The War On Drugs

mfc2006

Boxset should arrive tomorrow! Can’t wait!

pjpitt89

I'll be at the Philly show as well. Never been to the Dell but looks nice. Apparently parking is a struggle tho..we shall see

turner78

The box set was a steal for $40.00, I've had it for a few weeks. If anyone is on the fence about it, don't hesitate and buy it while it's still in stock.

pjhawks

PJ_Soul said:

tbergs said:

ledvedderman said:

God damnit. I'm trying so hard to get this band. I know it's right up my alley, but it's just not clicking. Musically, I love it. But the melodies, vocals, and lyrics...I don't know. Maybe it's just going over my head.  But I'm going to keep trying because I think if it does click with me, then it's going to hit hard and blow me away. I'm not counting on that but I love being wrong. 

I hear ya. I have tried a few times as well and just can't get in to them. All I keep hearing is Bryan Adams clones with less oomph on the up tempo stuff. Seems a bit flat so far.

Bryan Adams? I'm not hearing that!

I hear the Cure with Dylan singing. 

CornishMan

2-feign-reluctance said:

Ok, I think getting into these guys might have messed up me getting into the new QOTSA record! Hahhahaha!

This is exactly what happened to me.  Only really just discovered TWOD.  Bought both their album and QOTSA on the same day, but I've been loving TWOD record so much, It's only been the last week that I've finally got around to listening to the QOTSA one properly!  Thoroughly enjoying Villains but TWOD definitely delayed me getting into it!

vant0037

On the LITD tour, it became clear that one of the defining features of this band is their live performance.  Songs like "Red Eyes," which are polished in their own right, become live warhorses of powerful, crescendoing guitars.  The layers that are hinted at in the studio become overwhelming tangible textures live.

This new album is so strong.  It's sickening.

Bryan Adams?  You're giving him too much credit.

On that note, I'm actually a little tired of the comparisons that critical reviews make.  Yes, there is a Dylan sound at times (namely, the earlier stuff, a few vocal moments on the new album).  I'm sure there is a Henley-ness that is in there (although one that I'm not hearing because I've always thought the Eagles sucked).

But for all the specialization, nuance and niche-writing on the arts that now exists (think: Pitchfork, Rolling Stone etc etc etc), it would stand to reason that someone could creatively write about a given band with a little more originality than "they sound like _______."  What's worse is that most of the comparisons are done within favorable reviews.  Saying that one artist sounds like another is one small metaphor away from saying they ripped someone off, are unoriginal, or have co-opted a sound that was not theirs. By saying they sound like someone else, it's almost an implication that they are actively trying to channel a sound that's been made, rather than write their own music.  I think this band is simultaneously given too little credit and too much of a burden with all the lazy writing that's being done about them.  "They sound like Dylan/Henley/the Cure/etc and they are carrying the banner of American heartland rock."  That's a paraphrase of virtually everything that's been written about them recently.

How about they just wrote a really good album?

PJ_Soul

pjhawks said:

PJ_Soul said:

tbergs said:

ledvedderman said:

God damnit. I'm trying so hard to get this band. I know it's right up my alley, but it's just not clicking. Musically, I love it. But the melodies, vocals, and lyrics...I don't know. Maybe it's just going over my head.  But I'm going to keep trying because I think if it does click with me, then it's going to hit hard and blow me away. I'm not counting on that but I love being wrong. 

I hear ya. I have tried a few times as well and just can't get in to them. All I keep hearing is Bryan Adams clones with less oomph on the up tempo stuff. Seems a bit flat so far.

Bryan Adams? I'm not hearing that!

I hear the Cure with Dylan singing. 

Yes, me too.

May 30th

vant0037 said:

On the LITD tour, it became clear that one of the defining features of this band is their live performance.  Songs like "Red Eyes," which are polished in their own right, become live warhorses of powerful, crescendoing guitars.  The layers that are hinted at in the studio become overwhelming tangible textures live.

This new album is so strong.  It's sickening.

Bryan Adams?  You're giving him too much credit.

On that note, I'm actually a little tired of the comparisons that critical reviews make.  Yes, there is a Dylan sound at times (namely, the earlier stuff, a few vocal moments on the new album).  I'm sure there is a Henley-ness that is in there (although one that I'm not hearing because I've always thought the Eagles sucked).

But for all the specialization, nuance and niche-writing on the arts that now exists (think: Pitchfork, Rolling Stone etc etc etc), it would stand to reason that someone could creatively write about a given band with a little more originality than "they sound like _______."  What's worse is that most of the comparisons are done within favorable reviews.  Saying that one artist sounds like another is one small metaphor away from saying they ripped someone off, are unoriginal, or have co-opted a sound that was not theirs. By saying they sound like someone else, it's almost an implication that they are actively trying to channel a sound that's been made, rather than write their own music.  I think this band is simultaneously given too little credit and too much of a burden with all the lazy writing that's being done about them.  "They sound like Dylan/Henley/the Cure/etc and they are carrying the banner of American heartland rock."  That's a paraphrase of virtually everything that's been written about them recently.

How about they just wrote a really good album?

great great post.

2-feign-reluctance

CornishMan said:

2-feign-reluctance said:

Ok, I think getting into these guys might have messed up me getting into the new QOTSA record! Hahhahaha!

