I'm not in any way a stickler for originality, not at all. But I just don't like it when a band seems to be a carbon copy of the style of another. You'll see that when I review Timeless by The Watch in my prog journal. Remember my reaction to them in the PRAC?

Yeah I remember that one. I guess in Unified Past's case I just don't see them as a clone: they're way heavier than Yes are and Naro does other things with his voice that Anderson doesn't do. 'Today's The Day' does sound like a love letter to Yes though. However, if you remember that one band Druid back in the mid 70's or the first Starcastle album....that's some deep Yes cloneage going on.

That would make for an interesting journal actually: bands and artists with really obvious influences yet still put out great music.

http://www.progarchives.com/progress...91382015_r.jpg
Title: At Wild End
Artiste: Colin Bass
Year 2015
Nationality: British
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rank: Noob
3

Expectations: The guy used to be in Camel, so though I'm not as familiar with that band as I would like to be, they are giants of the prog scene, so I would expect this to be pretty good.

1. Return to Earth: A very soft, almost folky opening with nice chingly guitar; tune sounds really familiar when it gets going. Nice mid-pacer, and when the vocal comes in it's very warm and gentle. Yes, this is very pleasant.
2. We are one: This opens almost like the closing part of “Dancing with the moonlit knight” by Genesis. Lovely slow piano and soulful vocal. Beautiful, almost lazy, and dreamy. Just gorgeous.
3. Walking to Santiago: Well that's odd: this opens with an old hymn, “He who would valiant be”, then breaks into a lovely uptempo acoustic guitar and what sounds like trumpet. So far this album has been gold.
4. Waiting for someone: Harp from Ben Mandelson and soft keys from Camel bandmate Andy Latimer earn this sumptuous ballad yet another Blue.
5. In another time: This kind of reminds me of Billy Joel, just the style not the song. More uptempo in a fairly gentle way and guided by honky-tonk piano, with also a feeling of early Springsteen (Greetings from Asbury Park era) and Bob Seger too.
6. Szegereli eternal: Some lovely whistle and accordion makes for quite an ambient and Celtic-sounding instrumental (with some choral voices thrown in).
7. Darkness on Leather Lake: This is good, yes, but somehow not as good as the previous tracks. Rocks nicely, some great keyboard and organ. Reminds me very much of Jadis.
8. Bubuka Bridge: Weird little bassline than an almost salsa rhythm picks it up. Another short one, I'd say another instrumental? Another instrumental. Nice work on the pipes and whistles.
9. If I could stay: Another perfect ballad.
10. Girl from the northwest county: This has something of a jazzy/calypso feel to it that I don't really like that much. Yeah, it doesn't do it for me. First Orange. Probably only one too.
11. Up at sheep's bleat: Or maybe not. The rustic feeling evoked through the lyric is nice, but I don't like the spoken vocal. Nice piano though.
12. At Wild End: Ends strongly on another nice ballad, after stumbling a little towards the end.

Final result: Something of a surprise. I had hoped it would be a decent album, but it turned out to be really excellent. Often, solo albums from members of established acts can be very disappointing, but this one scores on almost every level. Real stunner.

Rating: http://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/halfhphone.gif

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...t_in_Steel.jpg
Title: Cast in Steel
Artiste: a-ha
Year 2015
Nationality: Norwegian
Genre: Pop
Rank: Master Adept
10

Expectations: There has been the odd bad album from these guys, but they're few and far between. Given that they came out of retirement specially to record this album, I'm expecting something along the lines of Analogue or even back to the heyday of the likes of Scoundrel Days.

