This is Of Montreals best album.

[sjames]

I enjoy Sunlandic Twins more than Gay Parade, Satanic Panic, and all the others. This album just gets better and better the more I listen to it, I absolutely love it. Most of the songs are GREAT. All of them are at least GOOD!.

I will list things i like about it for fun:

Requeiem for O.M.M.2 - 'I never ever stop wondering!' is the most beautiful line ever.
I was Never Young - so fun
Wraith Pinned to the Mist - them singing together 'let's pretend we don't exist' is so gr8!
Forecast Fascist Future - this song is so great, i just want to dance to it everytime it plays.
Our Alabee - I love it when they sing together. period! and when it changes at the end it's so awesome and makes the whole song come together perfectly.
Our Spring is not Fleeting - Pretty song that gets better as the final drum beats and crashes come in.
Party is Crashing us - ahhhh of montreal, i love this song. ok. anyone that doesn't love the oh's! is not human!
I was a landscape in your dream - more beautiful strange chorus singing, which is my favourite part about of montreal.
Death of a shade of hue This is my favourite song. It's just so damn good.
Oslo in the summertime - such a fun song, makes me think of my trip to britain.
October is Eternal - so wierd and beautiful, again.
The Repudiated Immortals - a great ending to the album.

Yeah while listening to every song and writing those I realized this really is an amazing album. Scientists should use this album to create an endless energy source (that will eventually destroy us all).

Thank you for your time. And I really don't care if you disagree with me I really don't care becuase it is brilliant.

[canadiansforever]

I've only listened to the album once, so I can't dispute or agree with you, but my roommate has listened to it on numerous occasions and has said that it is probably their best album. I did really enjoy the way the album sounded live though. I'm just waiting on my Polyvinyl order to arrive.

[Eat_Vegetables]

This album got hopelessly stuck in my head even faster than Satanic Panic..., I've been listening to it non-stop since I picked up the vinyl version at the show yesterday!

I also wrote a review of it for mxdwn.com if anyone's interested in checking it out: http://www.mxdwn.com/article.php?sid=412

[WandaLeeandtheDrumMachine]

this album is nowhere near coquelecot gay parade cherry peel or even spita... though it is amazing.
it doesnt have that "album feel"....and this just opinion but vaudville beats 80s dance club any day.

[vacantmoon]

honestly in a way i think of it as more of a kevin barnes solo album than OM and it's easier to not get hung up on the OM blueprint 'album feel'. it's different and i don't think it can be put in the same category necessarily.

but the reality is that it does have the OM name and yes as much as i'm completely enraptured with it i would rate it below the albums you mentioned. but it's different (!) - it's the best Kevin Barnes album yet :P

knowing that the full band is going to be in on the recording for the next LP i think lends itself to enjoying sunlandic twins even more too..

[vacantmoon]

wandalee, i accidentally read your post the first time as 'vaudeville meets 80s dance club' - that's an experiment worth pursuing! at least for a tour 7".

[WandaLeeandtheDrumMachine]

hehe true...

but if you look at it all the albums have been kevin barnes solo except cherry peel according to elephant6.com

[discombobulate]

thats not true,
coquelicot and gay parade had all the members recording it, Coquelicot had everyone writing their own parts of the music. I was gonna post something about this on the "requests" thread because the reason they cant do all the old songs on tour is because not everyone in the bands knows the older songs. Derek wrote alot of the bass lines for coquelicot and it would be hard for matt and everyone else to learn all the parts again. i am getting sidetracked there, but no, sunlandic and spita were recorded all by kevin, with alittle help, but really if you really listen to it, you can still hear the of montreal that some of you miss so much. it still has the of montreal feel very much to me.

[hypecity]

http://www.blacktable.com/images/0412pics/jesus/28000.jpg

[Edited on 3-22-0606 by hypecity]

[WandaLeeandtheDrumMachine]

I disagree... Matt is a damn good bassist he could learn those bass parts if he wanted to. The reason they dont play those songs now is because they want a dancy set. Notice they play all of Sunlandic Twins except the two slow songs, and they play all the danciest stuff from spita. Also when Dottie asked for cover ideas she asked that they be dancy. So we see it definately isnt a matter of difficulty its a matter of the way they want their set to feel etc... the point is I danced my little heart out.

