Titus Andronicus - The monitor

MopedTobias (Marvin)

10.01.2016 - 16:39

Ich weiß, dass im Thread der Band viel über dieses Album diskutiert wurde, aber dieses Meisterwerk verdient eindeutig einen eigenen. Unglaublich energiegeladener Folkpunk bildet die Basis für ein intensives und ideenreiches Epos voll von schrägem Bombast, tollen Arrangements und mitreißenden Hymnen. Und wer hätte nach der Breitseite der ersten vier Songs erwartet, dass es im weiteren Verlauf noch Klavier, Bläser, herzzereißende Streicher und Frauengesang zu hören gibt? 9/10.

John Ericsson

10.01.2016 - 16:52

Wurde das Album eigentlich nach der USS Monitor benannt? Wäre ja aufgrund der Schlacht von Hampton Roads so offensichtlich wie passend. Oder gibt es da noch eine andere Erklärung?

Logarythms

10.01.2016 - 17:54

@John Ericsson:

Ja, das Album ist nach dem Schiff benannt -> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4jMWgputRLo

Zum Album:

Klare 10/10 von mir, gehört zu meinen Top 5 Alben für die Ewigkeit

Pure_Massacre

10.01.2016 - 18:54

10/10 auch von mir :)

Eliminator Jr.

10.01.2016 - 19:11

In den Kanon stimme ich ein. Höchstwertung.

The MACHINA of God

27.01.2017 - 20:57

Was für ein tolles Album in der richtigen Stimmung. Nur 5 Beiträge?

The MACHINA of God

27.01.2017 - 21:33

Ach stimmt, der andere Thread.

Cooler Mann

04.05.2017 - 16:47

"Tramps like us, baby we were born to die" heißt es richtig.

The MACHINA of God

25.12.2019 - 21:20

Höre es grad wieder im Weihnachtsrausch beim Spaziergang durch die Heimatstadt und es ist wieder herrlich. Allem vorran natürlich "A pot in which to piss". Ab der Stelle wenn das Köavier einsetzt. Grandios. Auch klasse Sauf-Platte.

MopedTobias (Marvin)

25.12.2019 - 21:43

Ich hoffe, die wird beim 10er-Poll nicht vergessen. Ich werde sie wohl so um Platz 25 herum einordnen. Liebe vor allem den unglaublich kraftvollen Opener.

The MACHINA of God

26.12.2019 - 01:09

Shit, die muss ja auch noch rein. :D

Eliminator Jr.

04.01.2020 - 23:35

Hat es wenig überraschend in meine Top10 geschafft.

The MACHINA of God

05.01.2020 - 01:39

Der Thread hat nur so wenig Beiträge, weil alles in einem anderen Thread passierte, oder? :D

Bei mir zummindest Top 40 oder 30. Klasse Album.

chocolat ideal

06.01.2020 - 19:49

Bei mir locker Top15 - welch grandiose Platte. Schade nur, dass die Band danach einiges von ihrem rotzigen Wahnsinn eingebüßt hat...

Mr. Fritte

06.01.2020 - 19:57

Ich mag das Debut ja mittlerweile sogar noch etwas lieber, aber "The Monitor" hat es natürlich locker in meine Liste reingeschafft. Großartiges Teil.

The MACHINA of God

06.01.2020 - 20:31

Ich komm irgendwie so recht in keine PLatte von denen rein ausser in die hier... aber dafür umso mehr.

The MACHINA of God

28.03.2020 - 01:28

You have The Monitor at number four and I’m trying to be objective here, Patrick, but are you fucking serious?
Yeah, I have my reasons.

Obviously you have a different view of this album than your fanbase.
Than anyone in the world, yeah. I should say: I know how this looks. It's difficult for me to be objective about these things because these are like my little babies. Also, I'm aware that this particular record is the reason I’m talking to you now. It's the reason why I have a career at all. It gave me everything that I have. That gives me a certain amount of gratitude for it but also a certain amount of resentment for it.

Why?
Because that’s something I did when I was 24 and they're gonna write it in my obituary. That's annoying. It’s a little bit of an albatross. It's not that I think it sucks. There's things I like about it. There's some songs on it that I still like to play today. But it's got flaws on it that are apparent to me that might not be apparent to the casual listener. Shall I name them?