1. Cast in steel: a-ha have a real talent for writing songs packed full of hooks, and this, the opener, shows that in spades. Right away there's a bouncy, catchy melody and the chorus is pure classic a-ha. Morten sounds like he's never been away, and the band appear to just slot back together after six years as if they had never broken up. It's a gentle song with an edge of steel (sorry) in it; could easily hear this on the radio. Beautiful performance by the Macedonian Radio Symphony Orchestra.
2. Under the makeup: Beautiful piano line driving this, Mags at his best and the orchestra really coming into their own. A lovely ballad; perhaps a little soon to have one, but that's a-ha for you. I'm sure it won't be the only one on the album.
3. The wake: A chance for Pal to come to the forefront with a bouncier, boppier song, and again it has that great catchy chorus. Lovely sprinkly keyboards.
4. Forest fire: Nodding back to the days of “Take on me” and “I've been losing you”, this one rocks along on a sprightly synth line from Mags, the drumbeat almost identical to that from their massive hit single. Wonderful vocal from Morten. What is he now? Fifty-seven? Doesn't sound it at all. Never lost that clear, youthful, almost angelic quality to his voice.
5. Objects in the mirror: Lovely thick bassline driving this, then Mags takes control with lush, stately keyboards, helped by some exquisite violin, cello and viola.
6. Door ajar: This is the first track that doesn't have me reaching for the Green right away. It has a sense of seventies pop and eighties new wave but somehow it doesn't do it for me. A little lightweight perhaps compared to the tracks before it. Filler? Not quite, but a weak track certainly.
7. Living at the end of the world: Back on track with a sumptuous strings-driven ballad, this time it's the Bylund Strings providing the orchestral touch. Nice sort of midpaced with a cool little guitar motif running.
8. Mythomania: Funking it up a little now, (I said funking!) with a slightly Arabic sounding keyboard riff that reminds me of Rod Stewart's “Do ya think I'm sexy?” Also touching on “The sign” by Ace of Base a little. Definite marching idea about it that I could see going down well on stage. Also possibly in the clubs.
9. She's humming a tune: Lovely acoustic guitar from Pal opens this before it kicks up into a real bopper along the lines of “Scoundrel days” with some fine keyboard flurries. Nice to see a reprise of the acoustic guitar fading out at the end.
10. Shadow endeavours: Uptempo keyboard with a nice little melody and some good vocal harmonies. Changes nicely at the end into a much slower tempo. Bit odd if I'm honest.
11. Giving up the ghost: Has touches of “The Safety Dance” about it but a great boppy pop song.
12. Goodbye Thompson: Not sure who Thompson is, but this is a nice kind of slightly dark ballad to end.

Final result: Tailed off a little in the end, but still a great album. I was gutted when they announced their breakup after Foot of the Mountain, and though they've only agreed to reform for two years (anyone ever hear of such a thing before?) I hope they can rethink that or be convinced to stay around for longer, as this album is a fine example of what they're still capable of. Thirty years on and still churning out content of this quality.

Rating: http://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/halfhphone.gif

http://www.gertemmens.nl/Gert%20_Emm...frontcover.jpg
Title: Echoes from Future Memories
Artiste: Gert Emmins and Ruud Heij
Year 2015
Nationality: Dutch
Genre: Electronic
Rank: Noob
9

Expectations: Well it only has four tracks but none are less than twelve minutes long. And that's the shortest one! Next one up is seventeen, then we go into the twenties. Hope it'll have more going on than yer man Roach did. Don't know what to expect...

1. Secrets lie within the event horizon: Spacey start with kind of echoing, hollow sounds, sure conjures up the idea of falling into a black hole all right. Okay, already a kind of juddering percussion is cutting in and it's getting a little Vangelis, some buzzing, running synths now. Yeah, think I may like this. Think I may like this a lot. Halfway through already and there's a whole lot happening. Getting very uptempo. Well it's twenty-one minutes long and halfway through I feel it's kind of mostly the same. Don't get me wrong: it's great and I'm enjoying it, and there are extra bits being thrown in, but for a piece of this length it's not really changing enough, at least not yet. There's no doubting the skill of the two musicians though.
2. Depth of prolonged nature: Descending, spiralling down feel to this; reminds me of Jeff Wayne at times. Most of it though is so Vangelis circa Heaven and Hell it just ain't true. Not that there's anything wrong with that, but it does sound here like something of a ripoff of the Greek multi-instrumentalist's work to a degree. Does end really nicely.
3. Whispering winds over dusty roads: Bit of a harsher start, given the title, but there are seventeen minutes to go so we'll see how it develops. It's certainly a slow start. We're almost five minutes in before the dark, breathing synth is supplemented by a faster, rippling one and things begin to take shape. It's actually quite Jarre now. Nice kind of trumpety keyboard coming in around the thirteenth minute. Certainly keeps the attention, unlike some other electronic music I've listened to.
4. Echoes from future memories: And a twenty-four minute tune for the closer and title track. That busy synth gets going again, and there are hissing, sliding sounds flying all around the place, some good guitar work.Then in the eighth minute some bells or gongs sound as the main synth slips out, bringing in a sussurating one and something akin to whalesong as the whole piece slows down now, then picks back up as the bubbling synth makes its way back in.

Final result: Really enjoyable album. Hard to review as ever, but definitely something I would listen to again, and not just as background music.

Rating: http://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gif

Is that a legit album cover?!

That's some fine Berlin School material there. That being said, I'd highly recommend jumping into some Ozric Tentacles records or maybe Shpongle if you want a little more spice in your instrumental progging. :thumb:

(Shrug) Guess so. It was hard to track down so I assume it's it. Name's on it and all. Why would you think otherwise?
I believe I sampled OT in the PRAC back before the dawn of time. I can't remember if I liked them or not though. Berlin School, you say? Tell me more...

It's just... the worst.

Hmm. May I remind you...?
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ngtheworld.jpg

That is a masterpiece compared to that Windows 95 art piece of trash cover, but I wouldn't expect someone who insists on using Comic Sans and refuses to use any kind of pleasing formatting in his posts to understand.

