by Hermesacat » Sun Oct 27, 2013 5:38 pm
I'm much closer to agreeing with homeostasis' take on Seasons of Your Day than Mike's as I'm not disappointed. As Mike notes, 6 out of 10 songs on it (+ California a 7th after its early release) were already familiar to many fans from live recordings & the 2011 single. I already knew I liked those songs, with some being among my fave Mazzy songs ever (e.g. Does Someone Have Your Baby Now being one) & I loved the 2011 single. When I first heard California it sounded a bit of a yawner, but after a few listenings I loved it too. The live version of Spoon I was familiar with wasn't quite as appealing as some other Mazzy songs but the album version with Bert Jansch on guitar is better, & very good. I didn't expect the album to disappoint, & the 3 songs I hadn't heard before also appeal.
Judging from interviews, Hope & David had a huge collection of unreleased songs to choose from in
assembling this album. As far back as 1996 & after Among my Swan had been released David said at that time they had already had a couple of albums worth of unreleased songs then. Since they now say they've been writing & recording through the years since 1996, who knows how many more songs they have stored in their ''vaults'' ? Probably lots. Which suggests the songs on the album were likely carefully chosen by the band & represent their own favourites among a large number to choose from. I view Hope as possessing a rare talent few have for consistently writing & delivering emotive melodies. I don't hear any second rate songs on the album, & to my ears the album demonstrates Hope's & David's talents remain intact. If I have a regret about the new album it would be only that they limited the release to just 10 songs, most of which I was already familiar with in some form. How about a multi-CD box set of a whole swath of those other unreleased songs they're hiding away? Yes! (Well, too bad, according to a recent interview, they seem to say ''no'' to such an idea.)