These Are the Vistas was the second studio album released by the jazz trio The Bad Plus, and the band's first album for a major label (Columbia Records). The album was the listening public's first widespread opportunity to hear the band, which Jim Fusilli of the Wall Street Journal called a "jazz power trio with a rock-and-roll heart."[7] The album features several cover songs: Nirvana's "Smells Like Teen Spirit," Blondie's "Heart of Glass," and Aphex Twin's "Flim". In November 2009, NPR's All Songs Considered selected the album as one of the 50 "most important" recordings of the decade.[8]
| These Are the Vistas | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | ||||
| Studio album by | ||||
| Released | February 11, 2003 | |||
| Recorded | Real World Studios, September 30, 2002 - October 5, 2002 | |||
| Genre | Jazz | |||
| Length | 52:28 | |||
| Label | Columbia | |||
| Producer | Tchad Blake, The Bad Plus | |||
| The Bad Plus chronology | ||||
| ||||
| Aggregate scores | |
|---|---|
| Source | Rating |
| Metacritic | 81/100[1] |
| Review scores | |
| Source | Rating |
| AllMusic |   [2] |
| Entertainment Weekly | A−[3] |
| Pitchfork Media | (7.0/10)[4] |
| Rolling Stone | [5] |
| The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings |  [6] |
Production
editAccording to JazzTimes, producer-engineer Tchad Blake, "comes to [jazz] from the world of Los Lobos, Tom Waits and Pearl Jam" and "approaches These Are the Vistas with an ear for acoustic frictions. His firm but unobtrusive direction showcases the Bad Plus in a way that's somehow both huge-sounding and stripped-down."[9]
Track listing
edit| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Big Eater" | Reid Anderson | 3:53 |
| 2. | "Keep the Bugs Off Your Glass and the Bears Off Your Ass" | David King | 5:49 |
| 3. | "Smells Like Teen Spirit" | Kurt Cobain, Dave Grohl, Krist Novoselic | 5:57 |
| 4. | "Everywhere You Turn" | Anderson | 4:56 |
| 5. | "1972 Bronze Medalist" | King | 5:20 |
| 6. | "Guilty" | Ethan Iverson | 5:35 |
| 7. | "Boo-Wah" | Iverson | 3:55 |
| 8. | "Flim" | Richard D. James | 4:05 |
| 9. | "Heart of Glass" | Deborah Harry, Chris Stein | 4:47 |
| 10. | "Silence Is the Question" | Anderson | 8:11 |
| No. | Title | Writer(s) | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 11. | "What Love Is This" | Iverson | 4:07 |
Personnel
editReferences
edit- ^ "THESE ARE THE VISTAS by The Bad Plus". Metacritic. metacritic.com. Retrieved 14 March 2017.
- ^ Jarnow, Jesse. "Review: These Are the Vistas". Allmusic. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
- ^ Willman, Chris (2 May 2003). "Music Review: These Are the Vistas (2003) by The Bad Plus". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ Leone, Dominique (14 September 2003). "The Bad Plus: These Are the Vistas". Pitchfork Media. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
- ^ Fricke, David (20 March 2003). "The Bad Plus: These Are the Vistas". Rolling Stone. Archived from the original on September 30, 2007. Retrieved 2009-09-30.
- ^ Cook, Richard; Brian Morton (2008). The Penguin Guide to Jazz Recordings. The Penguin Guide to Jazz (9th ed.). London: Penguin. p. 56. ISBN 978-0-14-103401-0.
- ^ Fusilli, Jim (21 February 2003). "Music Review: 'These Are the Vistas' from The Bad Plus". All Things Considered. NPR Music. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ "The 50 Most Important Recordings: A-C". All Songs Considered. NPR Music. Retrieved 2009-11-18.
- ^ Chinen, Nate (March 2003). "Bad Plus: These Are the Vistas (Columbia Jazz)". JazzTimes. Retrieved 2009-11-18.