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Why do we need to know if you own the album?
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http://www.dprp.net/wp/interviews/fi...AGS_-_Main.jpg Not A Good Sign – Not A Good Sign (2013) Genre: Progressive Rock I'm giving this one a second (well, third really) listen, because when I spun it the first time recently I started off thinking “damn this is boring”, then it seemed to improve a lot, but I wasn't really concentrating on it, and there did seem like maybe there was something there, so I'm now giving it my full attention. It does kick off with some fairly standard proggy keyboard-led instrumental tracks, which did bore me a little, but we're more than halfway through and I have to say I still, at this moment, retain the original impression I had of the album, that it's pretty boring. Maybe things will change over the next few tracks; I'm sure I remember them doing so. Right, this was where it began: a female vocal (not the first vocal track I think but certainly the first/only female one) which makes me take interest, though to be honest after this it goes back to being quite annoyingly boring again. I think there are three tracks left; can they save this slab of prog rock tedium? Answer is pretty much no. I'm not sure where I got the idea from. This is hella boring. I mean, it's not terrible or anything, and there are the odd good moments, but basically it's just an okay prog album, verging slightly even towards the mediocre. Why did I bother giving it a second chance? I would have been happier listening to the Uriah Heep album again. Hey, that'not a bad idea... http://www.trollheart.com/speed5.jpg |
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http://www.progarchives.com/progress...7412102010.jpg Dead River - 19 A.D.D - 2009 Genre: Experimental/Post-Metal Okay, this will be an interesting one. I remember some years ago reviewing this, hating it, and hating it so much that I later made it the subject of a section in my journal called “The Plague Ship”, where I featured albums that had what I considered nothing at all to offer, ones that could not even be said to have anything to recommend them, no redeeming features at all. That was a long time ago, so I wonder if my attitude has changed now? No. It's still ****. It's just boring **** now. I mean, it's pretty much all guitar music, something like prog metal or maybe djent, I don't know, with some spoken samples thrown in here and there, but it makes no impression on me. Still hate it, but kind of in a more passive way than I used to. I just don't care about it now. For anyone interested, here's my original review from 2012 http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1240275 http://www.trollheart.com/speed1.jpg |
So...how does this thread differ from your recent thread of posting about music you listen to i.e. the music nobody likes thread?
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Otherwise, yeah, it's exactly the same. :) |
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Using a new icon here. The sailing ship represents a real discovery, a real find, some album or artist which I am going to end up totally getting into.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/07...g?v=1490026344 http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/i...lag-2-icon.png https://s-media-cache-ak0.pinimg.com...b6792a9900.jpg https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...nfessional.jpg Act V: Hymns With the Devil in Confessional – The Dear Hunter Genre: Prog Rock/Symphonic Rock Never heard these guys before, but once this album started I knew I dug it. I'm a lot behind the curve here, as this is the fifth instalment of six concept albums all telling one long story, so I can't get the plot, but there's plenty to enjoy in this album on its own merits, though I expect after this I will end up listening to not only the last four albums in this series, but the rest of The Dear Hunter's discography too. Quite varied, with some jazz and indie rock in here as well as prog, even forties swing or big band or whatever the hell they played back then (“Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy” - whatever that is). Highly impressed. I think if/when it's possible for me to follow the storyline through the six albums I'll be even moreso. Just became a fan through this album anyway. Note: since writing this I've been listening to this album almost constantly. Definitely a fan now. http://www.trollheart.com/speed10.jpg https://furtaev.ru/preview/download_small.png |
