The Album Club: "Distant Satellites" by Anathema
 

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Kiii's first shot in the Album Club folks. Make him welcome. You know the drill by now...

I'd like to add to this right away that I have been listening to this album every day for the past month. I used like this album, now i absolutely love it. I think it's got the right amount of everything thrown in to make a pretty emotional album. There's a lot of Anathema greatness here. If you're familiar with their Weather Systems album, and if you like that, you'll love this.

I'm only four tracks in and I already love love love this album! I'll be back later in the week, after a few more listens, with a proper review, but this is definitely going to be a "Loved it". Great pick, Kiii! :thumb:

Awesome to hear TH. I sort of had a feeling you'd like it. It's such a treasure of an album.

I kind of feel my fingers wandering towards their discography with the instruction "download now" ....

Their older stuff is a bit different but Weather Systems and onwards is more on point wth this kind of sound. Still listen to their old stuff if you want tho. It's pretty good.

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Anathema - Distant Satellites

While this isn't the first Anathema album I've heard and liked, it's certainly the first one in a while that I felt the urge to listen to it on a daily basis. Distant Satellites was released two years after Weather Systems, and while some people didn't really like the change in sound that Anathema was going for, I feel like it was a step in the right direction.

Don't get me wrong though, they've had released from all the way back in 1993, with Serenades, and while I started listening to Anathema during their Alternative 4 and beyond days, I still find their earlier stuff at the very least, enjoyable to listen to.

Personally though, I'm always going to gravitate toward the Weather Systems and beyond days. Because honestly, that's the Anathema I really truly love right now. The mixture of vocals, especially in Distant Satellites, is so important throughout this entire album that it would feel wrong if the melodies didn't work. If I were to however put this album up against Weather Systems, I'd say this album would take it time and time again. Weather Systems has a lot of great tracks, but this one has Lost Song pt. 1 and 2, and the truly magnificent duo of Firelight and Distant Satellites. They're more towards the end of the album and I like to think they use these two songs as a sort of "epic" before the finale.

Anyway, this album gets a solid "loved it" from me. I've been enjoying this album for a while now and I'm excited to see what others have taken away from it.

Beautiful record I've had since it came out in 2014: I like it more overall than Weather Systems and We're Here Because We're Here because it feels like a more balanced record while still having their strengths (the great melodies).

8 out of 10

Agreed. I still think Weather Systems is a fantastic push in the direction they wanted to go but I think they really shine in Distant Satellites. I love both vocalists a lot. They go so well together.

Kinda been dreading writing about this one. I actually started listening to this one a full week in advance, but I knew pretty early I wasn't going to write anything positive. I've known Anathema for many years and just flat out never liked their music.

I'm gonna spare you all a load of ranting and just say that it's not for me. I find it maudlin and overly melodramatic. Musically, mostly kinda boring. If memory serves, I like other Anathema records even less.

Low score. Sorry, but It's just not my thing at all.