TheBig3

I came in here to write up Showroom of Compassion and realized I never did a review for Comfort Eagle (which seems odd. Was it deleted?). Anywho, here goes.

If you've never heard CAKE before, this is the album to come in on. While "The Distance" still stands as the most identifiable single, and "Sheep go to Heaven" still seems to be the one everyone can sing along with (even if they've never heard it before), Comfort Eagle as an album is the most wildly accessible.

If you own Jesus Lizard albums, that sounds like a bad thing, but CAKE, while not a pop-band, has never been afraid to write a melody. The most identifiable song on the album is easily "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" who's opening trumpet blast and breakdown drum-bookends have wound up in commercials, television shows, and anywhere else corporate america could have shoved it. If nothing else, the single is absolutely indicative of CAKE's mash-up sound: funky bassline, glory-of-the-day trumpeting, and a deadpan vocal line so flat its vegas cool.

But the albums strength is largely due to its strong support cast. Many songs could have functioned as the lead single had SS,LJ not been on the album. Long Line of Cars, Love you Madly, and Pretty Pink Ribbon are some of the most pop-friendly material in the entirety of the CAKE Discograpy. Even "Meanwhile, Rick James..." and "Shadow Stabbing" both ended up on the soundtrack to the film "Orange County."

One of the more "experimental" tracks (as experimental as a CAKE song can be when compared to the other songs) is the song "Comfort Eagle." CAKE brings into the mix, for what appears to be the first time, Indian-influences and creates one of the more odd-ball songs on the album, foreshadowing the mind-set that would come to dominate Pressure Chief.

A great deal of symphonic acrobatics went into the production here. Not strings and horns, but layers and layers (as is a staple of CAKE's more sparse tracks) of vocal harmonies, claps, layered trumpet and piano. If the track is a little left-of-center, it doesn't disappoint the fan base in the slightest. The Track was almost made for the live show (and CAKE should be seen as a band who's stronger on the Stage than the Album), with enough call-and-response portions, iconic shout-points ("you can dress up like a sultan in your onion-head hat" & "the wacky morning DJ said democracies a joke"), and groove to keep everyone in the crowd in the moment.

Comfort Eagle may not be the strongest album for older fans. Theres no notable country influence on this album which appears, at least once, on every other album. It also introduced more strongly than other albums a synthesizer and drum machine. I no longer have my CD sleeve but I recall no consistent drummer being featured on the album. This doesn't necessarily mean it was all drum machine, McCrea himself plays drums as well as one other member (if I recall correctly).

If Comfort Eagle is anything, its the "band album." The introspective songs from McCrea seem to be noteably absent from this album, and it strikes one as a decidedly pop album. CAKE, who've never been pro-record industry in 2001 are moving toward the end of their contractual obligation, and this might be the one, final push of appeasement (again, not a bad thing) before they do whatever the hell they want (On PC, the final album with Columbia).

Recommendations:

1. Comfort Eagle
2. Long Line of Cars
3. Love you Madly

1. "Opera Singer" (McCrea, Mark Kornweibel) – 4:06
2. "Meanwhile, Rick James..." – 3:57
3. "Shadow Stabbing" (McCrea, George Kane) – 3:07
4. "Short Skirt/Long Jacket" – 3:24
5. "Commissioning a Symphony in C" – 2:59
6. "Arco Arena" – 1:31
7. "Comfort Eagle" – 3:40
8. "Long Line of Cars" – 3:24
9. "Love You Madly" – 3:58
10. "Pretty Pink Ribbon" – 3:08
11. "World of Two" – 3:41

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