Mac Demarco - Salad Days ALBUM REVIEW
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- Опубликовано: 10 фев 2025
- Listen: • Mac DeMarco // "Passin...
2 part 2.
What did you think of this album? Love it? Hate it? Why? What should I review next, eh?
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FAV TRACKS: BLUE BOY, PASSING OUT PIECES...
LEAST FAV TRACK: LET MY BABY STAY
MAC DEMARCO - SALAD DAYS / 2014 / CAPTURED TRACKS / JANGLE POP, PSYCHEDELIC (SORT OF) POP, SLEEPY POP,
5/10
Y'all know this is just my opinion, right?
SHOUTOUTS!
This album isn't a 5/10, but that hair is
Rog Swanson Opinions, right?
Roger Wayne lol not even a 5... what grown man who wants to be taken seriously dyes his hair like that? Looks like a pretentious hipster to me. Probably bashes other people's music tastes and brags about his vinyl collection.
Roger Wayne You do know a 5/10 is pretty good when it comes to Anthony's ratings, right
well said xD
Focusing on appearance instead of actual important things, how mature
I THOUGH HE HAD A TORITILLA ON HIS HEAD AS A JOKE FOR THE FIRST 10 SECONDS HAHAHAHAHA
Bob Saget I was bouta comment that exact same thing ahaha
Omg I thought he had a slice of cheese on his head
hahahaha i thought that shit was a banana
this is exactly what i was thinking wtf
lmao i thught it was alao a joke but had thought it was brwad with the crust cut off
'Blue boy, worried bout his haircut
Calm down, sweetheart
Grow up.'
Damn
Damn you f*cking killed him
no way
@SoapyGuy64 sup
@@alphalax7747 hello :)
The demons made him rate it 5/10
Huh
This is an s tier comment.
The demon wants a lawyer lol
Nahhhh this is crazy
IHE parody lol
Chamber of Reflection is a great track.
yeah, strange that he doesn't mention it.
What about salad days
This whole reply section is people agreeing it was a great record
Reflecting on Anthonys hair
amazing*
I cannot believe how badly this review aged. This is one of the classic albums of its era😂
I respect his opinion, but this album is at least solid light to decent 7.
Anthony, I give your hair in this video 3/10
Just like Anthony gave here comes the cowboy lmao
Aged like wine
no mention of Chamber?! caw?!
no, sorry, my son.
+Lucien Fleurier I understand your pain. it's my favourite track.
+theneedledrop Anthony, you may not show it but I know you luh this shit mane
@@theneedledrop This is the first time I've ever seen you reply to a comment
@@theneedledrop dear Anthony, were you going through a slim shady phase during this recording? I am glad your bald now
Blue Boy helped me with my anxiety.
BLUE BOY IS LIFE
Space Lizard the track brother was the one who helped me with that I was in 9th grade and everything was going to shut
same but now every time i hear it my mind instantly goes back to those sad times
I think the reason this has so many dislikes is because fans realize that some people won't even give Mac a chance because of this review, and that is a real shame
coming from someone named moriarty lol
weeds out the douche pickles...
what are you even talking about
source?
nah
you missed the boat on this one, Fandango. strong 7 for me on this.
I love every song by Mac. I respect your opinion but damn Mac's a legend, helped me through some tough times.
yeah, feel the same way. Dudes music really got me trough my service in army.
Why is everyone so upset?? I love the album as much as all of you, but people watch Anthony's reviews because he is HIGHLY critical and acutely attuned to detail. For me, kicking back with Mac and a spliff is perfection, but I wouldn't expect the critics to think it's perfect music.
Shamus Leckie Invite me over sometime 'kay? You're awesome!
Shamus Leckie
melons don't have taste in music
heck they don't even have a brain
how do you expect a melon to understand?
If only he was as acutely tuned to his own biases.
