Track Listing
1. Plan, The
2. Center of the Universe
3. Carry the Zero
4. Sidewalk
5. Bad Light
6. Time Trap
7. Else
8. You Were Right
9. Temporarily Blind
10. Broken Chairs
| Details | | Contributing Artists: | Sam Coomes | | Producer: | Doug Martsch, Phil Ek | | Distributor: | WEA (Distributor) | | Recording Type: | Studio | | Recording Mode: | Stereo | | SPAR Code: | n/a |
Album Notes
Built To Spill: Doug Martsch, Scott Plouf, Brett Nelson.
Additional personnel: Sam Coomes (keyboards).
Principally recorded at Bear Creek, Woodinville, Washington in November 1997.
Having led Built to Spill down the road of majestic guitar duels on 1997's PERFECT FROM NOW ON, group mastermind Doug Martsch decided to downplay (but not shelve) his six-string heroics here. Instead, the focus of Built to Spill's fourth proper full-length is the ensemble playing. Having for the first time in B2S' existence retained his rhythm section (bassist Brett Nelson, drummer Scott Plouf) for a second consecutive album, Martsch shows off what may be the strongest power trio in rock circa 1999. Consequently, KEEP IT LIKE A SECRET coalesces into a powerful classic rock band statement at a time when those are hard to find.
Lyrically, Martsch's concerns have retained the indie rock community's focus--its outsider status ("Carry the Zero") and ability to self-reference rock's long history to get its plaints across ("You Were Right"). Structurally, he has streamlined his songs into concise rock-pop nuggets that carry more crunch than his Up records ever mustered, fitting his epic way with a melody into a more radio-friendly package. What comes out is a great (and different) Built to Spill record, proudly displaying its strengths and reveling in its uniqueness even while making concessions to a changing world.
Editorial Reviews
4 stars out of 5 - ...[Their] return to form....Not a bad choice for Grandaddy's grandad.
Melody Maker (05/16/2000)
Included in CMJ's list of Top 25 College Radio Albums of All Time
CMJ (01/06/2003)
...Most focused effort in its nine-year career....a luminously poetic expression of good old-fashioned crash-and-burn sonic beauty...
CMJ (02/01/1999)
...Idaho oddity Built to Spill make music with a weird naive excitement that recalls R.E.M. at their fresh-out-of-Athens finest... - Rating: B
Entertainment Weekly (03/05/1999)
...Reclusive Idaho guitarist/songwriter finally gets it right....He also has a powerful emotional, instrumentally muscular and impressively varied fourth album...
Mojo (03/01/1999)
...Built To Spill songs are typically about the physics of colliding emotions, about dissension at home and in the head....Yet there is something very whole and intoxicating about the way Martsch sets unraveling relationships against fastidiously scripted riff fireworks...
Rolling Stone (02/18/1999)
Ranked #6 in CMJ's Top 30 Editorial Picks [1999]
CMJ (01/10/2000)
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