Reasonable Disappointment or Unfair Expectations?

disappointment noun

1. a feeling of dissatisfaction that results when your expectations are not realized; "his hopes were so high he was doomed to disappointment"
2. an act (or failure to act) that disappoints someone

I am still kind of heartbroken by 3 releases from 2007. And these were releases I was desperately awaiting, anxiously biding my time for 3 of my favorite band's new records to come out. Now that I have a music blog, I can finally get this off my chest! The 3 big disappointments are:

Let's start with Arcade Fire. Funerals was a masterpiece. Almost every indie rocker in the world has the lyrics from the album memorized and intimately knows every single note of every single song. It would be an impossible feat to top Funerals. (Perhaps that is why Neutral Milk Hotel walked away after In the Aeroplane Over the Sea.) However, Neon Bible is almost like they weren't even trying. "Intervention" is a decent enough song. But the rest of the album feels like they rushed it or were under pressure to get another release out. And, don't hand me, "But, No Cars Go was a good song." It's drivel. The Wedding Present wrote that same basic song 10 times in their career and did it better every single time. So, maybe I am being unfair... In truth, I did want another Funerals. So, maybe I am being childish since I didn't get my own way. But, for me, this was a giant step backwards from one of my favorite bands. PS: Any time the mainstream media like Entertainment Weekly starts saying you are really great, you are totally screwed.

Clap You Hands Say Yeah's sophomore effort also seemed like a rush job! The self titled debut release is also one of those albums that just floors you. The first time I heard the bass kick in on "Let the Cool Goddess Rust Away" I melted and knew I was in love. Perhaps my biggest problem with Some Loud Thunder is the producer so royally screwed them over on the first track, the album was never able to catch up. None of the songs seem to have the same since of wonder of tracks like "The Skin of My Yellow Country Teeth" or "Upon This Tidalwave of Young Blood." I have a good friend who yells at me all the time about my feelings on this album. He says I'm stupid and that the songs, while not as catchy, are certainly more musically interesting and well done than the first album. Perhaps he is right. But, after listening to Some Loud Thunder at least ten times, I have to ask myself, "Is This Love?"

Stars In Our Bedroom After the War is colossally upsetting. I had no expectations that they would ever be able to recreate a song like "Your Ex-Lover is Dead." Everyone understands that song is one of those once in a lifetime creations that will endure for decades to come. However, what I did not expect is an exact recreation of the songs on the previous albums. Literally, you can take almost every song on this album and say, "Hey! Didn't they do this one on the last album?" The songs you can't do this to are the embarassing Torq sung torch songs that should never, ever, ever ,ever be allowed on any other release. If you have not heard Stars before, this is not such a bad album. But if you have time, energy, and emotion dedicated to this band over the last 4 or 5 years, then this album is a gigantic slap in the face. It's not awful or anything. It's just that we have heard it all before.

I will still go see all these bands play live. I still love them all to death. I just can't take it when I see bands I love go downhill when they have already proven they are capable of so much more.