Album title: Thunder of the Gods
Artist: Sun Ra and his Arkestra
Genre: Jazz
Nationality: American
Release date: April 7
Position in Discography: Ah, I have no idea: the guy released like over a hundred albums
Estimated Rating:
Familiar with this artist? Have heard one track; hated it
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: N/A
So why the surely unfair low estimated rating? Perhaps this may explain things further:
"He instructed them to start playing, but not how or what to play. As such, it's some of the most challenging music produced by the Arkestra, filled with atonal scraping, clawing, scratching, clattering, and slapping. Fascinating stuff for hardcore fans, but for most other listeners, the first half of the album is more likely to be played more than once"
and this
"This new set of unheard songs is gripping and challenging, as to be expected from the free jazz legend. Using oddball orchestrations, Sun Ra unfurls more complexities of the astral realm"
Not to mention this:
"This is not music for the faint of heart or the impatient of ear, this is bold and strange and difficult, but like secondhand reports of undiscovered countries, it is impossible to comprehend what is being communicated without following to see and experience this strangeness for yourself"
Suffice to say, I'm neither looking forward to this nor expecting any miracle conversion. There are only three tracks, admittedly, but one is over twenty-three minutes long, one is thirteen and the shortest is a mere six, so we're still talking almost forty minutes of music here. Let's get it over with, then.
Well this is certainly fun. Nothing but guys making farting noises and screeching on horns. Maybe a synth or something there now, sounds like a harpsichord though I guess it's not one. And this is supposed to be the accessible part of the album? Worse than the worst Beefheart. No. Just no. So far out of my wheelhouse that I can't even see it. Bye. Hands up anyone who didn't expect this reaction from me? Liar. Expect this to make a high showing on my “Worst of April” list, even on my “Worst of 2017” list. Yeah? **** off: I'm not afraid of you!
Check out more from this artist? Absolutely not
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes