Songs from Yes and No

• Artist: Andy Ditzler
  
• Album: Songs from Yes and No
  
• Year: 2005
  
• Why I picked it up: The cover was a pretty interesting simple drawing of a map, leading me to believe it might be more arty than your typical album.

This is not a music album in the traditional sense. To quote the liner notes, "Yes and No is a multimedia theater work which includes the songs on this album." Ok, so I picked up a soundtrack by mistake. No big deal, right? Wrong. While I'm not making any comment on Yes and No as a theater work, the music itself is simply not tolerable as a stand-alone work. After fifty minutes of listening to Andy Ditzler crone on about what's strange about American culture and economics and such, you'll be itching to put on something else. Don't get me wrong, as far as a musical achievement, it's certainly well-done, with good composition, instrumentation, and even good if too-clear lyrics. The problem is one of cheesiness and lack of context.

Don't get this unless you saw the theater work and liked it. (Based on the album itself, I wouldn't be surprised if that's a null set, but hey, you never know.)

• Standout track: Citizens
  
• MySpace: Andy Ditzler
  
• How much I would've paid: $0
  
• Rating: 1/5