When Ida's I Know About You was released, you could mentally cross Rainer Maria with Low and have a reasonable approximation of the band's emphatic, unpredictable sound. They were angry young music geeks, down and out a... more »nd unafraid of expressing punk sentiments in an intricate wash of piano, cello, violin, and acoustic guitar. The band added a permanent member and hit its stride for the stellar follow-up, Ten Small Paces, but stumbled shortly thereafter, losing a member and switching labels twice before landing on Tiger Style. Too bad for Tiger Style that Ida seemed to hit the breaking point in those transitional years. The band members still play and sing like virtuosos, but dirges comprise the best moments of their most recent albums, while pop songs provide the worst. On The Braille Night, tempo also is inversely proportional to lyrical quality, leaving toe-tappers like "Blizzard of '78" with bland lyrics like "You can't shake this silent stare / In your heart you're just not there / You're a thousand miles from here / You just want to disappear." Any recommendation of Ida is likely based on the band's older albums. New to their sound? Lay a foundation with that more varied material before picking this one up. --Sarah Sternau« less
When Ida's I Know About You was released, you could mentally cross Rainer Maria with Low and have a reasonable approximation of the band's emphatic, unpredictable sound. They were angry young music geeks, down and out and unafraid of expressing punk sentiments in an intricate wash of piano, cello, violin, and acoustic guitar. The band added a permanent member and hit its stride for the stellar follow-up, Ten Small Paces, but stumbled shortly thereafter, losing a member and switching labels twice before landing on Tiger Style. Too bad for Tiger Style that Ida seemed to hit the breaking point in those transitional years. The band members still play and sing like virtuosos, but dirges comprise the best moments of their most recent albums, while pop songs provide the worst. On The Braille Night, tempo also is inversely proportional to lyrical quality, leaving toe-tappers like "Blizzard of '78" with bland lyrics like "You can't shake this silent stare / In your heart you're just not there / You're a thousand miles from here / You just want to disappear." Any recommendation of Ida is likely based on the band's older albums. New to their sound? Lay a foundation with that more varied material before picking this one up. --Sarah Sternau
Colin J. Kenniff | Lancaster, PA United States | 08/03/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"For close to 10 years Ida have steadily put out record after record of unbelievable material. "Braille Night" is no exception. This album showcases some of the finest songwriting the band has ever seen, and in my opinion the songs flow more smoothly than "Will You Find Me". All these songs hold something incredible to them. Go out and buy it now."
Pretty Good, but not Ida at its best
rob | worcester, ma USA | 04/14/2003
(4 out of 5 stars)
"The Braille Night is the fourth of Ida's albums i've bought, so i'm comparing it to Will You Find Me, Ten Small Paces, and Tales of Brave Ida. I would rank Braille Night a little bellow these other three (Will You Find Me is my favorite). I find that after listening to the Braille Night for a week it lacks the depth and different textures of their other albums, though it does have a certain "echoy" and spacious quality to it. Though the album is a little bit of a bore compared to other Ida albums there are some top notch Ida tunes here, including "Lets Go Walking" and "So Long". Overall this is a good album and if you're an Ida definately buy it because this is truly an "Ida" album as only they could create."
A great album
Mark | 03/30/2005
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I notice that a lot of Ida's fans are really into folk in general. That said, I come from a different standpoint. I like rock. My favorite bands are the Smashing Pumpkins, Stereolab, Pink Floyd, Beatles, Radiohead, etc.
So with that out of the way, Ida is up there in my top five bands as the lone folk group I listen to at all. And this album is...well, it's a great album, but it's probably their worst. It follows Will You Find Me, which is a really tough act to follow, and it's just kind of nudged in between that and Heart Like a River, which I found to be a giant step up from The Braille Night. But it is not a bad album at all; certain songs on it are among Ida's best, like "Arrowheads" and "Moves Through the Air." "Blizzard of '78" is the album's hardest track, and it's a good track, but it's nowhere even close to "Turn Me On," which was Will You Find Me's hardest track.
Aside from comparisons, if you like Ida, and this is the only CD on the shelf, it's a great buy. If any other Ida albums are present, go with whatever else there is (you'd be lucky to find any single Ida on a shelf)."
Masterpiece
John Malloy | South Berwick, ME USA | 07/23/2001
(5 out of 5 stars)
"I have been a casual Ida fan for the last couple of years and have loved everything I've heard by them. I picked this one up not expecting much due to the other reviews on amazon. I expected a mediocre album. What I got was perhaps one of the finest albums of the band's career. The album's instrumental portions are AMAZING and the songwriting is some of their best. The song "So Long" is worth the 15 bucks alone, but honestly, this colection is priceless. If you are hesitant about buying this due to the previous reviews, I urge you to pick it up regardless. It might be the best album you buy all year."
Not their best, but still pretty good
brian | virginia | 06/13/2001
(4 out of 5 stars)
"I'm a huge Ida fan, so it's pretty hard for me to write too many bad things about this album. The overall songs & sound are pretty much what you'd expect from Ida...the 3-part harmonies, layered guitars, stand up bass, keys, etc. Some of the ads said that this cd was supposed to be "darker" in sound but I don't think it's any darker than any of their other albums. It does feel a lot more like a "winter" album to me. I'd say that The Braille Night songs tend to sound a bit more like leftovers from Will You Find Me...there are a couple of shorter instrumentals, and a few other tracks that feel more like song segments than songs. But, there are a few all-time great Ida songs...Arrowheads is another excellent Karla song, So Long has a great guitar line running through it, and Blizzard of '78 picks up the pace quite a bit compared to the typical Ida song. Those three songs alone made it worth buying for me. I would definitely recommend this to Ida fans, and would suggest that anyone else pick up I Know About You or Will You Find Me before getting this one."