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https://cdn.countryflags.com/thumbs/...g-wave-250.png https://img.discogs.com/39wE3PJROrn0...53339.jpeg.jpg Symphonic Rock/Wiener Symphoniker Spielen Klassiker Der Rockmusik – VSOP – 1987 Genre: Orchestral Rock Yeah, I like rock tunes played by orchestras in general, but it can be very hit and miss. Good ones are Tribute to Iron Maiden by the Vitamin String Quartet, as well as Us and Them - The Symphonic Pink Floyd by the London Philharmonic, and the music of Genesis in We Know What We Like by the London Symphony Orchestra. This one is okay, up to a point. The Queen medley that kicks it off is good (though I really hate it when “orchestral” music features singing – I mean, what's the point?) and Supertramp's “Dreamer” gets a decent outing, but their version of “Satisfaction” should be registered as a crime against the ears. Just terrible. Overall, I'd say very much okay but nothing more than that. Good background music, but even then, I wouldn't be listening to this more than once a year, if even that. http://www.trollheart.com/speed5.jpg |
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http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/i...lag-2-icon.png https://img.discogs.com/MWdgmnEtuwPu...-5707.jpeg.jpg Silk and Steel – Giuffria (1986) Genre: Hard Rock/AOR Think I've heard of these guys before. Like I said about AOR, it is as it does. This does nicely. Some good tracks, so far no really bad ones. “Girl” is a particular standout, even if the title is less than original. Singer sounds very Steve Perryesque. “Dirty Secrets” is a bit below par, but the rest is pretty all right, which is mostly all you can say about AOR I think. Would listen to more. http://www.trollheart.com/speed8.jpg |
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https://img.discogs.com/4uh0acX92VXz...-4116.jpeg.jpg Theocracy – Theocracy (2003) Genre: Prog Metal I loved As the World Bleeds, and quickly set about getting the rest of Theocracy's discography. I haven't however listened to any of it yet. This is their debut. It has two epics on it, each over eleven minutes long and broken into multi-part suites, so this should be indeed right in my wheelhouse. I have to admit, I haven't been concentrating on this as much as I should, but what I hear I do like. “Sinner” in particular is a standout, and I reckon a few more spins and this could definitely be a favourite. http://www.trollheart.com/speed9.jpg http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/i.../safe-icon.png |
^that one ive always had trouble listening to since As The World Bleeds and Mirror of Souls are far superior. There aren't many tracks I like on Theocracy, but its still a decent enough album.
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https://www.metal-archives.com/image...29873.jpg?1621 The Closed Eyes of Paradise – Draconian – 2000 Genre: Death/Gothic/Black Metal I believe it was Carpe Mortem who first introduced me to this Swedish gothic/death metal band, and while the album she threw at me was Arcane Rain Fell, and it's a whole lot more laid back and atmospheric than this, let's remember this is actually a demo album, released five years before that one. There are three instrumentals on it, and they're all really good, and eight other tracks, which isn't bad for a demo. The vocals are harsh, definitely more in the Black Metal camp though than the Death Metal one, ie they're screeched but still fairly discernable. The musicianship is top notch, and the addition of a female backing singer on some of the tracks really adds something. The short (just over a minute) “Unfold Thine Hands” has a beautiful orchestral melody, reminiscent of some of the work on Arcane Rain Fell, and lovely piano. Pity it's not longer. Soon forget about that though, as the next track is ****ing incredible! “The Morningstar” gives way to “The Gothic Embrace” and hell if it isn't just as good. Okay, I love everything about this album. http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/i.../safe-icon.png http://www.trollheart.com/speed10.jpg |
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https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...rime_cover.jpg Operation: Mindcrime – Queensryche - 1988 Genre: Progressive Metal I know this album gets huge props from just about everyone, and probably rightly so, but the one and only time I listened to it, though I enjoyed it, I wasn't struck by a classic in the making. Now it's come around again on the randometer, so let's see how it does. The songs are all pretty excellent, true, and the story runs well through them, never seeming forced or stretched to fit. Title track is great, as is “Revolution Calling”, and ... yeah, pretty much everything really. I guess I would need to spend a little more time with this album to totally get its awesomeness, but at least I understand now. http://www.trollheart.com/speed10.jpg |
I'm not over the moon either but "Revolution Calling" is an absolute monster of a song.
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Nice. That's a great album. Haven't listened to it in a while tho.
