Bitesize: Trollheart's Daily Album Mini-Reviews

Trollheart · 01-14-2013, 12:43 PM

Build up the fire

Artiste: Bonfire
Nationality: German
Album: Free
Year: 2003
Label: Sony BMG
Genre: Heavy Metal/Heavy Rock
Tracks:
On and on...
I would do anything 4 U
What about love?
Rock 'n' roll star (Born to rock)
Free
Preachers and whores
Love CCA
Give a little
September on my mind
Friends
Chronological position: Ninth album
Familiarity: "Rebel soul", "Feels like comin' home"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: On the lighter side of metal, but not quite AOR.
Best track(s): Free, Give a little, Love CCA, Preachers and whores, September on my mind, Friends
Worst track(s): Rock'n'roll star (Born to rock)
Comments: First time I heard Bonfire I would have sworn they were American; they certainly have that sound down pat and there's little of the German accent in singer Claus Lessman's voice, and they sing like some rebel band from the Deep South, but it's from Bavaria they hail, distancing themselves from the giants of their home country (Helloween, Scorpions, Accept et al) by not quite turning their backs on their national heritage but definitely making an attempt to sound like a band from the US.

This is their ninth album, and it's full of the hard rock/heavy metal they purvey so well. Straddling a delicate line between I guess what you'd call "melodic metal" --- it's not really fair to call them AOR, though some of their music does tip precariously into that area --- and straight ahead metal, they avoid the thrash/speed/power leanings of their contempories, even bands like Axxis, Blind Guardian and Primal Fear (who they cheekily namecheck). There's a nice Queen sound to the guitars in the opener, On and on... and almost Beatles rock in I would do anything 4 U, while What about love isn't a cover of the Heart hit, but their own original song.

Apparently their fans didn't like this change in direction, and to be fair it's a distance removed from the other albums I've heard from Bonfire, more in the rock sphere than metal really, but I still like what I'm hearing. Often German metal bands in particular fall into the trap of sounding the same every album, with little or no progression or experimentation, so it's nice to see these guys take a chance. May not have worked out for them commercially, but that's the risk you take, hey?

The title track is a nice acoustic-style ballad, and it's not the only one on the album, with surprisingly Christian overtones, though it's a bit annoying to hear Lessman's lisp on the chorus --- "Now I'm fwee/ Fwee from all the pain!" Hmm. Some great burning fretwork from Hans Ziller at the end, though his use of a sitar on Preachers and whores must have got up fans' noses, as I can't see him having used the instrument after this album. Song's a good rocker though.

That sitar comes back for another of the ballads, "Give a little", then "September on my mind" is a big, epic, dramatic retelling of the 9/11 attacks (again, this plays into Bonfire's almost impersonation of an American band; though of course the WTC attacks affected us all, generally you expect US bands to write songs about them. It's almost "their" disaster...) which is fittingly the heaviest song on the album by a long way. The lyric in the chorus, though, is a little hard to take: "We're American/ Sayin' it with pride" --- er, no, you're not guys, no matter how much you might want to be: you're German. Perhaps this is why your fans give you such a hard time?
Overall impression: Generally I'd think Bonfire became more a heavy rock band than a heavy metal one here, but there's no dip in the quality of the music. A brave decision which I applaud.
Intention: More Bonfire albums to check out...

Trollheart · 01-19-2013, 11:50 AM

Signed to the right label, anyway

Artiste: Raising Fear
Nationality: Italian
Album: Eternal creed
Year: 2010
Label: Crash and Burn
Genre: Power/Progressive Metal
Tracks:
Eternal creed
The chosen one
Lords of Orion
Sleepless night
Find your life
You belong to me
Amon Ra
Learn to die
The power of the eye
Born again
Holy battle
Symbols from the past
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: This is one of no less than three metal bands based in Italy called Raising Fear, and one in Portugal, making four in total. You wouldn't have thought it was that popular a name, would you?
Initial impression: Great instrumental opener, but then kind of descends into generic power metal for the most part...
Best track(s): Eternal creed, You belong to me, Amon Ra, Lords of Orion
Worst track(s): The chosen one, Learn to die
Comments: When I first went looking for information on this band I could find nothing, not a scrap. Course, the fact I thought the BAND was called Eternal Creed might have something to do with it! Having corrected my search, I found what I needed and can tell you this is another metal band from Italy, but on the strength of the opener (and title track) I think I can say that they may indeed stand a little apart from the glut of power/speed/thrash/add subgenre here metal bands coming out of that country. Then again, the second track is nothing special. Hmm. Okay then, let's listen and see how this develops, if at all.

