This will make you smile - Recently bought this album second hand and was so impressed I will look out for more. This is joyful well played music with Dan Music s tuneful voice and lyrics and John Munson supporting him on guitar and vocals. Secret smile is the stand-out but there is not a weak song on the set.
Memories - This CD pretty much contains every memory of the year it came out that I have. It s wonderful to just listen to on repeat while crashed out on the floor of your best friends room while discussing everything and nothing at all. I love the ambience of the disk, and would recommend it to anyone at all.
1990s Sleeper Hit **** - Something you have to understand about this reviewer is I like to dabble a lot in weird types of music, psychedelic, prog rock, indie rock, jam bands, Southern Rock. I consider bands like Radiohead, My Morning Jacket, Death Cab for Cutie, Porcupine Tree, and The Shins to be some of the best bands of the 2000 s. It s also interesting to note that above everything else, I m a pop-rock fan. I grew up with 90 s music. If it s not catchy, I m not interested. For my money, the 90 s was the best decade for music, Toad the Wet Sprocket, REM, Live, etc.I m not a huge Semisonic fan, and I don t need to be. I don t really have any interest to be, since the amount of money I spend on music is limited. However, the band s Feeling Strangely Fine reminds me of how simple life was in high school. People bought Tonic s Lemon Parade. No one cared about their politics, about whether or not Rolling Stone considered them cool. People liked them because *gasp* they actually liked their music, because it was good. Nowadays, no band s played on the radio that doesn t consider middle American states bigots and inbred. Music fans have to ensure that a band disapproves of the War in Iraq, and gets an okay from Pitchfork and other pretentious internet music critics before buying a CD. It s ruined our media, morals, and music.I love this CD. Because they don t layer the songs with pretention. They just wrote good pop songs and people got that. The songs were for entertainment, to enrich the listener s life, not to completely define it. Closing Time, of course, got the airplay, but Singing in my Sleep was twice the single. Never You Mind and DND had great melodies. And Gone to the Movies sold me on the CD. It defined EXACTLY how I felt during break-ups in high school. It remains one of the most meloncholie (spelling?) songs of the 90 s. The CD is also on the of the decade s best, because of its simplicity and remeniscent qualities. How ironic that I listen to it all the time on my iPod.Overall: 8 out of 10.
Beautiful - This has become one of my favorite CDs. This is a band with that all to rare combonation of instrumental, lyrical AND vocal talents. It has a pace perfect for a Saturday Morning. It ll get your butt out of bed and put a grin on your face. It s clever, upbeat and most certainly catchy. What a find!
Feeling Strangely Fine=Shrineworthy - I first heard Semisonic through a mix tape given to me 4 years ago, and the one song that always stood out to me was Singing In My Sleep. It took me a while to find this album, and when I did, it did not leave my CD player for a very long time. It is an amazing piece of rock genius by the rock genius himself, Dan Wilson. Every song on this album is a standout, especially Singing in My Sleep, Never You Mind, Secret Smile, and California (my favorite song right now off this album.) I love this album so much. It has gotten me through many tough times and has helped me realize the promise of a better day. I have even convinced my friends to love this album. I am always going to love it and listen to it, and it really is shrineworthy, in a sense. Semisonic is a shrineworthy band. Pay homage.