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http://flashphrase.com/wp-content/up...3/de_small.png https://hasitleaked.com/wp-content/u...-2-320x320.jpg Stronger in the End – 7 Mazes – 2017 Genre: Hard Rock Hard one to track down, this. Wiki shrugs, Discogs says “never heard of it mate” and gives me some compilation by presumably some other band with the same name (fancy) as this is the debut album from the 7 Mazes we're concerned with here. Thought it might have been prog so checked PA but no luck there. Finally got it on a Google search. Interestingly, the page it brought me to rates the album as a ten, but for all I know that could be mates of the band rating it, so I won't take that as anything special before I listen to it. I will say their philosophy is interesting: ”We believe that as an artist, one major task is to connect people. No matter the origin, gender or age; we are all individuals with rough edges and flaws. And thats what defines each one in his unique way. Its about real emotions, true stories and real music.' Indeed. Laudable sentiments. But what's the music like? Well to be honest, it's shown as hard rock but this kind of sounds almost prog metal to me when it starts. Indeed, RYM (who also have it) call it Alt-Metal. Maybe. Guitar tone is not something you'll find me talking about usually, as I don't know my arse from a hole in the ground on that subject, but here the constant buzzy sound set up by the guitar in the larger percentage of the tracks is very interesting and insistent, sort of aggressive and certainly I would think a signature sound. The vocalist is good, but I'd have to be honest and say he kind of sounds like a million other AOR/Prog Metal/Hard Rock singers – think he reminds me of Daughtry, but I could be wrong there – and I doubt I'd be able to identify him in any other band. He gets the job done though. Standouts include “Rising Sun”, “Through the Maze”, “Where Are You Now”, “Falling to Pieces”, though to be perfectly frank, it started sounding a little samey about halfway through and while I did enjoy it, I was kind of glad when it got near the end. RYM has a rating of 2.50 on the album, though that is only based on two votes, and I can understand that more than the 10.0 on the other page. I don't see this ever becoming a 10 for me, not even close. I mean, a few more listens and it might go up a point, but I can't see it getting to that level. Recommended, but not that highly. http://www.trollheart.com/speed8.jpg |
I stumbled back across this in a search for material for my Fortress of Prog, but was a little upset to find it's no use for that, as although there are prog albums here the guiding principle I laid down with this thread was that there would be no reviews, and only a few words, a few lines about each album, more comments than anything really, so not much use for the crumbling-and-being-renovated-as-we-speak castle of keyboards then.
However, reading through it (yeah I read my own work; wanna make something of it?) I was reminded how much fun this was, and as this is a time when we could all do with some harmless fun, I'm going to kick some life back into it, two years later. So stand by. Let's see what's first up. Oh, and I may bring back those playlists I was doing, though probably not on a daily basis. 2018 Trollheart was right: too much effing hard work! |
Okay then, looks like this is first.
Note: I downloaded the program I used to use, but as it needs a computer reboot I'm holding off on that; I've too much running that I don't want to have to rack up again. So for now I'm using an RLG which rather hilariously gave me as its first pick Z! Oh come on! Who has a ton of albums by artists beginning with Z? Well, probably Frownland. And Hawk. But not me. So after a somewhat futile attempt to work out which of the four albums under Z I might look into, I said **** it and re-rolled. This time I got an A, which eventually led me to these guys. https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/07...eon_medium.png https://cdn.countryflags.com/thumbs/...waving-250.png Moonhorse - Atavarium - 2013 Genre: Doom Metal RYM rating: 3.59 https://img.discogs.com/E3El7yxryTHg...