Music CD - Sloan: Parallel Play

	Music CD: Parallel Play Artist: Sloan List Price: $15.99 Our Price: $10.03 Your Save: $ 5.96 ( 37% ) Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours Manufacturer: Yep Roc Records
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Tracks: 1. Believe 2. Cheap Champagne 3. All I Am Is All You're Not 4. Emergency 911 5. Burn For It 6. Witch's Wand 7. The Dogs 8. Living The Dream 9. The Other Side 10. Down In The Basement 11. If I Could Change Your Mind 12. I'm Not A Kid Anymore 13. Too Many
Binding: Audio CD EAN: 0634457218024 Label: Yep Roc Records Manufacturer: Yep Roc Records Number Of Discs: 1 Publisher: Yep Roc Records Release Date: 2008-06-10 Studio: Yep Roc Records
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Spotlight customer reviews: Customer Rating: Summary: Another stunner from one of the world's great bands Comment: 2006's NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT was Sloan's longest album. While I haven't checked the timings, I would be willing to bet that PARALLEL PLAY is their shortest. I absolutely don't understand previous reviews that identify only a couple of great songs. There are a couple of bland songs (in particular the final track, "Too Many"), but most of the rest are either good or extremely good. For instance, "Emergency 911" is a very good song, but I would rate at least six songs better. Even by Sloan's admittedly exceptionally high standards this is a very good album. I might rank it below TWICE REMOVED, ONE CHORD TO ANOTHER, ACTION PACT, and the aforementioned NEVER HEAR THE END OF IT, but I would put PARALLEL PLAY next, maybe alongside NAVY BLUES. But Sloan is one of those bands like Sleater-Kinney or Spoon that just seems to be capable of spitting out an unending number of remarkably fine discs. Anyone unfamiliar with Sloan getting acquainted with them through this disc would be amazed to learn that they have several that are better. Since people here are mentioning their favorites, I'll add mine. "Witches Wand," "Burn for It," "Believe in Me," "Cheap Champagne," "Down in the Basement," and "I'm Not a Kid Anymore" are all, in my opinion, first rate songs. Others are merely good. But even so I also like "The Dogs" and other cuts. The only pseudo-complaint that I think someone could make about the album is that it doesn't cut new ground. But so what? Even if it repeats previous successes, they are great repeats. I did get a huge kick out of "Down in the Basement," intended as an obvious rip of Bob Dylan. Sometimes the guitar playing puts you in mind of HIGHWAY 61 REVISITED with Michael Bloomfield on guitar, sometimes the Basement Tapes, with fellow Canadian Robbie Robertson. But if you are a fan of Dylan, the song is a delight. Customer Rating: Summary: Some classics and some filler. Comment: NHTEOI was sucky. There are maybe 2 songs out of "30" that would go in a Sloan playlist. But this disc has 3 classics: Believe In Me, Burn For It and Witches Wand. Andrew's experiments in punk and reggae are ok but nothing to worry about. The Dylan rip off, "Down In The Basement" was fine at first listen but quickly grew tiresome. Like Bob Dylan! Patrick Pentland OWNS this band. Ha ha. But where is Chris Murphy's tunefulness? He used to be so good and poppy. It was nice to see who could top the other between him and Patrick. But now it seems you can pretty much skip his songs the way you do most of Andrew's and Jay's. None of his contributions on this album are worth a replay. My advice is buy the disc to help the guys make a buck and turn up the "barbed wire heart" part of Burn For It reeeeally loud. It will make you forgive the boring excess of NHTEOI and the rest of the filler that's come along ever since Pretty Together and remember the gold era of OCTA, Navy Blues and BTB. Customer Rating: Summary: Very good, but not their best Comment: I've been on board the Sloan express since OCTA, and have to say this record cannot match their epic NHTEOI from last year (2006 for hosers!). While I consider Andrew's cuts on the last release quite a treat, on this effort they inspire me to hit the "next track" button on my CD player. So now we're talking about a 9-song disc, which is too little room for such a talented band. On the positive side, Chris Murphy's songs are pure rock extacy. Makes me almost wish he'd go solo. Still, Sloan provide more rock licks that most bands, which is why I still give 4 stars. OK, west coast tour now... Customer Rating: Summary: One of the Best Sloan Albums Comment: After several weeks of very enjoyable listening, I'm happy to report that this is another great album and much better to me than Pretty Together or Action Pact. Some of the tracks sound great right off, others gradually, and surprisingly win you over with repeated spins. Is it their best ever? Who cares! Watershed aside, it's miles better than anything else I've bought this year so far. It's going to be a lot of fun hearing this new stuff along with tracks from the last album at the concert in the fall. Customer Rating: Summary: Business as Usual but Business as Good! Comment: Well what can I say? The consolidation that Sloan did on "Never Hear The End of It"is still in effect. The shorter album here reduces the fatigue that came from the prior album. This felt like something like "One Chord Leads to Another" run through the "Never Hear The End of It"advances. I was hesitant to get this but now I don't know why. And if you haven't check Sloan before, hop on in! Especially if you like 70s guitar rock with a sense of history and a dash of early punk. They really know how to build on their strengths and add new dimensions to it without obscuring what makes Sloan who they are. If you like robust pop rock you owe it to yourself. More Reviews
Editorial Reviews: The boiled down brother to their 30 song magnum opus ''Never Hear the End of It'',''Parallel Play'' is the latest from power pop royalty Sloan. Less a conscious answer to NHTEI's unabridged creative approach, ''Parallel Play'' is a continuation of the musical concepts put forth on their last album and a further exploration of the band's four-songwriter dynamic. A term taken from the science of developmental psychology, ''Parallel Play'' is a behavior seen in young children in which they enjoy independent activities in the company of other children, something the four boys in Sloan know a lot about. As per their unique musical modus operandi, the members of Sloan wrote songs independently and then joined forces in the studio to produce yet another album of timeless, guitar-driven pop. For Sloan, ''Parallel Play'' proves once again that four times the songwriters equals four times the rock. ''Parallel Play'' will also be available on vinyl.