On my voyage through all the Sparks albums, some of which I haven’t heard in 20 or 30 years, here is my review of ‘A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip’.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
For the person that asked (and anyone else that cares) these reviews are archived at www.hearthfireband.com\/sparks<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I’m at an age where three years goes by in a flash; it seemed like ‘Hippopotamus’ was still ‘The new Sparks album’ when this one came out. It’s just what I needed in 2020. I like the title of the album. There’s a theme of ‘striving for greatness’ that runs through much of the album. Dripping water hollows out stone, not through force, but through persistence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. All That<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What a song. It honestly almost brings a tear to my eye every time I hear it. It’s very Beatle-esque in terms of instrumentation, and it’s a very straight-ahead song for Sparks. I think it had to be fairly simple for the lyrics and sentiment, which to me are the most beautiful they’ve ever done. This song just flat out makes me feel better about my life and the world. Great song to kick off the album. 10\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. I’m Toast<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Again\u2026what a song. It reminds me a little of ‘Dick Around’ in terms of subject matter. Great lyrics, great production, I like the little ‘Bum Bums’. Great driving song I can hear again and again. 10\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Lawnmower<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This song comes across as silly at first blush, but I don’t think it is; I think it’s about something very real. One of the best friends I’ve ever had, someone that isn’t that great with people, has had exactly one serious relationship in his life. It ended (to simplify and make a long story short) basically because he chose his comic books over her. I always think about him when I hear ‘Lawnmower’. It’s a silly and quirky song, and it’s so, so sad. Great production with the layered vocals and rewind effects. They’ve really started this album off strong. 10\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Sainthood is not in Your Future<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I like the acoustic guitar (there’s been a suprising amount of it in general so far on the album). I’m not sure what this song is about. I thought it was maybe about the beatification of John Paul II, but the lyrics about the BAFTA seem to make that not be the case. I’m not wild about the stacatto delivery of the verses, and the chorus is just ‘la la la la’. I like the song, but it’s not what the first three are to me. 7\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Pacific Standard Time<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This song is pleasant to listen to and I like it, but it doesn’t blow me away. I get what they’re going for with the lyrics, but I have a hard time really relating to this song in a meaningful way. 7\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. Stravinsky’s Only Hit<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Good song. A lot like something from HYL or ECoTD. I like the bombastic nature of it. I like when the drums come in, but they’re a little bit anemic sounding. I want Tammy Glover and Dean Menta here. Funny lyrics. 8\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. Left Out in the Cold<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Atmospheric, swirling sort of song. It actually makes me feel cold. I like the way they they put the subject into a song with a Latin sounding, almost samba beat. I really like this song; great ending. 10\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. Self-Effacing<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great production on all the background vocals; this sounds like it took a lot of time and effort. A song for all the introverts out there. I want more out of the drums and guitar on this song too, but it’s fine. Funny lyrics. 9\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
9. One for the Ages<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Great song for the theme. I think every person that’s ever written a song, or a story, or acted in a play, or done anything artful really has that moment where they think ‘This might be IT’. I call it The Guffman’ moment. This is a great song for me. 10\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
10. Onomato Pia<\/p>\n\n\n\n
What a weird idea for a song \ud83d\ude42 Onomatopoeia personified as a person without language. It took a few listens, but then it really started to grow on me. I’m not sure if it’s a clever idea, or just a really fun one, but I like it. Good instrumentation for the song topic. 8\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
11. iPhone<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Does everyone that’s heard this sing the chorus to a significant other at some point? I really like this song, I like the keyboard sounds a lot, I like the lyrics and they way they tie around to ‘Mrs. Jobs’ in the last verse. The only thing I can quibble about is that I want the drums to (again) have a little more beef to them. But otherwise, this is a 10\/10 song for me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
12. The Existential Threat<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This feels very real to this person from the U.S. listening in 2021. All of the paranoia; all of the conspiracy theories; maybe an automatic weapon is the answer. Frenetic and crazed, more good lyrics, and I like all the wind instruments (I don’t know if they’re real or not, but they sound very good). 8\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
13. Nothing Travels Faster than the Speed of Light<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s fine. I wish the driving part was more driving. I like the lyrics, and the chorus is pretty great. In the way I’ve been rating songs, they start to move toward ‘greatness’ at around 8\/10, and I can’t quite give this that. 7\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
14. Please Don’t Fuck Up My World<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Really, really well put together song. I like the chorus of children quite a lot. The lyrics and sentiment are ones that I’m personally going to respond to, but they also came up with a really pretty song to put them in. It’s great, and a great album closer. 9\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
This has been another long album, but doesn’t feel quite as long as ‘Hippopotamus’ to me. I still feel like it could be trimmed a bit, but I’m so happy that in 2020 and at this point in their career, that these two can keep putting out music of this quality. Album rates 8.8\/10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
I can’t think of any other pop musicians that has ever done what these two people have, and for this long, and at this quality for so long. It’s so inspiring to me, and I hope it goes on for many, many more years. I can’t wait for the films coming up, and the new album. Thank you Ron and Russel; your work has meant a lot to me for many, many years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
It’s been fun reviewing all of these and hearing what other people think. My favorite thing has been when there’s a song that I don’t care for all that much, and it is someone else’s favorite on that album. Then I can listen with new ears and possibly new appreciation. Thanks for all the comments and letting me talk about a band I love; I don’t really KNOW any people in my 3D life that would want to hear any of this \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Next up, album rankings.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
On my voyage through all the Sparks albums, some of which I haven’t heard in 20 or 30 years, here is my review of ‘A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip’. For the person that asked (and anyone else that cares) these reviews are archived at www.hearthfireband.com\/sparks I’m at an age where three years goes by in… Continue reading A Steady Drip, Drip, Drip – 2020<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-116","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=116"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":118,"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/116\/revisions\/118"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=116"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=116"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hearthfireband.com\/sparks\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=116"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}