A Glowing Opinion re 22 Steps

[Trilly]

\This review is by a regular poster on the AI forum whose musical opinion is widely respected. I asked him to listen and this is his reply:

it's got a gorgeous melody! especially the chorus - it feels like it just fell from the sky all complete - not a single note to be changed. i think the best songs - the ones that you never get tired of - are the ones with natural sounding melodies like this. i even bet paul mccartney (who i idolise as a pop songwriter) would have been happy to have come up with something as nice as this.

the only thing i still don't like is the chord sequence just into the bridge

"and i'm not so sure"

/C.../F#.../Am.../


that F# breaks me out of my reverie every single time i listen to it. technically speaking it fits - and it's gee wizz clever and stuff - but because the rest of the song has straightforward chord progressions - that F# sticks out way too much and for me it detracts from the loveliness of the rest of the song. maybe they was going for a radiohead thing there but it feels a bit tacked-on (imho).

but then it more than redeems itself two bars later with a dash of sweet harmony within the line

"that you would not say get out don't step in".



i like how the lyric is about something seemingly small but actually quite big and universal. it's small because he's singing it to a girl and it's just about him and her - but the what he's saying is huge: that you can imagine a goal in life but you still have to make the effort to get there and sometimes that effort can be really difficult to make. (that's how i saw it anyway)

and full props to the producers for not smothering it in a big lush string arrangement. you can hear the acoustic guitar right through the song.

oh yea and his voice is perfect!!


*I gather he kinda likes it!! ;D

[gj]

Thats a very nice and honest review Trilly, thanks for sharing it

[dededom]

Great review BUT the /C.../F#.../Am.../ chord progression is on of my fave bits! But then I do like radiohead so that probably explains it.

[Mysterri]

Wow, Trilly this is a great critique of 22 Steps. It is honest and intelligent without being pompous. Thanks for sharing it with us.

[shimmery]

Fantastic review Trilly, thanks! But I also have to say, I like that chord change which breaks me out of the reverie, for me that's one of the highlights of the song, it was so unexpected 1st time I heard it and I love that

[Trilly]

shimmery said:

Fantastic review Trilly, thanks! But I also have to say, I like that chord change which breaks me out of the reverie, for me that's one of the highlights of the song, it was so unexpected 1st time I heard it and I love that

Ha..SNAP shims!..I was just going to post the same thing. It's unexpected, but not jarring to me. In fact, it adds interest. This is only his opinion, eloquent and 99% approving as it is. ;D

[Mi chiamano Kami]

Nice to get an opinion from an 'outsider' to the fandom who genuinely knows their music!

I'm with you guys - I love the chord change, it's very angst and I think it adds some depth to the 'story' the song tells that really takes it above being just any unrequited love song. But I think a few years ago, before I really started exploring different singers to the ones I grew up with, I would have preferred it if the song kept going without that part, so I do see where the comment comes from.

[olddantucker]

I think the chord change is there precisely because it's "gee whizz clever", and it accomplishes two things - it breaks up the very sweet nice melody and makes it more complex, and that change allows the song to build, and it also is a signal to musicians that hey, look at this I'm much more than just a Karaoke machine...

[olddantucker]

Um...okay...it accomplishes THREE things...

Doh!

[Smiley]

All of the above! Thanks Trilly for that. I too love the chord change or whatever it is! It's one of my favourite parts of the song!

[Trilly]

This is the latest from our reviewer:

"i listened to it a couple of times this morning and found that now after a few days, i've gotten used to it (the geewhiz bit) being there ...now it just feels like a natural part of the song for me."


Seems giving people time to absorb this song is a wise move after all.

He also thinks, as I do, that if the rest of the album approaches this standard, it will be huge here and in the UK!

[shimmery]

Trilly, we may have to go "Snap" again, lol. I was just thinking that after a few times, that part of the song sounds so naturally part of it now. I loved it when it was an unexpected twist too, but feeling more familiar with it now as part of the way the song builds, it feels like a real natural progression.

And I also just wanted to add how I love the drop away into a quieter mode at the end too - all those emotional and complex parts of the song as the decision being debated whether to speak to her eventually or not, and then there is a real contentment and peace at the end because it comes back to the simplicity of a guy saying hi to a girl once the decision is finally made.

Ah! Love it!!

[Smiley]

Shims, It's funny I tend to think that that last bit is him imagining it in his mind. We should start a thread about our interpretations of the song and vid clip.

[Roxy]

That's a very good review Trilly. I'm sure there are alot of people out there that feel exactly the same way.

Good on you for asking!

[Spud]

I found it very interesting to read a musical pro's opinion of the song, thanks for posting that.