"If There's A Heaven" by Melt - Album Review

It’s a damn masterpiece! The songwriting! The vocals! The production. It’s solid gold all the way through! The last song, man… It’s just a perfectly constructed album. Listening to it on the record player is a wonderful experience. I feel like only a handful of albums I’ve ever listened to in my lifetime have this kind of emotional resonance.

Best Album of 2024! If you don't own a record player, at least listen to it on Spotify or something.

Dispatch Set List - with the Colorado Symphony Orchestra - Red Rocks Amphitheater 2023-07-30

• Windylike
• Curse + Crush
• Open Up
• Only The Wild Ones
• Rice Water
• Came For The Fire
• Walk With You
• Flag

(Orchestra takes a break, Dispatch stays)

• Out Loud
• Bang Bang (incl. Friend Of The Devil during jam section)
• Lookin' Out My Back Door
• Flying Horses

(Orchestra returns)

• Skin The Rabbit
• All This Time
• Dear Congress
• The General
• Letter To Lady J

(Photos taken, basically this was the encore break)

• Crazy Train
• Elias

Guster Set List - The Ogden Theatre [sic], Denver, CO 2019-02-07

• What You Wish For
• Careful
• Look Alive
• Endlessly
• The Captain
• Airport Song (note: Ryan actually caught a ping-pong ball in his mouth!)​
• That's No Way To Get To Heaven​
• Hello Mister Sun
• Red Oyster Cult
• Rocketship​
• Come Downstairs​ And Say Hello
• Do You Love Me
• "Back-breaker Jam​" (improvised)
• "Key Your Car" (improvised -- Ryan requested that any recordings of this not be posted to internets)
• Stay With Me Jesus
• Satellite​
• Happier​
• Simple Machine​
• Hang On​
• Barrel​ Of A Gun
• Dear Valentine
• Overexcited
• Fa​ Fa

(Fake encore break -- they did not actually bother leaving the stage)​

• Long Night​
• Terrified​
• Amsterdam​

Top Things To Do In Denver

After seeing a similar list at a festival last weekend, my girlfriend and I (both Denver natives) decided that we could do better, so we put together our own authoritative list of the best things to do Denver.

Presented in no particular order:

RESTAURANTS AND SUCH

1. Casa Bonita - Legendary national landmark. It is known that the food is terrible. Go anyway.
2. Bonnie Brae Ice Cream - The overall best ice cream anywhere ever.
3. Duffy's Cherry Cricket / My Brother's Bar / Park Burger - One of these places has Denver's best burger, but we're not sure which, so you may have to try all three.
4. House of Kabob - Denver's best Middle Eastern food.
5. Kaos Pizzeria / Cosmo's Pizza - Now that Beau Jo's is gone, one of these places has Denver's best pizza.
6. Kokoro (Colorado) - My favorite place for Japanese food.
7. Banzai Sushi - Cailin's favorite place for sushi.
8. Pete's Kitchen (Colfax) - One of Denver's last remaining old-school diner-type places. The University location is also good.
9. Lucille's Creole Cafe - Denver's best breakfast. Either location.
10. Uno Mas / Adelitas / Los Chingones - One of these places has Denver's best tacos.

BARS AND THE LIKE

1. Platte Park Brewing Co - Denver's best brewery.
2. Williams and Graham - Supercool speakeasy in the Highlands.
3. Mile High Spirits - Cool distillery, located downtown. Nice place to play cornhole.
4. Grizzly Rose - There is a mechanical bull. Also lots of country music. Sometimes line dancing.
5. 1-Up - Two Denver locations. A classic video game arcade that also serves drinks.
6. The Pioneer - The best of the DU bars. Great nachos and a nice rooftop patio.
7. Pint's Pub - They have every kind of whiskey. Also a brewery. Also there's food.

MUSEUMS AND WHATNOT

1. Museum of Natural History - Dinosaurs.
2. Denver Zoo - Animals.
3. Denver Art Museum - Art and historical artifacts.
4. Denver Botanical Gardens - Plants.

