Review Summary: An experience.
I have only heard this with my right ear.
So, "Everyday is an Emergency". A song. A controversial one. Ever since Twin Peaks: The Return, I have been fascinated with the idea of not giving your audience what they want: Instead giving them what they need. We probably need the screeching and dissonance for a short while, even though we don't want it, in order to appreciate the rest.
I can hear perfectly fine with my left ear. It's functional and all. Haven't blown it out with harsh noise wall or anything. The left ear can still hear the humming cars outside my window or my own shallow breath. But Aviary is only present in my right. Ear, that is.
Aviary is long. Probably the longest album I've ever heard exclusively through my right ear. It's certainly not perfect, but find a double album that doesn't possess weak spots, has dents in the surface, or cracks in the corner. Hell, find anything, movies, thoughts, social interactions, that are coherent and enjoyable for 90 minutes. I can't. To me, when utilizing the double album, we're trying to move away from music as "entertainment" and gravitating towards "experience". No 90 minute human experience is ever perfect.
Though it's still of course valid to ask in regard to this album: Is it a good experience? It's certainly harder to rate an experience than entertainment. Experiences can be tiring, drawn out, even repulsive, and still be a "good", or at least engaging or even meaningful, experience. Like Twin Peaks: The Return.
My answer: Maybe. It depends on like a flup-ton of factors like mood, the weather, and what you had for breakfast. But Aviary is indeed an experience, and that itself is worth cherishing.
Even if only heard through the right ear.
