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A shadow falls...
http://s5.postimg.org/560x0hvtj/cook...ng2andhalf.jpg https://encrypted-tbn2.google.com/im...l4FCR9NI1-CCNg Artiste: Shadowland Nationality: Swedish Album: Falling Year: 2007 Label: Germusica Genre: Progressive metal Tracks Can you tell me Turn back home Falling Perfection Don't turn this love into hate Same old muddy roads Justice with my hands In the end Turn back time Don't chain my heart Chronological position: Debut album Familiarity: Zero. Interesting Factoid: There's very little interesting about this album. Initial Impression: Meh Best track(s): Hard to choose one, not because they're all so good, but because it really is hard to pick out one that qualifies as better, in a slew of pretty mediocre songs. Falling isn't bad I guess. I'd probably rate Don't chain my heart too, but that's about it. Worst track(s): Too many to count, sadly. Comments: Starts off a bit confusing, with some sort of strange broadcast noises: almost thought my copy was corrupt! But it quickly settles and there's some good melodic metal in there, quite a commercial/radio feel to some of it and yet heavy enough to appeal to those into pure metal. No keyboard player is mentioned, but either the guitarist is really good or there's someone on keys, because there are very keys-oriented sounds on many of the tracks, especially the title and In the end, though I must admit I find the chorus on Perfection a little grating, kind of ruins what otherwise is a pretty good song, particularly when the vocalist seems to be singing “Pro-fection”, whatever that is! There's an impressive Wanted dead or alive-style intro to Same old muddy roads, and it rocks out well, but the first two words do kind of apply to this album, and although it's not bad I'm not seeing anything that lifts it to the level of great, or even special. Heard it all before, unfortunately. It's decent metal, it's got its share of melody --- don't really see the progressive element in it, to be honest --- but it's nothing I haven't heard a hundred times before, and often much better. Some websites have waxed lyrical about this album, some even claiming it “album of the year”. I just don't see it, personally. Overall impression: Meh Intention: Avoid this band in future. |
Eternity doesn't end, nor does the quality on this album
http://s5.postimg.org/w8ylbwnrr/cookierating4.jpg http://www.metal-archives.com/images.../4991.jpg?5415 Artiste: Time Machine Nationality: Italian Album: Eternity ends Year: 1998 Label: Lucretia Genre: Melodic/Progressive Metal Tracks End of darkness Falling star I, the subversive Nazarene Hidden pain Eternity ends I believe again Desert of souls Behind the cross Sphynx (The witness) When the night surrounds me Pilatus Dark again Chronological position: Second album Familiarity: Zero Interesting Factoid: Initial Impression: Very melodic and dramatic without going over the top as so many bands in this genre are wont to. Best track(s): End of darkness, Hidden pain, I believe again, Desert of souls, Pilatus Worst track(s): None Comments: Time Machine are an Italian progressive/melodic metal band whose lyrics, at least on this album, seem to concern religion, and in particular the Christian beliefs, with titles like I, the subversive Nazarene, Pilatus and Behind the cross, but is this the case? Nothing I can find about them says anything to support or deny the fact that they're a Christian Metal band, so I guess the easiest way to sort it out is to listen to the album. Good idea, Batman! Well it begins nicely with a short little acoustic guitar intro, then Falling star is, suprisingly, another instrumental, though a lot faster and heavier. We don't hear the vocals of singer Nick Fortarezza until the third track in, the aforementioned I, the subversive Nazarene, and I'm reminded most strongly of, perhaps oddly, German metal legends the Scorpions. Hmm. Then again, in fairness, it's really the vocals that put me in mind of the Scorps: the music here is a lot more melodic and less frenetic than Klaus, Rudy and the gang. The lyric does seem to reflect a religious bent, though whether it edges towards the kind of Christian Metal that the likes of Narnia purvey I'm not sure; Time Machine may just be using the idea as a springboard for their songs, and I don't know what, if any, their beliefs are. The music is, though, what it's all about, and so far I'm impressed. Great heavy, dark, dramatic and ominous opening on keys and guitar to Hidden pain, and when the vocals come in Nick seems more than equal to the task of following such a powerful intro, and the song really comes together well. Very interesting use of the sax, not normally an instrument you'd associate with a metal band, but it's a worthy addition and Stefano della Guistina (who also plays the keys) helps to really take the music in a new direction. At times this band are almost AOR, really reining back in the heavier elements on songs like the title track and the ballad I believe again, though that shouldn't be taken to mean that they can't rock out, because they most certainly can, and most of the time do. I like the full circle aspect too, where the album ends as it began, on a very short acoustic guitar instrumental. Whether any of this has to do with God or any religion I still don't know, but I really don't think it matters with music of this quality. Overall Impression: Intelligent, well-crafted music that deserves to be better known. Like this a lot. Intention: Well, what do you think...? |
Oh, how the mighty have fallen!
http://s5.postimg.org/560x0hvtj/cook...ng2andhalf.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...zanne_Vega.jpg Artiste: Suzanne Vega Nationality: American Album: Nine objects of desire Year: 1996 Label: A&M Genre: Folk rock Tracks:Birth-day (Love made real) Headshots Caramel Stockings Casual match Thin man No cheap thrill World before Columbus Lolita Honeymoon suite Tombstone My favourite plum Chronological position: Fifth album Familiarity: “Suzanne Vega”, “Solitude standing” Initial impression: Kind of puts me in mind of a meeting between Simon and Gabriel... Best track(s):No cheap thrill, World before Columbus Worst track(s):Most of the rest of it, really. Comments: Though I would certainly count myself a fan of Suzanne Vega, somehow I never got past her first two albums. Brilliant (each in different ways) as those two were, I just seemed to have drifted away from her music after that. Not a conscious decision I think, but maybe I got caught up in all the hype at the time, with her videos on MTV and her singles in the charts, and going to see her live: maybe it was all just oversaturation and when it was over, like a spent/selfish lover, I just rolled over and muttered “seeya” and left in the night. Not literally, you understand. So here's my chance, now that I have her discography, to see what Suzanne got up to while I was away. By all accounts, she's still successful, highly-thought of and despite the fact that her albums no longer break the top ten --- a steady decline since “Solitude standing” almost hit the top slot back in 1987, with this one falling just outside the top forty --- she still shifts more than enough units to keep herself in the style to which, no doubt, she's become accustomed. But is there a reason for this fall in commercial popularity? Or did people (like, I have to admit, myself) just jump off the bandwagon after '87 and leave it trundling on, unconcerned as to where it went without them? Have we, to mix metaphors a little, missed the boat, and will I wonder, after listening to this album, why I stopped buying her records? And do I ever stop asking questions? Well, do I? ;) Two tracks in, and I'm already asking more questions. Where's the acoustic guitar? The folk aspect of her music that drew me to her initially? This all sounds a little too electric, a little too, well, pop for me. The lazy lounge of Caramel sounds like it should be in some old forties movie, but it's better than what has gone before, with a certain Waits charm about the clarinet and bass, while Stockings (who else could write a song about a woman wearing stockings and somehow not make it sound that sexual?) is a lot rockier, with hard guitar and pulsing bass and a sort of bossa-nova beat, with something of Neil Hannon's Divine Comedy in the melody, and some pretty wild trumpet, almost arabic style. As I listen to this more I get the feeling (reinforced with each new track I hear) that this is not Vega's own music, but what some record execs feel she should be playing. I'm not saying she didn't write it, as I know she did, but it just doesn't have the same heart as her earlier work, at least for me. Other than the pretty distinctive voice, if I heard this on the radio I'd probably not recognise it as being her product. Maybe she was just trying other things, but this sounds more like an album written to try to get attention, hit singles, commercial success --- which is odd, considering she had her biggest success with “Solitude”. Maybe trying to recapture the genius of that album backfired? Either way, I'm only halfway through, but though it's not a terrible album, I really don't see me ever seeing this as a great one. In fairness, No cheap thrill comes closest to the sort of song I've come to expect from her, but it's very much in the minority, along with World before Columbus, which really goes back to her basic sound, and is in fact one of the few favourites I would have on this album. Sadly, after that, for me, it's downhill all the way. I feel after listening to this album that Vega is trying to sound like Waits, though of course that could just be me. Still... Maybe two objects of desire on this one, Suzy, never nine. Not for me, anyhow. Overall impression: A little confused, if I'm honest, and somewhat disappointed. Intention: I'm really not sure. Is all her music post-1987 like this? |