EVENTS AND SO ON

1. A beer festival (i.e. GABF, Denver Winter Brew Fest, etc.) - All of Denver's beer festivals are good -- some are even Great.
2. South Pearl Street Farmers' Market - Better than the one in Cherry Creek because you don't have to pay to park. (summer)
3. Cinco De Mayo / Peoples' Fair / Taste of Colorado - These three free events are all basically the same thing.
4. National Western Stock Show and Rodeo - This is why Denver exists.
5. Oktoberfest - Outdoor festival. (fall)
6. Christkindl Market - Outdoor market and (heated) beer tent on 16th Street Mall. (holiday season)
7. City Park Jazz - Free outdoor concerts. (summer)
8. Broncos Game - Mile High Stadium. Be absolutely quiet for the offense and make as much noise as possible for the defense. (football season)
9. Rockies Game - Coors Field. Peanuts and cracker jacks. (baseball season)

OTHER THINGS

1. The Wizards Chest - Awesome store for toys, games, magic tricks, costumes, props, etc.
2. Tour of the Capitol - The best State Capitol -- the dome is made of gold!
3. Tour of the 4-Mile House - Historical old house.
4. Cherry Creek Trail - One of Denver's many excellent trails for biking, walking, rollerblading, etc.
5. Washington Park - Denver's best park.

NEIGHBORHOODS, PLACES, ETC.

• 16th Street Mall - A place downtown with restaurants and stores and stuff.
• Larimer Square - Also a place downtown.
• The Highlands - A fancy-shmancy neighborhood with restaurants and stuff, built on the site of a formerly crappy neighborhood.
• RiNo - Short for "River North," some cool restaurants, breweries, art galleries and stuff, built where there used to be just train tracks and warehouses.
• Santa Fe Arts District - Art galleries, restaurants, etc.
• Old South Gaylord Street - Restaurants and stores. Sometimes they close the street for outdoor events.

HONORABLE MENTIONS

• Vine Street Pub - Brewery with good food.
• St. Mark's or Stella's or Corvus - If you like coffee houses.

---

As an added bonus, here are some additional things that WOULD have made the list, but for various reasons (i.e. they no longer exist, or they used to be a lot cooler than they are now, or they are an out-of-town chain, or they aren't actually in Denver):

1. Celebrity Sports Center - Formerly the greatest place ever, destroyed in 1995 to build a parking lot.
2. Elitch Gardens - The old location was actually a gardens and was awesome.
3. Tattered Cover Book Store - The old location was awesome.
4. Beau Jo's - Denver location recently went out of business (you can still visit the original location in Idaho Springs).
5. Bonnie Brae Hobby Shop - Where nerds used to go for nerd stuff, before the internet and before being a nerd was mainstream.
6. Caboose Hobbies - No longer in Denver.
7. The Old Spaghetti Factory - Out-of-town pasta chain. The Denver location is awesome. Ask to eat inside the train car. Order the "Homer".
8. Voodoo Doughnut (sic) - Out-of-town donut chain. Good donuts.
9. Torchy's Tacos - Out-of-town taco chain.
10. Red Rocks Amphitheatre - The world's greatest concert venue, unfortunately not actually located in Denver.

Please leave a comment if you feel something doesn't belong or we've left something out!

Guster Set List - Red Rocks, CO 2017-06-16

• Long Night
• Happier
• Doin’ It By Myself (during which, while walking through the crowd, Ryan commented "This is a long cable!")
• Come Downstairs And Say Hello
• Amsterdam
• Airport Song
• Ruby Falls
• Happy Birthday (singalong with audience, directed to Ryan's kids Lionelle and Dash via FaceTime)
• Satellite
• Demons

Guster Set List - People's Fair, Denver, CO 2017-06-03

• Hang On
• Careful
• Doin’ It By Myself
• This Could All Be Yours
• I Spy
• Satellite
• Never Coming Down
• "American Birthday Song" (improvised)
• Come Downstairs And Say Hello
• Do You Love Me
• "Beer Yeti" (improvised, featuring a guest appearance by a guy in a yeti costume who danced around and gave out some free beer to the people in the front row)
• One Man Wrecking Machine
• Either Way
• Simple Machine
• Ramona
• Bad Bad World
• Airport Song (after which Ryan commented, "I'm glad we played that song -- otherwise you would have brought a bunch of ping pong balls for no reason.")
• Amsterdam
• Long Night

