This is perfection. From start to finish, it's one of those rare albums that I can play in its entirety over and over, never skipping a song, never getting tired of it. It's brilliant, it's earnest, it's light, it's heavy, it's silly, it's perfect.
Remember when you were 12 years old and you made a list of every attribute the perfect guy could have, from his awesome personality to his romanticism to his musical tastes to his blond hair and blue eyes and ability to play the bass? Ok, maybe that was just me. But the Blue Album is the musical equivalent of that guy. It's the perfect date, in vinyl form. There's not a song I would skip, not a thing I would change.
And that perfection is all wrapped up so exquisitely with the the last song. Only in Dreams clocks in at 8:04 and not a second of that is wasted on anything extraneous. From the opening bass line to the final fade out, Dreams is a sweeping, melodic piece of wistfulness. It's a heartbreaking tale of unrequited love but, oddly enough, it's not the earnest yearnings in River Cuomo's voice or the sweetness of the backing vocals that breaks your heart; instead the final, instrumental five minutes or so of the song carry you away on alternating waves of build ups and let downs that really kick you in the gut. It's the embodiment of the entire album wrapped up in one song and perfect way to finish off a perfect disc.
Favorite song: Only in Dreams
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