Released 1999
The Magnetic Fields are the project of
Stephin Merritt. He writes, produces, plays the instruments, and sings on most of the songs. He relies heavily on synth-pop, with influences from such bands as Kraftwerk, Roxy Music, Eno, and Gary Numan. Merritt does sing on many of the songs, but he also employs various alternative rock singers to handle lead vocals on some of the songs.
Ok, before I start the review: Yes, this is an album that is strictly "love songs", and yes there are 69 such songs on it. I will be doing a song by song review (although not too in-depth) of the album because I feel that this album warrants that kind of attention to detail. The album was released as a 3 disk set, but with the option to get each disc seperately if you choose. The songs on the album range from ballads to folk to blues to cheesy pop at times, and they are more effective when listening to the album in full.
This is truely the case where the sum of the parts is better than each individual part. The 69 songs clock in at a bit under 3 hours, so most of them only are 2 to 3 minutes long. This is obviously a gimmick album (he has another called
i where every song title starts with the letter "i", etc.), but that doesn't mean that there aren't great songs on it.
Absolutely Cuckoo The album begins with a shining little pop song, a nice catchy melody and hook. There is a repetitive guitar riff and the vocals that really drive the song. Not much synth here, just a simple song. I like it though.
4/5
I Don’t Believe In the Sun This is the first ballad on the album. A fairly slow song that implements a nice piano melody, beautiful lyrics, and shimmering guitar and background vocals. Merritt’s vocals are nice on this track too. A really heartfelt love song.
4.5/5
All My Little Words The song starts off with guitar strumming, and a banjo riff. A typical sounding love song. It is very catchy though, I especially like the female background vocals in this song. The reverb effect on the guitar solo is good. What a wonderful pop song. I really like this one.
5/5
A Chicken With It’s Head Cut Off A drum intro, and catchy guitar riff start off the song. The vocals on this song aren’t typical of a love song. It is really borderline country, and not executed all that well. The lyrics aren’t very strong either. It is an ok song, but there are much better on the album.
2.5/5
Reno Dakota The first song on the album that have different lead vocals. This time it is a woman. It is just a banjo and vocals. A short, simple song. It has a catchy part at the start of the verse, but is nothing too special.
3/5
I Don’t Want To Get Over You I love this song. The music is upbeat, but the vocals are really heartfelt. This is classic pop structure. Effects laden guitar, hooks in the vocals, simple drumming. This song is just so shimmery and fun. One of my favorites on the first disk.
5/5
Come Back From San Francisco Female lead vocals on this song, and they are very pretty. A nice guitar riff. Merritts vocals come in as effective background vocals. This is a good feel good song. I like the guitar riff, and the vocals just follow the guitar musically. Another one of my favorites on the first disk.
5/5
The Luckiest Guy On the Lower East Side This song has some strange synth noises to go along with a guitar/piano melody. The squishy synth sound fits in rather nicely with the poppy uptempo vocals. This song builds up to the instrumental part pretty well. There is a dreamy part with just vocals that is really the low part of the song. Overall it is pretty nice though.
4/5
Lets Pretend We’re Bunny Rabbits This song sounds a bit like the Shins with their lo-fi vocals. It has amazing hooks. The main part of this song is the percussion. It sounds almost like maracas or something keeping the tempo. I really like the style of this song, it seems to fuse all kinds of elements that I really like in music all into one 2:25 track. I only wish it were longer.
5/5
The Cactus Where Your Heart Should Be This is nice slow ballad. He uses a clean guitar riff for the first time in a while here on this song, and it is a nice break from the effects. It is only a little over a minute though, so too short to really be a good song.
3/5
I Think I Need A New Heart Merritt uses a variety of strange instruments on this song including one that resembles a horse clicking its feet on the ground. He also sings falsetto on this song for the first time. It is not that bad either. The guitar is pretty simple, and as is the case with most of the songs it is over before the song begins to drag on which is good. Not a bad song at all, but not one of the best.
3.5/5
The Book of Love The song starts off with some soft guitar strumming. The vocals are nice and soft with a bit of reverb on them. This is a sweet ballad, no percussion, just guitar and singing. I like the lyrics on this song too. “I love it when you sing to me. You can sing me anything.” That’s really the highlight of the song. I think it is a great song.
