Darren Hayes - This Delicate Thing We've Made: Haven’t heard this album in a long time. I remember it being too weird for me at the time, as it was at a point in time when I had a very conventional taste in music, but this time around it was really wonderful. The more regular songs were gorgeous, and the really weird songs were delightfully weird. I lurv. "Waking the Monster" and "How to Build a Time Machine" are delightfully and unabashedly ridiculous plots. "Neverland" is a dark, catchy song about spousal abuse and a small child plotting his father's murder. "Me, Myself and (I)" is crazy falsetto and dancey. A new highlight I'd passed on the first time through is "Setting Sun", which I am now in love with. Also "Bombs Up in My Face" is still fucking weird. qweaut wu tuea
Blake Lewis - Heartbreak on Vinyl: I was curious to see if my feelings on this album had changed at all, seeing as the last time I’d heard it in full was somewhere between 4-6 years ago. At the time there were a few tracks I loved, then the rest I mostly didn’t care for. “Heartbreak on Vinyl” was a beloved track for me and I kept listening to it, but even so, the last time I heard that song was a year or two ago. The others were “Sad Song” (which was nice), “Left My Baby for You” (which I liked a good amount), and “Love or Torture (Please Don’t Stop)” (which I actually think I like more this time around).
So yeah, many years later and my opinion is much the same as it was before. I wish I’d never stopped listening to “Heartbreak on Vinyl”, because that is still an amazing, weirdly beautiful song. I’m glad to have it back in my life.
Nate Ruess - Grand Romantic: “AhHa” has had me so incredibly excited for this album. The sound of it was so out there and weird that I just couldn’t wait to get more music like it, especially with Nate’s massive voice and penchant for making things bizarre yet catchy. Unfortunately, that is not what I got.
Instead I got a pretty standard pop balladry album. That’s a little unfair, to be honest; it’s a very good album, Nate does ballads far better than any other pop artist I know and he always keeps the music interesting. It’s just a let-down. From his work in The Format up to his work in fun., I’ve come to expect him to push his creative boundaries and make music that’s not necessarily “weird”, but far from standard. I guess this is my fault for taking “AhHa” as some sort of album mission statement, but the notion flares up now and then throughout the album
“AhHa” is the second track (after the short little intro), but basically the first track of the album, and right away it smacks of Nate’s oddball tendencies. It literally opens with him groaning/yelling/sarcastically laughing “ahhaa haa ha”, until that becomes part of the background music and he smashes in with a pounding drumbeat and him forcibly throwing the song’s words at your ears. The song fades to a light little reprise of a fun. song while some E.E. Cummings lyrics are recited in the background, before suddenly bursting back in even louder than before. I don’t know how Nate’s vocal chords still function. All that being said, my favourite part of the song is the false ending. A pretty, introspective outro that sets up the rest of the album, fading out with a “la di da…” when, suddenly, he cracks a whip and his guttural “ahhaa haa ha”s come back Jumpin’ Jeff Farmer style (that is, full-force). It’s the highlight of the album for me. Which is why I’m sad it opens the album, as the rest couldn’t live up to it.
“Nothing Without Love” is pretty, and much better than I thought it was when I first heard it, but is more or less a simple ballad. After that is “Take It Back”, which has crunchy guitar courtesy of Jeff Tweedy. Which is the best part of the song. The rest is alright.
Then “You Light My Fire” gave me some hope that the album was gonna be a mix of ballads and more experimental stuff. It’s no “AhHa”, but it’s wonderful. It’s a seeming mix of Nate’s catchy indie style of The Format and his baroque oddities from fun. in a great, great way. It’s followed up by “What This World Is Coming To (feat. Beck)”, which is okay.
Then comes “Great Big Storm”, which is my second-favourite song on this album. It’s not really strange, but it’s so bombastic and sporadically-delivered that it’s a thrill, because that’s what I think Nate’s the best at.
“Moment” is a pretty ballad saved only by the fact that the lyrics are fantastically sad. The same can mostly be said for “It Only Gets Much Worse”, except that’s also saved by Nate’s magnificent vocals and seemingly limitless voice. I think Nate Ruess is my spirit animal, because he seems to write what I think and feel. It’s weird that listening to such a pessimist sing is so damn heartening.
“Grand Romantic”, the title track, is pretty good. It’s simple, but nicely-done. Just disappointed that the tease at something bigger didn’t pay off. “Harsh Light” is pretty good. Finally, “Brightside” is actually an excellent song, I just can’t help but be disappointed that the album didn’t close on something bigger. It’s got little flecks of oddity and some fabulous, interesting background music and effects, but, damn it, I was hoping for another “AhHa” or “Great Big Storm” to close the album off. Something as epically huge as only Nate can do. Alas, I’ll have to live with it and either hope that his next album contains a few more tracks like that or hope that fun. decides to get together and make a new album soon.
All-in-all, good album. Honestly a very good album, I just felt kinda let-down.