My Favourite Faded Fantasy comments - SPOILERS!

[dawno]

Originally Posted by Chrysler

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..

I prefer when he sings it in his lower register as well. I don't love the falsetto, but I don't mind it during the last verse when he's performing it live (like he did at The Box)

[tessalasset]

Yeah, the falsetto isn't the greatest. In little snippets it's fine, but not for the entire song. Patrick, when you asked on reddit what song you wish he would cover, I immediately started thinking through my favorite Bon Iver songs (who became my de facto favorite singer during Damien's quiet years), and I realized....Damien would suck at those songs. Hahaha. His falsetto doesn't affect me the way Justin's does.

I disagree about putting It Takes A Lot... at the end of the album. Yes, it worked for Eskimo, but I love the placement, actually. This album begs you to listen in full, so I'm never waiting for the catchy singles to come on. This album is to 9 what Valtari was to Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust for Sigur Ros. It's the come down album. I feel peaceful listening to it.

[mario_d]

After seven years and with a new band, I'm not really interested in a companion album to 9.

This is its own entity by force of circumstance. Either this is Damien Rice in the year 2014, in which case I will be disappointed (though I don't think it is since he's still playing stuff like WLAM live), or this album doesn't fully represent Damien Rice in the year 2014. Which is kind of a shame, since that means of his three albums, only one of them managed to represent the full spectrum of his music.

[tessalasset]

This sounds like a companion album to 9 to you? I'm very surprised you're not digging it as much as the rest of us. So you were hoping for a more lively sound? More I Remember-ish stuff, or...?

[mario_d]

You're the one who viewed it as a companion album to 9.

Originally Posted by tessalasset

This album is to 9 what Valtari was to Með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust for Sigur Ros. It's the come down album. I feel peaceful listening to it.

There are a couple things I am missing in the sound of this album. Again, I think its a good album. Every song on here is done very well. I just think it would be improved by a few more songs in the middle with some drums and some full band, structured, songs.

The thing that hooked me on Damien Rice in 2002 was the chorus to Volcano. That three part vocal loop is just mind-blowing. Regardless of who was on stage, the highlights for me have always been the band interplay in the music, and that's the best example of that. Lisa wailing in the chorus of WLAM while Damien sang. Damien and Brandon trading off drum/guitar in the Coconut Skins jam. When Joel came in, I think he did a great job of using his guitar almost atmospherically to interplay with the rest of the band.

I always enjoyed the band known as Damien Rice (Damien, Vyv, Tomo/Brandon, Joel/Lisa). This album is like a solo album by the musician Damien Rice.

Again, its a good album. It's just missing the things I like the most about the band, which may or may not exist anymore. We're still waiting to find out.

[ElephantMan]

Originally Posted by mario_d

You're the one who viewed it as a companion album to 9.


There are a couple things I am missing in the sound of this album. Again, I think its a good album. Every song on here is done very well. I just think it would be improved by a few more songs in the middle with some drums and some full band, structured, songs.

The thing that hooked me on Damien Rice in 2002 was the chorus to Volcano. That three part vocal loop is just mind-blowing. Regardless of who was on stage, the highlights for me have always been the band interplay in the music, and that's the best example of that. Lisa wailing in the chorus of WLAM while Damien sang. Damien and Brandon trading off drum/guitar in the Coconut Skins jam. When Joel came in, I think he did a great job of using his guitar almost atmospherically to interplay with the rest of the band.

I always enjoyed the band known as Damien Rice (Damien, Vyv, Tomo/Brandon, Joel/Lisa). This album is like a solo album by the musician Damien Rice.

Again, its a good album. It's just missing the things I like the most about the band, which may or may not exist anymore. We're still waiting to find out.

^ ya i agree

[tessalasset]

I do agree that this one sounds much more personal/solo to him. This is definitely his project, not his band's. I can appreciate what you're saying with that. I do think Marketa (or whoever the girl is) adds a lot to the songs on the new one, but not in the equal way Lisa appeared on the older stuff. I'm a huge sucker for strings, so the songs don't sound lacking a full band to my ears. But I understand more what you're saying now. Never meant to say this was a companion piece. More that it left me with the same feelings Valtari did after SR's poppy album. Just a coincidence. Honestly, though, I don't even think I really separate any of Damien's stuff. To me he just keeps adding songs to the catalog, this big ongoing entity. Even the unreleased stuff, it's all part of his story and I like seeing the different directions and the ups and downs. I really am just a fan girl to the Nth degree and he can do no wrong in my eyes. Haha.

