During the great darkness, I composed the following notes for H. He has kindly authorized me to share them.
T1: My reactions vary to this one. Sometimes it works for me and sometimes it doesn't. The times when it doesn't, it sounds like they are trying way too hard here. It strikes me that it is probably this aspect of this track that has produced in many listeners the first reaction that the album as a whole is labored and forced.
But more times than not it does work for me. Wonder why Parma Mick doesn't hear the bells?
T2: My reactions to this one are much more consistent. I like it. I don't really see the Technique comparison. But then I almost never listen to Technique. As I may have noted before, it's just too cheerful.
T3: This one is obviously the second best track on the album, but frankly it is not at all what I expected, based on the title and the reactions from people who heard it before I did. From the title I expected something much more lyrical, more like T10 turned out to be. I think WFTSC is a perfect title for the album, but not for this track. Something like "Midnight Train" would have been a better title for this one. I still haven't decided how I feel about the way the last word of "stranger on the shore" is cut off by "I won't desert you." 3:32 is one of my favorite moments on this track.
T4: I've just heard this one way too many times. They obviously knew this would be the first single long before the album was released, and as a result it was probably worked over quite a bit. Still, I like the wobbly bit.
T5: This is one candidate for third best track on the album (along with 9, which probably wins out for that spot). Fourth then. As I've said before, this is the track where the sirens really dwell, the heart of the Odyssey parallels: "It's been ten long years since I've been home." 1:55 is when it really starts getting good (Parma Mick's "sequenced banjo"). I still love the lines "If it ain't the job and it ain't the place" and "a mixed-up guy and a no-good girl."
T6: The slick side starts here. I find the lyrics of this one really appealing. For example: "then again friend"; "other people made that call." I actually really like this one.
T7: Another good one. Best line: "I work hard to keep you by my side, every day and almost every night."
T8: This is the obvious place to make the point that I really like the sound effects on this album. Footsteps, "It's only one more day," whistling, ice cubes, motorcycle. Brilliant. Somebody complained about "leave your baggage behind"; I love that line. "Long live love"; love it. "I need that engine's push"; love it. "Home with me"; love it; the way BS says "home" here sounds like homage to Neil Tennant. Great song. The first time I heard it I hated it.
T9: Love the heartbeat sound. More PSB allusions: "opportunity"; "losing my mind." Not crazy about "another color Van Gogh." Love the hand-clap effect. "You sure know a lot for a girl"; gay disco indeed. There is nothing forced about this.
T10: What can I say that I haven't said before? Love the way BS says "nobody." Perfect from beginning to end. I agree that the vocal style here matches LMA perfectly.
T11: As I've said many times before, I think this track is very important to the album as a whole, structurally and thematically. The 20 seconds starting at 1:48 may be the emotional climax of this album. "All the girls out there, looking for the one, do they really care." You may not like this track, but you shouldn't ignore it.
Yeah, I just didn't know how to describe it (how would you call it?), of course it's just a keyboard but someone wrote it sounded like a banjo and I really agreed... also I really like how its frenzy recalls their best sequencers like EGG or Temptation, hence the "sequenced banjo"...
I also found a name for those bells on Joe: the "ghost bells"... ;)
