Death Cab for Cutie - Photo Album
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Free Music Notes for Photo Album
Free Music Review: A Great Addition for any Death Cab for Cutie fans
Hit: 5 Stars
The Photo Album was when Death Cab for Cutie first got to make a music video, and they had a TON of Singles from this album. The Photo Album is one of my favorite CDs and I listen to it all the time.
It starts off with "Steadier Footing", where Ben Gibbard plays some tremoloed chords, along with background hints of percussion and some nice singing. It'a under 2 minutes but get's it's point across and is a great way to start off the album.
"Movie Script Ending" is track 2. Steadier Footing fades into it nicely, while it fades out and a high-hat tap comes in. This song is great. The melodies in it are great, I think the vocal pattern and this lyrics are great. The two guitar riffs combined with the bass riff goes perfectly, and the chorus is good.
Then comes an active drum beat that begins "We Laugh Indoors". This is their strangest song on the record. Untrational rock, the guitar riff is strange, the whole mood is weird. The lyrics are pretty good and after hearing how much Ben loves Gwenifiere, an explosion takes place. This was my favorite song from them for ages. You don't get worn out on it.
"Information Travles Faster" is to me, the worst song on the album. It doesn't quite fit in. It's not really their style from albums before, or their style on Photo Album. It seems like just something else they tried. It is kind of cachey, and the song flows well, but not one of my favorite songs.
Then Track 5, "Why You'd Want to Live Here". At first I didn't care much for this song... but after awhile I started to love it. The guitar riff sounds kind of dull at first, but after awhile you'll learn to love it. The verses are interesting, not really like any other song on this album, and then Interlude is awesome.
"Blacking Out the Friction" is probably one of the best songs I've heard from Death Cab for Cutie. Ben brings us a cachey keyboard riff, and Chris Walla cuts in immediatly with a heavily distorted guitar. The song is very smooth and nice to listen to. The vocal pattern is good, the drum beat is good, and the whole mood of the song is just pleasing.
"I Was a Kaleidoscope" comes on next. It has nice verses, and I like the lyrics. The guitar riff is okay, not the best, but the song is okay. There are interesting breaks in the song.
Ben begins singing and the song "Styrofoam Plates" happens. The guitar riff is good, the vocals and lyrics are good. After a couple measures, the rest of the band comes in... and it's great. The interlude in this song is so good. It's just the best arrangement of music to me. The rest of the song is good too, slowly building to some distortion and 'Ba Ba's.
"Coney Island" is track 9. It has some lo-fi drums and a nice vocal pattern. This song is pretty upbeat and just nice to listen to.
"Debate Exposes Doubt" is a good way to end the CD. The begining already has you going and after a couple seconds the whole song starts. The verses are good, the chorus is great, and the interlude and outro are so awesome.
The Photo Album is just overall something you can listen to. Whether Ben is singing about his friend's dead father, or about a relationship that has fallen apart, the music is awesome. If you liked the album Transatlanticism, then you should check this out. The same goes for Something About Airplanes, or We Have the Facts and We're Voting Yes, but if you seem to like those albums more, you'd probably be thinking that they've gotten to poppy. But I think they just became better musicians with this album. Please check this out Death Cab fans.
Free Music Review: Keep getting better and better
Hit: 5 Stars
It's good to see that these guys have yet to hit a slump. Most bands begin to falter around the third album, running out of good lyrics and have lost the feeling that the they want to be in a band to play good music and not there to just sell records (you know who I'm talking about Everclear, Offspring, Blink 182 . . .). Even after writing two great albums, Ben Gibbard stills finds very emotional and engaging topics to write about.I went to a DCFC show in Portland for the Photo Album tour. I had only owned "We have the facts..." but wanted to check out if the new album would really be as good before purchasing. Not only did I buy "The Photo Album," but I had to bum my friend's last buck to get "Something About Airplanes" as well. Neither purchase was a waste of money.
Outstanding songs on the album include, but are not limited to:
#2 - A Movie Script Ending
#4 - Information Travels Faster
#5 - Why You's Want to Live Here - great tune to back up the lyrical images
#6 - Blacking Out the Friction
#8 - Styrofoam Plates - the best lyrics on the album
#9 - Coney Island
I have the tour edition of the CD that included 3 extra tracks. None of them could stand on there own, and it is not worth paying the extra bucks on eBay to get the tour edition. But the original 10 tracks are fantastic.
