At 03:07 PM 12/29/2003 -0600, Michael Bennett wrote:
>Miles --
>
>When did this come out?  I wasn't aware they had a new album out.  How do 
>you like it compared to the last one?

It's been out since June.  Anyway, as you can see by its placement on my 2003 list (#12) versus where I had its predecessor in 2001 (#1), it's not as good as THUS ALWAYS TO TYRANTS but far from a disappointment.  And I don't mean to damn it with faint praise -- songs like "The Way," "I've Got a Plan," "Ciderville Saturday Night" (*finally* on a CD!), and the revised full-band "Amtrak Crescent" are tremendous, and even a second-tier song like "Raised By the Graves," despite revisiting familiar themes (tradition, parents, taking on adult responsibilities) in a somewhat slighter way than before, manages to say something new musically by harnessing the lyrics to an incredibly catchy organ-'n'-guitar riff.  And having seen Scott live many times during the stretch between the 1st and 2nd album, I'm really impressed by how he overcame the "oh shit, now I gotta come up with a *second* whole album by myself!" problem and delivered some very good stuff to put with the great stuff.

Sure, UPSIDE/DOWNSIDE would have been stronger if he'd saved the best ARE YOU WITH ME?-only material for this album, but hey, it's only the difference between four stars and five.  If you liked the V-Roys and the first SM&tC album, there's no reason not to own this one too.

later,

Miles