No, but Melon is the epitome of biased, and he hides it behind a guise of professionalism using opinionated reasoning mascurated as objected fact. As an example, he was very angry at Ethan Kath of Crystal castles for saying Alice Glass was just a vocalist for his band and had little to no impact on the sound of the band. Melon was very sure that alice glass was a heavy influence on the sound of CC. Low and behold he gives the new CC album without Alice Glass a very low score even though it sounds like every other CC album. He then gives Alice Glass's debut album a much higher score despite it being nothing like a CC album and the songs all being widely considered by former CC fans as not very good, in my opinon almost hard to listen to. This is one recent example but if you follow him at all, these kinds of trends are visible.
JoJo he doesn’t hide it at all. Melon knows he’s biased and he even tries to tell us when he says “you know this is just my opinion right” in literally EVERY review. Get over it buddy
I initially didn't like this record but after more and more listens, this thing easily grew on me. Chamber of Reflection has the nicest synth chords I've heard all year.
Louis Addeo-Weiss so vintage-y and warm
Louis Addeo-Weiss Too bad he didn't actually write them.
alex mendez :D shigeo sekito
Mason Brown sampled
He did actually
anthony y is ur shirt stretched out did u have a wild night
Cal probably tried to put it on over his snap-back
wave climber it couldn't stretch over his big headed personality.
Wow, this is surprising. Salad Days is pretty incredible. Big step up from 2.
April 1st was yesterday
e8ghtmileshigh1 Anthony seems pretty sincere here to me. I could be wrong, but I don't think this is an April Fool's joke.
RossardJames You misinterpreted my comment
the fact that 'chamber of reflection' was completely unmentioned baffles me. it's nothing like mac's typical sound and imo is one of the highlights of the album.I personally felt like salad days was a big step up from 2 and enjoyed it a lot more.
i'd give it a solid 8.5/10
Damn that was harsh. I personally love this album. It's not perfect but I found it very enjoyable.
If an artist makes a great first record, and makes more of the same on the second one, does that make it bad, necessarily?
I could be wrong, but I feel like that would be the equivalent of making the same album twice, with different lyrics. Which would be a total waste of people's Peoples(s?) time.
***** Yeah to each their own you know? I'd much like to see growth than a some continuation. Even if the growth is minor.
lol I actually had that exact album in mind while writing that comment.
Its a very fine line. I mean, some bands have created their legacy by expanding and elevating their ideas on second and third albums, and we often expect that out of promising artists. But others have crashed in spectacular fashion by going too big and ambitious on follow-up albums(Bloc Party). It s very difficult but I don't think its disastrous to exhaust a particular style of music/vibe if it was successful the first time around. Real Estate I think succeeded on Atlas with basically a continuation of Days; if you have relevant and interesting things to say with your music, it's inconsequential to me if its the exact style you explored on the previous album. The result is more important than the particular execution or methodology you use.
depends on how the execution of the songwriting and the music is like. Beach House have had the same sound through out their entire discography but they are still able to maintain interesting hooks and good diversity with each album they've done so far
Welp, we disagree. This album is great.
This is what happens when someone reviews albums out of their interests, Salad Days and 2 are amazing albums in my opinion. Its healing music for most and ill listen to them for a LONG time. A lot of my friends don't seem to get it, but I think that's because they've never been through soul crushing experiences before. The words are what resonate the most for me. Mac is healing people whether he knows it or not.
Couldn't have said it better
+Dean Moriarty i wouldnt call it deep, but his characteristics and personality can bring many anxious people at ease and hes a bomb ass role model so mac is important af for our time
+Dean Moriarty le deep philosophical music extraordinaire, back to rym you fucking drone
+Dean Moriarty show us some deep musicians, I'd love to listen to. Mac isn't deep but he generally writes about love. Have you listened to Carrie and lowel by sufjan Stevens because that kind of music makes me cry
I personally loved this album. I can see where you're going with the whole needs more variety thing, but I feel like the easy going thing gives this album a constant theme. It serves and single purpose does it fantastically. I'm also really into more psychedelic stuff so the instant the track chamber of reflection came on it kept my interest in the album. Furthermore, I actually think Mac is a very underrated vocalist. You can especially see this in his live work. In a world where much of music is very fast and upbeat, it's nice to hear something so relaxing.
