Review Summary: If you pick up The Ugly Organ you wont be able to put it down for days. This is a must have album for anyones music collection
The Ugly organ is hailed as one of cursives greatest works. It is there only full length album to feature a cellist which adds a great deal of atmosphere to there music. The album tells a some what sad story about the ugly organists life.
The Ugly Organist- this intro is nothing more that the ugly organist playing at what sounds like a carnival.
Some Red Handed Slight of Hand- The Drums kick in and then the cello comes in taking lead of the song. The ugly organists seems to have lots of pain in his life which fuels his music "There's no use to keep a secret, everything I hide ends up in lyrics..." he compares himself to a preacher making money off of his pain. Rating 4/5
Art Is Hard- This one of the best songs on the album. Again it starts out with drums then the cello comes in taking a hold of the song with a little help from the guitars. In this song the ugly organist says he needs pain to write music. The line "Keep churning out those hits 'til it's all the same old ***" seems to suggest that hes become a sell out and doesn't care about music anymore just money and fame. Rating 5/5
The Recluse- This is one of Cursive's best songs and IMO the highlight of the album. It has a dramatically different sound and feel from any of the other songs on the album. It starts out with Simple drum beat, a beautiful guitar rif, and the cello slightly more in the background. When the verse starts its just the simple drum beat and then the guitar quietly strums in followed by sleigh bells. The next verse starts with a great line from the cello along with the same drum. In the song the Organist awakes to find himself in a room of a woman he doesn't remember. It fits in with the theme of the album with lust and empty love. Rating 5/5
Herald! Frankenstein- The only lyrics to this song are "Now I can't stop the monster I've created." and theres not much to it.
Butcher The Song- The beginning of this song isn't that great and its played through out most of the song. The rest of the song is great though. This song suggests that people only want to hear about the pain and torment in his life. 3/5
Driftwood: A Fairy Tale- The Cello plays some really beautiful parts but the guitar and drums are the main attraction here. Theres also a bit of organ in here. In this song it seems he is sinking further and further into depression. He tries to drink away the pain and buy love but it doesn't help him at all. At the end of the song he has started to question his own reason for existence. A sad but good song. Rating 3.5/5
A Gentleman Caller- This first half of this song is filled with LOTS of noise its chaotic. The rest is all cello with a nice drum beat behind it. The ugly organist has now started drinking more and more and is no longer looking for love. He then wakes up wondering what has become of himself. Rating 5/5
Harold Weathervein- This is the only boring track on the whole album. The song starts out with cello and the drums kick in after that it just kinda repeats the same riffs and lyrics over and over again and the last minute of the song is random organ and noise. I cant really tell what the lyrics mean either. Rating 2.5/5
Bloody Murderer- The song has a great intro with and the verses have a weird eerie feel to them. All of this slowly builds to the climax of the song Were Tim is literally screaming bloody murder and the cello is leading the song. The song seems to be about Memories of his past haunting and tormenting him. Rating 4/5
Sierra- This song starts out with guitar and cello slowly comming in louder and louder untill the verses start. The cello is playing the lead why the guitar plays a nice rhythm. This song is about him seeing his daughter for the first time (or wanting to). She is a single mom or may have a new lover because he abandoned her after sleeping with her. The organist wishes he had never left her and wants to finally settle down and help raise Sierra. Rating 5/5
Staying Alive- The final track on this album ends the story nicely. It starts out with some ambient guitar not loud at all and cymbals you can barley hear until the cello kicks in. Cursives unusual guitar sound the becomes present. Then the guitar comes out to take the lead with a bit of feed back. Then everything backs of and you hear some chanting of dododododo with ambient background sounds for the next several minutes. This song is about the organist trying to stay alive and live the rest of his life a new man. Rating 3.5/5