A double guitar attack is always welcome as far as I'm concerned, and the guys do well here, though vocalist Rob Della Frera sounds more German than Italian to me. A rough, gruff voice but he doesn't descend into gutteral death vocals, however I think these guys may be trying too hard to be all things to all men, and not really that sure what they actually want to be. There's a broad (very broad) sense of Maiden's Powerslave to Lords of Orion and a feel of early Metallica to Sleepless night, but by and large it's pretty much the same all the way through from what I can see.

Nice to see them take the tempo down with a very --- and I mean very --- nice ballad in You belong to me where Della Frera gets to display the softer side of his voice and a lower range; still get that German accent though! Nice acoustic guitar work from either Frank Rider or Alberto Toniolo, can't say which as both are just credited with "guitars". Good backing vocals too, one of the standouts, but really that's just because most of the rest is so almost indistinguishable one from the other. Very generic. Good electric guitar solo too here, then it's back to normal with Amon Ra, although to be fair there's more of the progressive metal about this, kind of a mixture of Kamelot and Sabbath.

Basically, I think the best I can say about this band is that --- certainly on this album, and I've heard no others of theirs so could be judging them unfairly --- they do what they do well, but they don't do anything new and there's little about the album that sticks in my mind five minutes after I've finished playing it. Never a good sign.

Overall impression: Pretty meh really. Not terrible, but I wouldn't be pushed if I never heard any more of their output.
Intention: Not really bothered about checking out any of their other albums.

Trollheart · 01-25-2013, 01:49 PM

Possibly above criticism

Artiste: Porcupine Tree
Nationality: British (English)
Album: Signify
Year: 1996
Label: Delerium
Genre: Progressive rock
Tracks:
Bornlivedie
Signify
The sleep of no dreaming
Pagan
Waiting Phase One
Waiting Phase Two
Sever
Idiot prayer
Every home is wired
Intermediate Jesus
Light mass prayers
Dark matter
Chronological position: Fourth album
Familiarity: "Fear of a blank planet"
Interesting factoid: This was the first album on which there was a full band; prior to this the other three albums were all more or less Steven Wilson solo efforts (though under the PT banner) with various session musicians.
Initial impression: Um...?
Best track(s): Sleep of no dreaming, Signify, Waiting Phase One, Idiot prayer, Every home is wired, Light mass prayers, Dark matter
Worst track(s): Nothing bad. Some weird ones. Bornlivedie is a bit odd, as is Intermediate Jesus
Comments: I've had this strange relationship going with Porcupine Tree for a few years now. Initially I thought they were a new band (!) but on downloading their discography it quickly became apparent they've been around for some time. 1987 in fact, although their first album proper didn't hit the shops till four years later. In that time they've established themselves as one of the most innovative and forward-looking rock bands on the planet, almost literally the quintessential progressive rock band. Nevertheless, apart from one album (as above) I've never listened to anything of theirs all the way through; it's been playlists and songs taken out of context. Time to change that.

Some of the material here is purely instrumental, as in the title track, some just weird electronic sounds and tape loops, as in the opener, and then there are ballads, out-and-out rockers, psychedelic and space rock numbers, and everything in between. Through and above it all shines the undeniable presence and genius of its founder, Steven Wilson, and you only have to listen to his latest solo album, "Grace for drowning", to hear how eclectic his influences are, and how many different genres and sub-genres make it into his music. There are elements of Pink Floyd (of course) in Sleep with no dreaming, with a dramatic, threatening bass line from Colin Edwin, while "Waiting Phase One" sounds to me more like the more mellow sound of current Hogarth-era Marillion, with strong acoustic guitar and a sense of folk in the mix. Its companion piece, "Waiting Phase Two" is completely instrumental and runs for over six minutes on a funky bass and calypso-style drumbeat.

