Old 97's - Blame it On Gravity
 

The album was released a couple (few?) weeks back. I don't recall anyone on the list talking about it...

I saw them at Crash Mansion, in Los Angeles, last night. The first 1/3 of their set was kind of blah, but it picked up big time. The sound set-up wasn't the best, but the caliber of the show was intense. They played a healthy sized set, and Rhett Miller even played two of his solo songs -- "Terrible Vision" (my favorite) and "Come Around."

They closed with "Time Bomb," and had one of their opening bands join them on stage, making it a big jam.

All-in-all, I walked away impressed and definitely got my money's worth.

On to the CD. I wasn't too fond of Drag it Up, their last CD. (Satellite Rides is still my favorite of theirs.) This one, in my opinion, ranks up there with their best. "Dance With Me" is one of my favorite songs of the year. Other stand out tracks are "No Baby I" and "Ride." (<--possibly my favorite off the album now.)

Anyone else with thoughts on this album?

I'm surprised to be digging this one also. I was expecting the worst after Drag It Up. I think Ken Bethea's guitar work and Murry's two contributions are particularly strong on this one.

It's always nice when one of your favorite bands comes back from a slump with a killer album. Doesn't happen too often though.

Maybe I need to give Blame It On Gravity another chance. It didn't do anything for me the first time I heard it, and so much other stuff had just been released that I liked, I kind of put it aside. I do agree that Drag It Up was pretty terrible (with the exception of "Won't Be Home", which was fantastic).

I'd rank their albums like so:

Too Far to Care
Satellite Rides
Wreck Your Life
Hitchhike to Rhome
Fight Songs
Blame It On Gravity
Drag It Up

I thought the new one was a great return to form after the mostly ho-hum Drag It Up. I was so disappointed with that album.

My rankings would be

Satellite Rides
Fight Songs
Blame It On Gravity (may surpass Fight Songs eventually)
Too Far to Care
Wreck Your Life (Veronica's Heart is a great song, and they played it live)
Drag it Up

I haven't heard Hitchhike to Rhome, so I can't judge that properly.

I actually think Wreck Your Life isn't that bad. It's just near the bottom in terms of favorites. Drag it Up has a couple of good tunes, from what I can remember -- one which is a Murray Hammond song. I haven't listened to it enough to remember titles.

Anyway, bottom line is that I'm really happy with this album. More good Old 97's tunes to go around. And I agree wth with Eddie W. sayig that Ken Bethea's guitar work was great on this album. I'd go so far as to say that it's probably his best guitarwork on any of the Old 97's albums so far.

I'm a big fan of Blame It On Gravity. It's pretty amazing that after all these years (and a terrible last album) they sound as good as they did in their prime. Biggest surprise of the year for me so far.