Gin Blossoms - Major Lodge Victory
Flashback: It's 1994, and I'm taking a break from college -- Ok, I dropped out -- and working at the local McDonald's back in Tulsa. OJ is running from the law, and music in general, well, just sucks. However there's a band that's been on the radio the last year or so that I really like. A year or so after its release, I go out and buy New Miserable Experience by the Gin Blossoms. I'm in love. I quickly learn all the words to "Found Out About You" and "Hey Jealousy" and even some of the lesser known tracks on the album like "Cheatin'."
A couple years later the Gin Blossoms are back, and the sophomore jinx hits. Sure, "Follow Me Down" is good, but none of the other songs on the album stick with me. I even get the soundtrack to Empire Records for "Til I Hear It From You," but my first love is still New Miserable Experience. Then nothing is heard from them again.
Over a decade later, I've finished undergrad, got my career started, got married. My life as completely changed... then an old love returns. It's the Gin Blossoms and they're back with Major Lodge Victory. I'm hesistant... I don't want to give my heart away so easily again. I am prepared for disappointment, and I listen.
And I'm blown away. I'm back in love again. This album, while not as groundbreaking as their breakthrough CD, still hooks me in right away with "Learning the Hard Way," the first track. Robin Wilson's voice still speaks to me, and Major Lodge Victory has several songs I can see myself singing along with for years to come.
Which songs are they? Well there's not really a bad one in this bunch. "Long Time Gone" sounds like something they could have recorded in the early '90s. "Someday Soon" with its haunting melody is a favorite, as well as "Curious Thing." But the song that really grabs me on the album is "The End of the World." The guitars, the melody, harmonies, all just remind me of the old Gin Blossom sound. In it they sing "Oh, running over the edge of a curve, Now free-falling till the end of the world, Lost in focus of reality's blur, We run alone."
The rest of the songs all have that jangle sound I love the Gin Blossoms for, and the imagery of the lyrics is still there. While this album is once again no New Miserable Experience, after a decade of nothing, I'm eager for what they have now. And I hope there's more to come.
For further reading:
The Gin Blossoms' homepage
All Music Guide's Gin Blossoms entry
Wikipedia's Gin Blossoms entry
A couple years later the Gin Blossoms are back, and the sophomore jinx hits. Sure, "Follow Me Down" is good, but none of the other songs on the album stick with me. I even get the soundtrack to Empire Records for "Til I Hear It From You," but my first love is still New Miserable Experience. Then nothing is heard from them again.
Over a decade later, I've finished undergrad, got my career started, got married. My life as completely changed... then an old love returns. It's the Gin Blossoms and they're back with Major Lodge Victory. I'm hesistant... I don't want to give my heart away so easily again. I am prepared for disappointment, and I listen.
And I'm blown away. I'm back in love again. This album, while not as groundbreaking as their breakthrough CD, still hooks me in right away with "Learning the Hard Way," the first track. Robin Wilson's voice still speaks to me, and Major Lodge Victory has several songs I can see myself singing along with for years to come.
Which songs are they? Well there's not really a bad one in this bunch. "Long Time Gone" sounds like something they could have recorded in the early '90s. "Someday Soon" with its haunting melody is a favorite, as well as "Curious Thing." But the song that really grabs me on the album is "The End of the World." The guitars, the melody, harmonies, all just remind me of the old Gin Blossom sound. In it they sing "Oh, running over the edge of a curve, Now free-falling till the end of the world, Lost in focus of reality's blur, We run alone."
The rest of the songs all have that jangle sound I love the Gin Blossoms for, and the imagery of the lyrics is still there. While this album is once again no New Miserable Experience, after a decade of nothing, I'm eager for what they have now. And I hope there's more to come.
For further reading:
The Gin Blossoms' homepage
All Music Guide's Gin Blossoms entry
Wikipedia's Gin Blossoms entry
Labels: Gin Blossoms
posted by Tom at 7:10 PM
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