Gomez Fans?

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Machismo for me.
 
mansize rooster said:
last 2-3 albums have been a bit MOR
they had a great start though for sure. In our gun is damn underrated.. and is prob my fav gomez album
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I agree with this mansize rooster,

Whatever's On Your Mind (2011), which I only recently got, isn't great (the single and opening track 'Options' is pretty cool though)
A New Tide (2009) is pretty poor imo, easily my least favourite of their albums.
How We Operate (2006) is probably my favourite of the post-In Our Gun albums; the title track itself stacks up against the best Gomez has to offer, and there's at least 5 tracks I would happily have on any 'best of Gomez' playlist.
Split the Difference (2004) has it's moments but suffers from lapsing into blandness at times - probably 4 or so songs I quite like on that album.

I also agree that In our gun is underrated, it's probably their most consistently intersting and inventive album.

Bring it On is largely awesome, but their are a couple of songs that drift into MOR territory towards the end.

Liquid Skin sounds a million bucks, the songs themselves are probably on par with Bring it On, again theres a bit of unevenness toward the end of the album imo, but it's generally well worth a listen and hangs together as an actually album just as well, if not better than Bring it On.

So yeah, in short I'd say the first three albums plus How We Operate probably have the best tracks on them, with a few good ones littered among the remaining three albums.



What I find interesting about them as a band is the whole 3 singer-songwriter aspect.
A few of their earlier songs seem as though they were written as jams; 78 Stone Wobble is probably the closest to a tune of theirs that appears to have been written by all three.

Over time it's become their individual styles have become more apparent; Ben Ottewell's voice is probably what people think of most when it comes to Gomez, but I reckon he is responsible for a good %50+ of their MOR-sounding stuff; he can easily drift into Eagles-esque territory, and that ain't good. His voice usually helps to paper over the cracks, but generally I find him to be the least interesting songwriter of the three. When he gets it right though the results are awesome :

How We Operate


Get Miles


Tom Gray, despite his goofy look, is probably the least well-known of their singer-songwriters, but I really like his stuff, he has a very old-timey vibe and a clever way with words; his talent as a singer and musician possibly falls below that of Ben Ottewell and Ian Ball's, but he has made some really lovely, sensitive, clever songs - he seems to write a bit less than the other two, but then again a couple of his are among my very favourites they have to offer, e.g. Bubble Gum Years and Don't Make Me Laugh. He can get a bit twee though, I hated Girlshapedlovedrug for example.

Don't Make Me Laugh


Bubblegum Years


Ian Ball is a bit harder to pigeon-hole than the other two, but there's no denying that he has written some of their very best stuff; his songs tend to have a bit more urgency about them, and he seems to have his eye on more modern stylings than the other two.

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