Can we first unpack what you just said? What does it say about how you’re wired that you did what you wanted to do—you made a successful album that got acclaim, brought you fans, increased your audience—and you resent it?
Well, like I said, I do have a certain amount of gratitude, but it's annoying because from the record after that onward, every review has said, "Well, we were all kinda hoping they'd do the second record again and they didn't, so temper your expectations accordingly." I think it's an obstacle for people appreciating the subsequent records on their own merits. And it's kind of ironic because the big theme of the record is the way people tend to define themselves and their view of the world in opposition to something else. They define themselves by a negative association with something they want to be in opposition to. How funny that all my subsequent records are falling to that same fate when I was trying to warn everyone against that.

On your releases after this, were any of your choices a deliberate reaction to people loving The Monitor so much? Were you inclined to test your new fans or maybe even irritate them?
No, I don't want to irritate them, necessarily. I do want a contract with my audience where they've kinda got to trust me a little bit and come along with me. That's not designed to be irritating. I do feel like some of the cornier decisions on [The Monitor] were part of the reason it was attractive to people, and I have to try to remove some of the cornier, wacker devices from our musical vocabulary.

Like what?
Well, on the first track, "A More Perfect Union," our most famous song—greatest hits, side one, track one—sometimes I think the reason it’s the most famous one is that it’s got that "whoa-oh-oh" thing in it. I probably would not do something like that now. I suppose there are little wordless things on the new one, but as far as this Lumineers, fuckin' grocery store, festival-kind of thing, that really grinds my gears. When I hear that kind of shit in the grocery store, I’m like "Oh my god, this is so annoying. I did this once."

You have A Productive Cough next and—
But I didn't even say why it’s bad! C'mon, let me tarnish my legacy here!

Go for it.
OK, for starters, my singing is another disaster.

Oh, come on.
Sometimes I hear it and I’m like, "Ugh, oh my god." Also, we did it to a click track. We made that decision because some of the song structures were pretty ambitious for kids like us at that age. So maybe that was the right choice at that time but when I hear it now, it sounds very rigid and mechanical to me. Every measure, it’s like, "Hey, do you think we’ll hit the downbeat right? Oh, wouldn't you know it, we hit it right down to the millisecond."

So your problem with it is that it sounds too good. Am I understanding that right?
No, the problem is that it doesn't sound good enough. It would've sounded better if it sounded like a real rock band, not a bunch of guys playing along with a computer.

Would you ever try to make a live version of this album? Next year, when you hit the ten-year anniversary, you could do one of those album anniversary tours bands do.
Yeah, I've heard of these. Well, let me tell you something right now, Dan. If you ever hear about me doing something like that, you can be pretty well assured that I must be pretty hard up for money. I can hardly think of anything less artistically stimulating.

OK, now I will move on to Productive Cough.
But you didn’t even let me say the part about the lyrics! The lyrics are full of references and allusions and shit.

Yeah... and?
That's wack. That's college kid shit. I should've come up with my own ideas.

I think a concept record that is both about mental health and the Civil War is a pretty daring experiment that I think you pulled off exceptionally well and I wish you would just take credit for something you did right on this fucking record.
I like the artwork.


https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/qv7m3p/titus-andronicus-patrick-stickles-ranks-all-of-the-bands-records

MopedTobias (Marvin)

28.03.2020 - 09:40

Fuck, jetzt kann ich "A more perfect union" nicht mehr hören, ohne dabei an die Lumineers zu denken :D

The MACHINA of God

17.12.2020 - 17:12

Perfekter Soundtrack zu "Krieg und Frieden". Jemand mal Bock auf ne Session? Gerade mit den Texten ist das Album ja ein Erlebnis.

kenny23

22.10.2021 - 07:06

Heute wurde ein Remaster veröffentlicht, Grund genug den Thread dieses großen Meisterwerks nach oben zu holen.

humbert humbert

22.10.2021 - 10:25

Das Album ist gerade mal 11 Jahre alt. Was wurde denn da genau remastered?

The MACHINA of God

22.10.2021 - 12:06

Die meisten Post-2000-Remaster versteh ich nicht.

Felix H

22.10.2021 - 14:51

Lumineers, fuckin' grocery store, festival-kind of thing

Das fällt mir ja jetzt erst auf. :-D

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