Collected Animals

You've had time to listen and think and reflect and cry. Now comes the most important and interesting part of any album release: rankings and superlatives!

Live, its still Cherokee, but on record? Shit, its a bit of a shock but Passer-by I think? Walker is damn close tho for just sheer enjoyability and re-playability and ear-massage-ie-ness

If we're talking which song turned out best in the studio, probably R&D. But best song in general, probably gonna go Cherokee, with Prester at a veeeerry close second.

I still get excited when I think about that initial rush of Prester's release. I listened to it over and over and it also quickly became my fiancée's favorite AC song and one we listen to together a lot, so that one probably is my favorite, but also Royal and Desire is one of the most healing songs I have ever listened to. Live I go back and forth wildly but the jams for Slayer and Car Keys probably take the cake

gotta say We Go Back here. just feels right

can't get enough of Cherokee... "the stoop that you..." build up + climax, the lil sample, the panning vocals, panda going hard on the drums... everything about it really. one of their best!!!
runner up strung with everything though, "the sun's no better off lately" one of my fave ever avey melodies

swe, r&d, then pj

SWE on record, Car Keys live for me. So far my favorite of the other batch is much more of a tossup between like, all of them though lol.

Either way, I can't resist feeling like Strung has settled in my soul to a similar place as Purple Bottle, so that's gotta be the gut choice.

I voted Walker because it's the one which I'd play if I wanted to listen to one representative track off the album. Possibly my favourite vocals. It's a difficult question, though, because I find it a very cohesive record, nothing especially stands out or overpowers. I don't listen to it very much but I think it is a great record, just a fairly laidback one. Cherokee is the best song, being frank. Up there with classic AC. Passerby could have been if not for the nerf.

I still think the Prester outro into SWE intro is a misstep for several reasons:

- The two sections don't link up at all, a strange missed opportunity for the only two ambient sections of the album.
- They have very similar instrumentation/sounds but don't develop or do anything besides float for a minute or two, completely separately. If you're going to slow it down, at least do something interesting with that space.
- SWE as a song has a cold open quite unrelated to the intro, straight into the groove. What was that minute or two even for? PJ outro straight into that lolloping beat would have been perfect.
- Prester John is already quite a plodding vibe, no need to slow down from there at all.
- SWE is already a pretty long song, quite a repetitive ending, why was it extended even further?

Blows my mind that there isn't someone in the band or studio pointing this stuff out.

I still think the Prester outro into SWE intro is a misstep for several reasons:

- The two sections don't link up at all, a strange missed opportunity for the only two ambient sections of the album.
- They have very similar instrumentation/sounds but don't develop or do anything besides float for a minute or two, completely separately. If you're going to slow it down, at least do something interesting with that space.
- SWE as a song has a cold open quite unrelated to the intro, straight into the groove. What was that minute or two even for? PJ outro straight into that lolloping beat would have been perfect.
- Prester John is already quite a plodding vibe, no need to slow down from there at all.
- SWE is already a pretty long song, quite a repetitive ending, why was it extended even further?

Blows my mind that there isn't someone in the band or studio pointing this stuff out.

Can't help but agree but I think the simple answer is they just feel differently.

I'm voting dragon slayer, for me it's the clearest 'mission statement' song of the era

I very much enjoy PJ into SWE and its wandering spaces. The album is so solid front to back. I voted Royal but actually think it's Cherokee. I love how they did the vocoder at the end to sound like a soft blanket.

car keys->prester john has me scratching my head the most

I do not like their transitions strawberry jam on, PJ->SWE is the least of their problems

studio car keys has grown on me to the point where it's one of my favorite songs on the album now, so i voted for that, but tbh my actual favorite changes every week

Stan wrote:

I still think the Prester outro into SWE intro is a misstep for several reasons:

- The two sections don't link up at all, a strange missed opportunity for the only two ambient sections of the album.
- They have very similar instrumentation/sounds but don't develop or do anything besides float for a minute or two, completely separately. If you're going to slow it down, at least do something interesting with that space.
- SWE as a song has a cold open quite unrelated to the intro, straight into the groove. What was that minute or two even for? PJ outro straight into that lolloping beat would have been perfect.
- Prester John is already quite a plodding vibe, no need to slow down from there at all.
- SWE is already a pretty long song, quite a repetitive ending, why was it extended even further?

Blows my mind that there isn't someone in the band or studio pointing this stuff out.

Can't help but agree but I think the simple answer is they just feel differently.

