Well, I succumbed to the hype. I finally bought Blackberry Belle, and after listening to it three times through and waiting a few days before listening again, I'm still lost on the furor behind this one. Several songs seemed to almost snag me, but overall I was pretty blase about the melodies and instrumentation. Is it a grower? I began to wonder if this was sort of a free-pass record, fawned over and adored by fans of Greg Dulli and/or the Afghan Whigs but not really enjoyed on its own merits (I'm feeling kinda ripe with vitriol this morning). Now, certainly, I don't expect anyone to lay out exactly what they like about the album, but I wanna hear back from adorers of this one. Shoot straight for the knees. . .