("Encore" break, maybe five seconds)

• What You Call Love
• Demon

Guster Set List - Paramount Theater, Denver, CO 2016-02-06

• Diane
• This Could All Be Yours
• Two Points For Honesty
• Doin’ It By Myself
• Bad Bad World
• Never Coming Down
• Barrel Of A Gun
• Dear Valentine
• That's No Way To Get To Heaven
• Red Oyster Cult
• Lightning Rod
• Gangway
• Come Downstairs And Say Hello (F. ukulele intro)
• Do You Love Me
• Ramona
• Ryan asks for volunteers who are self-reported “9 out of 10 high”, brings them up on stage to play the bongos for next song
• Two High Guys (improvised)
• One Man Wrecking Machine
• Simple Machine
• Airport Song
• What You Call Love
• Ryan explains encore plan, i.e. exit stage left, walk around the back, re-enter stage right
• Fa Fa

(encore break) Ryan: “Thank you Denver! We’ll be back in 13 seconds!”

• Long Night
• Satellite (F. Kishi Bashi on violin)
• Come On Eileen (F. Kishi Bashi on violin)

(2nd encore break)

• Happier

Honey on Bill Frisell's "All We Are Saying"

I enjoy this album more every time I listen to it. At first blush, yes, these covers come off as straightforward, faithful instrumental versions of Lennon's songs, to such a level of impeccability that no fan of Lennon or the Beatles could possibly find fault with them. The overall vibe is mellow and traditional -- it's certainly the kind of album you could put on in the background of a dinner party with no complaints.

Repeat listenings, however, reveal a second layer, a brilliant jazz sleight-of-hand going on right under your nose, with Frisell treating the songs like jazz standards, playing the melodies through once and then letting the other instruments take over while he lays down his own uniquely subtle-yet-virtuostic through-composed parts over the changes.

Lap steel guitarist Greg Leisz also really shines and perhaps even deserves billing on the cover. "Mother" really rocks, and if "In My Life" doesn't bring a tear to your eye, you have no soul.

Top Five: Side Ones, Track Ones

First, watch the following clip from High Fidelity:

Now presenting my Top Five Side Ones, Track Ones:

5. The Doors - "Break On Through"
   The Doors - First track, first side... of their very first record!
4. The Joshua Tree - "Where The Streets Have No Name"
   U2 - This one even gets the haters excited.
3. Love Over Gold - "Telegraph Road"
   Dire Straits - Perhaps Knopfler's greatest masterpiece.
2. Tattoo You - "Start Me Up"
   The Rolling Stones - Also the song they use to open their live shows.
1. The Beatles - "Back In The U.S.S.R"
   The Beatles - I have to agree with Jack Black on this one.

Honorable Mentions:

• Led Zeppelin III - "Immigrant Song"
  Led Zeppelin - This song grabs you by the balls -- the rest of the album never lets go.
• Arthur, or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire - "Victoria"
  The Kinks - A real rollicking rocker. Might've been in the Top Five if it weren't so sarcastic.
• Nice And Warm - "Nice And Warm"
  Tab Benoit - Again, first track of the first side of the very first album.
• Damn The Torpedoes - "Refugee"
  Tom Petty And The Heartbreakers - We can all agree that this is Tom Petty's best song, right?
• Heartbreaker - "To Be Young (Is To Be Sad, Is To Be High)"
  Ryan Adams - This really great lead-off song sets up an unreasonable expectation for the rest of an otherwise underwhelming album. N.B. - Technically not the first track.
 

Here they are again, for your listening pleasure:

Albums Of The Decade, 2000 - 2009

What a great decade for music! Below I present my “Albums of the Decade.” These aren’t necessarily the “best” or the “greatest” albums, but MY albums -- the albums that, for whatever reason, I ended up getting into the most.

