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| andystripes |
 Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 6:43 am |
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...I think I can offer my most honest opinion. (And by a bit of time, I mean 2 weeks-ish, lol.  )
To be honest, I think I prefer Speak To Yourself to Ellipse. That's not to say that I think Ellipse is a poor album, but at the moment, there's no track that's blowing my socks off like "Hide and Seek" or "The Moment I Said It" did on her sophomore.  In a few months time I might change, though.
Having said that, the production is astounding on this album. It's so slick it's ridiculous.  And there are some lovely moments. Believe it or not, "Between Sheets" is my favourite track. That piano melody has been spinning around in my head all day.
Other than that, the best moments are "A-ha" (I love it when Imogen breaks out of the whole Grey's Anatomy soundtrack-style tracks and just goes silly and crazy); the "So what!" bridge in "First Train Home", which turns a fairly hum-drum track into something pretty incred; and "Wait It Out"...just 'cause it's plain nice.
There are about a million other threads like this out there, but I'd be intrigued to see what you guys are thinking now that the initial hype has died down. And to try and look at the album as objectively as possible.  |
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| Fabler |
| Posted: Thu Sep 10, 2009 12:49 pm |
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Joined: 17 Oct 2005
Posts: 468
Location: the Netherlands
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I have to admit that I completely agree with you. After listening to Ellipse a couple of times, I found myself unable to 'enjoy' it as much as SFY. But I remembered Immi talking about how this album wasn't going to be SFY 2.0, but something completely different. And that it definatly was. I think if you compare Ellipse to SFY, SFY is alot more playful while Ellipse is a lot more serious. Like, on a completely different level.
I agree that the production on Ellipse is amazing. I love listening to the instrumentals. But as much as I hate to say this; I've had the album for about two weeks now, and already I'm not playing it as much as I used to play S4Y. I know it's wrong to compare one album to another, because they SHOULD differ from eachother. To keep things fresh. But by falling in love with S4Y, and therefore with Immi..I find it hard to fall in love with something completely different. I'm not really sure how to say it.
Already, I find myself skipping most tracks on Ellipse. Not because they're bad. But they just don't really 'wow' me anymore. The only one which still stands out in my opinion is "Between Sheets". It's the only track Im simply still in love with. I used to love "A-ha" but I've seriously overplayed it.
Don't get me wrong I still love Ellipse. But if you'd ask me, I'm a bigger S4Y fan than an Ellipse fan. It's still an amazing album. |
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| Culori |
| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 1:33 am |
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Joined: 11 Sep 2009
Posts: 25
Location: USA
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Ellipse has its moments.
Speak For Yourself was an album full of moments. |
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| shh |
| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 5:15 am |
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Joined: 22 Jul 2004
Posts: 9443
Location: new york
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| I love 2-1 I think that song is the best of the album |
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| coreyjay |
| Posted: Fri Sep 11, 2009 6:04 am |
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Joined: 23 Dec 2008
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| I have actually really been enjoying Ellipse as much as Speak For Yourself. I find myself listening to it constantly and ive been having miny obsessions with each of the songs and i never really skip over any. I absouletly love that it is so different to Speak For Yourself. |
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| shh |
| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 5:28 am |
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Joined: 22 Jul 2004
Posts: 9443
Location: new york
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| yes they are so diferent |
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| JonWes |
| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 6:35 am |
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Joined: 06 Nov 2005
Posts: 310
Location: Tolono, IL
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I'm intrigued by people's replies so far. (if you want the short version, skip to the bold bit at the end.)
For myself, I think I had the opposite experience. I became a fan of Immi with Frou Frou (and then iMegaphone), and when Speak For Yourself came out it took me a long time to get into it. For whatever reason, I just wasn't feeling it. I thought Goodnight and Go was too light and I just couldn't find my way into the rest emotionally. I liked it... but that was it. But about a year after it came out... I got it. I just pushed play to try it out again and I became enthralled. It's like this whole world was whizzing past me and I almost missed it. I love SFY now. I can't imagine why I didn't right at the start. I think that is what makes something like this so hard. Music is not only a personal creation (well, when it's done well) but it's also a very personal listening experience as well.
With Ellipse, I loved it right away. Maybe because my love for SFY was so great, but also because it's just an amazing album.
I have listened to the album almost non-stop since it's release. In fact, today was the first day I actually started to listen to the lovely Anna Ternheim album that I got shortly before Ellipse came out because Imogen would not let go of my iPhone! I'll admit I do skip two tracks on occasion - Earth and Between Sheets. It's not so much that I dislike them so much as I'm impatient to get to the track right after them at times. With SFY, it was usually I Am In Love With You that I skipped on occasion.
I do think that Ellipse is perhaps a slightly less weighted album. Overall it just seems to have a lighter touch then SFY until the very end when 2-1/The Fire/Canvas/Half Life close out the album. And I'm not talking about lighter/heavier emotional content... it's more the style that's a bit brighter and bolder and lighter. Ellipse has a very natural progression whereas SFY tended to bounce a bit more from place to place. I think Ellipse is more reflective and therefore doesn't quite reach the highs of SFY. I don't think that's a bad thing because I think it errs on the side of being more thoughtful overall. To me, Ellipse sacrifices a little bit of the energy to spend a little more time on what it's trying to say.
That's a long way to say.... thinking of this as a better/worse situation doesn't really work for me. Rather, I think of them as two different flavors. It's like chocolate chip mint and butter pecan. Two flavors of ice cream I like very much for different reasons because they have their own unique strengths. |
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| Pembroke |
| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 6:45 am |
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Joined: 04 Nov 2006
Posts: 231
Location: Michigan
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I can't really say if I prefer one over the other, they're two different experiences that cannot be compared. My physical copy only arrived this week, and I can't really make an opinion on an album until I'm able to play it in my car on my way to and from work, and the album is able to give insight into my thoughts of the day.