It's pretty amazing that Porcupine Tree can have six and seven minute instrumentals on this album, and they don't ever get boring. Taking very much from the Floyd playbook, they use tape loops, sound effects, recordings and other gadgets to fill out the tracks, and yet they don't seem like they're just being used as filler material. These instrumentals really work as pieces in their own right: witness the pretty incredible Idiot prayer, not to mention the stunning Light mass prayers: these guys know how to construct a piece of music!

The jury remains out for me on Porcupine Tree. Some of their music I love, some just comes across as too weird, but there's no doubting their honesty and integrity, and it's clear much time goes into each of their compositions. No band to write hit singles, they! I think I may just have to spend a little more time submerged in their world to get a feel for what the rest of their work is, but I have this feeling I'm going to enjoy it. Mostly.
Overall impression: A varied album, with some great and innovative instrumentals, some powerful tracks and obviously a lot of heart and soul in their music.
Intention: Probably going "Up the downstair" next, then may switch on the "Lightbulb sun". We'll see where it goes after that.

~~Whiskey~~ · 01-27-2013, 08:44 PM

Hey Trollheart, do you think it is possible if I tell you about an album to listen to and you write a mini-review to it here, or you dont let other people interfere with this? Its just an album Ive been thinking might be worth for you to review.

Key · 01-27-2013, 11:31 PM

^Steven Wilson is one of the few artists (with Devin Townsend) that I am always eager to hear new material from. Admittedly, I find his solo work to be a little boring, but I love PT and Blackfield a lot. His recent collab with Opeth's vocalist is pretty great as well.

Have you checked out any Blackfield yet by chance? Not as proggy as Porcupine Tree, but still worth listening to.

Trollheart · 01-28-2013, 06:46 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whiskey

Hey Trollheart, do you think it is possible if I tell you about an album to listen to and you write a mini-review to it here, or you dont let other people interfere with this? Its just an album Ive been thinking might be worth for you to review.

Sure I can do that. The only real criterion for this journal is that I need not to have heard the album before. That said, it would need to be within the genres I prefer (metal, prog rock, rock, classic rock, instrumental, classical, country ... basically no hip-hop/rap or punk, or jazz really. Other than that probably most things) --- send me a PM and I'll take a look. Mind you, I'm so busy with three journals to update I can't say when I'll get to it...

Trollheart · 01-28-2013, 06:47 PM

Blackfield are on my list, as is Storm Corrosion, and isn't there a new No-Man due out, or am I falling into another alternate dimension?

Trollheart · 01-29-2013, 05:47 PM

Sabbath hit their nadir

Artiste: Black Sabbath
Nationality: British (English)
Album: Never say die!
Year: 1978
Label: Vertigo
Genre: Heavy metal
Tracks:
Never say die
Johnny blade
Junior's eyes
A hard road
Shock wave
Air dance
Over to you
Breakout
Swinging the chain
Chronological position: Eighth album
Familiarity: "Paranoid", "Sabbath bloody Sabbath", "We sold our soul for rock and roll", "Black Sabbath", "Heaven and Hell", "Born again", "Master of reality", "Vol 4"
Interesting factoid: I think it's the only album Bill Ward sings on...!
Initial impression: Rocky, uptempo, but is that not...?
Best track(s): Never say die, A hard road
Worst track(s): Shockwave, Over to you, Breakout
Comments: This is something of an oddity in the Sabbath canon. I wanted to listen to it (and review it) for several reasons. Firstly, it's the last album to feature Ozzy, and presages the rich Dio years. Secondly, it's an album that's not too long after classics like "Vol 4" and "Master of reality", and thirdly, Ozzy has gone on record to say he hates the album, and thinks they never should have recorded it. Not that he was there for much of it...

I have to say that the opener, and title track, bears a striking resemblance to a well-known Lizzy track. Let's see who had it out first... oh dear! "The boys are back in town" was released in 1976! The guitar riff is very similar. Well, let's go on. Johnny blade has a rather disconcertingly proggy warbly keyboard intro, but then settles down into classic Sabs, powerful and grindy and then gets the door kicked in with a real blistering Iommi solo near the end. Sweet Geezer Butler bassline to open Junior's eyes, kind of a funky feel to it, while A hard road sounds almost celtic with a shot of Status Quo twelve-bar blues thrown in.

