AMG Review of You Forgot It in People

Sean Carruthers
All Music Guide

After the release of Feel Good Lost, Broken Social Scene became a bit more collective, swelling from two members to ten (plus guests) and dropping their ambient instrumental approach in favor of full-blown rock songs. As you'd expect with such a dramatic rise in membership, there's a lot more variety this time out. The first two tracks mirror the band's transformation perfectly; in fact, the first is a fairly airy instrumental number with a Mark Isham-like feel, while the second slams it off the rails with a driving beat and wailing guitars. Main members Brendan Canning and Kevin Drew even sing this time around, while Leslie Feist and Emily Haines -- both of whom became Canadian stars after this release, which effectively fueled interest in Feist's solo albums and Haines' work with Metric -- assume lead vocals on other tracks. According to one of the members of this incarnation of the group, trying to determine "who did what" on this album would warrant an entire review in itself, as everyone took turns playing different instruments and the whole project was built from the ground up in a very collective fashion. Listeners who prefer the ambient pop of Feel Good Lost may be put off by the all-over-the-map approach, but You Forgot It in People is a more accessible release overall, and it helped set the stage for Broken Social Scene's international breakthrough in 2005.