Old Coots

Overall Album Score: 7.8 out of 10

For whatever reason in Hades, I really did enjoy sitting through this album and reviewing it than Stage Fright. I found the songs in this easier to swallow, even though they're sloppier ... They're less boring I guess.

Maybe that's partially because, unlike Stage Fright, this album is more or less in the same vein as The Band was, except it's not nearly as priceless and enduring, of course.

The first two songs in this album are excellent. The first song is a quasi-funk outing with a catchy melody and a fun beat. The second is a solid The Band-like ditty with honest Americana instrumentation and a memorable melody. The rest of the album is rather spotty, however, with one really awful song (called "Volcano"). ... But that song is easy to overlook in the long run. (It's toward the end and the song following that is very nice, indeed.)

Okay, so this band is still under the unfortunate condition of not being able to recover from the massive artistic and pop successes of Music From Big Pink and The Band. This is a weak album, but there are enough nice moments in here to make this worth listening to.

Overall Album Score: 7.8 out of 10 (Oddly enough, this is quite a bit more enjoyable than Stage Fright if it might not be as ... good ... I guess. I'm not sure how that one worked out, but ... whatever.)

Average Song Score: 8.0 (A fairly consistent set of songs with two or three excellent songs in it ... and a really bleeding awful song for good measure.)

Album Tilt: 8.0 (Not really a great album in any respect, but this is makes for an easy and mostly enjoyable listen.)

Artist Rating: 7.5 (There's too much borrowing from The Band and being sloppy about it.)

Track Reviews

Life is a Carnival 9.5/10

A good'n'interesting song that I can't totally classify in a genre! There's elements of funk in it, but ... it's not really a funk song! ... I guess it's just 70s pop rock. The melody is excellent, and I really enjoy the instrumentation, too. This is a superrrrr song! Hooray!

When I Paint This Masterpiece 9.5/10

Yay!!!! Another good song! Cahoots is already sounding much better than Stage Fright! The song is in the same style as The Band with a good, honest melody, sharp instrumentation, and neat lyrics. ... I like it!! I like it!!

Last of the Blacksmiths 8.5/10

Maybe a bit sloppier this time, but this is still a fine little song. (And the sloppiness is partially due to that freaking bizarre horn toward the end of this song ... and ... that's more of an artistic type thing, I guess.) The melody is pretty good, so it's gooood.

Where Do We Go From Here? 8.5/10

This sounds a lot like "The Night They Drove Ole Dixie Down" from The Band ... but ... hey! That was a good song! ... And so this song is good, too! ... Yeah. I complained a lot on Stage Fright that the album sounded nothing like The Band. And this album, so far, has been sounding almost too much like The Band. Naturally, I'm going to like these songs better!

4 % Pantomime 7/10

Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I knew it! They would put forth something mediocre! I BLOODY KNEW IT!!!! ... This song doesn't really have a good melody and the instrumentation is uncharacteristically sloppy of this band. Not very intriguing, this.

Shoot Out in Chinatown 8.5/10

Starts out with some Asian-esque chords and marimbas (or xylophones ... crap if I know what these instruments are ...) Fortunately, The Band come back with a catchy melody this time, and the song is rather interesting and fun to hear. Coool.

The Moon Struck One 7.5/10

Kind of strange ... and kind of not-good ... This song seems to be a retread of "Whispering Pines," except it's sloppy and not very endearing at all. Indeed, this is difficult to listen to. Hmmm... But it does have its merits. Namely, the melody.

Thinkin' Out Loud 7.5/10

Another song that has me sort of torn. This isn't a good song ... but this isn't a bad song at all. So, I'll give it a 7.5. It seems awfully sloppy to me, but the melody's pretty good and ... and ... that's all I have to say.

Smoke Signal 8/10

I like the beat. And the melody's pretty catchy. ... The instrumentation could have been better, I wager, but ... I don't care. ... It's kinda sloppy, but it's kinda fun, too. ... It's way too long, though, clocking in at more than five minutes.

Volcano 5/10

Ehhh ... I don't care for this one at all! ... Just ... ehhhh ... There's no heart in this one whatsoever, and the melody stinks. And the chorus sounds like they were constipated when singing it. Ewwwwwwwwwwwww.

The River Hymn 9/10

Ohhhhhh, I almost forgot that "Volcano" exists now. This is a good song, finally with excellent instrumentation and a sentimental attitude that you can take to heart. ... Hardly good as the best stuff from The Band, or the first two songs from this album for that matter ... but this is still nice. Quite nice. The End.

Am I in Cahoots? Tell me your thoughts about this album and/or my opinion of it here!