Product Description

Semisonic likes to craft happy, mid-tempo distorto-pop songs. Fear not, however--homogeneity rears not its bland face. While acoustic guitar is present throughout, this power triois adept at varying its textures; Moog, wah-wah guitar and a pretty string section make a happy marriage here. In his lower range, lead vocalist/guitarist Dan Wilson adds a Dave Matthews-esque flavour, while higher up one hears echoes of Bono and Elton John. His guitar lines are simple and evocative, yet reinforced with enough overdrive to feel naughty. "Never You Mind" opens with piano reminiscent of Beatles rompers like "Lady Madonna", generously lacquered with trippy synth whistles and bubbles. The infectious guitar riff on "California" (that's Ca-li-forn-Eye-ah) is a welcome companion to a song about home and volcanoes. Brimming with original popcraft, FEELING STRANGELY FINE is true to its title, rising above its plaintive undertone with a bittersweet sense of wonder.

Track Listing

1. Closing Time
2. Singing In My Sleep
3. Made To Last
4. Never You Mind
5. Secret Smile
6. DND
7. Completely Pleased
8. This Will Be My Year
9. All Worked Out
10. California
11. She Spreads Her Wings
12. Gone To The Movies

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13651 in Music
• Released on: 1999-07-12
• Number of discs: 1
• Running time: 51 minutes

Amazon.co.uk Review
College rock's been done by everyone from literate romantics to heads-down bar bands to power-pop hooksmiths... but seldom by bands who can be all three--and score hit singles to boot. And in Semisonic's native Minneapolis, where the career of shambolic nearly-men The Replacements looms over the music scene like the dead (drunk) hand of history, the success part of the equation is even less likely. Against the odds, then, this trio's gleamingly produced second album not only hit the charts in the States, where wryly-observed anthem "Closing Time" was tailor-made for festival audiences, but in the UK, where the purring, Hall & Oates-ish "Secret Smile" seduced radio listeners who'd barely heard of musical kindred spirits The Posies and Fountains Of Wayne.

Beyond the singles, though, even album tracks here get the balance of bar-band crunch and pop kid swoon just right. Stuffed with Todd Rundgren/Big Star-style hooks and harmonies, Feeling Strangely Fine has a Wilco-like grasp of the joys of pop songs about pop in the compilation-cassette love story of "Singing In My Sleep" and the infectious self-deprecation of "This Will Be My Year". In a rare case of Minnesota guys finishing first, the latter's prediction even came true. --Jennifer Nine

Customer Reviews

Great, slightly american
I'd actually completely forgotten about this band until I heard 'Closing Time' on The Simpsons. A little too American, but all good songs. I'd say they're not dissimilar to Rusted Root, so if you like them, you'll love Semisonic.

Brilliant
I bought this song after hearing the song 'closing time' in a pub. However the rest does not disappoint, the tunes are catchy, singalongable and consistantly well written.

The best songs in my opinion are: closing time, singing in my sleep, secret smile and DND.

This album quickly became one of my favourites and most played.

This is music...
In my opinion, this is the best album i have ever heard. (To put this into perspective, i usually only enjoy heavy rock, but this is an exception). It's a mix of chilled out music and upbeat catchy tunes, which hook you, regardless of your taste. To compliment the tune the lyrics are intelligent and life-like. I think this is their best album out of the 3.