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10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Difference Between Me And You Is That You're All Wrong,, 16 May 2005
Five stars. See that? It's simple. Well done, 'slainbyelf' (but it's a shame about your name). This is a band that no longer exists. They were criminally ignored, and will be mourned by a very small group of people. This album is excellent, but be warned, people expecting another 'Mclusky Do Dallas' or 'My Pain And Sadness Is More Sad And Painful Than Yours' will be a tad disappointed as this is a decidedly more dark affair. Don't be put off by that, all the usuals are still present here- a savage, all-too-rare, intelligent sense of irony and humour, chaotic walls of noise and, of course, startling originality. From the opening guitars and 'doo-doo-doos' of Without MSG I Am Nothing through to the feedback drenched ending of Support Systems, this is an album most bands would sell their souls to be able to create. But for the most part, these songs lack the catchy pop hooks you might expect. As if to reassure all doubters that this general lack of catchiness was a concious decision, this album includes what is easily the catchiest, poppiest song Mclusky have ever recorded. It is called 'She Will Only Bring You Happiness' and it is brilliant. So is everything else on this album. If you buy this album and you are not impressed, you can blame me, and I will happily send you a written apology. But it will be an empty, meaningless apology, riddled with dirty limericks and sly comments about how rubbish your taste in music is.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Slightly below 'Do Dallas' but still best UK album 2004, 28 Nov 2004
Frankly, anyone who tries to suggest this album isn't worth owning needs their head examined. While it's not up to 'Do Dallas' standard, this is more like saying 'The Bends' isn't as good an album as 'OK Computer' (which is true but misses the point). While 'Do Dallas' flows from track to track in seamless brilliance, 'The Difference Between...' is simply a collection of great songs (with maybe a couple of slightly 'off' ones).The major difference is the new drummer who proves that he's about a billion times their old one in terms of ability. Also, there must have been more money available here because the whole album sounds excellent, particularly the drums that boom out with impressive depth. The band play around more with production here, as evidenced by the genius of 'Slay', while still maintaining their worthy commitment to hideous, ear-bleeding Pixies-tinged noise. This album undoubtedly marks them out as the only important UK band of the decade.
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5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
mclusky are amazing.. and that's all you need to know., 10 May 2004
I was desperate to pick up a copy of this album - i eventually managed to get it the week before it came out. My excitement was based on Mclusky's past performance, and true to form they don't disappoint.This third album marks somewhat of a turning point for Mclusky as it sees them trade their normal punk feel for a hard rock one, and the end result is an all-out eardrum assault. The first track sets the tone perfectly, as "Without MSG I Am Nothing" is everything you expect from Mclusky: sharp (but quite random) lyrics, a killer distorted bass riff and so much fuzz on the guitar that you can barely hear the strangled vocals. This is true for most of the Albini-produced album, with only the odd slip-up: "KKKitchens.." sounds very 'muddy' and unpleasant even for a mclusky track, whilst "Slay" is just pointless noise. The rest of the album more than makes up for this though, as the catchy choruses of "That Man Will Not Hang" and "She Will Only Bring You Happiness" snare you instantly. Still present in the songs is the singalong element, but there are now nice vocal timing twists where both Chapple and Falkous sing the same line but in a round robin style. This adds to the songwriting and is a brilliant touch, meaning songs like “..MSG..” and “She Will Only Bring You Happiness” (where the line ‘our old singer is a sex criminal..’ is repeated until you’re in tears) are easily the most refreshing things Mclusky have done in a long time. If you haven’t heard Mclusky before, whilst their first albums sounded like the harsher moments of The Icarus Line and , this album is much more akin to rock acts such as Idlewild, Weezer and Modest Mouse (only with much harsher lyrics) whilst it preserves that hardcore feel. There are moments in this album where the songs are almost relaxed as evident in "Forget About Him I'm Mint" (yep, the song titles are still brilliant), with passing mentions to boogieboards, X-Wing and "man-legs".. all of which sounds more like art-school ramblings of Blur and Franz Ferdinand than the Mclusky of old. Definitely a welcome change though. Curiously, this album has a number of surprising omissions. None of the singles that they released on the run up to this album feature anywhere on it, yet they have elected to include “1956 and All That”, which was one of the b-sides. Frustrations aside, “The Difference Between Me And You Is That I’m Not On Fire” is proof that Mclusky can continue to be excellent with their new drummer and new style of writing (it is also proof that even if you lock Mclusky in a room with a big name producer like Steve Albini, they’re still not going to grow up – so many bands feel the need to dumb down what they do once they get to this level in order to sell more records). I urge you to check this out if you’ve liked anything they’ve ever done, as well as if you’re a big fan of the hard rock/screaming vocals combination.
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