A review of So Jokes that I've FINALLY got around to sharing.

[Tom Milsom]

I know it's a tad behind the times, but heck, it's never too late to have OPINIONS! Right? I'd love to hear what you think.

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Let's start off with a list of things that Hank Green cannot do particularly well. Sing. Play the guitar. Arrange parts (as seen in the tracks Butte Montana and Helena Montana). These are all quite vital musical talents to have, particularly when so many of the tracks on the album are simply guitar and vocals, but there's one thing to bear in mind, and it's this. Hank Green's So Jokes is an album that will have zero appeal to the vast majority of people in the real world. It is written to and for a very niche market of people, nerdfighters, who by and large are forced to eschew the majority of today's music due to its appeal to the mass market - a market that nerdfighters most certainly do not belong to. We cannot possibly judge this on whether or not it is a good album, because to nerdfighters, they will love Hank Green regardless of his singing voice and ability to play the guitar. Heck, Hank Green could punch me in the face over and over again, and I would still love Hank Green.
So, does So Jokes achieve the objective Hank himself sets of making the listener happy?
Well on a skin-deep level, every track is funny in some way, from the very obviously witty and pun-filled 'Accio Deathly Hallows' (which appears on the album a total of four times in different guises - probably a tad OTT considering its total running time of well over an hour) to the calmer, droller humour of subtle standout track 'Luck of my Life', but sometimes even this can get a little grating. In some of his love songs, such as 'Helen Hunt', a pretty ballad that turns out to be about... you guessed it... Helen Hunt, you feel as though he's finally pouring his heart out to you only to find out you've been tricked when he turns it into a big joke at the chorus.
The synth keyboards and cheesy drums are great too - very uplifting, very cheery, very happy. Very simplistic. It's strongly reminiscent of early They Might Be Giants, but with TMBG, there was always a subtle razor blade hidden in the cheese. Here, it's happy happy pretty much throughout. But there are two tracks that are the key to Hank's success at making this an ultimately very good album. The most remarkable track musically is 'Willy's Song', concocted with strange vocal sounds edited together, and with Hank singing his song over the top, with no additional instrumentation. It's a wonderful song, made all the better for Hank's poppy, happy melody he sings, which works so jarringly brilliantly with the almost tribal backing of hums and squeals. If only more tracks had been this inventive, the album would have had much more of the shade it needed to combat all its light.
But lyrically, and in general, the standout track of the album is "Luck of my life', a song written to his wife, where he takes the time to stand back, look at what he's doing, and actually for a tiny moment isn't afraid to pour his heart out. It's almost as if he's placating himself in the rest of the album with lyrics like "Oh yeah, ten thousand people watch me online each week/okay no one's ever had a cooler job than me", and suddenly the whole album becomes a case of 'yeah, Hank can mess about and sing silly songs about books and llamas and Captain Picard, but as he sings, "one day one girl said that she'd be my wife/and that day was the luckiest of my life." This is most certainly an album for people who know Hank Green, and there's no stronger proof of it than that the happiest moment on the album is not when he's trying hard to make us happy, but when he's genuinely happy himself.

Tom

[Hank Green]

:-D

Maybe I had a little shortness of breathe there at the beginning, but I think is absolutely on the money...and it's wonderful to see someone understand what I was going for without me having to say.

Nerdfighters, despite their multitudinousness, are not a very larger market, but they're MY market! And the fact that I can make an album just for them, and that it can be successful in exactly the way I want it to be is really really really awesome.

Thanks Tom

[Burkelium]

Looking for Alaska was my favorite. I've listened to it so many times...

[Benny Jørgensen]

I would call Looking For Alaska the best song on the album. I think the lyrics are very profound (which is quite an acheivement, considering it's been written over a, already written novel), and it suits Hank's voice so lovely.

Also, I must disagree with Willy's song being that great... I mean, it's a fun concept and idea, but for my part it becomes slightly annoying (wit hall due respect).