[eva_arg]

I just listened to it and I really like it. It doens't sound overproduced as I feared. The only thing I don't like, just as some of you mentioned, is the falsetto in MFFF.
Trusty and True, The Box and LLW are my faves so far


is Marketa the female voice in the songs? it sounded like her in Long Long Way but not in "It takes a lot...."

[mario_d]

Originally Posted by tessalasset

I'm a huge sucker for strings, so the songs don't sound lacking a full band to my ears.

It's hard to put into exact language, but I think this little part here we're not on the same page. To me, the strings almost tie this entire album together. And I don't think the songs sound hollow or empty, in that meaning of full band.

However, outside of the title track, I don't recall a single guitar lick, or drum fill, bass/cello run, on the whole album. I don't hear a band of individual musicians who I recognize making this music. I hear a studio/backing band.

Actually, that's not entirely true. I listened to Colour Me In at 3:05 to 3:15 and and thought to myself, "That sounds exactly like Vyv on cello". And then again at 4:25 to 4:45 there was a tone in the cello that is either Vyv or someone influenced by Vyv. It's very similar to her section in the Amie outro. I'm interested to find out if she's credited on that track.

But other than that, no single instrument moment really stood out with a personality. Even the female vocals sounded like "female vocals" not like a particular unique voice to me. I've listened to a lot of David Rawlings with several different groups, and I didn't recognize his guitar particularly anywhere. I didn't really recognize Joel's guitar, either. I didn't recognize and particularly distinct drumming or bass or anything else.

As a means of understanding by comparison, if you listen to the cello which is at the forefront of The Box, it's just playing the melody of the song straight and clean. There's no individual musician's spin on it. There's nothing wrong with that, and I don't want every musician to be putting their own spin on every note they play or you get into super nerdy prog rock. But I miss that interplay on this album.

I was at the Warsaw show and the lights went out at the end of Cold Water, and Glen snuck on stage in the dark and sang the first verse of Hallelujah. And before we knew that happened, my first thought was that something was weird in the vocals. It was a man, and an Irish brogue, but what I noticed wasn't that it was Glen's voice instead of Damien's, but that it wasn't Damien's normal voicing. The breaths and emphasis and just the "sound" was different. Then I began to realize it wasn't Damien singing. They both are singing the same words in the same key in the same melody, but they are unmistakably different "takes" on that one verse still.

That's what I mean by having a "band". Not just the instruments and fullness, but other people carrying the load, not just filling in the holes.

Again, this is a critique, not a criticism.


Edit: Actually, I just picked up on what sounds like David Rawlings' harmonics->bend->hammer/pull off from 0:20 to 0:25 of Trusty and True. Sounds like a lick lifted right off of Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker album. Curious to see if he's on that track, now, too.

[glo32]

Originally Posted by mario_d

Edit: Actually, I just picked up on what sounds like David Rawlings' harmonics->bend->hammer/pull off from 0:20 to 0:25 of Trusty and True. Sounds like a lick lifted right off of Ryan Adams' Heartbreaker album. Curious to see if he's on that track, now, too.

he is, actually! Both on MFFF and Trusty and True

[mario_d]

Thanks Glo! Honestly, I only knew that he was on MFFF. I wouldn't have recognized his playing if I didn't already know he was on MFFF, but knowing he was around, that guitar lick just absolutely screamed David Rowlings to me.

[poetess85]

Has anyone heard the bonus track Camarillas?

[radiohead33]

The press makes it sound like he's happy and content now. Is this the first Damien "happy" album? Is he joyous? I can't imagine that. He's so tied into these raw, gut wrenching songs that tear your heart out and stomp on it.

Rubin is known for making an artist a tad bit commercial, yet also having them retain their hipster cred.

is this album commercial or poppy? Poppier than O?

Does Damien have mind-blowing lyrics like on O and 9? Any completely pissed off lines ala "**** you, **** you, love you" in Rootless?

[Agent99]

Originally Posted by eva_arg

I


is Marketa the female voice in the songs? it sounded like her in Long Long Way but not in "It takes a lot...."

I thought it did sound quite like Marketa on It Takes A Lot to know a Man.

[shakas]

Originally Posted by radiohead33

The press makes it sound like he's happy and content now. Is this the first Damien "happy" album? Is he joyous? I can't imagine that. He's so tied into these raw, gut wrenching songs that tear your heart out and stomp on it.