[dolemites_sister]

I got mine yesterday, and to be honest, from what I heard about it, I wasn't sure that I would like it.

I like it a lot. Its not my favorite OM album, but it is definetly a good listen. It will probably not leave the CD player for sometime now.

[jefferoo]

It is, no question, a great album.
I don't know if it's their best. But I'm holding firm on the thought that the EP is phenomenal.
Almost better that the whole full-length.
I think it (S.T.) is a fresh direction.
People shouldn't be dissappointed that it isn't more like the "old stuff"
they can still listen to the old stuff if thats what they like better.

[RiversShackleton]

i love their new album. i love their old stuff as well but the new stuff is fresh and different then their old stuff, but in a good way. i think it would have been worse if they made another album that had the same feel a their older stuff, i mean like with 7 albums they were bound to change their sound eventually. i enjoy walking around my college campus listening to it and walking to the beat. it makes me feel like im in a dream or that im in a music video for the song im listening to. try it, its fun.

[vacantmoon]

BP told me he and Matt had wanted to do a few more older songs in the set but that K/D/J were tired of playing a lot of them from previous tours + they had to pick songs that did fit in more with the dance-driven new songs.

yes, the other OM members played large parts in the creation of many former albums.

i just meant sunlandic twins to me sounds closer to a solo effort than most of the previous records, and in that way it's a little different. but the OM 'feel' is absolutely there - just filtered through some new sounds.

the 'album feel' of s.t. isn't quite the same as past OM albums, though - it's less by-the-books OM style in a way to me, which is a good thing. it sacrifices a tad of what i loved for something new which is nearly equally rewarding, and yes after 7 albums or more totally A-OK by me and highly encouraged.

i'm sure some of you have noticed over the past few years that during the live show OM has taken to doing some psych-rock space age jams at times (ala stereolab, krautrock, etc) and i for one always thought this was a cool progression into something slightly different, although the records haven't really reflected this at this point.

i can't help but think OM is due for a record that will feature longer songs with lots of intricate experimentation, drones, etc. more along the lines of faust or os mutantes than prog-rock per se.

[patman?]

It's better than Satanic Panic, but it's far from their best album.

[robbyrharris]

while I don't think it is their BEST, i do think it is great, and am looking forward to seeing them for the first time on May 20th in Norman, OK. I can't wait to shake it all nite. I can't wait to hear the upbeat songs live!

[Freek]

I love every album of them equally (except for the Bedside drama, which I just can't seem to get into for some particular reason, except for some songs). my other favorite musician, Prince, progressed a lot from lp to lp in the 80's. and my fave of his is Lovesexy, which is his 10th (officially released) lp!! so Of Montreal is only at the beginning, who knows what wonderful directions are to follow. when Kevin changes his name, that's when we need to start worrying :)

[el topo]

I think Phase Two Of Montreal began with SPITA. I can't really compare Phase One and Phase Two. The styles are so radically different.

I'm still learning to appreciate Sunlandic Twins (hasn't eclipsed, pardon the pun, SPITA for me yet), but I agree that the EP is just amazing and my immediate reaction was that it was better than the album. (That's probably premature.) I almost wonder if the bonus EP songs shouldn't have been somehow incorporated into the album itself. But maybe they're more Phase One Of Montrealish. I'll have to listen to them again.

[Edited on 4-14-2005 by el topo]

[jefferoo]

it is not their best album.
... the EP might be, however.
I really love The Actor's Opprobrium. That is the most classic-OM sounding song on the album.
I really hope the next album is along the lines of "Black Fireworks" (by far the best song on the album) and "Family Nouveau" .
Those songs is 3 times dope.
the albums best moments are in Forecast Fascist Future, Our Spring Is Sweet Not Fleeting and October Is Eternal (if it had lyrics it would have 5 stars rather than 4). The Repudiated Immortals is a really good song but it's all about the hook in the chorus. It's a good closing track.

