Album Rating: 3.0

Family Tree and Western Nights are pre good imo



You are right with August Underground, uneventful one

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

"Family Tree" is maybe my least favorite in the first half (aside from the intro which is my least favorite overall) but I still think it's a superior atmosphere building piece. "Western Nights" seems to be a consensus weakest track but I adore it, perhaps the album's purest slowcore moment, I prefer it slightly to "A House in Nebraska" even, just beautiful.

I'm perhaps still in the minority that does love "Ptolemaea" but wouldn't put it among my favorites, it's a necessary change of pace and obviously essential to the narrative but it and the wordless tracks following are such "album tracks" that I don't feel the inclined to rank them as high. "August Underground" is great as a spooky ambient piece, certainly elevated by context, as is "Televangelism" though the sort of fractured/impressionist piano melodies bring it a level of emotional resonance that elevates it as well. All that said I basically love everything about this album, it's definitely a solid 5 and probably my favorite album released since 2013.

Album Rating: 5.0

@Doof: Yeah I agree that Family Tree and Western Nights are pretty good -- every song is IMO -- so obv we're pretty far apart in our appreciation for this. The top 8 songs in my ranking I consider to be excellent, with the top 3 in particular being tracks that will battle for a spot on my best of 2022 playlist.



@Boney: I appreciate what you're saying. I think almost every song is an "album track" though, and I'm not trying to be witty or anything I just believe that this is one of those Jenga tower LPs where you have to be careful about what tracks you call less essential and/or try to remove, because they all sort of hold the narrative together. So in that sense I don't necessarily see Ptolomaea as more of an "album narrative piece" than anything else here. I do agree about loving each song though -- even the stuff I ranked lower I still appreciate for what it brings to the story.

Album Rating: 5.0

oh fuck i really don't know if i could do a ranking haha. i'd almost need to do two separate rankings that would probably look pretty different; one 'songs as individual pieces of music' and one 'songs as parts of the story'

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

“Hard Times” is still my favorite I think, it’s certainly not the most interesting or original song on the album but the way the very familiar nature of the chord progression creates a nostalgic feeling despite having some of the most disturbing lyrical imagery makes it really powerful. This sense of re-examining your past as an adult and realizing how fucked up what happened was and not really knowing what to do about it is just…man.

Album Rating: 5.0

I feel that Jesper. I guess mine is sort of an intersection of the two, but a purely narrative ranking would certainly bump up songs like Hard Times and Family Tree and possibly see stuff like American Teenager slide a bit.

Album Rating: 4.5

@Sowing, no way Gibson Girl can be that low ;)

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

When I say album track I’m kind of thinking in the sense that those don’t really register as “songs” and more as “musical pieces,” whereas others all have been stuck in my head at some point even if all are essential to the flow of the album.

Album Rating: 5.0

@Boney: [2] to Hard Times being nostalgic in a really messed up kind of way; when I first read the lyrics to that song, I was made so uncomfortable but also drawn into the story with a force that no other song here could match. I agree about August Underground and Televangelism being less like songs and more like "musical complements", although I like Televangelism better than some of the meatier "real tracks" here :-)



@Atari: I still think Gibson Girl is pretty essential because without it Thoroughfare would lead straight into Ptolemaea, which would just be weird and also leave a significant void in the narrative. But musically, it had me tuning out at times.

Album Rating: 5.0

Yeah the additional context that Gibson Girl is happening while Ethel is drugged elevated the song for me. Not that it was bad (quite the opposite), but I wouldn’t put it as a favorite. I think that I enjoy the other styles implemented more personally, but I can appreciate Gibson Girl for what it is in the context of the album

great review
average album

Album Rating: 3.0

Gibson Girl is best, drugged voxals all the way



Western Nights is definitely the first song on the album for me, so much better than what came before, best atmos

Album Rating: 5.0

those are def the songs with the strongest lana influences

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Ptolemaea is a song I would only listen to while listening to the full album



But on the other hand, S T O P

Album Rating: 3.0

'those are def the songs with the strongest lana influences'



yup, I've always liked 'good Lana' stuff just...she releases an awful lot of 'not so good' too

Album Rating: 4.0

The only one who could ever reach me

Was the daughter of a preacher man

Album Rating: 3.5

Apparently she's not a fan of the Lana del Rey comparisons lol

Album Rating: 5.0 | Sound Off

Kind of ironic because it seems that a lot of her most rabid fans are on LanaBoards

Imagine being an artist and enjoying Lana del Rey comparisons haha

Album Rating: 4.5

after listening to this a couple times over, i gotta say that it lends itself better to speakers than headphones. listening to it on my studio monitors really brings out the richness, depth, and hugeness of the mix