|
| Consolers Of The Lonely | 
 enlarge
| Creator: The Raconteurs
Label: Warner Brothers
Category: Music
List Price: $18.98
Buy New: $9.99
You Save: $8.99 (47%)
New (28) Used (9) from $8.20
Avg. Customer Rating:  87 reviews
Sales Rank: 94
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 4.9 x 0.4
MPN: 456060
UPC: 093624987314
EAN: 0093624987314
ASIN: B0015KO52S
Release Date: March 25, 2008
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
|
| Customer Reviews:
 A Great Album with a great release strategy. March 26, 2008
13 out of 14 found this review helpful
Considering the time it takes to fully digest an album before giving a well thought out review (and considering that this album just came out yesterday) This probably equalizes every other review of this album released today on Amazon.
First and foremost, I detect what could be a backlash from music journalists who feel snubbed by Jack and company because they weren't given the influential leverage they used to get from a typical album promotional cycle. Their influence is officially reduced to the typical review you'd see on an Amazon album page. I'd venture to say that a lot of music journalists will probably feel this way. Contrary to what any glib review here may say, there is no indication that album was rushed, it was merely rushed to the stores after its completion. For people are familiar with the Jack's traditional recording cycles, they know that rushed isn't a bad word, rather it is a snapshot of a band at its most candid and unrehearsed.
Like most other Jack White albums, listeners are rewarded with repeat listens. Discovering new things they didn't catch the first few times; metaphors, innuendo, themes and motifs. That said, i wouldn't take any review seen here seriously until about a week or two after its release. Arguably their best album, Get Behind Me Satan, was largely ignored by some of their old fans because it wasn't as instantly gratifying as their previous albums (A strong indicator that a band is growing and maturing as well.)
While the Raconteurs aren't as avant garde or unconventional as the white stripes, there are some interesting things going on in this album, some new ground being explored, some rekindled rock and roll traditions that i welcome with open arms.
If their debut, Broken Boy Soldier, was an experiment in merging the dual songwriter/guitarist dynamic of the Beatles with the raw power of Led Zeppelin, then this album takes the same idea while transplanting the sound deeper into the American south. The most interesting thing about their previous album, Broken Boy Soldier, is how inferior the studio songs became after they tweaked and refined the songs live. Songs like blue veins became epic monsters that dwarfed the original composition. Even if you didn't like their debut album, you couldn't deny how powerful the songs became live. That said, I'm excited about seeing what they do with the songs on this album in a live setting.
Now, It seems like Jack wanted to give their fans the opportunity to review the album themselves before music journalists had a chance to sway their preconceptions with album reviews. Do yourself a favor and take him up on that opportunity. Rarely do we get to have an opinion on something before someone else planted preconceptions in our minds. I suppose my opinion doesn't matter (yet). What will you think of it once fully digested?
A week after hearing it, the album is almost perfect, the only hiccups are "Hold Up" and "Many Shades of Black". I found that my favorite
songs kept changing everytime i listened. The standout song 'Carolina Drama' lives up to their band name. Songs like "Top Yourself", "Attention" "Old Enough" and "You Don't Understand Me" make this one of the best albums of the year. If you're listening to this album fresh after absorbing Icky Thump for a whole year, you might be taken aback, but once you switch gears and remember its not The White Stripes, it becomes an album that lives up to the promise of its predecessor.
 Mediocrity Rules: Another attempt from Jack White at trying to emulate a Billy Childish record... March 26, 2008
8 out of 60 found this review helpful
Clearly and obviously from the cover art of this record, here is another attempt from Jack White trying to emulate and rip off the aesthetic already done by Billy Childish's pen hole camera ' old timey' photos for his albums with his much rawer former rock combo The Buff Medways. Jack White's 'safe' radio friendly, overly produced predictable blues-rock-garage has been done much better with more rock and roll grit in the 80's by Billy Childish, Thee Mummies, Gun Club, [...] Galore etc, etc and especially in the 90's with Honeymoon Killers, JSBX, the Gories, the Gibson Brothers, the Oblivians, etc, etc, etc.
Save your money, do not buy yuppie music that emulates true raw punk rock and roll such as this Rank band
Amazing - Like a Drug That Induces Stupor June 12, 2008
8 out of 8 found this review helpful
Just completing this album in the first week of March the band surprisingly unleashes it without any foreknowledge so that nobody, "the fans, the press, radio, etc., has an upperhand on anyone else regarding it's availability, reception, or perception," said Jack White, in Rolling Stone.
"Consolers of the Lonely" kicks of the album with the title song "Consoler of the Lonely." This songs tambourine shakes and shuddering bass adding to a carefree and high-spirited kick off comes off well as the first song on the new album.
"Salute Your Solution," the first single for the album is a fast-paced stomper starting with a strong Jack White guitar riff before a muffled bass riff kicks in halfway through, adding a psychedelic twinge. The album then breaks into a mixture of 4 stars and five star songs. Those I consider to be 5 star songs in the first half of the album, including the two just mentioned, are "Old Enough", "The Switch and the Spur", and "Top Yourself."
For the second half of the album the songs I gave 5 stars to included: "Rich Kid Blues", "These Stones Will Shout", and "Carolina Drama", which is a slower, blusier song as White tells the story of a troubled boy with "blue tatoos" named Billy, is one of my favorites.
Overall, this is an astonishing follow-up for White and his second band.
