1 post tagged “apples in stereo”
There's a fine power pop album in here, but you have to dig through some layers of whimsy to get to it. The Apples have some catchy songs and put them across boldly,but they indulge themselves too much, mostly in between-track nonsense - instrumental fragments, unfinished-sounding songs, synthesizer doodles. Also, there are production quirks that could be disposed with, particularly on the vocals. Why would anyone use a vocoder in this era? I didn't like it with the Electric Light Orchestra, and I don't like it now. The Apples seem to continously say "Look how eccentric we are!" like that;s an added value. I'm too old for that crap, and the Apples should be too - they've been making records since the early 1990's.
My friend Kevin emailed me about this album, pointing out another interesting aspect: "It is interesting, though, that they seem to record their albums with all the record meters tweaked way up too high, as if you’re listening to them on an old stereo system where all or most music came through as if the volume on all equipment was cranked way up. I used to get that impression when I listened to WLIR (a once-great Long Island radio station) at times, so if you’re a fan of this band and you buy this new album...don’t think that something’s wrong with your player." His comment reminded me of this wikipedia article on "Loudness Wars" ; the tendency to master or remaster albums at high volume levels, despite the distortion and lack of dynamics that results.
Here's a link to the reason I began investigating the Apples, Robert Schneider's appearance on the Colbert Report.
