I love this album too, as you can imagine, since I'm a film and music guy. Do you know the double disc version that's available on streaming platforms? It has a great acoustic version of "Denton Road" and some other great rarities. Also, I can't believe you made it through your whole, very well-written piece without mentioning that Michael is married to his kindred spirit, Aimee Mann. It's weird how similar they are as songwriters, even in their lyrical concerns at times.
Oh Matt, how I want and tried to write about Ms. Mann. She is one of my favorite songwriters of all time, but I worried she might steal the spotlight a bit. I also started to write about Penn's cinematic family, but that bogged it down too much as well. In the end, I kept it tight to avoid him being the attachment to someone else's fame or work or notoriety.
I love the extended version of the record. Because this was not issued on vinyl, I only ever listen to that version, and I almost always listen to all of the extras as well. I adore that version of Denton Road. I might like it better than the album version, actually.
And fear not, I'll be writing about Aimee soon enough.
Great write-up, Matt. Penn is top-notch. Resigned is probably my favorite of the 5, but they are all excellent, of course.
Oh how I love 'Resigned'. If only I could write a hook like 'All That That Implies'.
Instantly in my head when I read the song title.
I love this album too, as you can imagine, since I'm a film and music guy. Do you know the double disc version that's available on streaming platforms? It has a great acoustic version of "Denton Road" and some other great rarities. Also, I can't believe you made it through your whole, very well-written piece without mentioning that Michael is married to his kindred spirit, Aimee Mann. It's weird how similar they are as songwriters, even in their lyrical concerns at times.
Oh Matt, how I want and tried to write about Ms. Mann. She is one of my favorite songwriters of all time, but I worried she might steal the spotlight a bit. I also started to write about Penn's cinematic family, but that bogged it down too much as well. In the end, I kept it tight to avoid him being the attachment to someone else's fame or work or notoriety.
I love the extended version of the record. Because this was not issued on vinyl, I only ever listen to that version, and I almost always listen to all of the extras as well. I adore that version of Denton Road. I might like it better than the album version, actually.
And fear not, I'll be writing about Aimee soon enough.
Thank you, Matt, I totally forgot about Michael, and after reading this essay, I feel that I need to revisit his work.
Love that this got you back down the rabbit hole.