Okay well, let's test the water, shall we?
Title: Poise is the Greater Architect
Artiste: Ilya
Genre: Darkwave?
Familiarity:Zero
1. Isola: There seem to be a few Ilyas out there, so I'm not sure which one this is and I have no real information about them. Sounds like two vocals, the main one definitely female. Something similar to Switchblade Sympony whom I just listened to. Nice chimy guitar, dark synths (I guess; even Discogs don't have this and as for Wiki, don't even go there!) sort of an Indian feel to the end section. Very atmospheric certainly.
2. Rana: Nice piano, the vocal's a bit boring now. Okay just took up a notch with the harmonies. Nice. Like the slightly discordant piano. The sudden buildup near the end is good too.
3. BPD: That was weird! Sudden upbeat jangle pop. Turned out to be an ad in between the YouTube playlist!
Back to dour piano and somewhat whiny singing. Ah, now we're back on track!
4. I want to know: Yeah, this is just getting so depressing. As Monty Burns once said, where's the love? I'm too bored and depressed with this.
5. Blatchford: Sort of a spoken vocal, also quite depressing. Music is not too bad; sounds a little like accordion kind of. Piano is nice and there's a nice kind of breakout there on keys I guess it is. Gets a bit confused and chaotic near the end, then back to that morose voice. I guess it holds my interest but it's very depressing again.
6. Lady Folly: Nice violins, soft sound, male vocals are an interesting change (they're more backing than lead though, that girl is still taking the main vocal duties. I really don't like her voice though I must admit.) Nice guitar, interesting percussion.
7. Nux Vomica: Like the chiming piano on this, actually I think there are two pianos? I think it's the vocals that do me in though: she just sounds like she's sitting in a corner of the room watching the blood from her arteries drip onto the floor. I guess you need to be into this sort of thing. I'm not. Some very nice cello there. Love cellos. Oh but I hate the abrupt ending.
8. In my sleep: Nice relaxed ambient feel to this, and it seems to be very short also. Oh, and it's an instrumental. Definite plus.
9. Disturbed: This has more of a somehow upbeat feel to it. Still don't like her voice, but at least she doesn't seem to be whining as much. Yeah it's all right I guess.
10. Guilty kisses: Oh crap! Eight minutes? Well there's a nice acoustic guitar to open, so that's not too bad, but can I survive four hundred and eighty seconds of this girl's depressing, moaning, tedious voice? At least it's the last track. Okay, I basically lost interest halfway through.
End result: Although I began reviewing this album before “LoveorHateGate”, as it were, and it was in fact the one that decided me on putting this thread on hiatus, and at the time I was pretty depressed over various things with this not helping, I have to admit I'm still quite depressed by the album and while there are some nice melodies in it I don't see it ever being something I would revisit.
So, Love or Hate? It's hard to like an album on which I don't like the singer, and this is the album that sent me into something of a spiral of depression over the whole thread; the straw, as it were, that temporarily broke the Trollheart's back. So I think all in all it has to be a
Hate. Sorry bob! Waiting all that time to find out I had such a negative view of it. Still, as they say, it is what it is. No point in pretending I liked it when I didn't. I think you'd prefer honesty anyway, even if it's of the somewhat brutal sort.