Godspeed You! Black Emperor
Yanqui U.X.O.


3.5
great

Review

by Observer EMERITUS
October 7th, 2009 | 439 replies


Release Date: 2002 | Tracklist

Review Summary: The Canadian legends leave us in a shroud of controversy.

Looking back through music’s evolution in the last sixty years, one can pick out many notable bands that have offered an album at some point in their career that seemingly divided critics and fans alike nearly in two. Whether by incorporation of a new format, direction, or in some of the more disappointing cases, an unusually lackluster collection of songs, consistently good bands often deviate from a winning formula for reasons of integrity, branching out, or even mere boredom. As has proven to be the case with albums such as Led Zeppelin’s In Through The Out Door, The Beatles’ Let It Be, The Eagles’ The Long Run, Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock or more recently, Blink-182’s self-titled, these albums typically mark the end of the band’s career at that point in time, even if these different albums happen to be met positively upon reception. Transitional albums can also be a point in a band’s career in which they spring and build momentum from, that in retrospect, proves to have been a vital turn that was instrumental in what the band has now become (e.g. Radiohead’s Ok Computer and Kid A or The Beatles’ Rubber Soul).

The final release from Canadian post-rock staple, Godspeed You! Black Emperor, proves to be a transitional album of the former variety. Here the band offer many changes, the most obvious of which is their name change (from Godspeed You Black Emperor!, to the present, Godspeed You! Black Emperor), a more active political agenda, and in areas of their sound via removal of the band’s famous spoken interludes and the inclusion of a more polar landscape of sounds within the actual music. Yanqui U.X.O. is also the first album to be recorded outside of the band’s country of Canada and also includes producer Steve Albani at the helm.

Yanqui U.X.O. is quite a varied and somewhat disjointed listen, which in turn, immediately contrasts the band’s more cohesive famous offerings. The first section of “9-15-00” amounts to a collection of jingles and echoing ambient effects before a build-up of strings delivers two climatic collisions that please the ear, if not coming without surprise. The second half of the track is more or less the “aftermath” of the two climaxes, comprising to be no more than distant ambience with a few jingles and guitar tones included for good measure. The new sounds that the band offers here are certainly welcome, but the cohesive nature of Lift Your Skinny Fists… is notably missing.

“Rockets Fall On Rockets Fall” and “Motherf**ker=Redeemer” continues the trend of ambient broodings that precede musical collisions that comprise of strings, guitars, and drum cymbals. While nothing is admittedly terrible or disappointing here, it is worth mentioning that a few sections seem disjointed and out of place. “Rockets Fall On Rockets Fall” spikes early in the twenty-plus minute track length before residing to sputter and stew for the remainder of the time. An odd skipping sound is played around the fourteen-minute mark that upon first listen, had me repeatedly checking my earphones to see if there was a short in the wiring. The first section of “Motherf**cker=Redeemer” continues in much the same vein as the prior track, which given the fact that it is another twenty-minute opus, may prove to be good or bad depending on the listener’s experience with this album up until this point. The second section of “Mother…” finishes out the album on a good note, offering a quick build-up that escalates and swells for the majority of track. The album ends abruptly, leaving the listener the job of assessing what it is exactly they have just taken in.

Actual sound timbre aside, a vital characteristic of post-rock has to deal with the actual feelings or emotions that the album encompasses the listener within upon listening. Bands in this respective genre want to instill another world within the confines of their songs that can seemingly transport the listener away into a realm where time and life’s intricacies surmise to be no more than a mere echo in eternity. Godspeed You! Black Emperor achieved this well-sought-after characteristic in past albums. However, with Yanqui U.X.O. this seems to be missing and as such, could prove to be the band’s only slip in their stellar career. All political conspiracies aside, therein lies the sum of Yanqui U.X.O.’s controversy. When expectations are this high for a band, anything less than perfection is disappointing no matter how great the album turns out to be and will likewise, raise questions and divide fans and critics of the band nearly in two.



