Darek
Moderator 
Generally Up All Night
Posts: 927
|
Post by Darek on Jul 23, 2007 14:06:04 GMT -5
Just got my copy of Light at the End in the mail. The first time I've had a pre-order get to me early. Listening right now and it sounds spectacular. I have some visuals but they're posted over here for people who'd rather wait and be surprised. Bonus Track 11 = Happy!!! |
|
|
|
Post by jeff on Jul 23, 2007 14:30:49 GMT -5
I'm officially jealous. Mine probably won't get here until tomorrow or Wednesday.  |
|
Poptrash
new to forum
"You have my favorite face and my favorite smile"
Posts: 27
|
Post by Poptrash on Jul 23, 2007 15:20:11 GMT -5
I recieved mine today too, just finished listening all the way through. Very NICE! It's hard to describe but it has a underlying subdued vibe throughout the whole album which I really enjoyed. Even though it has a mixture of "fast/loud" songs & "slow/quiet" songs it's all tied together very well somehow. And as Darek mentioned Happy is track 11, which I couldn't be happier about, and it sounds amazing.
|
|
|
|
Post by jeff on Jul 23, 2007 16:40:26 GMT -5
Mine actually came in today! Woohoo! Time to listen to it now. I got the special copy that Dave Gutter forgot to sign, though...
|
|
font
new to forum
Posts: 34
|
Post by font on Jul 23, 2007 17:28:59 GMT -5
I just got mine. I suspected that Happy would be a bonus track because it was on the original sampler. I figured since they just released last night's band, that happy would just be on the cd. anyways, I think it's beautiful. The best part about being a rustic fan all these years is that they constantly re-invent themselves just ever so slightly. I know there has been some griping about another Hardest way, but this one is a beautiful version that I think I want to play at my wedding in August (my girlfriend said I could only pick one). Light at the End is amazing. And of course, we all know how great Rock Like War is, but it's even better on my stereo. Anyways, four months ago I would have never believed you if you told me I'd have a new Rustic CD, so that fact alone makes me extraordinarily grateful for what will be playing on my iPod for the next month nonstop.
|
|
Darek
Moderator
Generally Up All Night
Posts: 927
|
Post by Darek on Jul 23, 2007 17:36:46 GMT -5
Ok, so here are my initial thoughts on the new record after three listens. The new version of Hardest Way Possible has a really nice jazzy, melodic feel and the strings sound really good. I was certainly in the group who thought it was unnecessary to do another version, but I have to say I really like this one. Oxygen and Light at the end are great additions to the catalog. I love the urgent feel on Oxygen and the simultaneous foreboding/hopefulness of Light at the End. Can't say enough about having mastered versions of Carsick and Carnival, I would have paid for just those two tracks alone and I love all the overdubbing of the sound effects and such on a bunch of the tracks, Carnival included, though a couple of times I thought it was my cell ringing.
And SO pleased to see Happy made the album! Seriously, I can't say it enough. This whole album has a lot of character and it's truly unlike anything out there right now or anything like what they've done before. All sorts of classic Rustic sound with a lot of new influences. I'm really happy with it so far.
Glad to hear other folks got it today as well!
|
|
|
|
Post by handsingloves on Jul 23, 2007 18:20:40 GMT -5
I agree, its awesome that Rustic can work a slightly new sound but produce an album at least as good as any before it. It is interesting that Hardest Way has been done 3 times but matches each album perfectly. The first time I listened to carsick I thought it might be entirely recorded again because it sounds about 100 times better than the other copy I have!
|
|
|
|
Post by hmmm on Jul 23, 2007 18:26:22 GMT -5
oink, anyone???
|
|
|
|
Post by jeff on Jul 23, 2007 19:17:30 GMT -5
No. Buy the album, scumbag. This is a self-produced release. You would be stealing DIRECTLY from the band. |
|
|
|
Post by jeff on Jul 23, 2007 19:29:20 GMT -5
I'm digging the album so far. My favorites so far are Rock Like War, Troublesome, and Light At The End. My least favorites are probably Hardest Way Possible and Oxygen. I really like how they fixed Carsick compared to the version on the This Is Rock And Roll sampler cassette.
|
|
|
|
Post by hmmm on Jul 23, 2007 19:51:23 GMT -5
i just cant buy it til friday when i get paid, i wanna heeeeeeear it
i live for rustic, goddammit
|
|
|
|
Post by Tim Nickerson on Jul 23, 2007 22:31:38 GMT -5
going to get my copy at scarb bullmoose right now at midnight!!!