I'm voting dragon slayer, for me it's the clearest 'mission statement' song of the era

I've already addressed but yr so deeply wrong and mostly saying the exact opposite of the obvious truth that I must re-address:

-"two sections don't link up", they both link up perfect. PJ slowly drifts out into nothingness whereas SWE revs up from nothingness, creating itself slowly out of the post-PJ void. Both are intentionally fading into and out of negative space and much more thoughtful and purposeful this way than what might otherwise be just a drawn out fade out/in

-again, I'd say the use of negative space and intervals of complete silence in both sequences keeps them from being "completely separate"

-SWE with a cold-open is corny and then it'd probably be in an Applebees commercial, and if you can't hear how the opening riff of the song is slowly and delicately built toward in the intro then I can't help you. The main riff literally comes to life over the course of that minute, and then when the groove hits it's just perfect

-again, complaints about AC having too much spaciness or slowness seems deeply deeply broken, scary and lacking in perspective

-also, as I've said, the opening 3 are such a trinity of an opening salvo, that the big 2 minutes of jam before SWE is an incredible palette cleanser. SWE is happy and rollicking in a way the first 3 are not, so this emotional palette cleanse is actually really necessary. SWE's verse right after the drama of PJ's climax would be jarring

-"why extended further" again this is so so so so so so so sus. You and your ilk spent a decade complaining about compact pop song brevity, you really can't complain about a song being too long now. I hate it.

Ok so there. Anyway. As far as a gripe goes, its not the worse, don't get me wrong. But I consider it my job to correct Stan when he's this off and egregious.

Elements of that are virtually hate speech.

well it felt necessary <3

Also this thread makes me re-confront this weird thing where like I think Royal is great.. totally fine song, I guess my fave Deak AC song at this point but also? I mean I clearly just dont get even close to the same level of joy from it as... a small majority of you all here seem to. Which like that's fine, I just think it's interesting. It and Car Keys are my bottom two... both pretty damn great, but yeah, it's Down There.

I actually really enjoy your takedowns of my equally fervent diatribes. X

I think my demoitis was so severe in places that it's still tricky to see the record and its live versions as one thing. I think Slayer and Keys are two of the best live songs they've written in a long time but on record they just fit in really well with everything else and don't stand out as much. The production on WGB is easily my favourite and gets me hyped every time I listen to it. SWE is, to me, one of their best songs since FBK and stands out from the rest purely in terms of energy. Buuuuuuuuuut at the end of the day, I think PJ is just the top of the pile overall in that the live and record versions are essentially the same, and it seems to really showcase some of each band member's strongest assets. Emotionally the chord change in the chorus and the impact of Avey's section is still as much of a sucker punch as it has been since The Path.

I like the Strung intro, but find the PJ outro a bit unnecessary. I think having the breathing time and the buildup is really nice for SWE, and I love how 4-dimensional and dreamy it sounds. Segues the escapism we crave into the frontier of reality.

gotta be Royal desire, from the noah section to the end stands aside all their god level work like winters love, what i want sky, banshee beat etc etc

roopn wrote:

Stan wrote:

-"why extended further" again this is so so so so so so so sus. You and your ilk spent a decade complaining about compact pop song brevity, you really can't complain about a song being too long now. I hate it.

a blanket "longer song = better" opinion is no good, i'm sorry dio. cream cheese ass

SWE might always be my favorite. Aveys songwriting chops are on point these days. Pretty much agree with everything you said dio lol

And yeah R&D is good but comes off a little... soft rock-y? Like the whole thing sounds beautiful but I don't connect to it much emotionally. Unpopular opinion I'm sure but I think I like Wide Eyed better

dio wrote:

roopn wrote:

Stan wrote:

-"why extended further" again this is so so so so so so so sus. You and your ilk spent a decade complaining about compact pop song brevity, you really can't complain about a song being too long now. I hate it.

a blanket "longer song = better" opinion is no good, i'm sorry dio. cream cheese ass

ok well im admittedly sensitive to this rn given that some of u are DEMANDING THAT DEFEAT IS SHORTENED in other thread soooooooooooo u can't blame me for being on edge about this sort of idea

And yeah R&D is good but comes off a little... soft rock-y? Like the whole thing sounds beautiful but I don't connect to it much emotionally. Unpopular opinion I'm sure but I think I like Wide Eyed better

I'm with you here lol. R&D is undeniably impressive though, particularly from a sound production perspective it's so gorgeous

Yeah the round, round section is some of the best AC has ever sounded in studio to me. I don't listen to much soft rock though so I couldn't recognize anything... maybe i blessed hehe. Aside from royal desire, I think Cherokee is prob the best.