Today I’m talking about Wolf Alice’s 2017 LP Visions of a Life, which I listened to track-by-track here on the channel. If you missed any of those videos, here’s a playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQYwysdyngtm2JYA-QAM8xCIFqsJrAkjz
Let me know what you think about this album!
Thanks for watching!
00:00 Intro
01:14 Vevo interview
07:23 Absolute Radio interview
13:26 NME interview
16:36 Reading & Leeds interview
21:40 B-Sides on Air interview
30:01 Brighton’s Finest interview
41:00 Album review / favorite tracks
45:26 Outro
Socials/Support ⬇
https://www.instagram.com/for.whatever.reason/
https://twitter.com/reason_whatever
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Artist-specific playlists⬇
Phoebe Bridgers: https://bit.ly/3L22cBN
Mitski: https://bit.ly/3MeIkMQ
“Weird Al” Yankovic: https://bit.ly/3wBVld9
Lucy Dacus: https://bit.ly/39QFUpD
Wolf Alice: https://bit.ly/3cKEDlB
Julien Baker: https://bit.ly/3N7Ic26
Jinjer: https://bit.ly/3M3MM16
Opeth: https://bit.ly/39ajtLx
Twelve Foot Ninja: https://bit.ly/3Pds0y7
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I definitely agree that My Love Is Cool is a little more hooky and immediately thrilling – I've been returning to individual tracks from that record more than I have those from Visions of a Life so far. I think that I like the second LP more as a complete album, though; it feels a bit more thematically coherent from front to back, all coming together really well in that title track at the end. Both really strong albums with so much ambition, variety and confidence – can't wait to dig into Blue Weekend in the next few days!
I'm still settling on my top three but it's probably pretty similar to yours. Visions of a Life probably first, Sadboy probably second, and then maybe Formidable Cool third – that track stood out for being the least personal story being told on the album. Maybe a weird one for having just praised the album's thematic consistency but I like that it was its own thing with such a sinister vibe.
I really loved some of the songs on this album ("Space & Time", "Don't Delete the Kisses") and some of them were good versions of prog rock or grunge that don't do much for me. Still a big step forward for the band as they tried to go out and try so many things and get better at their craft. Their newest album is even better, IMO.
Note: I think "gagging for" is British slang more than anything. Haven't heard it around here.
The 45 minute thing for "Blue Weekend" is basically a short film. Many of the music videos they did were cuts from the short film so it might be kind of double coverage in some ways, but the "Blue Weekend" film was still enjoyable. They also did an EP with acoustic versions of 5 of the songs from the album called "Blue Lullaby" that might be worth covering at some point. I enjoyed that anyways.
They did a deluxe version of the "Blue Weekend" album as well which had some interesting versions and a cover ("Bobby") that I liked very much. I think the deluxe version also had videos where they filmed the sessions ("The Pool Sessions") in the studio.
It was going to be hard for them to make a record better than their fist. 3. sadboy 2. dont delete the kisses 1. space and time. Congrats on getting a ticket to the show – they do do need to seen. I may be getting my ticket soon for an Oct. 2nd show at the Riviera here in Chicago. They are always likeable and cool to watch – I don't too often because usually I cant stand the interviewers.
yesterday i found your channel and i binge watched the videos of you reacting to each track and of course i couldn't wait for that video, guess i arrived at perfect timing 🤩
Top 3 on this album for me is Yuk Foo, Space & Time, and Sky Musings. But Space & Time has been one I’ve had on repeat a lot lately. Especially that lyric “Take me out to the future, just so i can look back into the past.”
As far as Blue Weekend goes; i’d probably stick to your usual music video formula, as the short film is all of them stitched together. I would say if you have a chance on your own time after you’ve gone through the album to play the film as sequenced. You’d get to enjoy the visual treatment in both ways, that full narrative is an extra treat really. After all they didn’t drop the whole movie until far after all the music videos were dropped.
