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Dear Catastrophe Waitress | 
| Manufacturer: Rough Trade
Category: Digital Music Album
Buy New: $9.99
Rating:  152 reviews
Sales Rank: 4167
Genre: contemporary-folk-music
Media: MP3 Download
Running Time: 0 Minutes
ASIN: B0010YM5QM
Release Date: October 6, 2003
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| Customer Reviews: Read 147 more reviews...
 Some of their best lyrical work January 26, 2008
S. Mackin (Catskill, NY)
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This is possibly my favorite B & S confection. The strings are especially good on this album and their lyrics are fantastic. A classic that will be loved by any B & S fan or that can serve as a fine introduction to their work.
If I Could Do One Near-Perfect Thing I'd Be Happy... July 9, 2007
Thomas K. Emanuel (Deadwood, SD USA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful
My first Belle & Sebastian album was last year's THE LIFE PURSUIT, which remains my favourite album of 2006 and, honestly, one of my favourite albums of all time. I then dug into the B&S back catalogue with IF YOU'RE FEELING SINISTER, THE BOY WITH THE ARAB STRAP, and the double-disc EP compendium PUSH BARMAN TO OPEN OLD WOUNDS. And while those albums impressed me - especially PUSH BARMAN - none of them, I felt, could quite come up to THE LIFE PURSUIT. They had the autumnal whimsy and cutting lyrical observation and a boatload of great songs, but they didn't have quite the same joyous energy. Then I got DEAR CATASTROPHE WAITRESS (2003).
(Note: shortly after getting DEAR CATASTROPHE WAITRESS I also purchased FOLD YOUR HANDS CHILD, YOU WALK LIKE A PEASANT, and have since also acquisitioned TIGERMILK. And while both are fine albums, they fit into the mold established above.)
There's a timeless quality to this music; it could've been recorded pretty much anytime in the last forty years, and yet it still sounds fresh, new, exciting. Because when Stuart Murdoch's brilliantly witty lyrics, beautifully whimsical melodies, and perfectly fey vocal delivery come together against a backdrop of soulful organ, jangling guitars, and bewitching male/female backup vocals, something magical happens. DEAR CATASTROPHE WAITRESS is the most ambitious B&S album I've heard yet, fleshing out the band's newly muscular (on a relative scale anyway) attack with big orchestral arrangements and a full, punchy pop/rock sound, courtesy master producer (and sometime Yes member) Trevor Horn. Highlights? How about the galloping "Step into My Office Baby"; the soul-pop "If She Wants Me"; the exuberant "I'm a Cuckoo"; the wistful character-sketch "Lord Anthony"; the near-epic, New-Waveish "Stay Loose"... my biggest gripe with this album is the somewhat garish golden cover artwork. Honestly. Otherwise DEAR CATASTROPHE WAITRESS is one of the finest collections of pop songs I've ever heard.
In fact, largely thanks to this album, Belle & Sebastian have finally ascended to my Top 25 Rock Artists. (That's right, I keep track of crap like that. Anal? But of course! Pointless? You betcha!) They've been hovering in the region for months now, but DEAR CATASTROPHE WAITRESS finally put them over the edge. I love it!
"I was choking on a cornflake" (* * * * 1/3) February 28, 2007
Blake Maddux (Arlington, MA United States)
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
Dear Catastrophe Waitress rightly restored Belle & Sebastian to their former glory following a few musical missteps. This was very fortunate, as it would have been a shame for their flame to have burned out when leader Stuart Murdoch still has this and 2006's The Life Pursuit somewhere inside of him. While the delicacy of the band's songs was a large part of what made the band so beloved, that well had started to run dry. Thankfully, producer Trevor Horn, who seems like a very unlikely choice, recognized that Belle & Sebastian could sound just as good if their songs were consistently bouncy and uptempo. The final product of this collaboration was an album that basked in retro every bit as much as its predessors, but with a more pronounced late 70s/early 80s feel.
"Step Into My Office, Baby" is a shimmering, pristine chunk of schmaltzy 70s pop, and a rather amusing tale of romance in the workplace. The title track stars one of the many types of characters with whom Belle & Sebastian have always sympathized. It also makes their longstanding Love influence more obvious than ever by borrowing the staccato string riffs from that band's "You Set the Scene".