Rubin is known for making an artist a tad bit commercial, yet also having them retain their hipster cred.

is this album commercial or poppy? Poppier than O?

Does Damien have mind-blowing lyrics like on O and 9? Any completely pissed off lines ala "**** you, **** you, love you" in Rootless?

From what I've heard, it doesn't really sound happy. He just comes at the lyrics from a place of lonely reflection and questioning, much more so than angry outbursts.

[tyler.sonnenberg]

Yeah I agree with some of you peeps on here that all of the songs are exceptional (aside from LLW which I like but it bothers me that I can sing Cold Water over the top of it), but the album needs something. It gets a bit repetitive with the damo+acoustic build into some strings and maybe drums and then end with damo+acoustic. Of course, I say that now after only one day of listening to it - I'll probably absolutely adore it in a few months.

I am excited to hear any b-sides to the album.

I will probably throw together my own version of MFFF and include a couple of his songs that he officially recorded and released in between 9 and MFFF:

1. My Favorite Faded Fantasy (lower octave edit)
2. It Takes a Lot To Know A Man
3. Greatest Bastard
4. I Don't Want To Change You
5. Colour me in
6. Under The Tongue (Music of Ireland)
7. The Box
8. Making Noise (from Songs For Tibet)
9. Trusty and True
10. Connoisseur of Great Excuse (Gasoline Rainbows)
11. Long Long Way

Happy MFFF listening, eskimo friends!

[seanbryantkbq]

Loving the album. It's beautiful, and eerie in some parts. Very emotional all around. Long Long Way threw me off at first with the whole Cold Water thing... but the second time it really clicked with me. This album doesn't really feel like separate songs... It feels like I am spending time floating around in this ethereal madness of a man coming to terms with himself. There are equal parts pain, and love... longing, and questions that go unanswered. It starts off angrier and heavy, and some how finds itself getting softer, yet lost as well. By the end you are just awash in random snippets of noise, and vocals floating past. Very haunting stuff.

I learned one thing from this music already. There's no easy answers in life, for all the questions this album raises.

Love it. 9/10

[Shillelagh]

This album doesn't really feel like separate songs... It feels like I am spending time floating around in this ethereal madness of a man coming to terms with himself.

That's why I'm disappointed the vinyl is on 45s it breaks it up too much.

[carrroline]

Listening for the first time right now. (iTunes download)
Incredibly fragile and beautiful... "It takes a lot to know a man" is amazing.
Even "I don't want to change you" ( that I didn't really love before) fits in perfectly. Like others said before, it really works as an album.

"Colour me in" is my favourite, I think. "Greatest bastard" and "the box" sound wonderful too.

"Long long way" is very different from what I expected, will take some getting used to.

[borneoman]

the funny thing about MFFF is that I really didn´t get it in the beginning, really didn´t like the use of the falsetto at all, like zero... until one day it clicked and now I love it, I even prefer it to the live version (which is also amazing)... and I kinda get the feeling that MFFF had to be like this, it´s like a statement, a bold statement, like I´m Back

alternatively, it could have been like: oh Lisa can you sing MFFF? no. then I´ll have to sing it myself pretending to be Lisa

[carrroline]

Listening again with headphones. Speechless, teared up.
Enchanted by "It takes a lot to know a man". I could listen to this in a continuous loop. I'm trying not to over play it though.

[Damohohoh]

Did anyone notice, that the running motif throughout the album is that of wings (The Greatest Bastard, It Takes a lot to Know a Man, Trusty and True), which ties in nicely to the running motif through Lisa's album, i.e. "bird".

ETA: Trusty and True seems to me a song that he has sung to the various versions of himself over the years. He had mentioned in some interview, that he realised that he needed to accept all versions of himself. Hence I think this song in particular is self reflective, and addressed to his many reflections in a metaphorical mirror.

[signalfire]

I danced around listening to the tracks I hadn't heard live first, then taking in the rest. Wow. Breathtaking. I like it short. It's quite atmospheric, with moments of a lot of space and them some that are almost claustrophobic. Very emotional, and the music is perfect to complement the lyrics. I like how long the songs are and prefer fewer long songs take time to evolve rather than a lot of short ones (kind of the way of most music releases anymore). I listened just to listen since the US gets it late, so now that I know I love it, I can peacefully wait for my wooden box to get to me.