4.5/5
Fido, Your Leash Is Too Long This song starts off upbeat with some synth noises which are pretty well constructed. The lyrics leave a bit to be desired. “Fido, your leash is too long” is repeated a bit too much I think (at the beginning and end of each verse). This is an interesting song to say the least, a new style for the album.
3.5/5
How ****ing Romantic This is just acapella singing with finger snapping. This is a filler song and nothing more. Not really that good, but effective for what it is.
2.5/5
The One You Really Love Banjo and strumming guitar chords drive this song. Merritt’s vocals are pretty similar to the previous songs. The songwriting is a bit weak on this song. It is a simple song that sticks to standard structure. The banjo solo is ok, but overall, this song is not too strong.
2/5
Punk Love Another filler song. There are some random vocals coming in from different places singing the words “Punk Love” over and over faster and faster and faster and faster.
2/5
Parades Go By There is a strange synth noise that sounds like a squish or something, and then that takes a backstage to a full sounding wall of synthesized organ. The vocals quickly expose a ballad. The reliance on synthesizers here is not bad at all. They fit the song very well. The background vocals are nice. Only when the organ and vocals cease do you realize that the squishy synth noise was there all along keeping tempo. A nice song.
3.5/5
Boa Constrictor Female lead vocals on this song. I really like the guitar riff on this song, and the vocals are very pretty, but the lyrics aren’t. Only about a minute long. I wish it was longer.
4/5
A Pretty Girl Is Like… A guitar strumming introduction. No percussion, just Merritt singing over acoustic guitar. This is really just nice lyrics. The melody is not too catchy, but he puts some good emotion into it, and I like that. Good simple song.
4/5
My Sentimental Melody What sounds like a harmonica begins the song. The vocals have a nice echoey effect on them. There are some female background vocals and some type of synth percussion that come in after a little bit. This song doesn’t really flow all that well, that is, the different sounds don’t go well together. Not a bad song, but not good either.
2.5/5
Nothing Matters When We’re Dancing This song has a very sweet acoustic guitar melody. It is a nice slow simple ballad that uses background vocals very well, and a nice dreamy effect throughout. The guitar is so simple and sweet and fits the vocals nicely. A good song.
4.5/5
Sweet-Lovin’ Man This is one of the longest songs on the album at around 5 minutes long. The lead vocals are female. The instruments blend together pretty nicely, and the vocals are lovely I think (I almost always like female vocals anyway). This is probably the most accessible and poppy song on the disc. The wall of synth is nice, and the melody is very effective. A great song.
5/5
The Things We Did and Didn’t Do This song is really a lesson in synth pop. Almost every sound on it is artificial, yet it is blended together in a way that creates a dreamy beautiful pop song. It is slow, and methodical, and a nice ending to the first disc.
4/5
Roses This is just an introduction type song for the second disc. Some echoed vocals and no instruments. The song is only 30 seconds long.
2.5/5
Love Is Like Jazz Like the title indicates this sounds a bit jazzy. It almost sounds improvised on the spot, and it is actually not all that bad. Not one of the stronger songs, but it is certainly a departure from what was heard on the first disk. A pretty strange song.
3.5/5
When My Boy Walks Down the Street A heavy wall of droning synth starts off this song. The rest of the song is again another simple poppy tune. Pretty upbeat, and the vocals and melody are pretty nice. As with almost all of the songs so far it is a bit repetitive.
3.5/5
Time Enough For Rockin’ When Were Old This song is just downright creepy. The vocals are somber, but the music is almost like a lullaby. The dark vocals combined with the lullaby type music make for a weird song. It isn’t that bad though, and pretty short too.
3/5
Very Funny I like this song. It is almost like a classic style love song that a Sinatra or something would sing. The vocal ability of Merritt really stands out in this song. This is probably the best he has been at singing on the album so far. Nice song.
4.5/5
Grand Canyon This is another song with a spacey feel to it. The music is pretty upbeat, and actually combined well with the downbeat vocals. The synthesized horn riff is beautiful. This is one of my favorites on the second disk. A very lovely song.
5/5
No One Will Ever Love You Another one of my favorites. He relies heavily on droning synths here. The vocals are female, and they are very pretty. Vocally, this is probably the best song on the entire album. The guitar riff in the distant is really the driving part of the song. I could just listen to this one on repeat really.