Superb German prog
http://s5.postimg.org/w8ylbwnrr/cookierating4.jpg https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/im...zpEruRiTgIyyqg Artiste: RPWL Nationality: German Album: Trying to kiss the sun Year: 2002 Label: Tempus Fugit Genre: Progressive Rock Tracks Trying to kiss the sun Waiting for a smile I don't know (what it's like) Sugar for the ape Side by side You Tell me why Believe me Sunday morning Home again Chronological position: Second album Familiarity: Zero Interesting Factoid: RPWL stands for Phil Paul Rossettio, Chris Postl, Karlheinz Wallner and Yogi Lang, the four original members of the band, though they're now a quintet. Initial Impression: Good progressive rock, elements of Marillion and Gazpacho Best track(s): I don't know (what it's like), Side by side, Believe me, Home again Worst track(s): None Comments: Been getting back into listening to some, to me, new progressive rock bands recently, and I'll be featuring some of them here on “Bitesize” over the next week. RPWL are a band whose music I've had on my PC for over a year now and yet never got round to listening to. I had a few listens to this already and found I really liked it. Good mix of lengthy, properly-prog epics and some really nice ballads, great instrumentals and really well-constructed songs, and even though they hail from Germany, where singers often tend to the sharper, more gutteral sound, or at least usually give themselves away by their heavy accent, there's a soft melliflousness about singer Yogi Lang's voice, almost a Gilmouresque quality to it. He also plays keyboards though, leaving the fretwork to Karlheinz Wallner. There's a lovely sitar melody in I don't know (what it's like) which gives the song a very eastern-sounding influence. I find this closest to the best of Jadis, and it's extremely catchy and commercial. I'm not crazy about the somewhat unconventional ending though. It hits right then into a much heavier, grungier slow rocker, more in the vein of Hendrix or Free, with Sugar for the ape; lots of heavy guitar and a sort of metallic, muffled, almost mono vocal, though the chorus is quite incongruous with the rest of the song. Strange. Lovely piano ending, all the same. After the somewhat pastoral sound of Side by side there's a big heavy prog epic in You, with a lot of Mostly Autumn in it, although even here RPWL don't push it too much. I would not call them an acoustic band, but with the exception of Sugar for the ape there's not anything too heavy on this album, and a lot of it is quite laidback without being boring. There's a Beatles vibe to Believe me, with a guitar solo almost lifted from Threshold's Sunrise on Mars and more sitar, this time though backing rather than leading. The album ends well then on the epic Home again, with a powerful homage to Gilmour in the ending solo, helping to set the seal on an album which proved to me, even on first listen, that further investigation into RPWL is required. Overall Impression: A really good prog band who I need to listen to more. Intention: More, please! |
The enchantress returns... and the magic's still there
http://s5.postimg.org/yexhk5glz/cookierating5.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...yourdreams.jpg Artiste: Stevie Nicks Nationality: American Album: In your dreams Year: 2011 Label: Reprise Genre: Rock Tracks: Secret love For what it's worth In your dreams Wide Sargasso Sea New Orleans Moonlight (A vampire's dream) Annabel Lee Soldier's angel Everybody loves you Ghosts are gone You may be the one Italian summer Cheaper than free Chronological position: Seventh album Familiarity: “Bella donna”, “The wild heart”, “Rock a little”, “The other side of the mirror” Initial impression: Yeah! Stevie is BACK! Best track(s):For what it's worth, In your dreams, Moonlight (A vampire's dream), Soldier's angel, Italian summer Worst track(s):Eh, yeah... Comments: I've always been a big fan of Stevie, ever since her Fleetwood Mac days, and while I wouldn't say all her albums were completely without their duff tracks, each of them nevertheless has a special place in my heart, even if I haven't heard the two prior to this, her latest. Stevie has a way of singing directly to your heart and your soul, and her appeal does not diminish --- at least, for me --- with the passage of time and as age begins to advance on her. The album sleeve couldn't be more typical Stevie: all that's missing is a horn in the horse's forehead to make it a unicorn. She's not known for rushing out albums though: after the initial flurry of four albums between 1981 and 1989, it was five years before her fifth album, and seven to the one after that, with a staggering ten years elapsing between 2001's “Trouble in Shangri-La” and the release of this album. Stevie's solo albums have always contained a healthy dose of country and folk lodged firmly within the rock, and this is no exception, with tracks like For what it's worth and the closer Cheaper than free allowing Mike Campbell to show his talent on the steel guitar, while our old friend Greg Leisz adds mandolin. Dave Stewart of the Eurythmics is heavily involved in the album, writing most of the music, playing guitar and adding backing vocals, even duetting with Stevie as well as producing the album, and “In your dreams” seems to see the reunion of Stevie and her ex, Lindsey Buckingham, who plays guitar and also duets with her on one of the songs. A reconciliation? Perhaps. Time will tell. But so far this is one hell of a good album, which to be fair is no more than I'd expect from Ms. Nicks. But it even has me impressed, and I was already expecting it to be good. There's a great mix of straightahead rock, country and ballads, with some really nice violin from Ann Marie Calhoun and Torrey del Vitto on tracks like New Orleans, but perhaps the standout on the album is one of only three songs on which Stevie writes both lyrics and music, the powerful semi-ballad Moonlight (A vampire's dream), on which she utilises her mystic/wiccan image to the full, with a beautifully delicate piano melody framing the song, while the following Annabel Lee is adapted from the poem by Edgar Allan Poe, then the sharp starkness of Soldier's angel kicks you right in the gut. Lindsey Buckingham's uncompromisingly stripped-back guitar sounding like a peal of doom behind Stevie's stricken, ragged vocal and the thump-thump-thump of doomy drums makes this song at once unsettling and impossible to ignore, and perhaps there's another contender for standout. Buckingham also adds his vocal to this, though it's more on the chorus than as a duet, and Stevie, the fogotten widow of a soldier, sings the verses alone, which only seems right and in keeping with the spirit of the song. Absolutely beautiful and sumptuous strings arrangement in Everybody loves you, one of two songs on which Stewart adds his vocals, then Stevie kicks out the stays and rocks like a good thing on Ghosts are gone, evoking memories of Enchanted from “The wild heart”. Whether this is meant to be further indication that the rift between her and Buckingham has been healed or not is open to debate, but they certainly seem to work well together again, and seem to be enjoying the experience. I've done my best to pick my favourite tracks on this album, but to be honest it's been a hard choice, as most of this could have gone into that category. It's just that good. Proof once again that good things come to those who wait, and even a decade after her last album Stevie can still blow them all away. Thirty-some years in the business, not including her time with Fleetwood Mac, and she still has it. Probably always will. Sixty-four years old this year, and still sounding like a twenty-year old. That's our Stevie: she'll probably never really grow old. Overall impression: One of the best Stevie Nicks albums I've heard since “Bella donna”, way back in 1981. Intention: As it always has been, to continue buying and enjoying her records. Must give “Trouble in Shangri-La” and “Street angel” a listen before long, too. |
Decent effort from Irish rock band
http://s5.postimg.org/r7r7ajgbb/cookierating3.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi..._mouth_imc.jpg Artiste: Bell X1 Nationality: Irish Album: Music in mouth Year: 2003 Label: Universal Island Genre: Rock Tracks: Snakes and snakes Alphabet soup Daybreak Eve, the apple of my eye Next to you West of her spine Bound for Boston Hill Tongue White water song In every sunflower I'll see your heart and I'll raise you mine Chronological position: Second album Familiarity: “Bloodless coup” Interesting factoid: Although this album didn't quite break Bell X-1 commercially, it did get them noticed outside of Ireland when one of the tracks featured on the TV series “The O.C” Initial impression: The production on this album is woeful! Best track(s): Eve, the apple of my eye, In every sunflower, I'll see your heart and I'll raise you mine Worst track(s): Although some of the tracks are not great, I can't in fairness paint any of them as bad. Comments: Again I fall foul of not paying enough attention to my native music. I reviewed Bell X1's most recent album, “Bloodless coup”, back at the end of last year and was quite impressed with it. It did in fact win a Polly award (see my main journal) for one of the tracks, but other than that album I really don't know any of the music from this Dublin band, so in an attempt to redress this I'm giving this one a shot. The first thing I have to say is that I thought the opener, Snakes and snakes, was an instrumental, but find this is either down to woeful production, where the guitar is so loud and overpowering that the vocals can't be heard, in fact you barely realise they're there at all, or the singer can't sing. I know the latter not to be the case, unless he's vastly improved his ability on "Bloodless coup", so maybe this is an intentional thing; I guess we'll find out as the album goes on. Actually, about thirty seconds before the end, the vocals come in strongly, and it is a good song, but you have to wonder at the production values? Even if it was meant to sound like that, why? The next song seems to have very muddy vocals too, so is this going to continue? Yeah, “Daybreak” is the same: vocals so distant it's like they're being sung hundreds of yards away. That said, the guitar work on this track is lovely, but with rubbish production like this (unless I've got hold of a bad copy: and why then would only the vocals be hard to hear? It's not like it's muffled, just seems so far down in the mix it's almost buried) it's difficult to critique a track which is not supposed to be an instrumental, but comes across almost as one. Note: Okay, the mystery is solved. Seems it's my amp which after my computer had to be disassembled earlier today has decided to throw all the treble into the left speaker and bass into the right, so with the balance in the middle, where it usually is, I'm getting little of either. Let's reset the knob and see how we go again, back from the start. I'm not erasing the above, to remind myself not to be such a dickhead in future. Probably won't work though...:banghead: So, back we go. Bearing the rant I had at the beginning, Snakes and snakes now comes across as a much more powerful song, and yes, the guitar is sharp and loud, but now that I've sorted my amp it doesn't drown out the vocals, far from it. God I'm an idiot! Ah-ah-annnnyway... the track that got them noticed via the series “The O.C”, a lovely piano ballad called Eve, the apple of my eye is indeed a worthy song by which to announce your presence to the world, and I can see why it raised some eyebrows. Definitely indications of what was to come. Some lovely Nick Cave-style Fender Rhodes, I think. There's a certain sense of folk or bluegrass about West of her spine, and a deep, lazy, almost Waitsesque quality to Bound for Boston Hill, with some nice slide guitar, while Tongue comes across with a very Zep vibe. As we head towards the last third of the album I have to say it's a decent rock effort, but I don't see anything too fantastic about it. I'd probably listen to it again, but unless something really good happens in the next three tracks, I wouldn't be in too much of a hurry. Well, White water song is almost heavy metal, frenetic and close to dissonant at times, but with a good strong vocal, then Bell X1 slow everything down with what sounds like an accordion melody line to take us into In every sunflower --- actually, it could be oileann pipes or something similar. Course, it could also be a sound programmed into a synth, but it sounds quite organic and is pretty effective. It's a nice song, as is the closer, the cleverly-titled I'll see your heart and I'll raise you mine. A good, solid album with some great tracks, certainly, but nothing that makes me jump up and shout “Go buy this album now!” Though if you do, you'll probably not be disappointed. Overall impression: Good album, not a great album. Intention: Maybe check out another of theirs. |
Another prog revelation
http://s5.postimg.org/al9n1gndj/cook...ng3andhalf.jpg http://www.progarchives.com/progress...5432792009.jpg Artiste:Knight Area Nationality: Dutch Album: Realm of shadows Year: 2009 Label: The Lasers Edge Genre: Progressive rock Tracks: Ethereal Antagony Two of a kind Momentum Awakening Dark souls Realm of shadows A million lives Occlusion Chronological position: Third album Familiarity: Zero Initial impression: Er, Genesis? Best track(s):A million lives Worst track(s): None Comments: There's no avoiding the obvious influence of one of the biggest prog-rock bands of the seventies and eighties on Dutch proggers Knight Area, as the opening keyboard chords from Ethereal, the first track on this, their third album, show without question. Even the piano, when the keys fade down a little, is pure classic Tony Banks circa “Wind and wuthering” or even “Duke”. But let it not be thought that Knight Area are just a clone or rip-off of Genesis, far from it. They have their own sound, but it is highly coloured by Genesis's impact on the early progressive rock scene. Let's be honest though: it's not only the music that's influenced, as part of the lyric to Ethereal goes ”Nobody knows my name/ For nobody would understand/That you kill what you fear”... sound familiar? They really up the ante though, changing it all around for the second track, which powers along almost in a progressive metal vein, though again I do find something familiar about it, and this does seem to dog these Netherlands rockers a little; they come across as a bit derivative. Still, if so they do it well and don't come across as deliberately copying anyone; I think it's just their reverence for certain prog rock giants bleeds into their music and leeches off a little of the originality that I would prefer be there. Again, Awakening is a great little instrumental, but borrows its piano melody almost completely from the opening to Marillion's Fugazi... For all that though, Knight Area can be original when they try, or want to, as tracks like Dark souls and A million lives show, the former delivering a big, heavy, dramatic opus with some fine strong vocals while the latter is a poppier, more upbeat, almost AOR song somewhat in the style of Asia, but not so much that you'd notice. Unfortunately (well, not unfortunately, as I love Genesis) the influence of the masters creeps back in and spreads all over the title track, which is not to say it's bad, as it most certainly is not, but those Banksesque keyboards, particularly the electric piano, can sound like no-one else, and bring the two “W” words up once again. The album finishes well on a real power progressive rock epic, over eleven minutes of it, in which Knight Area lay down their own claim to originality and manage to stand a little apart from the plethora of prog rock bands out there at the moment. Now, if only they could ditch the cloying Genesis slant on their music, stamp their own individuality on their songs, they could really be a force to be reckoned with. Overall impression: A little less Genesis clonification (not fair, I know) and this band could be really great. As it is, they need to really establish their own identity as yet. Intention: Keep an eye on them, to see if this happens over the course of their next few albums |
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Thanx as always Ki. I'm afraid I can't give you the credit for KA: I've had this album on my hard disk for about a year now or more, only recently decided I should finally give them a listen. Glad I did.
