Yoni, Yoni, Yoni. - Your Thoughts and Musings... (spoilers)

[geordierussell]

PS Grower is an insufficnet word for this alumb. My pleasure increase upon each subsequent listen actually seems to be compound. Which i know doe ssuggest growing. Ah fuck it. It;s one of the best things I have ever EVER heard. Bar none.

That and the new Mika album. God damn how good is that <--- maybe that belongs in the cloakroom.....

I like the new Mika album too. Very Scissor Sisters though. Lollipop is a great smiley/summer song

[pete]

it had to happen Jake has finally grown on me now i cant get it out of my head

[Workyticket]

Posting pretty late here as I've had the album for about 3 weeks, but wanted to give it a thorough listening-to before I made my mind up.

Basically, love the skipping shit out of it. I can see why a lot of people haven't gone wild for it, as it is vastly different to the Wildhearts, or even VDC. My first impression was that it was Ginger's 'pop' album, though I reckon it'd be more accurate to call it his 'classic rock' album - it definitely seems to have a strong 70s rock vibe running through it, with all the references to Rush etc.

It actually strikes me as being a kind of follow-up to 'Break in the Weather' - the same kind of deliberately diverse songwriting as the singles club material, but IMHO much more focussed and stronger melody-wise. 'When She Comes' would be a hit in a perfect world, and after being VERY doubtful about 'Jake' I have to admit the first listen brought tears to my eyes. Good call on the Cheap Trick in TBIOF neilramone, and I'd add Elvis Costello to the mix too - the verses especially sound heaps like early Elvis.

That's not to say I like everything, mind: the first half of 'Smile In Denial' is superb, but the "Red Dwarf' bit goes on for way too long, to the extent that it kind of drags the song down a little for me. 'Save Me' is also a good song, but just not at the level of 'The Man Who Cheated Death'. And is it me, but does the chorus ("Save me, save me, save me...") sound almost exactly like the one from Queen's Save Me only sung a little slower?

'Wendy, You're Killing Me' took a few listens but it eventually won me over, though I could still do without the slightly cheesy horn parts... and is that a cowbell in the chorus?? Oh well, at least you get Random's slap bass masterclass, and "Fookin' hell - it's Roy Wood!"

To be fair, the only song that has never quite managed to do anything for me is 'Holiday', which is odd as, being a straight-up pop song, I should love it. I don't know really, it just never grabbed me...

All up though, a great album. I've never doubted Ginger, but for some reason I was half-expecting this album to be shit. What can I say, I couldn't be happier to be proved wrong!

[Piedude]

Ok then, if we're doing our post-initial reactions....
I like it. But clearly not as much as some people here do. I wasnt that fond of Black Windows when it first appeared on his myspace, and after skipping that too holiday and then smile in denial I was getting a bit concerned (still not a fan of either of those too much)...but those were inital reactions.
After Valor I knew that Ginger would have a tough time topping it with the follow up for me, because theres the whole 19 tracks thing, and that I love so much of them and they clicked halfway through the first listen for most. I liked how everywhere it went and how it all seemed to slot together. The lyrics are great and he's turned this bad patch into some great and honest music and lyrics.
I do like the majority of the songs on Yoni, but besides Jake (which I put somewhere in his top 5 songs) I dont think the rest are part of his best. Wendy is great, so's Siberian and Born Again, but I like so much more on Valor. I dont know If I'll be listening to these tracks as frequently as I still listen to the likes of L.O.V.E, My Friend The Enemy or The Way over a year on. The happy bouncy theme to the album is good, but since Ginger said a lot of the songs were about him sleeping with lots of women, I dont think that as a "writing about what you know" is producing songs as good as the experiences pre Valor were, which is why Jake might be my Yoni favorite due to its break from this theme.
In summary, for me Yoni has great songs, but I like Valor much more, maybe because it has songs like "Love", the happier songs like Mother City sounds happier to me than on here, and it has more rock songs like Enemy, Bulb and Drinking...Id love it if Yoni just got that heavy for one song (Cant Drink You Pretty doesnt in my opinion, but I do like the song and its medly section made me grin lots).

Thats my opinon anyway.

[SteveP]

Adding my two-pennorth into the equation.

I loved Yoni from the first listen, as many have already said here, not as much as they did Valor was also my thought, but, anyway, a great album nonetheless.

So, how appropriate that I was listening to Save Me when the email came through from the now ex girlfriend

http://www.gingerandthesoniccircus.net/board/viewtopic.php?t=1221
More details there if you're bothered.

