The album was plagued by constant delays and legal challenges. The main obstruction to the release seemed to be a dispute over plans to include a blank CD with the album, encouraging people to copy and pass around the work to other people. While this encouragement was not put into words, it clearly bothered EMI, who blocked the release for an entire year. The controversy over the album was only heightened by the suicide of Sparklehorse lead Mark Linkous a few months ago.
I was naturally wondering how this album would compare or contrast to the controversy swirling around it. The work itself is littered with big names like Julian Cassablancas, Gruff Rhys and Iggy Pop. These musicians create a wonderful sound scape within the Danger Mouse/Sparklehorse production. The album is dark, foreboding and yet full of somewhat jaunty melodies, creating contrasting songs and tones. On paper, this could have been a classic album.
However, it does seem to fall short of these expectations. The final few songs (possibly excluding the eerie title track) tail off into more wayward music and that is when the whole problem of the album is underlined. All of these high-profile guests have not just joined in as an influence, they have controlled their respective songs. This has made it difficult to listen to the whole album has one piece. In the end it is more a collection of songs and loses a certain coherency that would have elevated the album further.
With all that however, it is still a fascinating chapter in the evolution of alternative music.
-The English Student
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