Some nice almost classical piano from Don Airey in "Air dance", which more or less qualifies as a slow song, perhaps ballad for most of its run, but then goes both rocky and jazzy near the end, quite confused really. Almost like listening to Santana on speed... "Over to you" reminds me of the main melody from, um, Chris Rea's "Deep water", though I think that was a later release --- yeah, 1983. So fair enough then. But a lot of this album is quite derivative, and even here I can detect influences from bands as diverse as ELO and already-mentioned Thin Lizzy.

I'm not sure really if the piano/organ works on this album; it certainly softens the expected heavy Sabbath sound and makes the music a little hard to assimilate: it's just not what you imagine you're going to hear when you rack up an Ozzy-era Sabs album. Even at that, although I would rate this down near the lower end of Black Sabbath's work, I don't think it deserves the epiteth "disgusting" that Ozzy later labelled it with. If he didn't like it, fine, but I think he went a little overboard there. Oh dear though: brass just does not work on a Sabbath album, and the sole instrumental Breakout is just awful! The closer, Swinging the chain says it all really, when Bill Ward on vocals growls "We're so sorry/ We're really sorry.."

And so you should be guys.
Overall impression: Very disappointed. I almost can see Ozzy's point...
Intention: Hey it's Sabbath: I have more albums to listen to. Chalk this one up as an aberration, yeah?

Anteater · 01-29-2013, 09:40 PM

Funnily enough, I'm actually a big fan of certain aspects of Never Say Die! -- it's easily the most progressive record of the Ozzy era in some ways next to Sabbath Bloody Sabbath, with kudos in particular to 'Air Dance' -- really unusual song, yet I feel like the contrast between Ozzy's delivery and the piano and how the guitar sits in an uneasy place between them to be rather endearing.

It's definitely not among the best of the band's records from start to finish my dear Troll, but I think you should give it more time to...sink in, so to speak.

Trollheart · 01-30-2013, 10:53 AM

A promising start

Artiste: The Adventures
Nationality: Irish (Northern)
Album: Theodore and friends
Year: 1985
Label: Chrysalis
Genre: Rock
Tracks:
Always
Feel the raindrops
Send my heart
Two rivers
Don't tell me
Another silent day
When the world turns upside down
Love in chains
Lost in Hollywood
These children
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: "The sea of love", "Trading secrets with the moon"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Pretty much what I expected/hoped, though the production is a little rough
Best track(s): Always, Send my heart, Two rivers, Don't tell me
Worst track(s): Another silent day, Lost in Hollywood, These children (maybe)
Comments: Ever since hearing "The sea of love" I've been a big fan of the Adventures, and yet I can recall being recommended this album by someone back a long, long time ago, and never took up the offer. Even to today I've never thought of downloading it. It's the one that started it all, so it should be good, although of course bands do make bad debut albums and then go on to make much better second, third and so on. (Note: any loyalist readers may chafe at the fact that I've selected the tricolour when the band are from Belfast, to them I say, tiocaidh ar la! (PoorOldPo will know what I mean!) To me, any band from the island of Ireland is considered Irish, so that's just how I see it.)

Well there's a big energetic guitar start to get us underway, and those by-now familiar to their fans vocal harmonies and that tinkling piano that so typify the music of this band. Production doesn't sound so hot I must say: one of the big selling points of "The sea of love" for me was the crystal clear production, even on vinyl. This sounds a little empty, a little echoey. As ever though, Terry Sharpe's vocals are spot on and he's ably backed and assisted by Eileen Gribben, in an almost Deacon Blue/Beautiful South melding, while her husband Pat does a great job on the guitar. Jonathan Whitehead plays the piano and keyboards, and I think it may be him that does the theme music for comedy series "Black Books"?

