Seeds We Sow -- First Impressions

[bluefox4000]

well Nico....i'm sorry to have typed it Cause you know how much I love Lindsey.....He's the reason For my love of the Mac....but I guess we don't have to love EVERYTHING he does

Mick

[McTrouble]

Originally Posted by Nico

Well, so sorry to hear that bluefox (Mick). For me, the album has just gotten more beautiful and my favorites seem to change daily. Love it!!!

Echoed!

[Regina]

Originally Posted by Nico

Well, so sorry to hear that bluefox (Mick). For me, the album has just gotten more beautiful and my favorites seem to change daily. Love it!!!

Me, too. Today's selection is the line "touched me soft and slow" from Seeds We Sow. SwS has been in my bottom two of this album (but, just bottom two of an entire album I really love, not "ick! bottom 2!") but, I gotta say, it's been growing on me once I've totally ignored the Ah...tatatas.

Yesterday, I listened twice to the entire album. And I can't wait to hear all this stuff live.

[McTrouble]

Originally Posted by Regina

Me, too. Today's selection is the line "touched me soft and slow" from Seeds We Sow. SwS has been in my bottom two of this album (but, just bottom two of an entire album I really love, not "ick! bottom 2!") but, I gotta say, it's been growing on me once I've totally ignored the Ah...tatatas.

Yesterday, I listened twice to the entire album. And I can't wait to hear all this stuff live.

I love those tatatas - they are just so....uhm....typically Lindsey!

[Regina]

When I was in an earlier, near foaming-at-the-mouth FM rabid fan stage, I once listened to a demo tape (I think from Tango) where lyrics...just didn't seem to exist for some of Lindsey's stuff and he "sang" things by mumbling nonsense words.

Of course, I listened to the LONG disco-ish versions of Empire state and something else. Oh, Family Man.

I'm glad I got over that part of being a fan;-) ALMOST as bad as listening to the 24-minute version of Stevie's Nightmare demo.

[dougb]

Originally Posted by chiliD

The guy is in a rut the size of the Grand Canyon. In retrospect, the worst thing he did was come up with that solo guitar/voice version of "Big Love". Everything he's done since then was just remakes of that. He DID hit on a couple of things that were taking that idea to the next level ("Try For The Sun" & "Red Rover"), but all he's doing on this album is regurgitating Under The Skin type over processed vocals making the lyrical content unintelligable (which annoyed the fk outta me then and just pisses me off here) over the same type guitar patterns. He's not growing as a songwriter, a guitarist, a vocalist, lyricist or even producer (his production chops are atrophying faster than a corpse's muscle tone). What he needs is one of Jethro Gibbs' patented head-slaps. It's that "how can a millionaire sing the blues authentically?" thing. Lindsey's still going for the "quirky angry" schtick...comes off as really forced & phony. It's time for him to find a new direction.

I have read most of the posts here and have to agree somewhat with this post. i do think the finger picking sound on every song is tiring and repetitive. I am surprised more people aren't agreeing.

[Regina]

Originally Posted by dougb

I have read most of the posts here and have to agree somewhat with this post. i do think the finger picking sound on every song is tiring and repetitive. I am surprised more people aren't agreeing.

Are you, really? Why should we agree if that's not how we feel?
You agree, that's cool. Lindsey has been doing his fingerpicking style for ages and that's part of why I like him. I'm suddenly going to stop because of someone else's opinion?
Hardly.

[Peestie]

You know, when I listened to the album I almost wished he'd do more of the fingerpicking songs. Maybe decide to just do fingerpicking and find new ways of making that work with a track.

Either that or another synth pop album

[Nico]

Originally Posted by bluefox4000

well Nico....i'm sorry to have typed it Cause you know how much I love Lindsey.....He's the reason For my love of the Mac....but I guess we don't have to love EVERYTHING he does

Mick

You are absolutely right. And it's good to be honest so don't feel bad at all.

