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The Photo Album | 
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| Artist: Death Cab For Cutie
Label: Barsuk
Category: Music
List Price: $16.98
Buy New: $14.99
You Save: $1.99 (12%)
New (47) Used (16) from $5.74
Rating:  71 reviews
Sales Rank: 3132
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 31021
UPC: 655173102121
EAN: 6551731021214
ASIN: B00005ORA5
Release Date: October 9, 2001
Shipping: Eligible for Super Saver Shipping
Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
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| Tracks:
| • | Steadier Footing | | • | A Movie Script Ending | | • | We Laugh Indoors | | • | Information Travels Faster | | • | Why You'd Want To Live Here | | • | Blacking Out The Friction | | • | I Was A Kaleidoscope | | • | Styrofoam Plates | | • | Coney Island | | • | Debate Exposes Doubt |
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| Editorial Reviews:
Amazon.com
Death Cab for Cutie turn difficult personal issues into literary rock songs while straddling the narrow line between blissful pop and driving indie rock. The Northwest act's songs soar high like Built to Spill's or Beulah's, and almost every track on The Photo Album is as musically bouncy and upbeat as the best of those bands. As catchy as the songs on The Photo Album may be, though, it's really front man Benjamin Gibbard's comfort with laying his emotional issues bare that makes this an excellent album. "Styrofoam Plates" is the most stunning track, with words that leave chills long after they've disappeared. As Gibbard sings about anger for a dead father ("It's not quite a stretch to say you were not quite a father / But a donor of seeds to a poor single mother / That would raise us alone / We never saw the money / It went down your throat down the hole in your belly"), his stark honesty makes this dysfunctional family story the most compelling piece of this album. The other issues of clumsy relationships pale a little in comparison, but The Photo Album still leaves little doubt that Death Cab deserve all the indie rock accolades they have received. --Jennifer Maerz
Album Description
3rd full-length from Seattle indie darlings features guest appearances by Sean Nelson, John Vanderslice & James Mendenhall ,on Barsuk Records.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 66 more reviews...
 Consistent, though modest for their standards then September 23, 2008
3 1/2
Indie-light band was in the throngs of making earnest, alternative rock at this point, and how effortless some of this tighter, more angular work seems when stacked against often strained and self-conscious current recordings. Not yet reaching their creative peak but offering plenty worth revisiting, TPA feels like a valid medium between Deathcab's quirky and melodic sides.
A Truly Wonderful Album August 23, 2008
I never like paring down a group's work to the efforts of one member, but Ben Gibbard deserves recognition for his lyric-writing alone. His sometimes hopeful, often sad, always warm lyrics strike such a chord with me that I've actually listened to the album in its entirety back-to-back, which I almost never do. With a lyrical specificity that surpasses Belle & Sebastian, Gibbard's words and wispy, longing vocals, along with the quietly-yet-superbly dramatic melodies crafted by the rest of Death Cab, particularly the anxious, earnest drumming of Michael Schorr, explore over ten tracks the near misses and often tenuous triumphs of human connections. With The Photo Album, Death Cab for Cutie show themselves as nascent master storytellers, with Gibbard's words punctuated and carried by the perfectly fitting music of the band. Showcased in my personal favorites "We Laugh Indoors" and "Styrofoam Plates."
I highly recommend this album for those who listen to music by season, as Death Cab are a pitch-perfect autumn band, and The Photo Album proves that in spades.
 worst August 10, 2007
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
i LOVE dcfc, especially their old stuff. this album is the worst album they have, there are only about 4 good songs. and saying that this album is worse than 'plans' is saying a lot. but the lyrics are good. numbers 4, 6, and 10 are the best songs.
I don't even like EMO... January 20, 2007
0 out of 1 found this review helpful
I didn't discover Death Cab until Transatlantacisim (thanks to the OC) but this band has quickly become one of my favorites. I think they are rediculously talented, and I love the way they structure their music and lyrics. This album doesn't disapoint if you appreciate what this band is doing. It's a little less clean than Transatlantacisim and Plans, but it's still highly enjoyable. I only rate this 4 stars because I compare it to their more recent releases, and I feel that this band is getting better as time goes along.
Honestly, one of their weakest releases September 14, 2006
5 out of 12 found this review helpful
I am a huge Death Cab for Cutie fan. When I disovered them, I bought all of their albums except one. For some reason, I never got around to buying The Photo Album. I've read all the reviews of this album and most say that it's Death Cab's best and beats Transatlanticsm and Plans. Well, I finally bought it and was very excited to listen to it and I was expecting something better from what I am used to hearing from Death Cab. The cd started, and wow was I dissapointed. First off, there are only 10 songs - 9 if you don't count the mediocre first track. You'd think that this small amount of tracks, every song would be real good...wrong. This isn't like any other Death Cab album. Yeah there are a couple tracks that are beautiful but what the hell is up with Ben Gibbard's singing on this cd? It just sounds to me like he just rushed and threw some vocals on top. Most of time he sings off timing (but not off key) and that makes it very hard to listen to. And also on the third track, the song is ruined because you can barely hear Ben's vocals!! I don't know what the band was thinking on that song because it's a great song but the volume on the vocals are unnessary low. The songs overall just don't really pop out to you. My only favorite songs on this are Blacking Out The Friction and Coney Island. Now those two are exactly what I love about Death Cab...catchy lyrics and amazing music. I was so dissapointed and I shouldn't have listened to all these people that said this was Death Cab's best release. So don't make the same mistake. But you know, it's not 100% bad but after listening to Transatlanticsm and Plans, it just sounds weak compared to those. This is an honest review from a loyal Death Cab for Cutie fan so please don't ignore this. Pick this up though if you want to complete your collection.
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