Neutral Milk Hotel: In the Aeroplane Over the Sea

If I were to make a list of essential albums you must hear before you die, this would be high on the list. Some of the lyrics on this just break my little boy heart. *tear* The title song has the ability, no matter where I am, to make me look around in amazement that I exist at all... that I'm having a conversation and someone is understanding me... that out of all the shit that could have happened in the universe, I'm here, alive, in this exact moment in time. Pretty heavy stuff huh? It's funny because on first listen this album was not that impressive to me....but with time, reflection, and repeat listens, it ended up being one of my favorites. I think most people (myself previously included) overlook this album because of the crazy "I LOOOOVE YOU JESUS CHRIST" opening on the second song. Once you get he's kind of half joking, really using Jesus Christ as an exclamation. Like "I love you, Damnit!" things get a lot more interesting from there. You start to realize it's not a religious album, but a spiritual journey. A journey that ventures through the dreams of Magnum's head, revealing this sad, beautiful and horrific world that he has painted for us. It's a shame that Magnum abandoned music after this album. Like a musical J.D. Salinger, he gives us a few gems and vanishes to a life of obscurity.




In the Aeroplane Over the Sea