Fortune's Favour review!
Jun. 25th, 2008 11:03 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
annathepiperIt will surprise exactly none of you, or at least shouldn't, that I naturally ripped this album right into iTunes and listened to it ASAP after I got home tonight. When I was done with the album, I promptly jumped over to watch everything on the DVD as well.
Fortune's Favour is heavy on the pop, which will put it over on the side of the discography that includes Sea of No Cares, Something Beautiful*, and to a lesser degree, Turn. However, this release has an atypical and unique style going for it, which I'm sure can be attributed to GBS letting someone else produce it for them. I suspect many fans may wrinkle their noses and go "it's different! Scares me!" Me? I like it.
Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I'm biologically incapable of disliking a Great Big Sea album. ;) But that said, I hear only one track on this thing that didn't grab me in at least one interesting way, and in at least three different places, this thing has made me blink just because of stylistic choices that are so different from what GBS has done in the past that it surprised me to hear them. I highly approve of being surprised. It's the willingness to experiment and try new things with their music that I hope with all my heart will keep the B'ys vital and engaging musicians for many more years to come.
I'm pretty sure that this album won't dethrone the mighty The Hard and the Easy and the even mightier Rant and Roar for my all-time favorite GBS albums ever. But that said, I'm finding it a good solid listen and am delighted to have it join my collection. Here's to us all having a little more fortune in our lives!
And now, track by track reactions!
"Love Me Tonight" - Mm, Alan in very nice voice in this song--in particular in the bridge, where he does delicious deep little bits. Upbeat in general, and definitely single fodder. And right, this is the one I heard on the player before on the site, and which vanished before I had another chance to listen to it.
"Walk On The Moon" - I've heard this one already, of course, and my opinion of it remains high. Sure, it's Disneyesque, but I have to admit I'm a sucker for the chorus and its full-throated harmony on "I'M ALIVE!" And for the roll of delicate chimes in the second verse, just over the line "as that rocket ship touched down". And for that last chorus when they're holding out that chord on "small". <3
"England" - Ah okay, the first thing sung by Séan on the album. He's in good voice, sounding clearer and purer than he did on TH&TE. Where the heck are the others, though--oh okay, there they are, second chorus. High sweet harmony on the next chorus after, too, and oh look, whistle on the bridge. That's Bob, surely. And HAH, "fortune's favour" mentioned in the lyrics, clearly this is where the album title came from. Is this the song they were singing harmony on in that one video I was watching of them in the studio a few months back? Maybe. Is it trad? Not sure. It sounds like it ought to be, but the lyrics are included up on the site and are credited to "McCann". I don't know if that means that he wrote this song, or if he just did the arrangement of it.
"Here and Now" - Back to another one I'd heard already on the greatbigsea.com player, and back to Alan and something pop. Alan alternates here between clear and delightfully growly, and there's some neat sounding percussion in the second part of the first verse and some nice guitar licks going on in the background too as well as heading into the chorus. Good strong harmony on said choruses, and I'd already decided I liked the chant in the bridge. Ends a little abruptly though.
"Long Lost Love" - Yet another I'd already heard on the player. This feels like it should be trad, given the tune and the delivery, but it isn't. It's another Séan, and on the sweet but perky side. Not sure if I like this one as much as I like the Alan tracks so far, but then I'm not a Séan fangirl. ;)
"Oh Yeah" - Finally, another one I hadn't already heard yet, and whoa! Harder rock feel than GBS usually does, and Alan's growling out the lyrics. Wow, this is different. Well, we knew the album was going to have a different sound to it than previous works, but this is the strongest indicator of it so far. It actually made me blink. Hee. But this one ends a little abruptly too.
"Banks of Newfoundland" - I think this may be the first actual trad ditty on the album...? This one's not listed on the lyrics page up on the site. And oh hey, here's Bob singing lead finally, and some loverly harmony on the chorus. Shanty in a minor key, good rolling rhythm, though I could like a bit more drum in it and a bit of variance on the beat.
"Dream to Live" - Back to Séan with this one. Nice tune and beat, though the lyrics are a downer! Sniff. Ooh, nice high note out of the Shantyman, though--he's definitely in higher and purer voice on this album than he's been in a bit, and showing it off on the bridge/chorus bit.
