Neutral Milk Hotel - In The Aeroplane Over The Sea

Post date: Aug 18, 2011 10:55:13 AM

The real thing - 10/10

Top Tracks: The whole album

Best Lyric: "And when we break we'll wait for our miracle. / God is a place where some holy spectacle lies. / And when we break we'll wait for our miracle. / God is a place you will wait for the rest of your life."

I've been putting off reviewing this album, it has a quality that I still don't have the words to explain. In saying that, as the sites name comes from this album it's only fair I give it a go.

I'll be honest, I didn't like this album the first time I heard it. Nonsense lyrics, odd music, guy that can't sing - what's the big deal? I put the album down and left it. A year or so later I gave it another go and it all just seemed to make sense, this was the album I had always wanted to hear - fantastic lyrics delivered perfectly by Jeff Magnum with equally beautiful music. What had changed? To this day i'm not sure, it's one of the only albums i don't grow tired of, it sounds better each time I listen to it. The lyrics can be interpreted in multiple ways, the music is complex yet basic at the same time. The real draw is his voice, it links the music and lyrics perfectly. Having listened to a few covers no one can come close to his performance here.

Magnum wrote this after reading the Diary of Anne Frank and he has taken the sadness he felt and documented it in this masterpiece. This is essential listening for everyone. If you don't get it put it down and try again later, it will eventually click and when it does you won't be able to live without it. I really don't think it gets much better than this.