In order to avoid repeating bands and artists, I have only ranked my favorite album for each act, and have listed other albums that probably would have made the list under a "See also:" section. I also threw album covers and blurbs for the top 20.

Happy New Year and may the next decade be even greater!

MATT DUFFY’S ALBUMS OF THE DECADE
2000 - 2009

50. HOT CHIP - Made In The Dark

49. FLEET FOXES – Fleet Foxes

48. SERVICIO DE LAVANDERÍA - Shakira

47. GIVE UP - Postal Service

46. JUSTIFIED - Justin Timberlake

45. LOVE AND THEFT - Bob Dylan

44. IN THE ZONE - Britney Spears

43. ¡SONIDO AMAZONICO! - Chicha Libre

42. SPIDERMAN OF THE RINGS - Dan Deacon

41. DISCOVERY - Daft Punk

40. RADIO BEMBA SOUND SYSTEM - Manu Chao
39. FLYING CLUB CUP - Beirut

38. BLACK HOLES & REVELATIONS - Muse

37. COME AWAY WITH ME - Nora Jones

36. MERRYWEATHER POST PAVILION - Animal Collective
(See also: FEELS)

35. LET GO - Avril Lavigne

34. I AM NOT AFRAID OF YOU AND I WILL BEAT YOUR ASS - Yo La Tengo
33. SMILE - Brian Wilson

32. RAISING SAND - Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

31. GREEN ALBUM - Weezer

30. VAMPIRE WEEKEND 29. BLACKLISTED - Neko Case
28. UNCLASSIFIED - Robert Randolph & The Family Band
27. SOULJACKER - Eels
26. CHANGING HORSES - Ben Kweller
(See also: ON MY WAY)

25. PERMISSION TO LAND - The Darkness

24. LOOK INTO THE EYEBALL - David Byrne
(See also: EVERYTHING THAT HAPPENS WILL HAPPEN TODAY, GROWN BACKWARDS)

23. THE FORGOTTEN ARM - Aimee Mann
(See also: LOST IN SPACE, BACHELOR No. 2)

22. CHUTES TOO NARROW - Shins
(See also: O, INVERTED WORLD!)

21. SPEAKERBOXXX / THE LOVE BELOW - Outkast
(See also: STANKONIA)


20. YOSHIMI BATTLES THE PINK ROBOTS - The Flaming Lips (2002)
Close your eyes and try to remember how much this album blew your mind the first time you heard it.
(See also: FIGHT TEST EP, AT WAR WITH THE MYSTICS)


19. VOLUME ONE - She & Him (2008)
I generally hate actress-turned-singer albums, but this one really works. By the way, M. Ward is obviously completely in love with her.


18. REAL EMOTIONAL TRASH - Stephen Malkmus & The Jicks (2008)
I was never a huge Pavement fan, so the fact that this album grew on me so much caught me off guard.


17. ELEPHANT - The White Stripes (2003)
Those White Stripes albums are all basically the same, but this one has “Ball And A Biscuit.” Cheers, White Stripes. Couldn’t have done the decade without you!
(See also: DE STIJL, WHITE BLOOD CELLS, GET BEHIND ME SATAN)


16. FUNERAL - Arcade Fire (2004)
The album that saved rock music... again. Poor, pathetic rock. All hype surrounding this band was well-deserved, and they delivered on it with Neon Bible a few years later -- also, a great album. Crank up the volume on “Intervention” and I promise you will see God.
(See also: NEON BIBLE)


15. THE WIND - Warren Zevon (2003)
It’s real heavy, but at least he went out with his strongest work since Mr. Bad Example. R.I.P. (See also: LIFE’LL KILL YA, MY RIDE’S HERE)


14. I - Magnetic Fields (2004)
I think of it as the fourth volume of 69 Love Songs. I cried the first time I heard “I Don’t Love You Any More.” That guy Merritt can really write!
(See also: DISTORTION)


13. IS THIS IT? - The Strokes (2001)
I think we can all agree it was a great album. The other two were more of the same -- so, if you liked Is This It?, logic dictates you like the others also.
(See also: ROOM ON FIRE, FIRST IMPRESSIONS OF EARTH)