"Company of Fools" - Oh yeah, I see Russell's hand in these lyrics, with the way a bunch of syllables get jammed into a line, hee. And where Séan's in clearer voice than normal, Alan seems to be all about the growly all over this album. This is not a bad thing. <3 And very upbeat chorus, this. I expect this to be showing up in the set lists for the Fortunate Tour later this year.
"Hard Case" - And, back to Séan--and also, guest vocalist Jeen O'Brien, briefly...? If she's in there more than just that bit at the beginning, I'm having a hard time picking her out of the mix of the voices... no. I can hear her singing higher harmony, okay. Hrm. I think this is perhaps the first song that isn't really grabbing me much on the album. The tune doesn't grab me much and neither do the lyrics, though I am of course willing to see if it'll grow on me.
"Rocks of Merasheen" - The other clearly trad ditty, or at least other clearly "not original to GBS ditty", is another Séan. And for the first time he's sounding grittier. This is a nice one, regardless. Interesting chorus to my ear, starting off sounding major-y and ending minor-y. What's that in the background on this last verse, banjo? Also, I just like "Merasheen" as a name.
"Dance Dance" - Ooh, another perky Alan ditty. Always a good thing. This feels like concert material; it's got Vertical Movement all over every measure.
"Heart of Stone" - It is probably indicative of how much I like![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mizkit's writing that when I saw this title, I actually thought of her book. I suspect that the next time I read that book, this song will weave itself into my mental soundtrack for it. The mix on it caught my ear a bit, the first couple of measures. I think I like this one, on first listen; I don't tend to go for Séan's slower, serious songs, but this one has an interesting little melody and some nice tight harmony. And it's a nice contrast to lead into...
"Straight to Hell" - BOOYA. This of course being the first thing I'd heard off this album, going clear back to last summer's ZooTunes show when they did this one live. I loved it then, I love it now! Growly Alan, growly harmony, growly guitars. Yes Alan, yes indeed, you can sing like a bird and dance like a demon and you do it very, very well. <3
I'd already listened to the bonus tracks, of course, but I'm including them for completeness' sake.
Belong - This is hands down the best of the bonus tracks that the B'ys handed out for this album. It gets bonus points now that I know Russell helped write the lyrics. <3
Gallow's Pole - Highly atypical flavor for GBS, but interestingly raucous nonetheless.
Wandering Ways - All I can think of with this one is, is this Séan bidding farewell to his fangirls now that he's all married up and stuff? ;)
Metrobus - And, the only Bob track amongst the bonus material. Also atypical of style for GBS, but I think that's a good thing for bonus tracks. And it is perhaps not particularly atypical of Bob.
Onward to DVD impressions!
This is a very minimalist DVD--no menu, no nothing, you pop it in and there's a blank black screen. Until you hit Play, and then, oh look, studio footage!
Very cool, musicgeeking in the studio. What's that software Hawksley is using? That looks like fun stuff to play with.
Bob in the recording room with the bouzouki that looks like my octave mand--neat, we usually see that instrument in Alan's hands, I think.
Crufty-looking needs-a-shave Séan with guitar. I may not be a Shantyfan normally, but I gotta admit, that's awful purty.
Bwahaha about the "Sloop John B" bit. "Hawskley, let us go home..." And wow, didn't know Alan could sing that low.
Cool, bits of St. John's. Nice to glimpse the music store. And the dude with an accordion on the street. There's some pretty on this street Alan's walking along, in general.
Alan with the cymbals and the tympani and the xylophone, hee! Bwaha, xylophone fight. And dude, Hawskley's got some pipes. What the hell are they doing with the tympani, anyway? Is this layering in instruments for "Walk On The Moon"?
And WTF with the making of things go thump in the hallway? Clearly, the B'ys will pull in their percussion from wherever the hell they like.... OH okay, so this is percussion for "Banks of Newfoundland".
Hardcore harmony geeking here. Very cool. I particularly like the bits where they're trying to figure out which notes Séan needs to be hitting over Bob's melody line, and Alan's noodling around with his own harmony line.
