Trollheart

Okay, I'm behind with my review but once I perfect this cloning technique I'll be good. For now, on we go.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Lisnaholic

That's a great review you wrote, SGR. Many of your comments I would've liked to have made myself, and you have shown me that the lyrics were if anything worse than I imagined. I'm glad I pretty much ignored them all.

That's a clever comparison - and worth pointing out as an indication that most of the ideas throughout are secondhand and derivative. Nothing new, original or interesting to see here folks!

ME: "That one was punchier, but only relatively so."
SGR: "... eventually the song kinda explodes a bit, and by explode, I mean sorta like a teapot that starts whistling - it explodes relative to the standard calm this album has established."

No doubt here who wins the prize for good writing; well done, SGR !

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

rubber soul

I did mean autotune, I couldn't think of the term at the time.

Yeah, I guess I'm pretty old school. I can get into the early rap of the eighties and early nineties but I got turned off when it became more of a gangsta rap style, especially when it actually became commercialized. Somehow talking about popping off the homie because it's entertaining as opposed to making it more of a social commentary wasn't my cup of tea.

So, yeah, give me Public Enemy or Arrested Development or even Ice-T (who was great at social commentary). Snoop Dogg is another story though.

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Carpe Mortem

Oops - I thought I had to go next. Well, my album will not be the one I noted then.

Also I commend you ALL on your writing styles! Lisanholic, you're very solid too, very organic. I can be either too direct or too abstract, and I'm really looking forward to the inspiration of more polished styles around me.

I have not been active on a forum in a long time, the bulk of my writing the past 5 years has been work emails where being direct and brief is key lol.

I've lost my poetic touch. Trying to channel the true romantic vampire master's flowery language though (May Anne Rice rest in peace), and get that poetry back into my soul.

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SGR

Thanks Lisna, you're too kind!

Same - this album club is essentially the only place I'm ever writing in a way that could be considered somewhat creative. Sometimes I just don't feel up to it and being direct and brief seems preferable, the music has to inspire me to write a bit - and a little booze helps too I suppose.

Fair enough - but there's still conscious rap/backpack rap being made. But, I won't lie, I love gangsta rap too - it's not all great, but there's some brilliant songs to come out of the genre.



That said, I don't think I'd nominate a gangsta rap album.

Trollheart

Neverending White Lights - Act II: The Blood and the Life Eternal.

From the moment this started I loved it. The double male/female vocal on "Dove Coloured Sky" (what a great title!) reminds me of a much slower Deacon Blue but the mood is more Antimatter (who?), with a very haunting quality to the music. I can hear elements of Kate in there too, as well as maybe a slower, more sedate Sisters of Mercy, in mood if not in melody. But no, to me, this really reminds me of Antimatter, particularly Lights Out and Planetary Confinement. The vocal duet works really well and it's a great start to the album, very ethereal and emotional. The drumbeat reminds me a little of "In the Air Tonight", just in its measured pace, and there there are touches of U2 near the end. A fantastic opener, and if I remember it just gets better.

I hear kind of a Celtic tone to "The Living", a slightly more powerful piece with that kind of, I don't know, Imagine Dragons? sort of intensity, sort of puts me in mind of Evanescence too. Great guitar work and again it's very emotional and evocative. Okay I see there are like fifteen tracks on this, but the link given has only thirteen, so I'm missing two, but as I'm late with this and am programmed to be very busy, I'll stick with this version even though I did buy the album. Perhaps a surprise, but I really hear Pendragon in "The World is Darker", around the Passion era; another female vocal with a grinding guitar and an almost new-wave feel in ways. Yeah I know; I don't know what the **** I'm saying myself, just winging it.

Sort of a Peter Gabriel mood to "My Life Without Me", much softer vocal which again brings back Ricky Ross from Deacon Blue, with a really nice sort of plaintive chant in the chorus and a thick, lush synth backing, very atmospheric. The vocal gets more intense now, like he's voicing some sort of internal pain he can't face or has been avoiding. I would say I really like this, but the comment would be redundant, as I don't think there's anything on this I don't love. I ran out of superlatives halfway through, and Amazon say the next delivery isn't till Wednesday, so I'll have to make do with what I have. Doesn't do justice to this album though.

