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Full Review | User Ratings (141) |
4 of 5 thought this review was well written
THE BAND
Todd Brashear - bass
Brian McMahan - vocals/guitar
David Pajo - guitar
Britt Walford - drums
YEAR: 1991
Some bands are very good at describing their music using pictures and words. Slint would be one of them. The cover says it all - this is a dark, chilling album; full of emotion but with very little warmth throughout its forty minutes. It's music in black and white, and it's hard to imagine any other band capturing "colorless sound" so well. The album title is accurate too - the guitars on Spiderland are thin-sounding and skeletal, almost skittering across the songs like the aforementioned arachnids.
The band went through quite a stylistic change from their 1989 debut Tweez to this, their second (and final) album - the former was a harsh and nearly-unlistenable collection of fractured, Big Black-esque songs (no coincidence that it was engineered by Steve Albini), while the latter is much more focused, with epic and powerful songs (none shorter than five minutes). Despite the song lengths, Spiderland doesn't have the pretentiousness and technical showmanship of prog-rock, and sticks more to creating moody, atmospheric rock songs that leave the listener kind of unsettled.
Breadcrumb Trail
The album starts and ends with the best tracks, although "Breadcrumb Trail" is slightly inferior to the masterpiece "Good Morning Captain". Lyrically, this is the most playful song on the album, with McMahan quietly describing an interesting day he had at an amusement park as a story rather than as rhythmic lyrics. The instruments, however, overpower his soft voice, with David Pajo's snakelike rhythms wrapping around McMahan's words during the verse before exploding into a heavy and anthemic chorus. Although the subject of the chorus isn't very groundbreaking (a ride on a roller coaster), McMahan has a way of choosing creative words to describe it ("creeping up into the sky/stopping at the top, then starting down/the girl grabbed my hand/I clutched it tight/I said goodbye to the ground"). The band effortlessly makes the transition from quiet to loud passages, and it easily dwarfs the fine (but inferior) next four tracks. Six minutes o' brilliance. 4.5/5
Nosferatu Man
A more straightforward (but still complex) hard rock song, with a steady but pounding rhythm section and hard-to-hear but dark-sounding lyrics (about a vampire, I'm assuming). The chorus is the catchiest thing on the album, and McMahan does a very convincing (if unintentional) Steve Albini impression. Speaking of Albini, this sounds like a Shellac song. If you like Shellac, you'll like "Nosferatu Man". 4/5
Don, Aman
Unbelievably anti-climactic. McMahan once again tells an interesting story, but with no percussion, it's much easier to hear the lyrics (it's anyone's guess what they're about, though). The wiry guitars slowly build tension throughout the six-and-a-half-minute song, but except for a couple short bursts of menacing distorted guitar, there's no loud emotional payoff at the end, which is disappointing but creative at the same time. It's not bad, but it borders on 'skippable'. 3/5
Washer
Some sad-sounding but very nice guitar before the verse, which features McMahan inventing Conor Oberst with a timid, trembly voice and unexpectedly (almost uncomfortably) emotional lyrics. It's a very chilling song, but McMahan's lyrics seem hopeful, even when he sounds so defeated. One of those rare songs that sends chills down your spine (and surprisingly enough, it's not the only one on the album that does that). It becomes extremely tense as it goes along, but unlike "Don, Aman", it does explode into a climactic energy release near the seven-minute mark before settling down again. Muy, muy bueno. 4.5/5
For Dinner...
The shortest song, but it still manages to break five minutes. It's an uneventful (and kind of pointless) instrumental, that they probably threw on there to make the album longer or something. Meh. 2/5
Good Morning Captain
Here's where it gets good. Seven and a half minutes of very creepy and skeletal rock. The guitar clangs in the background like a warning siren, while the snakelike bass creeps along between that and the pounding, tribal drums. McMahan speaks through the verse much like he does on "Breadcrumb Trail", but the story is much more ominous this time around, as he describes a shipwreck in chilling detail. There are the obligatory bursts of ear-piercing and melodic noise, but the album's zenith comes as the song starts to wind down. McMahan is at his most emotional, whispering the lyrics ("I'm trying to find my way home/I'm sorry/did I miss you?/...I'll make it up to you") before screaming "I MISS YOU!" as the song explodes in a jagged wave of noise. I've used "chilling" way too much during this review, but that single moment is one of the most chilling and emotional pieces of music I've ever heard. An easy 5/5.