-4964.jpeg.jpg Gonna do something different this year. I'll check RYM and f I can find any basic comments - not reviews, but just comments - about the album in question I'll post them, and then see if I agree/disagree with the poster. Here's what someone has to say about this one: Avatarium is a new doom metal band lead by the mighty Leif Edling, current bassist and one of the founding members of doom masters Candlemass. He is joined by musicians that are currently members of such bands as Evergrey, Tiamat and Jupiter Society. Their new EP, Moonhorse, features 2 tracks off their upcoming self titled debut album due to be released November 1. It also contains an accoustic cover of the great song War Pigs. Moonhorse mixes some very powerful traditional doom metal with some rather melodic doom metal. The songs are powerful and catchy which allows this excellent group of musicians to shine. The interesting thing about Avatarium for me is the band has an exceptional female lead singer. While Jennie-Ann Smith is a great singer, she does not sound at all like what I would have expected her to sound like. Yes, she is powerful at times, bluesy/jazzy at times and even a bit vunerable sounding, too. While her voice works for me, I am not sure how well she will be received by hard core doom metal fans. For somebody like me, a fan of female vocals in metal, I really like Jennie-Ann a lot. She is particularly impressive on the acoustic cover of War Pigs. I thought I would hate this acoustic cover, but it is actually quite lovely. I am really looking forward to the full length album due out in November. Jennie-Ann puts a smile on my face with her vocals and the band writes some excellent music! Hah! Great when someone else does the work for you, eh? ;) Nah, seriously, now I have to listen to it and see if I agree. It would hardly be much fun just letting someone else speak for me, now would it? Hell, let's throw in the rating too, see if I agree or not. RYM ratings are all out of a possible 5.0, it would appear. As yer man above says, this is an EP not an album (but that's okay; they're welcome too) and has only three tracks, though being in the genre it is perhaps they're over ten minutes long each! :laughing: Ah, no. Total time nineteen minutes. Fair enough. Well, before we begin, just what the heck is an Avatarium? Somewhere avatars live? To the dictionary! Okay. Not in the Collins Gem one. How about Oxford? No dice there either. Thesaurus? Nah. To Google then we must fly. And that's about as much use. Guess they made it up then. Fair enough I suppose. As our helpful friend above notes, this is a band involving the founder of Candlemass, who, while Black Sabbath may very well be the undisputed godfathers of metal and fathers of doom metal, must be at the least its sullen, sulky, morose firstborn. So this should by rights be epic, grinding and, well, doomy. Is it? Let's hit play. Oh yeah it is. Very Sabs this, and probably very Candlemass too, though I'm not as familiar with them as I maybe should be. That's interesting: sounds like, yep keyboards in there and - what in the name of Ozzy? Now it's gone all acoustic and there's a young lady singing, very beautifully I must say. Then the hard punchy guitars are back. Wow. Different for sure. I can see why Wiki has them down as progressive rather than doom metal – actually they have them as prog rock, which at times I could agree with. Good to see herself – Jennie-Ann Smith – can sing along with the harder rocky guitar passages as well as the acoustic. Impressive stuff. Hmm. Thought that was the next track starting, but no, it's the same one still. Big doom freak-out now as the guitarist goes wild. Hey, looks like Jennie-Ann is married to him. Lucky him! https://www.metal-archives.com/image...rtist.jpg?3403 Second track, “Boneflower” (great title!) is really less in the doom metal line and much more a goth/prog metal hybrid, but again highlights Jennie-Ann's powerful but not overpowering voice; kind of reminds me of a heavier Lana Lane really. This song brings to mind Tiamat, around the Judas Christ era, and the keys really come into their own here. They end up paying tribute to their dark forefathers (four fathers, huh?) with a very different, acoustic cover of “War Pigs”. Nice. Impressed. Not so sure dyed-in-the-wool fans of doom metal will be into this though, to echo my man above, but overall I agree with him. Pretty sweet. Got to be 4 Thumbs Up easy. https://furtaev.ru/preview/download_small.png |
This time we're off to the other end of the alphabet, where a W followed by an O and then a G leaves me scratching my head – ain't got no artists who start with WOG! So I keep rolling till I get anything other than a vowel (of which I get precisely four) and then B comes up. So WOB. Ah. That gives us these guys.