Mmm, Bob looks pretty sexy when he needs a shave, too. ;)
Kinda frustrating to listen to them working on stuff that they can hear through the headphones, but we can't! So we can't necessarily clue in on what the audible bits are linking into. The musicgeek in me really wants to hear what's coming through the headphones too.
Bwahahaha duct-taping Hawksley to the chair hee.
Interesting, the discussion about the "string arrangement" of "Walk On the Moon". Makes me really want to hear that previous arrangement for comparison purposes. Also, Séan's strategy for dealing with the song is HY-larious: "Let's just leave it alone, and maybe it'll fix itself!" And, "let's all drink seven drinks, then come back and listen to it." Alan: "Worked for the Old Black Rum!"
Wow, lookit all those signed copies of Courage & Patience & Grit.
Hee, Alan: "I'm a folk singer, what do I know about this pop shit? It's what the kids want. The kids with the iPods." How about us near-40-year-olds with iPods, there, Doyle? ;)
*LAUGH* Beautiful bit there with Alan serenading the dog, complete with light work.
Lyrics-geeking, and poor Séan gets harshed on for his lyrics but valiantly tries to defend himself. "Make it a version, at least!" "I already have an aversion to it!"
Hee, Bob with a white MacBook. And wow, check out that Marshall amp Alan rolls in, complete with big fat tubes inside.
That's a gorgeous-looking leather shoulder strap Alan uses on the black Les Paul. Nice engraving on it. The strap, that is, not the guitar.
And ah, about 54 minutes of material. Cool. All in all, very fun. I'm glad they shared it with us!
Fortune's Favour is heavy on the pop, which will put it over on the side of the discography that includes Sea of No Cares, Something Beautiful*, and to a lesser degree, Turn. However, this release has an atypical and unique style going for it, which I'm sure can be attributed to GBS letting someone else produce it for them. I suspect many fans may wrinkle their noses and go "it's different! Scares me!" Me? I like it.
Yeah yeah yeah, I know, I'm biologically incapable of disliking a Great Big Sea album. ;) But that said, I hear only one track on this thing that didn't grab me in at least one interesting way, and in at least three different places, this thing has made me blink just because of stylistic choices that are so different from what GBS has done in the past that it surprised me to hear them. I highly approve of being surprised. It's the willingness to experiment and try new things with their music that I hope with all my heart will keep the B'ys vital and engaging musicians for many more years to come.
I'm pretty sure that this album won't dethrone the mighty The Hard and the Easy and the even mightier Rant and Roar for my all-time favorite GBS albums ever. But that said, I'm finding it a good solid listen and am delighted to have it join my collection. Here's to us all having a little more fortune in our lives!
And now, track by track reactions!
"Love Me Tonight" - Mm, Alan in very nice voice in this song--in particular in the bridge, where he does delicious deep little bits. Upbeat in general, and definitely single fodder. And right, this is the one I heard on the player before on the site, and which vanished before I had another chance to listen to it.
"Walk On The Moon" - I've heard this one already, of course, and my opinion of it remains high. Sure, it's Disneyesque, but I have to admit I'm a sucker for the chorus and its full-throated harmony on "I'M ALIVE!" And for the roll of delicate chimes in the second verse, just over the line "as that rocket ship touched down". And for that last chorus when they're holding out that chord on "small". <3
"England" - Ah okay, the first thing sung by Séan on the album. He's in good voice, sounding clearer and purer than he did on TH&TE. Where the heck are the others, though--oh okay, there they are, second chorus. High sweet harmony on the next chorus after, too, and oh look, whistle on the bridge. That's Bob, surely. And HAH, "fortune's favour" mentioned in the lyrics, clearly this is where the album title came from. Is this the song they were singing harmony on in that one video I was watching of them in the studio a few months back? Maybe. Is it trad? Not sure. It sounds like it ought to be, but the lyrics are included up on the site and are credited to "McCann". I don't know if that means that he wrote this song, or if he just did the arrangement of it.
"Here and Now" - Back to another one I'd heard already on the greatbigsea.com player, and back to Alan and something pop. Alan alternates here between clear and delightfully growly, and there's some neat sounding percussion in the second part of the first verse and some nice guitar licks going on in the background too as well as heading into the chorus. Good strong harmony on said choruses, and I'd already decided I liked the chant in the bridge. Ends a little abruptly though.