5/5
If You Don’t Cry This song is crazy. There are a wide range of synth sounds flowing around female vocals. The song is moderately catchy, but has too much of an artificial feel here. It is a cold song, unlike the warmth felt in the last 2 songs. Still it is a strong song though.
3.5/5
You’re My Only Home The music for this song almost sounds like something from a video game soundtrack or something, the synth pop influence is at it’s highest here. The middle section where it is just vocals is really the best part of the song. A decent song.
3/5
(Crazy For You But) Not That Crazy This song gets away from the heavy reliance on synth and implements an actual guitar here (imagine that). The vocals are still echoed as in the previous few songs. This album is starting to take on a different feel with this song.
3.5/5
My Only Friend This song relies on piano a lot. It is a ballad, and it is executed very nicely. The piano melody is very strong, and the vocals are nice and soothing. A strong song.
4.5/5
Promises of Eternity This song goes back to relying on the synthesized noises throughout. With each one of these songs the atmosphere created is much different from the classic guitar/piano songs that he does as well. This song doesn’t have a strong hook, and it seems like he is relying to much on the synths.
2/5
World Love This song has a nice soothing acoustic guitar and drums to drive the song. The vocals here are pretty nice once again. This is a good driving song. It is a bit sad, but the twinkling acoustic guitar still gives a magical sound to the song. I think it is a very good song.
4.5/5
Washington, D.C. This is an odd song. To begin it is a female voice spelling out the words W-A-S-H-I-N-G-T-O-N-baby-D-C. Then the song takes on a quirky pop piano song quality which is the stronger part of the song, then midway through the song the spelling returns again, but then finally it is a beautiful part to end the song.
5/5
Long-Forgotten Fairytale This song begins with a synthesized bass noise which I actually like a lot, then after a minute or so all the other sounds kick in and they blend together rather nicely. This song is pretty catchy, but almost too dancey. I like it though.
4/5
Kiss Me Like You Mean It This song sounds like something you would hear in church (if you attended a church in a magical synth land), and no, that isn’t really a good thing.
2/5
Papa Was A Rodeo This is another longer song that I don’t particularly like. It’s too dreary, and a bit repetitive. I don’t like the main vocal verse, but the falsetto chorus is pretty good. The song’s lyrics are a bit nonsensical too.
2.5/5
Epitaph for My Heart This song is nice, the vocals are deep and dark, but they fit more with the strumming guitar. A nice calming song. This is one of my favorite on the disk.
5/5
Asleep and Dreaming This is a sad dreamy song that a twinkling instrument that really captures the mood of the song. The accordion is also a very nice choice of instrument for such a delicate song. I say this song is pretty good.
3.5/5
The Sun Goes Down and the World Goes Dancing As the title would suggest, this song is pretty upbeat musically. The song is pretty danceable too. This is another one that has that poppy feel good sparkly quality to it. I like it.
4.5/5
The Way You Said Good-Night This song is amazing. It uses a cello I believe, and it fits perfectly with the mood of the song. The falsetto vocals are what really makes the song though. The lyrics are heavenly. This is a very very nice love song.
5/5
Abigail, Belle of Kilronan This song is the first time the banjo is used in a very long time, but it is still heavily drenched in effects. The melody is pretty nice, but I really don’t like his singing style on this song. It is a bit bluesy, but not that great.
3/5
I Shatter This is a failed experiment here. A filler song to end the album. The vocals are synthesized, and the instrumentation is choppy, and really borderline horrible. This song isn’t catchy in the least, and is probably the worst song on the album.
1/5
Underwear This sounds like a spy song, which is a bit creepy because he is talking about “a pretty girl in her underwear”. It could be the theme to a detective show or something. Not a bad song though, but not one of the better ones on the disk.
3/5
It’s A Crime At this point on the album, the reliance on synth for every melody hinders the album a little bit. This song has a Caribbean vibe to it, and uses steel drum synth. I actually like this song quite a bit though despite it’s reliance on artificial instruments.
4/5
Busby Berkely Dreams I love this song. It is a piano ballad. Merritt is really at his best when he is doing the piano ballads. He is also very good at producing quality piano melodies one after another. This is one of them.