That being said, Ellipse is a heavier, deeper album than S4Y, so it's easier to skip over tracks if you're not in a contemplative mood. I find that Wait it Out, Tidal, 2-1, The Fire, Canvas, and Half Life are the more serious tracks, require a bit more time to think about and process. |
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| EmmaSFY |
| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 7:01 am |
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Joined: 05 Jul 2006
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coreyjay wrote: I have actually really been enjoying Ellipse as much as Speak For Yourself. I find myself listening to it constantly and ive been having miny obsessions with each of the songs and i never really skip over any. I absouletly love that it is so different to Speak For Yourself.
Completely agree!
I didnt listen to it for about 3 days and when the songs came up on shuffle I found myself "wow"ed by them
Can;t think of a better way to phrase this, but I think that Ellipse has a more earthy sound whereas SFY a more electronic sound..
Love them both in different ways, and find that they are both just as strong as the other |
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| andystripes |
| Posted: Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:01 pm |
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JonWes wrote:
That's a long way to say.... thinking of this as a better/worse situation doesn't really work for me. Rather, I think of them as two different flavors. It's like chocolate chip mint and butter pecan. Two flavors of ice cream I like very much for different reasons because they have their own unique strengths.
That's a nice way to put it, but I guess we all have our favourite flavours... 
I am persevering though. And I'll admit I've come around on Swoon...which I remember hearing snippets of in the vBlogs and getting incredibly excited about, and then being underwhelmed after hearing it in full. Now I think it's a pretty epic tune. The theremin is sweet on that. Although I wish the chorus was the "Let me be the great scott" (or whatever the words are!!) part, instead of the "Stuck in a cinema" bit.
I went out last night and put this record on at 3:30 am when I got home. I was in one of those states where I wasn't sober, but I wasn't drunk either - just that sort of blissed-out-happy-drunk kind of thing. The album sounded pretty great then. So I'm going to keep trying. But still, IMO at the moment, SFY > E. |
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| Chacron |
| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:39 pm |
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Joined: 23 Feb 2008
Posts: 27
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andystripes wrote: JonWes wrote:
That's a long way to say.... thinking of this as a better/worse situation doesn't really work for me. Rather, I think of them as two different flavors. It's like chocolate chip mint and butter pecan. Two flavors of ice cream I like very much for different reasons because they have their own unique strengths.
That's a nice way to put it, but I guess we all have our favourite flavours...
I am persevering though. And I'll admit I've come around on Swoon...which I remember hearing snippets of in the vBlogs and getting incredibly excited about, and then being underwhelmed after hearing it in full. Now I think it's a pretty epic tune. The theremin is sweet on that. Although I wish the chorus was the "Let me be the great scott" (or whatever the words are!!) part, instead of the "Stuck in a cinema" bit.
I went out last night and put this record on at 3:30 am when I got home. I was in one of those states where I wasn't sober, but I wasn't drunk either - just that sort of blissed-out-happy-drunk kind of thing. The album sounded pretty great then. So I'm going to keep trying. But still, IMO at the moment, SFY > E.
I find this notion bizzare, tracks like Headlock, Closing In, The Walk and Hide & Seek were truly spectacular on S4Y, I'll admit - but the rest, things like daylight robbery, I am In love with you, Have you got it in you were pretty forgettable. Nothing in particular stands out on Ellipse because the quality level of the whole album is so high, each track is equally complex yet completly different and, as such resonates with different people differently.
Personally, I would put Wait It Out right up there with Hide & Seek and Headlock, perhaps 2-1 and First Train Home as well |
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| AvantGuy |
| Posted: Wed Sep 16, 2009 2:56 pm |
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Joined: 12 Feb 2009
Posts: 117
Location: New York
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Chacron wrote: ... I find this notion bizzare, tracks like Headlock, Closing In, The Walk and Hide & Seek were truly spectacular on S4Y, I'll admit - but the rest, things like daylight robbery, I am In love with you, Have you got it in you were pretty forgettable ... Personally, I would put Wait It Out right up there with Hide & Seek and Headlock, perhaps 2-1 and First Train Home as well
I don't want to start a flame war, but I'll use your own language: I find the notion that "things like Daylight Robbery, I Am In Love with You, Have You Got It In You were pretty forgettable" is bizarre. I extend my hand and say we'll just have to agree to disagree, I guess. It's a matter of taste. BTW, I too think Wait It Out is great. |
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| Chacron |
| Posted: Thu Sep 17, 2009 12:46 pm |
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Joined: 23 Feb 2008
Posts: 27
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AvantGuy wrote: Chacron wrote: ... I find this notion bizzare, tracks like Headlock, Closing In, The Walk and Hide & Seek were truly spectacular on S4Y, I'll admit - but the rest, things like daylight robbery, I am In love with you, Have you got it in you were pretty forgettable ... Personally, I would put Wait It Out right up there with Hide & Seek and Headlock, perhaps 2-1 and First Train Home as well
I don't want to start a flame war, but I'll use your own language: I find the notion that " things like Daylight Robbery, I Am In Love with You, Have You Got It In You were pretty forgettable" is bizarre. I extend my hand and say we'll just have to agree to disagree, I guess. It's a matter of taste. BTW, I too think Wait It Out is great.
Let me be clear - I mean forgettable for an IMOGEN HEAP track, I love pretty much everything she's done, just some tracks more than others. |
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