Search - Steel Train :: Trampoline

Best Release of 2007

A. Klein | Portland, OR | 10/29/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Steel Train's Trampoline is hands down my favorite album of 2007. Although it deals with the same topics as the band's previous release, Twilight Tales From the Prairies of the Sun, it does so with more cheerful melodies and catchier lyrics. Trampoline's upbeat tunes lift the listener into its energy. It's impossible to listen to this album without being drawn into some sort of outward expression of the music. I listen to it as I run everyday and it gives me just the energy I need. Trampoline isn't an album that you'll get sick of anytime soon. My favorite tracks are "I Feel Weird," "Black Eye," "Kill Monsters in the Rain," "Firecracker," and "Alone on the Sea.""

A strong pop album but far below Steel Train's talent level

Samuel Feinberg | Chappaqua, NY | 03/16/2008

(3 out of 5 stars)

"Trampoline is a really intriguing album because it definitely divides the fan base of a band so definitively rooted in jam-band culture and folk-rock- this is Jack Antonoff's pop album and one needs look no further than "Alone on the Sea" to see that Jack was listening to a solid amount of Arcade Fire.



So Jack's vocal style and song writing style have shape shifted to a simpler, Beatles-style attempt at writing a great pop album (with some hints of the folk-rock that Steel Train did so well on Twilight Tales). The results are pretty average, and the blame lies solely on Jack. This man is absolutely fantastic at playing guitar. Why does everything have to be so simple? Jack rarely rips it on this album, preferring to stay in the background of most songs... if your favorite writer decided to write a little bit less and keep it all a bit more streamlined for the sake of making it easier to read, I think you'd be pissed off and that's how I feel when I listen to Trampoline.



Overall, this isn't a bad album- Firecracker is a really awesome song, Diamonds in the Sky is an incredible pop tune, and Leave You Travelling and Women I Belong To both remind me a little bit of Twilight Tales. But regardless, Steel Train does not deserve to be lauded for this album because they waste the talent that they have and choose instead to sound simpler to appeal to a broader audience."