These Are the Good Times People (Bonus Track Version)
The Presidents of the United States of America
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| Total: 15 Songs |
iTunes Review
Taking all manner of topics (from the heaviest to the lightest) and putting them through the PUSA sound-machine to come up with easy and memorable melodies and lyrical hooks, the Seattle trio picks up where they left off three years before. These Are The Good Times People opens with “Mixed up S.O.B.,” a guitar-driven pop-rock tune about an unstable ex-lover. The outstanding “Ghosts Are Everywhere” is catchy and fun with the requisite “na na na na na” chorus and silly storyline. The guys fool around with country rock on “Trucktstop Butterfly,” dotted with shadowy slide guitar, harmonicas and hoe-down vocals, and with a bit of ‘70s funk-rock on “Deleter,” with its serpentine horn arrangements, wah-wah guitar, and soulful female backup vocals. Departing from their “joy rock” sound — exemplified on tracks like “Ladybug” and “So Lo So Hi” — the longing “Loose Balloon” was born from the pain of divorce, while “More Bad Times” is a fine cover of the song originally done by Ed’s Redeeming Qualities, a bittersweet ode to losing a spouse. Original members Chris Ballew and Jason Finn officially (finally) welcome Andrew McKeag to the band on this collection.
Recent Customer Reviews
Okay
by hi my name is @#&%$(First of all there is a unbeliveable amount of swearing. I THOUGHT THEY HAD KIDS!!!!!!!!! Second of all It's kind of well...meh. Tracks 14(even though it's very funny) and Track 7 are probably the 2 worst tracks to ever set foot on the earth!!!!!!! However it ain't all bad. Track 5 is a BRILLANT track. Everything else sounds almost the same and kinda well boring.
Beat my expectations in a cage fight.
by brilliant_popsicleHonestly, I didn't really like the Presidents before. They were sorta fun to listen to, but it felt like listening to kid's music and got old pretty quickly. This is better in every sense. The humor is a lot more matured, and the songwriting is way better and more diverse. Definitely one of my new favorite albums after just one listen.
Their best album yet?
by ShortPantsRomanceI was said to hear of Dave leaving POTUSA, but from the sounds of These Are the Good Times, People it let Chris Bellew really stretch out in his songwriting. Good Times, as an album, is more varied and surprising than any the Presidents have made before, while still a ton of fun. "Mixed Up S.O.B." starts it off with classic POTUSA: fast, driving and catchy as hell. But as the album unfolds you get new elements in the songs: guitar figures and solos wind out from the end of the choruses, layers of sound build up since they're given more time (the songs are on average a little longer than normal, but thats still only 3 minutes instead of 2 in most cases), a twangy slide guitar makes "Truckstop Butterfly" feel like a true Western campfire singalong. Then you get a gem like the version of "More Bad Times" which has a beautiful acoustic part as the base of it and great harmonies over the top. The other thing that knocked me back was the singing: these are Chris' best vocals ever. Here's to 4 more years of great Presidents music!
Biography
Formed: 1990
Genre: Alternative
Years Active: '90s, '00s
Top Albums and Songs by The Presidents of the United States of America
- $9.99
- Genres: Alternative, Music, Pop, Pop/Rock, Rock, Adult Alternative, Punk
- Released: Mar 11, 2008
- ℗ (C) 2008 Fugitive Records. All rights reserved. Unauthorized reproduction is a violation of applicable laws.