I think Hank's "thing" is his lyrics and uplifting melodies. I mean, most of his songs are humorous, and humorous songs aren't always supposed to sound a 100 % "right", since the lyrics is the important part...

/Benny

[Hel]

Aw, I'm quite fond of Hank's voice - it has a certain charm. I agree that it a very specific market, though. A lot of people I know wouldn't appreciate it in the same way that I would. I love how witty and amusing Hank's songs are. I also think 'Luck of my Life' is adorable and wish someone would write a song like that for me, haha.

[Alternative]

What a great review. Nice job.

But I didn't see anything about Katherine's singing. I'd like to hear your thoughts on that?

Personally, I found "Willy's Song" incredibly annoying, and I had to skip over it while listening. It was cute, but I'd rather it be shorter- it's kind of long.

My favorite song was definitely "Nerdfighterlike," which included Katherine. Like you said, it includes some humor, and is very simple, so you can sing along! ^_^

[Marlee]

My favorite is Looking for Alaska. It's beautiful. (:

[Najela]

I think Hank has a descent voice. It's not like he's trying to be famous... well... not really...

It would be cool to have a market just for you that you know you would sell no matter what.

[Peter Herman]

"multitudinousness" nice!!!

[Milo]

I miss the acoustic versions of the songs, personally. But Hank is totally a lyrical genius, so I can forgive that. XD

[TEH]

Hey, guys!

Who wants to do a Hank Green Tribute by Nerdfighter Musicians album? I would certainly be down with that.

[Angela]

...I really love this idea! o.o!!

[Matt]

"Let's start off with a list of things that Hank Green cannot do particularly well. Sing. Play the guitar. Arrange parts (as seen in the tracks Butte Montana and Helena Montana). These are all quite vital musical talents to have, particularly when so many of the tracks on the album are simply guitar and vocals, but there's one thing to bear in mind, and it's this. Hank Green's So Jokes is an album that will have zero appeal to the vast majority of people in the real world. It is written to and for a very niche market of people, nerdfighters, who by and large are forced to eschew the majority of today's music due to its appeal to the mass market - a market that nerdfighters most certainly do not belong to. We cannot possibly judge this on whether or not it is a good album, because to nerdfighters, they will love Hank Green regardless of his singing voice and ability to play the guitar. Heck, Hank Green could punch me in the face over and over again, and I would still love Hank Green."

I would literally slap you in the back of the head for this paragraph. It is possibly one of the dumbest things I've ever read in my entire life. It's worse than Ethan Frome. To say that you can't judge an album based off of musical talent is unfathomable. The idiocy in that statement is extreme. To also say that nerdfighters must avoid the majority of music today because a lot of people may like it, is also (WARNING DO NOT LOOK ON IF YOU DO NOT LIKE VULGAR LANGUAGE, BECAUSE IT'S TOO HARD TO NOT USE VULGAR LANGUAGE WHEN FACED WITH THIS AMOUNT OF MENTAL NUMBNESS) fucking stupid. I don't care if that's something that has been said in a vlogbrothers video or not, it's a fucking stupid idea. You do not avoid things because other people like them. You avoid things because YOU don't like them. If you say anything different, you're nothing more than a sheep following a different shepherd. This entire idea of nonconformity is fucking stupid when you use it as a way to classify a group of individuals who would like something just because it's something that the group would like. I'm not going to buy the album (no offense Hank, but I don't have all of the highly talented musician's cds that I want and you don't fit in that category. You're fun, sound like TMBG - which is always good - and I do like the anglerfish song and it all makes sense in the end, but you're not Antoine Dufour, Andy Mckee, Don Ross, Dominic Gaudious, etc.) just because it's Hank Green. I don't even own the album(s) Please, Please, Me or Meet the Beatles, because I don't like that era of The Beatles. I'm not going to waste my money on a persona. I'm going to use my money for a product that I will like because of the product, not because of the company/person making it.