This is exactly what happened to me.  Only really just discovered TWOD.  Bought both their album and QOTSA on the same day, but I've been loving TWOD record so much, It's only been the last week that I've finally got around to listening to the QOTSA one properly!  Thoroughly enjoying Villains but TWOD definitely delayed me getting into it!

Cramming two very different moods into one sitting was not good! Haha! With both of those new LPs I have each end of the mood spectrum covered. My buddy @mfc2006 and I were talking on Sunday about this on the phone. He said it just like that and it makes sense. I think in my excitement of discovering a new band and the hype of the new Queens record I tried digesting both on the same day, when really I was in more of a Queens mood at the time, but so curious about WOD. I know, rambling.

pjpitt89

Saw them last night in Philly, what a show. Second time seeing them and they were as good if not better. Played most of the new album, some of lost in the dream, and even snuck in Arms Like Boulders. Came on right at 9 and played to 11 with a short encore break and not much chit chat other than talking a little about Connor Barwin and his foundation (they put together the show). Great night and great show. Go see them if you haven't yet.

eeriepadave

pjpitt89 said:

Saw them last night in Philly, what a show. Second time seeing them and they were as good if not better. Played most of the new album, some of lost in the dream, and even snuck in Arms Like Boulders. Came on right at 9 and played to 11 with a short encore break and not much chit chat other than talking a little about Connor Barwin and his foundation (they put together the show). Great night and great show. Go see them if you haven't yet.

pretty decent write up of the show
http://thekey.xpn.org/2017/09/22/the-war-on-drugs-dell-music-center/

Fixer13

Awesome time seeing them in Portland, Maine!

Screaming Tree

Saw them in Boston last night. It was a great show. They played nine of the ten songs from Deeper Understanding and they sounded great live. A nice surprise was getting a Warren Zevon cover. 

vant0037

"Thinking of a Place" still remains my favorite song.  SO good on a great album.

joe159

Super pumped to see them live, scored tickets the other day for Bloomington, IL. small venue, should be awesome

DC29940

Posted this in the "I just picked up ___ on vinyl" thread and don't know if it has been redeemed or not, but if anyone wants my code for "A Deeper Understanding" that I got with the vinyl, I don't need it. Good luck!

Picked up The War on Drugs “A Deeper Understanding” today. Black version. 

Came with a download code code I don’t need. 
Goodluck to the first one to get to it!

http://redemptions.warnermusic.com/TheWarOnDrugs

code: Y86YSVHEDE93

vant0037

joe159 said:

Super pumped to see them live, scored tickets the other day for Bloomington, IL. small venue, should be awesome

I'm half-way debating driving to this show.  Not sure if the wife will be keen, but it's a holiday weekend and we would have some time off...little over 6 hour drive from St. Paul!

joe159

vant0037 said:

joe159 said:

Super pumped to see them live, scored tickets the other day for Bloomington, IL. small venue, should be awesome

I'm half-way debating driving to this show.  Not sure if the wife will be keen, but it's a holiday weekend and we would have some time off...little over 6 hour drive from St. Paul!

It's a cool little venue, saw Local H there last year and Son Volt earlier this year, its GA and you can seriously get like 2 feet from the stage if that's your thing. I've only seen clips of the War on Drugs live so  I'm hoping to be blown away.

vant0037

TWoD in St. Paul the other night...wow. 

Thursday morning, I was exhausted all day, but it was completely worth it.  Great sight lines at the Palace Theater, great sound, the band plowed through their set.  2+ hours.  Great show.  They played one song from before LITD, which I understand at this point (they're last two albums are by far their biggest successes), and they played all of ADU.  It's so impressive how well most of their songs translate live.  That horn on Eyes To The Wind (among others) is enough to bring me to tears.

Such a good show.  I've been given a tentative "not no" from the wife for the Bloomington show, which, in marital-speak, means "we'll see," which means "if you can convince me that the roads won't be bad and we can stay somewhere nice and have some good food and beers before hand and then not kill ourselves rushing to get home the next day, I'll go."  Haha...so we'll see.

Here's the setlist that I recall:

1. In Chains (which was actually, much flatter live than I expected it to be)
2. Holding On
3. Pain
4. Ocean In Between The Waves
5. Strangest Thing
6. Nothing to Find
7. Knocked Down
8. Buenos Aires Beach
9. Eyes To The Wind
10. Burning
11. Red Eyes
12. You Don't Have To Go
13. Up All Night
14. Under the Pressure
15. Clean Living
Encore
16. Thinking Of A Place
17. Time To Move On (Petty cover)

jjflash

vant0037 said:

Such a good show.  I've been given a tentative "not no" from the wife for the Bloomington show, which, in marital-speak, means "we'll see," which means "if you can convince me that the roads won't be bad and we can stay somewhere nice and have some good food and beers before hand and then not kill ourselves rushing to get home the next day, I'll go."  Haha...so we'll see.

Ahhh, the "not no", LOL. Good luck w/ the sell!
Very cool they closed the show w/ a Petty cover. Love that song.
TWoD tix for a Dec show in Birmingham went on sale this morning and I scored some. Will be my first time seeing them live. Can't wait:)