In fact, if I remember correctly, I think I saw an ad for their album in "Classic Rock presents Prog", back when I could afford to buy the magazine. Great band, just as I say pity they worship Genesis (what prog band doesn't?) to the extent that it colours their playing and makes them sound a bit too much like the prog giants. I'm going to have a listen to "Nine paths" soon, will let you know how/if the style develops. Cheers! TH |
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The cover sums up my view of this album
http://s5.postimg.org/b88jqzk9f/cookierating2.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...eryKingdom.jpg Artiste: Ben Howard Nationality: British (English) Album: Every kingdom Year: 2011 Label: Island Genre: Folk Tracks: Old pine Diamonds The wolves Everything Only love The fear Keep your head up Black flies Gracious Promise Chronological position: Debut album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Initial impression: Not terribly impressed. Hard to keep focus. Best track(s):Keep your head up Worst track(s):Everything else. Comments: Folk artists seem to pop up in my record collection every so often. I'm not a big fan of folk, but I just liked the look of the cover on this, so decided to go for it. Was it a good purchase? Acoustic music can be great, especially guitar and piano, but it can wear on you after a while, and a full album of acoustic? I don't know if this will maintain my interest, but let's see. On opening, I'm immediately reminded of, er, Simon and Garfunkel. Does this date the music? Well, it's last year's album, so I would hope not. There's certainly an attempt to make the music eclectic via the use of instruments like accordion, cello and ukulele, most of which are played by India Bourne, and the opener, beginning slow and laidback, later comes to life, bopping along nicely, while there are of course the slower tracks, like Everything and Black flies. You can certainly hear the influence of Dylan and Mitchell on Ben Howard, with elements of David Gray and John Martyn mixed in there too. Nice sort of military drumbeat to The wolves, quite rocky really, but as the album winds on I'm getting less and less interested. Just too bland, too generic and really coming across as quite boring to me, and we're now halfway through the album. At least The fear gets things moving again, but I'm still not that interested until Keep your head up hits, and then it's a different ballgame. Still, it is a little late in the day to be finding good things about this album, but I'm glad I've been able to find at least one. This track almost makes it worth the price of purchase. Almost. Nice organ, good fast percussion, great beat. Most uptempo track so far. It all sort of drones on from there though, and in the end I have to say this album bored me to tears, and just did nothing for me; completely empty, not even good music to fall asleep to. Overall impression: Boring and flat. Intention: Check carefully before selecting my next foray into the world of folk! |
The man with the Midas touch is back
http://s5.postimg.org/yexhk5glz/cookierating5.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ard_ghosts.jpg Artiste: No-Man Nationality: British (English) Album: Schoolyard ghosts Year: 2008 Label: Kscope Genre: Progressive/Art Rock Tracks: All sweet things Beautiful songs you should know Pigeon drummer Truenorth Wherever there is light Song of the surf Streaming Mixtaped Chronological position: Sixth album Familiarity: Nothing other than via Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson's "Grace for drowning" Initial impression: Melancholy, haunting, ethereal, both laidback and unsettling at the same time. Best track(s): All sweet things, Truenorth, Wherever there is light Worst track(s): Oh yeah, right! You are of course joking? Comments: The stripped-down nature of this album hits you from the beginning, with acoustic barebones piano following the aching vocal on the opener, All sweet things, before the soft acoustic guitar strums its way into proceedings, and I'm reminded in ways of a more emotionally upbeat Antimatter. If there's ever been an album that lived up to its title it's this one: I can feel spectres from the past crowding around me as I listen, and it's ethereal and eerie, strange and sad yet shot through with a vein of hope that life gets better. No-Man is the result of a collaboration, in case you didn't know, between Porcupine Tree maestro Steven Wilson and vocalist Tim Bowens, one of over a half-dozen projects Wilson is involved in, not counting his day job with the Porcs. As I said in the review to his solo album, “Grace for drowning”, how the man gets the time and energy to do all this is beyond me. This album, far from being something thrown together to gain a few more record sales, or an offhand collection of ideas, is in fact the sixth album from No-Man, and it's a mini masterpiece, absolutely beautiful in its fragility. It's so good in fact that I have no doubt I'll have to give it the full review treatment on the Playlist, as there's just not enough space here to do it justice. But for now, soft, warm vocals edged with pain and loss, sumptuous arrangements alongside the most simple of instrumentation, tracks like the achingly brittle, country-styled Wherever there is light with its pedal steel and Beautiful songs you should know with its mournful violin and harmonium stand with the stunning twelve-minute epic Truenorth, an example of how No-Man can move you without even trying. And then there's the frenetic madness of Pigeon drummer: just amazing. I can't recommend this album highly enough. If you want more, keep an eye on my main journal, as this has impressed me so much that I will definitely be doing a full, more in-depth review of it there. Overall impression: Still trying to get up! Holy ****! Intention: Review this in more depth, and listen to a lot more of these guys' albums! |
^No-Man are one of my personal favorites. I have all the releases and love each of them as their own. That album however was the first one I heard so it holds a special place in my heart, and for good reason.
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Ah man, I had forgotten how much I liked No-Man until you reviewed Schoolyard Ghosts. Muchos kudos! :thumb:
Don't forget that beyond his own projects as a musician, Steve-O is remastering all of King Crimson and Jethro Tull's respective discographies. In light of that, I honestly do wonder how he manages his time so well. :D |
Ant, my man! Always welcome in any of my journals!
Yes, indeed I know all the amazing projects Stevie is doing; I mentioned the KC remastering in my review of "Grace". I can only conclude that the man must have perfected the process of cloning; it's the only logical, nay possible answer! I was so blown away by "Schoolyard ghosts": the first album in a long time that's actually made me shiver and feel warm at the same time. I'll definitely be looking into more of their music. I was thinking of trying NoSound as well, as they seem to be connected? Ki, as ever, good to have your input, and I promise to listen to pg.lost over the weekend. I'll give you my impressions and will review it shortly after. Just watched "Prog Brittania" off my Sky box: damn good programme. Proggers unite! :) |
^ Hey that's awesome! Key is probably the easiest albums to hear their full potential. For pg.lost that is.
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I prefer "Judas Christ", but not bad
http://s5.postimg.org/al9n1gndj/cook...ng3andhalf.jpg (Would have got 4 cookies, but for the death growls on some of the songs...) http://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/8/6/5/186599.jpg Artiste: Tiamat Nationality: Swedish Album: Amanethes Year: 2008 Label: Nuclear Blast Genre: Dark Metal Tracks: The Temple of the Crescent Moon Equinox of the gods Until the hellhounds sleep again Will they come? Lucienne Summer is gone Katarraktis apo aima Raining dead angels Misantropolis Amanitis Meliae Via Dolorosa Circles Amanes Chronological position: Ninth album Familiarity: “Judas Christ” Interesting factoid: I have absolutely no idea what the title means! Oh wait: on further research I find that Encyclopaedia Metallum has the answer: “Amanethes is a Greek-Turkish word, describing a kind of very slow Eastern-oriented song, which usually contains the word “Aman”. "Aman" can be translated as “show some understanding” or it declares “pain” and “sadness”. Cool! Initial impression: Vocals grate, but nowhere as bad as I had feared. Best track(s): Until the hellhounds sleep again, Will they come?, Summertime is gone, Katarraktis apo aima Worst track(s): Lucienne, Amanes Comments: This could be new ground for me. Tiamat began life as a doom/death metal band, but when I sampled them was in what would I guess be termed the middle of their metamorphosis into something a little more commercial, a little less heavy, a little more accessible, and I must say I did enjoy the album “Judas Christ”, but I'm reliably informed that this album sees them returning to their heavier, darker roots, so it may be something totally different. Whether the change worked or not I don't know, though this is to date their last album, so perhaps draw your own conclusions from that? Or not. Well, from the off I hear a deeper, more gravelly and rough quality to vocalist --- and also guitarist/keyboardist --- Johan Edlund's voice, very black metal, verging towards those death vocals which I hate. The music itself though, at least from the first track, isn't that much different, if at all. The vocals are a little jarring though. I'd always sort of understood that I had, if you like, struck lucky with “Judas Christ”, catching Tiamat at what was basically recognised as their most mellow, and that the rest of the material, at least prior to that album, was a lot heavier and perhaps more off my radar. Vocals aside though, I find I still like this. Good fast guitars and a certain sense of progressive rock/metal merging with what I assume is death or doom metal. Quite interesting. During Equinox of the gods Edlund reverts momentarily to the sort of vocal that characterised the “Judas Christ” album, and it just changes everything, but sadly he's soon back growling, so in fairness to Tiamat and this album I'm trying to not quite filter out his vocals, but not concentrate on them so much and try to listen to the music behind them. It's not easy, but it shows me that the band have more or less stayed in the same musical direction as they were. Some nice keyboard bits, the guitar is loud but not punishing, and to be honest I've heard heavier. There's a good doomy cruncher in Until the hellhounds sleep again, where Edlund pulls off a very passable Nick Cave, and again on the slower, almost balladic Will they come?, both of which are actually quite melodic, as really all songs on this album so far have been. Well, I had to say that, didn't I? The very next one does nothing for me, and I'm very disappointed in Lucienne: very discordant after a decent piano opening, sort of goes from one extreme to the other, unsure where or what it wants to be. Pass. Luckily they quickly get back on track with Summertime is gone, which sounds like it has some lovely strings, and yet the guitar bites hard when needed. There's a brilliant sense of urgency, desperation, anger and frustration in the oddly-titled Katarraktis apo aima, which I'm assuming is maybe Swedish, though it sounds more like Greek, and since the album title seems to come from Greek or Turkish, who knows? As for what it means, don't know, but it's just become one of my favourite tracks on the album. Back to the growly vocals after quite a break then, but happily back to more recognisable vox and then an instrumental for the next two tracks, followed by a really commercial laidback song in Meliae, and the good is definitely outweighing the bad here, and setting most of my fears to rest. There's a resurgence of that growl and howl on Via Dolorosa, but even that can't spoil this great song for me, and only the closing track, Amanes brings any real kind of disappointment: slow, plodding, boring and a perhaps tongue-in-cheek “prayer to Satan”, it sort of seems out of step with the rest of the album. Still, considering how worried I was about the change in direction “Amanethes” was to have taken from my only other experience of Tiamat, I'm pleasantly surprised. Overall impression: I can live with the gruff vocals, as they're not constant, and I still think I'd be happy to listen to more Tiamat. Intention: Now to listen to their earlier stuff! |
Smoothly polished to a sparkling glow. American? They're not American!
