Top Ten Albums of 2010 - #09
Black Rebel Motorcycle Club's Beat the Devil's Tattoo
Don't get me wrong - I like 'em long.
When I sit down to listen to an album, I want it to monopolize my attention for about 50 minutes at a time. Less than that and I feel cheated, although there's certainly some adjustments to be made for the quality of the material. Longer than that...well, you'd better bring everything you've got and pay even more attention to the flow of the songs than I do. Unfortunately, this album falls into this latter category.
Some people say Be Here Now needed a far heavier hand when it came to keeping the songs in check, but I disagree. Only "Magic Pie" comes close to needing an edit, and it's hardly the longest song on the album. BRMC's newest album starts to sound oddly repetitive by the fifth or sixth track and it's hard to say if it's due to track length (half are 5 minutes or longer, ending with a 10 minute grinder that could have been 3 minutes) or to the lack of variety (Baby 81 showcased what I believe was their perfect balance of mid-tempo toe-tappers and air-guitaring head-bangers).
This sounds harsh, and maybe I'm just disappointed because the last album was so good. Plus there are honestly really good tunes here. But next time I hope they leave a few minutes on the cutting room floor.
Album highlight: "Everyone is king when there's no one left to pawn."
Don't get me wrong - I like 'em long.When I sit down to listen to an album, I want it to monopolize my attention for about 50 minutes at a time. Less than that and I feel cheated, although there's certainly some adjustments to be made for the quality of the material. Longer than that...well, you'd better bring everything you've got and pay even more attention to the flow of the songs than I do. Unfortunately, this album falls into this latter category.
Some people say Be Here Now needed a far heavier hand when it came to keeping the songs in check, but I disagree. Only "Magic Pie" comes close to needing an edit, and it's hardly the longest song on the album. BRMC's newest album starts to sound oddly repetitive by the fifth or sixth track and it's hard to say if it's due to track length (half are 5 minutes or longer, ending with a 10 minute grinder that could have been 3 minutes) or to the lack of variety (Baby 81 showcased what I believe was their perfect balance of mid-tempo toe-tappers and air-guitaring head-bangers).
This sounds harsh, and maybe I'm just disappointed because the last album was so good. Plus there are honestly really good tunes here. But next time I hope they leave a few minutes on the cutting room floor.
Album highlight: "Everyone is king when there's no one left to pawn."
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