1001 Albums Summary

Interesting mix of live/studio, folk/rock, impressionism/story-telling. Apparently a big influence on Nirvana and Pearl Jam. Emotional, raw voice.

This sounds like what you think of as the ‘70s. A lot of songs I had heard before, but never listened to intentionally. Reelin’ in the Years is really good and sounds like a template for Thin Lizzy’s The Boys are Back in Town. At times they remind me of Supertramp, The Zombies, and The Eagles. Fire in the Hole sort of sounds like The Zombies.

Felt more personal than Rust Never Sleeps. More folky, too. Didn’t click with me the same way, though. Will have to listen again.

# Background 2004 debut album # Themes - Domestic violence and murder - Jealousy - Unrequited love/rejection - Obsession - Gender and sexuality (*Somebody Told Me* and *Andy You’re a Star*) # Style - Big, wall of sound - Layered guitars - Vocals front and center, harmonies are smaller - Soaring crescendos - Synths - Emo, pop punk adjacent - Palm muting, power chords - Big kick drum - Distorted bass and guitar - Minor, melodramatic - Impressionistic, but mostly literal, grounded lyrics - Story-telling - Anthemic - Autotune - Reverb/delay on vocals # Notes Flowers says he was influenced by The Smiths and there are times when he sounds like Morrissey (esp. *Smile Like You Mean It*). *All These Things That I’ve Done* sounds a bit Beatles inspired, in terms of both the kind of delay on the vocals in the beginning and the repeated refrain at the end (like *Hey, Jude*). *Believe Me Natalie* is pretty cool — U2 guitars, cool drum rhythm.

Musically pretty interesting. A lot of genre hopping. Very punk/garage rock/raw. Lyrically not great, especially Sixteen, which is really creepy.

An all-time favorite. Every song on this album is great. Sad Eyed Lady of the Lowlands is an incredible closer.