Official UTS Review Thread

[wondergirl9847]

Got the official hard copy CD a few moments ago in the mail!!!!

Not Too Late - The flurry of guitarwork is mindblowing! His voice is very strong and powerful.

Show You How - This and It Was You are just adorable songs. Fun and funky. Gets stuck in your head for sure. You can totally groove while listening to this. LOL

Under the Skin - My absolute favorite song on this album as of right now. I adored it like I adored Red Rover the second it came on. The melody touches my heart and I love his vocal on this. "your passion swallows you whole..deaf, dumb and blind..." Sheebus.

I Am Waiting - The Soundstage version is one of my faves and I adore this version too. It's more tight sounding, but I just love it.

It Was You - Such a funky, breezy song. Very Caribbean-sounding. Love the shout-outs to the kids. I can picture them listening to this and dancing around with dad. Hee!

To Try for the Sun - I never much cared for this song in it's "demo" form, but it's nice. I like the new vocal. The guitar work is masterful...as usual. The Stevie fans should be happy with this one.

Cast Away Dreams - I love the melody on this one!! A great hummable song...so pretty. The lines that are freaking me out... "it would do no good to drown in the sea where no one remembers their name and nothing but nothing is free." Woah...I may be reading that wrong, but...

Shut Us Down - This one caught me off guard when we heard it a little while ago. It was so out there, in the vocal especially, but it's grown on me. I find myself singing the chorus allll the time. The guitar work is amazing. ARG, why cut the solo, Lindsey...WHY!?!!?!

Down on Rodeo - This was never a fave of mine, but it has grown on me A LOT and is a terrific song Great single choice. I am 99% sure they will do this tonight in Nashville.

SGCYM - One of my faves...have loved it for awhile now. Powerful vocals!!

Flying Down Juniper- LOVE the soaring vocal on the chorus! I can picture a video in my head for this song with kids playing and running around in slow-mo.

My only "complaint" is the pictures in the booklet seem very dark. Is it that way on everyone's copy? I have 2 more copies on the way, so perhaps it was just this one. Well, that and the cut SUD solo.

This album is somethin' else, folks. I think when I heard SGCYM on that GLAAD CD a few years ago....it was a turning point. I listened and said "Wow, this is unlike anything I've ever heard from Lindsey." and he's been surprising me ever since with this new sound and maturity in his songwriting.

BRAVO! *Stands up and claps*

[macmar71]

Originally Posted by desertangel

Forgot to mention how dissappointed I was that there were only 11 songs, it was obviously short. Couldn't help but wonder if the next CD will have 11 songs also and how they could have been blended to create one of those multiple personality type Lindsey albums. But we already know why that didn't happen.

Thanks for pointing out which songs Mick and John contributed on, I saw that on the linear notes. I was just wondering which ones may specifically have been done around The Dance era.

Definitely too short!!! Could have used another 3 to 4 songs!

[macmar71]

I will also be using this type of scale to rate the songs:

Fantastic:
It was you
To Try For The Sun
DOR

Good:
I am waiting
SGTCYM
Show You How

O.K.-songs:
Shut Us Down
Castaway Dreams

Don`t like it:
Not Too Late
Under The Skin
Juniper

[Peestie]

Originally Posted by wondergirl9847

To Try for the Sun -The Stevie fans should be happy with this one.

Because of the "mirror, mirror in the sky" bit? I didn't think that was a nod toward Stevie since it's in the original Donovan song. (isn't it? )

[amber]

Originally Posted by Peestie

Because of the "mirror, mirror in the sky" bit? I didn't think that was a nod toward Stevie since it's in the original Donovan song. (isn't it? )

No, also because of the rest of what it says.

[Peestie]

Originally Posted by amber

No, also because of the rest of what it says.

So the "gypsy girl" bit? Sorry, I just never connected Stevie to this song so I don't really see it.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by desertangel

To Try for the Sun:
Some of the guitar parts on this song reminds me of Big Love. I thought this song was credited to Donovan but I couldn't find a clip to listen to, so again, I have nothing to compare it to.

CDUniverse.com: Donovan--Try For The Sun box set.

Disc Two, track 8.

Donovan's original sounds eerily like a sequel to his own hit, "Catch The Wind". (which in itself sounds like a parody of early Bob Dylan)

Again, Lindsey pours a freight-load of angst on the lyric...but, mainly I think he was just experimenting with guitar sounds and found a lyric that fit. I think he took the ideas he discovered by doing this song and evolved them into "Red Rover".

