This is far and away the coolest record by any band in quite some time. The musical influences are obvious, but so what? My 5 and 8
year old kids run around the house miming "Listen to the Radio", having begun so uncoerced. The tunes are masterfully written, the emotions bleed through. The sonics of every instrument are painstakingly recorded finely, without sounding like the band tried too hard. Sloan have really come into their own with this one, and I think it is their best record they have ever put out, with BTB a close second. They are the perfect example of a band that knows HOW to write songs. For it's varied styles, NHTEOI harkens back to the liberal creations of The White Album. Yes, I wrote that, and too bad if you do not like it. I listen to lots of music, popular and not so much or not at all, and I'll bet anyone my Beatles Budokan '66 LaserDisc that they would not be able to find a band where all 4 members write, sing lead, switch instruments on stage, and leave their songs ringing in their head for hours. The Beatles, KISS, Queen (well, Deacon doesn't sing), and well, Sloan! And the first three bands don't play each others instruments on stage! Sloan, you have my blessing as a fan of GOOD MUSIC on your latest record. I can't wait to hear the next one....! Joe and Carrie Pensanti, Connecticut |