The songs show this band as having or showing their ability or achievement in the rock music genre, although the band is clearly influenced by a number of different genres that come out in their music.
The Raconteurs album definitely shows the effective and forceful, but not forced music the band is capable of producing. Each song stands strongly by itself, but, the combination is a contour of a body constructed so as to offer minimum resistance to a fluid flow. It all comes together perfectly.
This is an album that will stay in my music rotation for a long time to come. I look forward to the album growing on me as well, as I listen to it even more. Job very well done.
Greatest Album of the Decade? March 29, 2008
6 out of 7 found this review helpful
Well I guess that is for the individual listener to decide, but after about 20 listens now I honestly believe it is. It certainly is not a continuation of Broken Boy Soldiers, which had a set sound that carried though the entire listen. Consolers Of The Lonely has many different sounds throughout, but somehow the transition between songs flows brilliantly. The hard rockers are there ("Consoler of the Lonely", "Attention", "Salute Your Solution", "Five on the Five"...), the old fashioned blues Jack White so obviously loves is there ("Top Yourself", "Rich Kid Blues", a great cover), country and bluegrass roots are there ("Old Enough", "Carolina Drama"), and even the piano ballads ("You Dont Understand Me", "Pull This Blanket Off"). With so many polarizing sounds present you would think it would be hard to find a constant flow and rhythm, but thats exactly what they've found.
One of the most intriguing aspects of this album is the tempo changes occuring right in the thick of many of these songs. The most notable occurance would have to be the title track. The first 1:15 or so is a fantastic groove with Benson on the mic, then out of nowhere comes an abrupt slow in the tempo and our first introduction to Jack's signature howl. This unexpected but fantastic moment is what turns a good song into a great one.
The influences present here are obvious, making the whole experience even more captivating. Jack channels Jimmy Page, particularly Led Zeppelin III, with his brilliant slide riff on the bluesy "Top Yourself". "Many Shades Of Black" would make Freddy Mercury proud. And "These Stones Will Shout" could pass for a Beatles tune at parts, specifically during the harmonizing. "These Stones Will Shout" also provides one of the best moments of the CD. Heading into the last chorus, from about 3:00-3:06, the bridge gives way to an explosive drum roll with both voices firing at their best. It's one of those moments that gives you shivers...at least it does for me.
Yet another dynamic pulling the listener in is the story telling quality that several songs feature. "The Switch and the Spur" has a fantastic western feel that is supported by Benson's story of when "an appaloosa and a wanted man sprung from jail". And how could I forget what seems to be everyones pick for the "epic" of the album, "Carolina Drama". White's storytelling ability has never shined more than it does for this potent six minutes. He captures you from the very beginning and doesn't let up til the very end, leaving you wanting more.
I truely can't praise this album enough. I've seen some very negative reviews, and some extremely positive reviews, telling me that most people either hate it or love it. I suppose the overall span of this album can be polarizing, but then again it seems to have something for everyone. I always say "to each his own", but in this case I think this should be everyone's own.
Personal favorites: "Consoler of the Lonely", "Old Enough", "The Switch and the Spur", "Top Yourself", "Attention", "These Stones Will Shout".
 Jack White: By The Numbers???? April 22, 2008
6 out of 11 found this review helpful
Something just isn't quite right here. In certain spots of this record, I'm very impressed, in others not so much. I got turned onto Jack White at the same time all of America did, in 2002 when "White Blood Cells" became a hit. Being the '60s music nut that I am, I was knocked out when I first heard "Dead Leaves And Dirty Ground" on the radio. Then came their performance on "Saturday Night Live" which confirmed my status as a devoted White Stripes fan. Next stop, the Stripes masterpiece "Elephant" in 2003 followed by a week long engagement on "Late Night With Conan O'Brian." Then came the long silence followed by a period of confusion with "Get Behind Me Satan" and the appearance of The Raconteurs suddenly. In 2007, The White Stripes came back with "Icky Thump" and a nervous breakdown for Meg. And now The Raconteurs are back again with this album.
Now Jack White is a very eclectic individual with lots of influences, not just the blues. So should I expect more from him when I suddenly see this album for sale? You bet! This album DOES HAVE some progression from The Raconteurs debut "Broken Boy Soldiers" but it comes FAR TOO LATE into the record. The real progression and expierementation is from tracks 11 to 14, the very last half of it. Most of the first ten cuts sound like Jack is just playing by the numbers with the exception of the country influenced "Old Enough" (track 4). I'm hoping this album AS A WHOLE will grow on me because I love Jack and I love what he's done for music in the Millenium. He's for real, and he always needs to be true to himself. However, alot of this album isn't anything I haven't heard from him before and I sure hope he dosen't continue in this vein. My favorite cut musically is "Rich Kid Blues" and my favorite one lyrically is "Carolina Drama" where Jack concludes a story of Southern family betrayal and it's affect on the young son with the line "go and ask the Milkman." All in all, "Consolers Of The Lonely" is a good record but The Raconteurs need to be pushing forward with more creativity.
EPILOGUE 7/8/08 - I have listened to this album a bit since my review and it really is a great album. I still think that it isn't sequenced quite right though. That can make someone love or hate an album. Fleetwood Mac's "Kiln House" album from 1970 has that problem; great record but the poor sequencing of the tracks making for a disjointed listening expierence. "Consolers..." is a fierce, rocking album and I hope this signals an even greater leap forward come The Raconteurs next effort!
|
|
|
Powered by Associate-O-Matic
| |
