My Favourite Faded Fantasy comments - SPOILERS!
 

Maybe we can talk about the album here, so who wants to wait or hasn't listened yet doesn't get spoiled.

After the first listening I already loved the album. Maybe a bit confused by It Takes A Lot To Know A Man, but I've been playing it three times now and it's amazing.

And the whole thing really makes sense as a whole... something 9 didn't, I think.

:smiley27:

It feels like a vintage album that's meant to be played straight through. It's a single entity. I love it. I really love it.

I absolutely adore It Takes A Lot To Know A Man. It was very different but - just perfect!

Reposting: I think It takes a lot... is amazing. Easily my highlight of the album and for me personally maybe the best thing he's ever made. But maybe that's just due to the excitement of a new release. ;) The Box is also great.

MFFF is what 9 should have been. It's as much a continuation of as it is an evolution from O. And most of all, it's a coherent album as opposed to the collection of songs that was 9.

My review from itunes:

My Favourite Faded Fantasy is hauntingly beautiful.

Damien Rice will find the part of your heart that you thought had sealed up years ago, tear it out and feed it hope. Like every great long lost love, it's exciting to see them again until the crushing lovesickness returns. MFFF is no different. So loosen your heartstrings because Damien is sure to yank the hell out of them. Welcome back, old friend.

I'm so glad you started this thread. I don't love some of the lyrics of ITALTKAM (they are a bit corny), but I love the chorus, the melody, the end, and instrumentation. The production is gorgeous! Rick Rubin, wow! I can get behind this kind of "overproduction!" The album versions of Bastard and Box are better than any version I've heard before, IMO!

Amazing review and very accurate! Thanks for sharing!

I agree so much!! Played it straight through at least twice already.

This album is perfection!!!! And what about the almost sigur ros-esque Long Long Way with Marketa!!

it´s beyond words how good this album is...

and I was quite worried cos I had heard 7/8 out of the songs live in person, and love them all, but usually it´s difficult to make the transition from live version to studio version, many artists fail, even Damien with 9, so I was worried... But I didn´t need to be cos the album is perfection. The first clue was yesterday when I heard Bastard, which was just pure perfection, all very minimal, the opposite of overproduction, with lots of things going on but never over-powering Damo´s voice or guitar...

have to admit I still haven´t listened to it in sequence from start to finish, as I was too intrigued and jumped to the newies.

My first impression of ITALTKAM was that it was a bit weird, 2nd and 3rd listen maybe better but hasn´t clicked yet, sounds a bit like the French songs he did with that Melanie woman. But knowing the song was 10 min long, it´s kinda what I was expecting.

After that I jumped to the last 4 songs, which all are amazing, flawless, perfection. His voice sounds amazing, so vulnerable but full of emotion at the same time, and when he sings he has this sorta sadness that kinda transcends... Colour Me In is the best for me, very much like the solo live version, with only some added orchestration towards the end, a bit like Bastard. All very minimal. Which suits the song perfectly. The Box is much better than I was expecting, the first part is also very similar to the solo live version then it explodes and it´s great, with a lot going on but not too much, perfect.
Trusty & True is unbelievably amazing, the second part has also a lot going on, other voices, other instruments than come and do, better than I could have ever anticipated.
But maybe the biggest surprise is LLW. I anticipated it was gonna be in falsetto like the Whelans version, which also makes sense in my head, the start and end of the album being in falsetto, almost like impersonating Lisa hahaha. The album version of LLW is incredible, very minimalistic, very Alex & Jonsi/Sigur Ros, I assume the female singer is Marketa. Her vocals combined with Damien sound great. Perfect album finale.

On my second listen now... for the first time, I started with ITALTKAM and was going to jump around, but decided to listen to the remainder straight through. I'm really glad that I did. I really love the flow of songs, a perfect album.

Can someone please help with the lyrics of It Takes A Lot To Know A Man?

It takes a lot to know a man
it takes a lot to understand
the warrior, the sage
the little boy in rage

it takes a lot to know a woman
a lot to understand her (??)
the honeybee, the stain
the little girl with wings

it takes a lot to give,
to ask for help, to be yourself
to know and love what you ...?

takes a lot to be, to touch, to feel
the slow reveal of what your body...

it takes a lot to know a man
a lot to know, to understand
a father and a son
the hunter and the gun

it takes a lot know a woman
a lot to comprehend what's common
a mother and a child
the muse and the ??

takes a lot to give,
to ask for help, to be yourself,
to know and love what you ??

takes a lot to breathe
to touch, to feel
the slow reveal
of what another body needs

takes a lot to give
to ask for help, to be yourself
to know and love what you ??

takes a lot to breathe
to touch, to feel
the slow reveal
of what another body needs

takes a lot to live,
to ask for help, to be yourself,
to know and love what you...

takes a lot to breathe
to touch, to feel
the slow reveal
of what another body needs

what are you se afraid to lose
what is it you're thinking
that will happen if you (do?)

(you want me to tell me
you're not the ?? story
?? but baby
saying that ?? is killing me)

the second line sounds like "a lot to understand what's humming" ?


the muse and the beguiled

Here's my stream-of-thought review I wrote up last night on his subreddit:

1. My Favourite Faded Fantasy (6:14) is the falsetto version, which I was expecting but still kinda lets me down. Wish it were the normal voice one.