So opener Always is a great rocker, and there's a sense of Big Country in the guitar to Send my heart, with again great vocal harmonies. There's a definite indication of the heights they would scale with "The sea of love" on tracks like Two rivers and Love in chains. The first ballad comes with Don't tell me with elements of their to-come big hit, Broken land, lovely tinkling piano from Whitehead and soft percussion for most of the track. I could probably do without the African/Gospel-style Another silent day, shades of Peter Gabriel or Labi Siffre in parts. Some nice guitar work though. Sitar-like opening to When the world turns upside down, which rocks along nicely, then Gribben's guitar is very introspective on Lost in Hollywood, with almost ELO-style synth. The song is a little plodding though. Strange closer, with a military drumbeat and lots of samples, a very spare vocal line, I'm not so sure about These children; may have to listen to this again. Interesting if nothing else.
Overall impression: Pretty good, but you can see how they made a major leap forward with the next two albums... I think had I taken up that offer initially I may not have been too interested in checking out their further albums, which would have been a pity, as they're both far better than this.
Intention: Need to hunt down their fourth album now!

01-14-2013, 12:43 PM	#121 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Build up the fire Artiste: Bonfire Nationality: German Album: Free Year: 2003 Label: Sony BMG Genre: Heavy Metal/Heavy Rock Tracks: On and on... I would do anything 4 U What about love? Rock 'n' roll star (Born to rock) Free Preachers and whores Love CCA Give a little September on my mind Friends Chronological position: Ninth album Familiarity: "Rebel soul", "Feels like comin' home" Interesting factoid: Initial impression: On the lighter side of metal, but not quite AOR. Best track(s): Free, Give a little, Love CCA, Preachers and whores, September on my mind, Friends Worst track(s): Rock'n'roll star (Born to rock) Comments: First time I heard Bonfire I would have sworn they were American; they certainly have that sound down pat and there's little of the German accent in singer Claus Lessman's voice, and they sing like some rebel band from the Deep South, but it's from Bavaria they hail, distancing themselves from the giants of their home country (Helloween, Scorpions, Accept et al) by not quite turning their backs on their national heritage but definitely making an attempt to sound like a band from the US. This is their ninth album, and it's full of the hard rock/heavy metal they purvey so well. Straddling a delicate line between I guess what you'd call "melodic metal" --- it's not really fair to call them AOR, though some of their music does tip precariously into that area --- and straight ahead metal, they avoid the thrash/speed/power leanings of their contempories, even bands like Axxis, Blind Guardian and Primal Fear (who they cheekily namecheck). There's a nice Queen sound to the guitars in the opener, On and on... and almost Beatles rock in I would do anything 4 U, while What about love isn't a cover of the Heart hit, but their own original song. Apparently their fans didn't like this change in direction, and to be fair it's a distance removed from the other albums I've heard from Bonfire, more in the rock sphere than metal really, but I still like what I'm hearing. Often German metal bands in particular fall into the trap of sounding the same every album, with little or no progression or experimentation, so it's nice to see these guys take a chance. May not have worked out for them commercially, but that's the risk you take, hey? The title track is a nice acoustic-style ballad, and it's not the only one on the album, with surprisingly Christian overtones, though it's a bit annoying to hear Lessman's lisp on the chorus --- "Now I'm fwee/ Fwee from all the pain!" Hmm. Some great burning fretwork from Hans Ziller at the end, though his use of a sitar on Preachers and whores must have got up fans' noses, as I can't see him having used the instrument after this album. Song's a good rocker though. That sitar comes back for another of the ballads, "Give a little", then "September on my mind" is a big, epic, dramatic retelling of the 9/11 attacks (again, this plays into Bonfire's almost impersonation of an American band; though of course the WTC attacks affected us all, generally you expect US bands to write songs about them. It's almost "their" disaster...) which is fittingly the heaviest song on the album by a long way. The lyric in the chorus, though, is a little hard to take: "We're American/ Sayin' it with pride" --- er, no, you're not guys, no matter how much you might want to be: you're German. Perhaps this is why your fans give you such a hard time? Overall impression: Generally I'd think Bonfire became more a heavy rock band than a heavy metal one here, but there's no dip in the quality of the music. A brave decision which I applaud. Intention: More Bonfire albums to check out... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 12:16 PM.