http://s5.postimg.org/yg7fdkifr/cook...ng4andhalf.jpg (I wanted to give it 5 cookies, really, but come on! An AOR album with not one single ballad? I HAD to subtract half a cookie. Sorry guys!) http://www.heavyharmonies.com/cdcovers/H/HOUSTON_ST.JPG Artiste: Houston Nationality: Swedish Album: Houston Year: 2010 Label: Rocket Songs Genre: AOR Tracks: Pride Truth slips Hold on I'm alive One chance Give me back my heart Misery She's a mystery Now 1000 songs Chronological position: Debut album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Although named after an American city, these guys hail from Sweden. Initial impression: Very slick, very professional, and very American sounding. I like! Best track(s): Pride, Truth slips, Hold on, give me back my heart, 1000 songs Worst track(s): None Comments: Well, you certainly wouldn't know it from listening to them, but Houston come from Sweden, not the US. Confusing, eh? The lead singer has obviously spent a lot of time listening to the likes of Steve Perry, Joey Tempest and John Parr, and has honed his sound to mirror that of the major American AOR vocalists, which is certainly not a bad thing. For a debut album this is nothing short of damn impressive, and certainly worthy of all the praise that was lavished on it by critics upon its release. Hooky melodies, strong vocals, great guitar solos placed at just the right place and time, and of course banks of bubbly keyboards help to make this one of the standout AOR albums I've listened to this year, and I'd put it on a par with Millenium's “Angelfire” and Fergie Frederiksen's “Happiness is the road” as one of my top ten AOR discs so far. There are the usual influences and sounds of course --- Journey, Toto, Foreigner, elements of Asia, bit of Boston --- but Houston have managed to incorporate these styles into their music without becoming a clone of any of these bands, or even a hybrid of some or all. Nice touch is the female vocals, which come in on second track Truths slips, and are supplied by Helena Alsterhed, and a powerful voice she has too, just this side of Nancy Wilson. The real standout though comes in the “I remember this from the 80s!” bombast of Hold on, which evokes everything good about AOR music from that era, with big, punchy keyboards and heavy guitars, a passionate vocal and a hook you could hang your coat on! It was also the first single to be taken from the album: good choice, say I. Wonderful harmony vocals and tinkling digital piano on One chance, a slower song, almost a power ballad, with grinding guitars and indeed a beat very reminscent of Survivor's mega-smash hit, with some chunky keyboard fills, then we ramp back up slightly for Give me back my heart, but my only real criticism so far is that since the second track we haven't heard Helena's dulcet tones again, so it looks like she's being criminally underused here. Though of course she may be a session muso, or a guest: information on Houston is not that easy to find. There's definitely more than a smattering of Rainbow's All night long guitar riff in Misery, then they borrow a title and a keyboard riff from Bon Jovi, on She's a mystery, evoking memories of Runaway, the vocals interestingly mechanised, almost, but still no sign of Helena, a real pity. The album finishes strongly with 1000 songs, a good uptempo commercial potential radio hit. I am a little surprised that Houston didn't see fit to include any ballads at all on this album, but perhaps that's a measure of their confidence in their music, which is certainly justified. Damn fine album, and a great first effort. Overall impression: If you're an AOR fan, why haven't you got this? Oh, you never heard of them, did you not? Well, now you know about them, so go buy it! Intention: Well, I can't really do much as this is their debut, but hopefully with two years almost now passed they'll be releasing a second album, and I'll certainly be having a listen to that. |
^ Great review! Enjoyed that particular debut a fair bit when I first got wind of it last year. Although they're a tad weak on the AOR front compared to the mindblowing recent output of bands like Work Of Art and The Magnificent, I'd love to see Houston live if they got a hankerin' for the prairies of Texas. :thumb:
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Thanks Ant! You're always a welcome visitor in here: hell, we set an extra place each night in case you wander in! Now, what's yer poison? :):beer:
I was very impressed with this debut, although I had already heard good things about them from reading "CRpAOR" (Classic Rock presents AOR) magazine, so knew they were going to be something special. I've heard of Work of Art, must give them a listen. The other one, The Magnificent? Never heard of them. Care to share? ;) |
Decent Power Metal
http://s5.postimg.org/r7r7ajgbb/cookierating3.jpg https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/im...9cQmaSwnhiW-Wg Artiste: Axenstar Nationality: Swedish Album: The Inquisition Year: 2005 Label: Arise Genre: Power Metal Tracks: The fallen one Under black wings Salvation Inside your mind Daydreamer Drifting The burning Run or hide The sands of time Chronological position: Third album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Axenstar used to be called Powerage. What? It's the most interesting thing I could find out about them... Initial impression: Darker and grindier than expected Best track(s): The Fallen One, Inside your mind, Drifting, Sands of time Worst track(s): None Comments: Power metal bands, sound all the same? Well this one has a little something extra. Hailing from Sweden, Axenstar, whose name sounds synonymous with singing about dragons and castles and elves, seem more concerned with a form of black metal, lyrically, with songs like The Fallen One and Under black wings, but they combine these darker, more gothic elements with proper fast power metal, the two guitarists sparring off each other. Keyboards always help add an extra layer to any band, especially metal, and here vocalist Magnus Winterwild (what a great name!) doubles on keys to smooth that veneer of progressive metal over the more intense parts of the songs here. He's a good vocalist too, clear and powerful, with the songs alternating between fast shredders and slower, more doomy grinders, and drummer Pontus Jansson is certainly not averse to trundling the drums along when required, which is most of the time. Quite catchy melodies, especially the solo in Under black wings, with a very Maidenesque intro to Salvation, on which Winterwild's vocal gets a little rougher and gruffer, with his keys coming into serious play. There's an almost AOR feel to Daydreamer, then there's a nice change of pace with close to an acoustic ballad in Drifting before they're off and running again as The Burning fires on all cylinders, with a certain neo-classical feel to the keyboards. There's nothing terribly new or different about Axenstar, but then, what do you expect from a power metal band? There's not a huge amount of room for development within the genre really, so my verdict on these guys is that they're as good as many a power metal band out there, better than some but certainly not the very best the genre has to offer. A worthy effort nevertheless, and definitely worth checking out. Overall impression: Impressive, powerful but not overblown. Good solid power metal with some very catchy tunes. Intention: Yeah, I'd listen to them again. |
Maybe there was something in this new wave malarky after all...
