AMIT first impressions

[jbaent]

Something that strikes me about this album is that all the songs are reflective, "serious". There are no humorous, distanced songs here. Even the ones that seem cheerful don't talk about anything optimistic. For me, there has been a change here. I love the darkness of MK.

The line about the wood for his guitar certainly made me laugh.

I don't know why folks think this line is cringy. This piece of info is too cool to leave it only for guitar nerds like us to discover. And it does give the song another dimension.
As MK put it: "I was trying to square this upsetting act of robbery with this intensely creative act of making a beautiful instrument."

I feel this type of literary device is like "breaking the fourth wall" in films or theater, i.e. where an actor suddenly speaks to the camera/audience. Personally it doesn't work for me. He does it in Heavy Fuel too ("That's why I wrote this song.")

If Mark wanted to show that there is some kind of balance between evil and good (or whatever), I think it's kind of odd to write a whole song about a terrible deed and then right at the end, "but look - something good came out of it!" Not very elegant, IMO.

Agree, if the whole song had been written like this it might be OK but it juts comes out of the blue and it's very jarring.

Agree, despite it's true that his guitar is made with that wood, it has nothing to do with the story he's telling.

[hunter v2.0]

You might as well write about some poor geezer toiling away in a cobalt mine in Congo and then at the end remark how the cobalt ended up "in the battery on my beautiful EQS 450" 

[Silvertown]

Something that strikes me about this album is that all the songs are reflective, "serious". There are no humorous, distanced songs here. Even the ones that seem cheerful don't talk about anything optimistic. For me, there has been a change here. I love the darkness of MK.

The line about the wood for his guitar certainly made me laugh.

I don't know why folks think this line is cringy. This piece of info is too cool to leave it only for guitar nerds like us to discover. And it does give the song another dimension.
As MK put it: "I was trying to square this upsetting act of robbery with this intensely creative act of making a beautiful instrument."

I feel this type of literary device is like "breaking the fourth wall" in films or theater, i.e. where an actor suddenly speaks to the camera/audience. Personally it doesn't work for me. He does it in Heavy Fuel too ("That's why I wrote this song.")

If Mark wanted to show that there is some kind of balance between evil and good (or whatever), I think it's kind of odd to write a whole song about a terrible deed and then right at the end, "but look - something good came out of it!" Not very elegant, IMO.

Agree, if the whole song had been written like this it might be OK but it juts comes out of the blue and it's very jarring.

Agree, despite it's true that his guitar is made with that wood, it has nothing to do with the story he's telling.

I like it. Storyteller highlighting the idea that redwood was used to support the tunnels.

[dmg]

Something that strikes me about this album is that all the songs are reflective, "serious". There are no humorous, distanced songs here. Even the ones that seem cheerful don't talk about anything optimistic. For me, there has been a change here. I love the darkness of MK.

The line about the wood for his guitar certainly made me laugh.

I don't know why folks think this line is cringy. This piece of info is too cool to leave it only for guitar nerds like us to discover. And it does give the song another dimension.
As MK put it: "I was trying to square this upsetting act of robbery with this intensely creative act of making a beautiful instrument."

I feel this type of literary device is like "breaking the fourth wall" in films or theater, i.e. where an actor suddenly speaks to the camera/audience. Personally it doesn't work for me. He does it in Heavy Fuel too ("That's why I wrote this song.")

If Mark wanted to show that there is some kind of balance between evil and good (or whatever), I think it's kind of odd to write a whole song about a terrible deed and then right at the end, "but look - something good came out of it!" Not very elegant, IMO.

Agree, if the whole song had been written like this it might be OK but it juts comes out of the blue and it's very jarring.

Agree, despite it's true that his guitar is made with that wood, it has nothing to do with the story he's telling.

Didn't they use that wood for the sleepers or something?

[Banjo99uk]

Something that strikes me about this album is that all the songs are reflective, "serious". There are no humorous, distanced songs here. Even the ones that seem cheerful don't talk about anything optimistic. For me, there has been a change here. I love the darkness of MK.

The line about the wood for his guitar certainly made me laugh.

I don't know why folks think this line is cringy. This piece of info is too cool to leave it only for guitar nerds like us to discover. And it does give the song another dimension.
As MK put it: "I was trying to square this upsetting act of robbery with this intensely creative act of making a beautiful instrument."

I feel this type of literary device is like "breaking the fourth wall" in films or theater, i.e. where an actor suddenly speaks to the camera/audience. Personally it doesn't work for me. He does it in Heavy Fuel too ("That's why I wrote this song.")

If Mark wanted to show that there is some kind of balance between evil and good (or whatever), I think it's kind of odd to write a whole song about a terrible deed and then right at the end, "but look - something good came out of it!" Not very elegant, IMO.

Agree, if the whole song had been written like this it might be OK but it juts comes out of the blue and it's very jarring.

Agree, despite it's true that his guitar is made with that wood, it has nothing to do with the story he's telling.

Didn't they use that wood for the sleepers or something?

They used the wood as supports for the tunnel. If I remember rightly, he said at the launch interview it was one of those songs that completes a circle. Hence the line about the wood for his guitar. He does go into alot of detail about it. Hopefully we’ll see the interview soon.

[goldenheart96]

Something that strikes me about this album is that all the songs are reflective, "serious". There are no humorous, distanced songs here. Even the ones that seem cheerful don't talk about anything optimistic. For me, there has been a change here. I love the darkness of MK.

Agreed, very reflective collection.
Also reMARKable how many train-related references can be found throughout the album and bonus songs. It often signifies the journey of life, the passage of time, and the interconnectedness of all things. 

