Finally picked up a copy of HIPT. Had listened to it a few times when the album first was released, and was really let down, so never bothered to actually buy it. After reading about the album over the years, I finally decided to pick it up when I stumbled upon the CD/DVD version at a record store last night.
I remember not caring for anything past A/L/S, and was intrigued when I saw people placed HIPT above Gravity on the "Best to Least favorite Album" thread. Some people placed HIPT fairly high on the list actually.
So, after another listen too, i don't think its nearly as bad as I originally thought. Don't get me wrong, there are some songs on this album that I think are still just plain old stinkers (Where are you [note, i've heard the studio rendition and didn't care for the other chorus either] and The World On A String seem to stand our here). However, there are a few songs that listening to again, I feel are genuinely good. A/L/S is a fantastic song, obviously. However, Apology is an amazing song too, one that I don't really even remember from my original listening. Al Genina is likewise great, but a little short for my taste... could have used a bridge. Wipe That Smile Off Your Face is pretty good... and I feel like raine really wanted to go crazy with the vocals on this one, but it just never goes there.
The biggest problem I have with this album is sadly the choruses. I feel like a lot of these songs could have been as amazing as the 4 I listed above, but then they go into these choruses that are just super catchy, and to me, lack substance. I think this might be a reflection of where the band stopped and the producers took over "looking for that single".
Pictures, Love and Trust, Don't Stop all feel like they have a near classic OLP verse that goes into one of these choruses that just leaves me wondering what the earliest versions sounded like.
Finally, I really like the song Boy, but it reminds me a lot of burn burn. I think its interesting to see that kind of foreshadowing...
Well, not sure if you guys agree with me on this. I still its a weaker album (though i still think i like it better than burn burn, which just has no gems for me... sorry monkey brains/paper moon fans), but, i'm willing to say that it was worth picking up, there are definitely multiple gems on it, and even most the songs that I feel fall short are worth a listen to. I haven't gotten to play the DVD yet, which was really the selling point for me. So, i'm excited to see what thats about.
and in closing, I was actually really impressed with the booklets art. Felt sad. Kinda like "well, this is the bullshit it took to get this cluster fuck of an album to you, oh yeah, and this is also why the world sucks".