Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Perfect pop, puts a grin on yer face!, 25 April 2007
Well, I for one grinned when "92 Subaru" was just 20 seconds in and I'd heard all the elements that make power pop great! The influences are sometimes very clear; "Revolving Dora" sounds like a hifi-version of a Beatles-track from '66. I always had a soft spot for the acoustic FOW with the shimmering vocal harmonies and "Fire in the Canyon" and "Michael and Heather" don't disappoint!
I think this is going to be my 'summer-album' for this year; if you want perfect melodies, plenty of guitars, hooks and fine vocals; spend your money on this!
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10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"This Better Be Good"...it's even better than that!, 21 April 2007
Call off the race, album of the year is already here and it's not even the end of May. Hyperbole aside, this is stirring, fantastic stuff, and yet another gem from Fountains of Wayne - the seminal power pop band of the last 10 years, who represent all that is good about that particular genre. If you are familiar with any of their earlier albums, you'll have a pretty good idea of what to expect - perfect pop songs, choruses to die for, big guitars, and each song a perfectly detailed and observed story of everday people, and their everday concerns, be it pride in a newly bought car ("'92 Subaru"), falling for the girl working at the Motor Registry ("Yolanda Hayes") or owing money to some shady guy, who's come looking for payback ("Strapped For Cash")
This isn't rocket science - Fountains of Wayne have their formula but the beauty of it is that a) it's uncomplicated and works so well and b) they only release an album every four years or so, which leads me to an image of songwriters Adam Schlesinger and Chris Collingwood working so hard to maintain quality control and refining the songs to the point that there is no excess or flab whatsoever, unlike say, someone like Ryan Adams, who, whilst fantastic at his very best, seemingly releases every single thing that he writes. Having mentioned the FOW formula, "Traffic and Weather" represents a subtle progression from 2003's "Welcome Interstate Managers" - for example the mechanical groove of the title track, the infusion of horns on "Strapped For Cash" or the woozy, spaced out "Revolving Dora". Also, in spite of it being a great album, "Welcome..." was too long, had a surfeit of slow songs and songs seemingly about teenagers. "Traffic and Weather" weighs in at a punchy 45 minutes, and the vast majority of the songs have adult concerns at their heart.
I can't recommend this album highly enough, and in the perfect world, FOW would be giant pop stars. But as long as they continue to churn out great albums like "Traffic and Weather", I'll take them any way I can, even if by my reckoning I'll have to wait until 2011 for the next chapter.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
I'm putting up a sign saying "Gone Fishing for Power Pop", 14 Nov 2007
I'm a little biased, as I place people in three camps: those who love Fountains of Wayne, those who like Fountains of Wayne, and those who have not heard of Foutains of Wayne.
This is the fourth studio album, and follows the B side compilation album, Out Of State Plates, which is pretty good in that "B sides that are occasionally inspirational, occasionally weird" way.
The first instinct is that this is more of the same, which for me is a good thing. Fountains of Wayne take banal situations and turn them into love stories (e.g. Yolanda Hayes), as well as bringing an occasional smile to the listener with their ear for a tune and turn of phrase.
"Fire in the Canyon" seems to be the band's obligatory Country moment, and 92 Subaru is power pop of the sublime and ridiculous. Who has the idea of writing about a Late 92 Baby Blue Subaru?
The album is a good length, the songs are all less than 4 minutes long, there is no self indulgence here. Other reviews suggest there is a lack of identity behind this album, but that could be said of a lot of bands. This is uplifting power pop at its foot tapping best.
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