Phoenix - Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
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CD Details
Artist: PhoenixEdition: Music CD
Audio: English (Unknown)
CD Release Date: 2009-05-26
Music Label: Glass Note
Soundtracks:
- Lisztomania
- 1901
- Fences
- Love Like A Sunset Pt. 1
- Love Like A Sunset Pt. 2
- Lasso
- Rome
- Countdown
- Girlfriend
- Armistice
Music reviews of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
Music Review: Phoenix-lite. Decent, but mediocre compared to United and I.N.B.L.T --- 2.5 stars
Rating: 3 Stars
I have mixed feelings about this album. On the one hand, for some inexplicable reason it seems to have been the one that has finally catapulted Phoenix out of obscurity and into a decent spotlight, where they belong. Because these guys are talented.
On the other hand, I am continually baffled to see Amadeus get the acclaim it gets while their previous albums are practically ignored. Seeing The Onion's "Top 15 Albums of the Decade" list earlier today was the last straw: Amadeus was #18...of the DECADE...and not even a mention of their other albums. Now this baffles me because Amadeus isn't even one of Phoenix's best two albums, let alone one of the best albums of the decade. Simply put, Phoenix's first and third albums, United (2000) and It's Never Been Like That (2006), are much stronger albums than Amadeus is. They both showcase what Phoenix is good at, while Amadeus barely teases you with it.
"United", their first album and by far the most distinct of their albums, was a quirky amalgamation of 80s, pop, synth, disco, spread across a (small) range of genres. It certainly wasn't a perfect album. It wasn't cohesive, and it had some filler, but what it does have are individual songs that are more worthwhile than the entirety of Amadeus. Songs like Too Young (especially), If I Ever Feel Better, Honeymoon, and Summer Days are incredibly catchy, memorable and each have a distinct sound. Too Young was featured in a major hollywood movie (one with a fantastic and carefully hand-picked soundtrack) for its laid back party ambiance for a reason. United maybe isn't the best album to listen to from start to finish, even out of Phoenix's discography, but it has a catchiness and distinctness that is rare in pop-rock music and hasn't been matched by Phoenix since.
"Alphabetical" was forgettable.
"It's Never Been Like That" has some mild problems that have been noticeable ever since Phoenix started making more standard sounding albums (they can sound kind of contrived and 'samey' in some of their songs), but it is easily the strongest of their post-United career. It rarely gets boring, it flows well, and has by far the most interesting and memorable melodies and hooks of their last three albums. Consolation Prizes, Rally, One Time Too Many, and Sometimes In The Fall exemplify this. Fantastic songs that easily outshine the majority of everything Phoenix has recorded.
And then there's "Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix". Why oh why is this album being heralded as Phoenix's greatest achievement, let alone one of the best albums of 2009 (let alone the decade!)? It definitely has the "Phoenix sound", the appeal of which is hard to deny. That is probably the only reason I give it 3 stars instead of 2. They've cultivated a great sound over the years, but on Amadeus it's as if they've decided to coast on that without putting effort into making songs that are interesting in their own right. Amadeus is just so boring, uninteresting and uninspired compared to Phoenix's two superior albums. Creatively it sounds like Phoenix were told to "do another INBLT", and they just got lazy and tried to copy its sound without putting any heart into it. Explaining why one song has a catchier melody or better hooks than another is an exercise in futility, but it's hard to imagine anyone listening to the two albums in one sitting--or, say, a playlist with both albums on shuffle--and coming away more impressed by Amadeus's songs or with more of its tracks stuck in their head than It's Never Been Like That's. Not to mention, all of Phoenix's albums (does Alphabetical? I can't remember...) have an instrumental-only track, and once again, Amadeus comes out on bottom here with the most uninteresting offering. Amadeus is simply a weaker, more boring album. Too many of its songs sound the same; I barely even notice when Countdown blends into Girlfriend. It has that "We're running out of ideas so let's just release a watered-down version of our best album" feel that bands seem to acquire after they've peaked but feel obligated to release more albums. That's unfortunate, because it feels too soon for Phoenix, and they've put out some great music. I'm not too worried, though. They've followed a weak album with a great one before. I just hope the people who are being introduced to Phoenix through 'Amadeus' make the effort to discover they've been putting out better albums for the past ten years.
P.S. They still haven't topped their song "Too Young", and I wouldn't be surprised if they never do.
P.P.S. I just gave their second album 'Alphabetical' another listen for the first time in a while, and it's actually better than Amadeus, although the songs aren't nearly as strong or memorable as INBLT's. Amadeus is a boring mix of the two albums with very little of what makes either of them worthwhile. Color me even more surprised at Amadeus's popularity now that I've discovered it's their weakest album.
Description of Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix
UK Deluxe two CD edition includes a bonus CD that contains remixes of album tracks by Alex Metric, Passion Pit, Friendly Fires, Chairlift, Devendra Banhart, Animal Collective and others. 2009 album from the French Electro-Rockers. Born out of restlessness and a steady hunt for inspiration, Wolfgang Amadeus Phoenix is a career-defining album filled with the band's signature melding of synthetics and organics, sharp, danceable rhythms, infectious choruses with a considerable dose of aural panache and candy-colored pop sensibilities. V2.Alternative Rock CDs
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