LIFT YOUR SKINNY FISTS LIKE ANTENNAS TO HEAVEN

I've been wanting to make this album my first official PA's review for quite some time now and today is the day. I'm gonna start this off by pointing out that this will be a very biased evaluation. I consider that being able to judge things from a neutral perspective is one of my talents but I simply cannot do it and will not even try with Godspeed. To this day, this is my all-time favourite album. After hearing the opening movement for the first time, I was hooked on Godspeed for life. It's a relatively straightforward album. No fancy underlying complexity that requires several listenings to enjoy; just pure raw emotion. If the first 6 minutes don't make you feel like lifting your skinny lifts like antennas to heaven, you'll know Godspeed is just not for you.

The album is divided in four 20-ish minute songs. "Storm" is the greatest intro to an album I've ever heard by far. It's just pure brilliance. It opens up with a lovely violin riff soon joined by electric guitar and a subtle yet magnificent French horn which adds a sublime dimension to the intro. The violin starts off slow and smooth before gradually increasing in intensity to a point that is almost unbearable as you can tell it's about to explode. Around the 3 minute mark, a rain of cymbals is heard then the drums suddenly join in and the following 3 minutes literally have the power to bring tears of bliss. The climax ends and the sound lowers significantly as Godspeed's trademark, the lap slide guitar enters giving a contemplative touch to the middle section of the song. The sound builds up again and a quite heavy section follows. The piece ends with a unclear radio broadcast (?) and a simple 3-note piano section.

"Static" is probably my least favourite part of this album. The first five minutes are drone-ish sounds which lead to a speech made by a preacher (?). Now, I don't identify to any religion but this speech is just amazing. It deals with enlightenment: "When you penetrate to the most high God, you will believe you're mad, you will believe you've gone insane." The speech is accompanied by a melancholic violin and as it stops, acoustic guitar enters the picture and the violin comes back in. Another buildup. This time a powerful wall of sound is created. I guess all 3 guitars, 2 bass, violin, cello and horns are playing in harmony to create this effect. "Static" ends much like it started, with drone noises.

The first track on side two is "Sleep". It starts with a depressing speech made by an old man ruminating about his childhood in Coney Island. This song might be the easier one to love on a first listen. There are two main buildups here. The first one leads to a haunting part with alienating distorted slide guitar and heavy drumming. The second one starts with acoustic guitar joined by horns and electric guitar. Then just as you think it's over, violin and drums come back and play in sublime harmony until the end of the piece.

To say that "Antennas to Heaven" is an intense experience is an understatement. I always imagined it as a soundtrack to people on their death bed looking back on their life. It starts with a part of a country song and percussions make the transition to sounds of children in a playground. They're singing a famous French riddle, "Le Bon Roi Dagobert". Then dramatic repetitive violin notes are played and make for a very beautiful passage. The last note is extended and you know what's coming when the drums start playing in the background. A very high intensity section mostly driven by guitar ensues but this part is very short. After a few minutes of meditative ambient sounds, a lovely electric guitar, bass and drums part come put an end to the album. The very final moments consist of more ambient greatness.

I think the only thing one could reproach this fantastic Canadian band is their tendency to always write songs with the same structure and never reinventing themselves. Most of their songs are composed of two buildups, emotional violin and guitar slowly increasing in intensity leading to a heavy climax. Personally I think their sound is absolutely perfect so I could not be more pleased that they're sticking to the same recipe all the time while using different ingredients. I believe this is an album that not only music enthusiasts should absolutely hear but also anyone who lives life passionately. Definitely 5 stars.