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While Interpol is far from a simplistic band, more often than not Julian Plenti Is Skyscraper takes the scenic route, and it pays off with an intimate, subtle set of songs that are strong in their own right.
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Banks’s debut solo outing is a leap forward--and notably away - from his band’s rigid blueprint that hinges on cold calculation and angular rhythm.
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Given his chilly demeanor, Banks makes for an uneasy balladeer, and he sometimes overcompensates with treacly string ?arrangements.
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It's a member of a rock band that plays tightly controlled music stretching his compositional abilities to new instruments and more subtle arrangements. They're not all successes.
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This is a flawed, sometimes absurd, but always intriguing album that repeatedly approaches being something special.
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It’s a frustrating outing that wavers quietly between uninspired and surprisingly vibrant, middling and fantastic.
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I don't know what exactly it says about Paul Banks, but the most borderline-embarrassing tracks on Skyscraper are, in fact, the strongest--it's the safe, formulaic moments that fall flat and, unfortunately, make up a substantial portion of the record.
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Although the alter-ego suggests that Banks would be happy to keep his own name out of it, the fact is that Julian Plenti is ... Skyscraper is the truest reflection of Banks' musical impulses, which don't always shine through in the democracy that is Interpol.
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Though modest, Skyscraper may prove to be an integral step in Interpol’s progression.
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Banks has done the near impossible with his first solo record--he has earned the righ tot be considered a legitimate talent all on his own. [Summer 2009, p.62]
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Interpol frontman Paul Banks makes his solo debut with a surprisingly worthwhile side project.
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Only the cloyingly celebratory 'Unwind' ranks as an unmitigated misstep, with its embarrassingly trite synth trumpet hook fitting poorly with the darker hues of the rest of the album.
User score distribution:
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Positive: 16 out of 20
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Mixed: 3 out of 20
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Negative: 1 out of 20
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LeahTAug 5, 2009
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Feb 2, 2012
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Nov 28, 2010