Yanqui U.X.O. stands for American Unexploded Ordinance/cluster bombs.

The first song is named after the date on which the current Palestinian intifada began: 09-15-00, apparently Ariel Sharon incited the al-Aqsa Intifada by visiting Jerusalem's Temple Mount.

I own 3 Godspeed You! albums this one, F# A# (Infinity) and Lift Your Skinny fists Like Antennas To Heaven. On the first listens to all of them I thought they were good albums, but never truely grasped how good they were until you listen to them from start to finish. (I think that you must do this with these albums to truely appriciate them.)

With this album the main thing that I cannot decide (from the first listen to now,) is whether it has an upbeat sound or a creepy eerie tone to it.

This album unlike the other GY!BE albums is that there isn't any extracts of speeches in any of the tracks, this may sound petty but this for me was some of the reason why I went back to GY!BE, these speeches were how I remembered the individual tracks and how good they are. They set the tone for the track to come and they fit very well with the songs.

As per usual in this album this build the tracks beautifully. (I find that as soon as the drums become more aggressive you know that the band will soon follow.) But some tracks are very slow to build such as track 3 rocket falls on Rocket Falls, which is over 20 minutes long and takes a while to get anywhere.

I feel is the only down fall of this album is the length of the build-ups in the tracks half way through the album. (Espically tracks 2,3,4 althought the last quater of track 4 builds and mixes into the final track excellently)

At 72 minutes long on one disc you can feel as if it's a laboured listen but I feel that to enjoy this album you need to slug through that and re-listen to the album many times and you will be won over.

This album will never be my favourite GY!BE album. It shall be the least listened to album of theres but you must appreciate the time effort and sheer talent that this band has.

The music on this album is intensely repetitive and boring. I tried mopping my floor while listening to the album, thinking it might be useful at least for that. But no, it is too boring even as background music for domestic chores. The CD clocks in at 75 minutes.... what it contains is so paper thin it might be compressed into five or 10 minutes tops. Do yourself a favor and skip it.

It is difficult to express why this ensemble of 9+ musicians from Montreal and their collection of music truly deserves the many five star ratings you read here at Amazon, but the ratings are accurate. This is not hype, this is not a cult following. The five star assessments are completely justified. The sound of Yanqui U.X.O., as well as the other GYBE albums I own, consistently deliver a refreshing dose of sound in the midst of a world chock full of formulaic groups being passed off to the consumer as cutting edge. With so many marketing-driven copycat clones and non-talented hacks with hair gel repeating chorus after chorus of predictable tripe, here is a much needed slap in the face for those of us who love alternative and progressive music. So, what makes Godspeed You Black Emperor so unique? For one, they are talented at their craft. Secondly, they obviously strive to be original. Finally, and most importantly, their compositions reveal a strong awareness of their listener, which is why this artful and glorious noise comes together into such a coherent experience.

Some Sound Metaphors To Consider
In my mind, what makes a great wine or tremendous coffee stand out as a memorable experience is the depth of the flavor profile: The way multiple layers converge upon the palette in waves. This is precisely the method by which "Yanqui UXO" engages the ears of the listener from beginning to end. It might be difficult at first to imagine a combination of so many unique sound elements blending into a salient format, but the complexity and layered sound textures really succeed! I offer you my highly subjective list of sound analogies I encountered throughout this album, sounds reminiscent from my own personal listening past (not presented in any particular order):

+The analog timbre found in early King Krimson (reminiscent of old Mellotrons!)
+ The syncopation and relentless arpeggios of later King Krimson
+ The driving fuzztone and harmonic minor guitar of Hawkwind
+ The gothic romanticism of Dead Can Dance
+ The mind-bending dissonance of the Residents
+ The warm sound textures of Pink Floyd
+ The minimalist tonal modulations of Phillip Glass
+ The gentle ambient voyages of Robert Rich and Brian Eno
+ The acid trip sound experiments of Aphex Twin and Cabaret Voltaire
+ The silent spaces and "chance music" of John Cage

...all of these elements and many others collide into a beautiful yet entirely original soundscape. Other reviewers have previously described GYBE's use of tonal dynamics, especially the "layered build-up-into-cacophonous-release" technique, but unlike others from the so-called post rock genre of music, GYBE does not rely solely upon this device. The group makes many adjustments to timbre and texture along the way, and are fearless and relentless in their pursuit. There is a sense of purpose to their compositions. These musicians really want to take the listener for a ride, they actually want to touch your emotions. At times they are mellow, at other times energetic, and they pull this off without sending the listener through an auditory rollercoaster. Every progression, every shift in direction makes sense to the ears.

Five Stars for sure. Upon my very first listening I thought to myself. "Well, it's about time a group like this came along!"

This album seems to get the most criticism out of all GY!BE releases, mostly due to the lack of samples (there is in fact, no samples in "Yanqui"), and some songs not building to climaxes. I believe that while "Lift Your Skinny..." is GY!BE's best, and possibly post-rock's best album, "Yanqui U.X.O" is a fantastic piece of work and my second favourite from the band.

Personally I found a lot of the samples rather grating on other releases, especially the samples AFTER climaxes, which seemed completely pointless to me as it just draws out the song. And the argument that this album doesn't have enough climaxes seems a little unfair. There are five tracks on the album, and really only one, "09-15-00 Part 2" lacks a climax, and serves as a 6-minute after-thought to the opening part of the song. I don't see much wrong with this, as the opening song has two HUGE climaxes that are as powerful as anything GY!BE has created in the past. This album also contains one of my favourite GY!BE songs to date, the sprawling "Rocket Fall On Rocket Falls", which starts with a swirling, often trippy section, then giving way to minimalist timpani playing, and then builds to the peak climax of the album. This song is simply stunning and will please any fan of the band and genre. The two-part "Motherf****r = Redeemer" song is a little different from the rest of the album, and the usual GY!BE structure, in that it opens with quite a lot of instrumentation, setting aside the extreme quiet/build/very loud structure. While this is the weakest part of the album, it is still excellent when put into context with other post-rock bands, but not quite up the standards of the rest of this album.

My big point is that I think this album is unfairly treated. It has everything I was looking for in a GY!BE album, and I would go as far to say it includes some of their best work to date.