I think you missed the point of how he did his heartbreaking songs. Mac doesn't want to express the sad "woe is me" emotions through heart break. Instead, he wants to convey relief, comfort, and an ongoing melody. They represent how the heart, life and time move on and heal.
+Dean Moriarty it's not lazy.
you got it all wrong dude
I'm actually offended by your hair.
Melon, did the demons tell you to get that haircut?
Huh
People were complaining about there not being a mention of Chamber of Reflection when this video came out, 8 years later and in retrospect they didn't know how right they were. It just gets more and more popular each year somehow, it's actually an enormous song. It foreshadowed the direction his sound would go.
God was Melon fucking unbearable 9 to 5 years ago, he’s mellowed out quite a bit but I think he really cared about his street cred and liking Demarco when this album came out was seen as uncool in his circles, how can you possibly not mention chamber of reflections, it’s insane
Salad Days is Mac Demarco's "I have been on tour for a year and I'm tired" album.
copying pitchfork I see
luis rodriguez Hence the quotation marks.
.
***** ...Actually... You didn't cite the source where the quote came from, and according to many literary sites such as Purdue owl (owl.english.purdue.edu/owl/resource/747/02/) , Without the proper citation it can result in you plagiarizing a body of work or text so technically you did copy pitchfork... served
luis rodriguez considering youtube is pretty informal he didnt have to cite his sources, its as easy as using quotaion marks.
i understand it’s his opinion, but I find it very interesting how anthony didn’t see any of the songs as “single” value. every single one of these songs could be used a strong single for any artist (maybe except brother). we’re just lucky he made an entire album of catchy tunes. plus this was mac demarco at his peak in terms of this sound he created.
If you disagree with this, then so be it. I know I do, but I love both albums so much that I don't really care, I listen to both of them all the time. Personally I like Salad Days over 2, but all in all I would think Mac could care less. He's a solid dude who makes solid music.
Everyone bitches when artists change their style, and then they bitch whenever they don't switch it up. I think Macs entire catalogue is bomb, and never gets old. To each his own
you can't win
This doesn't make much sense to me Anthony. Beach House is a group I love that hasn't drastically altered their approach for years, similar to Mac Demarco. Yet you gave them a positive review on their last several records. I'm not saying Beach House is bad just seems like a bit of a double standard to me, especially considering I think Demarco's songwriting here is just as sharp as it was on 2.
At the end of the day it all depends on the songwriting if two artists sound similar and the preference. If he doesn't like Mac Demarco's stuff, then he doesn't like it, and although I like this LP, some of his points make perfect sense to me.
It seems like Anthony and I never agree on albums
same for me man
I’m feeling a light 1 on this hairstyle.
Man I remember why hated this dude 10 years ago, dude was the physical representation of 🤓 he’s definitely better now but god was he just so up his own ass. This album and the one before it literally inspired a whole new generation of kids and permanently changed the indie music landscape to this day and he’s so blind to it he genuinely thinks this was going to be the end of his career, he then proceeds to say it’s bad for sounding like 70s radio rock despite him praising Ariel Pink for that like a few months ago before this review but it's different somehow, glosses over all the genere defining songs on the album and then gives it 5, crazy.
As a huge Mac Stan, I have to agree. I've been listening to Salad Days since the leak and thought it would grow on me like 2 did, but in retrospect, I still think 2 is the better album. I like Salad Days for what it is and what it represents at this point of Mac's life/career, but as just an album to listen to, 2 has so much more replayability. I think Salad Days is a light 6 personally. Also, seeing Mac in T-minus 3 hours ^_^
After seeing Mac, the show was slightly underwhelming. I feel like many tracks from Salad Days do not translate well live as much as the tracks from 2 and Rock and Roll Nightclub do. To be honest, the most enjoyable parts of his short-lived set were the tracks from 2. But all in all, I am still super stoked I got to see the man in person, and I think he's a great performer and excellent human being. One love.
anyways, CLOUD NOTHINGS CLOUD NOTHINGS CLOUD NOTHINGS CLOUD NOTHINGS
If people keep requesting it, he's gonna give it a shit review. He does that all the time.