The album isn't perfect, which is disappointing, because half of the tracks indicate that it could have been (1, 4, and 6 in particular). It's definitely a 4/5, no higher or lower. The band split up after this album, and although it would have been interesting to hear the follow-up, their influence lives on in countless modern post-rock bands.
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I love this album ( look at my display name or whatever is called).
I haven't met anyone in my city that know about them, That's sad cause they have a very unique style.
Mt favourite songs are good morning captain, for dinner and nosferatu man.
I give this album a 4.5/5
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I like the song Nosferatu Man, for some reason that's the only song I have by them. I'll download some more today.
| | | Album Rating: 4.5
i picked this cd up a couple weeks ago and i must say that i'm quite impressed by it. I agree with everything except your rating for "For Dinner..." Its one of my favorite tracks. Its just a shame that i can't venture on and buy some more of thier stuff.
Digging: Do Make Say Think | | |
You might like Tweez, but I personally think it's way too inacessible.
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I love this album so much. I own Spiderland, Tweez, and there Untitled LP. I just wish i could have seen them live.
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The only other song I was able to get was Washer. It's great though, so I think I'll just buy the album.
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Quote:
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Originally Posted by NachoChez
[IMG]
David Pajo - guitar
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Is that the dude from Zwan?
Digging: Ohana - Dead Beat
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Yeah, David's in Zwan.
Spiderland is my favourite album that I've got and Slint are my favourite band that I've heared! I kinda 'understood' what the album was about a few months ago, and came up with a concept for it - I don't know whether Slint intended this concept though. I can't decide whether there's one concept for the whole album, or two seperate concepts for each side. If there's one, then the same guy is involved (read on) in all the songs. If there's two, then the first three songs are about a guy called Don (hence the track entitled 'Don, Aman [a man]', and the latter three tracks are about a completely different guy. I'm going to set it out very simply because I'm not too great with words. Anyway, here goes:
Breadcrumb Trail
Don goes to the amusement park and meets his wife to be.
Nosferatu Man
For some reason the bastard's a vampire (Nosferatu) and he ends up sucking his wife's blood ['Like a bat I flushed the girl']. I presume she ends up being a vampire like him ['I snuck away from my queen's brooding stare' (a bit vague though)]. They keep tormenting each other throughout the rest of the story - now Don's a vampire, now his wife is (I don't know anything about vampire's but I suppose they have something in common with the warewolf who supposedly turned into the wolf form when the full moon was shining, so something would trigger off the vampireness in a vampire - I don't know).
Don, Aman
Don's at some kind of party and he decides to go outside ['Don stepped outside'] to get some fresh air and think about what he's done to his wife.
Next concept, maybe. It could be the same one though - if Don is the Captain of a ship.
Washer
This is basically a flashforward (opposite of a flashback) from Good Morning, Captain. Don (or some other guy) is now dead ['Goodnight my love, remember me as you fall to sleep. Fill your pockets with the dust and the memory, that rises from the shoes on my feet...'] and he's singing this song back to his wife (she's probably dreaming it). He's basically comforting her, telling her not to worry ['I know it's dark outside, don't be afraid. Every time I ever cried for fear was just a mistake that I made...']. He then tells her that stuff on Earth doesn't matter at all once you move on ['Wash yourself in your tears and build your church on the strength on your faith...'] and suggests that stuff you do on Earth doesn't affect what the hell happens to you afterwards - therefore, crumbling the idea of religion (which I despise). Nice one Brian!
For Dinner...
Our hero's wife is just having dinner the day after she's had her dream and the absence of lyrics states very obviously that there's very little action going on at this dinner table. I love this piece because it gives you the opportunity to make up your own mind about what she's thinking, and to reflect on all that 'Don' said in her dream.
Good Morning, Captain
Here is where we find out how 'Don' dies - or at least we find out that he's shipwrecked, and far from home. I still haven't completely made my mind up about these lyrics, as to where everyone is, etc. The 'blood stained eyes upon the beach' I suppose are Don's crew who have managed to get to safety, looking at the ship where Don is still.
***
I hope I've been interesting. I find it kind of weird that I get pulled towards the lyrics on Spiderland because I usually just love music without listening to the lyrics too much. I think with the fantastic quality of the musicianship and the lyricism that Slint have brought together it's necessary to listen to their music as one big whole, instead of as seperate instruments playing together with lyrics on top (or underneath as the case is sometimes). Just out of interest, my favourite song is 'Nosferatu Man'. I love the lyrics on 'Breadcrumb Trail' though, and I love 'Good Morning, Captain' aswell. And I love the lyrics and music on 'Washer'. Oh man... I just love this album! My favourite songs on Tweez are 'Carol', 'Warren' and 'Pat'. I love the whole of their untitled EP. I almost wish they had made a few more albums. I'm sure they wouldn't have spoilt what they did with Tweez, Spiderland and their Glenn/Rhoda EP.
