New SLOAN album "Commonwealth" due Sept 9!

Agreed. Chris was especially brilliant on Never Hear The End Of It. Jay's 'Beverly Terrace' and 'The Answer Is You' were sublime on The Double Cross.

 

New track, "Cleopatra", announced and linked by the AV Club this morning. It's a nice Jay track:

 

Also, Navy Blues is available.

 

Was fortunate enough to get my hands on a Promo copy of Commonwealth today (will also be purchasing the vinyl) and Im absolutely loving Chris Murphy's side, especially the track "Carried Away", overall the album is sounding amazing though. Really pleased.

 

The album is streaming at Pitchfork Advance up until the 9th at

http://pitchfork.com/advance/528-commonwealth/

I really like it--there's good stuff on all four sides. I think Jay's side is especially strong, but I think my biases are showing on that one--I've liked Jay's material the best on the past handful of albums. Andrew's side is a little surprising, but very cool to hear, and its presence distinguishes the album in the Sloan catalog. The track that makes up the entire side, "Forty-Eight Portraits", is the most uncharacteristic Sloan track at least since the Rhodes Jam back in the '90s.

 

Have listened to it a few times. It's a really great album, though I think I prefer when they melt their songs (NHTEOI works better IMHO). The last track requests many listens to get in, but it's really great !

 

Album is out today, so I thought I'd bump the thread up from page 34.

I don't like to listen to pre-release streams, so I'm hearing the album for the first time today. I have no initial thoughts beyond I like how Jay channeled some Wings "Nineteen Hundred and Eighty Five" harmonies on the track "Three Sisters".

I look forward to spinning this a few times and reporting back.

 

I totally agree. The songs are solid, but as a whole record, it feels a little disjointed.

 

Anyone received their preorders yet?

 

Not yet here in Canada. I have been barely holding off of listening to a stream of it. Hope it arrives this week to give me the weekend with it before I receive the Beatles remasters. New Sloan albums have been a big deal for me since One Chord came out, so I'm pretty excited for it!

 

I was with Andrew's song up and until the kiddie choir showed up.

 

I just got an email from YepRoc. They just got the LP's in today, manufacturer was late, blah blah. Soon!

 

Did you receive an unsolicited email from YepRoc, or were they replying to a question from you? I'm on the YepRoc mailing list and I pre-ordered the LP (along with the playing cards and print) and I didn't receive any notice from the label that there was a delay. I wrote them this afternoon, and they replied that the vinyl just arrived at their warehouse.

I've gotta say that I am extremely disappointed with how YepRoc handled this. They should have let all of us who pre-ordered know that our packages weren't going to arrive on the street date due to a manufacturing delay. Their lack of communication makes me feel that they do not value their customers.

 

No, I emailed to ask about arrival date and they gave me the same answer they gave you. I just assumed if you are pre-ordering something, you should get it on the release date.

 

Finally got the chance to listen to the album from start to finish, and after one listen I am convinced that it's a near masterpiece.

The only disappointment here comes from Patrick, who's side of music left me somewhat (pun intended) underwhelmed. Upon hearing "Keep Swinging" a while back, I was not too impressed and was hopeful that he'd have better material on the album. Unfortunately I think it's probably the best tune he offers up out of what seems like a very slight 12 minutes-or-so of music. The first two of his songs are very similar to each other, and neither is all too interesting, I'm sorry to say. "Keep Swinging" has grown on me a bit, but it does seem a bit paint-by-numbers, and isn't the slam dunk that a lot of his earlier arena rock songs were.

Jay's and Chris' sides are absolutely AMAZING. This is some of Jay's best stuff to date -- very smart songwriting that's rich in melody. I really dig the call back to "You've Got a Lot On Your Mind" in "Cleopatra". He does not have a bad track on this. Chris continues to shine with some very Beatlesque twists and turns in his songs. "Carried Away", in particular, is excellent. "You Don't Need Excuses To Be Good" flat out rocks. The first half of the album is flawless and stands up really well against the band's best material.

Andrew's track is a lot to absorb, and maybe a little too ambitious...but there are a lot of neat things in it. Part of the track reprises "Delivering Maybes" from Between The Bridges, which is a cool surprise. The fragments of songs might have worked better as separate tracks -- but I think as it is, he did succeed in turning his side of music into a single work of art. Some of the pieces are among the album's highest highs. Overall, it's really, really good.

The division of the songs by member gives the album a very different feel than if they'd sequenced them differently. I think it gives the album its own identity, whereas a balanced mix throughout would have made it something different. I think it was a good call.

 

HMV Downtown Tor has the new LP in stock, $26.99 includes the CD and digital download card.

 

Still waiting on this. I've never had to wait to hear a Sloan album since One Chord. Thanks Yep Roc.

 

Heard a bit of it this weekend. Not bad but typical Sloan. Side 3 was the better side to me. Never heard the fourth.

 

i like it very much. but sloan is a favorite of mine. a great album who needs many listenings

 

Fantastic power pop lite record

 

Yes too bad this band hasn't got the fame they deserve in Europe... They never tour here. It's an excellent album indeed ! another one in their long and faultless history

 

HMV Montreal has the vinyl in, and what a beautiful thick stock package it is. Even comes with a free download and free CD inside the sleeve. Thinking of picking this up. Anyone actually listen to the vinyl?

 

Yep. All the Sloan records have been quality IMO. This one is no different. And your right, the packaging is really nice.

 

Going to head down to my local HMV and pick up the vinyl copy. I've really missed the boat on getting Sloan on vinyl, so can't let this chance pass me by. I really regret not going in for the Twice Removed deluxe set that came out, I love that album.

I just hope the pressing quality of the vinyl is good.