Search - Mae :: Destination: Beautiful

Achieved: Beautiful

Kirsten D. Schlewitz | Seattle, WA USA | 03/26/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mae's debut album is absolutely gorgeous. I saw them live when they performed w/something corporate last fall and had to have the CD. for once, though, i found that the disc is better than the live version...but that could just be due to bad acoustics and/or not knowing the songs before they were performed. anyway, mae is a perfect escape band, the music is wonderful for drifting away into your own world. David's voice definitely enhances his lyrics and the music combines in such a way that you're apt to experience a couple spine-tingling moments while you listen--you know, those times when everything just clicks and you think, yeah, that's exactly it. the first experience with that is on This Time is the Last Time, when the melody and different lines start to overlap and build. It hits again in the beginning of Sun, and then at Last Call, because who can resist this lyric: more out of place than anything you know/like an opera at a disco/when all you wanted was a rock show/tonight. then skyline drive, when the band perfectly touches the way we feel when we just want to drive. my favorite song is Soundtrack for Our Movie. At first you think, oh goodness, how cheesy, how typical, but then it grows on you and you realize that's the start of all new relationships. the only way i'd change this cd is switch the last two tracks, because after all the hopefulness and happiness (but it is, of course, rooted in realism, not too much optimism, not fake!) the album ends with Goodbye, Goodnight, which leaves you slightly unsettled and wondering where you stand. good for other albums, other bands, but for this one it should end with Giving it Away, a song about uncertainty but trust and faith. oh yeah, by the way, Mae's a Christian band. didn't know that? it's just proof that Christianity doesn't need to fit into a little box.
All in all, buy this album not because it's emo and you need to fit it into your collection, but because it moves beyond the typical and slowly wedges its way into your consciousness until you don't care if the disc skips because it's all in your head anyway (but you still burn the tracks you ripped so you can play the album for your friends and get them hooked too)
waiting for the rain to stop...destination beautiful..."

"...Envelopes stuffed with feelings found..."

A. Kohler | Louisville, KY | 03/05/2004

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The last time I heard a CD that sounded this good and blew me away as much as this album did was Jimmy Eat Worlds masterpiece Clarity. Mae has created an emotional journey that is just as masterful as Clarity was, only masterful in a different way.



Where Clarity often led me to close my eyes and just feel alive, Destination:beautiful puts the biggest smile on my face. I can't sit still when I listen to this album. Truth be told, halfway through my first listen of Embers and Envelopes I had the biggest smile I've ever had. I was excited to be hearing what I was hearing. It's been a long time since I've heard a band with such a perfcect and unique sound as Mae have. Brandtson came to mind after I heard this CD the whole way through, but Mae stands out even more than Brandtson. Mae's songs just glow with meaning; beautiful guitars shine through when they need to and fall back in the mix when need be. Drumming is very solid and stands out quite nicely through out the album. A keyboard is utilized to perfection; the last forty seconds of Sun and all of Embers and Envelopes are a testemant to how much of a difference the keyboard makes. Now for the vocals...beautiful. They lean slightly towards the high end, reminiscent of Death Cabs Ben Gibbard and Jimmy Eat Worlds Jim Adkins, the vocals have aa voice of their own. Beautiful.



Embers and Envelopes, Sun, Soundtrack to Our Movie, Summertime and Goodbye, Goodnight are my favorites. Each shines with uniqueness and emotion that makes Mae so freakin good. Giving It Away and Skyline Drive are the two "ballads" I guess you could say, the two songs slow things down and bring out another side to the band that shines equally as bright. Out of the 11 tracks there is not one dud. I failed to mention the other songs only because of how much the songs I mentioned stand out.



Destination:beautiful is about as close to a perfect album as I've heard in years. In fact, Mae may have created a perfect album. Beautifuly written and played, Destination:beautiful stands out amongst the rest of the CDs on the shelves. Purchase this album and you will be the proud owner of joy pressed to CD. Push play and let go, Mae will make the sun shine and will bring a smile to your face.



UPDATE: It's 2008, I'm older (23), have probably grown out of that pretentious, "I only listen to music no one else listens to and music that isn't popular" phase and am certainly at a new point in life.



I still freakin love this album. One of the best ever. Top 20 for sure, maybe even top 10."

What pop should sound like

dara | Bay Area, CA | 09/06/2003

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Emo. It's a word that's often debated and looked down upon for what it's come to mean. Many have come to identify emo as whiny, self-pitying quasi-punk music about spineless guys who were too weaksauce to commit to their girlfriends and are now sad about it. That's why it's funny that the best 'emo' record to date isn't whiny, self-pitying, or styled after punk; Mae's Destination:Beautiful is the most emo record I've ever heard, because there's so much emotion in it. There's so much emotion because Mae delivers music with a certain honesty that other, similar bands lack. If you've ever liked emo, Mae is your band.Mae's sound is not groundbreaking or innovative; its strength is that it's simply pleasing to the ears, and shares more in common with pop-rock than with punk. Destination:Beautiful is a collection of songs that manage to be fun and catchy while still a little mellow and melancholy. Lead singer Dave Gimenez has a wispy voice that perfectly accents the efforts of the rest of the band, with lyrics that are simple and feel familiar without being cliché at all. The end result is a fresh, breezy album that seems tailor-made for summer days. The weakness of the album is that there a couple of songs that fall short; they're not bad at all, but not up to the standards set by the album's many gems. "All Deliberate Speed," "Soundtrack for Our Movie", and "Giving it Away" are the stragglers, and while they're still listenable, the rest of the album makes them sound not-so-great.The remaining eight tracks are nothing but quality; particular standouts are "Embers and Envelopes", "Sun", "Last Call", and "Skyline Drive". All in all, Mae have crafted the most 'emo' record ever, and yet it's one that evades all of the traditions of the maligned genre. Destination:Beautiful is a great summer record, and a perfect match for the listener who wants some passion in their pop-rock."