|
|
|
|
Post by norm on Jul 24, 2007 7:03:59 GMT -5
Mine should be sitting in my mailbox at my house, which is 20 mins away right now. Can't wait to get it!
|
|
|
|
Post by onlycrayons on Jul 24, 2007 10:20:20 GMT -5
I rushed home yesterday to find nothing. Please be there today...
|
|
mpb
sticking around
Posts: 76
|
Post by mpb on Jul 24, 2007 16:11:44 GMT -5
Light At the End is my favorite and my least is Letter to the President. I think every other song delivers as well. Not quite sure where I would list it among the other RO cd's quite yet though.
|
|
|
|
Post by jed on Jul 24, 2007 23:56:19 GMT -5
can you get this album in mass? i've loved rustic for many years but only just TODAY found out there was a new album. listening to the radio rip now. so excited. i live in brooklyn.....somebody help me get a copy in my hands? order info? whatever it takes. (an email would be really helpful jedcrocker [at] gmail)
thanks anyone.
|
|
|
|
Post by jeff on Jul 25, 2007 6:07:59 GMT -5
can you get this album in mass? i've loved rustic for many years but only just TODAY found out there was a new album. listening to the radio rip now. so excited. i live in brooklyn.....somebody help me get a copy in my hands? order info? whatever it takes. (an email would be really helpful jedcrocker [at] gmail) thanks anyone. |
|
|
|
Post by jeff on Jul 25, 2007 6:31:53 GMT -5
I'm digging the album so far. My favorites so far are Rock Like War, Troublesome, and Light At The End. My least favorites are probably Hardest Way Possible and Oxygen. I really like how they fixed Carsick compared to the version on the This Is Rock And Roll sampler cassette. After giving it a few more listens, for the most part what I said here still stands, though Oxygen has grown on me a bit and Hardest Way Possible has quickly been added to my skip list. To be fair, I don't like any versions of that song, so not liking this one is no surprise. |
|
|
|
Post by amleeman on Jul 25, 2007 7:31:57 GMT -5
can you get this album in mass? i've loved rustic for many years but only just TODAY found out there was a new album. listening to the radio rip now. so excited. i live in brooklyn.....somebody help me get a copy in my hands? order info? whatever it takes. (an email would be really helpful jedcrocker [at] gmail) thanks anyone. Depending on where you are in MA, you can drive to the Bullmoose in Salem, NH and get it. I picked up a copy last night and they still had a bunch. |
|
|
|
Post by norm on Jul 25, 2007 10:54:01 GMT -5
Mine wasn't there yesterday either, keeping my fingers crossed that it's there today...
|
|
|
|
Post by Tim Nickerson on Jul 25, 2007 11:00:27 GMT -5
anyone hear that flat horn note in carnival? i dont even think its a flat note, but the way its mixed, it sounds like it.. it REALLY stands out... i dont understand how no one could have heard that while mixing.. maybe it was on purpose who knows!
|
|
|
|
Post by KDog on Jul 25, 2007 12:08:12 GMT -5
where can i find this so called "radio rip"? i ordered my copy today but am itchin to hear it!!
|
|
Darek
Moderator
Generally Up All Night
Posts: 927
|
Post by Darek on Jul 25, 2007 12:15:23 GMT -5
where can i find this so called "radio rip"? i ordered my copy today but am itchin to hear it!! I'm guessing Jed is talking about the rips of Troublesome and Rock Like War from this thread. |
|
|
|
Post by jeff on Jul 26, 2007 6:10:44 GMT -5
anyone hear that flat horn note in carnival? i dont even think its a flat note, but the way its mixed, it sounds like it.. it REALLY stands out... i dont understand how no one could have heard that while mixing.. maybe it was on purpose who knows! Yeah, there is a note that sounds a little odd. Once you've noticed it, you'll keep hearing it, unfortunately... |
|
moose
new to forum
Posts: 39
|
Post by moose on Jul 26, 2007 8:08:18 GMT -5
is it just me or is this the only rustic album i've found myself wanting to skip songs? i don't think it's a good album at all. a few good songs. where the fuck is the funk?  ? sure there is some, but if you were to listen to this stuff for the first time, would wouldn't jump out at you like it used to. i missed tony on this album... he is one of the greatest drummers i've ever heard, and we don't even get any clues of that on this record. same goes for zoidis. and jon. disappointed. wicked pumped for the shows, but disappointed. |
|
|
|
Post by UNH CHIX on Jul 26, 2007 9:25:20 GMT -5
I'd have to agree, although I do skip songs on other albums too. This release is a bit of a disappointment and at a high cost, over $10 for just 10 songs (one of them previously released on two other albums). I'm sort of indifferent on the reunion. I was hoping for some funky punk rock with classic rock influence and heavy horns, but it's just not there.