01-19-2013, 11:50 AM	#122 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Signed to the right label, anyway Artiste: Raising Fear Nationality: Italian Album: Eternal creed Year: 2010 Label: Crash and Burn Genre: Power/Progressive Metal Tracks: Eternal creed The chosen one Lords of Orion Sleepless night Find your life You belong to me Amon Ra Learn to die The power of the eye Born again Holy battle Symbols from the past Chronological position: Third album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: This is one of no less than three metal bands based in Italy called Raising Fear, and one in Portugal, making four in total. You wouldn't have thought it was that popular a name, would you? Initial impression: Great instrumental opener, but then kind of descends into generic power metal for the most part... Best track(s): Eternal creed, You belong to me, Amon Ra, Lords of Orion Worst track(s): The chosen one, Learn to die Comments: When I first went looking for information on this band I could find nothing, not a scrap. Course, the fact I thought the BAND was called Eternal Creed might have something to do with it! Having corrected my search, I found what I needed and can tell you this is another metal band from Italy, but on the strength of the opener (and title track) I think I can say that they may indeed stand a little apart from the glut of power/speed/thrash/add subgenre here metal bands coming out of that country. Then again, the second track is nothing special. Hmm. Okay then, let's listen and see how this develops, if at all. A double guitar attack is always welcome as far as I'm concerned, and the guys do well here, though vocalist Rob Della Frera sounds more German than Italian to me. A rough, gruff voice but he doesn't descend into gutteral death vocals, however I think these guys may be trying too hard to be all things to all men, and not really that sure what they actually want to be. There's a broad (very broad) sense of Maiden's Powerslave to Lords of Orion and a feel of early Metallica to Sleepless night, but by and large it's pretty much the same all the way through from what I can see. Nice to see them take the tempo down with a very --- and I mean very --- nice ballad in You belong to me where Della Frera gets to display the softer side of his voice and a lower range; still get that German accent though! Nice acoustic guitar work from either Frank Rider or Alberto Toniolo, can't say which as both are just credited with "guitars". Good backing vocals too, one of the standouts, but really that's just because most of the rest is so almost indistinguishable one from the other. Very generic. Good electric guitar solo too here, then it's back to normal with Amon Ra, although to be fair there's more of the progressive metal about this, kind of a mixture of Kamelot and Sabbath. Basically, I think the best I can say about this band is that --- certainly on this album, and I've heard no others of theirs so could be judging them unfairly --- they do what they do well, but they don't do anything new and there's little about the album that sticks in my mind five minutes after I've finished playing it. Never a good sign. Overall impression: Pretty meh really. Not terrible, but I wouldn't be pushed if I never heard any more of their output. Intention: Not really bothered about checking out any of their other albums. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 12:17 PM.

01-25-2013, 01:49 PM	#123 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Possibly above criticism Artiste: Porcupine Tree Nationality: British (English) Album: Signify Year: 1996 Label: Delerium Genre: Progressive rock Tracks: Bornlivedie Signify The sleep of no dreaming Pagan Waiting Phase One Waiting Phase Two Sever Idiot prayer Every home is wired Intermediate Jesus Light mass prayers Dark matter Chronological position: Fourth album Familiarity: "Fear of a blank planet" Interesting factoid: This was the first album on which there was a full band; prior to this the other three albums were all more or less Steven Wilson solo efforts (though under the PT banner) with various session musicians. Initial impression: Um...? Best track(s): Sleep of no dreaming, Signify, Waiting Phase One, Idiot prayer, Every home is wired, Light mass prayers, Dark matter Worst track(s): Nothing bad. Some weird ones. Bornlivedie is a bit odd, as is Intermediate Jesus Comments: I've had this strange relationship going with Porcupine Tree for a few years now. Initially I thought they were a new band (!) but on downloading their discography it quickly became apparent they've been around for some time. 1987 in fact, although their first album proper didn't hit the shops till four years later. In that time they've established themselves as one of the most innovative and forward-looking rock bands on the planet, almost literally the quintessential progressive rock band. Nevertheless, apart from one album (as above) I've never listened to anything of theirs all the way through; it's been playlists and songs taken out of context. Time to change that. Some of the material here is purely instrumental, as in the title track, some just weird electronic sounds and tape loops, as in the opener, and then there are ballads, out-and-out rockers, psychedelic and space rock numbers, and everything in between. Through and above it all shines the undeniable presence and genius of its founder, Steven Wilson, and you only have to listen to his latest solo album, "Grace for drowning", to hear how eclectic his influences are, and how many different genres and sub-genres make it into his music. There are elements of Pink Floyd (of course) in Sleep with no dreaming, with a dramatic, threatening bass line from Colin Edwin, while "Waiting Phase One" sounds to me more like the more mellow sound of current Hogarth-era Marillion, with strong acoustic guitar and a sense of folk in the mix. Its companion piece, "Waiting Phase Two" is completely instrumental and runs for over six minutes on a funky bass and calypso-style drumbeat. It's pretty amazing that Porcupine Tree can have six and seven minute instrumentals on this album, and they don't ever get boring. Taking very much from the Floyd playbook, they use tape loops, sound effects, recordings and other gadgets to fill out the tracks, and yet they don't seem like they're just being used as filler material. These instrumentals really work as pieces in their own right: witness the pretty incredible Idiot prayer, not to mention the stunning Light mass prayers: these guys know how to construct a piece of music! The jury remains out for me on Porcupine Tree. Some of their music I love, some just comes across as too weird, but there's no doubting their honesty and integrity, and it's clear much time goes into each of their compositions. No band to write hit singles, they! I think I may just have to spend a little more time submerged in their world to get a feel for what the rest of their work is, but I have this feeling I'm going to enjoy it. Mostly. Overall impression: A varied album, with some great and innovative instrumentals, some powerful tracks and obviously a lot of heart and soul in their music. Intention: Probably going "Up the downstair" next, then may switch on the "Lightbulb sun". We'll see where it goes after that. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 12:17 PM.

