Morning Star : The Opposite Is True

There has been much concern, lately, about the death of the full-length album. While music aficionados will always argue the merits of a solid LP, the massive popularity of pay-per-song websites like Napster and iTunes shows us that the worries are not necessarily unfounded. But there is still a strong case for the album to survive, such as Morning Star’s The Opposite is True, a complete album, rather than collection of singles.

Each part of The Opposite is True feels like it belongs right where it is. It’s as if the songs were painted to form one piece of scenic artwork. It’s not the work of Van Gogh, though; It’s more like a Bob Ross. Morning Star has given us the blueprints on how to make our own masterpieces with happy little trees, and pretty little mountains, if you care enough to learn.

In the liner notes, Jesse D. Vernon states “no album should be over um 50 mins (the truly great ones are under half an hour, I find, but perhaps that’s just my attention span).” Not only does this give a glimpse into how the driving force behind Morning Star thinks, but I tend to believe that it also presents a good point.

If I had based my entire review on the first three songs, I would have had the wrong impression. At first I thought I had this one pegged as a laid-back mellowfest. Then “Great Day” pops up out of nowhere as if to say “WAKE UP! THIS IS YOUR ALARM CLOCK, AND I AM HAPPY!” This is one of the many reasons that I like the idea of breaking the 10 songs on The Opposite is True into a 24 hour period. The follow-up song, “Invisible Man” works well in representing the vibe of your early morning commute after you are awake, heading to work, and trying to be positive. Then there’s the title track, with its moody vibe, and hard-panned male/female tradeoff vocals. You are now at your job, and trying to focus on motivating yourself to get something done, which isn’t easy while half-awake. You get the idea.

The Opposite is True does have some very good songs that work well on their own, even as singles if they were to be placed in the hands of a radio programmer. But, as is the case with most great albums, these songs shine the most when seen as part of the whole picture.

Similar Albums:
The Moody Blues – Days of Future Passed
Elliot Smith – Either/Or
Duncan Sheik Duncan Sheik

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