"Long Lost Love" - Yet another I'd already heard on the player. This feels like it should be trad, given the tune and the delivery, but it isn't. It's another Séan, and on the sweet but perky side. Not sure if I like this one as much as I like the Alan tracks so far, but then I'm not a Séan fangirl. ;)
"Oh Yeah" - Finally, another one I hadn't already heard yet, and whoa! Harder rock feel than GBS usually does, and Alan's growling out the lyrics. Wow, this is different. Well, we knew the album was going to have a different sound to it than previous works, but this is the strongest indicator of it so far. It actually made me blink. Hee. But this one ends a little abruptly too.
"Banks of Newfoundland" - I think this may be the first actual trad ditty on the album...? This one's not listed on the lyrics page up on the site. And oh hey, here's Bob singing lead finally, and some loverly harmony on the chorus. Shanty in a minor key, good rolling rhythm, though I could like a bit more drum in it and a bit of variance on the beat.
"Dream to Live" - Back to Séan with this one. Nice tune and beat, though the lyrics are a downer! Sniff. Ooh, nice high note out of the Shantyman, though--he's definitely in higher and purer voice on this album than he's been in a bit, and showing it off on the bridge/chorus bit.
"Company of Fools" - Oh yeah, I see Russell's hand in these lyrics, with the way a bunch of syllables get jammed into a line, hee. And where Séan's in clearer voice than normal, Alan seems to be all about the growly all over this album. This is not a bad thing. <3 And very upbeat chorus, this. I expect this to be showing up in the set lists for the Fortunate Tour later this year.
"Hard Case" - And, back to Séan--and also, guest vocalist Jeen O'Brien, briefly...? If she's in there more than just that bit at the beginning, I'm having a hard time picking her out of the mix of the voices... no. I can hear her singing higher harmony, okay. Hrm. I think this is perhaps the first song that isn't really grabbing me much on the album. The tune doesn't grab me much and neither do the lyrics, though I am of course willing to see if it'll grow on me.
"Rocks of Merasheen" - The other clearly trad ditty, or at least other clearly "not original to GBS ditty", is another Séan. And for the first time he's sounding grittier. This is a nice one, regardless. Interesting chorus to my ear, starting off sounding major-y and ending minor-y. What's that in the background on this last verse, banjo? Also, I just like "Merasheen" as a name.
"Dance Dance" - Ooh, another perky Alan ditty. Always a good thing. This feels like concert material; it's got Vertical Movement all over every measure.
"Heart of Stone" - It is probably indicative of how much I like
mizkit's writing that when I saw this title, I actually thought of her book. I suspect that the next time I read that book, this song will weave itself into my mental soundtrack for it. The mix on it caught my ear a bit, the first couple of measures. I think I like this one, on first listen; I don't tend to go for Séan's slower, serious songs, but this one has an interesting little melody and some nice tight harmony. And it's a nice contrast to lead into..."Straight to Hell" - BOOYA. This of course being the first thing I'd heard off this album, going clear back to last summer's ZooTunes show when they did this one live. I loved it then, I love it now! Growly Alan, growly harmony, growly guitars. Yes Alan, yes indeed, you can sing like a bird and dance like a demon and you do it very, very well. <3
I'd already listened to the bonus tracks, of course, but I'm including them for completeness' sake.
Belong - This is hands down the best of the bonus tracks that the B'ys handed out for this album. It gets bonus points now that I know Russell helped write the lyrics. <3
Gallow's Pole - Highly atypical flavor for GBS, but interestingly raucous nonetheless.
Wandering Ways - All I can think of with this one is, is this Séan bidding farewell to his fangirls now that he's all married up and stuff? ;)
Metrobus - And, the only Bob track amongst the bonus material. Also atypical of style for GBS, but I think that's a good thing for bonus tracks. And it is perhaps not particularly atypical of Bob.
Onward to DVD impressions!
This is a very minimalist DVD--no menu, no nothing, you pop it in and there's a blank black screen. Until you hit Play, and then, oh look, studio footage!
Very cool, musicgeeking in the studio. What's that software Hawksley is using? That looks like fun stuff to play with.