Who the **** cares about the sleeve? It's what's inside that counts. Oh, and I've stopped using Comic Sans if you bother to check my most recent posts, but not because of anything you said. Just got bored with it.

How on Earth could you ever get bored with the aesthetic loveliness that is Comic Sans? Why, the very fact that you would see something so marvelous in it to begin with is evidence enough of your taste.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...sure_Cover.png
Title: Grey Tickles, Black Pressure
Artiste: John Grant
Year 2015
Nationality: American
Genre: Pop
Rank: Novice
3

Expectations: I certainly enjoyed Pale Green Ghosts, though that is the only album from John Grant I have heard. I hope this will continue that appreciation of him for me, though I do note that he mentioned that he wanted to “sound angrier on this album”, so maybe it might be a totally different proposition.

1. Intro: Spoken intro; two voices, think one is speaking a foreign language. Interesting. Weird vocal effects applied near the end are almost disturbing and turn into one big effect that takes over the piece.
2. Grey tickles, black pressure: I love his simple lyrics: “Haemerrhoid commercials on the TV set” :laughing: Song has a Beatles mid-paced vibe to it. Mostly driven on piano, nice vocal chorus a la ELO. Beautiful orchestral backing, just sublime.
3. Snug slacks: In contrast, not at all mad about this one. His more synthpop compositions can leave me cold. This does.
4. Guess how I know: No, not into this either. Not as bad as “Snug slacks” but it's too in-your-face for me.
5. You & him: This is a bit better, though I'm still waiting for anything of the calibre of the title track. Powerful, stabbing synths and snarling guitars with a strong vocal.
6. Down here: Ah, and now we're getting there! Great little rocker with some fine brass and an engaging organ line. Bops along nicely with a vaguely Gerry Raffertyesque feel.
7. Voodoo doll: And this one is great too. Smooth synthpop line that, um, suddenly goes all funky which I'm not too happy about. Feel like it has changed too radically now. Yeah .... I think it can retain its Green, but just barely.
8. Global warming: This has a beautiful soft opening on accordion I think, and it may be heading for another Blue. Yeah, it is. Lovely orchestration, and I like the honest feelings about his homosexuality expressed in the lyric.
9. Magma arrives: Could be another ballad. Lovely piano line. Getting more powerful now, though still slow. Very dark.
10. Black blizzard: Love the slow, lazy, undulating synthline in this and the other, squelchy one too. Real sort of ominous feel to it. Marches along with a sense of dark purpose. Vocoder is great as is the whiny synth near the end; reminds me of Genesis on “Mama” or Gary Numan on “Are Friends Electric?”
11. Disappointing: This is quite funky, but I really like it. Excellent turn by Everything But the Girl's Tracy Thorn on guest vocals.
12. No more tangles: Another lovely ballad with some great percussion and orchestration.
13. Geraldine: This is the longest track, and I can already feel a Blue coming on again. Gorgeous, almost progressive rock opening, with some lovely rippling piano and synthy lushness.
4. Outro: Meh. More or less a repeat of the intro, but spoken by a little girl. Nice idea but I can hardly rate thirty seconds of speech.

Final result: Another excellent album from Grant. True, there are a few tracks I'm not overly impressed by, but then, look at all those Blues. An instant classic, without doubt.

Rating: http://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/halfhphone.gif

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...lbum_cover.jpg
Title: Burning Bridges
Artiste: Bon Jovi
Year: 2014
Nationality: American
Genre: Rock
Rank: High Priest
13

Okay then, the first thing I have to say is **** me sideways with a cucumber but that is one horrible album sleeve! It looks like they just wrapped the thing in brown paper and asked a six-year-old to write on it! If this level of couldn't-give-a-****ness translates to the music, then I will be very disappointed and all you haters can laugh and point at me and tell me you told me so. Described as a “fan's album” (whatever the hell that is!) this is Bon Jovi's thirteenth studio album and their first since 2013's What About Now? Unlucky for some? I don't know, but apparently they were at this stage already planning the fourteenth for next year, so I wonder how much actual care and attention has been put into this?

Well, according to Jon, the album consists of “songs that weren't finished, songs that were, some new ones...” Yeah, getting excited already, JBJ. No, not really. Hopefully I'm wrong, but this whole idea gives me the feel of something that's maybe contractual obligation, or thrown out to keep the fans happy till they can release their real album. Perhaps I'll end up eating my words, who knows, but right now I'm looking and feeling very small in my corner as I prepare to defend one of the most maligned and reviled rock bands since Nickelback.