Just keep doing what you've been doing. They made a video for every single song on Blue Weekend. They are titled Chapter 1, 2, 3, etc… It was confusing initially when they released singles that weren't in the "Album order". The 45 minute video is simply every song in album order sequence. The same filmmaker made all of them so they are thematically and visually tied together to a certain degree.
My Love Is Cool is an excellent debut, but Visions as a sophomore album is what all sophomore albums should strive to be. More variety, higher quality, more ideas and fresh sounds. I always find it disappointing when a promising band delivers a 2nd album that's just a copy of their debut, which can be fine too, but makes me definitely start to lose interest. This album proves that these guys are first and foremost excellent musicians, who will have a long and prosperous career. There is no chance that people will get tired of them as long as they stay true to themselves and continue to take risk and push themselves. I cannot wait for the types of sounds we will get to hear from these guys in the future.
I would agree that their debut has a higher hit ratio (Visions has a few songs I don't quite care for), but I find the highs to be much higher on Visions. None of this matters, as I think Blue Weekend blows both of them away. tbh I think there is a chance you will still end up preferring their debut over BW, because their debut is basically just a collection of singles (totally normal, as these are just songs that mostly formed separately over many years) and is definitely their hookiest album as a result, while both Visions and BW especially are like actual albums with a narrative and intent behind them. So while some of the songs might not stand as strong as the ones on My Love Is Cool do on their own, BW as an album is an absolute masterpiece in my opinion. Except that every song on BW is just so freaking good, too and actually stand perfectly well on their own (except for the opener maybe, which is definitely more of an intro and imo the weakest). Can't wait for you to get into it 🙂
Favs off Visions:
1. Visions of a Life
2. Sadboy
3. Planet Hunter
4. Yuk Foo
5. Formidable Cool
I really hope you enjoy Blue Weekend, I think it’s an amazing album and piece of art! I’m gonna leave a few suggestions of some of the best live performances of the tracks!
Delicious Things – Orchestral Version by Wolf Alice
Lipstick on the Glass (Live) by Wolf Alice
Lipstick on the Glass at Union Chapel by Jim Beam
Smile – Live (The Pool Sessions) by Wolf Alice
Safe from Heartbreak – Live (The Pool Sessions) by Wolf Alice
How Can I Make it Ok? – Live (The Pool Sessions) by Wolf Alice
How Can I Make it Ok? (Reading Festival 2022) by BBC Music
Play the Greatest Hits Washington DC, Union Stage by jjk26
The Last Man on Earth (From The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon) by Wolf Alice
The Last Man on Earth – Live (The Pool Sessions) by Wolf Alice
No Hard Feelings Live at the Bourbon Theatre by Shawn Everidge
I hope this helps and I hope you enjoy them if you decide to listen 🙂
Wolf Alice is forever a top three band of mine. I absolutely loved your reactions and the commentary you provide for each song. Super insightful and high quality. If you’re looking for another euro-alternative rock band to digest, I highly suggest White Lies. Their first and latest albums are absolutely astonishing. If you feel like dipping your toes in, I recommend their first track Death. It’s the first song I was hooked on for three years before I looked into their albums. The trio has such range in regards to their songwriting and instrumental choice. I’d definitely give them a chance. I think they’d surprise you with how different each album is in terms of tone and structure.
You mentioned liking some proggy stuff. Have you ever heard a band called The Dear Hunter (Not deerhunter)? They're kinda proggy and genre hopping. They do a lot of story-concept-albums.
Blue Weekend! Can’t wait! Don’t forget about a Blush from their earlier EP Blush. I wouldn’t say it’s required…but it kind of is. 😁
I’m always fun to watch “interview Ellie” vs “performing Ellie”. She is so quiet, shy, and precise with her words. And then there’s “performance Ellie”…..
Top 3 on this album for me have to be Yuk Foo, Formidable Cool, and Sadboy. BTW I really like the format of doing an end-of-album review and checking out interviews. Also for Blue Weekend they already did a music video for all the tracks, the 45 min video is just all of them put together.
Can't wait for your reaction on Blue Weekend!