These first two tracks find the band in firmly uptempo mode. However, "Piazza, New York Catcher" is Murdoch at his folky, meandering storytelling best. It also contains some of his best lyrics, and he sings through them breathlessly. "Asleep on a Sunbeam" features lovely female vocals, which are always welcome on a Belle & Sebastian album. Fortunately, they pop up again in the background of "Wrapped Up In Books", which is driven by a punchy beat reminiscent of The Cars' "Shake It Up". In a similar vein, "Stay Loose" is powered by the sort of robotic rhythm that defined new wave. This comes as less of a surprise when one recalls who produced the record. (The tune also starts off with an organ that makes it sound like it was the main influence for the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack.)
The album's upbeat mood is further punctuated by "I'm A Cuckoo" and "Roy Walker", two of the most joyous numbers in the band's entire catalog. (Although the former's lyric "I'd rather listen to Thin Lizzy-oh" is somewhat cringeworthy.) But for old time's sake, Murdoch offers "Lord Anthony", about a bullied know-it-all who would surely find kindred spirits on any other B&S album. The remaining tracks - "If She Wants Me", "You Don't Send Me", and "If You Find Yourself Caught In Love" - make up the album's weaker moments. However, they are certainly not enough to bring the overall quality down significantly.
Dear Catastrophe Waitress is the third Belle & Sebastian CD that I have reviewed, and the third to which I have awarded 4-1/3 stars. I am not sure why I am reluctant to give any of them 5 stars. After all, their music is great, nearly brilliant at times, and listening to their best albums certainly amounts to a 5-star experience. Maybe I feel like their songs lack profundity, and are perhaps a bit too whimsical at times. Whatever the case may be, Dear Catastrophe Waitress certainly deserves to rank among their very best efforts, and when it was released in 2003, it was surely their most dynamic to date.
B&S's most coherent and addictive achievement February 19, 2007
Jeffrey Comer (Illinois USA)
I've been impressed by all of Belle and Sebastian's albums and EPs, from Tigermilk to The Life Pursuit; however, I believe that Dear Catastrophe Waitress stands out as their most coherent and addictive achievement. While the more personal acoustic guitar and piano driven songs on their earlier albums are charming, the full sound on this album--with ample strings, brass, synth, and glam-rock guitar--fits perfectly with B&S's invariably catchy melodies. "I'm A Cuckoo" is a song with ear-catching propulsion that somehow mananges to maintain a beautifully melancholy atmosphere. The lyrics vacillate between evoking bittersweet emotion and chuckles, as these Scots are never the types to take themselves too seriously. There are so many songs to love on this album, although I find "You Don't Send Me" lacks the variety and power of the rest of the album. The final tune on the album, though not the most impressive on the whole, has what is to me B&S's most beautiful few bars: a brilliant vocal harmony, reminiscent of Simon and Garfunkel at a their best, which builds into a guitar solo, replete with excitement and feeling.
Quite Good Indeed July 31, 2006
JP
I had bought Isobel Campbell's solo album Amorino when it first came out, after having heard one track being played on an independent radio station in Boston. Her voice is amazing, and I thoroughly enjoy that album. Then recently, a radio station in Norfolk VA was hosting a 90's rewind, and I happened to catch a Belle and Sebastian track. I had heard of them before, but was not aware of what they actually sounded like. Upon hearing the song, I did some searching online and found some sound clips.
What made me choose Dear Catastrophe Waitress was the third song on the album: If She Wants Me. When I found myself replaying that sinlge track over and over again, I decided it was about time to buy the album. And so I did. And I am glad I did. I have been listening to it continuously for at least three weeks straight.
I find Stuart's voice to be alluring, and of course, I like the way his and Isobel's voices work with one another, harmonously, supportively. The album has quite a marked musical diversity, including strings, tempo variance, rock quality, folk quality, and uncommon lyrics. I have found the first four songs to be my favourites, but the album as a whole strikes me as a well assembled combination of music.
One of the other reviews said that they have an XTC feel about them at some points, and I agree. I also hear a little 70s sense (a bit of fast-paced Bread) and a bit of the Editors. I would recommend this album, and I am intending to purchase the If You're Feeling Sinister album next.
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