1. A teardrop to the sea: Okay, this is a bit weird the way it starts, kind of downbeat, then that familiar and overused “Woh-oh-oh!” comes in. Nice basswork. Song reminds me of something off These Days, the chorus sounds very familiar. Bon Jovi are known of course for using the same ideas and themes in various songs. Can't place the melody but it is familiar. Not exactly the explosive start I expected, but not bad.
2. We don't run: This kind of sounds like a sub-Imagine Dragons song. Meh. Not very impressed I must say. Parts of the vocal are almost delivered in a rap style, and if I didn't know better I'd suspect Steinman's hand in the music, but he doesn't appear to be involved. Okay, it has that us-against-the-world motif that Bon Jovi use so much in their songs, and I will remember it more than the opener, but it's still a little substandard.
3. Saturday night gave me Sunday morning: Before I even start listening to this, let me say that I am sick of Bon Jovi using Saturday night in their lyrics. That said, it looks like it's going to develop into a decent song, but again, the melody is very familiar. Quite anthemic, probably the best so far.
4. We all fall down: The “don't let the bastards grind you down” message is getting a little stale. This is okay, but just okay. Slower song, though not what I'd call a ballad really. Another anthemic chorus. They're really writing for the kids now, which is a little silly, given the age of these guys.
5. Blind love: Could I hope for a Waits cover? Thought not. Nice piano though, seems like this may be the first ballad. Alright, this is beautiful. Orchestral accompaniment? Can't tell; there's very little information and the Wiki and Discogs pages are useless. Don't even know who's taken Sambora's place on the guitar. Is there something in the fact that this is one of only two tracks Jon writes solo? On the rest he's mostly collaborating with either John Shanks, Billy Falcon or, on one, Richie, which I assume is an older track.
6. Who would you die for: This has a somewhat sort of trip-hop feel to it, another quite downbeat song; doesn't really do it for me. Great guitar solo. The middle eighth is stupid though.
7. Fingerprints: This is much, much better. Sort of a swaying balladic song, mostly on acoustic guitar.
8. Life is beautiful: The “Woh-oh-oh!”'s are back. :rolleyes: I guess we need a bit of an uptempo track after the last three, but this is a little weak to be fair. Also, it's a little easy for a millionaire like Jon to tell us life is beautiful. Maybe it isn't for those sleeping rough or who can't find a job. Just sayin', it's not all roses out there and sometimes Bon Jovi seem to live in a world separate from the rest of us.
9. I'm your man: Please be the Wham! song, please be the Wham! song, please be the .... aw. :( That would have been so cool, and also funny. Oh well. Bon Jovi don't really do covers, and the chances they'd do that one... Meh, it's another throwaway. Lyrically it's very close to “I could make a livin' out of lovin' you” from Crush.
10. Burning bridges: Oh. Dear. God. No. Just no. A Country song? Dear God in Heaven, why?

Conclusion: Certainly not the greatest Bon Jovi album I've ever heard. Not the worst either, but some of the filler is hardly even good enough to be called that. There are some very good tracks, but whether they justify the pretty low-quality collection of songs that masquerades as an album here is very debatable. I suppose if you look on this as not really an album maybe you can get away with it, but all I can say is the next one had better knock it out of the stadium or I'll be seriously rethinking my devotion to these guys.

Oh, and you can all shut up, while you're at it.
:shycouch:

Rating: http://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gif

queer

there is nothing I hate more than Bon Jovi

I don't know about that, I mean, "Livin' on a Prayer" is drunk royalty, but taking them seriously as a band is hilarious.

i said i hate, not you hate.

This is the kind of thing that gets innocent drunk people murdered in the streets. Stop it.

But hating Bon Jovi is like hating kids with Heelys. Yeah they're annoying and ****, but they're unintentionally hilarious and you haven't been subjected to them for years.

i love heelys, i lived through their cultural height as an elementary school student. Bon Jovi is significantly less cool than shoes with rollerblade capabilities.

Gross.

Comments all expected. May I just add, go **** yourselves. :)
And now, on to the next:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...tal_ghosts.jpg
Album title: Digital Ghosts
Artiste: Shadow Gallery
Year: 2009
Nationality: British
Genre: Progressive Metal
Rank: High Priest
6

One of the very first reviews in my original journal is a double one, concerning Shadow Gallery's albums Tyranny and Room V, which together tell a dystopian story, and I have been into them since I found and listened to the latter album, afterwards collecting all their others. The discography was, admittedly, small, and remains so. This is their sixth album, and having been released in 2009 with nothing afterwards, it seems fair to conclude it may have been their last. It was the first album put out by them since the untimely death of former lead singer and founder Mike Baker, and though I've only listened to it I think twice, you can hear the pain and the loss in the songs, and it's a much darker album than they've recorded up to this point.

1. With honor: Not surprisingly a tribute to their fallen bandmate, this is a heavy, frenetic piece of progressive metal, and new man Brian Ashland does his best to fill those big shoes, but he's no Mike Baker, nor I guess should be try to be. One thing Shadow Gallery do well is vocal harmonies, and this album is no exception. The core of the band is of course still here, and Gary Wehrkamp and Brendt Allman share guitar, keyboards, bass and backup vocal duties among them, with Wehrkamp even looking after the drumming. The familiar Shadow Gallery melodies are here in abundance, and if you're a fan you would not mistake these songs for anyone else's. Yet there's something missing, as I suppose you would expect: the album is called Digital Ghosts, and there's one huge ghost looming over every part of it, a man who will never be forgotten in the ranks and history of this band.