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user ratings (1881)
3.9
excellent
other reviews of this album
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Comments:Add a Comment 
Observer
Emeritus
October 8th 2009


9453 Comments


I took a small break from Sputnik for life issues, and I must say it feels great to review again.



Mordecai.
October 8th 2009


8409 Comments


This is the only Godspeed i don't have, maybe i'll check it out. Good review.

Observer
Emeritus
October 8th 2009


9453 Comments


Thank you. It's different than the band's other releases, but you shouldn't be too disappointed or anything.

Mordecai.
October 8th 2009


8409 Comments


Yeh, i generally enjoy more ambient post-rock so i'll get this.

YouAreMySilence
October 8th 2009


3726 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Apparently the Kranky Records isn't shipping out records anymore, or something, so this is the only one I can get at my nearest record store.

Prophet178
October 8th 2009


6397 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Actual sound timbre aside, a vital characteristic of post rock has to deal with the actual feelings or emotions that the album encompasses the listener within upon listening. Bands in this respective genre want to instill another world within the confines of their songs that can seemingly transport the listener away into a realm where time and life’s intricacies surmise to be no more than a mere echo in eternity.




Haha that sentence is so ridiculous, in a good way.



I really hope Godspeed don't go out on this release.

MassiveAttack
October 8th 2009


2754 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

They disbanded awhile ago Prophet, sorry to disappoint.

Observer
Emeritus
October 8th 2009


9453 Comments


Yeah, its been a while since their hiatus. Haha, Yeah that phrase is a little too much I guess, but it does seem to be quite true.

Prophet178
October 8th 2009


6397 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

Yeah, it fits a post-rock review perfectly.



They disbanded awhile ago Prophet, sorry to disappoint.




They might come back from hiatus one day!

thebhoy
October 8th 2009


4460 Comments

Album Rating: 3.0

09-15-00 Pt. II, the middle 9 minutes of rockets fall and the final 13 minutes of Motherfucker=redeemer Pt. I (or whatever, after the good part) are really crappy. Motherfucker=redeemer pt. II is awesome though. I wish I could rewrite my original review, it was one of my firsts and I overpraised this album.

Chewie
October 8th 2009


4544 Comments


the world will go fucking nuts if GY!BE come out with another album

Observer
Emeritus
October 8th 2009


9453 Comments


You still can I suppose. Ask the Moderators to delete it and then just start over.

Prophet178
October 8th 2009


6397 Comments

Album Rating: 3.5

the world will go fucking nuts if GY!BE come out with another album




I would need to buy a new wardrobe's worth of pants.

YouAreMySilence
October 8th 2009


3726 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

the world will go fucking nuts if GY!BE come out with another album




And it's not like this isn't incredible, it took me a while to come to the fact, it just doesn't have that GY!BE midn blowing quality. Like I don't understand why they didn't use samples on this :/.



But held up to most other Post Rock records this is a world away.

Chewie
October 8th 2009


4544 Comments


F# A# Infinity puts me in another world mann

Observer
Emeritus
October 8th 2009


9453 Comments


The decision to remove the samples was an odd one. I believe the band stated that they just wanted to make an epic instrumental rock album or something like that.

Chewie
October 8th 2009


4544 Comments


well the other ones are pretty fucking epic last time I checked.

Observer
Emeritus
October 8th 2009


9453 Comments


Definitely agree, but the band wanted something purely instrumental it seems.

YouAreMySilence
October 8th 2009


3726 Comments

Album Rating: 4.5

Makes sense, but I wish if that was the case they wouldn't have done it as their last record haha.

Observer
Emeritus
October 8th 2009


9453 Comments


Yeah exactly. It would have beem better to have closed out with there signature epic format.

Though you have to consider the fact that the band probably did not go into recording this one with the mindset that it was their last. They were probably just wanting to experiment.



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