When I was a youngster just getting my indie wings with albums like Lonesome Crowded West and Doolittle, I saw this album and thought it looked interesting. With two supposed classics under my belt, I listened to this album late at night while I was by myself in my room one time (that's when I always listen to music I've been anticipating, just for the amazing atmosphere it provides, or used to) and I couldn't finish the album. I felt disappointed, like I was missing something, or there was something I wasn't getting. So, I tried again, and finally managed to finish all of it. I came out feeling pretty much the same as I did going in. Tired, a little agitated, and somewhat bored. In a few days, I bought the Mountain Goats album "Tallahassee", which is now my favorite album. Also, I later tried to get into the nitty-gritty indie albums shortly after giving up on Spiderland, and enjoyed a lot of what I heard very much and came back to it, but this is one classic I just couldn't appreciate, I guess. The lyrics are good I suppose, and I like chaotic and minimalistic music as much as the next indie fan, but this seemed to over do it a bit. I don't care for slacker music, but just flat-out lazy and droning riffs that seem almost purposely made to sound boring and flat is a little different. Also, the whole spoken word thing seems to be the same thing. Maybe they just did everything in a way that was so weird and non-technical or traditional that it would instantly appeal to fans of weird music, reguardless of whether they actually liked it or not? Or maybe it's just me. To each his own, but this just isn't for me.
When I was a youngster just getting my indie wings with albums like Lonesome Crowded West and Doolittle, I saw this album and thought it looked interesting. With two supposed classics under my belt, I listened to this album late at night while I was by myself in my room one time (that's when I always listen to music I've been anticipating, just for the amazing atmosphere it provides, or used to) and I couldn't finish the album. I felt disappointed, like I was missing something, or there was something I wasn't getting. So, I tried again, and finally managed to finish all of it. I came out feeling pretty much the same as I did going in. Tired, a little agitated, and somewhat bored. In a few days, I bought the Mountain Goats album "Tallahassee", which is now my favorite album. Also, I later tried to get into the nitty-gritty indie albums shortly after giving up on Spiderland, and enjoyed a lot of what I heard very much and came back to it, but this is one classic I just couldn't appreciate, I guess. The lyrics are good I suppose, and I like chaotic and minimalistic music as much as the next indie fan, but this seemed to over do it a bit. I don't care for slacker music, but just flat-out lazy and droning riffs that seem almost purposely made to sound boring and flat is a little different. Also, the whole spoken word thing seems to be the same thing. Maybe they just did everything in a way that was so weird and non-technical or traditional that it would instantly appeal to fans of weird music, reguardless of whether they actually liked it or not? Or maybe it's just me. To each his own, but this just isn't for me.