Mumford & Sons – “Babel”

The Sleeve:

The Liner/Sleeve Notes:
No Liner Notes.

Personal Review:
 I’m not too big on current music, a lot of people know this. Like, just look at my collection! But awhile ago, a friend bought me this album as she thought I’d really enjoy. So, here we go.

 So, the album opens with the track “Babel” – and well, the musicianship is pretty great! I do enjoy the vocals on this track too. The musicianship is actually pretty awesome, I definitely love the chorus. The lead singer has a pretty neat voice too. Anyways, it’s then followed by “Whispers in the Dark” which has a pretty quiet start to it, but it comes to a nice start. Once again, pretty nice vocals – and well, it’s a good track. A little boring for me, but hey, it’s only one track so far, right? Well, the song does pick up, and makes out pretty nicely. It’s then followed by my favorite track on the album, “I Will Wait” – which has special meaning to me, (but we won’t get into why.) – anyways, the musicianship is absolutely superb, and the chorus is the most wonderful thing in the world. The song, to me, has the most meaning out of any other song on the album. Then the song “Holland Road” comes, and it starts off really slowly, it slowly begins to pick up. I definitely love the banjos. I think banjos may be in my top favorite instruments. The song is a little too slow for my liking. It’s followed by “Ghosts That We Knew” – and once more, it’s a little slow for my liking. Yup, definitely a little too slow for my liking. To be fair, the musicianship is pretty amazing though, the piano playing and guitar playing are definitely worth listening just for that. “Lover of the Light” ends the A-Side, it too, starts off rather slowly, I’m not a fan of slow songs – but hey, it slowly picks up. It’s an okay way to end the album, still not an album I prefer.

 The B-Side opens with “Lovers’ Eyes” – which too, starts off slowly. It’s a rather long song, not overly interesting. It’s followed by “Reminder” – which is a shorter, but still slow track. Still not really hitting it for me, but I can still vouch that the musicianship is pretty great. After that comes “Hopeless Wanderer” which starts off ever so slow, but then at about the half way point picks up into some fast paced guitar playing, and just is absolutely amazing, but in the music and lyrics. I’m definitely digging this musicianship. Up next comes “Broken Crown” – which is a slower starting song once, but it comes out pretty nicely. It’s one of the few slower songs on this album which aren’t completely boring. Oh hey, he said “fuck.” – was not expecting that. Then comes the track “Below My Feet” – another slow song, but hey, it too turns out to be a good track. Not much to complain about here. It’s definitely a good track. I definitely like the line “Let me learn from where I have been” – definitely a deep line. The album closes with with song “Not With Haste” – which is a slower song, but makes for an excellent ending track.

 Yup, that’s it.

Track Listing:
A1 – Babel
A2 – Whispers in the Dark
A3 – I Will Wait
A4 – Holland Road
A5 – Ghosts that We Knew
A6 – Lover of the Light

B1 – Lovers’ Eyes
B2 – Reminder
B3 – Hopeless Wanderer
B4 – Broken Grown
B5 – Below My Feet
B6 – Not With Haste

Interesting Fact:

Not so much an interesting fact, but it made me wanna do this…

“OH HEY YOU GUUUUUYS!”

Label:
Glassnote Entertainment Group

Catalog Number:
GLS-0130-01

Studio Musicians & Other Album Credits:
Produced by Robin Baynton
Mixed by Ruadhri Cushnan at Rhubarb
Mastered by Bob Ludwig at Gateway
Additional Engineering by Matt Lawrence & Greg Freeman
Recorded at Eastcote Studios, British Grove, Angelic, Rak, Last Dollar Studios. Soyuz, Grangeworks, The Odgers’ Chapel
Engineering Assistants – Dan Moyler, George Murphy, Rich Cooper, Tom Fuller & Pete Prokopiw, Garret Miller, Mario Leal, Robbie Nelson
Cello – Chris Allan
Violin & Viola – Nell Catchpole
Trumpet & Flugelhorn – Nick Etwell
Fiddle – Ross Holmes
Trombone – Dave Williamson
Managed by Adam Tudhope & Laura Taylor
Design & Art Direction by Ross Stirling
Photography – James Marcus Haney

Other Albums I Own by Mumford & Sons:
None.

Released:
2012

Related Vinyls:

Justin Hines – “How We Fly” America – “History: America’s Greatest Hits” John Sebastian – “Cheapo-Cheapo Productions Presents Real Live John Sebastian” Stringband – “The Maple Leaf Dog”