Right Away, Great Captain! - The Eventually Home (Review)
Album cover for The Eventually Home by Right Away, Great Captain!
Concept albums are tricky. Trying to create a musical concept story about a 16th century sailor spanning three records relying almost solely on a guitar and your voice is surely bordering on crazy. But with the recent release of The Eventually Home it looks like Andy Hull of Manchester Orchestra just might pull through with the plans he made for his solo-venture, Right Away, Great Captain!
The Eventually Home is the second record of the planned trilogy, and it picks up where the first, The Bitter End, left off with Captain I’m Fine and Thank You for Everything, in which our sailor’s captain left (died), and the sailor himself took over the captaincy of the ship.
Still tormented by the betrayal commited by his unfaithful wife and his own brother brother, the now captain of the ship continues to document his feelings as his homecoming and the realization of his plans to murder them both draws closer. The most noticeable trait of the new record compared to the first one are the obvious differences in production. The quality of the sound is better and more crisp, most likely on account of this one not being recorded by Hull himself alone in a 100 year old wooden hut, and it doesn’t come at the expense of the perceived authenticity of the songs.
The album gets off to a great start with Down To Your Soul, a lighthearted and catchy melody paired with reassurances aimed towards his brother that the antagonist is on his way home, and that his brother “will taste the salt in his lungs”. After this it continues with Devil Dressed in Blue , which is worth listening to if only for its catch chorus, and after playing Cutting Off the Blood to Ten you’ll find yourself angry without really knowing why, until you examine the lyrics: ” Finding both of you on the floor / realizing your bride’s a whore / really takes an enormous toll on your head “.
Andy Hull is setting sail as Right Away, Great Captain!
Once Like You is one of the less memorable moments of the record, certainly from bad lyrics, but compared to the quality of the rest of the songs it simply doesn’t reach the same level. Tracks number five and seven, What A Pity and Memories From A Shore respectively, both would be the type of tunes mainstream radio stations in a world with musical taste played day in and day out.
One of the strongest tunes on the album is number six, titled Father Brian Finn. The overdimensioned sound of the electric guitar makes it sound like a high school band is covering a powerpop ballad from the 80’s. I mean that in the best possible way, because it’s that aspect of the song coupled with a couple of the rare moments of the album where Hull actually stretches his voice that makes this song truly amazing.
Oh No, I Tried is another catchy composition, not special in any other sense than you will find yourself humming to it hours after actually listening to it. I Am A Vampire has to be Thom Yorke and Radiohead inspired, because it brings forth the same uncomfortable, but at the same time alluring feeling of madness that Climbing Up The Walls from OK Computer did. The conclusion to this chapter of the story of our sailor comes with I Was A Cage, a beautiful and heartbreaking admission of how our sailor currently feels, like a cage surrounding his wife, a wave collapsing her.
The Eventually Home gets 5 out of 6 Silent Sound Waves.
Compared to The Bitter End, which has fifteen songs, The Eventually Home and its ten songs might seem quite short, but that is actually a good thing. Unlike its predecessor, this record is devoid of all of the less interesting moments, and at the same time it’s the unity of the songs and the strength of the record as a whole that actually makes it just as good as it is.
If you are a fan of Manchester Orchestra, I recommend that you check out Right Away, Great Captain! as well. But be warned, don’t expect anything close to the rocked upbeat songs, but if you liked the acoustic b-sides, this will be just your cup of tea. His exploits with Right Away, Great Captain! won’t go platinum anytime soon, but while we wait for the Manchester Orchestra album that will give Andy Hull his rightful place among the stars, this album serves as a testament to the fact that he is already one of the greatest songwriters of his time.
You can purchase a digital copy of The Eventually Home from Amazon.