Thanks for reading.
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That's actually a pretty interesting concept, and the end of "Good Morning Captain" kind of adds to it (Don's saying goodbye to his wife or his son).
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Hey nosferatu_man, I think you're right. Everything you said makes sense.
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Wow, cheers guys. I'm just glad that lot actually made sense to you! This is the first forum I've ever joined so I'm not used to this kind of thing. It's a top forum though.
What other bands do you guys like? I love bands like Tortoise, Polvo, The Jesus Lizard, June of '44 and Shellac. They're kinda similar to Slint I suppose. But then I love bands like Talk Talk, Yes, Calexico, Nina Nastasia, Rage Against the Machine, King Missile, The 90 Day Men (just very recently got into these guys) and The Bad Plus - to name a few who are completely different to Slint. Although, The Bad Plus are kinda similar to Slint because they use crazy time signatures and key signatures. I've seen them described as Math Jazz somewhere. Then I love completely different (and much older) music from the classical world, with Tchaikovsky and Liszt being my favourite composers at the moment.
What do you guys think? Have you got any suggestions for amazing bands I should check out?
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You have awesome taste. The Jesus Lizard and Shellac are some of my favorite bands (all of Albini's bands, actually), and I love the Bad Plus.
I've been wanting to get into Talk Talk. Is Spirit of Eden or Laughing Stock better?
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We listen to diferent music nosferatu_man. I love Rage against the machine and yes, but the other bands you named are unknown to me.
These are some of the bands that I like:
Pink Floyd, dream theater,the who,judas priest,megadeth,led zeppelin,the cure,savatage,king crimson,rush,faith no more,sonata arctica,stratovarius,alice cooper,slayer,primus,tool,in flames,cream,alice in chains,black sabath,doors,misifts,metallica,pearl jam,guns N roses.
I copied it from my msn profile, that's why it is so messy.
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Cheers NachoChez. I prefer Laughing Stock. That's one of my absolute favourite albums. Spirit of Eden is still amazing, but I prefer Laughing Stock. It's more of a 'solid' album I reckon. I dunno though - I got Laughing Stock first so I may just have some more affection for it because of that.
Mexicanfloydian, I quite like Pink Floyd, Tool and Guns N' Roses, but I've either not heared any music by the other bands, or I just can't seem to get into them. For example, I kinda want to like The Who, but I just don't really love em all that much. I don't mind Led Zep, but I haven't really heared much by them at all - I've heared Stairway to Heaven, The Crunge and Kashmir, but I'm not absolutely in love with them.
You guys should check out Tortoise though. I was listening to their 'TNT' album yesterday and I kinda realised it's absolutely amazing. It's really chilled out, etc.
Oh yeah, Nachochez, what's your favourite Bad Plus song? I think mine's 'And Here We Test Our Powers Of Observation'.
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"Big Eater", mostly because I know I will never be able to drum like that 
I checked out Laughing Stock last night, loved it, and I have it as my avatar now  cheers for reminding me about them, and I'll check out Spirit of Eden too.
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Hehe, yeah... just after I'd posted up my message I was thinking I should have said something about Big Eater. I love that one aswell. What's your favourite song on Laughing Stock? I also realised that I missed out a band in my list that I've got loads of affection for - Calexico. My mate sent me a live version of their song 'The Black Light', I kinda thought it was ok at first, so I kinda downloaded the studio version and a few other tracks off that album and now I love them to pieces! I've also just downloaded the rest of their 'The Black Light' album, and the whole of their 'Feast of Wire' album of which I'd heared nothing at all. I'm listening to Feast of Wire now and it's absolutely amazingly gorgeous music.
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The third track is my favorite, the one after "Ascension Day" (the name doesn't come to mind)
I love Calexico. I saw them at a festival a month or so ago and they were amazing. One of the best shows I've ever seen by anyone.
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Excellent album.. excellent review as well.
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Hey nosferatu_man, tell me a good Tortoise song to download.
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The only Tortoise song I've heard is "Salt the Skies", which is pretty good. nosferatu_man'll probably be able to give you a better selection.
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