SMC - Powderfinger - Internationalist
swede
Posts: 558
Ok - i posted a thread about powderfinger a while back - im deadset certain burning candle would have this or at least heard it a few times - im sorry mate but i feel the others should really listen to this and give it a proper go.
anyhow i feel that this is easily their best record - its awesome. i couldnt find a review - but im really hopeless at doing so. i also find it hard to describe the sound other than it being a classic aussie album. it has a bit of an alternative feel with a mix of rockers (dont wanna be left out) and mellow tunes (the day you come). in my view the album is flawless (although at first some tunes i found harder to get into than others... but once i did i just cant get enough of it).
hopefully u can all enjoy it as much as i do - but we will see. cant wait to see what you think about it and what not.
anyhow i feel that this is easily their best record - its awesome. i couldnt find a review - but im really hopeless at doing so. i also find it hard to describe the sound other than it being a classic aussie album. it has a bit of an alternative feel with a mix of rockers (dont wanna be left out) and mellow tunes (the day you come). in my view the album is flawless (although at first some tunes i found harder to get into than others... but once i did i just cant get enough of it).
hopefully u can all enjoy it as much as i do - but we will see. cant wait to see what you think about it and what not.
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Comments
Sorry for making you do this though, mate. I'll definitely enjoy this. I've been drifting away from good Aussie rock recently so this should give me the perfect dose.
Cheers.
If you can't get high on purely music and the sounds that you hear, you're missing out on something.
Can't go past good Aussie rock. Nothing else like it.
Because Bernard's released a solo album have they broken up?? Sorry I'm a little out of tune...
ahh they havent broken up - it was just something he wanted to do from what i know. its actually a solid solo piece too in my view
i've listened to vulture street and odyssey number 5 but not this album...
for some personal reasons, "whatever makes you happy" is my favourite powderfinger song...
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.
http://epplehausradio.blogspot.com/
pearl jam @ the astoria, london, 20/04/06
" makes much more sense to live in the present tense "
Well you kiwis have pulled out that 'infinny, one fitty' song
Internationalist > any other Powerderfinger album
"I am ahead, I am advanced, I am the first man to borrow Stones leather pants."
Stone Gossard: Is the height of fashion. More poeple should take note, and learn from a master
" makes much more sense to live in the present tense "
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from my window to yours
As I said earlier, this CD is all over the place. This makes for a CD that doesn't exactly flow from song to song real well, but it does give the listener a ton of influences. I would say it would be tough to not like a couple songs on here. I think it starts off REAL strong but fades and closes poorly. I enjoy tracks 1, 5, 6 and 7 and don't care much for 12 and 13.
The music is 'good', the singer has a 'good' voice. Haven't gone into the lyrics though to be fair I usually don't. I tend to lump CD's like this into bands like Stereophonics in that the music is listener friendly, catchy but for me I lose interest after 6 or so songs. This sounds like it came from the late '90's, it definitely has that feel.
If there are certain songs you REALLY like, let's hear about them and why you do. Sometimes I will focus a little more on those tracks and try to understand another persons point of view. If there are lyrics you especially like, again, let's hear them.
I read up on 'em a little. I can fully appreciate any band that tours with the likes of Pantera, Urge Overkill and Crowded House. I mean, it is groups like Powderfinger I would love to get a case of beer around an open fire and bullshit about bands until the sun comes up. You can almost automatically assume they are down to earth, totally cool people. For better or worse I take this into consideration when I give CD's a chance, I really want to love them. Sometimes it works, sometimes it doesn't. So that being said, no doubt I will throw this one in time to time and I hope to stumble across another disc of theirs someday.
I have heard Powderfinger's name thrown around here and there and I am glad I got the chance to listen to it. Amazon has it for $39, and no way would I pay that, so this is perfect. I am always happy to listen to music from the other side of the world. That is what it's all about.
thanks swede.