But since Yoni came out the day I took her to see Ginger at Glasgow, and many of the tracks off it were played at the gig, I associate the album with her and unfortunately I haven't been able to listen to the album since she dropped me (too many memories of a great time in my life that I don't have any more), although, I suppose when I get over it, the album will come back to me, but for the moment, it's Valor and A Break... for me for the moment.
Saying that, I still can't listen to The Final Countdown by Europe
1. cos it's a cheesy hair metal track and
2. ten minutes after I last played it, me grandad died

[Chris Davies]

After listening to Yoni at least once a day since having it i can say that its a great album. Prob like most ppl have said not as good as Valor, I personally loved Valor cause it helped me through such a terrible time in my life (My father died last yr) I could relate to the songs so much , especially Only a problem and the man who cheated death possibly my two fav Ginger related songs ever. But back on the subject of Yoni , Jake is now another one of them songs that i really love and cant get enough of , some of my fav lyrics ever from that song.

Ive really managed to like the songs Holiday and Smile in denial alot aswell there just perfect pop songs. The more rock type tracks are just quality 'When She Comes' and 'This Bed Is On Fire' are classics. Only problem ive had is with Wendy You're Killing Me , that song just hasnt hit me as much as the others.

Overall i think that tis a great album just like everything else Ging has produced. Cant wait for The Wildhearts album now

[Dairylea Roth]

Yoni- The most disappointing album since Make Believe by Weezer. That's all i have to say.

[jps101]

Yoni - I dont think it is not as good as VDC (best double album ever) . But my opinion might change after a few more plays. The production seems to have suffered an overdose of Mr Sheen.

[Assmask]

woah, not enough love for this album.

It's better than VDC in MY opnion, and to me that's what counts

And VDC is awesome, i should point out. So it's ALL good baby, yeah.

PoonTANG

[Damian]

Yoni- The most disappointing album since Make Believe by Weezer. That's all i have to say.

I LOVE Make Believe by Weezer. That's all I have to say.

[Gigantor]

Got the album last weekend and listened to it all week.

Good cop:
I like "Jake" a lot.

Bad cop:
For me the songs are too long and I can't see why the album needs TWO bass solos. Yeah, Jon Poole is a fucking great player, but...

I'm really looking forward to hearing the new WH album.

[Bang!]

Don't want to start a massive arguement or anything but I really think everyone on here just sees anything ginger does through rose tinted specs :S

It's a bit of a shame that hardly anyone is willing to be very critical or, dare i say it, actually negative.

For me this album isn't as good as Valor (it simply doesn't have enough songs that can quite compare to Mother city, yeah yeah yeah etc). Having said that I don't think any of gingers 3 (counting the singles club) solos are anywhere near the level of Earth vs or BLM. His solo abums for me just seem too inconsistant sadly, some absolutely brilliant tracks but always a few dodgy fillers.

I still think he's the greatest song-writer of his generation and consistantly releases good albums, i just dont quite feel valor or Yoni are as good as they could have been.

I don't like the 2 crazy bass solos much, and the production just sounds a bit weak, or kinda poppy clean. Dunno, just sounds slightly cheap (which it probably was).

Anyway, its a really good album with some very good tracks and some growers. Just isn't the classic or masterpiece I would have liked.

[geordierussell]

I think what you are trying to say is that it's not a Wildhearts album.

That is the problem with any Ginger release. It will always be compared to The Wildhearts.

Don't want to start a massive arguement or anything but I really think everyone on here just sees anything ginger does through rose tinted specs :S

It's a bit of a shame that hardly anyone is willing to be very critical or, dare i say it, actually negative.

For me this album isn't as good as Valor (it simply doesn't have enough songs that can quite compare to Mother city, yeah yeah yeah etc). Having said that I don't think any of gingers 3 (counting the singles club) solos are anywhere near the level of Earth vs or BLM. His solo abums for me just seem too inconsistant sadly, some absolutely brilliant tracks but always a few dodgy fillers.

I still think he's the greatest song-writer of his generation and consistantly releases good albums, i just dont quite feel valor or Yoni are as good as they could have been.

I don't like the 2 crazy bass solos much, and the production just sounds a bit weak, or kinda poppy clean. Dunno, just sounds slightly cheap (which it probably was).

Anyway, its a really good album with some very good tracks and some growers. Just isn't the classic or masterpiece I would have liked.

[Gigantor]

That is the problem with any Ginger release. It will always be compared to The Wildhearts.

Yeah, that's probably it. But back in the days when WH was his only band he was probably writing 50 songs in a certain period and only 20 of those were actually making it onto a record. It seems that nowadays he is releasing *every* song that he writes (although I'm sure there are even more songs in his drawer).

[Col]

Bang

I agree with a lot of what you are saying. It's still doing nothing for me, some tracks on there I consider pretty awfull. The worst thing is that I didn't particularly like VDC to start with. In the end there is some of the best tracks I've ever heard on there.

But that's my opinion of it and I haven't got an ounce of talent whatsoever, so who am I to criticise an absolute genius.

I still think the production is shit though