Album Rating: 4.0

Hard to argue with something that well-written. Nice job...get pos'd!



Album for me was above-average but no where near what most others are giving it around here. Battery Kinzie is easily the best song.

Album Rating: 3.5

Good well written review, pos'd.



Sound as a pound. Bit of con-tro-versy with the rating, but I still haven't listened to this at all, or even their self titled all the way through.



Also @pwalcher - Rose Byrne rules. ^

eh, i thought the rating would get more flak but i reread all 4 of the other HB reviews and they all seem to focus on the lyrical content of the album.

looks like i'm a bit of a black sheep for actually expecting popular folk to lay down so interesting grooves. sigh

Album Rating: 3.5

For me, modern folk is either pretty awesome or pretty nauseating. Not much in between and I dunno why I see it that way.

Album Rating: 4.0

"The raw power of Pecknold as he wails "sunlight over me no matter what I do" on The Shrine/An Argument"



my favorite part of the album.

Album Rating: 5.0

"For me, modern folk is either pretty awesome or pretty nauseating. Not much in between and I dunno why I see it that way."



this^





this is the only great folk album i've heard in awhile that actually kept me interested, hence my rating

Album Rating: 3.0

cool, but fuck you.

Album Rating: 4.5

I can definitely agree that this is a step in the right direction for the band. This is especially

true looking at the last 3 tracks, which are quite stunning to say the least.



Yet I feel that you are glossing over the merit of folk as a whole - specifically I'm referring to

the lyrics. You can't take an album, or artist for that matter, and condemn it for fitting within

its respected genre. Peckinpold is really flexing his creative muscle on the album and is slowly

but

surely cementing himself as one of the greater lyricists of our generation. I can understand

your

qualms with the overly-simple instrumentation, yet it seems a bit naive to criticize that one

aspect

while completely overlooking to true virtue of this album. Really it seems quite shortsighted to

say

this album is merely average because it appears "radio friendly". Anyone who takes a

step

back to conceptualize the bigger picture realizes that folk has never boasted diverse or

sprawling

instrumentation. That's like criticizing metal for being too heavy, or hip hop for sampling other

songs, or prog rock for being too fucking solo ADD.



Shit, take Bob Dylan, who is regarded as a music legend; Can you really review him without

mentioning his lyrics?



You have a knack for writing, and the prose in this review is exciting and elegant. Setting that

aside, the content is lacking severely here. The review is well written in the grammatical

sense,

but it takes more than that to earn a pos. Ultimately this seems less like a review and more

like a

device to counter the "HYPE". Sorry Ms. but I will be handing out a neg today. Take it as

constructive criticism to aid in future reviews.

Album Rating: 4.5

Also, please don't take this as flak for having a low rating. Everyone is entitled to their own

opinion and obviously you didn't enjoy this album very much. Again, the issue lies within the fact

that you didn't take an objective approach towards the review.

Bob Dillan
Dillan
Dill
Il



Also, everyone needs to shut the fuck up about objectivism when it comes to reviewing music, because it doesn't fucking
exist

Album Rating: 4.5

Review was well-written and all, I just don't find anything about this 'average' at all. To me every song is memorable, and it's just a really pleasant listening experience for me.

Well written review but I highly disagree. =P
Album is spectacular.

Edit: Wait; you gave Sigh No More a 4 and called this radio friendly? Huh? That's in itself a
contradiction that could blow up the planet. =P

your claim that i'm not taking an objective approach toward the review is extremely silly considering your main argument for why this isn't a good review is because i didn't happen touch on the most subjective aspect of any album: the lyrics. in any case, yeah... fuck objectivism. it's virtually non-existent within art.

i didn't touch on the songwriting here because everyone else has already done it and it would be redundant, considering very few people would be able to stake anything about Pecknold's words being anything short of ear-catching. you're forgetting that i can't just 4 this because OH SHIT THESE LYRICS. if i wanted to fawn purely over words, i'd be reviewing poetry, and i'm pretty sure no one wants to read about how much i love e e cummings because it's already known that he's a great poet.

having a gripe with me because i focused on the flaws of a well-received album and didn't go on and on about one great one peculiar aspect is fucking retarded. it's a negative-centered review, it would be very confusing if after all that i decided to praise the shit out of pecknold.
did you even read the review? i don't dislike this because it's overly simplistic, there are plenty of simple-sounding (folk, for sake of argument) albums (ie, bon iver's "for emma, forever ago", conor oberst's 1st LP, bob dylan's older material) that i find absolutely brilliant and the simplicity only complements the album. here, it doesn't. simplicity does not aid a release when the same tones, vocal and instrumental, are used pretty well all the way through. the 3 last tracks are the best because they do not do this.

i also hope you were kidding when you said folk has never boasted diverse or sprawling instrumentation. ever heard "the hazards of love"? i happen to dislike that album, in all it's sprawling folky glory. how about ani difranco? i'd say her lyrics are on par, if not better than anything pecknold's ever written (again, a matter of taste, which is why focusing on lyricism is stupid), and what else? she puts an equal amount of effort into making each one of her tracks incredible interesting to listen to.

musicianship is a part of music, should ALWAYS be considered and isn't necessarily about being able to finger tap two different time signatures at once. hell, would you listen to bob dylan if he was just reading his own work plainly aloud? maybe, it's pretty good, but what makes him really iconic is how well his unique voice complemented the tone of his guitar, how the nuances in his voice unified his work as something special and recognizable. cohesiveness. that's lacking here, and that's why i don't like this album. stripping down my argument to "is too simple" is just as ignorant as saying it's great because the musicians can really fucking shred (ie, BTBAM syndrome)

anyhow, you can keep your neg. i wouldn't have posted this if i didn't expect a few people not to understand what i was getting at.

Damn. Dude just got owned.

Album Rating: 4.5

Objective as in she didn't address the lyrics despite that being the most vital component of folk

Yeah but this is the best folk outing I've heard in a long, long time, no matter how diverse and
intricate; it nails what folk is about; stories of a person.

To call this anything short of an incredible folk album would be difficult to back up without
reference as to how despite the music. It's fine not personally liking it but calling it objectively
average as a folk album is wrong.

and sign no more is catchy, being radio-friendly doesn't necessarily have anything to do with that... i applied that term to ths
release because i find that musically, it sounds shallow and 2-dimensional.

again, list curseworship said, objectivity does not really exist. i happen to really enjoy sigh no more as a whole and not this.
sorry.

Objective as in she didn't address the lyrics despite that being the most vital component of folk

the lyrics are clunky and awkward as fuck. the songs are mostly mediocre and buried in lush vocal harmonies and bombastic production that sound pretty enough while they're playing but i'll never want to hear again.

its pretty funny how some of you guys are shocked that people don't like this stuff and think they just don't appreciate folk, man

That's understandable; this is a better record than Sigh No More though.
=)

And radio friendly? No...The Shrine/ An Argument? please...

Good music; honest, well-written lyrics with a real insight on the lead singer and what he has to
say. Music that collectively compliments the musicians song-writing ability and instrumental
diversity.

Or Sigh No More; a slab of Disney-like love songs about the soul against a pop driven; muddy folk
filled music backdrop with poor uncoordinated harmonies; all to appear folk but in reality; it's
just catchy pop music much like the Katy Perry. =P

Yeah; it's all subjective as to which you could prefer and in this review; have shown your opinion
really strongly and well against Helplessness Blues in what I would totally, utterly respect. =)

It's easy to take your opinion serious when expressed so well but in contrast; Helplessness Blues is
possibly a record you didn't get as opposed to didn't like.