All Of A Sudden I Miss Everyone [CD]

There are both good and bad points to the new Explosions in the Sky album.

On the plus side, the band once again subtly shifts its style. The delicate, chiming guitar work of `The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place' has been energized by a rawer, more live sound. Drums seem more in the mix, particularly when the opening track `The Birth and Death of the Day' kicks into gear.

Piano has been introduced to the band's repertoire with good effect, best shown on the teasingly short and beautiful album closer `So Long Lonesome'. Also, the musicianship throughout is of the highest order and I would imagine the band sound fantastic live.

Now the downside. I have owned this CD for several weeks and given it many careful listens. In my experience, Explosions albums are not immediately accessible, which is not a problem in itself (although how some Amazon reviewers can declare a CD to be a five-star classic after only owning it for a day is beyond me). However, there seem to be two real problems with the album.

Firstly, whilst I am an admirer of the band and the way they take rock's basic guitar/bass/drums template to wonderful new places, Explosions in the Sky seem to be struggling here against their self-imposed limitations. There is a sense that we have heard it all before.

Secondly, and more importantly, is the lack of real inspirational quality. As already mentioned, the first and last tracks are very good, and I also quite like `What Do You Go Home To?' and `Catastrophe and the Cure' but there are no catch-your-breath moments here to compare with `Greet Death' from `Those Who Tell the Truth..' or `Your Hand in Mine' from `The Earth is not a Cold Dead Place'. `Welcome, Ghosts' and ` It's Natural to be Afraid' fall particularly flat, the latter track even fizzles out into a dull feedback finish.

In my opinion, `Those Who Tell The Truth..' remains Explosions's strongest album. `All of a Sudden I Miss Everyone' is a good album but four records into their career and the quality is gradually declining not improving. Without adding vocals I am not sure where they go from here.

Still, reviewing the album in isolation, it is worth three stars, no more no less. I suspect the hardcore fans will slate this review but I have tried to offer a balanced, honest view, I hope you found it helpful.

One of the best crescendo/post rock albums ever and the best release by far by the Explosions. I don't have the words to describe how beautiful the sound on this album is. Just about every track sends shivers up my spine. The album is a slow burner and will take two or three listens to bed in, but I think this is my top Album of 2007.

Also check out God Speed You Black Emperor (Lift Yr. Skinny Fists Like Antenna) as well if this kind of sound does it for you.

Explosions had hitherto just been one of those slightly formulaic and certainly basic post-rock additions to my cd collection. "Those Who Tell The Truth..." was raw and powerful (albeit slighted dated these days), and, while "The Earth is Not a Cold Dead Place" certainly found a Mono 3rd album-esque spurt towards genuine individuality, it wasn't especially in a direction that interested me. I found the whole band a tad too repetitive to ever consider showering praises on them. Enter this record.

I bought it out of habit mainly, but incredibly (for a band of their ilk), after merely one listen, I knew it was the best record they had ever produced (bar the first one, which I don't actually own, but can't imagine is all that special...). The cinematic, grandiose opening gives way to triumphant chords and some disconcertingly Pelican-esque drumming (not a fan of that), but this is the one time the drummer falters. Rather than being content to sit back and groove, he finally seems to have acknowledged the power of his instrument to alter the feel of any section, regardless of the guitars. This is particularly noticeable in the first movement of track 2. Thereafter this track wanes, but before one's attention lapses the haunting swaythes of track 3 captivate. This is the first time Explosions have strayed from anything other than neutral or positive sounding music. This is a brooding, ominous, piano-laden introduction. but the track tells us "it's natural to be afraid", and the soothing connotation therein soon reveals itself in the guitar-driven second movement, before building into a crescendo of shimmering, relentless, duel-soloing guitars. It's the sound of a thousand icicles shattering in the wake of a rising sun, and is the album's pinnacle.

Track 4 lulls everything into a more relaxed pace quite beautifully. The day is undergoing the routine of nature - bees are buzzing around buds, rays slowly saturate a garden, cascades of rain fall on the delicate petals of flowers, before the un-obtrusive percussion makes itself almost felt rather than heard, and suddenly it all withers away before ever really beginning. Exquisite. A harshly strummed guitar enters. A melody springs up. A cymbal is brushed with freneticism, yet restraint. The tension in these few bars is unbearable. Suddenly the release: a pounding rhythm thunders in, coupled with the most life-affirming melody Explosions have ever divined - it tumbles down the mountain, cascading the listener in an avalanche of euphoria. If only "catastrophe and the cure" remained as strong as these first 2 minutes throughout its too-lengthy duration, it would be the song of their career.

Track 6 ends the album on a pleasant but slightly subdued anti-climax. When the drums and bass finally creep in with the piano, the chord never changes. There's no final hook to draw you in. If anything though, it's clever musicianship. It leaves the hunger.

No, they haven't changed the formula for this record. Aside from the greater prevalance of piano, instrumentation is a simplistic is ever. However, they have finally crafted their landscape soundtracking to a beautiful and intricate degree. The pacing on this record is sublime - its ebbs and flows perpetuate the NEED to listen and, for the first time ever, the mood changes with the dynanicism. It sounds as though they constructed the entire album conceptually. A wonderful and surprising achievement.