Cloud Cult - The Meaning of 8
I was planning on waiting until February when this album becomes available on their website to talk about it, but I just couldn’t do it. This is THE best album of the year, and most likely will be the best of the year for me depending on how great Andrew Bird’s album is. I love Cloud Cult, hence the reason they were in my top five albums on my top 50 in ‘05 list, and when I heard their follow up to the amazing Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus was going to be released this year, I almost lost it. It was hard to say that they were one of my favorite bands before, since Happy Hippo was the only album I had heard of theirs, even though it was such an amazing album. Then I picked up both Aurora Borealis and They Live on the Sun, and both of those were simply amazing as well.
So, upon finding and listening to their new album, The Meaning of 8, I kept my expectations as in check as I could as not to be disappointed expecting the greatest album of the year, and was pleasantly surprised to find an album in The Meaning of 8 that is one you simply can’t help but feel excited about. I let Krystal listen to it, since Happy Hippo pretty much became our album over the summer it was released, and she called me the next day sounding just as excited as me. That phone call alone made my day because I knew that if she liked it as much as me, then Cloud Cult had to be on to something with their new album.
Overall, The Meaning of 8 is 19 songs, over an hour long, and only has two interludes. So that’s 17 solid songs to digest. “Please Remain Calm” is the indie-dance song of the year. “Take Your Medicine” is simply one of the best songs I’ve heard in a long time and easily the best of this year’s few songs, and “Dance for the Dead” is the best use of emotional, multiple singing parts at once of the year, if that makes sense? Epic perhaps is a better term.
Either way, The Meaning of 8 will be available from their website in February, and then you can find it in stores April 10th. The band refuses to sign to a label and has always done things on their own, and with their new album it’s no different. They make a note that they make twice as much when fans order directly from them and they’re trying to fight against the major label system, which is fine by me.
Although I can only post the mp3 they’re providing, I’ll leave it at the fact that I would post half the album here just to let you hear it since it’s just that good. I’m sorry if this gets you all antsy to hear the album and now you have to wait a month for it, but I just couldn’t keep mum. It’s the best album I’ll probably hear all year besides Andrew Bird, and Radiohead if they actually release an album, but I swear the wait will be worth it. A great album from one of the best band’s out there.
From Advice from the Happy Hippopotamus:
Living on the Outside of Your Skin
From Aurora Borealis:
The Princess Bride (song made of audio clips from the movie Princess Bride)
