L0BST3RF4C3's madhouse

15/09/2024
35MM: a musical exhibition.

I will stay in advance I am watching videos of it, not just listening to it. I do not have a single video, rather clips of every track and trasition.

1. Stop Time/Crazytown
I love the sound of this one. I do not know how they got this story from these images, but I absolutely love it. I really enjoy the vocals on this one, mostly how many layers it has. "In the pocket of my dress, I have this eight inch copper key, I don't know the door it goes to, and the fact is killing me" is probably my favorite part of this one. It is so intense and I adore it.

2. Transition 1
Happy sound, quite great. Lovely interlude.

3. On monday
I adore this track, although it does make me a little sad, because I do not personally think the relationship in this song is a particularly healthy one. I do like the sound of this track, but some aspects of it just make me a tad sad. I definitely see how they got this track from the image they took inspiration from though. Someone offering their hand and the other not reciprocating.

4. Carolee
Scary doll as inspiration for a horror child. Classic, absolutely lovely. I do quite enjoy this track. "I swear to god she's Satan." Is such a real line about a horror child. This track is such a banger.

5. The Party Goes With You
This track feels so gentle and caring. It just feels happy, even though the lyrics feel less so. It is about a wife and husband couple, of which the husband is wealthy and has stopped caring about the wife. He leaves her with all the messes, as the lyrics state, but also leaves her alone and sad. It is an emotional song brought over in such a kind and soft manner, I can not help but to feel sad

6. Good Lady
This is a high energy, more angry track, about a man who has lost his wife. He thinks someone took her away, but over the course of the track find out that she left him, this leads to a tonal shift in the track. From fast paced and agressive to spooky and dreamy. Going from angry to sad and begging in a split second. I love this tonal shift in this track. I feel like it tells the story very well.

7. Transition 2
A sadder interlude. It sounds a lot like The Ballad of Sara Berry which will be written about later. It is a chilling track.

8. Make Me Happy
This song is a bit more sad, even though it is very upbeat. It is two people who are bad for eachother somehow lifting eachother up. It is very pleasant on the ears, even though the subject matter is not particularly happy. They make eachother happy, but not true happiness.

9. The Seraph
I like this tune It is nice and slow. The main singer sings about how he regrets his past and tried to change because an angel, more specifically a seraph, whom is probably a metaphor for another person showed him a better path into self improvement. It is overall a happier track about becoming a better person.

10. Immaculate Deception
I do not really know what this song is about. I really enjoy what it sounds like though! My best guess is something religion related based on the repeating themes. The song itself is very upbeat with many voices, which is really nice and enjoyable.

11. Transition 3
This is, in my humble opinion an awesome callback to my favorite part of Stop Time/Crazytown. It helps connect the stories a lot more to one another and adds a layer of depth to the whole piece. I also like how many voices it has, because it feels like a very maddening track which helps bring across the point a lot better.

12. Leave Luanne.
From memory, this is a much heavier one. I also know that fourteen year old me was obsessed with it for some reason. I definitely understand why I did though. The tunes, the topic. My fourteen year old self loved dark stuff. Especially considering the end of this piece is one of some form of revenge. It is about an abusive marriage in which Luanne gets abused. She tries to run away, but gets chased down by her husband and killed like him. He then reported it as a suicide, which caused no one to mourn her. He ends up getting haunted by her soul. The vibe of this song changes several times too, from tense, to freeing, as if everything would be okay, to sad when her husband catches her. It then gets tense followed by even more tenseness in the music. And then all the tensity builds up before exploding after the Husband's last attempt to scare off Luanne. It is such a great track, even though the topic is very heavy. I would recommend it as one of, if not the best track of this musical.

13. Mama, Let Me In
This song feels like it is about religious trauma. A child beckoning their mom to not leave them behind and stop calling them a sin. A child helpless and confused as to why their mother seemingly hate them for no reason.

14. Why Must We Tell Them Why?
Up beat rock-ey sound off the go. It sounds quite awesome in all honestly. The lead is beckoning to some unknow why they have to explain every bit of non-comformity they present. Why they have to explain every tiny deviation needs be explained. It is a lovely track which hits quite close to home as someone who personally has autism and struggles a lot with why I am supposed to conform to what everyone expects of me. "It is what it is and it is what it's got to be" This lyric hits especially hard. Because it is very relatable. It is something you often get as a response to asking why we need conform. Why we need to fit in.

15. Twisted Teeth
This song is about a vampire turning a woman he stumbled upon into one as well. It is framed with undertones of them loving eachother, but it is not entirely clear about whether or not they actual love eachother. It is an interesting twist on the traditional love song. The tunes of this track are also quite banging.

16. Hemming and Hawing
This song is a sad one about two people in an unhealthy and difficult relationship. They are unsure about whether or not the relationship is worth continuing. They go through moments of happiness and joy, and of sorrow and anger. It really hits me in the feels personally but I am not sure why. It just feels so sad, especially the instrumentals in the background make these emotions strong.

17. Transition 4
This song wonders about whether a picture of a dead person is just paper or something more than that. Whether it is just an object or a piece of one's soul. Whether it is just paper or something supernatural and beyond that. It feels sad and confused in tone, truly fighting with this question and I quite enjoy that.

18. Cut You a Piece
This is a song about two people falling in love and becoming incredibly happy with eachother, Jules, the male lead even states how he would die for her. They marry in a synagogue and are very happy together and are ready to live life together forever. Eventually, Jules steers too quickly and gets in a car crash, resulting in Jessie, the female lead, her life being taken. This is further brought out by the lyric "A marriage begun and ended over broken glass" which just punches you in the gut. After this Jules continues living his life feeling like he lost a part of himself when he lost Jessie, and feeling like he will never recover. I personally really relate to this, I am afraid that I will feel like this if I ever end up losing my partner. This resulted in me shedding a couple tears whilst listening to this song. It is absolutely lovely and I emplore you to listen to it.

19. Transition 5
This track mainly feels like a warming up for the finale of the album. A chaotic mess of vocals and instrumentals to serve as a warning for what comes next. A great transition.

20. The Ballad of Sara Berry
This is the most well known song of this entire musical. And also the first track I ever heard from it. Though it is not what first got me to listen to this musical in its entirety, that title is Leave Luanne's. Sara feels pressured by everyone around her to become prom queen, and that if she is unable to achieve this she will be a failure who will never in her life achieve anything. All the pressure she gets from around her gets internalized and builds up and bounces around until something in her mind snaps and she ends up killing everyone who might possibly get in her way. Resulting in the climax of the track which goes a follows:
""P" is for Patricia drinking poisoned punch
"R" is for Raquel dashed on a rock-- crunch!
"O" is what Anne said when Sara bludgeoned her brains
And "M" is Marianna's marinated remains
But! But!
"Q" is for Quiara, quiet, drowned in the pool
And "U" is for Eunice's pieces spread round the school
But "E's" are for the easy way in five minutes tops
A one-legg'd girl can bring an "N" for end by calling the cops. (What a bitch.)"
This is followed by her in her head having won the title of prom queen, while she is getting detained by the police.

20. Finale
This song is a reprise of every prior track simultaniously, mainly focussing on the first, Stop Time, causing the musical to be rounded off quite nicely. It is a chaotic piece as is this entire musical if you look at it from a slight distance. It feels like a good fitting ending to this musical. I recommend listening to it in its entirity.