Customer Reviews: Read 97 more reviews...
 Amazing! April 17, 2008
I just recently learned of this album, and have listened to it several times in the last few days, and am playing it now. I can't get enough of it. It's catchy as hell, fun, creative, and it rocks. What more can you want? While the songs are not without tension, it imparts to me a feeling of bliss like a carefree summer day, with its often breezy melodies and laid-back, jazzy instrumentation.
The only other BBS album I've heard so far is Feel Good Lost, which is nothing like this at all. I found that one to be on the boring/monotonous side, with very few vocals, so I would not be surprised that You Forgot It In People is an aberration like has been said in reviews here. So imagine my surprise and pleasure when listening to this, expecting more of the same. It sounds like lots of things you've heard and like, but also not quite like any of them. It still comes across as groundbreaking and fresh. This is one of those rare albums I completely enjoy from start to finish.
Fantabulous! January 19, 2008
This album is so, so great. Every song on here (except for tracks 1, 5, and the last one) is excellent, and the ones in parenthesis are OK. There is not a truly bad song on this entire album.
Some folks on here have said that this isn't particularly unique. Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, but I have to disagree. I think that this is very original, as the dozen or so members that contributed to the band at this point all bring their own ideas into the mix, which adds plenty of diversity.
To wrap things up, let me just say that I could listen to "KC Accidental", "Stars and Sons", "Almost Crimes", "Cause=Time", "Lover's Spit", "I'm Still Your Fag", and perhaps "Pacific Theme" (which isn't quite as good as the other six) 300 times a day for 300 days and never get tired of them. The songwriting is THAT strong. Just buy the frickin' thing. You'll be glad you did.
Frantic, Beautiful - A Must Own July 9, 2007
I love this album. By the end of the brief opening piece, titled Capture the Flag, you're not sure what to expect; another pretty, at-times-stagnant collection of songs from the guys who made Feel Good Lost? Then the second song, KC Accidental, begins.
An electric guitar is strummed quietly, deliberately, and for about ten seconds your suspicions seem to have been confirmed. Then the drums crash. The song's tempo and volume are immediately doubled; layers of guitar soar while the rhythm section plows ahead. After four measures of beautiful, breakneck instrumentation, the rest of the band crash like a wave, dissolving as the lone guitar continues strumming, louder but still deliberate. After four measures of this, the band returns at full speed. The push-and-pull between the single guitar and the rest of the band continues until finally it all breaks to make way for harmonizing strings and breathy, understated vocals.
You're not sure what you're hearing anymore, but one thing is clear - there is nothing stagnant about this music. It's as though Broken Social Scene takes for granted that the two aforementioned extremes of style should be considered a range within which a band may work. One song may explore its boundaries with feedback effects and a catchy, dominant bassline; the next may aspire to test the definition of cacophony with screeching guitars and vocals that are more shouted than sung. Yet another song croons the chorus "I'm still your fag" over pretty acoustic picking and brushed drums.
In short, this is one of the richest, most beautiful albums I own, and I recommend it to anyone. I promise that there will be something on this album for you to enjoy - for me, it's the whole thing.
 So much yet so little April 23, 2007
7 out of 13 found this review helpful
I grew up with The Police so take my opinion with a grain of salt but what I've heard of this album sums up what seems so wrong with this incarnation of indie rock. Too many possibilities for bands - all the effects and sub-syles replace what songwriting might be in there - they hit the Dinosaur-Jr style uptempos, grandiose strings / pianos build-ups, and psuedo-trip-hop cool-outs. On "Looks just like the Sun" a loopy, funky snare beat, acoustic guitar for mellowness and self-assured but weak vocals does not make a good song for me. The vocals just never make it beyond a vapid, quaalude style. The band reminds us their sweet studio also came with a banjo, a Rhodes piano, a real piano, and amps to mimic any guitar sound out there. I actually liked "Almost Crimes" and from another album "Hotel" and "7/4". But all in all this is well-played music that seems empty. I like overdubs and soundeffects just not the motives behind their use, and, well, overuse.
Just Plain Broken February 6, 2007
3 out of 24 found this review helpful
1.) Arrangements relies too much on effects, not musically challenging or that interesting.
2.) Background ambient instrumentals are to imposing, they over power the main structure.
3.) Lyrically unsound and ridiculous.
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