http://s5.postimg.org/r7r7ajgbb/cookierating3.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-RIE-cover.jpg Artiste: Ultravox Nationality: British (English) Album: Rage in Eden Year: 1981 Label: Chrysalis Genre: New Wave/Electronic Tracks: The voice We stand alone Rage in Eden I remember (Death in the afternoon) The thin wall Stranger within Accent on youth The ascent Your name (has slipped my mind again) Chronological position: Fifth album Familiarity: Like most people, the hits: Vienna, The voice, Reap the wild wind, Dancing with tears in my eyes and so on. Interesting factoid: Er, well, Midge Ure once appeared on the anarchic TV comedy show “Filthy, Rich and Catflap” as himself, but the boys confused him with Sting, and kept singing “Roxanne!” Hilarious, really, and sadly cut out of the TV broadcast editions later, presumably for copyright reasons. Initial impression: Ohhhhh, Vienna! Sorry... :) Best track(s): The voice, The thin wall, I remember (Death in the afternoon), Your name (has slipped my mind again) Worst track(s): Accent on youth Comments: Although like most people I of course know Ultravox, electronic darlings of the eighties New Wave period, and have heard their singles, I've never listened to a full album by them. I've never possessed one, until now. This is one from which two of their bigger singles (not Vienna) were taken, so I have a passing familiarity with it, and it's one of those singles that opens the album, the uptempo, keyboard-driven The voice, with something of the trademark Ultravox choral vocals in it, and Midge Ure on top form. There's little really to hear in terms of guitars, as Ultravox were always based on the synthesiser sound, but a few licks here and there from Midge toughen up the song a little. The second track puts me a little in mind of China Crisis, with a slightly more upfront role for the guitar, though the synths are never far behind, the following track --- the title, in fact --- built on a solid piano and bass line, but a good deal slower. This is one of those old-fashioned albums that you kids out there won't remember, when you got eight or nine tracks, four a side, and that was your lot. This one has nine. Not for us the seventeen, twenty or more tracks on an album! If we got one with ten we considered we were doing well. Still, for the comparitive dearth of quantity here, there's pretty much quality all the way through, and after all, who wants to hear twenty crappy tracks compared to six gems? This album though, might qualify as bad value in monetary terms, as of the eight tracks none are particularly long (the longest just under seven and a half minutes) and one is only just over a minute long, the whole thing running to a total of forty-five minutes. Nevertheless, as I say, it's all good, solid music, and the guitars indeed get another chance to shine on I remember (Death in the afternoon), and you can certainly see why Ultravox were so popular at the height of the New Wave craze. There's something very comforting and also infectious about their music. I'm not saying it's safe, but you never feel “threatened” by it, unlike some rock and/or metal. It does really seem like they're just here to have a good time, and spread the love. The keyboard melodies are definitely catchy, and linger in the brain after the songs have faded away, and generally leave you with a good feeling. Even of the few singles I've heard over the years, I couldn't really think of one that depresses, angers or even upsets me a little. The thin wall is another one I know, and you probably do too: a bubbly synth bass carrying a generally piano-led melody with (gasp!) the odd blast of rocky guitar! Easy to see why it was a big hit single for them, although it does seem a little overstretched here, then Stranger within is that long track I spoke of, a lot of Talking Heads/David Bowie in it, quite arty, but again for me, about two minutes longer than it should be, while Accent on youth gets Ultravox back to what they do best, boppy, uptempo synth-based electropop. The high-pitched synths do manage to get on my nerves, however. The shortest track, just over a minute, is an instrumental, which utilises some nice violin melodies and a pretty heavy percussion, then the album closes on a song that starts out like their megasmash Vienna, released a year previously. It's an odd little track, with heavy, bouncing drumbeats falling almost singly, backing a quite low and understated, and at times almost inaudible vocal from Ure. It becomes the slowest song on the album, and so I guess would qualify as a ballad, though I wouldn't really call it such. Overall impression: Happy music without verging into vacuous territory, very catchy. Intention: I may have to throw a few more Ultravox albums onto my ever-growing playlist... |
"Fallen". No, "The open door". No, "Fallen". Um...
http://s5.postimg.org/560x0hvtj/cook...ng2andhalf.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...heopendoor.jpg Artiste: Evanescence Nationality: American Album: The open door Year: 2006 Label: Wind-Up Genre: Goth rock Tracks: Sweet sacrifice Call me when you're sober Weight of the world Lithium Cloud nine Snow White queen Lacrymosa Like you Lose control The only one Your star All that I'm living for Good enough Chronological position: Second album Familiarity: “Fallen” Initial impression: Three tracks in, I must say I find a lot of this very samey, and not too interesting. Best track(s): Lithium, Lacrymosa, Good enough, Lose control Worst track(s): Snow White queen, Sweet sacrifice, Call me when you're sober Comments: I seem to have this love/hate relationship with Evanescence: I like some of their music but find their albums hard to get into. I was quite disappointed with “Fallen”, having set myself up to believe it was going to be a great album, to find out it only had (for me) a few good tracks, most of which I already knew as singles. I was upset that digging down below the surface I didn't come across the gems I had expected would be hidden there, so here's a second chance to see if Evanescence can impress me. They should, really: they play the kind of music I like, and the image is good too. But somehow “Fallen” just fell (sorry) short of my expectations. But it's often the case that the second album can be vastly superior to the debut, the bugs having been worked out, so to speak. So is that the case here? Well, up until Lithium I'm distinctly unimpressed. This is a good song, but is it the only one? There's something different at least from what has gone before in Cloud nine, with an almost dancy opening blown away by a big metal groove, and it's certainly interesting, and Lacrymosa has a very dramatic, almost operatic production, with some nice strings and tinkling piano, utilising a full choir and also incorporating Mozart's Lacrimosa from his Requiem. As the song is basically built around the classical piece, it's probably not fair to credit Evanescence with the quality of the track, but they use the melody well. Like you is another “heavy ballad”, such as can be found on their debut, while Lose control begins as a nicely laidback piano-driven piece, but then kicks in heavy guitar and kind of ruins the song, for me anyway. With songs like My immortal and Hello on the previous album, it kind of annoys me that they won't sit back and do a proper ballad, some of the songs starting off that way but metamorphosing in what becomes a tiresomely repititious way into heavier, harder songs. Depressingly, I see that looking back over my review of their debut which I wrote almost a year ago to the day, I had something the same to say; the songs all sort of began to blend one into the other, as is certainly happening here, with some of them at least. So sadly it would seem there hasn't been any marked change in Evanescence's approach to their music, which is bad news for me. The only one continues the practice of piano-ballad-becomes-hard-rocker, though I begin to wonder if Your star is finally a proper ballad? There's a certain slow-dancey beat behind it but then... that damn hard guitar cuts in again and off we go. Still, it's probably the closest thing to a ballad on the album. Nice choir participation too, though this album isn't doing itself any favours by constantly turning possible ballads into hard rockers. Sigh. Thankfully, we finally get the longed-for ballad in the closer, Good enough, and it's been worth waiting for. But sadly I can't say the same about this album. More or less echoing my major point from last August's review of “Fallen”: it just all sounds very much the same to me, and not as if Evanescence have taken any new leaps or indeed any chances with their second album. Not for me. Overall impression: Extension of “Fallen”, nothing terribly new. My opinion of this band has not changed. That's a bad thing, in case you didn't read last year's review of their debut in my main journal. Intention: Think I'll call it a day as far as Evanescence are concerned. |
Talent rains down
http://s5.postimg.org/r7r7ajgbb/cookierating3.jpg http://www.metal-archives.com/images/1/6/0/0/160032.jpg Artiste: Erik Norlander Nationality: American Album: Stars rain down Year: 2004 Label: Think Tank Genre: Heavy Metal Tracks: Rome is burning Beware the vampires One of the machines Mariner Sky full of stars Lost highway Arrival Neurosaur Heavy Metal Symphony Project Blue Prince Fly Oblivion days Space: 1999 Chronological position: Fourth (solo) album Familiarity: Some guest appearances on the likes of Roswell Six, Daniele Liverani and Lana Lane albums Interesting factoid: He's Lana Lane's husband Initial impression: Self-indulgent, overblown keyboard rock Best track(s): Mariner, Sky full of stars, Lost highway, Neurosaur Worst track(s): Beware the vampires, Project Blue Prince Comments: Erik Norlander is someone I've always experienced through others. Although he could be described as a session musician, perhaps the session musician, he has a solo career of his own, and indeed fronts two bands as well. But I've never listened to one of his albums. I've heard his work on Lana Lane's material, and other places as noted above, but not in a context of just listening to his playing, his songs, his ideas. You might say I've experienced the essence of Norlander, without actually perceiving the man behind the music. This is the fourth of, to date, seven solo albums, and so being more or less in the middle of his solo career is possibly a good place to start. As might be expected with an album from a keyboard player, it's heavily oriented on the side of keys, but Norlander eschews the idea of singing, concentrating instead on his keyboard work, and vocal duties are divided between Kelly Keeling and his own better half, Lane joining Keeling on the first track but more as a backing vocalist than in any sort of duet. To be honest, a lot of this is overblown, indulgent keyboard rock, and though the album is not cited as a live effort, it's a bit annoying to hear applause after each track (so far) which surely must be tacked on? Things get a little better with One of the machines and the ballad Mariner, with Norlander happy to restrict himself to a rather lovely piano melody and the song benefitting from some lush strings arrangements. Standout so far. There's a cheeky intro from Vangelis's Chariots of fire to start off the longest track on the album, the ten-minute Sky full of stars, which believe it or not is an instrumental, and a real tour-de-force for both Norlander and his guitarist. Sublime. I have to admit, I was underwhelmed with this album at the start, but as it's gone on it's thrown off its mantle of self-indulgence and cliche and has revealed itself to be something really wirth taking the time to listen to. The lovely solo performance by Lana Lane on Lost highway is almost worth the price of admission on its own, then there's the space-rock instrumental Neurosaur featuring some beautiful classical piano from Erik as well as thumping synth work and powerhammer guitar. And okay, going to Erik's own website I now see that yes, this is a live album, but not of one concert: it's a collection of live recordings from 2001 to 2003, so forgive the “tacked-on” comment earlier. Mind you, Project Blue Prince lets the whole thing down, being half-full of announcements and samples of conversations, only getting going instrumentally near the end. Terrible. Luckily, Lana's back for Fly, but maddeningly though it starts off as a slow, sultry ballad it then changes into a fretfest rocker, which is a little off-putting, but she stays on vocals for the heavy rock cruncher Oblivion days, and the album ends by putting a smile on the faces of old sci-fi geeks like me with a rendition of the theme to the old TV show “Space: 1999” --- nice one, Erik! Overall impression: Much better than when it started; liked this a lot. Intention: Will now have to listen to his other albums. |
Hey TH, if you haven't, give Dark Moor a listen. I would recommend their Shadowland album, however I think you could find something you like in any of their releases.
