COMFORT EAGLE
Year: 2001
Genre: Rock/Alternative
Cake is good, especially ice cream cake. I really like cheese cake too. But my love for Cake surpasses my love for either ice cream cake or even cheese cake. I used to rank Cake up with the gods of music like Iron Maiden and Rammstein. The first few songs of Cake I heard were all amazing, and by first few I mean a random third of their discography. All but two were fives and those two were fours. And then my luck in song selecting ran dry and I listened to some of their not awesome songs. That knocked them down a few pegs. Whether or not they are gods, I cannot judge properly because I have yet to hear all of their songs. Judging by this album though, Cake deserves a demigod status, at least.
Firstly, though I used Iron Maiden and Rammstein as a comparison, Cake is not a metal band (even if they have covered Black Sabbath's “War Pigs” brilliantly). Cake's music is reminiscent of the types of songs which would be classified as 'oldies'. It is probably the trumpet and the prominent bassline. The several backup vocals help recreate the oldies feeling too.
From what I have heard so far, “Comfort Eagle” is their best album. There is not a single bad song. Though “Comfort Eagle” isn't “Brave New World” brilliant, it comes very close. If this album had to have some sort of theme it would have to be how the rich have it easy, how they live a totally different life with possibilities that are not available to the rest of us. That is one of the two themes. Half of the songs don't follow the first theme, the common element of those songs would have to be love (or one of its synonyms), I guess.
“Comfort Eagle” starts off with “Opera Singer”, which is about the life of an opera singer, as sung by an opera singer. "I sing for Kings in Europe, and Emperors in Japan" -- clearly showing off, the opera singer's position is one to be envied. However, there is no hint of arrogance. And in the fifth track you hear, “Commissioning a Symphony in C”, the lyrics go "So you'll be an Austrian nobleman commissioning a symphony in C ... with money you squeezed from the peasants, to your nephew you can give it as a present" -- chalk another one up for the 'rich' theme. None of these songs are the type you hum, but you will probably be singing it in the shower.
The fourth track, probably the most popular in the whole album, though not my favourite, is “Short Skirt Long Jacket”. The singer imaginatively describes his perfect girl. "I want a girl with ... eyes that burn like cigarettes"… "I want a girl with uninterrupted prosperity who uses a machete to cut through red tape, with fingernails that shine like justice and a voice that is dark like tinted glass."
I am torn in choosing my favourite song from this album. I cannot choose between the brilliant instrumental “Arco Arena” (#6) and the title song, “Comfort Eagle” (#7). I love instrumentals. And “Arco Arena” has the highest play count racked up, but its short and recently I've fallen out of love with it. “Comfort Eagle”, on the other hand, still hasn't lifted the spell it initially cast on me. The music has a Middle-Eastern touch to it (like Iron Maiden's “The Nomad”) and the chemistry is indubitable. You should definitely not miss the ninth track “Love You Madly”. This song would have been a competitor for top spot had I not heard it several times before I heard the rest of the album. It is just so hard to judge when all the tracks have a five star rating.
And finishing up the album is “World of Two” (#11). It is a song about selfish love; not one of the fives. Still it is very good. If you like this album you should listen to some of Cake's other albums. “Good ones are Fashion Nugget” (1996) and “B-Sides and Rarities” (2007).
If you are one of those types who claim to 'like all types of music', try Cake.
*Drool* ... Cake ...
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