BLOMLJUD

This was actually my first Moon Safari acquisition, although it's their second release. The first time I heard it I had no plans to sit and listen to the whole thing in its entirety, but at no point could I even think about stopping my Zune. When it was over, it took me a while to process everything that I'd just heard. Constant Bloom opens the album with vocal fireworks. Purely a capella and drop dead gorgeous. No studio magic, either - I saw a video of them on Youtube singing this in a street somewhere just for fun! The track blends into track2, opening up the lush, surreal world that is Methuselah's Children. The song is an absolute opus lyrically as well as musically. As far I can tell, it's about how ridiculous and wrong it is what lengths we go to just to try and stay young and live forever. The arrangement of the music along with the instrumentation is nothing short of majestic and at times seems like an enchanting fairy tale. The song is just so big on so many levels. After the first two tracks have you reeling, they follow up with an acoustic song called In the Countryside, which invites you to leave technology behind and lead a much simpler existence 'in the countryside'. Again, ridiculously catchy. I might end up using that word quite a bit about these guys! Next is Moonwalk, which as a really cool instrumental, leading up to Bluebells, which carries a very Celtic and folky feel to it, again lots of fun to listen to, until the a capella part, which is way beyond anything a group of humans should be able to even conceive. The next song, which is the last track of the two disc set is The Ghost of Flowers Past. Gorgeous song with the strongest ending of anything I've ever heard. Disc 2 starts with Yasgur's Farm. Pretty cool song with the best guitar solo on the album. Lady of the Woodlands follows, which songs like something from the medieval times...that sounds like an insult, but it's actually a great song, just showing off their diversity with very strong vocals. A Tale of Three and Tree is a fairy tale with an unhappy ending. Beautiful guitar work in this one. I've read reviews that talk about 'cheesy lyrics', but I really love this song. Not everything has to be serious and relevant to be interesting and fun, and this song proves it. Other Half of the Sky is the half-hour journey of the album, and what a journey! Again, lyrical genious, and the melodies are the stuff hits are made of. The harmonies, as great as they are, are just icing on the cake. the album to closes with To Sail Beyond the Sunset, which is pretty much just a relaxing piano arpeggio with a beautiful melody line over top of it. Some harmonies, but not too many. Bottom line...I've been a music fan for all of my 38 years; I grew up on the greats like Billy Joel, Queen, Styx and Journey. I've often said that no one writes a great melody like those guys anymore. I was so wrong! This album has had an impact on me like I never would have thought possible. It's not just their playing or songwriting, which is masterful, but their 'sound' itself is just stellar. You can't not love their sound. I hear many influences in their music and sound...Beatles, Styx, Kansas, Yes, Doobie Brothers, Eric Carmen, 10cc, with some Southern rock, Celtic, and a little country at times, but not enough of any of these to say that they 'ripped them off'. They definitely are an original, and a world class act.