Album Rating: 3.0

Yeah the lyrics on this are profound as per usual with Phil, but musically there's not much reason to come back to this. The minimalism totally works for the intimate, personal aesthetic, but it gets a little boring on repeated listens.

Album Rating: 4.5

I don't think "how will this stand up to repeated listens" was a factor when he wrote this. I think he's aware it's an experience most listeners won't revisit often.

Album Rating: 3.0

Yeah true, I don't think it was either, but that doesn't mean I have to love it.

Album Rating: 4.5

I'm going to end up agreeing with jtswope here. Musically this is bland, but that's hardly the point. I guess this could have just been a series of poems or something.

Album Rating: 4.5

I have no positive or negative inclination. This gets a 2.5 for now.

Album Rating: 4.5

Oh damn, Sowing hitting this with the 2.5!? Did not expect that.

Album Rating: 4.5

not poppy enough (;

Album Rating: 4.5

It's no Ocean Avenue yeah

How does sowing give this a 2.5 wtf

Album Rating: 3.5

Just thinking about the album today based on this thread I think I have to give it at least a 3-3.5 even if I'll never revisit it. It hit fucking hard, dudes.



His specific situation aside, some of the feelings and ideas he presents concerning death and mourning were very relatable to me. Some of the lines particularly rekindled some of the feelings I've had resulting in the deaths of people close to me so to even have a flicker of an idea of what this guy is going through and for him to convey that to me so clearly and without any polish or metaphors to wash them out is an achievement in and of itself, imo.

W O W

4 average. I wouldn't be surprised if this actually sits at a 3.8 average even with the emotional backstory. Really makes me wonder how much the average would be without it .

Album Rating: 3.5

I think that about a lot of albums, but it's all hypothetical. It the story didn't exist, this album wouldn't either.

Album Rating: 4.0

"4 average. I wouldn't be surprised if this actually sits at a 3.8 average even with the emotional backstory. Really makes me wonder how much the average would be without it . "



yeah but then you've got to bear in mind that this album really wouldn't exist in the first place for all we know without it's background.



If we took away all the context and just had this album exactly the way it is sonically, it potentially could still make sense since all the themes would still be relevant, but considering how personal the lyrics are, they'd be very difficult to understand in the same way.



So the average would be quite a bit lower I'd think

Yeah it was just a pointless hypothetical lol

i just think a lot of people tend to say projects like this have a higher average than they should because other factors (like Blackstar etc etc) but i'm not necessarily sure that's a fair point here.

Album Rating: 3.5

I echoed similar thoughts in the Blackstar thread, but the situations are a little different. Bowie died after the album came out and although the content of the album dealt a lot with the themes of death and acceptance or of death the album wasn't made as a result of his death whereas this was the product of the artists wife's death directly and wholly.

Not sure what I'm trying to say honestly lol, I guess that both albums get sympathy points whether they are superficial or a genuine byproduct of the circumstances surrounding the albums' contents and release dates...?

I've come to accept that those alleged sympathy points are entirely acceptable and are bound to have an impact one every listener differently.

Album Rating: 3.0

Re: the idea of "sympathy points" - The difference between this album and something like Blackstar is (regardless of the fact Blackstar also doesn't really exist without the context) that Blackstar has a lot more going on musically to latch onto. The first few listens to that album I didn't even pay that much attention to the lyrics and still felt pretty moved by the musical backdrop alone. It's more difficult to do that with something as stripped down as this.

I just want to be clear I'm bringing up an idea. I unfortunately have not listened to this, Blackstar, Skeleton Tree, or You Want It Darker. I do not really agree with "sympathy points", i think it's an interesting idea though.

so @jtswope are you saying this is overrated because sympathy points, or not?

Something being stripped down isn't an inherent negative though.

On a conceptual level, I think this album's stripped-down aesthetic suits the subject matter perfectly. I just think the execution is lacking a bit.

Album Rating: 3.0

@ALA No I'm not. I think it all depends on how people connect with it individually, which is the way it should be.

Album Rating: 3.0

"Something being stripped down isn't an inherent negative though."



Never said it was a negative. It all aesthetically makes sense for sure. But that's where subjectivity comes in. I just don't really feel all that moved by the music in this case as I am with most of Phil's stuff.