Mazzy Star - Magic or Mountebank?

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I was staying with someone last week and she was suggesting things to put on and said 'Mazzy Star?' and I asked her which one, and she thought I was being deliberately obscure or show-offy. "Come on, if someone said they had a Mazzy Star album which would it be?"

I kind of knew STTIMS was their best-selling, but I didn't think the idea of having one of the other two was that ridiculous. I had She Hangs Brightly first so that one always comes to mind. I never bought the third one - is it good?

So why was STTIMS such a hit? It's very similar to the first album, really. Was 'Fade Into You' featured in a film or something? Did it get daytime airplay?

― Alba (Alba), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 13:11 (nineteen years ago) link

'Fade Into You' was huge on modern rock stations and had a MTV 'Buzz' thing too. So yeah, your friend's answer makes sense.
I find the third one extremely boring and bland but a lot of people seem to swear by it.

― Baaderoni (Fabfunk), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 13:17 (nineteen years ago) link

I've only got the second one, and it's a close call between "like" and "dislike", but the occasional bursts of feedback tip the scales in favour of the former. I'll probably wind up buying She Hangs Brightly someday if I ever stumble across it.

And Hope Sandoval has got the most beautiful name in musical history.

― Myonga Von Bontee (Myonga Von Bontee), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 13:37 (nineteen years ago) link

She Hangs Brightly is the best album by far. David Roback does amazing guitar tones and fuzz, all bathed in reverb molasses. This one was kind of a follow on to Opal's Happy Nightmare Baby. I'm still looking for bootlegs with Hope singing Opal songs.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:26 (nineteen years ago) link

the hope sandoval and warm inventions album is beautiful and underrated, also. I probably listen to it more than the mazzy star records.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:30 (nineteen years ago) link

I like that one too.

― Tous Les Garcons S'Appellent Little Lord Travolta (nordicskilla), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:33 (nineteen years ago) link

in fact I definitely listen to it more than the mazzy star albums, I don't know why I said "probably". I think it's better. I do like She Hange Brightly, and the other two, but Fade into You (yes, undeniably, great) is so over used it's a cliche now. It was on the radio in a scene in that show Desperate Housewives!!! It is EVERYWHERE! I don't need to listen to it any more. Anyway Red House Painters plagarized it better on Song for a Blue Guitar.

― kyle (akmonday), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:36 (nineteen years ago) link

but Fade into You (yes, undeniably, great) is so over used it's a cliche now

OTM, I couldn't get into that Richard X feat. Jarvis Cocker "Into You" which samples it because it's so played out.

― Spencer Chow (spencermfi), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:39 (nineteen years ago) link

if someone had asked me what the MS album 'most likely to be...' was, I'd have said She Hangs.... i played it again recently in order to decide whether it merited voting for in The Poll (answer: not quite, but I still really enjoyed hearing it again.)

― zebedee (zebedee), Tuesday, 5 October 2004 16:46 (nineteen years ago) link

i always seem to come back to mazzy star every once in a while. Im surprised they're not more popular than they are. the songs are usually pretty good, but it just gets a little tiring because they all sound so similar. i wish they had expanded their sound just a tiny bit more. they may have become my favorite band ever...

wasted is a great great song.

― AaronK (AaronK), Friday, 15 October 2004 04:15 (nineteen years ago) link

three years pass...

i only have 'so tonight that i might see'. great record to complement a certain mood. 'mary of silence' is really really nice

― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 26 March 2008 09:18 (sixteen years ago) link

The first one's the bestest. The first record, I mean, it's called, uh, She Hangs Brightly. Great record. The other two ain't bad either.

― stephen, Thursday, 27 March 2008 06:09 (sixteen years ago) link

i'm enjoying this kind of music lately, so i should get my hands on that first one.

― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 27 March 2008 06:23 (sixteen years ago) link

also download opal's early recordings

― electricsound, Thursday, 27 March 2008 06:28 (sixteen years ago) link

cool, i'll look out for that one
hope doesn't appear in opal, right?

― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 27 March 2008 07:20 (sixteen years ago) link

she did at the very end but not on any of their studio recordings

― electricsound, Thursday, 27 March 2008 07:42 (sixteen years ago) link

my roommate just told me her and colm from mbv have finished a new album?

― chaki, Thursday, 27 March 2008 07:53 (sixteen years ago) link

she tends to contribute her voice to a lot of stuff, and i never seem to hear about it. wasn't aware of this latest collab

― Charlie Howard, Thursday, 27 March 2008 07:59 (sixteen years ago) link

WARNING: re-listening to these Mazzy Star albums now will give you goggles that will make Beach House and Marissa Nadler look like ridiculous posers

I like Beach House and Marissa Nadler, I'm just sayin'...

― If Assholes Could Fly This Place Would Be An Airport, Thursday, 27 March 2008 18:22 (sixteen years ago) link

ten months pass...

been listening to 'she hangs brightly' quite a lot recently. it's quite upbeat, channeling much brighter soundscapes than its brooding, sombre follow-up. keen to listen to 'among my swan' now.

― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 14:10 (fifteen years ago) link

SHB>>>STTIMS>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>AMS

― baaderonixx, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 14:14 (fifteen years ago) link

I concur. Not that there's anything particularly bad about Swan, I just didn't have much use for another iteration of the same sorta thing.

― Frank Sumatra (NickB), Wednesday, 11 February 2009 14:20 (fifteen years ago) link

That's what I thought when it was released but I feel that it does lack something, variety maybe? It just felt formulaic, whereas the 1st one was completely natural and effortless

― baaderonixx, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 14:31 (fifteen years ago) link

the first one's really nice, but effortless in the sense that it doesn't really dwell on any one particular mood. just sort of skirts around a whole bunch of different shades in a fleeting sort of way. the second one zones in on slow, ethereal textures at times and really nails it.

― Charlie Howard, Wednesday, 11 February 2009 14:41 (fifteen years ago) link

Among My Swan vs. Standing on the Shoulder of Giants

― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Wednesday, 11 February 2009 15:00 (fifteen years ago) link

btw, I luuuurve SHB, really really like STTIMS, & am pretty lukewarm on most of AMS w. the exception of a few really beautiful trax.

― 2 ears + 1 ❤ (Pillbox), Wednesday, 11 February 2009 15:03 (fifteen years ago) link

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