2. It Takes A Lot To Know A Man (9:34) reminds me of Ain't No Sunshine by Bill Withers. Has a cool piano riff that he plays over and over again, trading off between the riff and a line of the song over and over. And then strings come in just like in Aint no Sunshine. It's a super cool song. The chorus has some subtle female vocals oooohing and aaaaahing between him singing. And it has a slightly dark feel with the violins. the chorus actually brought to mind the Haunted Mansion at disneyland. It's just a little eerie in the tone. It builds and builds to this huge crescendo and then finishes, and then you look and see the song is only halfway through. Super weird. Sounds like a quiet little rain interlude or something, then starts back in with the simple melody on the piano. gets more intricate, string instruments and drums come in to accompany it, no vocals, then female ooohs and aaaahs again in the background. now horns, too. everything gets louder and louder, female vocals more intense and operatic, still creepy. then it ends and there's still another 1.5 mins left. long ****ing song. now its just strings playing the tune on repeat.

3. The Greatest Bastard (5:06) you've heard.

4. I Don't Want To Change You (5:26) you've heard.

5. Colour Me In (5:19) you've probably heard too, live. Just him and acoustic guitar for a good while. Then a teeny bit of a flute comes in, and piano. And now violin during the "come let me love you" parts. 2/3 through the song he has a full orchestra backing him. acoustic orchestra. no drums or percussion. beautiful strings. last minute of the song is just back to acoustic with some very mild violins in the background, no vocals.

6. The Box (4:28) you've heard. just acoustic and him for first half of song, then violin comes in. or cello maybe, even. its deeper. then bass. full strings now. now drums. this sounds very italian almost. reminds me of a mafia godfather type sound with the strings. super crescendo, then cuts off last 30 seconds with just him and acoustic guitar.

7. Trusty and True (8:10) is ****ing fantastic. Ok so I still love the sound of my LA choir more than this I think maybe just cause Im used to them. This isn't as sharp as that. its softer. Starts off just him and guitar, which is what I thought it was all gonna be. So all of a sudden after almost 2 mins, he starts harmonizing with himself, which is a little odd. "what is done, what is past." so let us start from here...then more instruments kick in. light drums, almost like a flamenco guitar? or banjo? bongo drum keeping beat from now on. now here are the strings in the next chorus. more harmonizing with himself. then piano really kicks in along with more strings. then you hear female voice oooohing in the background. then before he starts the "come, come alone..." parts a female voice starts singing a little vocal loop, no words, that he starts singing over. so her soft high vocals loop in the background. "come with friends" line like three different guys start singing with him, and then a girl, then they keep singing that, and like three more people start singing a different phrase in time with them, over them, under them, and it's building and there are just words all over the place and harmonies everywhere and piano gets stronger and strings are holding the note for a few seconds and then it just KICKS IT UP with horns and the vocal overlaps and more instruments come in and gets grander and grander. So many layers. Everything cuts off about 1:15 before the end and its just him and guitar again. and the light piano keys like in the LA video. no vocals. ends with piano and guitar. beautiful. i still like the rawness of the LA video but this is so much better than i expected for the studio version.

8. Long Long Way (6:27) starts kind of airy, falsetto vocals, strings, it's very slow. Has a Sigur Ros-y vibe. I think there's a horn in the background. Very thick snare drum brushing to give it texture. there's a female voice that sings opposite him. "D: not now" "girl: only in the way" "D: but maybe later" so that first 2:24 does that, and then piano just plays two keys over and over, and guitar comes in, and all of a sudden he is playing the exact chord progression of Cold Water. You can literally sing that song over this. I almost feel like this is the response to Cold Water like Elephant is to Blowers Daughter. It's very slow, he's singing "not enough" over and over and the female comes back in to harmonize with him. Light drums and horns start in, and lots of strings. Everything building together, song's only 2/3 done. Everything cuts off at 5:00 cept for the strings, has almost a metallic sound at the cut off, like a bell, oh and there are bells chiming, and the girl is still singing "la da dee da da" over the melody, then trumpet comes in lightly to take over for her, and the whole thing kinda dissolves. Elements of this song remind me a lot of Sigur Ros. Very ethereal.

And that's it! Hope you enjoyed my live blog of the new album. It's really ****ing good.

And the more I listen to It Takes A Lot, I freaking LOVE it. I played it in my car this morning on the way to work and I almost forgot where I was going. It puts me in a trance.

And clarinet at the end of Long Long Way!

Me, too. It doesn't feel like it's as long as it is.

Agree about LLW the second part reminded me of Cold Water a lot. At the moment this is my favorite. It takes my mind to places...and seems to last much shorter than the 6 min...

it takes a lot to know a woman
a lot to understand ?what's humming?
the honeybee, ?the sting?
the little girl with wings
...
it takes a lot to know a woman
a lot to comprehend?what's coming?
the mother and the child
the muse ?in her beguiles?

thanks everyone!
any clue on the last part??
makes more sense, thanks

Whole album is out on the internet

and we are all listening to it right now *whoops*

P.S: Naturally i ordered the wooden box-set :)

I just don't quite get why It Takes a Lot isn't the last track on the album? It's perfect for that position. The second track is usually something a little tighter and the more exploratory stuff is at the end of an album.

Its not the worst thing in the world, but the long instrumental outro really feels like its breaking up the momentum of the album.

I mean, for downloading, not just streaming. The scene torrent is out. Better quality than the chinese stream.

its also online on the usual onclick-hosted leak-websites.
(Any HQ-Streams are avail as well)

I Don't Want to Change You really benefits from the context of this album. Way way way better than listening to it as a single. I don't actively dislike it this way.

what i think is really bad is this falsetto version of my favourite faded fantasy on the album.
the normal one is so much better. dont like this one..

What is "the other version"? Just the two verses he sung live for the video?

I truly don't care that its in falsetto.

So Long Long Way is literally just re-arranged Cold Water?

I think the album is missing a couple rock songs in the middle. Something in the 4:00 range with a driving drumbeat.