The song titles themseleves speak of this, with titles like “Strong”, “Pain” and “Venom”, and the closer, “Haunted”. It must have been hard for the guys to continue on after losing the friend and colleague they spent sixteen years with (thirteen in the case of Wehrkamp, who only joined in 1995 for the second album) and Baker's a hard ghost to exorcise. His fingerprints are all over the music here, his voice echoes in that of his replacement, and there just seems to be a very deep dark pall over everything. Shadow Gallery didn't tend to write necessarily happy songs, but there's a real sense of gloom and loss over the music here. Starting with a ten-minute track was either a brave or a foolish move, but I've yet to really get into this opening track, and feel it definitely lacks something. Must admit though, the sad keyboard ending is almost like a final salute to Baker, almost a last post.
2. Venom: Kicks things back up with vocals from Suspyre's Clay Barton, sort of reminds me of older tracks like “Cliffhanger” and “Deeper than life”. Some great guitar from Gary here with powerful keyboard work too, and the lyrics spit vitriol as Barton snarls ”I wrap a curse around your throat” and envisages the end of days. Heavy stuff.
3. Pain: Another thing this band do well is look behind the mask, get right down into the details and tear apart the lies. They don't do this as viscerally as the likes of Slayer or Cannibal Corpse do, but I believe they do it as effectively, by exposing the real face of humanity in all its vainglory. Seldom though will they waste time on empty words of love and devotion; they're usually more into the bitter, recriminatory type of message, and here this is exactly what we get when Ashland sings ”And what of all that talk/ About how two become one?”. Laying bare the realities of life is something Shadow Gallery know all about, and they use it to good effect here. There's a nice kind of marching beat to the song, and it's driven well on the twin guitars of Wehrkamp and Allman, with plenty of keyboard flourishes on the way.
4. Gold dust: Keeps everything running at a high tempo, with some squealing keyboards and grinding guitar. The familiar motif used in many Shadow Gallery songs is here, kind of their signature sound, with again great vocal harmonies. On a long keyboard outro it flows directly into
5. Strong: where guitar takes over, marching along as if the two songs were in fact the one. A searing solo from Gary to get the track underway before guest vocals come in from Primal Fear's Ralf Scheepers. It's a very dramatic kind of rhythm with a sort of boogie feel to it as well. In the middle it rises to a pumping, frenetic keyboard solo from Wehrkamp before guitar joins in too. The lyric really is poor, sub-Rainbow material, quite dated and not really worthy of the band, perhaps another reason why I don't find myself as drawn to this album as to their earlier, far superior efforts. Like I said, there's something missing, and it doesn't help that there are two guest vocalists on the album. There are only seven tracks in all: did Brian Ashland feel he couldn't handle all of them? It makes for inconsistency, and while nobody would want to see Mike Baker's legacy tarnished, and nobody could properly replace him, you'd think they would have given it a decent go.
6. Digital ghost: Great intro to the title track, really reminds me of the Shadow Gallery of old. Descends into a slow slide guitar passage then, almost reminiscent of Gilmour, then that famous rapid piano comes in and suddenly it's 1995 all over again. Perhaps this will be the one to change my mind about this album. Opening lines ”I believe in the afterlife” shows you right away where this is going. When they all sing in unison ”The circle remains here my friend/ We guard it with trust” you can't help but be moved, even if the wording is a little off. It's a touching song, obviously a tribute to Baker and their final musical farewell to their friend, and it's a fitting tribute. If the rest of the album was like this I'd have no problem with it. There's quite a jazzy little piano piece here at about the sixth minute, and harmonies that put me in mind of early Yes, followed by a truly exceptional guitar solo.
7. Haunted: A fitting title for the last track, the closer to this album and possibly the last song we'll ever hear from Shadow Gallery. This album is certainly haunted by the restless ghost of Mike Baker, and I'm not even sure it's a spirit they want to put to rest. A soft piano with group vocals introduces the song, tolling bells underlining the message with perhaps a little too heavy a hand. A fine vocal by Ashland, and he distinguishes himself well at the end. It is the final farewell though, and all the band take part in it, there being more vocal harmonies and group vocals here than anywhere else on the album, as if everyone wants to have their say, be counted, shake the hand and hold the shoulder one last time. A Brian Maylike guitar solo comes through in the third minute, and you can feel the emotion and the pain in Gary Wehrkamp's fingers, reaching right down from his heart to the guitar strings. The song then takes on a harder edge as it speeds up, keyboard flurries adding to the melody.