actually no, a lot of people wanted his opinion on Benji and he gave it a 9/10 so get outta here fuckboi
k
Bradley Tiffin "fuckboi"
YOUR APPROPRIATION OF AAVE TRIGGERS ME
I think for an "album review" the album itself is more much more important than the artist's progression. otherwise i enjoy the insight
Chamber of reflection is probably the best track he ever did
Don't dislike just because you disagree, if you feel like the review wasn't good, then you dislike. I personally thought this was a great review, very in-depth and informative. I haven't heard the record, but at least I know what Anthony's opinion is, and that's what matter about this channel. He gives his opinion, and you're not forced to agree, but you cant tell somebody their opinion is incorrect. Opinions are subjective.
We know he tells the truth because of the Boards of Canada pic
Vismund Floyd I agree that Tomorrow's Harvest is one of their weaker releases, Campfire Headphase is my favorite BoC album, and one my all-time favorite albums. The only reason why it's still Tomorrow's Harvest is because I changed it to that when it first came but, but I'm too lazy to change it.
Vismund Floyd Das your opinion boi. I thought Seero liked it a lot contrary to Fantano, which would fortify his initial comment about disagreeing, but not being butthurt about it. The fact that he somewhat agrees with you... well... poopball
I disliked because I disagreed. Fuck your gay rules
jacob lahr plarp
5/10? No single power? Flash forward 10 years later, Salad Days is considered one of the best indie rock albums of the 2010s, and has some of Mac's most popular songs. He definitely needs to revisit this one
the like/dislike bar always spoils the review/note ;_;
Not only he gave it a 5/10, his least favourite track is "let my baby stay"... oh my
I agree, it was a step down from 2.
Your picture makes your comment that much better
I Immediately had to check rating, I was mad after that, saw like to dislike ratio, I was pleased.
fat
MAN Boy fat
Almost 10 years later and Chamber Of Reflection is constantly being covered and used on all social media. Even Fantano made a cover of it recently lmao this review aged terribly
It aged like a turd in 2023 Arizona
Reading the interviews previous to the release, I didn't expect anything less from this album. The fact he's been continuously touring, perhaps had a few disagreements with Captured Tracks therefore rushing the recording process and release, as well as in general just looking shattered, I hope after his next mammoth tour he can take a breather before coming out with something bolder and more engaging. I'm sure he will, and although I think salad days is agreeably fairly dull, it's personally great and aspirational to have an act release material consistently without having the worry of it needing to be hugely successful time and again
yes, a friend of mine was talking to me about this whole thing just after i finished writing the review. it's sad to hear that mac can't head to wherever he wants artistically.
You've nailed it on the head, I read all the interviews leading up to the release and I can see why the album ended up the way it did, I recall him describing the mood of the album as just being "Fuck man! I was just on tour for a year and a half and I'm tired!". I hope he gets his energy back and comes out with something a bit more bold, perhaps bringing back some of the experimentation that was going on in Rock and Roll Nightclub in the process?
chamber of reflection is his best work to date no doubt, his synth tracks were the best thing about salad days and i hope he pursues it further and incorporates it well with his trademark guutar
Now I understand why people hate Fantano. It's because he's wrong and doesn't know anything. Now I see. Now it's clear
This dude likes Swans and Death Grips but doesn't like Mac? Lolok
Those are the two groups you mention to compare to mac demarco lolok
imma chang ur opinin I just picked the shittiest musicians I could think of.
+kylecomplains I see we have an ((edgelord))
I see we have a ((guy trying to argue on the internet))
pretty great artists, yeah?
Chamber of reflection is Mac’s most popular track, currently reaching 7 million streams on Spotify and was easily the most ear catching song when salad days dropped (even wiz Khalifa sampled it), yet it somehow goes unmentioned in this review
*800 million
In my opinion, this is my favourite album of all time. There are so many songs on this album that I can not get out of my head and I would go as far and say every song on this album is great and cannot fault them and all have their own spark to them in some way. Maybe its the message that some of the songs have or its the catchy riffs or melodic vibe the songs give of, either way if I could pick any album to chill out and just forget about my day it would be this one.
i don't think mac is the type of guy who really cares about anything much, i get the impression that he's just making music and putting it out there.
