The best music your friends never heard of!
D. Robinson | Rising Sun, IN United States | 08/22/2007
(5 out of 5 stars)
"To hear The The twice is to love The The forever! You will put this on, friends will raise an eyebrow and you won't care! Dusk is great for a rainy night, feeling introspective or just quiet time by yourself. I also love it on long road trips. Matt Johnson is a talent too long overlooked or unknown by most. Maybe the M&M's commercial will bring him a whole new audience.
Personally, Love is Stronger Than Death is my favorite welcome to the Springtime song."
Not one non-5star review...and for good reason
Camden Furse | Salt Lake City, UT, USA | 11/01/2008
(5 out of 5 stars)
""Dusk" falls right behind "Soul Mining" as The The's greatest achievement. While every lyric Matt Johnson writes is true to life and amazing, this brings out his most darkest and depressing life frustrations, and it really shines.
It's clear Johnson was going through some very hard times in his life when he wrote this music. Love, death, and his continuing struggle to find his place that we've known since his earlier work. Loss, lust, love, lonliness, and darkness are all many recurring themes in his work, and they ring great in this album with a very underground-rock sound, a hint of jazz, and a melancholy sound that really can't be described.
I will unashamedly admit this is one of the few albums that can bring me to tears by lyrics alone. "True Happiness This Way Lies" and "Bluer Than Midnight" are enough to kill someone. The lyrics "the only true freedom is freedom from the heart's desires" and "why can't love ever touch my heart like fear does?" catch me everytime no matter how often I hear them. Then you have "Love is Stronger Than Death" and "Slow Emotion Replay", which have great music and equally thought-provoking lyrics. "Dogs of Lust" and "Sodium Light Baby" being the only true upbeat songs on the album which counterbalance the rest perfectly. "This is the Night" and "Helpline Operator" tell fascinating stories which probably ring out of Johnson's life as well but are told very interestingly. We have "Lung Shadows"...oh, boy. Some of the darkest music truely ever made. An instrumental masterpiece. It all comes together with "Lonely Planet", a song that I don't care for as much for seeming a little cheesy-inspirational "We are the World" kinda thing, but nonetheless still have Matt Johnson's poetic charm that can't be ignored.
This is the album when you have seen the dark side of love, life, and everything in between. When you think you've hit rock bottom, listen to this piece of work and know that somewhere out there, many people including Matt Johnson, and myself, know exactly what the feelings are like."
Music that will stay with you...
Laura Upton | 05/31/2009
(5 out of 5 stars)
"This is The The's best work, in my opinion. Dogs of Lust, Love is Stronger Than Death, and Helpline Operator are my favorites. Matt Johnson's wonderfully haunting voice, mixed with the harmonica riffs and sexy elextric guitar make for perfect listening pleasure. This is one piece of work that you won't get enough of. Absolutely love it."