guster
My sisters were guster fans long before I ever was. The first concert I ever went to was a dual headliner show featuring OAR and Guster at the uptown (sponsored by 97.3 The Planet). I went for OAR, my sisters (who were old enough to drive at that point) went to see Guster. Guster played first, and from that point on, I was a Guster fan. Guster's best album was 1999's Lost and Gone Forever, but this is a 00's thread, so I'll stick to their work from that decade. Notably, my second favorite album was Parachute, which nobody really likes, but that came out all the way back in '95, so that's really out of bounds.
Keep It Together (2003):
Probably my third favorite album. It's a long album and is packed with dynamite songs. "Diane" is great. "Careful" is probably a top 5 Guster track for me. "Amsterdam" might be Guster's most well known song. It rocks, but it lacks some of the depth of some of their other songs for me. Homecoming King is pretty good and definitely appealed to angsty high-schooler Dlew. "Jesus on the Radio" is a popular song among Guster fans, but never really did much for me. "Keep it Together" (the song) is fine, not my favorite. High School Girlfriend loved it though. "Come Downstairs and Say Hello" is the best Guster song I've ever heard. The part where it goes "Be calm. Be brave. It'll be okay," where it picks up is incredible. Gives me chills every time I hear it. "Red Oyster Cult" is a classic. "Long Way Down" is a song that I didn't really appreciate until years after the album came out. The whistle part always gets me. "I Hope Tomorrow is Like Today," is a sweet little diddy. I think it may have been featured on the OST for Wedding Crashers? But I think some one else sang it for the movie? Anyhow, it's good. "Two at a Time" a song about Noah's Ark? Yep. That's another I didn't appreciate until I was older. All in all, KIT was a great album.
Ganging Up On The Sun (2006)
I was very excited for this one. I bought it when I was on vacation with my family. Pretty much listened to this album exclusively during my time at the top of the forensics circuit (dramatic interpretation...2nd in the state). This album was a little more political than the others, which I wasn't wild about, but hey, new Guster music is new Guster music. Let's get to the songs though.
"Lightning Rod" is a sad, slow song. Very good though.
Did I say "Amsterdam" was the most popular Guster song? Because "Satellite" might be the best known. They played it on the Buzz a whole lot. It was fine, but didn't seem like a Guster song. Didn't really fit their style imo.
"Manifest Destiny" was solid, but probably the most political. I didn't care. I loved it. The part where they say "The moon and the stars are ganging up on the suuuuun, rebelliooooon" was great. Never really heard much piano featured on Guster tracks.
"One Man Wrecking Machine" is most famous for being featured in that Disturbia movie. It had a pretty cool video featuring puppets. Solid song.
"The Captain" is my favorite song on the album. Bluegrass feel because of the banjos. The "onward" part at the end was very cool. A real toe-tapper. Puts me in a good mood every time I listen to it.
"Ruby Falls" was always an interesting number. Featured weird horns and stuff. The horn solo at the end was neat, except it probably went on about 4 seconds too long. Very dreamy feel.
Overall, it was pretty good. Guster never recaptured Lost and Gone Forever, but KIT and GUOTS came pretty close.
