Originally Posted by Stu

19


I appreciate Pavement. A lot. This album is one of the best things to come out of the 90's and, whilst the band produced Wowee Zowee and Brighten The Corners are good, this is undeniably their magnum opus.

The reasons i love this album are, firstly, the lo-fi aesthetic; it gives the piece an amatuerish, personal feel that completely endears me to the music. In some parts it resembles the fall, in others the Velvet Underground, but it always retains an element of originality and dreamy pop sensibility. Its at times impassioned, at times introspective, at times aggressive, at times delicate, at times dark, at times joyous, but always compelling.

The songs are the other reason. Often i find an album gets by with the mood and/or atmosphere it conveys as a whole... the songs get lost in the entirety of it. Thats great, many musicians aim for that. But sometimes its nice to have a collection of songs that just grab you one after the other. This album does that for me, each track is strong and different, it would be silly to go selecting certain songs as highlights because each one has something to offer.

So there you have it. An album as influential as it is excellent. It opened the door for swarms of indie rock bands in the 90s, yet in its field in dont think it was surpassed and it remains a pinnacle of 90s music.

Originally Posted by Molecules

I strongly suggest you check out R. Stevie Moore, Stu, if you have't already . The only Pavement album that comes close to this IMO is Wowee Zowee, simply for it's unhinged oddness. Oh and the two-disc reissues with booklets as thick as your arm are f*cking great.