This is an intriguing set. It's rather effective and has some songs that are particularly strong. It's not without its problems, though. For one thing there are a couple points where one of the guitars sounds out of tune. It might have been a conscious decision, but it really feels like a nail on the chalk board to me. Secondly, there is a bit of a monolithic element at times. Overall, though, the mix of folk, rock and other elements works pretty well. The spoken closer might be a strange choice (and it does go on a bit long), but it's actually one of the coolest things here in terms of creativity and variety.
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Track by Track Review
Lazarus
There is a bit of a classic rock edge to this. Overall, though, the cut is more folk music informed by country. I suppose that it's also along the lines of singer/songwriter stuff. Whatever you want to call it, though, this melodic rocker is very cool. It's slow moving and quite tasty. It seems to convey a lot of emotion.
Boxcar Dreaming Less on the folk end of the spectrum, this is still connected to that genre in some ways. It's just more of a rocking number in terms of the arrangement. As much as I liked the opener, I think this piece works better.
Tranquilized While not a big change, this is another effective number.
Munich A mellower cut, this is more pure folk. It's also not nearly as strong as the previous tunes. That said, I do like the harmonica and the spoken section.
Calamity Slow moving and folk like, this is more of a slice of life kind of thing. It's a solid tune, but not one of the highlights. I do really like the more powered up segment later in the track.
The Officer This is a gritty song lyrically. In a lot of ways it makes me think of Lou Reed from a musical point of view. It's a song that seems to point out a lot of the problems of modern society.
Queen Caroline The keyboard sound on this is an intriguing touch. In a lot of ways this makes me think of Reed, too. It's mostly spoken and rather intriguing in terms of the sound. There is sort of a false ending that gives way to a guitar dominated folk styled section.
Empty Mansions The title track is somewhat predictable - a folk music styled cut. Still, it's one of the more effective numbers here.
Machine Gun Another that's more pure folk, I really like the harmonica on this tune. The number is one of the stronger pieces here.
Firmament There is a weird bit of sound at the start of this that I think is a gong. The cut itself is stranger than that, though. This is a spoken piece with no accompaniment. It reminds me of something Jim Morrison would do. It is weird, but also rather cool. That gong sound ends it.