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/07...g?v=1490026344 https://img.favpng.com/12/1/7/flag-o...YugxTWuq_t.jpg Hinterland – Wobbler (2005) Genre: Progressive Rock RYM rating: 3.71 https://img.discogs.com/MjEXZ_JOyXZD...-7139.jpeg.jpg Oh shut your whining! You know a very large percentage of my music library is going to be prog rock. And so is this. Debut album, apparently, with only four tracks on it. Ah, but one is 27 minutes long! Now that's what I call prog! Someone with the hilarious name of crackstreetboys put this up only last month, if you can believe it, for an album released fifteen, almost sixteen years ago: I know this is supposed to be a retro throwback act, and I know I've complained about “prog” not being “progressive” enough before and that should apply here more than ever, but I like this more than a great deal of the stuff that it's mimicking. One factor in that is the vocals: they're there, but not omnipresent: where they're placed in each song is chosen carefully, and they never seem as . . .*fuddy duddy*as a great deal of old prog does to me. Particularly, I just*can't*get into either Genesis or the modern acts that are thought of as Genesis clones, so that whole “pastoral” or medieval approach to prog has never clicked with me as well in anything else I've ever heard as it does here. The songs are obviously very long, but to my ears they neither get lost meandering in the woods nor throw up random changes just to keep it going. In other words, it strikes me along with*Änglagård*as being truly “symphonic” in its compositional structure and not just in the sense of throwing in synths. There's an effect music has on you when you put it in the background to set the vibe, and there's an effect music has when you focus straight on it and expect it to surprise you: music that's suited for one often isn't for the other, but this does an excellent job of drifting in and out of both. For whatever reason, their bigger commercial success From Silence to Somewhere doesn't hit me like this one does. Right on, brother! Um. Okay then. Let's see how it goes. Interesting to see such instruments as clavinet, glockenspiel and harpsichord listed. Vocal is very gentle and low-key; the whole thing is really so far. I don't know though, Jesus, starting off with almost 28 minutes of music? On your debut? I mean, it was good, don't get me wrong, but I couldn't say it really held my attention. And now the next ones are 12 and 15 minutes long. Yeah overall I enjoyed it but I can't say anything really stood that much out. I'm sure I'd listen to more, but I'm not moving them to the top of any playlist or anything. I'd probably agree with crackstreetlad: good for having in the background, good to relax to but not something that leaps out at you and says BUY ME! BUY MORE BY ME! What? That's not what cracky said? Well, that's what I say. And it is my thread, after all. Meh, for now I'll give this a tentative 2 Thumbs Up. |
Next up is another
https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/07...g?v=1490026344https://cdn.shopify.com/s/files/1/07...g?v=1490026344 (Why two? Well I've decided to differentiate between totally new artists to me and ones from whom I've heard something, but not this album. So basically two icons means it's the first I've heard from them, one means I've heard (an)other album(s) from them but not this one.) This time from https://cdn.countryflags.com/thumbs/...waving-250.png (That's Czech Republic, for those of you not up on your vexillology) Diablerie – Ereley (2020) Genre: Progressive Metal RYM rating: n/a https://img.discogs.com/gvCplpLEWcDi...-1344.jpeg.jpg Very odd. Firstly, I feel this has been on my computer a lot longer than a year, so the release date of Jan 2020 shown on Discogs I'm not at all sure about, but it's the only site I can see the album on. Despite being described as progressive metal, it's neither on Metal Archives nor Prog Archives, and Discogs lists the band as being from “Europe”. How helpful. In fact, Googling tells me they're from the Czech Republic, hence the flag above, and Discogs tells me this is their second album. I must say, it looks very bargain basement horror comic, doesn't it? The black-and-white drawing with red being the only colour, to show up the blood. The snarling face of, well, whoever that is on the album cover. It would be so hilarious if this were a soft acoustic rock album! Not that I expect it to be of course. I think it's all in their native language too, so that'll be fun. Oh no wait, it's not. Well. There's no RYM rating as it comes up completely blank there, no idea. And so no helpful comment to let us know what it might be like. Guess there's only one way to find out... A growl and some supposed-to-be-scary whisperings just to let us know this is meant to be, um, diabolic I guess, and we're off. Vocal's growly, sort of Chadlike, but certainly listenable. “Nephilim” has a really cool melody to it, really like the piano work on this album so far. Hey this just keeps getting better! Oh look: they're using Bach's “Tocatta and Fugue” on “Enchantress”, and it works very well. Really enjoying this. A whole lot better than, to be honest, I had expected, given the truly awful cover. I'll have to come back and review this one properly. For now it's getting a solid 4 Thumbs Up. https://furtaev.ru/preview/download_small.png What? Oh yeah, I'm doing ratings now. Top top top album is 5 Thumbs Up, Worst piece of absolute dross is Five Thumbs Down. And everything in between. Why?? Shut up, that's why. |
Avatavium
I like the Instrumental part but not her voice it was annoying, maybe if it wasn't in English I would like it more I don't know. It's a bit poppy to my ears. |
Wobbler
I liked them more, it's more interesting, I like the instruments. I don't like it when it's in English it's very ordinary. It should have stayed Instrumental. |
Avatarium: I would disagree, I think her voice is great, however I would agree (as I said) that your average doom metal fan would probably not like it; they're used to growly, animal grunts from their singers generally. Women in doom metal are few and far between.