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mine starts with hindley street and ends with lemon sunrise...hmmmmmmmmm
from my window to yours
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I've known Powderfinger ever since I lived in Oz, but to be honest, never gave them a real chance. I was more into the Living End and stuff. But I know you Aussies make goos solid rock, and this is just a perfect example, though as transplant said, this is all over the place.
I think I like the balladry stuff on this album, more than the rockers. Day You Came has some delicious harmony work. Trading Places is beautiful for its gentle ups and downs and that build up of sound. Already Gone is sweet and dramatic. This guy has a near perfect voice for songs like these. Lyric wise, I gotta give it more spins to be able to say anything.
So far I'm really enjoying this album, as expected. I'm not sure as to say this is a complete masterpiece, but it definitely has great tracks on it.
I'll add stuff after a few more spins. And some beer.
Cheers.
If you can't get high on purely music and the sounds that you hear, you're missing out on something.
Um, DAF is from their second album Double Allergic, Parables For Wooden Ears is their first album, Which in my opinion is very underated, it's their grungiest stuff, released in 94 it has some of their best tracks, like Tail, Sink Low and Save Your Skin to name a few. At least you didn't say Odyssey #5 was their 1st which is what i have heard alot of people say.
yeh i was gonna say that it was the second album but i find parables to be a bit plain...
bout the album being all over the place - i actually disagree - i think it fits in well. but at first i was kinda "meh" over the album but as the months rolled by it kept growing and growing on me, a transition that i love is from passenger to dont wanna be left out into good day ray.
also i actually really dig the last few tunes, yet at first they were the tunes i overlooked. i guess i see them as a nice way to end it - nice n chilled n what not.
another tune that i think is a ripper is private man - real catchy cool tune in my book. but generally as to specific songs? well i just love the entire album, from start to finish. my absolute faves are hindley street, the day you come, and dont wanna be left out.
oh and the album was released in 98...
thanks for the reviews btw i dont mind negative comments its what its all about
I've loved powderfinger ever since I first heard (im not good with names, so will write lyrics)....."i'll be the one to pick you up again". That was a while back, around 96 I guess, or when ever it came out. Great band. Personally I think Odessy#5 is probably their real master piece. As for parables... I would kind of agree that it is plain, but not so much plain as, i don't know, it kind of seemed like they were still learning, still becoming who they were, where as all of the rest of their albums they sound like they know who they are. I haven't bought the solo cd as yet, not sure if I will, but I did have the pleasure of seeing them live for the first time ever last year. That was cool.
I love this song too. On the old PJ board my name was whateverMYhappy and whatever makes you happy was my sig.
yeh - "pick you up" is that song from double allergic, and yeh in 96 that would have been. great song and great album....
the solo cd is good in my view - u can def hear strong neil young influence but yeh i like it.
as for their live show - i actually think they have become better performers - but i dont like the setlists as much since internationalist and double allergic are my fave albums of theirs - odyssey was thrashed too much by radio stations and it became stale for me.. but some songs on there like these days are fantastic.
ah, see, that's where we differ. I haven't listened to the radio since about '96 so I don't know what songs they are thrashing or not. I think that lets you enjoy the music a bit more when you're not forced to listen to it over and over.
i heard some powderfinger songs before but wasn't really familiar with them... a band named after a neil young tune is alway worth to check out in my book, but - to be honest - my first encounter with powderfinger was a quick one... and while i liked a couple of songs off odyssey number 5 others left me cold... "my happiness", "whatever makes you happy" and "we should be together now" come to mind as the ones i really enjoyed... by the way, doesn't the chorus of the latter one sound a lot like "we're in this together now" by nine inch nails? just listen to these back to back and be surprised...
it's odd that someone else mentioned the stereophonics... because that's how i felt about powderfinger as well... i can see why powderfinger is very popular in australia, especially amongst people who also like pearl jam... just like the stereophonics, powderfinger make solid rock music that leans a bit too much towards the mainstream and is a bit too bland in places for my taste... still, in the case of the stereophonics, i'd rather call them "pub rock" than "dad rock" because i like some songs and don't really mind them being played in the pub although i wouldn't listen to them at home...