I counted 8 songs that mention trains one way or the other:
- Two Pairs of hands
- Ahead of the Game
- Tunnel 13
- Watch Me Gone
- Sweeter Than The Rain (or Train?)
- Before My Train Comes
- One Deep River
- Nothing But Rain (or Train?)

Those train references remind me of Johnny Cash‘s American Recordings. Anyone else feels that way?

[koobaa]

Something that strikes me about this album is that all the songs are reflective, "serious". There are no humorous, distanced songs here. Even the ones that seem cheerful don't talk about anything optimistic. For me, there has been a change here. I love the darkness of MK.

The line about the wood for his guitar certainly made me laugh.

I don't know why folks think this line is cringy. This piece of info is too cool to leave it only for guitar nerds like us to discover. And it does give the song another dimension.
As MK put it: "I was trying to square this upsetting act of robbery with this intensely creative act of making a beautiful instrument."

I feel this type of literary device is like "breaking the fourth wall" in films or theater, i.e. where an actor suddenly speaks to the camera/audience. Personally it doesn't work for me. He does it in Heavy Fuel too ("That's why I wrote this song.")

If Mark wanted to show that there is some kind of balance between evil and good (or whatever), I think it's kind of odd to write a whole song about a terrible deed and then right at the end, "but look - something good came out of it!" Not very elegant, IMO.

Agree, if the whole song had been written like this it might be OK but it juts comes out of the blue and it's very jarring.

Agree, despite it's true that his guitar is made with that wood, it has nothing to do with the story he's telling.

Well, the point is that it has something to do with the story. The place is the connection, the wood is the connection. I imagine he used this Boswell guitar on that song. It's pretty powerful in my book.

OK, so I get that you don't like the directness of this line. Fair enough. I have to say I like this more direct MK. We have enough of those cryptic lyrics to scratch our heads about across his vast catalogue.

[Matchstickman]

The difference between Tunnel and Heavy Fuel is that HF is a tongue-in-cheek song told from the perspective of someone, a character song. So when he sings "That's why I wrote this song", it's the character speaking, but in Tunnel, it is Mark speaking. And while the rest of the song is told by a third person narrator, which could be Mark, there is nothing else in the song highlighting him in this way. I also find it jarring.

In addition, the final lines sound odd, do not really rhyme, and make little sense grammatically. The place in the song, where his guitar came from...?

It's a train wreck.

 

[stratmad]

I'm not sure, but, Mark being Mark, he may have intended these lines to sound odd, to create an effect.
The song starts with a neutral 3rd person storyteller, almost like a newspaper report, and in the last bit it suddenly gets very personal, first by listing the real names of the real victims (not those of the criminals!) and the widows and orphans, and then brutally transporting you back from that "place in the song" to the present.
It's almost as if he had only realised at the end of the song that it was a real crime committed on real people, by looking at the guitar in his hands. And there the redwood becomes a strong image, which reminds you of the bloodshed.
I don't think he's written a more empathetic song since "This is goodbye" and "Piper". It's the sort of song I can't listen to very often, because they're almost too emotional for me.

[Robson]

I'm not sure, but, Mark being Mark, he may have intended these lines to sound odd, to create an effect.
The song starts with a neutral 3rd person storyteller, almost like a newspaper report, and in the last bit it suddenly gets very personal, first by listing the real names of the real victims (not those of the criminals!) and the widows and orphans, and then brutally transporting you back from that "place in the song" to the present.
It's almost as if he had only realised at the end of the song that it was a real crime committed on real people, by looking at the guitar in his hands. And there the redwood becomes a strong image, which reminds you of the bloodshed.
I don't think he's written a more empathetic song since "This is goodbye" and "Piper". It's the sort of song I can't listen to very often, because they're almost too emotional for me.

Yes, that's my point of view too. An addictive song.

[hunter v2.0]

Went for a long walk tonight and listened to the album on headphones. It is not an uplifting album, that's for sure. I actually felt a little depressed when I came home. The music, the lyrics. This is the third time I've listened to it from start to finish. It will be a while until next time.

[stratmad]

It's the weather, I'm sure. 
Watch the new snippets from last Friday on his homepage, he was in such an uplifting mood!

[Robson]

Something that strikes me about this album is that all the songs are reflective, "serious". There are no humorous, distanced songs here. Even the ones that seem cheerful don't talk about anything optimistic. For me, there has been a change here. I love the darkness of MK.

Agreed, very reflective collection.
Also reMARKable how many train-related references can be found throughout the album and bonus songs. It often signifies the journey of life, the passage of time, and the interconnectedness of all things. 

I counted 8 songs that mention trains one way or the other:
- Two Pairs of hands
- Ahead of the Game
- Tunnel 13
- Watch Me Gone
- Sweeter Than The Rain (or Train?)
- Before My Train Comes
- One Deep River
- Nothing But Rain (or Train?)

Those train references remind me of Johnny Cash‘s American Recordings. Anyone else feels that way?

In "Sweeter Than The Rain" Mark reminds me of Johnny Cash.

[Mossguitar]

Many thanks for all the reviews and opinions, folks! It’s been a delight to read all of them. Espesially the ones that blame Guy for what’s wrong with MK

My opinion so far: Best MK solo album since Shangri-La. And the best vocals since Communique? Really warm and soulful, aren’t they?

[hunter v2.0]

My opinion so far: Best MK solo album since Shangri-La. And the best vocals since Communique? Really warm and soulful, aren’t they?

Agreed. Mark sings really well on this album.