But as we reach the sixth minute it slows down again, taking on a stately, almost reverential tone with a a particularly poignant line in ”Another good man goes down” and the last minute or so of the song is driven by impotent, frustrated anger, guitars whining and the final lines, as bells toll, an appeal perhaps for there to be something beyond this life, continuity beyond the grave as they sing ”And on and on, and on and on...” the drums beating out a final sad tattoo as they fade into the distance.

Conclusion: I can understand the album better now, having read the lyrics for the first time, but it still stands as one of Shadow Gallery's weakest efforts for me, and this rankles. If this is to be their final recording, their swansong and their tribute to Mike Baker, it really needed to be a whole lot more cohesive than it is, and better written. I've looked over the lyrics and some of them are so embarrassing it's painful. I wouldn't expect that from a band whose first language was not English, never mind from one for whom it is their native tongue. It's also something of a mishmash of styles, with no real common thread going through it, and as I said, the reliance on guest singers really damages Ashland's chance of making his mark as the new vocalist, should they go on to record more material. Even if they don't, had his been the one voice carrying the album then the message would have been stronger; as it is, it's very confused. Do they think nobody could replace Baker? Probably true. Are they afraid to try, for fear of sullying his memory? Perhaps. But if this album is, as it surely must be, a tribute to him, should Shadow Gallery not have made it the very best they possibly could? I feel in this, though they hit the mark later on, overall they missed the opportunity.

And there may not be another one.

Rating: http://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gif

http://www.metal-archives.com/images...32573.jpg?2032

Album title: For the Journey
Artiste: Threshold
Year: 2014
Nationality: British
Genre: Progressive Metal
Rank: High Priest
10

I've been a fan of British progressive metal band Threshold since I first heard Subsurface, and quickly set about buying the rest of their discography. I can honestly say I've yet to hear a bad, or even substandard album from this band. They're not guys to rush out releases though: their album before this was out two years prior, and three years elapsed between the release of that and their 2007 album. So when you get a new Threshold album, you're pretty certain it's going to be an event.

1. Watchtower on the moon: A big heavy guitar from Karl Groom to get us underway, underscored by wailing keyboards from Richard West as Threshold lay down their signature sound, Damien Wilson in fine form on vocals, and the vocal harmonies are as usual spot-on. Some vocoders and then a really nice group vocal in the middle before the guitar picks up again with another fine solo from Groom, ably assisted by Pete Morten. Great start.
2. Unforgiven: Slower with some nice acoustic guitar and a dramatic keyboard line. Great passion in Wilson's voice; he always throws himself fully into every song.
3. The box: Every Threshold album has an epic, and this is twelve minutes long. Opens on a beautiful piano and synthy line with a soft vocal, then it starts to get a bit more intense, faster, with someone yelling about a machine in the background (may be taken from a movie or something) as the guitar kicks in around the third minute with organ overlaying the melody. A cautionary tale, it would appear, about ... um ... I don't know. Losing control? Handing it to others? Forest for the trees? Don't really get the reference, but that's one hell of a keyboard solo just now. Those great vocal harmonies are used to fine effect here. Back to the piano from the opener as we come towards the end of the song, and a big powerful instrumental outro. Class.
4. Turned to dust: Good uptempo track, guitar-driven with a great hook. Another scorching solo from Groom.
5. Lost in your memory: West's piano drives this one though, which feels as if it may be the ballad. Sort of reminds me of “Keep my head” from Hypothetical. Very progressive metal guitar groove and again there's a fine hook in the melody. You could almost hear this playing on the radio.
6. Autumn red: Great driving keyboard line opening the song. Again I have not the first idea what it's about. Very uptempo and sharp though. Love the building line in the fourth minute which brings in the vocal harmonies.
7. The mystery show: A very reflective, ominous guitar with phased vocals; a much slower song, feeling of paranoia and terror clutching at you. Love the chorus. Another really progressive guitar solo from Karl Groom
8. Siren sky: Atmospheric intro that gives way to powerful guitar. A very Yes-style melody in parts, a very optimistic message: ”Instead of walking around all negatively, allowing that to affect your entire outlook on life, why not choose to live thankfully?” Really orchestral-like keyboard ending and a passionate vocal to bring the song, and the album, to a triumphant close.

Conclusion: Another fine album from the band who never disappoint. They may make us wait for their albums, but they're always worth waiting for. Criminally underrated band.

Rating:http://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gif

http://www.progarchives.com/progress...2422015_r.jpeg
Title:The Unquiet Sky
Artiste: Arena
Year 2015
Nationality: British
Genre: Progressive Rock
Rank: High Priest
8

Expectations: Although I did like 2011's The Seventh Degree of Separation, it kind of only got working for me near the end, although I freely admit I only listened to it the once, so maybe if I gave it a few more listens? Thing is, for me, Arena albums usually don't require more than one listen to impress me, so I have mixed feelings about this new one, their eighth so far.

