Hollywood
Well-Known Member
You've pretty much summed up how I view the album and feel about it.
Best Music šµ of 2025!
- Thread starter Hollywood
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Nee Lewman
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@Rip_City i donāt know that this kind of reaction is something to get down about. It is an emotionally draining album. I think that folks are calling it brilliant and reacting to it is as much as anyone could really hope for. I. donāt know about you but I donāt want to watch The Exorcist everyday. Doesnāt detract from its art, just not a headspace I want every day. Itās a lot and in a good way but itās still a lot.
Iām actually curious about your, @musicjunkiegreg and @jt4527 ās reaction to it. I know you guys are saying itās AOTY material (and to be clear it is heads and shoulders above anything else I have listened to so far this year) but is it something you want to listen to all the time? I love a good horror film or a Palahniuk novel but Iām probably good do something lighter before the next one.
I liken it to thisā¦ a couple of years ago Angel Bat Dawid released Requiem for Jazz. It might be the most important album of the decade imo, but it was not my AOTY because I donāt return to it often because it is draining. When I was younger, it probably would have been my AoTY and probably would have overtaken The Phosphorescent Blues as my Album of the Century. In the past few years Iāve realized that in the name of āartā, I often discounted things that really resonated with me. Thereās something to be said for the music that just demands to be played over and over: that guy wouldnāt have put the new Lake Street Dive in his top ten last year because it wasnāt artsy enough. My thought process today is that it was returned to enough to earn a spot for me:
Iām actually curious about your, @musicjunkiegreg and @jt4527 ās reaction to it. I know you guys are saying itās AOTY material (and to be clear it is heads and shoulders above anything else I have listened to so far this year) but is it something you want to listen to all the time? I love a good horror film or a Palahniuk novel but Iām probably good do something lighter before the next one.
I liken it to thisā¦ a couple of years ago Angel Bat Dawid released Requiem for Jazz. It might be the most important album of the decade imo, but it was not my AOTY because I donāt return to it often because it is draining. When I was younger, it probably would have been my AoTY and probably would have overtaken The Phosphorescent Blues as my Album of the Century. In the past few years Iāve realized that in the name of āartā, I often discounted things that really resonated with me. Thereās something to be said for the music that just demands to be played over and over: that guy wouldnāt have put the new Lake Street Dive in his top ten last year because it wasnāt artsy enough. My thought process today is that it was returned to enough to earn a spot for me:
Nee Lewman
ą¤¬ą„ą¤øą„ą¤ą¤°ą„ą¤”
More succinctly, I weigh is it important to me over is it important, if that makes sense.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
I donāt think you can do anything other than that. The later is almost created by a consensus of people doing the former rather than determined.
Nee Lewman
ą¤¬ą„ą¤øą„ą¤ą¤°ą„ą¤”
Not necessarily. I donāt think enough of the general public will get through Ethel Cain to realize its importance nor are the vast majority of music listeners even aware of it or going to listen to it. The Dawid album I mention above is important, I donāt know that the public sees it as such now. Those designations are made by me without group consensus and still their high art doesnāt make them the best for me. There has to be some kind of balance. Downward Spiral is album where I think it is important, society agreed with me and it resonated in such a way that it was far and away my AOTY that year.
Joe Mac
Well-Known Member
Yeah Iām not talking wider public consensus, the state of art would be dire if that is that case. But you canāt judge importance without a degree of at least informed critical or enthusiast consensus.
Itās why regardless of the merit some art canāt be judged as important until years after it was made.
Nee Lewman
ą¤¬ą„ą¤øą„ą¤ą¤°ą„ą¤”
Thatās why something like the Downward Spiral is even more elusive in the grand scheme of things. It was something brilliant that also caught the zeitgeist.
I donāt know man. All I know is the new Ethel Cain is high art and important and relevant for today. When I initially said I couldnāt see myself listening to it again it was because there was no pressure valve at the time. I think my one problem with it is that it is relentless dark for an hour before you get to some release with Etienne. It will certainly be something that only occasionally gets played, like the Dawid album I mentioned.
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musicjunkiegreg
Well-Known Member
I mean, I've checked out like 5 albums so far this year, and out of those 5, āPerverts is the best one. In lieu of that, it's my current "album to beat" for the year. Will it be my #1 AOTY at year's end? Highly unlikely! I did share my initial thoughts (here) the day it came out though
Nee Lewman
ą¤¬ą„ą¤øą„ą¤ą¤°ą„ą¤”
Fair enough.I mean, I've checked out like 5 albums so far this year, and out of those 5, āPerverts is the best one. In lieu of that, it's my current "album to beat" for the year. Will it be my #1 AOTY at year's end? Highly unlikely! I did share my initial thoughts (here) the day it came out though
musicjunkiegreg
Well-Known Member
Nee Lewman
ą¤¬ą„ą¤øą„ą¤ą¤°ą„ą¤”
Well I asked, is it something you want to listen to all the time?
Thatās where this one is tough for me. Iād say it being a mood album doesnāt even begin to explain it.
Rip_City
Well-Known Member
To be quite honest, my succinct response is this, as I will surely use many more times:
musicjunkiegreg
Well-Known Member
Since the 8th I've listened to the album four times through. I'm a huge fan of melancholic and dark music, so as far as a mood album, it's one that checks a lot of boxes for me. I see myself returning to it throughout the year, but likely less often as more albums are released and my time allotment to individual albums is lessened. That is one advantage of albums dropping earlier in the year - they typically see more repeat plays initially.
Nee Lewman
ą¤¬ą„ą¤øą„ą¤ą¤°ą„ą¤”
True. Itās not the music as much as the content. Iām not real sure I want to listen to terror tone poems all day long, but I sure as heck donāt want them with the lyrics here all day long.
musicjunkiegreg
Well-Known Member
Nee Lewman
ą¤¬ą„ą¤øą„ą¤ą¤°ą„ą¤”
I do think it is a fascinating meditation that sort of makes you see how we got from Jerry Springer to Squid Game.
Nee Lewman
ą¤¬ą„ą¤øą„ą¤ą¤°ą„ą¤”
Rip_City
Well-Known Member
I'll say this, listening to this isolated in a dark, quiet space (just past midnight) amplifies the music's atmosphere tenfold. It is an invitation to the void that I feel in relation to the years to come, with suffocating darkness, hopelessness, creeping tension, and whether hope can exist in a world so fraught with despair and desecration. Hayden is accurately capturing my headspace in these first weeks of 2025.
It's happening to everybody.