That's because it's Steev Mike.
― mfktz (Camaraderie at Arms Length), Sunday, 4 March 2018 23:54 (six years ago) link
I've been racking my brain as to what Total Freedom sounds like. It's really familiar. Like some radio friendly rock band from the mid to late 2000s like The Fray or The Script or OneRepublic or something of that ilk. Though I've also seen the suggestion that it sounds like Adele's Someone Like You, and that might be it.
― MarkoP, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 03:42 (six years ago) link
Moments on the album do make me think of Folie à Deux-era Fall Out Boy.
― No purposes. Sounds. (Sund4r), Tuesday, 6 March 2018 04:39 (six years ago) link
"Party Mindset" sounds like the 1988 Brian Wilson album
― had (crüt), Tuesday, 6 March 2018 05:21 (six years ago) link
I honestly haven't listened to anything by him since I Get Wet but I'm really digging this.
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 11:29 (six years ago) link
I saw him live circa I Get Wet and it was fantastic.
― AlXTC from Paris, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 11:30 (six years ago) link
I sometimes wonder about his religious background. You could replace "party" with "prayer" on most of these and not lose much
PRAY TILL YOU PUKE !
"Music is Worth Living For" giving me strong Klaus Nomi vibes!
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 6 March 2018 13:45 (six years ago) link
sund4r otm
― maura, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 14:43 (six years ago) link
20 dollar nose bleed
― lowercase (eric), Tuesday, 6 March 2018 14:50 (six years ago) link
one of these songs sounds a lot like ELO i dont know which one.
"The Devil's On Your Side" is so good. that extended guitar solo is incredible.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 6 March 2018 17:04 (six years ago) link
it's probably song of the year so far for me
― imago, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 17:08 (six years ago) link
it doesn't have a guitar solo though
― imago, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 18:32 (six years ago) link
The emotional spirit of this album is incredible
― josh az (2011nostalgia), Tuesday, 6 March 2018 19:16 (six years ago) link
my bad! it does have an ever-building orchestral-synth-and-drums instrumental crescendo
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 6 March 2018 19:48 (six years ago) link
on repeat, love every track
― nxd, Tuesday, 6 March 2018 20:18 (six years ago) link
I've been listening to Party Mindset on repeat all day so I'm gonna go with that one
― had (crüt), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 02:54 (six years ago) link
(also crying)
― had (crüt), Wednesday, 7 March 2018 03:01 (six years ago) link
Guys
I've just discovered Close Calls With Brick Walls
Why didn't you tell me about this earlier
― imago, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 12:41 (six years ago) link
Not Going To Bed is like the starter pistol for joy itself
― imago, Wednesday, 7 March 2018 19:20 (six years ago) link
This album is so amazing! Def. album of the year so far for me, and it will be hard to usurp the position. There's so many good songs on this one... Party Mindset is of course a clear stand-out. I'd also like to give a shout out to Total Freedom... it's just such nice melodies and his voice is so pretty on it, I've listened to it quite a bit on repeat.
― Frobisher, Thursday, 8 March 2018 22:19 (six years ago) link
kinda feel like when in Bill & Ted they reveal that Wyld Stallyns would be an all-important inspirational band that brought world peace, this album is the closest thing we have to that irl
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 00:14 (six years ago) link
Whoa that’s super otm
― frogbs, Friday, 9 March 2018 00:17 (six years ago) link
yeah that's very otm
― Simon H., Friday, 9 March 2018 00:20 (six years ago) link
"Ever Again" recently unlocked for me. i love it now. it's like an Ozzy song! "They made me think I was crazy"
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 01:24 (six years ago) link
"I Don't Know Anything" is like an "All Things Must Pass" song written and played by The Ramones.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 01:27 (six years ago) link
this album is like the new Sgt. Pepper of power pop.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 01:28 (six years ago) link
wall of sound/noise has always been a big part of the Andrew WK-Ramones connection
"The Party Never Dies" is SUPER Ozzy. this album is hot
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 01:32 (six years ago) link
Ozzy at the Olympics
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 02:06 (six years ago) link
Went with "Beyond Oblivion". It is truly massive and if you're ever able to sit and watch large ships leave a dock while this is playing, you should, had a pretty magical experience doing this. I also watched a good amount of Dunkirk to this album which was also pretty wild. I half recommend that. But anyhow, love the album, nearly went with "Total Freedom" which is incredible and weirdly inspiring. This is easily the most positive album I think I've ever heard.
― gman59, Friday, 9 March 2018 06:08 (six years ago) link
imago you should get the comp of unreleased stuff called Mother of Mankind, which I believe came with the much-delayed US version of Close Calls. it's surprisingly eclectic, with a long reggae jam, some Stevie Wonder-style clavier funk, one track that out-Meatloafs the Loaf ("Coming Bad"), a couple that sound just like Sparks, plus some really epic instrumental stuff and tunes like "Kill Yourself" and "I Will Find God" which are sort of the flip side of AWK's persona. all that plus a tune which sounds like an IGW outtake, but is probably better than half of that album (you'll know when you hear it).
― frogbs, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:22 (six years ago) link
I'll check it out!
For all that the new album is amazing, I think CCWBW might be an even greater discovery
― imago, Friday, 9 March 2018 14:40 (six years ago) link
yeah Close Calls is incredible. get Mother of Mankind, it pretty much makes it into a 2xLP
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 9 March 2018 19:15 (six years ago) link
Yeah so I just finished my first time through and was like "well shit, what can I listen to after that?" So here we go again!