Probably a better starter album than "We have the facts..." because most of the tracks have a faster tempo and doesn't take as much devotion to really enjoy the record.
Free Music Review: So Underrated! Urgh!
Hit: 5 Stars
The response to The Photo Album, Death Cab's follow-up to the acclaimed We Have The Facts..., strikes me as strange. This album seems to have taken a flogging from many (previously) Death Cab-loving critics, or at least regarded as a disappointment in comparison to We Have The Facts. Why? I don't know. Both are different albums in their own right, and I'm glad Ben Gibbard didn't just put out the same album again. Yes, We Have The Facts is better. Yes, "Steadier Footing" is a bad way to start off the collection. Yes, "Blacking Out The Friction" becomes a little meandering. But what about the beautiful and brilliant "A Movie Script Ending," one of the best indie-pop tunes in recent memory? The bitter, tension-building "Why You'd Want To Live Here"? The atmospheric, upbeat "We Laugh Indoors"? The short, but very sweet "Coney Island"? Or "Styrofoam Plates," one of the saddest and most gut-wrenching tunes in a long time? Sure, the amps are turned up. Maybe Gibbard's lyrics aren't as complex. Critics seem to be analyzing Gibbard's lyrics so incredibly closely. Whatever inconsistancies they found, I don't really notice. Even if they might be more simplistic, they never reach the jaw-dropping stupidity of whatever tired emo/pop/punk flavor of the month. As evidenced by "Styrofoam Plates" and "A Movie Script Ending," Ben still has his sh*t together, so to speak. Sigh. The Photo Album is a damn good record any way you slice it. At least in my opinion.Free Music Review: Listen to it Twice...
Hit: 5 Stars
I was originally introduced to death cab by a friend of mine. At first listen, I admit, I was less than thrilled as it wasn't a fitting soundtrack to our anticipatingly eventful night. This is one album you have to devote yourself some time to sit down and listen to. From the first chord of styrophome plates; a song about Gibbards father, I was awe-struck. I found myself chasing down every word of this song, a sort of bitter, almost embarrassing honesty about it. I was hooked.
Opening with "steadier footing," Photo Album is appropriately titled and serves just that, an album of events in Gibbards life. This album shows DCFC's versatility as each song takes on it's own sort of form, sounding different than the last. As an aspiring indie musician, I rated this album 5 because Death Cab did a hard thing here, creating a perfectly carrying album from start to finish- Meaning, each song seems to make a balanced transition from the previous to the next; rather than filling the first half of a cd with pop-hits. Taken in context, I found that even songs that I had at-first-listen found to be repetitive and boring, take on a whole different character when you take the time to experience them. Do yourself a favor, if you claim to be a death cab fan and only listen to transatlanticism, listen to this cd... twice. This goes to all the facebook and myspace girls out there too.
Free Music Review: Personally, third time is a charm
Hit: 5 Stars
It's funny, this is Death Cab's third album and it's the third album by them I bought. I'll admit, the Photo Album isn't DC's best work, even my buddies have said that, but we all agree that there is something special about this CD. The atmosphere is awesome and the songs captivate and draw me in. All the songs are great because you can listen to different songs depending on your mood, that means there's variety! The sound on TPA is sort of like a transition between "We Have The Facts And We're Voting Yes" and "Transatlanticism". It's in between those two albums and has a warm feeling to it that is unique. I've said this before and I'll say it again, DCfC is a very special band, partly because their albums are all fairly different in their own ways and yet is uniquely and specially authentic Death Cab! The fact that every DC fan has their own favorite albums and don't all share the same favorite prove to me that DC is very special. To me, all of their albums are my favorites. The Photo Album just has a certain magic to it that captivated me and hooked me the moment I heard it all the way to the end! I highly recommend this CD to those who are not sure whether they want to get Trans or Plans or to get a cd more along the lines of WHTFAWVY, since it's in between sort of. Good CD, definately worth 5 stars like all their albums are!