Posted by Kit on 09-22-2007 at21:21:
"God Sends Quails" and "Jig is Up" reviews by non77s fans
These reviews come from a mix I did late last year for another board I post on. Everybody had some stupid theme going where you had to pick songs that were big for you at one point. And to make it more interesting, I only picked songs that came from records I bought at Christian bookstores (except for 2 songs)...and I revealed that info, which in retrospect was a mistake. But, I knew they would all go on allmusic and figure it out for themselves. I tried to make it clear that it shouldn't be viewed as a "Christian rock mix" per se, but that was a tough sell.
Anyways, I only had 4 people review my mix. Here's what they said about both 77s tracks. It should be noted that The 77s got better reviews overall than most of the bands on the comp. Some were downright skewered (Violet Burning, Lost Dogs, Adam Again).Reviewer #1:
The 77s - God Sends Quails – The intro solo runs on a bit long, but the remainder of the track is well worth the wait. Sprawling in a very good way. 4/5
The 77s - The Jig is Up – Smiths-y in both sound and lyric. I’m quite impressed with both 77s tracks you’ve included here. 4.5/5
Reviewer #2:
The 77s - God Sends Quails – This was kind of a strange song, because of the long jammy intro. I was immediately reminded of the Allman Brothers Band, which is fine with me. The vocals were quite obviously not Gregg, though and it initially didn't jive well with the music but then the chorus kind of hooked me in. So yeah, a strange song all together and I didn't even mind that it pushed over 6 min. And remarkable for one other reason. How many first and last times does one get in life? Probably a lot, but when you're in a moment, you never really appreciate it, do you? I realize that while listening to this song it is the first and probably last song I'll ever hear about God and quails. That alone makes it quite special. And to quote the songs' theme "you can't go back". 3.5/5
The 77s - The Jig is Up – This reminded me of Morrissey right off the bat, but lacked Moz's hilarious pathos. Kind of bland song, and a bit of a letdown after the last couple which I was really enjoying. It's not terrible, but not all that it could be. Morrissey sung about loneliness incessantly, but he made it work. This didn't. 2/5
Reviewer #3:
The 77s - God Sends Quails – long intro. Very long. Sounds a little proggy or something. Not really the type of thing I'm into, but others might like this...I guess. Exhausting. 2/5.
The 77s - The Jig is Up – I like this one better than the last 77s song. Its got a nice flow and a nice chorus. 3/5.
Reviewer #4:
God Sends Quails – The 77s
“you can’t go back”… no, you certainly can’t. The song itself is ok. 2/5
The Jig is Up – the 77s
This is actually quite nice. 3/5