[ollie]

It's not their best album, but it's excellent. I expected to hate this album or at least be skeptical about its sound, but it's already hooked me. I loved seeing this stuff live, and it's really a lot better than I thought it would be when I first previewed "So Begins our Alabee." Lovely stuff!

[ollie]

Originally posted by el topo
I think Phase Two Of Montreal began with SPITA. I can't really compare Phase One and Phase Two. The styles are so radically different.

I'm still learning to appreciate Sunlandic Twins (hasn't eclipsed, pardon the pun, SPITA for me yet), but I agree that the EP is just amazing and my immediate reaction was that it was better than the album. (That's probably premature.) I almost wonder if the bonus EP songs shouldn't have been somehow incorporated into the album itself. But maybe they're more Phase One Of Montrealish. I'll have to listen to them again.

[Edited on 4-14-2005 by el topo]

I would have thought Phase 1 was the early stuff, Phase 2 was Adhils and SPITA and this is Phase 3. Doesn't "Requiem for O.M.M. 2"'s title suggest that this is "the new sound"? I may be interpreting that wrong, though.

[TV Forces]

If you seriously think 'I never ever stop wondering!' is the "most beautiful line ever," then you need more then one cd in your collection! Give me a break. Kevin could top that in his sleep. This album is nowhere near OM's best. It's not even really Of Montreal, if you ask me. It's a new sound and it's all Kevin. I think the Gay Parade was their best. I've loved everything they've done, but man is Sunlandic disappointing. The Gay Parade was a guy I could laugh with, cry with, and relate to. This is just cold technology.

[vacantmoon]

i'm not sure but when he was talking about 'i never ever stop wondering' i think he might've meant the feeling he gets hearing that line (kevin's inflection) rather than the lyrics taken literally.

i'm starting to think it might be interesting if there was a little icon that appeared next to all the board members' names when they post that demonstrated whether they were wholehearted fans of sunlandic twins or outspoken detractors. like if the icons were cartoon-y and expressive it might get a laugh or two.

[call me hi]

although i love sunlandic twins i still place it at the bottom of the list of om albums. however it still has such a weird unique feel to it that sounds different than anything i've heard before. spita kind of sounded like that to me too and i place that at second to the bottom. maybe those two albums are just really ahead of their time and i just have to catch up.

[hoboghost]

the sunlandic twins is incredible, musically and lyrically. I don't think I want rate it with the other OM albums from least to greatest, because they are all great. However, this is among Barnes's best, for sure.

[Robin]

about that kevin barnes being the only player thing, well, in the liner notes of spita, it says that kevin played all the instruments except for about four.. and i don't remember what the liner notes for sunlandic twins say but i think more people played on it than spita.

i love sunlandic twins. i really don't like to rank all the albums though, but i do know that coquelicot is my favorite, and then probably gay parade. sunlandic twins probably hits right below gay parade and above spita... i feel like spita weakens at the end. but the bedside drama is quite good and i would have to fit that in somewhere.

[sir lancelot]

personally my favorite Of Montreal record is "cherry peel." and i've always enjoyed each record. if anything at their worst, Of Montreal is interesting. i don't think they've ever had a false moment.

as for "Sunlandic Twins", i really like it. and i think it gets better each time i listen to it. i like how the songs aren't SO crazy and they don't go into so many vignettes. i appreciate how Of Montreal/Kevin Barnes pushes forth and does something different instead of just trying to relive past glories or something.

[JohnRHaupert]

I am a weird OM fan. Everybody talks about how Gay Parade is the best OM album, but my favorite is SPITA by far. My next favorite is probably Horse and Elephant Eatery, Coquelicot, Gay Parade, Adhil's, and then the new one. I've only heard parts of the earlier albums, but I plan on purchasing them soon because I like what I heard. I thought the new album was somewhat disappointing. It seemed like he took the electronica from SPITA (which I thought was a perfect amount of it) and took it even further. The music isn't as innovative and can get somewhat boring and dancy. I don't dislike the album, it is just disappointing to me. There are some songs that I love on it, like O.M.M. On the other hand I freaking love the bonus EP- it sounds more like OM to me.