Wobbler: I think I'd get into them more but the songs were very long (I know - says a prog head! :laughing:) and didn't seem, to me, to have enough to justify their length, at least at first listen. I did hear a lot there I liked though. So far, the best is Ereley, by a country light year. Thanks for commenting, fire. Hope you're feeling better today. :) |
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Ah yes, God moves in mysterious ways, Trollheart to annoy! Looks like we've rolled on a Christian Rock album, guys. Yeah I have them. Some of them are all right. Look, I may have just downloaded it because the name sounds cool. I do that sometimes, you know. Anyway, let's get to it. http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/i...lag-2-icon.png We Are the Broken – Seventh Day Slumber (2014) Genre: Christian Rock RYM rating: 3.37 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...etheBroken.jpg These fine lads hail from Texas - Dallas in fact, so, you know, don't mess with them. Or their god. This is their ninth album of a total, so far, of twelve. Who said Christian Rock wasn't profitable? What? Nobody? Well, uh, good then. I guess. Nobody on RYM wants to advance an opinion, so I guess God helps those who helps themselves, right? Never quite understood why the Bible condones shoplifting and theft, but there you go. Theological discussion for another time, maybe. Ah, Wiki has some reactions. A bit odd that Bert Saraco of*CCM Magazine*rated the album three stars out of five, commenting how the band on the release are "Rocking with a definite sense of purpose" that contains "Plenty of sound, a little thin on artistry, but an album with a healing message and head-banging rhythms. “Plenty of sound”? Well, it wouldn't be much use if it was silent, now would it? Weird. Hah! More like the Devil's music than God's! Powerful stuff, though a lot of it sounds the same. “Trust in Me” is a nice ballad, though should that not be “Trust in Him?” Sorry, sorry. Meh, kind of bog-standard rock/emo/hard rock with plenty of room for preaching salvation. Not bad, not at all, but probably not something I'd necessarily come back to very quickly. I guess it's another 3 Thumbs Up. http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/i.../safe-icon.png |
My comment on Ereley didn't work.???
It's boring. Sorry. Again it's in English. The Instrumental is ok. Sounds like every other band. |
Can you recommend something not in English?
I would like to listen to different languages. |
What sort? Rock, metal, pop, other?
I can give you the likes of Josh Groban, Tierra Santa, PFM, a whole bunch of stuff but it's best to know what area you're interested more in. Incidentally: instrumental? Stay tuned... |
Pop will be a good start even though I am not into it very much. But I would like different genres.
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Well I'm not a great one for pop music. Others will probably have better recs but for now
Gloria Estefan Shakira Enrique Iglesias |
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https://theodora.com/flags/new8/poland-s.gif Mythos – Forgotten Deity (2017) Genre: Atmospheric Black Metal RYM Rating: n/a https://f4.bcbits.com/img/a3186264956_2.jpg Right, well this appears to be one of those one-man-band efforts so prevalent in this genre, a guy called Zapomniane Bostwo, who goes under the artistic name of Forgotten Deity. He appears to have released close to fifty (yeah that's what I said) albums so far, in a career spanning possibly four years (!) - hard to get the actual information but if his bandcamp page is displaying his albums in chronological order, then his first was released in 2016. That's nothing short of phenomenal. Is it, though, a case of quantity over quality? I have about seventeen of his albums on my computer, so even at that, I own barely a third it would seem of his discography. Do I want to hear more? There's a kind of ambient thing going on here with soft tribal drums, very impressive. No vocals as yet, if there are to be any. Kind of a darker tone to “Defeat of Chronos” though still quite ambient, hearing more of the guitar now. Almost sounds like bagpipes in “Order of Zeus”, though I'm sure it's not. ABM albums tend to not exactly overpack the tracks, and this is no exception. Five in all, but every one a gem. I'll be listening to more of this guy. Could hardly even throw a metal tag on this really. Well maybe, but it's more rocky ambient than anything else. A well-deserved Four and a Half Thumbs Up! Here's his bandcamp page: https://forgottendeity.bandcamp.com |