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Oh and I finally got to listen to Pg Lost: very impressive. You might enjoy Irish band And So I Watch You From Afar, if you don't know them: quite similar. In fact, they're the first "Bitesize" review here... :thumb: PS That Grooveshark's a bit of all right, isn't it? I assumed being from Ireland I wouldn't get access, but no, it played without any problems. May look into that a bit more. |
Fuel to the fire for those who accuse prog of being overblown
http://s5.postimg.org/r7r7ajgbb/cookierating3.jpg http://www.progarchives.com/progress...1171552009.jpg Artiste: Isildurs Bane Nationality: Swedish Album: MIND Vol 1 Year: 1997 Label: Self-released on their own label Genre: Progressive Rock Tracks: The flight onward, phases 1-5 Ataraxia In a state of comprehension The pilot Unity Opportunistic walk phases 1-2 Holistic medicine A blank page Chronological position: Eighth album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Isildurs Bane's first two albums were in Swedish, but their first album to have an English title was ... instrumental! Er, and so is this... Initial impression: Prog rock with strong classical leanings Best track(s): Ataraxia, Unity, A blank page Worst track(s): Holistic medicine Comments: It's sort of hard to categorise this music, which is I think how the band would prefer it to be seen. There's heavy organ, violin and flute, some sound effects and quite a lot of brass, while fairly sharp guitar makes its presence known too. And this is all in the first track, which is admittedly just over twelve minutes long. Utilising what I believe would be the traditions of the likes of King Crimson and Floyd and marrying these to jazz fusion and some fairly experimental styles, Isildurs Bane have come up with what comes across as a pretty unique sound. Considering that they're from Sweden, there are some quite celtic overtones to the music, as well as African influences, particularly in the marimbas and percussion. As it happens, the title is an acronym: MIND stands for Music Investigating New Dimensions, which is certainly something that you see happening on this album. There are three other MIND albums, discounting one double live one, and I'd be interested to hear them, as each seems as different from the other as it is possible to be, while still linking them as a concept. It's not until MIND Vol 4, however, released in 2003, that there are vocals added to the album, so don't expect any here. But then, with music this deep and imaginative, who needs a singer? After the twelve-minute opener, Ataraxia is carried on slow soft violin and classical guitar, its haunting lyricism faded away all too soon, while the next few tracks are also short, by comparison, the longest hitting just over five and a half minutes. Unity in particular is a beautiful little slow piece on piano and violin. Exquisite. Then, as if to make up for the shortness of the last three tracks, the next two are fifteen minutes each! In some ways though, the longer tracks give me a feeling more of self-indulgence, and with little samples thrown in along with sound effects and voices, it often feels more that Isildurs Bane are putting in things to be seen as clever and innovative and different, but really it comes across as a little contrived. In particular, the voice reading out chess moves at the beginning of Holistic medicine, which the band describe on their website as a “complex collage piece”, reeks to me of the “look-at-us-aren't-we-clever” factor. The voiceover carries well into the third minute, which really extends the idea too far for me. The instrumentation, when it gets going, on that track is nice, especially the guitar, but that annoying voice continues rambling on right to the end, and it's more than irritating now. You've made your point guys: give it a rest, yeah? Overall impression: Arty, proggy in places but overall the sense of self-importance and elitism leave me with negative feelings about this album that I really wish I hadn't got. Intention: I'm really not too sure. |
Must've missed that D: i'll check it out.
And I have heard of them, I like them a lot as well. :) I use Grooveshark regularly now. I connected it with my last.fm so I can scrobble with Grooveshark. |
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The Magnificent are an AOR supergroup led by Michael Eriksen (lead singer for progressive metal band Circus Maximus). They received bucketloads of accolades last year, and I personally thought their self-titled was..well, magnificent! I can link you if you'd like. :D |
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Thanks again! TH :thumb: |
The Boss is back and the title says it all
http://s5.postimg.org/yg7fdkifr/cook...ng4andhalf.jpg http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...pringsteen.jpg Artiste: Bruce Springsteen Nationality: American Album: Magic Year: 2007 Label: Columbia Genre: Rock Tracks: Radio Nowhere You'll be comin' down Livin' in the future Your own worst enemy Gypsy biker Girls in their summer clothes I'll work for your love Magic Last to die Long walk home Devil's arcade Terry's song (hidden track) Chronological position: Fifteenth album Familiarity: Um, just about everything! “Greetings from Asbury Park, NJ”, “The wild, the innocent and the E Street shuffle”, “Born to run”, “Darkness on the edge of town”, “The river”, “Nebraska”, “Born in the USA”, “Tunnel of love”, “Human touch”, “Lucky town”, “The Rising”,”The ghost of Tom Joad”, “Devils and dust”, “Wrecking ball”... Interesting factoid: Bruce's first album with the E Street Band since 2002's “The Rising”. Initial impression: Love love love it! Best track(s): Hard to pick but Gypsy biker, Girls in their summer clothes, Last to die, You'll be comin' down, Long walk home Worst track(s): Non sequitur. Comments: I'm ashamed to admit it as a Springsteen fan, but there's a small gap in his later catalogue that I have yet to fill. As you can read from the “Familiarity” field above, I've heard everything from his debut right up to “The Rising”, and indeed his latest too, but there are two albums I haven't heard even once, and this is one of them. Somehow, I just never got around to it. I suppose that's the problem with the internet, you can find, download and forget, whereas when we used to buy CDs (or LPs) we almost invariably listened to them if not right away, at least within the first week after purchase. The physical presence of a disc or record was hard to ignore or forget about, but a file squirreled away on your hard drive with thousands, perhaps tens of thousands of others? Much easier to overlook. And so I did, with the result that I'm trying to address that lapse now. And as disappointed as I was with the two albums either side of “The Rising”, I'm expecting big things from this. I'm not let down, I have to say. From the off it's power proto-blue-collar rock, the sort of Americana we've not only come to expect from the Boss, but which he helped to create on albums like “Born to run” and “The river”. Laden with the usual political statements and raging against injustice, this album has many messages, but there's room for fun too, like Girls in their summer clothes, which nestles quite comfortably along big heavy topical fare like ”Livin' in the future and Your own worst enemy. One thing I found missing off the two acoustic albums was the familiar sound of Clarence's wonderful sax breaks, God rest his soul, but they're here in all their glory, evoking memories of “Born in the USA” and “Born to run”, while the album itself for me most closely resembles “Lucky town” or “Human touch”. Bruce has always sung about real people and real situations, and peppered that with sometimes veiled or sometimes pointed political commentary. The last to die is one of the latter, referencing the Vietnam war, with a lovely strings backing, while the title track is the only acoustic one on the album, dark and heavy with a brooding sense of menace that wouldn't be out of place on “Nebraska”. Although an upbeat, breezy song at heart, Gypsy biker mourns the death of an Iraq veteran as his coffin comes back to his homeland, while in something the same vein musically, Long walk home reeks of paranioa and fear. It's great to see the E Street Band back together, for the last time, as the following year Danny Federici would leave us, followed by Clarence two years after that. Though the “Big Man” would play on Springsteen's next outing, 2009's “Working on a dream”, Federici would be dead by then, so this really marks the last time the guys all played together on a Springsteen album. Poignant and bittersweet really. There's also some beautiful violin from Soozie Tyrell, and even Nils Lofgren is back to play guitar, for the first time since “The Rising”. Hey, what did you expect? It's Bruce, it's close to perfect and it's about damn time I listened to it! Overall impression: Why did I wait so long? Intention: Need to listen to “Working on a dream” now, then maybe give “Devils and dust” another chance. Maybe... |
