Cease to Begin [CD]

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• Rated 4 out of 5 stars

  Horses back with a fury!

  • Incentivized

  If you haven't heard Band of Horses' first release "Everything All The Time", then stop reading this and go buy that album immediately, then come back and buy this one. This band found their beautiful, unique sound on their first album, and it only gets better here. Cease to Begin picks up where the first album left off, and it opens with a bang on the very first track "Is There a Ghost". From this track alone, you know the album is going to be top-notch. There is a perfect mixture of upbeat heavier material and slower ballads with beautifully haunting harmonized vocals [see "St. Augustine on 1st album, "Marry Song" and "Window Blues" on this album]. The most notable track is "Island on the Coast" which opens with a furious display of guitar speed-picking and does not let up. The only con to this album is its length, which is 10 songs, one of which is an instrumental clocking in at :58 and serving as a sort of brief interlude to the second half of the album. Cease to Begin definitely leaves you wanting more, as did the first album, but a short album with no filler is most certainly preferrable to one with several more mediocre tracks. This album is 100% solid material and you will not be disappointed.

  Posted 18 years ago by bkhpaco7

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Not as good as Everything All the Time, but great

  • Incentivized

  Cease To Begin is only a step below Everything All the Time (the best album of 2006-2007). "Is There a Ghost" is a stadium rock song, with a slow build up, much like that of "The Funeral" (from Everything All the Time); "Is There a Ghost" is definitely going to catch some ears, but it's nothing special and probably a weak point on the album. "Ode to LRC" is poppy track that is disguised as folk, where lead singer Ben Bridwell gets away with shouting "the world is such a wonderful place(!)". But it works, because of the conviction in Bridwell's voice and that young-Neil Young drawl he uses. "No One's Gonna Love You" is a beautiful track where you can't help but sing along with Bridwell when he sings "When things start splitting at the seams...". Which leads into "Detlef Schrempf" (yes, the basketball player from the Seattle SuperSonics) which picks up where "No One's Gonna Love You" left off; a beauty of an acoustic track. "The General Specific" is an upbeat country track and my personal favorite track "Islands on the Coast" which is catchy as..........

  Posted 18 years ago by chad2julius

• Rated 5 out of 5 stars

  Excellence once more

  • Incentivized

  Even if my step brother wasn't the bass player I would have to say Band Of Horses are WONDERFUL.....this album is just as great as the last, but........when the last track plays I want more. The mix of beats is just right....this is an album you play from begining to end with out ever hitting next... Great Job once more....

  Posted 18 years ago by mrsasmith