i remember when this was getting all kinds of Mercury Prize hype and i picked it up expecting something typically britpop and boring, only to be pretty much blown away by the fact that it delivered. i remember thinking that this guy had come out of absolutely nowhere (i mean, i'd heard about the eps but kind of ignored it), but then his subsequent efforts have been to me pretty bland. listening to it now on this gray morning and i'm still blown away.

Agreed. I love that album. I listen to it 1-2 times a month, at least. The subsequent releases have been somewhat (AAB OST) to very (HYFTF, 1+1) disappointing to me, however.

The British version of Ben Folds for me. Mind blowing and astonishing first record and one brutal disappointment after another since. Have you ever had the misfortune of a BDB live show?

I listened to it first time in a long time last week. Don't know why I don't listen to it more often cause yeah its damn good.

I'm one of only a few that actually enjoys his live shows. I've seen him 3 or 4 times, the first of which was a fantastic 3 hour set where he played the entirity of Bewilderbeast, and many covers. He can get a bit chippy with the crowd, which definitely deters from the continuity of his shows, but I find it entertaining. And when he's on, he can put on a hell of a show.

i've always thought his stuff sounded pretty much a springsteen/money mark hybrid.

It's pretty terrific. I do like About A Boy also.

He's pretty notorious for giving pretty bad shows although I'm glad to hear that TDM has had a different experience.

Steve

love that record.
well , i did until his dismal performance at Bimbos in SF 3-4 years ago. Absolute turn-off. All he did was run around. yes you heard me correctly, run around saying "how lucky" we were to be in his presence. "i feel sorry for you because I'm british and you're not". WTF
the more he prattled on, the more he dug himself a deeper hole.
in a way i didn't blame him becasue he's obviously an alcoholic (of the worst variety) and was definitely in need of some help. hopefully he's gotten some since.

POORLY RENDERED CHARACTER

I saw him on his most recent tour, and he was stone cold sober(or at least appeared to be). He put on a great show, with no bickering or annoying interuptions. Maybe he has gotten some help with his problem.

I saw him on his Hour of... Tour and thought it was the most boring show ever. He later redeemed himself at an Amoeba in-store performing songs from "About A Boy" -- he couldn't have been more charismatic. It was quite an enjoyable 30 minutes.

Excellent album - it's really hard to understand how he so quickly lameified afterward. I thought that AAB was enjoyable, and that the break from the style of HOB was for the purposes of creating a suitable soundtrack. Apparently it was just the beginning of the end.

My opinion is that BDB is yet another victim of LizPhair-ism, and by that I mean his debut wasn't all that shit hot but it got disproportionately praised, and subsequently everything else he's done has only seemed inferior.

I sold Bewilderbeest a few weeks after I bought it (I figured it'd be best to avoid the rush). It was just all right - I didn't hate it - but to my ears it was like World Party without the songcraft. Just. Sorta. Nice. And yet it was constantly getting reviews that insisted on using the word genius to describe it. At that point it was obvious the dude was doomed.

I love HOB but he's fallen off the map for me since then. I bought AAB and thought it was ok but haven't pursued more.

His finest hour may be Nursery Rhyme with Unkle

I can only imagine a completely baked Devendra baked offstage watching Gough melt down.