12. SEA CHANGE - Beck (2002)
Good-old, sentimental, Mutations-style Beck. Information (real drums!) is great, too -- a very close second. The other albums from this decade were pretty standard Beck fare... Güero has some good tunes.
(See also: THE INFORMATION, GÜERO)


11. HAS BEEN - William Shatner and Ben Folds (2004)
I can’t lie -- I love this album and listened to it many times in the last decade. What a tragedy that the predominantly non-autistic CD-buying audience dismissed it as a cult/novelty follow-up to Transformed Man (but who could blame them?). Shatner is poignant, fiery, vulnerable, hilarious, and beautifully complemented by Ben Folds’ musical arrangements and an all-star cast of guest vocalists.


10. A GHOST IS BORN - Wilco (2004)
Few bands ever achieve the cohesion required to produce the living studio alchemy heard here: a sonic journey through corny piano riffs, murky forests of noise, and some truly righteous jams. Tweedy channels John Lennon in his songwriting and vocals... his guitar is wild and otherworldly. Sky Blue Sky is probably the better album, but the raw personality of Ghost Is Born appeals to me more.
(See also: SKY BLUE SKY, YANKEE HOTEL FOXTROT)


9. ALL THAT YOU CAN’T LEAVE BEHIND - U2 (2000)
Credit U2 for doing their best imitation of themselves here. Don’t call it a comeback. It’s just Joshua Tree II, and let the ‘90s be stricken from the record. So what if they gave up on experimentation and growth? The songs are over-the-top, broad, sweeping, anthemic and cheesy. This from any other band would be intolerable, but because they’re U2, they pull it off.
(See also: NO LINE ON THE HORIZON, HOW TO DISMANTLE AN ATOMIC BOMB)


8. FROM A BASEMENT ON THE HILL - Elliott Smith (2004)
I had to have Elliott Smith on the list. And I like Figure 8 as much as the next guy -- but, man, it sure is wussy. Basement On A Hill, on the other hand, is edgy, crunchy, and much more fun to listen to. Ironically, it might never have sounded like it does if E.S. had lived to see its release. R.I.P.
(See also: FIGURE 8, NEW MOON)


7. THE EMINEM SHOW - Eminem (2002)
Undoubtedly one of the greatest lyrical geniuses of our time, this was my personal favorite of the great three-album oeuvre which also includes Slim Shady and Marshall Mathers.
(See also: THE MARSHALL MATHERS LP, ENCORE)


6. THE HAZARDS OF LOVE - The Decemberists (2009)
Musically, it’s a hard-hitting ‘70s throwback prog epic that opens all the stops. Then there’s the plot... sure, maybe the supernatural/tragic/Victorian theme doesn’t appeal to everybody -- but how many other supernatural/tragic/Victorian folk operas are there?
(See also: THE CRANE WIFE, PICARESQUE, CASTAWAYS & CUTOUTS)


5. ASTRONOMY FOR DOGS - The Aliens (2007)
A classic-rock tribute with a modern psychedelic twist, by the reincarnated Beta Band. The jams are homeruns, the slower bits brim with heart and soul, and everything flows together. So what if it runs a little long? “I am a robot man...”
(See also: LUNA)


4. ROCKIN’ THE SUBURBS – Ben Folds (2001)
I was shocked that this album didn’t make it onto more (read: all) of the mainstream “Top Album” lists. The production is intricate and flawless. Every song is a gem, even if Folds’ songwriting is real sappy at times. Still... I never get tired of listening to it.
(See also: BEN FOLDS LIVE, SONGS FOR SILVERMAN)


3. ALL THE ROADRUNNING - Mark Knopfler and Emmylou Harris (2006)
In Jim Chidley’s words, “The two sweetest sounds in the world are Knopfler’s guitar and Emmylou Harris’ voice.” I bet the songs would still be great even in the hands of complete hacks. Extra points for many fine solo albums by both artists, esp. Knopfler’s Shangri-La.
(See also: REAL LIVE ROADRUNNING) (See also: Knopfler: SHANGRI-LA, THE RAGPICKER’S DREAM, KILL TO GET CRIMSON, SAILING TO PHILADELPHIA, GET LUCKY) (See also: Harris: RED DIRT GIRL, STUMBLE INTO GRACE)


2. Radiohead albums, in this order: AMNESIAC, HAIL TO THE THIEF, KID A, IN RAINBOWS
Hail To The Thief is the best one, but Amnesiac meant more to me personally. The reasoning behind my unorthodoxed ranking of these albums is fodder for another post, perhaps.