― how's life, Friday, 9 March 2018 20:56 (six years ago) link
i love the title track too. Meat Loaf-like fantasy power pop (like "This is My World") but with Disney strings and AC/DC vocals. "Make your dreams your destiny" Andrew W.K. as Jiminy Cricket.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Saturday, 10 March 2018 18:58 (six years ago) link
the chorus of "Keep on Going" reminds me of The Rentals for some reason. its such a cool song! the "far away from everyone" bit makes me think of Sparks. this record RULES
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Sunday, 11 March 2018 20:47 (six years ago) link
I kinda wonder if he’s a closet Sparks fan, because he’s got the ability to emulate them pretty damn closely. Listen to “I Want Your Face”, it’s like a lost tune off Propaganda
― frogbs, Monday, 12 March 2018 01:12 (six years ago) link
can't stop thinking about how brilliant that "WELL I GUESS WE PROVED YOU WRONG" hook is
this album is so great. gtfo Pitchfork with this pithy 6.6. unless that was meant to be a 6.66.
― frogbs, Friday, 16 March 2018 14:10 (six years ago) link
pitchfork have the right to be miserable fucks
― imago, Friday, 16 March 2018 14:11 (six years ago) link
I'm going to the London show btw! :D
― imago, Friday, 16 March 2018 14:12 (six years ago) link
"is this guy for real always singing about partying all the time?" is the most annoying thing ever. do music journalists ever ask Robert Smith if he is for real with the makeup and goth music? or if Radiohead is for real acting miserable all the time?
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Friday, 16 March 2018 15:15 (six years ago) link
Id imagine music journalists could at least identify a lot more with that last one
― frogbs, Friday, 16 March 2018 15:33 (six years ago) link
this is between "keep on going," "the devil's on your side," "break the curse," and "total freedom." "keep on going"'s been helping me out a lot lately so i'll probably go for it
i said on facebook a few weeks ago that this album is therapy, i.e. andrew w.k. cares about me for approximately an hour and i cry a lot and feel an odd weightlessness afterward
― flamenco drop (BradNelson), Friday, 16 March 2018 15:40 (six years ago) link
this album taking off on here has been my favorite thing on the board so far this year
― Simon H., Friday, 16 March 2018 15:45 (six years ago) link
brad/simon otm
― imago, Friday, 16 March 2018 15:47 (six years ago) link
yea there's definitely a therapeutic aspect to his work. this album particularly, but really all of it. I remember being a car and hearing the line from "You Will Remember Tonight" that goes "...and after all these years, this is your life", and it was exactly what I needed to hear in the moment
if you haven't read it, the response he gave to being named the American Association Of Suicidology's "person of the year" is incredibly thoughtful, especially since there are some suicidal themes in his own work (including a song outright called "Kill Yourself"). I mean look at the lyrics to Music is Worth Living For - "Give me the will to love/So below and as above/The only way that I'll survive/Music makes me want to stay alive"
― frogbs, Friday, 16 March 2018 16:05 (six years ago) link
I couldn't help but chuckle at the almosy mythic language he deploys in his response, honestly bless him
― Simon H., Friday, 16 March 2018 16:57 (six years ago) link
kinda feel like when in Bill & Ted they reveal that Wyld Stallyns would be an all-important inspirational band that brought world peace, this album is the closest thing we have to that irl― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, March 8, 2018 4:14 PM
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, March 8, 2018 4:14 PM
Hard to believe it's been ten years since Dragonforce released Ultra Beatdown. Which is a clear influence on this album imo. He's edged closer and closer to that aesthetic and basically he's there now. It's just that the songs are shorter.
― everything, Friday, 16 March 2018 18:26 (six years ago) link
Is...is the next step really Dragonforce
― imago, Friday, 16 March 2018 18:47 (six years ago) link
still almost impossible. every time i listen to this album each successive song feels like a step up from the last one.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Tuesday, 5 June 2018 10:58 (six years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Wednesday, 6 June 2018 00:01 (six years ago) link
they're all winners
― nxd, Wednesday, 6 June 2018 08:35 (six years ago) link
Wow these results are a trip
― bernard snowy, Thursday, 7 June 2018 10:36 (six years ago) link
(Not saying I "disagree" -- there are no wrong answers here -- it's just funny that, on an album with so many straight-up bangers, people were drawn to the more subtle, slow-building numbers)
― bernard snowy, Thursday, 7 June 2018 12:12 (six years ago) link
I voted Break the Curse cuz the last 2 minutes were so overwhelming
honestly I still can't decide, I'm actually kinda leaning towards the title track now. kinda wild to hear AWK attempt a vocal performance like that
― frogbs, Thursday, 7 June 2018 13:00 (six years ago) link
i voted for the title track mostly for the vocal performance. it's on some classic rock level.
― Hazy Maze Cave (Adam Bruneau), Thursday, 7 June 2018 13:15 (six years ago) link
anyway after like 15 listens to this I'm starting to think it would be an all-time classic if the mastering was better. it just sounds so brickwalled. but damn is the music good.
― frogbs, Friday, 8 June 2018 14:18 (six years ago) link
Still holds up
― Feel a million filaments (Sund4r), Sunday, 26 April 2020 03:34 (four years ago) link