5/5
I’m Sorry I Love You This is rock song with country female vocals. I think the lyrics are strong, but the mixture of styles between the vocals and instruments really doesn’t do anything for me. Not a great song.
2.5/5
Acoustic Guitar This song uses—get this—an acoustic guitar riff…and beautiful young female vocals. This is a lovely pure folky song, and I like it. It isn’t tarnished by all the extra synths that Merritt sometimes likes to throw in. A great song.
4.5/5
The Death of Ferdinand de Saussure This song has a nice strumming guitar, synth strings, and a catchy bass line with some hand claps thrown in at times. The vocals are just adequate as they are on most every track that Merritt sings on. This is a pretty good song, but not great.
3.5/5
Love In the Shadows A very soothing dreamy song musically. The vocals are just spoken, and really detract from the ambiance that he has with the synths. This song doesn’t really reach it’s potential.
2.5/5
Bitter Tears A simple song with strummed guitar chords, lo-fi vocals, and a banjo. Just an average song, and not really much special going on here.
3/5
Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget I don’t get this song at all. Again with the lo-fi vocals, and the phrase “Wi' Nae Wee Bairn Ye'll Me Beget” is used a lot. This song sounds like it was made about 500 years ago, and it doesn’t really work quite the way I am sure it was intended.
2/5
Yeah!, Oh, Yeah! This is my favorite song on the album. It has such a magical feel to it. It is a male/female duet, and the hook on it is probably the best on the entire album. This is a great dream pop and synth song, and the song I recommend by the Magnetic Fields.
5/5
Experimental Music Love Not a song, just some reverbed talking. Filler.
1.5/5
Meaningless The reverbed vocals on this song fit nicely with the upbeat pace of the song. It sounds like he is singing from a big cave or something, and the reverb is almost to the point where he is his own backup singer. The instrumentation is simple and good. I like this song.
4/5
Love Is Like A Bottle Of Gin This is a short filler song. It is basically comparing love to a bottle of gin. More of a poem than a song.
2.5/5
Queen of the Savages A wonderful folky song. He can create just the simplest of songs and give it such a great melody that the song is very good. This is one such song. Not much going on, yet I can’t stop listening.
4/5
Blue You This is a magical song with dense synths that create a dark mood. It is a bit spooky, and the instrumental part in the middle is the highlight. A pretty good song.
3/5
I Can’t Touch You Anymore This is what happens when a dance song and a bleak, atmospheric song collide. Musically, the song has good hooks, and the drum machine creates a song that you could easily dance to. That is until the vocals come in and create a different kind of mood. It is a great song.
5/5
Two Kinds of People This is a filler song. Only a minute long, and not a lot going on except for stating that there are “two kinds of people”
2/5
How To Say Goodbye This is right out of a synthesizer. All the instruments are artificial, and not very catchy, and the vocals are a bit boring. I like the lyrics, and that is why I am so disappointed with the song. I really see potential here, but it doesn’t seem like this song had much effort into it.
2.5/5
The Night You Can’t Remember This song has some strings and a banjo. A simple poppy melody. It is a nice feel good happy song. Midway through an accordion joins the strings for the part right after the chorus. It is pretty good there. However, overall I feel this is another underdeveloped song.
3/5
For We Are the King of Boudoir I’m like WTF? A filler song and lets leave it at that.
2/5
Strange Eyes Ok, now he is just piling on his synths toward the end of the album here. The female vocals actually fit pretty well with the synthesized noises which at times seem random. This is an insane song, but it is a good song nonetheless.
4/5
Xylophone Track This song implements—get this—a xylophone. This is a blues song through and through, dark raspy vocals go along with a plodding guitar/xylophone riff. This is really a departure from the rest of the album, almost like he is trying to just throw in the kitchen sink as the album draws to a close.
3/5
Zebra The last track on the album is a female ballad to accordion. It sounds like something you would here on the street in France or something. It is pretty good, but I am not too impressed with this for an album closer. It doesn’t really fit the mood right. I like it though.
3.5/5
So overall there is something here for everyone, and even though there are many throwaways, you can’t ignore the fact that when there are 69 tracks to choose from there are going to be quite a few great one.
