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Avg: 4.0 (131 ratings)
- Date Released: March 22, 2005
- Genre: Alternative/Punk
- Style: Indie Rock
- Label: Matador
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We Say...
No band has ever balanced dreamy against disorderly with the casual precision of Ira Kaplan and Georgia Hubley. From the start, Kaplan's guitar squall mooted accusations that the pair's murmured vocals were bland, while the melodies borne on that swollen feedback were warm, intimate, rarely indulgent. After bassist James McNew signed on as permanent third-wheel in '93, the band compensated for a gradual decrease in dissonance by emphasizing the groove implicit in their flat post-V.U. beat. And yet, collected on the first two discs of this career summation, their most indelible stand-alone pop moments — from the starstruck "Tom Courtenay" to the lovelorn "Sugar Cube" to the dead-serious-but-not-earnest "Nuclear War" ("You can kiss your ass goodbye") — sound unexpectedly of a piece. As, in fact, do the more weirdly transcendent bits consigned to disc three, particularly an unforgiving assault on Fleetwood Mac's "Dreams."
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They Say...
I was a bit startled when I read the title of this compilation and it struck me that Yo La Tengo have been making records for almost 20 years now. As artists who have always followed their own path, Yo La Tengo have been making timeless music ever since they first started out, and if that description sounds a bit grand, little of the stuff on this set suggests the moment in rock history in which it was recorded ("Little Eyes" from 2003's Summer Sun sits comfortably beside "Lewis" from 1987's New Wave Hot Dogs, and you can't say that about the work of many other bands that were considered hip in either year), so until the band (and Matador Records) chose to point it out to me, I never gave much thought to how long they'd been doing this stuff. Still mixing up folk, noise, pop, and indie rock after all this time, and still doing it with melodic intelligence and joy, Yo La Tengo don't seem like likely candidates for a career retrospective -- their average fan owns all of their albums, and with nearly all of their material in print, it's not as if curious newbies have limited options for checking out their music. But if you've ever dreamed of a "Yo La Tengo Greatest Hits" album, Prisoners of Love: A Smattering of Scintillating Senescent Songs, 1985-2003 is that notion made into a fine reality. Featuring material from all of their albums (except for their debut, 1986's Ride the Tiger), this two-disc set is an embarrassment of riches, offering one great song after another over the space of 23 tracks and 110 minutes. From the noise-shot jangle rock of "Sugarcube" and the po-mo folk of "Autumn Sweater" to the witty skronk-fest of "The Story of Jazz" and the near-perfect pop single "Tom Courtenay," what's most remarkable about this album is that everything bears Yo La Tengo's clear musical personality and emotional warmth no matter what style they choose to follow, and it's all wonderful, engaging, and compelling stuff. If you've somehow managed to ignore Yo La Tengo in the first two decades of their existence, Prisoners of Love is the ideal way to get up to speed and acquaint yourself with the catalog; longtime fans won't be surprised, but they will get a potent reminder of what this group does so well.
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| 01. |  |
Shaker |
3:20 |
|
| 02. | |
Sugarcube |
3:22 |
|
| 03. | |
Barnaby, Hardly Working |
4:36 |
|
| 04. | |
Little Eyes |
4:22 |
|
| 05. | |
Stockholm Syndrome |
2:53 |
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| 06. | |
Our Way To Fall |
4:20 |
|
| 07. | |
From A Motel 6 |
4:11 |
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| 08. | |
Swing For Life |
5:16 |
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| 09. | |
Tom Courtenay |
3:32 |
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| 10. | |
Lewis |
2:29 |
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| 11. | |
I Heard You Looking |
7:02 |
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| 12. | |
You Can Have It All |
4:37 |
|
| 13. | |
Did I Tell You |
3:28 |
|
13 Total Tracks, 53:28 Total Length
eMusic Tip
Paid downloads are counted towards an album discount but free downloads are not.
COMPLETE FOR FREE!
You can download the rest of the tracks from this album for free! Just click the Complete Album button.
We’re sorry this album can only be downloaded using paid subscription download credits.
We recommend you Save it for Later by clicking the Save for Later button shown just above this message. For a list of related albums you can download right now, check out these recommendations.
We'll give you 26 additional free credits to download this album and start your paid subscription.
Get 26 bonus credits on us if you download this album. Sweet!
| 01. | |
The River Of Water |
2:31 |
|
| 02. | |
Autumn Sweater |
5:19 |
|
| 03. | |
Big Day Coming |
4:14 |
|
| 04. | |
Pablo And Andrea |
4:17 |
|
| 05. | |
Drug Test |
4:08 |
|
| 06. | |
Season Of The Shark |
4:29 |
|
| 07. | |
Upside-Down |
2:41 |
|
| 08. | |
The Summer |
2:39 |
|
| 09. | |
Tears Are In Your Eyes |
4:35 |
|
| 10. | |
Blue Line Swinger |
9:30 |
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| 11. | |
The Story Of Jazz |
3:35 |
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| 12. | |
Nuclear War (Version 1) |
7:35 |
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| 13. | |
By The Time It Gets Dark |
3:02 |
|
13 Total Tracks, 58:35 Total Length
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Credits
- Yo La Tengo - Main Performer // Chris Stamey - Guitar // Johnny Puleo - Liner Notes // Greg Calbi - Mastering // Allan Greller - Bass (Upright) // Gene Holder - Guitar (Bass) // Gene Holder - Producer // Gene Holder - Engineer // James MacMillan - Engineer // Roger Moutenot - Bongos // Roger Moutenot - Producer // Dave Schramm - Guitar // John Siket - Engineer // Fred Brockman - Producer // Fred Brockman - Photography // Robert E. Miller - Engineer // Stephan Wichnewski - Guitar (Bass) // Dave Rick - Guitar (Bass) // Mac McCaughan - Photography // Michael Lavine - Photography // David Henry - Cello // Michael Galinsky - Photography // Mike Tchang - Saxophone // Byron Coley - Liner Notes // Raphael Fuchs - Photography // Peter Walsh - Engineer // Matthew Salacuse - Photography // Mike Baehr - Photography // Jutta Brandt - Photography // Bettina Weiand - Photography // Chris Nelson - Trombone
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