[Joyful]

I couldn't wait any longer and listened to a leaked version on headphones while walking in the woods in the drizzle. Perfect background. It's a gorgeous album from an older and somewhat wiser Damien. So vulnerable, raw and reflective. I really love it. Need to listen again to gather my thoughts.

The falsetto on MFFF really worked for me on the album. I was not sure at first listen as a single, but on the album it adds to the rawness and vulnerability. Loved IDWTCY more too, on the album. It fits beautifully. Didn't miss any rocking songs. He can do that next time around. This album is a perfect piece as it stands. Definitely heard the Cold Water and Sleep don't Weep correlation with LLW. Interesting.

What happened to Mustard Seed?

[eva_arg]

Consequence of Sound review:
http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/1...faded-fantasy/

B+ (which is pretty good considering most of their reviews are B or C)


I loved this paragraph:

The album flows as if it were a mixtape of Rice songs to a former lover. “The Greatest Bastard” moves right into “I Don’t Want to Change You”, while the relatively upbeat “Colour Me In” melts into the bare singing of “The Box”. Even considering the weaker songs, it’s hard to skip or shuffle, as the track list is designed to push and pull you through. The only bright moods come on the row leading to the finale of the heartbreaking “Long Long Way”.

[ElephantMan]

i really like ITALTKAM , doesent seem to get much love here, Long long way , i find just as unlistenable as sleep dont weep regardless of simllarities, as i Love Cold Water

[InspirationDestination]

Originally Posted by Joyful

What happened to Mustard Seed?

I just realized that , too!

It is such a beautiful album. Have listened straight through so many times and don't think I'll tire of it anytime soon. There are some elements that I don't love- the falsetto in MFFF and some of the lines in ITALTKAM are banal. I like the similarities to cold water and past songs because it reminds us that it's still him, in a new incarnation. I think the long musical interludes are examples of his composing prowess.

This feels more like him (with Rick Rubin, who helped bring him out) than O even. He's self-actualizing! I love the softness of everything and the strings on this album. It's such a natural way to come back, given what he has been through. I love his old loud, angry songs so much. Maybe the next one will be louder. It's surprising how much sound space he can fill with his acoustic guitar and voice alone. I don't think he needs a band anymore, though. I think any guitarist, string musician, backing vocal, drummer is interchangeable with this evolution. It's his transition into a more confident musician, a more authentic spirit.

I miss Lisa, but I love her as a separate entity now. Her lyrics are so smart and fun. If they sing together again, I wouldn't want her to do backing on a DR album or song. She should have equal billing. Perhaps, they can have a duo project. With equal collaboration on music composition, lyrics, money and everything else. I think any future collaboration will be hard unless they are both connected to others. Never mix business with pleasure! Although I imagine it is hard to not when you spend so much time together spilling your emotional guts out in song.

[ElephantMan]

Originally Posted by InspirationDestination

I miss Lisa, but I love her as a separate entity now. Her lyrics are so smart and fun. If they sing together again, I wouldn't want her to do backing on a DR album or song. She should have equal billing. Perhaps, they can have a duo project. With equal collaboration on music composition, lyrics, money and everything else. I think any future collaboration will be hard unless they are both connected to others. Never mix business with pleasure! Although I imagine it is hard to not when you spend so much time together spilling your emotional guts out in song.

theirs no reason Lisa couldnt do vocals on a future damien song..ie volcano cold water style. ..musicians have been doing that for years , damien did backing for Tori Amos for 1 song , she could easily do vocals on a track without 'equal' billing ...as far as a equal colaboration thing, highly unlikely

[InspirationDestination]

Originally Posted by ElephantMan

theirs no reason Lisa couldnt do vocals on a future damien song..ie volcano cold water style. ..musicians have been doing that for years , damien did backing for Tori Amos for 1 song , she could easily do vocals on a track without 'equal' billing ...as far as a equal colaboration thing, highly unlikely

I think backing is OK, but it will be harder for them because of their history and dynamics. Because Lisa is older and a strong artist in her own right, I hope she would want and would be given an equal voice.

[Shillelagh]

Originally Posted by eva_arg

Consequence of Sound review:
http://consequenceofsound.net/2014/1...faded-fantasy/

B+ (which is pretty good considering most of their reviews are B or C)


I loved this paragraph:

What a hatchet job. How does he give it a B+ after calling his lyrics trite and him insincere. What a load of horseshït. Sounds like someone is too cool for school. The review read like he enjoyed the album but he had to flash his hipster street cred by shïtting on it. Boo. I give that review a D- and that's a gift.