Search - Mew :: No More Stories

Another genius work

tgenda | Colorado | 09/01/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Mew has done it again. Somehow they seamlessly blend catchy beats with intricate melodies and harmonies into an orchestral arrangement. I am eagerly awaiting a full blown US tour so I can finally see my favorite band perform live.



The album starts out with "New Terrain", a track which, if played backwards, is another hidden track entitled Nervous. This is really cool, but I'm not particularly partial to this track. It sounds as if I'm already listening to somethign backwards. However, I've found myself adoring Mew songs that I'd previously disliked, so we'll see.



"Introducing Palace Players" ups the tempo next, with a funky, catchy beat which gradually gets more complex throughout the song, keeping you on the edge of your seat, wondering what will come next. The chorus of "What is it that you do? You gotta get back up yourself" is catchy.





"Beach", and "Repeaterbeater" are up next and are both solid tracks. They also could become favorites, who knows? Following these two Mew slows down the pace a little with "Silas the Magic Car" in which the rhythmic drum beats really capture your attention. Definitely a favorite.



The last half of the album is also definitely solid. I find myself liking all the songs. "Hawaii", "Vaccine" and "Tricks of the Trade" are probably my favorites in the last half.



Every Mew album I buy, I am at first convinced it is good...but not as good as the last. Yet every time as I listen to it more and more I become addicted to it. This album was no different. I at first found it a mediocre album, but was still pleased. But the more I listen to it, the more I find it just as good, if not better than the last two albums. The sheer complexity of the melodies of this album are so vast that I find myself listening to this album over and over again to gain full appreciation of its beauty.



If you like picking apart and exploring good music and can appreciate musical talent, then buy this album. You won't be dissapointed."

No more stories? Fine with me. Senseless strings of words wo

Elias Jarrell | Mississippi | 09/14/2009

(5 out of 5 stars)

"If after your first run-through you aren't convinced, give it a few more goes. It took me a few days to really appreciate the beauty and power of this album. I think especially for a fan of Frengers and Kites, No More Stories may not be too exciting at first. Certainly it doesn't have the obvious accessibility of Frengers or the immediate intensity of Kites, but it has something that makes it stand out. I can't really explain it, except to say that No More Stories is all about layers. The melodies are maddeningly complex, so much so that on my first few listens I thought it was an aimless jumble of disjointed tunes. But it all works, everything flows together nicely, and the bizarre key changes, rhythm changes, time signature changes, produce a truly rich effect. This is a deep, mature work, and sticks with you even if you don't realize it's taken root. While I was a little underwhelmed when I first ran through the album, I couldn't resist going back for more. Something about the strange, ethereal sound drew me back again and again until finally I grew familiar enough with each song to understand and love it. No More Stories is best taken in via headphones, I think, to really get a feel for all the levels and components. This is especially true on the middle piece, Cartoons and Macrame Wounds. This is a stirring, lovely song, but very unconventional, and somewhat puzzling. Indeed, the opening contains a line that is virtually impossible to make out, with or without headphones, and it's a very well-written line. Most unfortunate. I only found the line in the lyrics in the booklet. Another troublesome track is Tricks of the Trade. It annoyed me at first, it seemed too bland. But now I realize it has a moody, punky vibe that's truly infectious. New Terrain was probably the one track that convinced me from the start. The distorted, dreamlike flow makes it, in my opinion, the most impressive and beautiful song of the lot. Plus, it's probably the heaviest track, the closest thing to an actual "rocker" in the vein of Kites, or even Frengers for that matter, you get here. But again, No More Stories has an elegance and power all its own. Hawaii Dream is simply divine, perfectly surreal and soothing, and the transition into the exciting island beat of Hawaii is just brilliant. Sometimes Life Isn't Easy is a fine, inspiring blend of ballad and poppy sing-along. Vaccine is another I didn't care much for at first, but it's grown on me, and its haunting melodies are as wonderful as anything. Introducing Palace Players has a cool Frengers feel, really upbeat, almost swingy, very bright and vibrant. I don't have much to say about the others--Beach is quite pretty, Repeaterbeater is good fun save for its abrupt ending, Silas the Magic Car has a sweet bedtime feel but comes across a little bland in comparison to the rest, and Reprise, while not immediately coherent or enjoyable, is a perfect elegiac close, painful and bittersweet, with a soulful melody that can fit just about every other tune from the album into it, mostly Silas the Magic Car. All in all, this is a wonderful music experience, transcendent and passionate, with a decidedly hopeful yet somewhat sorrowful air, as of opportunities and youth lost but new chances ahead. More emotionally poignant than Frengers, but less nihilistic than Kites. I still prefer And the Glass Handed Kites of course, but I'd probably put Frengers right below this one actually, but not by much; and there's nothing quite as glorious as Comforting Sounds on this album. My biggest complaint would probably be that occasionally the lyrics are drowned by the arrangements, but then, Kites would have been largely unintelligible, especially on tracks like An Envoy to the Open Fields, were it not for the liner notes. So then, it's a great success. May Mew continue to enchant us."