01-28-2013, 06:47 PM	#127 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Blackfield are on my list, as is Storm Corrosion, and isn't there a new No-Man due out, or am I falling into another alternate dimension? __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-29-2013, 05:47 PM	#128 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Sabbath hit their nadir Artiste: Black Sabbath Nationality: British (English) Album: Never say die! Year: 1978 Label: Vertigo Genre: Heavy metal Tracks: Never say die Johnny blade Junior's eyes A hard road Shock wave Air dance Over to you Breakout Swinging the chain Chronological position: Eighth album Familiarity: "Paranoid", "Sabbath bloody Sabbath", "We sold our soul for rock and roll", "Black Sabbath", "Heaven and Hell", "Born again", "Master of reality", "Vol 4" Interesting factoid: I think it's the only album Bill Ward sings on...! Initial impression: Rocky, uptempo, but is that not...? Best track(s): Never say die, A hard road Worst track(s): Shockwave, Over to you, Breakout Comments: This is something of an oddity in the Sabbath canon. I wanted to listen to it (and review it) for several reasons. Firstly, it's the last album to feature Ozzy, and presages the rich Dio years. Secondly, it's an album that's not too long after classics like "Vol 4" and "Master of reality", and thirdly, Ozzy has gone on record to say he hates the album, and thinks they never should have recorded it. Not that he was there for much of it... I have to say that the opener, and title track, bears a striking resemblance to a well-known Lizzy track. Let's see who had it out first... oh dear! "The boys are back in town" was released in 1976! The guitar riff is very similar. Well, let's go on. Johnny blade has a rather disconcertingly proggy warbly keyboard intro, but then settles down into classic Sabs, powerful and grindy and then gets the door kicked in with a real blistering Iommi solo near the end. Sweet Geezer Butler bassline to open Junior's eyes, kind of a funky feel to it, while A hard road sounds almost celtic with a shot of Status Quo twelve-bar blues thrown in. Some nice almost classical piano from Don Airey in "Air dance", which more or less qualifies as a slow song, perhaps ballad for most of its run, but then goes both rocky and jazzy near the end, quite confused really. Almost like listening to Santana on speed... "Over to you" reminds me of the main melody from, um, Chris Rea's "Deep water", though I think that was a later release --- yeah, 1983. So fair enough then. But a lot of this album is quite derivative, and even here I can detect influences from bands as diverse as ELO and already-mentioned Thin Lizzy. I'm not sure really if the piano/organ works on this album; it certainly softens the expected heavy Sabbath sound and makes the music a little hard to assimilate: it's just not what you imagine you're going to hear when you rack up an Ozzy-era Sabs album. Even at that, although I would rate this down near the lower end of Black Sabbath's work, I don't think it deserves the epiteth "disgusting" that Ozzy later labelled it with. If he didn't like it, fine, but I think he went a little overboard there. Oh dear though: brass just does not work on a Sabbath album, and the sole instrumental Breakout is just awful! The closer, Swinging the chain says it all really, when Bill Ward on vocals growls "We're so sorry/ We're really sorry.." And so you should be guys. Overall impression: Very disappointed. I almost can see Ozzy's point... Intention: Hey it's Sabbath: I have more albums to listen to. Chalk this one up as an aberration, yeah? __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 12:18 PM.

