"Y'see, oi bilt this thing frome ports oi found round me ole living reume. Wot's that yew say? ...Roit! A toime machine! Oi kin travole threw toime. It's reelie kwoite simpole. Oi sit'n this chare 'ere an' off oi am-- travellin' threw toime! Moy first stop woz me first big hit record, Gurlfriend."
Well, with this album, Matthew Sweet's travelled back in time to the days of his Girlfriend album. It's in direct response to the criticism of his most recent albums. The critics say the excitement had gone-- they wondered where the fun went.
This album is big. It finds Sweet enlisting the help of up to 16 musicians on some of the tracks. The big sound harkens back to a...
Uh... the big sound here resembles a post- Genesis Phil Collins, complete with overdubbed harmonies and lots of reverb on the vocal tracks.
Ahh. I think Matthew here is referring to "Write Your Own Song," which asks the listener to go ahead and write his or her own song if they don't like what Sweet's doing. See if they do a better job at it.
Nine minutes and thirty- seven seconds, actually. Yes, "Thunderstorm" is a slowly building epic that weaves its way from an upbeat opening ("I don't mind if the rain is coming down") to a soft, melodic middle as we "Wait for a calm in the storm" to a more tranquil section before exploding to close with a triumphant burst of sound.
"So eef yew wont an awesome, happy pumped up album, get me new one. In Reverse! Oi even did me cover art upside down so's that it's upside down. In reverse, loik."
