the q is silent wrote:
>>I really think that the big stumbling block is something I personally
>>love about it: that extreme richness and density of sound, with layer
>>upon sonic layer like deep oils on a canvas. He'd made heavily produced
>>records before, but his mainstream bids with Langer and Winstanley were
>>more prefab affairs: the sounds were slick, conventional, and
>>inevitably wedded to their times. On MLAR, he and his collaborators
>>(Killen and Froom, wasn't it?) went for something really audacious and
>>individual, conjuring up all manner of textures that are as vivid as
>>colors: here strange and desolate ("Broken"), here lush and overripe
>>("All Grown Up"), here cool and spare ("After The Fall"), here suave
>>and beautiful ("Sweet Pear"). Even on a straight-ahead rockabilly
>>throwaway like "Playboy To A Man," they were going to the trouble of
>>distorting the vocals and overdubbing three pianos; you may like or
>>hate the song, but the *track* is unlikely to remind you of anything
>>else. The album is a remarkable piece of work qua sound (it doesn't
>>sound like other albums made in 1991, or other Elvis Costello albums,
>>etc.; it just sounds like MIGHTY LIKE A ROSE), and the writing is of
>>high quality too. But it's a lot for the ear to take in, and if one is
>>inclined to prefer a simpler, less ornate sound palette -- as, frankly,
>>not just EC fans but people who listen primarily to rock and pop in
>>general are -- it's a tough sell.
>>
>>Todd K
>
>
> That was wonderfully said, Todd, and I agree with just about all of it.
> I have always really liked MLAR as well and couldn't really figure out
> what exactly about it had turned off so many fans. I think you hit the
> nail on the head, though. The album is definitely very dense and rich,
> almost like a sonic triple chocolate cake. There's just something
> decadent about the entire affair, but in an almost regal way.
I agree, too. That's an excellent *****sment of the album. The same
could be said of Los Lobos' work over the course of the past decade or
so, with the exception of The Ride, which, not surprisingly was praised
quite highly by most.
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