Its’s been 9 years and this is still an L review
As a guitarist I think that Mac doesn't even come close to the amount of respect he should have for his progressions, key changes and interesting jazz variations. I think he was more aware of what he was doing on this album and its a chill album. Mac is good for car rides and sitting outside during the summer with a Popsicle. I'm not expecting A groundbreaking record from a guy whose whole philosophy of music is to be a goof and have fun. Mac Demarco forever. Strong 7/10
how dare you
i can’t get over his haircut 😭
you didn't like chamber of reflection? that song definitely has single quality.
How did this guy not like Chamber of Reflection?
Anthony's music opinions are even worse than his hair, a decent to strong 1/10
I think Anthony confused Brother with Blue Boy @ 4:25
ThomasEatsPomus yes sure thing
ThomasEatsPomus Exactly. Thats what i was thinking. haha
This album is easily a 9
I enjoy 2's instrumentals more than salad days, but I feel Mac Demarco put more of his deep true feelings in salad days. Instead of just enjoying 2's instrumentals and catchy lyrics, now I can listen to salad days and relate to the lyrics and the different tonality of each song with anything that is going on in my life. My opinion 7/10 on music standpoint and 9/10 on a Demarco fan standpoint.
Dude this is objectively wrong man
As much as of an expansion of 2 salad days was, you gotta give Mac some credit for "Chamber of Reflection" brother! It sounds like nothing else he's ever done!
Personally I loved Mac's work on this salad days here. I heard in the future's he's gonna go for a more "different" sound, so who knows
who pulled a prank on him and put a slice of cheese on his head?
I politely disagree. Songs on Salad Days may fade quickly but the short run time has me hitting repeat instead of searching for something different. This is due to the intense honesty of the tracks. Mac's outlook on life really shines through more than not. It's different but not so divergent that it throws an already established fan base off, while managing to recruit new fans all the same. It's bite sized, beautiful, and smart. I'm excited to see where he goes from here.
theres one or two so-so tracks on the album but for me its maybe my favourite of the year, brilliant album
What did you think of To Be Kind?
Daniel Rauch i havent given it my full attention yet, looking forward to it
Anthony, you're looking at it all wrong. Mac isn't the type of person to constantly be trying to get better. He just lives and writes whatever comes to his mind, and people like listening to it. That's all there is.
Anthony you're the man but haha seriously I can't not say anything about the hair. It looks freaking silly as all get out man.
His name is now "thelemondrop"
finally, someone who shares my opinion! honestly i was really disappointed by this album, especially in comparison to his previous works. i'm hoping that it'll grow on me after i see him live next month but it's just not doing much for my ears right now.
all of you seriously need to stop getting on his case because of the new hair color.
Biggest disagree with Anthony ever. This album is a classic
8/10
Anthony,it seems to me, (and i've been watching for over 3 years) that it could be said that you see an artist's song as a sentence, and an album as a paragraph, and a career as an essay. Which would help explain why it seems you rated this LP so mildly.
In an essay i would call two paragraphs that say the same thing with different words lazy and 'bad writing', but in terms of music, or poetry, it's not as simple and of course, not as objective. All this to say, i found enough variation on this collection of 'sentences' to fill my Demarco fix for the time being(i find his simplicity downright confounding). I wonder if you agree with this metaphor for your musical intake philosophy? Thanks for the review, always enjoy 'em. I donated. Later.
I listened to it, thought 'meh', read the pitchfork review, couldn't understand their eulogizing and came here to find I'm completely in agreement with you. It's pretty drab and tuning a quarter step down with a bunch of reverb becomes a dull aesthetic pretty quickly.
I love your review, Anthony, but I still can't help but love this album.
Nice on the ears, hits me in the heart.
Not even gonna mention "Chamber of Reflection" ???
The best song! Serious head-bopper. Perfect synths and melody. Damn. Freaky.
Ohh SHIIII! Mac when asked about Fantano in his AMA, "he was a jerk when I met him at CMJ a couple years ago, other than that don't really know [him]."