At first listen, I had to really listen for the horns with the exception of a few songs, which is what I HATED about Viva Nueva and the end of Rustic, the absence of the horns killed the band.
There's definite potential there, but I find myself wondering if the time has passed and the window of opportunity closed. The group still has great stage presence and produces a unique sound, can they regain the fan base they had years ago or has that fan base moved on?
|
|
|
|
Post by onlycrayons on Jul 26, 2007 9:58:41 GMT -5
I think that sense of disappointment is inevitable when a beloved band releases a new album, especially one after so many years. It's just a symptom of how the band in constantly re-inventing itself. Did anyone listen to Brand New Friend back in 1995 and expect to hear something like Combustible? I actually felt a little disappointed after my first listen through to Carnival. The only recording I had ever heard before was a distant-sounding live recording that broke up in the middle. It had a ancient, emotional quality to it that I thought the studio recording lacked.
I did, however, find many pleasant surprises. I always thought the live recordings I had heard of Black Leather Bag had been rather bland, but the track on LATE has surprising depth. I like it more each time I listen. The other Hardest Ways always sounded too upbeat for me. This one has the right amount of melancholy mixed in. While I used to be a purist about the ending of Rock Like War, I'm now convinced the instrumental finale is one of the best pieces of music this band has ever recorded.
I'm finding that my favorite songs are Oxygen and Light at the End. At first I thought it was because they were the only two I had never heard before getting the CD. But I think it's because they don't sound like anything else Rustic has ever produced. I think it's possible that the individual musicians' time with other projects has brought new perspectives to the table. Both songs have novel horn arrangements, and every now and then I hear a hint of PSC or As Fast As in the heavily layered music.
|
|
moose
new to forum
Posts: 39
|
Post by moose on Jul 26, 2007 10:12:49 GMT -5
i donno, i do agree that and did expect that and would expect nothing else than to have an album that has a different sound that any of the others. however, the stuff that i love that is present in all the other albums is gone. in every other song there would be spots where i'd think "wow, how can he play this while he plays that and yet it fits so well together?" on light at the end, it sounded like the band was going for the perfect sound and mix as opposed to he perfect feel and blend.
i know it was supposed to be different.
but something just doesn't feel right. maybe i gotta listen harder, harder than before to get it again.
|
|
font
new to forum
Posts: 34
|
Post by font on Jul 26, 2007 13:00:30 GMT -5
No offense guys, but I think you all need to get over it and yourselves. Bands that sound like they did on their previous album have no new ideas and no hope of being relevant over time. It's not 2001 anymore, or 1998, or 1995. The new album is an appropriate mix of old and new and it tells a really good story, an appropriate one considering the band's history.
As for skipping songs, I've found myself skipping over songs like iron boots (I know, sac religious, just never dug that tune), Pimp, and Revolution AM. Doesn't make those CDs bad.
And stop whining about paying money for a CD. How much money would you have paid to hear Rustic once more just 6 months ago. I probably would have paid 500 bucks, and more if I had it. If you're not willing to pay 12 dollars for a Rustic CD, you were never that much of a fan in the first place.
|
|
mpb
sticking around
Posts: 76
|
Post by mpb on Jul 26, 2007 13:02:49 GMT -5
The only song I have a hard time accepting is "Letter to the President," it just doesn't do it for me. I love the original ending to "Rock Like War," so when I found the new one I was disappointed. I do like the horns the end, but I think they took out the strongest part of the song. I could have done without another "Hardest Way Possible," but it's inclusion doesn't make the album worse.
It certainly doesn't have a distinct "feel" like the other records, but half of the album is a compilation of songs that were written at different times. I don't think it blows the doors off of any of the other albums, but I'm not disappointed by it. It certainly shows that they still can make good music together and hopefully they will extend their little "summer fling" into something more permanent.
I think it's better than the records put out by PSC (and I love Axis III/I), or AFA (Rocktopus was much better in my opinion).
|
|
? sure there is some, but if you were to listen to this stuff for the first time, would wouldn't jump out at you like it used to. i missed tony on this album... he is one of the greatest drummers i've ever heard, and we don't even get any clues of that on this record. same goes for zoidis. and jon.