01-27-2013, 08:44 PM	#124 (permalink)
~~Whiskey~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Jan 2013 Location: Israel Posts: 180	Hey Trollheart, do you think it is possible if I tell you about an album to listen to and you write a mini-review to it here, or you dont let other people interfere with this? Its just an album Ive been thinking might be worth for you to review.

01-27-2013, 11:31 PM	#125 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	^Steven Wilson is one of the few artists (with Devin Townsend) that I am always eager to hear new material from. Admittedly, I find his solo work to be a little boring, but I love PT and Blackfield a lot. His recent collab with Opeth's vocalist is pretty great as well. Have you checked out any Blackfield yet by chance? Not as proggy as Porcupine Tree, but still worth listening to.

01-30-2013, 10:53 AM	#130 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	A promising start Artiste: The Adventures Nationality: Irish (Northern) Album: Theodore and friends Year: 1985 Label: Chrysalis Genre: Rock Tracks: Always Feel the raindrops Send my heart Two rivers Don't tell me Another silent day When the world turns upside down Love in chains Lost in Hollywood These children Chronological position: Debut album Familiarity: "The sea of love", "Trading secrets with the moon" Interesting factoid: Initial impression: Pretty much what I expected/hoped, though the production is a little rough Best track(s): Always, Send my heart, Two rivers, Don't tell me Worst track(s): Another silent day, Lost in Hollywood, These children (maybe) Comments: Ever since hearing "The sea of love" I've been a big fan of the Adventures, and yet I can recall being recommended this album by someone back a long, long time ago, and never took up the offer. Even to today I've never thought of downloading it. It's the one that started it all, so it should be good, although of course bands do make bad debut albums and then go on to make much better second, third and so on. (Note: any loyalist readers may chafe at the fact that I've selected the tricolour when the band are from Belfast, to them I say, tiocaidh ar la! (PoorOldPo will know what I mean!) To me, any band from the island of Ireland is considered Irish, so that's just how I see it.) Well there's a big energetic guitar start to get us underway, and those by-now familiar to their fans vocal harmonies and that tinkling piano that so typify the music of this band. Production doesn't sound so hot I must say: one of the big selling points of "The sea of love" for me was the crystal clear production, even on vinyl. This sounds a little empty, a little echoey. As ever though, Terry Sharpe's vocals are spot on and he's ably backed and assisted by Eileen Gribben, in an almost Deacon Blue/Beautiful South melding, while her husband Pat does a great job on the guitar. Jonathan Whitehead plays the piano and keyboards, and I think it may be him that does the theme music for comedy series "Black Books"? So opener Always is a great rocker, and there's a sense of Big Country in the guitar to Send my heart, with again great vocal harmonies. There's a definite indication of the heights they would scale with "The sea of love" on tracks like Two rivers and Love in chains. The first ballad comes with Don't tell me with elements of their to-come big hit, Broken land, lovely tinkling piano from Whitehead and soft percussion for most of the track. I could probably do without the African/Gospel-style Another silent day, shades of Peter Gabriel or Labi Siffre in parts. Some nice guitar work though. Sitar-like opening to When the world turns upside down, which rocks along nicely, then Gribben's guitar is very introspective on Lost in Hollywood, with almost ELO-style synth. The song is a little plodding though. Strange closer, with a military drumbeat and lots of samples, a very spare vocal line, I'm not so sure about These children; may have to listen to this again. Interesting if nothing else. Overall impression: Pretty good, but you can see how they made a major leap forward with the next two albums... I think had I taken up that offer initially I may not have been too interested in checking out their further albums, which would have been a pity, as they're both far better than this. Intention: Need to hunt down their fourth album now! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 12:19 PM.