1. The demon strikes: Hmm. Rather long instrumental opening, almost like the overture to a movie or something, then the guitar crashes in and Paul Manzi's vocals are heard for the second time, he being the new vocalist since 2011. A good track but I feel there's something missing. Seemed to end a little too suddenly.
2. How did it come to this?: Sounds like the first ballad. Lovely cello, great synthwork and as ever Mitchell rules on the expressive guitar. A bit more like the Arena I know.
3. The Bishop of Lufford: An odd title indeed, though Arena are kind of known for their unorthodox subject matter. What's it about? ****ed if I know. Sounds good though. Got a lot of energy in it, and Clive's still got it on the keys. Again though, way too abrupt ending.
4. Oblivious to the night: I like the combination of piano and typewriter keys opening this – another ballad? Vocal is very good on this, like the sort of rolling guitar, but it's really short at less than three minutes and, given that so much time is spent on the piano/typewriter thing at the start, a little of a waste.
5. No chance encounter: Brings me back to albums like Contagion and Immortal?, with the opera singer effect from “Opera fantastique” off Pepper's Ghost. The most classic Arena song I've heard on the album so far. Gives Manzi a chance to really exercise his lungs.
6. Markings on a parchment: Another short one, though this time I believe it may be an instrumental. Yep. Not bad at all really. A little sparse perhaps. Well, mostly instrumental: some backwards masking or some **** in there too. Not sure why; doesn't really work for me. The choir at the end is good. Again too short though.
7. The unquiet sky: Love the pizzicato strings at the beginning. Okay, this is the first song so far that has really impressed me the way the old Arena did. Love this. Superb piano, powerful guitar, a great melody.
8. What happened before: Back to Contagion style with a lovely rippling piano, and I'm getting used to Manzi's vocal, which is not really that much different to the departed Rob Sowden's.
9. Time runs out: A good powerful rocker, again reminiscent of the Contagion era.
10. Returning the curse: I have to be honest, the feeling I keep getting from this album time after time is Contagion, and while that's not necessarily a bad thing, that album was over ten years ago...
11. Unexpected dawn: Opening with basically the theme from “Breathe” from Dark Side of the Moon is not the greatest move: it's so well known that there's no way you can believe they wrote this part of the music themselves. A decent ballad though. Would be a lot better if it didn't sound so much like a Floyd track from the seventies.
12. Traveller beware: Good decent strong closer. I like the way they pull the title of the album into it, even though there is a separate title track.

Final result: Again, it is only the first listen to an album by a band I really love, and it probably will grow on me with repeated listenings, but for now, first time out of the gate, though I'm a little more impressed with it than the previous album I'm still not floored. Definitely great, but is it excellent? Time, I guess, will have to tell. For now:

Rating: http://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gif

Side note: I'm always confused by people who give mediocre-to-decent reviews of an album and then say it's great.

I think his review was pretty good, actually.

I said it was great because I am an Arena fan and love their music. But I'm prepared to admit that sometimes the album may be a little of a letdown and I'm not ready to slobber all over any artiste just because they are who they are. I even hated a Marillion album, and made no bones about saying so. I Greened everything here because I know after a few listens I probably will love this album, but if I really did love it most or all of it would be Blue.
Coming from you, that really means a lot. Thanks! :) :beer:

Yeah that was a joke. He doesn't actually like your writing.

I assumed as much. Mine was a double joke.

It's true that I don't like his writing style, but he reviews well and gives you a good sense of the music itself sounds like, which is actually pretty admirable given how little TH knows about music (see: melody/harmony confusion).

That was a top 10 TH moment.

I've always admitted, not being a musician, I know very little about the composition of music, so I try to use my overly flowery prose style to describe the music as best I can: "rippling piano", "hard guitar", "soaring vocals" etc. I just do the best I can. It's actually not that easy.

Exactly, and you do it well.

Compliment quota of 2017 has already been filled. Damn.

One thing I would say is that the adjectives you use are often overused, both by you and others, so that they often sound like cliches. It works, but sometimes it's goofy.

I'm fully aware of that, but it's part of my charm. ;)
Also, it's hard to keep coming up with new ways to describe sounds. "Rippling", "Tinkling", "Bubbling" ... there are only so many ways you can write these things. At least they're evocative.

