Meph1986

Did you ever get my album?

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jackhammer

That's 9 albums lol. In fact yours is next up as it's in my review folder. Cheers for the reminder.

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CanesFan311

I checked your listing and there are I couple I'd like to see your review on, as I'm enjoying reading what you have to say about the others posted already. If you have some time, put "Transistor" by 311 on there. I think there might be some points to it you'd find enjoyable.

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jackhammer

For Meph1986:


There was a time when Hip Hop was fun AND informative. Labels such as Tommy Boy and later; Def Jam gave us bands such as Run D.M.C, Afrika Bambaataa and Stetasonic. The along came Public Enemy and the landscape changed. It became angry and lost a little of the fun. Now this wasn't initially a bad thing. PE are a phenomenal band but them and bands such as NWA set a tone and style that eventually turned commercial Hip Hop into the 'Gangsta' (c) crap that has been everywhere for the last 10 years.

This is not to say that all hip hop has suddenly turned against it's original principles and many, many great artists have still been pumping out great sounds such as A Tribe Called Quest, The Roots, Jedi Mind Tricks, Deltron 3030 and MF Doom.

Time Machine are not quite on a par with those luminaries but it again demonstrates that with a little digging, you can still find great Hip Hop. Time Machines beats definitely pay reverence to the 80's sound of big beats and lyrically it's all word play and not gun play.

On the downside, there are not many truly standout tracks but as a whole it's a damn good album and would be a classic driving album. Some folks may find it a little bland and flat but because of the old school sound weaving in and out of the album it marks this as a winner. 8.5/10

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Meph1986

Glad you liked it.

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jackhammer

Next batch of reviews will be up this week.

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Guybrush

Yay, looking forward to it

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Something Completely Different

jackhammer

For toretorden:


So what do we have here then? This is supposed to Pronk. Yes you read right. That is Prog Rock fused with Punk. Quite ironic considering the battle that ensued in the late 70's between these genres and their ensnaring of the youth. Fast forward 20 years and it's perfectly acceptable to fuse these genres together. Or is it?

An album divided in two parts with a more energetic first half giving way to a more focused second half. Here is the first problem. It's too damn long. 22 tracks is just too much for what the band want you to hear and your patience wears out. The first half is all energetic pop songs played with a Punk energy but interspersed with damn annoying keyboard work- hey look we are wacky and so different! Errrmm no you are not. Despite all the trappings and indulgent splashes of eccentricity, the first half is fairly forgettable with most of the tracks played at the same tempo.

It's not awful but The Residents it isn't. I mention them because they seem to be a huge influence. Whereas The Residents sound like no one else around, cardiacs try far too hard to sound like no one else on the planet and fail. Sometimes sounding like a crazed version of ELP. There is not enough space in their music and it is all too cluttered.

The second half is a lot calmer and focused. This is much more beneficial to the band as they do gain their own identity and are seemingly not out to impress. Keyboard work is there to add texture and not overpower. The riffs are cleaner and more hook orientated. Again though, the aforementioned album's length means that you don't fully appreciate the second half. If the album was indeed released as two separate volumes then the rating may well have been higher. 5/10

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Guybrush

This album request was by me and I probably didn't know anything more about Cardiacs than you did at that point. I've still yet to listen to the second CD from this album, so you've probably heard more Cardiacs than I have as well, but I'd like to say some things in their defence.

First off, you seem to have something against the fusing of prog and punk. I know the punk-killed-prog story, but remember that this band was first formed in 1976, just as punk was on it's way. I kind of like the idea of a band at that time taking the prog influences that they've had up until that point and riding the punk wave. Although I haven't heard their first release, it's labeled as "pronk" so I guess they must've been doing their thing since the start.

Second, I thought prog and punk was an interesting mix. To me, it sounds like they've thrown out all the rules and just made music. "There's no room for all the lyrics. Oh well, ****e - let's just put in another couple of beats there before we hit the chorus" .. still, despite odd sounds, time signatures and other twists and turns, a lot of it is surprisingly catchy to me. "Dog Like Sparky" has been on my mind for a couple of days now ..

And from the little I've heard, there are some other interesting bits as well. Take the guitar solo from Fiery Gun Hand, is that played in real-time? .. Can't be!


Anyways, I've yet to work my way through the whole thing, so I don't have an opinion of the whole album yet, but I would (and have) recommend this for curiosity's sake and .. well, some of the songs I like.

I can agree that it's a bit cluttered and frantic though. On a bad day, I'm sure the signature Cardiacs sound can rub anyone the wrong way.

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Something Completely Different

ninaNirvana

Very well written, Mr. Jack Hammer. I love your grunge quote too; even though I am a grunge junkie I think it is accurate and funny and very much worth re-quoting :-)