk to this album which was also pretty wild. I half recommend that. But anyhow, love the album, nearly went with "Total Freedom" which is incredible and weirdly inspiring. This is easily the most positive album I think I've ever heard.
― gman59, Friday, 9 March 2018 06:08 (six years ago) link
imago you should get the comp of unreleased stuff called Mother of Mankind, which I believe came with the much-delayed US version of Close Calls. it's surprisingly eclectic, with a long reggae jam, some Stevie Wonder-style clavier funk, one track that out-Meatloafs the Loaf ("Coming Bad"), a couple that sound just like Sparks, plus some really epic instrumental stuff and tunes like "Kill Yourself" and "I Will Find God" which are sort of the flip side of AWK's persona. all that plus a tune which sounds like an IGW outtake, but is probably better than half of that album (you'll know when you hear it).
― frogbs, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:22 (six years ago) link
I'll check it out!
For all that the new album is amazing, I think CCWBW might be an even greater discovery
― imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:40 (six years ago) link
yeah Close Calls is incredible. get Mother of Mankind, it pretty much makes it into a 2xLP
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 19:15 (six years ago) link
Yeah so I just finished my first time through and was like "well shit, what can I listen to after that?" So here we go again!
― how's life, Friday, 9 March 2018 20:56 (six years ago) link
i love the title track too. Meat Loaf-like fantasy power pop (like "This is My World") but with Disney strings and AC/DC vocals. "Make your dreams your destiny" Andrew W.K. as Jiminy Cricket.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 10 March 2018 18:58 (six years ago) link
the chorus of "Keep on Going" reminds me of The Rentals for some reason. its such a cool song! the "far away from everyone" bit makes me think of Sparks. this record RULES
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 11 March 2018 20:47 (six years ago) link
I kinda wonder if he’s a closet Sparks fan, because he’s got the ability to emulate them pretty damn closely. Listen to “I Want Your Face”, it’s like a lost tune off Propaganda
― frogbs, Monday, 12 March 2018 01:12 (six years ago) link
can't stop thinking about how brilliant that "WELL I GUESS WE PROVED YOU WRONG" hook is
this album is so great. gtfo Pitchfork with this pithy 6.6. unless that was meant to be a 6.66.
― frogbs, Friday, 16 March 2018 14:10 (six years ago) link
pitchfork have the right to be miserable fucks
― imago, Friday, 16 March 2018 14:11 (six years ago) link
I'm going to the London show btw! :D
― imago, Friday, 16 March 2018 14:12 (six years ago) link
"is this guy for real always singing about partying all the time?" is the most annoying thing ever. do music journalists ever ask Robert Smith if he is for real with the makeup and goth music? or if Radiohead is for real acting miserable all the time?
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 16 March 2018 15:15 (six years ago) link
Id imagine music journalists could at least identify a lot more with that last one
― frogbs, Friday, 16 March 2018 15:33 (six years ago) link
this is between "keep on going," "the devil's on your side," "break the curse," and "total freedom." "keep on going"'s been helping me out a lot lately so i'll probably go for it
i said on facebook a few weeks ago that this album is therapy, i.e. andrew w.k. cares about me for approximately an hour and i cry a lot and feel an odd weightlessness afterward
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 16 March 2018 15:40 (six years ago) link
this album taking off on here has been my favorite thing on the board so far this year
― Simon H., Friday, 16 March 2018 15:45 (six years ago) link
brad/simon otm
― imago, Friday, 16 March 2018 15:47 (six years ago) link
yea there's definitely a therapeutic aspect to his work. this album particularly, but really all of it. I remember being a car and hearing the line from "You Will Remember Tonight" that goes "...and after all these years, this is your life", and it was exactly what I needed to hear in the moment
if you haven't read it, the response he gave to being named the American Association Of Suicidology's "person of the year" is incredibly thoughtful, especially since there are some suicidal themes in his own work (including a song outright called "Kill Yourself"). I mean look at the lyrics to Music is Worth Living For - "Give me the will to love/So below and as above/The only way that I'll survive/Music makes me want to stay alive"
― frogbs, Friday, 16 March 2018 16:05 (six years ago) link
I couldn't help but chuckle at the almosy mythic language he deploys in his response, honestly bless him
― Simon H., Friday, 16 March 2018 16:57 (six years ago) link
kinda feel like when in Bill & Ted they reveal that Wyld Stallyns would be an all-important inspirational band that brought world peace, this album is the closest thing we have to that irl― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, March 8, 2018 4:14 PM
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, March 8, 2018 4:14 PM
Hard to believe it's been ten years since Dragonforce released Ultra Beatdown. Which is a clear influence on this album imo. He's edged closer and closer to that aesthetic and basically he's there now. It's just that the songs are shorter.
