Ok, time for me to publish my thoughts about the album. I've had it for a=
bout
two days now and the different pieces seem to fall in the right places. T=
hanks
to Mike who bought the US-version for me. Man, you're wonderful! :)
 
My first impression is that at first many of the song texts seemed very
"simple". But a couple of listenings later they all seem to be very meani=
ngfull
and "important".
 
Also, I don't remember who wrote that Mike had made his worst album this =
far.
With this in mind I was a bit suspicous toward his songs in my approach w=
hen
first listening to them. However, I found his songs to be the best of the
album. Better, smarter, cleaner, wiser...
 
This doesn't mean that the others aren't good, far from that...
 
"Maybe" - Wow! A great starter.
 
"Start" - At first I thougt: Ok, it's good but a little bit "noisy". A co=
uple
of listenings (listens?) later I don't want it to be in any other way.
 
"Fifth Fret" - a good choice for a single, still "Maybe" is perhaps going=
 to
attract the "new" listeners more.
 
"Just Like That" - To me it's a song about the record business in general=
, very
ironic. Am I alone with this opinion?
 
"Adjective Song" - Ok, here's the song that a couple of you thought was
useless. Perhaps I'm useless too, but I LOVE it! I place it among the top=
 three
of this record, without a doubt! For me this is a "hey-what's-the-world-
coming-to?-song". I got really sentimental when listening to this one. We
lie about our society as well as about our lives. Let's stop for a moment=
 and
just think about what the h*ll we are doing!
 
"Any" - Absolutely something new, still very much the Connells. Peele has=
 shown
that he's for sure someone to count with, when coming to songmaking.
 
"Hang On" - A different side of Doug, or is it just me? I like it. Is "Ra=
llee"
a way of writing "Raleigh" or am I missing something here?
 
"Back To Blue" - Very laid back, wonderful little tune. However, I don't =
get
this symbolic "back to blue" thing? Can someone please explain to a non-
american?
 
"Smoke" - One of the weaker songs. Sounds a bit like it was supposed for =
"Ring"
but it wasn't good enough to make it onto the record. Imho, it should not=
 have
been on this one neither.
 
"Pretty Rough" - Not great, not bad. To me this one feels like "Ring" as =
well,
I've heard it before...
 
"Let It Go" - Well, hrm, I didn't think I ever would write this about a
Connells song but I'm afraid I have to: this one stinks! It's the worst e=
ver
made. Huntley wrote "Sal" as well, nor did I like that one. However, it's=
 not a
dislike-everything-Huntley-does-thing. H*ll no! I love "What Do You Want"=
, "Lay
Me Down", "Inside My Head" as well as "The Joke", to mention a few.
 
"Friendly Time" - I don't care if this one is just a joke or if it's some=
thing
deeper than so. I prefer to believe the latter. Anyway, it's good but not
great.
 
"Too High" - I get the impression that this song is one Doug has wanted t=
o do
for a long time. I don't know, just got this strange feeling. The song is
wonderful, eod.
 
"On Your Honor" - This one's going to grow, a lot. I really don't know wh=
at
else to say. It's different.
 
All in all, I think the album is great. I like the digipak and think the =
layout
is terrific. However, I must buy the European version as well. Anybody wh=
o know
if there's a difference between the two? Just the jewel case? Finally, th=
ey did
another great album, perhaps it won't find to the masses but it's just a =
matter
of time. We all know that.
 
"Gonna stay with the only thing that I understand."
 
Yours sincerely
 
Joakim Nil=E9n
 
P.S.    In my spare time I write music articles/reviews for a paper. Ther=
e's no
doubt which record who's going to take up most space. R.E.M. will have to=
 step
aside this time.