1. KEEP IT TOGETHER - Guster (2003)
A true masterpiece pop album. Every song is brilliant. The structure and flow of the album are perfect. The band is at the peak of their talents: writing-wise, performance-wise and production-wise. And you can sing along to the whole thing! Full marks in all categories. Congrats for being number one, Guster!
(See also: GANGING UP ON THE SUN)

Venom on The Fray for their "Heartless" cover

I'm not a die-hard Kanye devotee -- to me, he's always been one of those artists that I'm willing to extend the benefit of the doubt, somebody on my Musical To-Do list who I imagine is probably talented enough to justify acquiring an appreciation for one of these days.

I had about as much exposure to the song "Heartless" as anybody else. Not such a bad song, right? It's not like I worship "Heartless" and get all giddy whenever it comes on. Just another one of the R&B singles you recognize.

Then I hear this on the radio:

WTF? Why does this exist? Who was sitting around and thought, "You know what the world needs? A shitty, smarmy, whimpy, extra-vanilla cover version of that one Kanye song." The Fray, apparently, is who. Apparently they're from Denver also, which compounds my venom with shame.

What audience out there would be glad that this exists? If you love the original, it's a disgrace. If you're indifferent to the original, it's irrelevant. If you hate the original, it's completely unneccesary.

Venom on you, The Fray. Maximum venom.

Honey on "The Hazards Of Love" by the Decemberists

Great job, Decemberists! I absolutely love this album -- I mean, I've always liked the band, but this completely blows me away. It deserves a place in the rock canon along with concept greats like the Who's "Tommy", Pink Floyd's "Dark Side" and the Kinks' "Arthur", all renown not only for their marvelous execution of a theme but (perhaps more importantly) for being musically brilliant.

Most of the reviews I've read are somewhere between tepid and warm -- there seems to be a consensus dismissal of the album as a prog-roots '70s throwback. It's true, they don't make albums like this anymore. Ya know why? Because reviewers don't understand or appreciate them!

That, and (really) the medium is the message: "album-oriented rock" was a natural outgrowth of a) the invention of LPs and b) the proliferation of FM radio. The advent of the MP3 devolved music back to the '50s and the era of 45s. While rich in musical texture, "The Hazards Of Love" is devoid of a catchy stand-out single. On their own, I personally think the songs are really good -- but, like any truly "great" album, the whole is more than the sum of its parts.
Since Napster, the big record labels have mounted a massive PR campaign of lies. They want you to think they're in danger of going out of business, which they are not. (I bet people who do not actually make music will still find a way to make money off of music for the rest of eternity.) They want you to think that, if they do go out of business, there will be no such thing as music, which is an even bigger, more obvious lie. (It puts the cart in front of the horse. Not even, because a horse could still push a cart. The label system is just a parasite on music.)

Take "The Hazards Of Love" as a case in point: there is no market for an album like this. It won't appeal to reviewers or salesmen. But it is a truly great work of art. The fact that it exists proves the recording industry wrong. Maybe it will take time for people to come around to this album before it gets the recognition it deserves, or maybe everybody will just move on to the next big thing and the next big thing, and we've reached the end of "history" as such because the scale and pace of our globalized system renders noteworthy achievements fleeting and meaningless. Whatever. "Hazards" is still awesome.

Anyway, if you're going to buy an album, you should buy this one. Partly to stick it to the man, and partly because it's so packed, it gets better the more you listen to it. I'm already committed to playing it until I get sick of it -- how long that takes will be the final test of its greatness.

And to satisfy your free music fix: the Decemberists debuted the album live at SXSW and you can hear it streamed on NPR's All Songs Considered website, or download the performance as a podcast from iTunes.