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http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/i...lag-2-icon.png Who's Feeling Young Now? – Punch Brothers (2012) Genre: Progressive Bluegrass RYM Rating: 3.28 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Now_cover.jpg About damn time we got some more bluegrass! Though, uh, progressive bluegrass? You wot, mate? Well let's see how it goes. FYI none of these are brothers, nor is the surname of any Punch, so why they chose that name I don't know. I do know we won't be listening to RYM's “kneejerk” who advises us to “just listen to the Kid A cover and ignore the rest”. Right. SoundscapeMN has a different view: The 1st half sounds like par for the course for these guys, but the 2nd half the songs take different twists. "New York City" and it's epic nature probably stands out the most. It's certainy different to the bluegrass I've heard, not that that's much. Kind of more like bluegrass pop: first song sounds like a-ha doing bluegrass. I feel this may be very much a watered down style of the genre, something like pop or (shudder) bro country? Lot of indie nonsense in here too. Not winning me over at the moment, guys! “No Concern of Yours” is a little better, but Earl Scruggs this ain't... Title track's quite annoying – plucking at a banjo or sawin' on a fiddle don't make it bluegrass, son. Yeah I got all excited when I saw bluegrass but this is, as they say, weak sauce. It's telling that the best and most authentic track on it is a cover of a song by a Swedish folk band. “Patchwork Girlfriend” sounds kind of like Tom Waits meets Strawfoot , which would probably please neither of them. Sigh. Oh, and yeah, they do “Kid A” too, but I don't really care about Radiohead. First time but here we go: Three Thumbs Down. Boo. Shoulda listened to yer man kneejerk... :( Decided to get a new icon. Guess what it means? ;) https://static.thenounproject.com/png/50465-200.png |
Urgh! Let's see if we can find something to wash out the taste of that extremely weak sauce so-called bluegrass band. Won't be listening to them again in a hurry! Ah, here we are! I know this one. Well, sort of. I think.
http://icons.iconarchive.com/icons/i...lag-2-icon.png I'm Only Dreaming... Of Days Long Past - Eisley (2018) Genre: Acoustic Rock RYM Rating: 3.41 https://img.discogs.com/vWN9G9C1r3Q5...-4011.jpeg.jpg This is a re-recording of their album from the previous year, I'm Ony Dreaming (which is I think the one I listened to but I downloaded this) all done in acoustic style. Might be nice. Should be better than progressive ****ing bluegrass, anyway. RYM guy says I know, this is nothing new; just acoustically rendered versions of songs from their previous album. But it's so sweetly sung and the arrangements are so gentle and sweet that I cannot help but give it the highest score. Oh yeah, this is really nice. Not only does it remind me how good the previous album was, I get to enjoy it in a whole new way. Just lovely; let that soothing voice wash over you. Acoustic guitars, acoustic pianos, really relaxed. Oh, that refreshed my soul, it did. Washed away the foul taste of the Punch Brothers who are not. I feel much better now. Four and a Half Thumbs Up ! https://furtaev.ru/preview/download_small.png |
Okay, let's see about bringing these playlists back.
I'm going to try to do one a day, but I'll limit it to three tracks, which will allow me to waffle on more about the songs if I want to, or feel the need to. So what's first up for Monday https://img.discogs.com/6zZLpcZKKrCU...-1062.jpeg.jpg Title: “Sandlot” Artist: Dropkick Murphys Nationality: American Album: 11 Short Stories of Pain and Glory Year: 2017 Genre: Celtic Punk Heard this artist before? Yes How many albums have I heard from them? 1 Heard this album before? Yes Heard this track before? Yes Comments: Never thought I'd get into Celtic Punk, but it's so raw and drunk and fun. Seems to be one of those “when we were young/glory days” sort of songs, but then you can't say too much about individual tracks, can't go too deep into lyrics or anything, and there's a lot of shouting and yells of “YEAH!” Like I say, fun. Whose round is it? Future Action (if any): Must make time to hear more of their music Rating: 8/10 https://img.discogs.com/QZnroQM1PEN_...