The Minus 5 - The Minus 5
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Free Music Notes for The Minus 5
Free Music Review: Gunning For Melodies
Hit: 3 Stars
The Minus 5's eponymous album is not quite up to the standards of their two best works, In Rock & Down With Wilco, but is still a strong collection of songs. Scott McCaughey puts the musical stylings all over the map from the Beatlesque sounds of "Out There On The Maroon", "My Life As A Creep" and "All Worn Out" to the Exile On Main Street sounding "Cigarettes Coffee and Booze" to the punkish "Aw Sh*t Man" to the plain weird sounding "Hotel Senator". The Decembrists' Colin Meloy sings lead on "Cemetery Row" and the boys from Wilco add depth to "With A Gun". The opening track "Rifle Called Goodbye" is the best song on the album followed closely by the twangy "Twilight Distillery".Free Music Review: not so good
Hit: 2 Stars
There are certainly some catchy songs on this record, but I would categorize most as filler that could have been cut. You can tell which songs were written by different members- there are some that are repetitive Beatle-album-cut sort of songs (the ones that should have been left off the record IMHO) and the countryfied ones that are great, memorable, and should the whole album have had the same treatment with pedal steel, organ, etc, it would have been a lot more cohesive.Free Music Review: Wow...
Hit: 5 Stars
$16.98 for this CD? It's excessive but one of the few I'd say is worth it.
I loved "Down With Wilco" and "In Rock" and own every other Minus 5 album, but this one has got to be the most impressive. It showcases frontman Scott McCaughey's humor and witty lyrics to a T. Overall, it's a wonderful and, although it does have a track or two cast-off from another source ("Hotel Senator" is from the Wilco sessions), they're re-worked to fit nicely into the grand scheme of things on this album.
The highlight for me is "Cemetary Row" with Colin Meloy guesting on vocals. As a loyal Decemberists fan, I was excited to hear he was guesting on the album, but I didn't expect how wonderful the song would actually be. It sounds like Scott wrote it just for Colin to sing. Brilliant.
Free Music Review: Five Stars for the Minus 5
Hit: 5 Stars
Another outstanding album from Scott McCaughey and company.
Without any hint of Fab Four imitation (although the influence is there), the Minus 5 provide many of the same qualities on their albums that the Beatles used to give us - a wide variety of song types (rock, psychedelic, pop, country-rock), well-sung melodies that you won't forget, great vocal harmonies, and superbly creative instrumental backings. Even though you may feel like you know these songs the first time you hear them, you'll find yourself discovering new aspects in them each time you listen because they're that well written. ("Out There On The Maroon" and "Cigarettes Coffee and Booze" are just two of several examples on this album.)
Scott McCaughey is the mastermind of the Minus 5 - his excellent songs and voice are the common thread running through most of the group's recordings (although he occasionally turns over the lead vocal chores to guests). I saw an interview with Mr. McCaughey recently in which he speculated that fans at the group's live shows probably didn't care much about having him autograph their albums because their focus was on his most frequent Minus 5 collaborator, Peter Buck of R.E.M. Well, Mr. Buck obviously contributes a great deal to the band, but Mr. McCaughey is the band member who writes (or co-writes) virtually all of their songs and sings the vast majority, as well as playing quite a few instruments on the records. Without taking anything away from the significant contributions of Peter Buck and the other band members, I hope that Scott keeps in mind that Minus 5 listeners are there for his songs and his singing.
The "Gun Album," as this CD is being called, is another Minus 5 gem, a worthy successor to, among others, "Down with Wilco," "In Rock," "At the Organ," "I Don't Know Who I Am," "Let the War Against Music Begin," and the sadly out-of-print "Lonesome Death of Buck McCoy." If there were any justice in the music world, Scott McCaughey and Peter Buck would be celebrating another in a long line of chart-topping albums. As it is, they and their collaborators have given us an album that you'll want to hear over and over.
By the way, if you have a chance to see the Minus 5 live, do it. They play an energetic show that not only includes rocking performances of their excellent original songs, but also some well-played covers. (When I saw them a couple of weeks ago at a tiny club, they included Neil Young's "Burned" from his Buffalo Springfield days, and the Mike Nesmith/Monkees classic "Circle Sky.") And you might get a chance, before or after the show, to chat with Scott and Peter, who seem like pretty decent guys.
Free Music Review: fantastic.
Hit: 5 Stars
Minus 5 delivers pop that takes us on a journey through simple melodies and complex deliveries, which with every listen finds me searching deeper into every song, which is so rare in the industry today. It's brilliant. His comparisons to The Beatles is justified to the sense that each song is timeless, which can be said for all their cd's. 'Down With Wilco' is as great a listen now as it was 4 years ago. I highley reccomend this cd.
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