The Beginning Stages Of ... A Mental Breakdown?
Overall Album Score: 8.9 out of 10 I have never taken Prozac or any type of anti-depressant (yet), but I’d imagine if I did, my stupid life would suddenly feel as upliftingly bizarre as many moments in The Beginning Stages Of… by the Polyphonic Spree. Most of the songs in here are … wow … so cheesy! And the band consists of more than a dozen singers, so not only are many of these songs cheesy, but it sounds like a children’s music concert in Elementary School! What’s even more bizarre than that is The Beginning Stages Of… is a *very* enjoyable album. The emotion I get from this is what really impressed me. This maniacal happiness is so utterly wild, that I can’t believe that this album is real! But it is! AND EVERYBODY IS ON PROZAC! HOW CRAZY! If you’ve ever seen the way this band looks like, you’ll even have more bouts of unbelief. They dress in white robes as if they were in a religious cult. Personally, I have seen a music video of them (performing a song they would do after this album), and … wow … it’s like a Viagra commercial. Everyone is hopelessly happy … the smiling is cheesy … the song is bizarrely happy … … … … … If this isn’t the most enjoyably bizarre album that exists on this planet Earth, then I really have something *weird* waiting for me. I think Tim DeLaughter (the band’s founder, formerly of Tripping Daisy) really has something here. We should all keep an eye on The Polyphonic Spree. Overall Album Score: 8.9 out of 10 (Here’s an interesting new band … who knows how to write songs! Not only that but they convey emotions, too. How neat!) Average Song Score: 8.7 (These songs are bizarrely wonderful! There are very few shortcomings in The Beginning Stages Of….) Album Tilt: 9.0 (A very strange experience … and an enjoyable one.) Artist Rating: 9.0 (At the moment, I’m not sure if The Polyphonic Spree is original or not. At any rate, Tim DeLaughter sure is able to convey emotion. And this is a highly unconventional band. They deserve all the credit they can get for that. I hope this band goes far … even though I somehow doubt that they will.) Track Reviews Section 1 (Overture, Holiday) 8/10 And the first song on this album is exactly the bizarre type of candy corn that I had been going off about in the introduction. The melody is good (but ain’t no Paul McCartney, you know)! The orchestrated, maniacally happy feel of this album puts me in this bizarre trance, really, like I’ve never felt before listening to a song. The crazy thing is that this is only one piece of that pie. Section 2 (It’s the Sun) 9.5/10 This is why I think that Tim DeLaughter is on happy pills. “Suicide is such a shame!” Oh man!! And this is another utterly inanely happy song that … holy crap! The Polyphonic Spree sure does a great job of making me feel weird. This song is excellent not only because of the mood but also because it has a very nice melody (and … ooooooo … very nice instrumentals, and that choral effect of this band is put to great use). This’ll uplift your spirits and give you a bizarre feeling all at the same time. Section 3 (Days Like This) 8.5/10 This is a slower track and a more moody song. (It’s still inanely happy, but this doesn’t give me such a bizarre feeling at the same time.) It’s tuneful, thoughtful, and pleasant. The instrumentation isn’t even by-the-book. They’ve got innovation there, too. Neat! Section 4 (Call Your Father) 8/10 More not-by-the-book instrumentation (featuring some loud drums, an array of flutes, conflicting trumpets). For the first time in the album, I don’t get a happy feeling while listening to them. This song is rather severe! (And very skillfully done … again, they’re no Paul McCartney, but there is only one Paul, anyway … Tim DeLaughter seems to do fine.) Section 5 (Middle of the Day) 8/10 Slow … drawling … psychedelic … and it still manages to encapsulate my attention. Really, if this doesn’t suggest a band’s potential, then I don’t know what does! The Moody Blues (one of the originals) were barely able to do that. Section 6 (Interlude) 8.5/10 This is a short instrumental that utilizes a Moog Synth. … These guys are retro bastards. … But pleasant ones. And that is a good thing. (This is a pleasant, short-n-sweet instrumental.) Section 7 (Hangin’ Around) 8.5/10 …And that song phases into this one… A very well-orchestrated song (and another inanely happy track). The melody is really nice as well. That said, I don’t get the bizarre trance as I did on the previous, similar tracks … but it did get pretty close. Section 8 (Soldier Girl) 10/10 I suppose even The Beginning Stages Of… ought to have a highlight. (Although, I honestly consider the *whole thing* a highlight.) But if I had to choose the best song, it would have to be this one. This has the best and strongest combination of good melody, good feeling, good innovation, and good instrumentation. When you add all four of these things together, you get one doozie of a song. This is the nicest song in this very nice album. Section 9 (Reach For the Sun) 9.5/10 For all of my practical purposes, this is the last song of the album (I’ll get to the 10th track pretty soon … don’t you worry.) This one has really interesting instrumentation more than anything else. Although, I really think the melody is pretty good, too. The main appeal, however, is the instrumentation … all those sounds going off all over the place is exactly what this overly-inflated song needed. And it was pretty well-off to begin with anyway. What a bizarre song! … Wonderfully bizarre! Section 10 (Exit Music) I won’t even say that this utterly SPRAWLING, 37-minute instrumental is bad. It’s just pointless. And it’s really easy just to stop listening to the album after “Reach For the Sun.” This is just some absolutely excruciating pondering on a Moog. For 37 minutes. I haven’t even listened to it all the way. But listening to bits and pieces of it, I would probably have to take therapy if I did that (I come alarmingly close to that as it is). … Ignore this one if you like. I am. (This isn’t even available on all copies, so I don’t even feel bad about ignoring it.) Good day. Interested in joining the holy religion of the Polyphonic Spree? Leave your inquiries here ... and be holy. |
All reviews are copyrighted by the author, Michael Lawrence. He has a surrogate elm tree.