Bob in the recording room with the bouzouki that looks like my octave mand--neat, we usually see that instrument in Alan's hands, I think.
Crufty-looking needs-a-shave Séan with guitar. I may not be a Shantyfan normally, but I gotta admit, that's awful purty.
Bwahaha about the "Sloop John B" bit. "Hawskley, let us go home..." And wow, didn't know Alan could sing that low.
Cool, bits of St. John's. Nice to glimpse the music store. And the dude with an accordion on the street. There's some pretty on this street Alan's walking along, in general.
Alan with the cymbals and the tympani and the xylophone, hee! Bwaha, xylophone fight. And dude, Hawskley's got some pipes. What the hell are they doing with the tympani, anyway? Is this layering in instruments for "Walk On The Moon"?
And WTF with the making of things go thump in the hallway? Clearly, the B'ys will pull in their percussion from wherever the hell they like.... OH okay, so this is percussion for "Banks of Newfoundland".
Hardcore harmony geeking here. Very cool. I particularly like the bits where they're trying to figure out which notes Séan needs to be hitting over Bob's melody line, and Alan's noodling around with his own harmony line.
Mmm, Bob looks pretty sexy when he needs a shave, too. ;)
Kinda frustrating to listen to them working on stuff that they can hear through the headphones, but we can't! So we can't necessarily clue in on what the audible bits are linking into. The musicgeek in me really wants to hear what's coming through the headphones too.
Bwahahaha duct-taping Hawksley to the chair hee.
Interesting, the discussion about the "string arrangement" of "Walk On the Moon". Makes me really want to hear that previous arrangement for comparison purposes. Also, Séan's strategy for dealing with the song is HY-larious: "Let's just leave it alone, and maybe it'll fix itself!" And, "let's all drink seven drinks, then come back and listen to it." Alan: "Worked for the Old Black Rum!"
Wow, lookit all those signed copies of Courage & Patience & Grit.
Hee, Alan: "I'm a folk singer, what do I know about this pop shit? It's what the kids want. The kids with the iPods." How about us near-40-year-olds with iPods, there, Doyle? ;)
*LAUGH* Beautiful bit there with Alan serenading the dog, complete with light work.
Lyrics-geeking, and poor Séan gets harshed on for his lyrics but valiantly tries to defend himself. "Make it a version, at least!" "I already have an aversion to it!"
Hee, Bob with a white MacBook. And wow, check out that Marshall amp Alan rolls in, complete with big fat tubes inside.
That's a gorgeous-looking leather shoulder strap Alan uses on the black Les Paul. Nice engraving on it. The strap, that is, not the guitar.
And ah, about 54 minutes of material. Cool. All in all, very fun. I'm glad they shared it with us!
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 2008-06-26 06:19 am (UTC)So immediately unimpressed.
no subject
Date: 2008-06-26 02:03 pm (UTC)But then, I think Alan's got a lighter production hand than Hawksley. There's a crystalline clarity to SB that this album doesn't have, and I'm now wondering whether overproduction is why I can barely pick out Jeen O'Brien in "Hard Case".
no subject
Date: 2008-06-26 07:21 am (UTC)Never heard you talk about them. This is the first post evar. :P
no subject
Date: 2008-06-26 01:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2008-07-02 06:18 pm (UTC)I'm actually quite in love with this whole album. There's usually a couple songs on each album that I'll jump over on occasion, but I haven't found one yet on this album. Favorite song is probably "Here and Now", with "England" and "Company of Fools" running close seconds.
The video footage is a lot of fun. I was hoping it would be all the same as what was posted on canada.com so I wouldn't have to watch all that stuff online, but it's cool that it's even more footage. Loved the bit with Alan serenading the pup...laughed 'til I cried over that one.
no subject
Date: 2008-07-02 10:46 pm (UTC)I'm definitely finding multiple repeat plays on this album, yeah. At least half the album has made it onto my "GBS Favorites" playlist; I think my main contenders are "Walk On The Moon", "Here and Now", and "Love Me Tonight".
no subject
Date: 2008-08-03 03:17 am (UTC)"Banks of Newfoundland" really interested me because the style is much more British than other traditional songs of theirs. (Sorry, I can't describe it much better than that it sounds like Louis Kellin).