Note: It's come to my notice that the colour I use for "Like" (Orange or even DarkOrange) is a little harsh, so I'm changing it now. Here, and in "Love or Hate?", or anywhere else I use my marking system, "Like" will now be indicated by this colour.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...lademuerta.jpg
Title: Isla de Muerta
Artiste: Ten
Year 2015
Nationality: British
Genre: Melodic Rock/AOR
Rank: High Priest
12

Expectations: I don't know: I'm a huge fan of this widely unregarded band, yet their recent releases have generally failed to instil in me the fire and passion that their earlier material did. In fact, the last Ten album I could call really great was 2005's The Twilight Chronicles, and while they did impress with 2012's Heresy and Creed, even then I was reaching a little. I've yet to hear the previous year's Albion, though what I've heard from it has given me hope that they may have regained the sparkle that characterised albums such as Return to Evermore, Babylon and Far Beyond the World. Will this, their latest, continue that upward trend? I see the succession of silly covers goes on; these guys don't do themselves any favours with their choice of cover art. The older albums were blander in general, but at least they didn't make you want to roll your eyes. Ah well, on we go.

]1. Buccaneers/Dead men tell no tales: This is the second album, but the first I've heard, to feature a quad-guitar attack, with Gary Hughes and John Halliwell backed up now by two “new” guys (they joined for the previous album, so they're new to me at this point), Steve Grocott and Dann Rosingana. The instrumental beginning is certainly nothing to get excited about, typical Ten instrumental and as it happens mostly driven on keys. They're what usher in the first actual track too; have to say it sounds a lot like “Albion born” off the previous album. Meh, for a band with four guitars to draw on they don't seem to capitalise on this, not so far anyway. A decent song, but it's hardly blowing me away or making me think of classic Ten. All told, fairly weak opener.
2. Revolution: Kind of an almost industrial sound to this, and maybe they're about to use the power of multi-guitars here? Well, if anything this reminds me of Gary Hughes's solo work on the double concept album Once and Future King. Better than the opener though, kicks a little life into proceedings. I can hear the guitars getting into it now.
3. Acquiesce: This has a good sense of fun and almost poppy rock to it, certainly more in the AOR than hard rock vein. Good keyboard runs and some decent guitar; kind of a sense almost of seventies rock too. First decent proper guitar solo here. No idea who's playing it though.
4. The Dragon and Saint George: This track I already reviewed when I looked at the EP of the same name, so if you want to know about it check that review out.
5. Intensify: Now this sounds very familiar: sort of reminds me of “Evil's on top of the world”. Good hook in the chorus though. Probably one of the best so far, which, given that it sounds so much like a previous song, is not really good. Still, I guess I'll take what I can get at this point. Sigh. It never used to be like this.
6. This love: Oh here we go! If there's one thing Gary and Ten do well it's ballads, and here's the first, and it does not disappoint. Almost worth the price of the album by itself. It has everything: great piano line, soft synth, the trademark Ten vocal harmonies and I assume ... yes, there it is, a soaring guitar solo. Formulaic, I guess, but I love Ten ballads, and their albums would not be the same without at least one. Oh, that has cheered me up. Now let's see if we can keep this mood, although...
7. Karnak/The Valley of the Kings: Ten do tend to use a lot of Egyptian motifs in their lyrics, and I have to be honest, it's getting a little tiresome. The instrumental that precedes the track is just what you'd expect – just, in fairness, what you'd expect from any band who want to convey an Egyptian feeling in their music, from Rainbow to Maiden – while the song itself rocks along, though with perhaps a little too much of a nod to “Powerslave”. Meh, it's okay I suppose.
8. Tell me what to do: Some nice peppy keyboard driving this, and it settles down into a nice funky groove quickly. Another great hook in the chorus. I like this. I like this a lot. The false ending is great.
9. Angel of darkness: Going back to the harder and heavier style for this one, really kicking it. This is why Ten sometimes get called a melodic metal band, though I would never claim they were any such thing. It's the heaviest track so far though, that can't be denied. Good strong ending, when it seemed it was going to fade out.
10. The last pretender: Keeping things powerful and heavy, with definite elements of “Ten fathoms deep” from The Robe. I've actually heard this one before, on a playlist. It's decent enough, if a little derivative.
11. Assault and battery: On the European version the closer is “We can be as one”, which also featured on the Dragon and Saint George EP, but here I seem to have the Japanese version, which gives us this track instead. So we sacrifice the second ballad for a fast rocker (as if you couldn't tell from the title!) which, while it's good, I feel slightly unbalances the album. What's the Japanese's problem with love songs, huh? Not the closer I would have preferred.

Final result: Time was when you could hear a new Ten album and it would be just that: new. It does seem now though that Gary and the boys are looking too much to the past, basically cherry-picking a lot of elements from classic albums and hammering them into new tracks that then don't sound new. As has been the case for me for some time, while I don't hate this album I can't say I love it, and I remain a little disappointed at how unadventurous Ten are being, and how they seem to be content, to a large degree, to not quite phone it in, but maybe Facebook it. Whatever that is. I've heard that's a thing. Is that a thing? Anyway, there doesn't seem to be too much creativity left, which is a pity, as these guys used to be one of my favourite bands. They're still up there, but seem to be doing all they can to step down the ladder.

Rating: http://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gifhttp://www.trollheart.com/hphone.gif

**** off. :)