Watch the fireworks.
link me to this interview please
Worst hair I have ever seen in my life
I liked this album better that 2, but I can see what you're talking about when you said it was "even more homogenous." You made very strong and valid points, but I like this album too much.
It was way stronger that the first 2, and I do agree that it does get monotonous, but it's still an awesome album
Why do people go to music reviews just to have their own opinion reinforced? Are you really that unconfident in your ability to like things?
Oh look! Another BNM'd album getting a lesser score! Look forward to Cloud Nothing's new album getting a 5 as well.
Though that one deserves it cause it's no where near as powerful as it should've been.
except for Benji cuz, lets be honest, theres no way to dislike that album
Austin Crane Agreed.
i might be in the minority here but i like pitchfork
I enjoy them as well and they put on damn good music festivals. They're just easy targets because they're quite frankly, the biggest "music review" site for music we all seem to enjoy.
Austin Crane I didn't like it, come at me bro
I get that Fantano couldn't have predicted this album would become one of the most overplayed in the last decade. You can never scroll through TikTok, Instagram or RUclips without coming across some variation of Chamber of Reflection. But credit where credit's due: Salad Days has aged gracefully and is certainly among the best of the 2010's with how much influence it's had on the current gen and continues to demonstrate relevancy as well as longevity. I guess 10 years from now, Fantano can begin a new series of videos where he reevaluates albums he got completely wrong, starting with this one.
shame how over half of the review is dedicated to what the artist did before the release and the comparison between the artist's past and his latest release...
I'd rather have a review of the record on its own.
That's how reviews work. You consider the artist in context with their body of work. it's like "oh, what did they do this time?"
I respectfully strongly disagree
I do agree, it's more of the same. But I think that's fine from Mac. He's not here to impress. He's just a consistent musician and storyteller. At the end of the day, he's aware the he's not trying to fix what he hasn't broken. And even with that in mind, you can tell he was also trying to stretch himself sonically on a few songs (i.e. Chambers of Reflection), but not so much that he loses his DeMarco integrity. I mean this is the guy that where's Vans Sneakers so much that when asked if he would ever do a collaboration with the brand, he says..."No, I'm not really interested in that." So in the grand scheme of things I would much rather have a consistent artist, than an artist that completely changes what they do for the worst. Mac is timeless! His Makeout Videotape projects are lovely. His Rock and Roll Nightclub EP is lovely...and his two albums thus far...are lovely. I can't complain. ...good review Fantanz! I was nervous you were going to shit all over this one. But I definitely agree with you for the most part.
I'd say 5/10 is on point. This doesn't come close to the brilliance of 2.
This was a bad era for Anthony 😂. That haircut was so goofy
Chamber of Reflection and Passing Out Pieces are fantastic, single-worthy tracks.
TLDr: BAD TAKE
Who put cheese on this melon?
Rating music on the internet. Your life: 5/10
I do agree that Salad Days doesn't live up to 2, but a lot of your criticisms seem disingenuous. You say Mac isn't trying anything new, but Chamber of Reflection, which you didn't mention once, is probably Mac's most 'experimental' track yet. Plus his falsettos are supposed to be 'off-pitch', that's what makes them expressive.
sometimes... I hate it when Anthony's right. Like I really try to enjoy an album, but I feel something's amiss... then I check out Anthony's review and it's like being dumped the day after a bad date night.
I think this fantano man is bad sort of person jack you should stay away from him hes not treating you right
This album is a sinker gets better the more you listen to it. Its more varied then 2, the songs are awsome but very similar on 2. Salad days captures more of a vibe and is better album to listen full through.
the demons made him get that haircut
It took me a few years to really appreciate mac DeMarco. This album has resonated with me more than anything else. I complete understand your point of view. I agree that mac has settled. But I don’t have a problem with that. I think he just wants to make music that really connects with his fan base. Which includes his signature style, and relatable vocals. Idk. Love this album. Love you anthony!
5/10 seems like the correct score. it's not bad, but it's definitely nothing special. it's just somewhere in between. it's pleasant to listen to but that's it.
It’s so weird that we disagree so much on this album , opinions are strange