I will say this about SWS: it could be his most accessible solo album, and I'm not sure if others agree or how you all feel about that. I took the CD with me on a roadtrip with my two girlfriends, who aren't really Lindsey fans and sometimes call his music "strange." I did get one of them, 2 years ago, to admit Gift Of Screws had some great stuff, but she also said "Time Precious Time" was one of the worse songs she had ever heard. But anyway, I put on SWS and they were really digging TTWLG and EOT and kind of the whole thing. They both think it's the best stuff they have ever heard from him. And I have played OOTC for them both in the past so...

That's interesting. I think it's one of those albums that appears to be dividing people. I love it but I get that some people wanted something different. We can't love it all and he can't please everyone...jmo.

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Regina

When I was in an earlier, near foaming-at-the-mouth FM rabid fan stage, I once listened to a demo tape (I think from Tango) where lyrics...just didn't seem to exist for some of Lindsey's stuff and he "sang" things by mumbling nonsense words.

He sang a lot of nonsense words for the GOS demos too, but that just drew me to them and wanted him to complete it all the more. In the unfinished stuff, even where there were words, I think they were just placeholders, based on earlier songs of his.

It was funny to me how his inchoate sounds still translated into raw emotion. Like with Steve's Riff and Given Thing, I still felt a whole story in my head. Little moans sounded like desperation or hurt, just in the way that they paired with the music. Deep dense . . . how can you just grunt things and have them matter? But they did. The "kind of like a marriage" words were trite on paper, but his playing made them say something more complicated.

Michele

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by Regina

Me, too. Today's selection is the line "touched me soft and slow" from Seeds We Sow. SwS has been in my bottom two of this album (but, just bottom two of an entire album I really love, not "ick! bottom 2!") but, I gotta say, it's been growing on me once I've totally ignored the Ah...tatatas.

Yes, I think the last verse almost redeems the whole song. Sensual and sad.


Although, I like the electric version of the song all the way through, not just the end -- I still don't believe it belonged on the album though. It doesn't hang with the other songs, even if it's my favorite rendition of SWS. Michele

[Cammie]

Nico...We agree with you...beautiful !!!
Nice to hear She Smiled Sweetly again!
Is there a dvd we can purchase also?

[k115810]

I've been a die hard Lindsey fan for about 15 years now, but admit I've stopped paying close attention after Gift of Screws was released. I picked up Seeds We Sow out of obligation, and I've listened to nothing else for a week. It's a phenomenal work that I think could possibly top OOTC for me. Obviously, it's too soon to tell, but I feel I can connect with any song on the album, which wasn't the case for either UTS or GOS.

Anyway...reading through this long thread has been a blast. BUT...I'm reading tons of people talking about listening to some of these songs for months. How have you all been hearing these songs before the album release? And how can I get my hands on those versions? ;-)

My theory is that I would've dug GOS more than I did had I not been exposed to half of the album in demo form over the past 10 years, so it was great that I went into Seeds We Sow as a blank slate (except for She Smiled Sweetly, of course).

Also, the electric version of Seeds We Sow is so clearly superior to the acoustic version that I can't believe I haven't seen more mention of it...

-Matt

[Lee]

Well, I've had several run-throughs now. Right now I can say that I do not like it better than GOS. The only song that I always skip on GOS is Time Precious Time. On SWS, I have to start playing it on Rock Away Blind. Weird because I have never had to start a CD in the middle. I do like That's the Way Love Goes though. Some of these songs sound strangely familiar, & some sound like they could have been Fleetwood Mac songs. Illumination has got to be the shortest song ever @ about 2 minutes

Lee

[michelej1]

Originally Posted by k115810

Anyway...reading through this long thread has been a blast. BUT...I'm reading tons of people talking about listening to some of these songs for months. How have you all been hearing these songs before the album release?
-Matt

Some people recorded the songs at a concert that Lindsey had in Beverly Hills this April. He filmed it for his upcoming DVD and we got a sneak preview of half of the songs then. Look on Youtube. Do a search for Lindsey Buckingham Saban, because he performed at the Saban theater.

But it sounds like it is a good thing that you did not hear them four months ago, it might have spoiled your current appreciation of the album.

Michele