"Miss World" is apparently a (man)Hole cover, and I'm not in the least familiar with their work so I can't comment on what sort of a job NWL do with it, but it certainly doesn't stand out as suddenly being different from the rest of the tracks on this album. The hook in the song is great and I like the sort of relaxed, laconic pace of the melody. It's quite short though and we're into "Always", which is a cover of neither the Bon Jovi nor the Atlantic Starr song, but does have a really nice ringing guitar underpinning it, and I suppose if there were to be a complaint here it might be that there are no uptempo rockers, but then I don't think it's that kind of album, and I'm certainly not making that complaint. Just remarking upon the fact.

The guitar riff reminds me of Snow Patrol's "Chasing Cars". It's not like it, but it just reminds me of it, and also this song puts me very much in mind of The Maccabees, which is no bad thing at all. I love that band. I guess, given what I said above, this kind of is the closest (so far) to a more uptempo song. I must admit, when I was listening to it I did think he was singing "I will wait", whereas it is the title, "Always". Again, not a complaint, just an observation. Next up is "Where We Are", with what I would call a very Depeche Mode idea about it, kind of darker, a bit sterile in one way, at least in the opening minute or so though it then gets going on sharp Edge-like guitar (yeah yeah, sharp edge, I know; didn't intend that), maybe a hint of Big Country about it too, possibly "Wonderland"? Not sure.

The album has definitely gotten a little "harder" over the last few tracks, but it reverts to the more haunting style on the back of emotional piano and sighing synth as a female voice takes us into the beautiful "Black is the Colour of My True Love's Heart" with a very clear sense, I believe, of Nick Cave in the mood and lyric. Again, haunting is the word that best describes this, as the melody seems to stalk you down dark corridors, always just behind you, a soft footfall in the hollow silence, soft but urgent breath almost at your ear. Lovely little guitar piece, almost acoustic, which turns into a towering instrumental, bringing in strings (probably synth) and a resurgence of the vocal, this time in duet. Stunning.

An almost Genesis opening then to "Bleeds to an End", with lush synth and a crying style of vocal. Could be some clarinet in there, or maybe not. Slow, kind of menacing, ominous idea to this, a real feeling of darkness and despair permeating the song. I find "Nothing I Can Save" a little out of place then, with its bouncy, new-wave rhythm and its almost breezy tone, kind of nods towards early Police perhaps, before they got all up themselves. Another great hook and some fine synthwork. Slower, lush powerful synth and ringing guitar on "Distance", a more stately, grand piece with a vocal that again recalls Bono at his wounded best, or maybe Chris Martin. Just very emotional.

A lovely lonely piano lead-in then to "Last of the Great Lovers" with a female vocal that just oozes constrained passion, the kind of voice I would think that can convey volumes in one or two whispered words or a sigh. A beautiful violin I think also coming in now, weeping into the melody, but it's the piano that drives it, almost comforting the singer, offering support even though it's a futile effort. It all goes very stripped-down then near the end, with single piano notes melding with single words until a guitar rises like a rescuing angel on wings of sympathy and pity. Another excellent song and it ends powerfully.

And they've saved the best for last, the one that had the most effect on me the first time I listened to this, the one that told me this album was something special. "Warding off the Spirits" opens again on soft piano, with a heartfelt vocal, this time male, a second voice joining on the second verse, really strengthening the vocal. But it's in the ending that this song really shines; a kind of vocalise or chant or hum that allows the music to just seriously burn through with the kind of emotion that seriously brings the tears, and here they come again, sorry music sometimes affects me this way. Absolutely amazing and heart-wrenching.

I'm not generally disposed towards awarding top scores twice in a row, but I really don't have a choice here. This is phenomenal. I don't think I'd be exaggerating if I said it's the best I've heard since we started this club.

Rating: 10/10 (more if I could)

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Lisnaholic

^ Anyone caught trying to vote 11 out of 10 should be immediately suspended from the Club imo, although that would be difficult to implement in your case TH, as we are only here thanks to you.

Thanks Carpe! That's an interesting insight into your posting style, which is fairly brief, but makes clear that you have your own strong independent opinions.

Thanks, SRG, though I fear m_c might disagree as I have been pretty harsh about his nomination. In fact, Trollheart's glowing review of Neverending White Lights has tempted me to go back and re-listen to selected parts of it - did we somehow miss the "grinding" and "sharp Edge-like guitar" that he mentions?!

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

rubber soul

Probably not. Trollheart likes the Carpenters too

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Trollheart

Yeah, I'm usually on top of the world, but we've only just begun and rainy days and Mondays always get me down.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

SGR

All I know is that I desparately need at least a sample of whatever Trolls has been smoking.