Bounce can be great album

Actually I think Complicated is the weak track off HAND... but they are all very good. I Am is one of my favourites!

As for Bounce-all the slow songs except Right Side Of Wrong are crap.

"Complicated" is a pretty song on its own. Interesting point of view and the chorus is fresh and cool. If it wasn't the closest clone of "It's My Life" ever...

I like "I Am", but it doesn't really reach its full potential. It's a bit "understated" as far as the arrangement is concerned, more fills, moody keyboard layers and so on could have helped a lot. And a solo that's not buried in the mix. The worst HAND track is Wildflower, plain and simple.

Bounce is a good album, but the production resp. the sound sucks. The guitars often sound plastic. Why detune when you still have such a glossy sound? Poor track selection as well. Track by track:

Undivided - great rocker, along with Bounce the best song of the album. Uses the same chord progression as HAND and IML... which also were openers. Stompin verses, promising build up, anthemic chorus. A bit by the numbers, but excellent execution, so why not. The demo version has better guitar work, the second solo was just something that gave the track an extra kick. The vocals in the chorus are better in the finished version, though.

Everyday - horrible single choice IMO. "Meh" intro, using the talk box once again, weird vocals from Jon, excellent pre-chorus, not really great chorus - that's it? Oh yeah, the solo... When I first heard the song, I got the feeling that they didn't really achieve what the track was intended to do - if that makes any sense. As for the solo - pretty shitty, never goes anywhere. At least there's some keyboard work and pretty cool riffs going on, but the actual vocal melody is pretty weak by BJ standards. The TLFR version is actually a bit better, because it doesn't try so hard to be an anthem (which it isn't!)

Actually, I'm not bored enough now. Maybe I'll write more later, but that'll suffice for now.

The Bounce demos are better than anything from the final cut. Some are better than anything from HAND and most of Crush in my opinion.

Ironically, I done just the same yesterday - put it on after a while without listening to it. I too believe it's a real good record. I fell a natural progression from Crush. Just a nice mix of rock, pop, romance and fell good tunes.

And I love Wildflower. I think it's a testament to the quality of HAND that we disagree on this kind of thing. The B-tracks are nowhere near as bad as the bad ones on Bounce.

Get rid of Joey, Right Side of Wrong, Open All Night, You Had Me From Hello, Misunderstood and All About Loving You, and it's not that bad.

Love Me Back To Life had potential, but just didn't come out very good.

Undivided, Everyday, The Distance and Bounce could be peformed at every show and I'd be happy.

I listened to this in the car a few days ago for the first time in ages. I think it has really aged badly (even though it's not that old). It just seems stuck in a period of time for me. Right side of wrong was the highlight, then Bounce & Undivided followed, however the rest just didn't seem to work. Maybe it is down to the flow as people have mentioned. Maybe it is just the fact that HAND is a far superior album & has lifted the bar again.

Heh, I must have written my feeling about Bounce like a million times now, but here we go again

What I like about it is that it's experimental. You've got some very definite styles they seem to be having a go at here: It's got the heavier songs, the epic ballads, the more relaxed ballads, and in the case of a lot of the b-sides the acoustic-electric pop rock stuff. HAND, while it was probably more consistent, felt like it was played a bit too safe in comparison.

Inevitably, the problem with experiments is that they don't always work, leaving the album a bit inconsistent. Also, the putting of the songs into very definite sonic categories does tend to make the flow a bit odd in places, mainly noticeable for the last four songs. There's also the middle section, which seems to be the two songs which, although they're not too bad seemed to have been included on the album with the sole intention that they be released as singles, as they don't fit into the other categories.

The production has its ups and downs. I don't mind the effects, I think a lot of the time they serve to give the songs more depth. The whole thing has a tendency to sound a bit ... muffled, though, for lack of a better word. Ultimately it falls down a bit as well because far too many of the songs are too short, like they want to get them over and done with as soon as possible.

I'd say Undivided and The Distance are killer songs. Everyday, Hook Me Up and Right Side of Wrong are damn good. Bounce, Joey and Misunderstood are good. The rest are all alright, but a bit below standard

I'll agree with Walrus. They get point for trying diffrent things, like I wrote in another thread.
Fav. songs: Undivided (the only killer), Bounce (I dunno why, but I like this one), Misunderstood (cool video, cool chordline)

Question:
Can you/we blame 9/11 for the outcome of Bounce? In a bad or good way?