Fountains of Wayne - Utopia Parkway (14 tracks) +Album Reviews

The long road to success

kendall lopere | H-Town, Tx, USA | 09/04/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Naming your sophomore album after a road in Queens, NY that goes pretty much nowhere hardly bodes well, and it's not surprising the radio stations and general record buying public stayed well clear of this album. I mean, why would anyone be interested in a collection of songs that were funny, witty, tuneful, melodic, bittersweet and catchy as SARS. The fact that they're also AM radio-tastic, full of hooks and generally under 3 minutes long too must also have been a huge turn off. 1999 was, remember, the year that Limp Bizkit released "Significant other" and Kid Rock's "Devil without a cause" was taking over the airwaves. This record was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Fast forward to 2003 - Fred Durst can't even get a date with Britney Spears and the Fountains of Wayne are making their own, belated attempt at airwave domination. So hopefully more people will see the cheerful little blue cover of "Utopia Parkway" and be encourage to take out the shiny little cd, pop it into their player and hit . And they will not be disappointed.
"Utopia Parkway" is proof that FOW are brilliant and indeed have always been brilliant - it's just the rest of the world that was wrong all along. Musically it's a bit less rock-y than the debut, and a touch more rock-y than "Welcome Interstate Managers", but that's as maybe. The songwriting, musicianship and ability are just as good, and the album sounds as great on first listen as it does on 3 millionth. The songs, as usual, revolve around character that live and work in the New York metro area and mostly hate it, but the deftness and depth of these characterizations is what sticks in the mind here, funny without being cruel, sympathetic without being mushy, the songs could only be written from experience, from the heart of someone who knows the subject matter intimately.
My second and third songs on the album, if forced to choose are "Denise" and "It must be summer". Beautifully funny, catchy tunes about chasing girls and living life with the top down and the pedal to the metal ("I know this girl named Denise - she makes me weak at the knees").
The best song on the album, however, and the best song they've written, and the best song that anybody ever has written is "Troubled Times". A tender ballad to true love, this song alone is worth buying this album for a million times, and giving copies to all your friends, your friends' friends and all the world leaders with hearts of stone. This'll bring world peace in 3 minutes 36 seconds.
The Fountains Of Wayne have always been brilliant. You now have to pay for your years of neglecting them."

One of 1999's Top Ten Rock Releases

saeder_krupp@hotmail.com | Aliquippa, PA United States | 12/07/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Okay, I'd first like to say that Utopia Parkway is MUCH different than Fountains Of Wayne's self titled debut. On the other hand, there are more than a handful of similarities.First of all, don't buy this expecting a bunch of two and a half minute power pop romps. There are a quite a few, but the lovely, wise mouth ballads share the same amount of time with them. "Prom Theme" comes close to being seriously sad (well, until you read the lyrics a few times over). "Fine Day For A Parade" reminds me of "She's Got A Problem" from their first record, except that "Parade" is a bit more meloncoly. But that's where the differences end. "Denise," "Laser Show," and "Lost In Space" are great power pop anthems. They have the same bombast as the majority of the tunes from the first record. "Red Dragon Tattoo" has got to be one of the most catchy, sarcastic songs I have ever heard.Whether you want to hear it or not, this is REAL pop rock. This winner is a sure-fire top ten "Best Albums" entry....the question is, why don't you have it yet?"

Best thing I've bought in awhile

TLeo@aol.com | Decatur, GA | 06/17/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"I don't buy many new albums anymore. Back in the old days -- the mid-'80s -- albums would be $5.98 or $6.98 and you wouldn't feel so bad about spending it on new music, because if you got two great songs and three good songs out of an LP of 12 tunes, you figured it was okay. But with CDs costing $12, $13, sometimes $16, there's no way I'm gonna pay those bucks unless I know the record is something I'll still be listening to two or three (or, maybe, 10) years from now.I first heard of Fountains of Wayne when their first record made a lot of critics' top tens in 1996, with accompanying enthusiastic reviews for their power pop. Hmm, I thought, I ought to check this out -- and I wasn't disappointed. Between "Radiation Vibe," "Leave the Biker," and especially "Sick Day," the album ranked highly among my recent collection. I looked forward to the second album, even as I wondered if the group was a one-shot, since both Schlesinger and Collingwood had side projects going.Finally, there it was: Utopia Parkway. Clever title, I thought, named as it was for one of the most ill-named streets in the country, a standard chunk of New York City concrete and asphalt. But what was it going to be LIKE? The Amazon.com and other reviews seemed mixed.Well, I'm not mixed. I like it more each time I play it. The occasionally angry and sludgy guitars of the first CD have been toned down, replaced by tuneful arrangements and more confidence. The guys KNOW they have good songs, and they do them just right. I don't know if there's a bum track on the whole thing. (Well, maybe "Go, Hippie.")It's a fine line to walk. Some of the songs -- "Red Dragon Tattoo" and "Prom Theme" -- get pretty close to the line of being mocking, almost-novelty numbers. But there's a humaneness in Fountains of Wayne, a bit of truth that offers balance, and makes the songs something more than hummable and catchy -- though they're that, too.If you like pop music, buy it. If you like well-written songs, buy it. If you're waiting for something, anything, other than the Third Eye Dishwalla Eve's Hazel of current radio, buy it. One can only hope there's more stuff like this out there."

Fountains of Wayne are AWESOME - BUY THIS CD!!!

TLeo@aol.com | 07/04/1999

(5 out of 5 stars)

"The Beach Boys seem to come up quite a bit in reviews of Fountains of Wayne. The comparison makes sense, since both bands have the obvious ability to write perfectly-crafted pop songs.

However, where the Beach Boys songs were filled with the sun and sand of Southern california, FOW's melodies and lyrics focus on the asphalt and tiny lawns of east-coast suburbia. Summers on the Jersey shore, Coney Island tattoo parlors, bridge-and-tunnel Manhattan commuters, and suburban soccer moms with minivans... these are the stuff Foutains of Wayne's great songs are made of.

Utopia Parkway is, in my opinion, an even better CD than their self-titled debut. The songs on Utopia Parkway might not be as instantly catchy as "Survival Car", "Radiation Vibe", or "Leave the Biker" from the 1st album. But songs like "Senator's Daughter", "Valley of Malls", and the title track get better with every listen. And "Troubled Times" is just about as sweet and as beautiful a song as you'll ever hear."

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