― everything, Friday, 16 March 2018 18:26 (six years ago) link
Is...is the next step really Dragonforce
― imago, Friday, 16 March 2018 18:47 (six years ago) link
The reason we stand with prideIs the will to live and to reach for the starsSo never look back, you're always just one step away(Solo)
― everything, Friday, 16 March 2018 19:17 (six years ago) link
you have a track record in turning me onto decent stuff but
but
― imago, Friday, 16 March 2018 19:20 (six years ago) link
heh im checking this Dragonforce album out this is great stuff but holy shit is it fast
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 16 March 2018 19:55 (six years ago) link
damn he's playing the same day that i graduate
― had (crüt), Friday, 16 March 2018 20:04 (six years ago) link
ask him to play the ceremony
― Simon H., Friday, 16 March 2018 20:05 (six years ago) link
― everything, Friday, March 16, 2018 11:26 AM (two hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink
i mean yes the power metal streak on this one is very strong
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 16 March 2018 20:31 (six years ago) link
it feels like "The Devil's On Your Side" is an evolution of his darker material, alot of which is on "Close Calls"/Mother of Mankind" ("Pushing Drugs", "Slam John Against a Brick Wall", "I Want Your Face"). but less schizophrenic/New Wavey and more like some really good classic 70 hard rock. the lyrics are so good too.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 16 March 2018 22:13 (six years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XLDpYN8gZTA
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 16 March 2018 22:15 (six years ago) link
that organnnnnnn
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 16 March 2018 22:16 (six years ago) link
okay I'm on listen #10 right now and I think it's "Break the Curse". the last 2 minutes of that has got to be the most powerful shit he's ever done.
of course I'll probably want to change that next time I hear it. this is the most melodically rich album I've heard in a long, long time. it's kind of amazing because AWK always had this reputation of being a smart guy who was making dumb music but you really can't say that anymore.
― frogbs, Monday, 19 March 2018 20:46 (six years ago) link
Well, I've always thought he had a pretty strong melodic/songwriting quality (well, at least on the first album, I don't know about the rest).As for this album, it does have very good melodies and arrangements. That said, I think there are a couple of times when, surprisingly, I find he comes a bit short, mostly the instrumental moments : "Beyond Oblivion" which is nice but goes on for too long with only the same musical phrase over and over and not many compositional or arrangements ideas to help the lack of development.Same with the instrumental part of "The Devil's on your Side".
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 20 March 2018 11:00 (six years ago) link
EPISODE 114 – ANDREW W.K.Andrew W.K. sits down in London with Simon and Brian to talk about his new album You’re Not Alone. In this wide-ranging conversation, Andrew describes how his philosophy, his knowledge of music and his instrumental skills inform his approach to writing and recording songs like ‘Music Is Worth Living For’, ‘Party Mindset’ and ‘You’re Not Alone’. The Party God also describes the processes behind some classics from his back catalogue including ‘Party Hard’ and ‘Don’t Call Me Andy’.https://www.sodajerker.com/episode-114-andrew-wk/
https://www.sodajerker.com/episode-114-andrew-wk/
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Wednesday, 21 March 2018 22:18 (six years ago) link