Unlimited Streaming
Listen to this album in high quality now on our apps
Start my trial period and start listening to this albumEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
SubscribeEnjoy this album on Qobuz apps with your subscription
Digital Download
Purchase and download this album in a wide variety of formats depending on your needs.
Reunion albums are often tricky affairs, usually based around negative circumstances (typically solo career slumps) rather than positive ones, so it's neither uncommon nor unwise for fans to approach them with a degree of caution. When American Music Club called it quits in 1995, most folks were expecting an impressive solo career from vocalist and songwriter Mark Eitzel, but while he failed to capture the brass ring of a breakthrough commercial success (no great surprise, given the downbeat tenor of his music, though Warner Bros. seemed to be hoping otherwise at first), the greatest problem that's dogged him since AMC's demise has been his difficulty in finding a consistent set of sympathetic musical collaborators. Listening to American Music Club's first album in ten years, Love Songs for Patriots, what's most immediately striking is the way the fusion of beauty and chaos generated by the musicians so ideally mirrors Eitzel's songwriting, and how keenly their contribution has been missed in his solo work. While American Music Club was often regarded as Mark Eitzel and four other guys during their initial lifetime, the jagged panoramas of Vudi's guitar and the patient but ominous report of Dan Pearson's bass and Tim Mooney's drums create such perfect settings for these songs here that you sense this was that rare reunion prompted by aesthetics above all else, and this album truly succeeds on a creative level. The absence of Bruce Kaphan's evocative pedal steel work is felt (especially the way he at once buffered and strengthened Vudi's pillars of sound), but Marc Capelle's keyboards fill their space well enough, and while Eitzel's songwriting has changed a bit since the last time American Music Club went into the studio (the dark sexuality of "Patriot's Heart" and the first-person vignette of "Myopic Books" are the clearest examples), this band still knows more of what to make of his sensuous depression than anyone else, and both songwriter and musician bring out the best in one another on this set. Love Songs for Patriots isn't an American Music Club masterpiece in the manner of Everclear or Mercury, but it's certainly a stronger and more coherent effort than the group's last set, 1994's San Francisco, and while it's too early to tell if this is a new start of a last hurrah for AMC, it at least shows that their formula still yields potent results. Here's hoping Eitzel and Vudi have more where this came from.
© Mark Deming /TiVo
You are currently listening to samples.
Listen to over 100 million songs with an unlimited streaming plan.
Listen to this playlist and more than 100 million songs with our unlimited streaming plans.
From €13,50/month
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
American Music Club, MainArtist - MARK EITZEL, Composer, Producer - Tim Mooney, Producer - Superhitsinternational BMI, MusicPublisher
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
Album review
Reunion albums are often tricky affairs, usually based around negative circumstances (typically solo career slumps) rather than positive ones, so it's neither uncommon nor unwise for fans to approach them with a degree of caution. When American Music Club called it quits in 1995, most folks were expecting an impressive solo career from vocalist and songwriter Mark Eitzel, but while he failed to capture the brass ring of a breakthrough commercial success (no great surprise, given the downbeat tenor of his music, though Warner Bros. seemed to be hoping otherwise at first), the greatest problem that's dogged him since AMC's demise has been his difficulty in finding a consistent set of sympathetic musical collaborators. Listening to American Music Club's first album in ten years, Love Songs for Patriots, what's most immediately striking is the way the fusion of beauty and chaos generated by the musicians so ideally mirrors Eitzel's songwriting, and how keenly their contribution has been missed in his solo work. While American Music Club was often regarded as Mark Eitzel and four other guys during their initial lifetime, the jagged panoramas of Vudi's guitar and the patient but ominous report of Dan Pearson's bass and Tim Mooney's drums create such perfect settings for these songs here that you sense this was that rare reunion prompted by aesthetics above all else, and this album truly succeeds on a creative level. The absence of Bruce Kaphan's evocative pedal steel work is felt (especially the way he at once buffered and strengthened Vudi's pillars of sound), but Marc Capelle's keyboards fill their space well enough, and while Eitzel's songwriting has changed a bit since the last time American Music Club went into the studio (the dark sexuality of "Patriot's Heart" and the first-person vignette of "Myopic Books" are the clearest examples), this band still knows more of what to make of his sensuous depression than anyone else, and both songwriter and musician bring out the best in one another on this set. Love Songs for Patriots isn't an American Music Club masterpiece in the manner of Everclear or Mercury, but it's certainly a stronger and more coherent effort than the group's last set, 1994's San Francisco, and while it's too early to tell if this is a new start of a last hurrah for AMC, it at least shows that their formula still yields potent results. Here's hoping Eitzel and Vudi have more where this came from.
© Mark Deming /TiVo
About the album
- 1 disc(s) - 13 track(s)
- Total length: 01:00:59
- Main artists: American Music Club
- Composer: Mark Eitzel
- Label: DECOR
- Genre: Pop/Rock Rock Alternative & Indie
(C) 2004 American Music Club (P) 2004 American Music Club
Improve album informationWhy buy on Qobuz...
-
Stream or download your music
Buy an album or an individual track. Or listen to our entire catalogue with our high-quality unlimited streaming subscriptions.
-
Zero DRM
The downloaded files belong to you, without any usage limit. You can download them as many times as you like.
-
Choose the format best suited for you
Download your purchases in a wide variety of formats (FLAC, ALAC, WAV, AIFF...) depending on your needs.
-
Listen to your purchases on our apps
Download the Qobuz apps for smartphones, tablets and computers, and listen to your purchases wherever you go.