Search - Webb Brothers :: Maroon

Cinematic!

B.A.S. | watford, herts United Kingdom | 09/18/2000

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The CD artwork on Maroon is some of the best I've seen for ages. It's reminiscent of an old film poster - in maroon, of course - with voluptuous ladies, bats, all sorts of hedonistic shennanigans and the Webb Brothers, torches in hand, trying to navigate their way through this 'pergatory', as they describe it on one track. And that's what the concept is, the shallowness and self defeating nature of life as one endless party. The album starts off with the Liars Club meeting up to get blitzed, in a state of self denial that they aren't 21 anymore and are really too old for this kind of thing. The instrumentation is both exotic and sparse, with great sweeping introductory strings giving way to the classic Webb guitar and piano accompaniement, and this combination of the grand with the austere works very effectively throughout the album. However, the broodingly dramatic atmoshere of the album and its storyline - boy goes out, boy gets stoned, boy meets girl, girl gets stoned and dies - is almost lost on the one poor track, In A Fashion, which is reminiscent of McCartney at his most strummy-boppy-singy. Still the star that was lost for that minor inconvenience is acquired back with the artwork."

Caught in a Webb

Eliot Wilder | Boston, MA USA | 10/09/2001

(4 out of 5 stars)

"On "Maroon," Christiaan and Justin Webb blow up the mini multiplex vistas of their debut, Beyond the Biosphere, into a wide-screen panorama, fleshing out their tunes with blinding technicolor details. Much like the epic sweep of classic songs like "MacArthur Park" - written by none other than their famous father, songwriter Jimmy Webb - "Maroon" takes unexpected turns and twists that are as fun as they are jarring. With its sleigh bells, careering violins and ringing pianos, the album could overload on its own orchestral sugar high, but instead is underpinned with bleak moods and dizzying aural sensations that make for an extremely uneasy listening experience. With its extravagant shades of dark and light and its odd combination of surreal kitsch and lyrical brutalism, "Maroon" tills a sonic landscape that's truly unique. Call it muzak noir."

Best Album Of 2001

Non-Descript Reviewer | Twin Lake, Michigan USA | 08/03/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"After a long stint of listening to many albums over the course of the year, I had to finally come to terms with what I thought was at the top of the heap. This album stood out from the rest. Don't get me wrong, I give the Shins- "Oh, Inverted World," it's due for being one of the finest pop albums this side of the millenium, but pound for pound, Maroon has a song for all seasons. From it's beginning excerpt from Renamore, a track that is found on a b-side of one of the Brothers' singles, to the closing track titled, "Sleep While You Can" , the listener is taken on an aural journey that comprises the rise and fall, and minor crescendos, of socialites and their quest for acceptance and yes, love amongst the ruins of their tawdry lives. That is just my personal interpretation of this album, though it does serve well navigating through tracks like "Flourescent Lights," and "Liar's Club." I won't jade you with anymore of my personal interpretations of this wonderful album, isn't it time you checked it out yourself?"