This is strongly front-loaded -- I barely remember side two, but the first three are all among the greatest tracks FoW ever recorded.
The answer here for me is "Mexican Wine." Boy do I love "Bright Future in Sales," -- and it has some of the craziest, most pyrotechnic lyrical work these guys ever produced, but there's a whiff of condescension to the main character that I don't love, and the music is to some extent just a pastiche "let's make it sound 70s and heavy/groovy" -- Stacy's Mom has the same problem but with the Cars.
But "Mexican Wine." This is purely them. And there are so many tiny perfections in this track -- the swagger of those last guitar chords that finish it off! And the way the story of the song doesn't really make sense but it makes sense. Much like "Radiation Vibe," and I think "Mexican Wine" is really the only song in their later catalog that you can think of as a successor to that one.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 15 August 2018 22:03 (five years ago) link
Now ask me to choose between "Radiation Vibe" and "Barbara H." and "Joe Rey" and "Sink To The Bottom" and "Leave The Biker" and then I just turn into a little puddle of ambivalence.
― Guayaquil (eephus!), Wednesday, 15 August 2018 22:04 (five years ago) link
When I was 14 and listening to this I inevitably skipped "Halley's Waitress" and "Hung Up On You" but now I think they're both delightful
― faculty w1fe (silby), Wednesday, 15 August 2018 22:11 (five years ago) link
This is a hard one. Voted for Valley Winter Song, one of their finest tunes.
― Marty8501 (Marty Innerlogic), Wednesday, 15 August 2018 22:40 (five years ago) link
But I could have easily chosen any of the first ten songs...
― Marty8501 (Marty Innerlogic), Wednesday, 15 August 2018 22:42 (five years ago) link
When it came out this one was my soundtrack while making chicken pot pies nearly every damn night at my old apartment
― calstars, Wednesday, 15 August 2018 22:54 (five years ago) link
the last four songs are pretty bad
have we ever done a thread about songs where each verse is about a different character a la "Mexican Wine" or "Ironic" or "Mmm Mmm Mmm Mmm"?
― wayne trotsky (Simon H.), Wednesday, 15 August 2018 23:27 (five years ago) link
I haven't listened to this since it was new--I remember liking it a lot less than their previous album, and "Stacy's Mom" annoyed me--but "Hey Julie" is the one I remember most fondly.
― Police, Academy (cryptosicko), Thursday, 16 August 2018 00:03 (five years ago) link
"Fire Island" is to me the most beguiling tune they ever done…"all Kinds of time" is also remarkable…I think Collingwood and Schlesinger don't get along any more…
― veronica moser, Thursday, 16 August 2018 01:52 (five years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Friday, 14 September 2018 00:01 (five years ago) link
man, one of the all-time "first 2/3rds perfect, final third forgettable" albums right here
dunno how to choose between Mexican Wine, Stacy, Hackensack, Valley Winter Song and Hey Julie
― alpine static, Friday, 14 September 2018 01:01 (five years ago) link
Stacy's Mom is an absolutely killer pop song. ppl who don't like it are on the wrong side of history.
― alpine static, Friday, 14 September 2018 01:03 (five years ago) link
No Better Place, easy
― kornrulez6969, Friday, 14 September 2018 02:32 (five years ago) link
Hackensack, i think
― a Mets fan who gave up on everything in the mid '80s (Dr Morbius), Friday, 14 September 2018 04:06 (five years ago) link
I dint even remember several of these (lil red light?), but fuck, so so solid. Still thinking valley winter song for dumbass sentimental foolish-feeling reasons.
― Hunt3r, Friday, 14 September 2018 04:18 (five years ago) link
damn, Hey Julie vs Mexican Wine vs Hackensack vs Valley Winter Song for me. I wanna listen to this now.
I think eephus convinced me to vote Mexican Wine. The key change and background vocals on the final verse seal the deal
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 14 September 2018 11:39 (five years ago) link
Was it on ILX that someone pointed out that s/t = high school, Utopia = college and WIM = real life / first job? Because that's otm
― Paul Ponzi, Friday, 14 September 2018 11:41 (five years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Saturday, 15 September 2018 00:01 (five years ago) link
Hey, my pick won! A few more voters and Little Red Light would’ve picked up a vote probably. Maybe none of the rest.
― faculty w1fe (silby), Saturday, 15 September 2018 00:15 (five years ago) link
Main takeaway for me was that Supercolider is pretty cool. The rest of the album still rules...
― Hunt3r, Saturday, 15 September 2018 01:41 (five years ago) link
Yeah, and it got no votes.
For a long time, this was supercollider for me, but these days it's all Hackensack.
I also love the lyrical concept for Hailey's Waitress, even if it's not one of the best songs on the album.
― enochroot, Monday, 17 September 2018 01:48 (five years ago) link