Still, if my life was at stake and was forced to name one song on UTS to be my fave (which is painfully difficult to do, for me, suprisingly enough), this would have to be it. Yeah, I know, it's a cover, but hey, it's one of the times that Lindsey makes a song his own and it works, works f-ing well.

[mylittledemon]

Originally Posted by chiliD

CDUniverse.com: Donovan--Try For The Sun box set.

Disc Two, track 8.

Donovan's original sounds eerily like a sequel to his own hit, "Catch The Wind". (which in itself sounds like a parody of early Bob Dylan)

Again, Lindsey pours a freight-load of angst on the lyric...but, mainly I think he was just experimenting with guitar sounds and found a lyric that fit. I think he took the ideas he discovered by doing this song and evolved them into "Red Rover".

Still, if my life was at stake and was forced to name one song on UTS to be my fave (which is painfully difficult to do, for me, suprisingly enough), this would have to be it. Yeah, I know, it's a cover, but hey, it's one of the times that Lindsey makes a song his own and it works, works f-ing well.

of all the Ledgies, I am awaiting your review

[DavidMn]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

of all the Ledgies, I am awaiting your review

Too late. He's already been hypnotized by Gerald.

[Peestie]

Originally Posted by chiliD

Still, if my life was at stake and was forced to name one song on UTS to be my fave (which is painfully difficult to do, for me, suprisingly enough), this would have to be it. Yeah, I know, it's a cover, but hey, it's one of the times that Lindsey makes a song his own and it works, works f-ing well.

So how do you rate the album against his other works, Chilli? Too early to tell yet?

I love this version of TTFTS. I like it more than the GOS version by quite a bit, now that the vocals are clearer and more powerful. Certainly a high point on an already great album IMO.

EDIT: You don't happen to know what tuning he's using for it do you?

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by macmar71

Definitely too short!!! Could have used another 3 to 4 songs!

"She Smiled Sweetly", to me, would've fit the concept of the album. But, then that would've been TWO Rolling Stones covers. Heaven forbid THAT would ever happen. (yes, that was a sarcastic comment)

[mylittledemon]

Originally Posted by chiliD

"She Smiled Sweetly", to me, would've fit the concept of the album. But, then that would've been TWO Rolling Stones covers. Heaven forbid THAT would ever happen. (yes, that was a sarcastic comment)

...still waiting...

[DavidMn]

As someone who has absolutely no clue about the technical side of music, I'm endlessly fascinated with Lindsey's whole music making process.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by Peestie

So how do you rate the album against his other works, Chilli? Too early to tell yet?

It is going to take a whole bunch for any album of his to top Out Of The Cradle, for me. That, to me, is his career defining masterpiece.

That said, this album is SO DIFFERENT (as a whole) from his other three, that it really is like comparing apples & oranges.

And, really, when you look at ONLY his solo output, each album is almost completely different than the one before.

But, when you look at his entire output (Fleetwood Mac included), there's definitely a thread going through it all...from Tusk to Law & Order there's a similarity, but also some growth...Mirage was an anomaly...then Go Insane was the experimental development that he more fully developed on Tango In The Night, then PERFECTED on Out Of The Cradle. It is just kind of too bad that an entire body of his work (what we know as Gift Of Screws)has been split out between Say You Will and Under The Skin...I guess if you take Lindsey's 10 songs from the Say You Will album (I'm including the Dylan cover, too) and the 11 songs from Under The Skin, you can approximate it. But, I'm starting to feel like these last couple of albums are in some ways a dilution of his vision (uh, oh...I used the "v" word!) in the same way that Brian Wilson's original concept for SMiLe was diluted into the Beach Boys' Smiley Smile and 20/20 albums (and beyond).

Originally Posted by Peestie

I love this version of TTFTS. I like it more than the GOS version by quite a bit, now that the vocals are clearer and more powerful. Certainly a high point on an already great album IMO.

EDIT: You don't happen to know what tuning he's using for it do you?

I have yet to "A/B" the two versions, so I can't really comment on the difference. Sure, the vocals are more prominent in the mix compared to the guitar, but that's about all I can remember off the top of my head.

I have no idea about the tuning. And, to be honest, I don't really care, since I have NO plans to sit down and try to learn the song (or any of his new songs). That's Lindsey's thing, I have my own thing...#1 one of which isn't to copy his.

[chiliD]

Originally Posted by mylittledemon

...still waiting...

I'm not real good at complying to demands. Usually, will purposely NOT respond to 'em. And, when we get into "Nagging" territory...I'll flat out refuse to respond. Is that clear enough?