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Daniel
Johnston has been recording albums for twenty years, along the way
becoming a favorite of Kurt Cobain, Yo La Tengo and Sparklehorse, whose
Mark Linkous produced his latest effort, Fear Yourself. But as
loved as Johnston is for his music, he is perhaps most famous for his
battle with manic depression, which simultaneously fuels his songwriting
and threatens to destroy it. Fear Yourself is the clearest
distillation of Johnston's genius as a songwriter and lyricist. Linkous,
along with engineer Alan Weatherland, laid down synthesized
orchestration, mellotron and keyboards around Johnston's simple but
classic compositions on piano and guitar. On "Mountain Top," Melissa
Moore contributes a gorgeous violin part that exalts the entire
two-minute punk-pop masterpiece. On "Syrup of Tears" Johnston sings,
"Depression has got me down/Drilling for the kill/It's too late to
suffer through/God I'll make you a deal/Just let me smile, a while for
real" as piano and crashing cymbals punctuate his plea, sung out of
tune, with his slight childlike lisp. Johnston, quite possibly, has one
of the worst singing voices in rock, but what's more remarkable is how
well it works with the oddball imagery, charmingly naïve observations
and of course Johnston's depiction of his inner turmoil. His voice
crystallizes the pain of his illness -- as the album title suggests --
an unimaginable state, where the most frightening place to be is in
one's own mind.
CHRISTINA SARACENO
(April 8, 2003)
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Now
Syrup Of Tears
Mountain Top
Love Enchanted
Must
Fish
Power Of Love
Forever Your Love
Love Not Dead
You Hurt Me
Wish
Living It For The Moment |
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rhythmshocker writes: |
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Rating:
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| Disagreed
with the RS Review |
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rolling stone once again underrates a
masterpiece of an album. fear yourself is a catchy/addictive album
that will slowly be discovered (no thanks to rolling stone's writeup)
and loved for years to come. |
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| { Oct. 7, 2003
| Post 2 of 2 }
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ShimmyDiscRUS writes:
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Rating:
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| Somewhat
Disagreed with the RS Review |
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Every so often a gem of an album appears,
an album that you almost want to hug for fear of forever losing it.
Daniel Johnston's 'Fear Yourself' (Sketchbook) is one of those rare
magical finds. Utterly honest, each songs is a biography of
Johnston's life which has seen him battle his innermost demons and
furthermore come out a living cult-legend. With Mark Linkous (Sparklehorse),
adding a glorious sheen to Johnston's innocent works, 'Fear
Yourself' seems to tug at the heartstrings. Johnston goes against
the norm and regularly defies those who seem to label him as a
tragic, fragile being, close to the edge. This album is a testament
that you can retain your true identity and yet still manage to
command respect and loyalty. Johnston has successfully endured a
musical career that has spanned over three decades. Something most
of us will never achieve in our entire lifetime. Listen and learn.
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{ Jul. 31, 2003
| Post 1 of 2 } |
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