when i first listened to "internationalist" i couldn't find anything bad about this band... no songs i wanted to skip, i actually enjoyed them all... i can see why people say they're all over the place but at the same time i don't think it interupts the flow of the album... they are heavily influenced by all kinds of rock bands... this isn't necessarily good... but powderfinger learned from the best and they can pull it off...
after a couple of spins this album really grew on me... i even checked out some more of their back catalogue... they are obviously mainly a mid-tempo rock band... that's what they want to do and they do it exceptionally well... but the songs i enjoy the most are those that are, for the lack of a better description, more melodramatic... i think the slower songs suit them best... i like how "trading places" builds, for example... my favourite part of the album is the ending... the nice campfire harmonics of "over my head"... "capoicity" could be an old radiohead b-side, and i don't mean to put it down by saying b-side, it's a very good song (you should focus on this one, transplant)... then, "lemon sunrise" is the perfect ending... it's difficult to explain what i like about a certain song because most of the time it's the little details that go unnoticed... at 1:12 into the song, i just love how he sings "whatever you say, whatev-(er)" and just swallows the last syllable... listen and you'll know what i mean... i love these kind of moments... the little things, the imperfections... this is very hard to explain... i'm trying not to get too far off-topic but sometime the things that ARE NOT THERE make the song... if you know "crystal" by new order there's a part in the chorus where it goes "here comes love, it's like honey" but in my head i always hear "here comes love (BANG), it's like honey" and "bang" just stands for a single note, a drum hit, horns, whatever, that i totally expect to be there and actually hear even if it's not there... i hear an accentuated note that's not there but it makes the song for me...
confused? yes, me too
why did i mention all this? well, i'm glad i gave this album some more time to fully appreciate it because - to be perfectly honest with you - i wouldn't have listened to it that much if it wasn't for the SMC and wouldn't have discovered some of the details that are hidden underneath the surface of the shiny production... i still think that some powderfinger songs are over-produced... they are a very good band but not great... i wouldn't want to call some of the album tracks filler because there is no filler just many songs that don't stand out to me... powderfinger to me is one of those bands, Live comes to mind as well, where the albums don't do it for me as a whole but i'd love to make my own compilation of tracks that i think are their best... i listened to fingerprints, their best of album, but even from the little i know about powderfinger i would have chosen a couple of other tracks for my own personal best of...
thank you, swede, i'm glad i checked this out!!!
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.
http://epplehausradio.blogspot.com/
pearl jam @ the astoria, london, 20/04/06
this is sort of the way i thought the album would run for me. i have heard some powderfinger here and there, but never did listen to an entire album. i can see why now. the album doesn't translate for me. there are pieces throughout the album that i like. the biggest problem for me, is that i don't know enough about music to talk about them in words. in some places, the music really talks to me. in other places the melody is intriguing. in some places, the lyrics are good. but, overall, it's not an album that stands out.
i have a need to be moved throughout an album. i like strings tying everything together and this one is lacking on that front. i'm not trying to say that every album should be a concept album. sometimes, music is just music, for the sake of being music. and, that's fine. but, once again, staying power is lacking.
in the end, i think the most glaring flaw, for me, with this album, is that i don't like the guy's voice that much. here is a contrasting view: staind - no, the music isn't the same - but, i like aaron lewis' voice and that overcomes a lot of my dislike for the genre his band represents. but, when i don't like a voice, it's really hard for me to get past that and listen to everything else on a consistent basis.
right now, i'm stuck in a certain style of music. maybe that's the problem.
from my window to yours
Have we lost our way tonight?
Have we lost our hope to sorrow?
Feels like were all alone
Running further from what’s right
And there are no more heroes to follow
So what are we becoming?
Where did we go wrong?
after all the confusion who's pick it was this time, who's next?
Some days you wake up and sit on a park bench next to an eighty year old Russian architect, and some days you don't. I think this is my new life philosophy.
http://epplehausradio.blogspot.com/
pearl jam @ the astoria, london, 20/04/06
pic for what? Does this have something to do with the SMC written at the start?