Send "Dismemberment Plan " Ringtones to your Cell 
| Pitchfork |
![Dismemberment Plan - Emergency and I [Vinyl Reissue] review](http://www.sweetslyrics.com/poze/emergencyandi200.jpg) The liner notes for the reissue of the Dismemberment Plan's Emergency & I come as an oral history: interviews with the band, label types, and D.C. scene staples, touching on everything from the death of singer Travis Morrison's father shortly before the album's conception to the band's oft-repeated, ill-conceived goal to cross-pollinate Radiohead and De La Soul. Among the best bits is Morrison's story of sketching the album's now-famous cover on his computer, then showing it off to skeptical friends. "People would just stare at me," he remembers. "It's a weird image. I've seen people with tattoos of it in the last few years."To a certain segment of indie kids, many now indie adults, branding ourselves permanently with that weird sunset scene seems no stranger than an older dude's Black Flag bars or a youngster's Funeral laptop wallpaper. To many, Emergency & I is that record; breakup balm, to be sure, but also the voice in your head, the thing that seems to say as much about us as we know about ourselves. Though its influence on music at large has been difficult to chart, if we're to gauge a work's import by what it's meant to the people that come across it, Emergency & I is one of indie's key LPs. Its songs-- nervy, cacophonous, uncomfortably real-- actually mean something to people, whether they came to the record recently or have been letting it run through their lives for the last decade and change. The history of Emergency & I isn't contained in the particulars of Eric Axelson's bass tone, or the band's brush-up with Interscope, or how much they liked Brainiac, or what was or wasn't going on in D.C. in the late 1990s. That stuff is just the prelude. Fact is, the history of Emergency & I lies with the people; people who hear too much of themselves in "The Jitters", who've vented spleen to the tune of "What Do You Want Me to Say?", who've cast off all shackles to the strains of "Back and Forth". Morrison claims not to grasp the significance of the album's title, but it's always seemed fairly obvious to me: There's the encroaching chaos of modern life-- the emergency-- and then there's you, standing outside it, yet inextricably linked. Emergency & I is a record about learning how to live with both....full text |
| Progreviews |
| Emergency & I, The Dismemberment Plan's landmark album, opens with a song titled "A Life of Possibilities." It rocks, with a fabulous riff and a driving beat, and the vocals almost have the punk sneer sound, only they lack the sneer and are instead positive. It's a nearly perfect rock song, and it lives up to its name, providing a wealth of avenues the rest of the album could follow. What makes the rest of the album so good is that it manages to go down all of these avenues, and yet it still sounds cohesive. Take the next song, "Memory Machine," which is built around the drums, with bursts of noise enhancing the music from time to time. It's a prime example of noise rock actually coalescing into a coherent song. Skip ahead a few songs and you get the manic energy of "I Love a Magician," which is an absolutely furious assault. It's the most immediate song on the album, but it loses none of its luster over time. Then you've got the hyped-up on caffeine and nervous energy of "Girl O'Clock." If you can't feel your hands shaking as if you yourself had just drunk ten energy drinks, you're doing something wrong, because that song, like all the songs on the album, truly transports the listener into the song. That's the key triumph of the album. Sure, the fact it's a collection of twelve great rock songs coming one after another is nice. That makes it a great album no matter what. What truly makes it genius, though, is its ability to transport the listener into another world for its duration. It does this with simple music and straightforward lyrics, yet another reason why it's such an amazing record. It feels "smart" even when it's so obviously simple. That gives it wide appeal; those who simply want to rock out to a bunch of great songs have an ideal album, and those who look for albums that are more than the sum of their parts will find this album fits the bill. ...full text |
| Punknews |
| Most recordings follow a basic formula. Big opener, more subtle songs tucked into the end, the big "hit" song at track 4 or 5, and a closer with actual closure. Not with Emergency and I. This is possibly the most unusual flowing album ever made, but the uniqueness of it just adds to how incredible this recording is. From the first second, "A life of Possibilties" is the most unique opening song ever; a song that on any other cd would have hidden towards the end. But it's so unusual that the listener is forced to pay attention to every word. The cd progresses into "Memory Machine," with angular guitar work and one of the most intense song endings i've ever heard. Followed by "What do you Want Me To Say", the most radio-friendly but still very strange song on the cd, and the mellow, personal "Spider in the Snow" The only dull moment of the disc is on "The Jitters," which is very chilling but at the same time rather boring. But the next track "I love a magician" counters any dullness by creating one of the most noisy, chaotic messes ever recorded. The next track, "You Are Invited" is one of the best songs ever written. The "i can't find the right party so i'd rather be by myself" theme has never been portrayed better. When the full band comes in, it is one of the most beautiful moments of rock history. Not enough can be said about track 8, "Gyroscope", by far the best song ever made. All i can say is that "Happiness is such hard work" are my favorite words ever put into a song. The rest of the cd has the least amount of variety, which isn't necessarily a bad thing. The last 4 tracks all have a grooving almost funk feel to them. "The City" has more emotion in it than any other song on the cd, "Girl O' Clock" is a catchy number reminiscent of Beck, and "8 and a Half Minutes" is a great song about blowing up the moon with nuclear weapons. The last track on the album, "Back and Forth" has such amazing and thoughtful lyrics that it's a shame they go by so quickly, and the end is so strange that you wonder if the cd is actually over. But it is, sadly, because this is one of those cds you don't want to end. As much of a cliche' as it is, Emergency and I takes you on a musical journey that you will not forget. "There's a kind of music that reminds me of you. It's all clear expensive drinks and shiny shirts and the click of heels as they descend from the taxi like the first foot on the moon, and it glows with ache - and if it hits me right it's almost too much to take"- from "back and forth"...full text |
Dismemberment Plan lyrics
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