Ben voice is the greatest instrument DCFC could ever use...July 15, 2005 beatiful mistake(Gurnee, IL) 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
The sheer joy one feels when listening to this album is uncanny. From the ever popular "sound of settling" to the cult favorite "tiny vessels" and "transatlanticism" this disc has something for everyone...
The BestJuly 4, 2005 J. Chapin 1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is such a beautiful album from an excellent band. Every track is mastered with perfect subtlety and is an experience to listen from start to finish. Anything with Ben Gibbard vocals is worth a 5 star rating, but Transatlanticism deserves more and makes me antsy for their next release 'Plans'. As for the SACD option, I love it. It's 2.1 so for most people it's just like listening to a regular CD but you can definitely tell the difference in the hightened quality when pumping up the volume or listening on uncolored headphones. I've been listening to this album for months on tracks bought from iTunes, so the bump in quality is drastic for me, but if you already own the album, the SACD version is strictly for Audiophiles (unless it were DVD-Audio).
Good but...September 29, 2004 .(Washington, D.C.) 0 out of 1 found this review helpful
Excellent CD. The distinct dreamy guitars and desriptive prose are there. Not to diminish the quality of this release, but I smell some late Superchunk in a couple tracks.
The SACD ability is nice too so long as it doesn't go the way of Betamax...
Perfectly crafted... I'm in awe.February 17, 2004 Bighairydoofus(Brooklyn Park, MN United States) 5 out of 5 found this review helpful
This is one of the most incredible new albums I've experienced in a long time. I found out about this band at an online radio station, radioparadise(dotcom) and bought this album based on the two tracks I'd heard there. I was pleasantly suprised to find that there isn't a clunker track on the disc.
This SACD defies the rule that the better the album, the worse the sound. I recently played this album for friends of mine on a TOP NOTCH (10K) audio system and everyone was floored. They initially thought the name of the band gave them a clue as to the nature of the music. They were wrong. There's nothing "cute" about this band. The lyrics range from beautiful (passenger's seat) to the incredibly, painfully brutal (tiny vessels) and "Lightness" is the best track I've heard in at least a year.
If you have an SACD player, BUY THIS!
Transcendent SACD!December 11, 2003 6 out of 6 found this review helpful
The brilliance of this album's music and lyrics have already been well documented, so this review will focus mainly on the SACD. First off, though sometimes I wish stereo SACD's had a 5.1 layer, I don't feel like I'm missing anything with this stereo SACD mix. There's so much presence in the recording it really fills the room despite being only stereo. And the louder I play it, the more beautiful the music gets. I love how the effects blend so well with the music. When I play the CD layer of this disc I find myself focusing on the melodies and the lyrics, but when I play the SACD I find myself mesmerized by the beauty and the power of the music.