-3050.jpeg.jpg Title: “Another Day” Artist: Mystery Nationality: Canadian Album: The World Is a Game Year: 2012 Genre: Progressive Rock Heard this artist before? Yes How many albums have I heard from them? 3 Heard this album before? Yes Heard this track before? Yes Comments: Always amazes me how much like Jon Anderson the singer for Mystery is; no real surprise then that Benoit David ended up replacing him temporarily in Yes. This is one of their epic tracks, running for nineteen minutes in total. Starts out very like a ballad but quickly ramps up – well, you wouldn't expect a nineteen-minute ballad now, would you? Like the cheeky way they use the lyric “Close to the edge”. Hah. Payin' your dues or what? As for the song, well nineteen minutes is a little much even for me. It's good, but I would probably enjoy a shorter one from them. Future Action (if any): Make time to hear their other albums Rating: 8.4/10 https://img.discogs.com/xrTtAWfvSocE...-2653.jpeg.jpg Title: “Fool in My Heart” Artist: Flying Colors Nationality: American Album: Island of the Lost Keyboards – Neal's Mix Year: 2012 Genre: Progressive Rock Heard this artist before? Yes How many albums have I heard from them? 2 Heard this album before? No Heard this track before? No Comments: I had a lot of trouble tracking this one down – even their official website doesn't mention it! Apparently it's a special mix of keyboard parts not used on the albums, mixed by Neal Morse and put out under the above title. Looks to have been only available through his fan club – or their fan club, not sure which. I got it anway (don't tell anyone) and this song certainly makes me glad he did this. An excellent little mid-paced, bright and happy number, makes me want to listen both to more of Flying Colors and of Neal. Happily, there's plenty of the latter to indulge in. Future Action (if any): More Morse please! Rating: 9.2/10 |
Dang Troll be jammin Straight METAL \m/ OKay !!!! LOL
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So here we are on
Tuesday and our playlist for today begins with https://img.discogs.com/artv-47SlJ6n...65959.jpeg.jpg Title: “Love is the Right Way” Artist: Hungryheart Nationality: Italian Album: One Ticket to Paradise Year: 2010 Genre: Hard Rock/AOR Heard this artist before? No How many albums have I heard from them? None Heard this album before? No Heard this track before? No Comments: The album cover looks quite familiar, other than that I have never heard of these guys nor have a clue how their album arrived on my computer, but here it is. This is a short track taken from their second album, seems to be quite acoustic, almost country in its feel. I doubt it gives a proper idea of what the band is like. For what it is, it's all right. Future Action (if any): Who knows? Might check them out. Might not. I'm always up for some good AOR, but this hasn't decided me one way or the other whether to make the effort. Rating: 6/10 https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...p_-_Crisis.jpg Title: “Another Man's Woman” Artist: Supertramp Nationality: English Album: Crisis? What Crisis? Year: 1975 Genre: Progressive Rock Heard this artist before? Yes How many albums have I heard from them? All of them Heard this album before? Yes Heard this track before? Yes Comments: Ah I like it when Supertramp used to rock out! Yeah, well, in a prog rock sort of vein, you understand. This is a great track off one of their golden period albums, with Rick Davies taking lead vocals and growling about earthy subjects such as, well, stealing another man's woman. While Roger gets to ask such questions as when is man gonna find out (find out) what the universe is just waiting to hear on another track, here, Rick is more concerned with staying ahead of the angry husband, muttering “at night I hear a hound dog comin', callin' me a cheatin' man!” Great piano outro, very rock and roll. Love this. Future Action (if any): n/a Rating: 9.2/10 https://img.discogs.com/ajOQ0gfHegra...-4232.jpeg.jpg Title: “Ooh Wakka Doo Wakka Day” Artist: Gilbert O'Sullivan Nationality: Irish Album: Greatest Hits Year: 1976 Genre: Pop Heard this artist before? Yes How many albums have I heard from them? One or two, mostly hits Heard this album before? Yes Heard this track before? Yes Comments: Ah by Jaysus I love Gilbert! Me sister used to be totally into him (the older one) – she had pictures of him on her bedroom wall and sure didn't I once sneak in and draw a moustache on one! Sure I was a right little fecker! This is one of Gilbert's famous nonsense songs (as you may have guessed from the title) – it doesn't mean anything and he doesn't explain it, but by Christ is it fun to listen to! I mean, come on: a song that sings, among other things, of a guy who gets his nose caught in a gate! How could you not love this? Gilbert was big in the seventies, and he's still recording today, though his heyday is long gone. Every time I hear a Gilbert track it brings me right back to being a kid again. Future Action (if any): n/a Rating: 10/10 (sure ye have ta!) |
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