Babel
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Babel
“We are more than excited to release Babel into the world. We had started writing new songs well before we got into the studio to record. At first, we peeled ourselves off the road quite reluctantly. We love playing live, obviously, but it had also become an important part of our creative process, we had been writing and rehearsing in soundchecks, and sort of road-testing new songs on our very gracious audiences. But then we fell in love with recording again. The album started to come together,
List Price: $ 17.98
Price: $ 9.50
12:59 am
This album is beautiful. Truly. It doesn’t disappoint.,
This album is beautiful. Truly. It doesn’t disappoint.
There’s always a bit of trepidation when you start listening to a second release by a band/musician that you love- you worry that there’ll be some dramatic change in musical style or songwriting, etc.
But have no worries- the classic Mumford & Sons sound is totally here- if anything, it sort of FLOURISHES on “Babel”. There are the great, clever lyrics (“press my nose up to the glass around your heart”), the layered building of each song into a sort of soaring crescendo, all that good stuff. Just even better. Their sound is richer without being too polished or manufactured in any way. They are all just doing more of what they are so good at.
I love that this album is designed as a whole- there was clearly a lot of thought put in the way the songs were ordered. In this age of MP3s and individual tracks, arranging tracks for an album seems to be something some artists don’t too much thought to, but there’s a nice structure to “Babel”, as a whole. I have enjoyed listening to it as a complete album, which is sort of rare these days. When it’s over I just start it up at the beginning and play it all again. Even the more spare songs (which I don’t love as much as I love when the band goes all out) appeal to me when the album is played as a whole.
My favorite thing about Mumford & Sons is that when they play, whether live or on their albums, you can almost *hear* the circle they might be standing in, hear the connection between the musicians, hear the music reverberating off the walls, hear that they are playing together as opposed to facing in one direction and playing off into the distance. There’s an energy in their music that seems to be formed from the way the songs sound like true collaborations rather than “there’s the drums, there’s the vocals, here comes the guitar, here’s some banjo…” And this sort of “connection” that they seem to have, musically, is even more apparent on this album.
As far as their cover of “The Boxer”- I have to admit, I’m a huge fan of Simon and Garfunkel and I was both super excited and super nervous to hear Mumford’s take on the classic song- it’s sort of one of those “holy grail” songs to me. But it’s lovely version of the song- of course, it’s not as epic as the original, but it has found a place on my latest playlist and if it helps expose S&G to a new generation, that would be amazing.
Bottom line- I can’t stop listening to “Babel” and I don’t *want* to. It’s a lovely album, very moving, very clever, very sweet, all at the same time. I highly recommend it.
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|1:04 am
Great Album,
This is another great album from Mumford & Sons. I purchased the vinyl version and wanted to comment that it does come with a digital download card. This was a great relief since it doesn’t mention anything of that in the description of the product. Great purchase, worth every cent.
I’ll repeat again so people see it.
The vinyl of the album DOES come with a digital download code!
EDIT: the download is of a rip off the vinyl so it does include some sound flaws in it.
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|1:36 am
A bit underwhelming,
This album is not bad, but it’s not great either…definitely not as great as Sigh No More. The album starts incredibly strong; the first track is probably my favorite off the entire album, but after a few songs it slows down quite a bit and each song starts sounding like the last, and the question, “Is that the same banjo riff I heard in the last two songs?” inevitably creeps into the mind. Considering the long and impressive journey their first album took to reach the popularity it eventually did, the Sons had a LOT to live up to. This is a fine effort by the band, but I will admit it left me a bit underwhelmed. With that said, there are certainly some gems on this album and an overall nostalgia that make it worth picking up.
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