Wetton is not half as good as he thinks he is these days
http://s5.postimg.org/r7r7ajgbb/cookierating3.jpg http://www.heavyharmonies.com/cdcove...WETTON_RIC.JPG Artiste: John Wetton Nationality: British (English) Album: Raised in captivity Year: 2011 Label: Frontiers Genre: AOR Tracks: Lost for words Raised in captivity Goodbye Elsinore The last night of my life We stay together The human condition Steffi's ring The Devil and the opera house New star rising Don't misunderstand me Mighty rivers Chronological position: Ninth solo album Familiarity: Apart from his work with Asia, just “King's Road” and also his collaboration with Geoff Downes on the “Icon” series of albums. That's all! :) Interesting factoid: For this album Wetton assembled a whos-who guest list of people he had previously played with in his other bands: Robert Fripp from his King Crimson days, Eddie Jobson who worked with him in UK, Mick Box from his time with Uriah Heep and of course Geoff Downes. He has also worked on ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett's solo albums. Initial impression: Half-decent start, bit so-so, doesn't fire me up Best track(s): We stay together, Goodbye Elsinore, The Devil and the opera house, Don't misunderstand me, Mighty rivers Worst track(s): New star rising, The human condition Comments: Well, I tore apart his work with Asia on their latest album, “XXX” recently, so I have to wonder if Wetton really is that bad these days, or if he perhaps pumped all his heart and soul and creativity into this album? It's certainly personal to him; did it matter to him more than the Asia outing? It was recorded before that album, but even so, we should get a clue as to how his head was from the quality --- or lack of --- in the singing and the songwriting. He also plays acoustic and bass guitar on the album, and keyboards, so he's not just singing. He also co-writes all but one of the songs on the album, and there are some star names pulled in too to help him out. We're talking the likes of Yes's Tony Kaye, ex-Genesis man Steve Hackett, Uriah Heep's Mick Box, Anneke van Giersbergen from Within Temptation and of course his old mucker Geoff Downes, though each seems to appear on only one track each. Session man Billy Sherwood, whose biggest claim to fame is probably that he “nearly became the new Jon Anderson” before Yes merged with ABWH for the “Union” album, plays just about every other instrument on this album, so in many ways it's back to the Wetton/Downes dynamic of the Icon days. The album itself gets off to a rocking start and Wetton's voice is instantly recognisable, though the start-stop nature of the guitar on the opener, “Lost for words” doesn't make him any friends here. Good chorus though, very solid. The title track opens on a very dreamy keyboard intro, then bashes you over the head as it punches into life. Another stylish rocker with a guest appearance from Wetton's ex-King Crimson bandmate, the illustrious Robert Fripp, then a curiously Yes-styled song in “The last night of my life”, very Trevor Horn era (circa “90125”/”Big generator”) with an odd ending that seems to meander a bit, possibly thanks to jazz fusion giant Alex Machacek guesting on it, but things get back under control thanks to the expertise of Steve Hackett on “Goodbye Elsinore”, with quite a prog rock feel about it, anthemic really, with balladic elements too. Things stay this way then for “We stay together”, a big meaty power ballad very similar to Wetton's best work with Asia. There's funk/blues in “The human condition”, a curiously medieval sounding piece with flute and sitar in “Steffi's ring” (I assume he's not talking about Ms. Graf!) which sways along nicely, almost like something out of Jethro Tull's playbook, then “The Devil and the opera house” has a lot of Asia in it again, another semi-ballad and the longest track on the album, nearly seven minutes. It's good yes, but a little dreary and definitely too long, but it has a nice semi-celtic feel to it, with electric violin and maybe accordion in there too. New star rising is pretty formulaic and has little to say for itself, though there's a lovely if somewhat Asia-sounding ballad in Don't misunderstand me: meh, it's passable. Rather ironically, the standout comes at the end, in the shape of the only song not written by Wetton and the only one on which he duets, though in fact duet is too kind a term, as the song is quickly taken over in a star turn by Within Temptation's Anneke van Giersbergen. Mighty rivers is her song: she writes it, she puts her stamp all over its production with a big, dramatic overture and what sounds like a full choir, and her own powerful voice easily pushing the star of the show to one side, and to be fair, that's not something that happens to John Wetton very easily. But quite quickly you start to forget this is a song on his album, and can be forgiven for thinking you're listening to a WT track on which he's guesting. Yeah, she's that much all over it. And the song is the better for it, which is probably a sad indictment really. Overall impression: Standard Wetton fare, good but not great. Some decent tracks, not too many bad ones. Intention: After “XXX” I'm going to find it hard to trust Wetton again. This album (though released before the Asia one) doesn't make it any the easier. |
Some great reviews on here, now that I've had the time to look at them properly. Really liked the review of the Fergie Frederiksen album and really surprised that it got a five star review from you. Didn't realize that John Wetton had put out solo material whilst being with Asia again. I saw the review was average, but I'd imagine anything recent by Wetton would be old hat anyway.
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You didn't like the Fergie album? It totally blew me away, especially as I wasn't expecting much. Yeah, Wetton's (woops, nearly said Wettin!) :D solo stuff doesn't seem to be that great. Wonder if John Payne did anything on his own?
There was an interesting article about JW in one of the issues of "CRpP" (such an unfortunate acronym!) which I was quite surprised to see: would really never have considered him, or Asia (or Icon) prog really... |
Quote:
Well John Wetton was a prog icon quite simply from his time with King Crimson, in probably their best ever line-up and kept his prog connections going with Uriah Heep and UK. By the time he was in Asia though, just he and the others had prog credentials and that was about as far as prog they went along with the album covers. They were basically prog musicians doing AOR, AOR was in and prog was out at that time. Asia were a band completely motivated by money, so AOR was the way they went. I agree now, that Asia became far more interesting when John Payne was on vocals. |
Right, of course, I see. Even so though, that shouldn't really be the case should it? I mean, if three black metal guys form an AOR band (can't you just imagine it? :D) should this new band be regarded black metal? Seems a little silly. I agree Wetton has the prog connections, but I think he left those mostly well behind when he hooked up with Howe, Downes and Palmer.
You should deffo check out that Fergie album: I thought it was amazing, and having low expectations which were so kicked in the face by the album I really felt it deserved the seldom-awarded five Cookies. Ant also introduced me to Work of Art, who may be getting a similar rating, review due soon. |
If you have one (a jaded heart, that is) revitalise it with these guys!
http://s5.postimg.org/al9n1gndj/cook...ng3andhalf.jpg http://www.heavyharmonies.com/cdcove...EDHEART_PI.JPG Artiste: Jaded Heart Nationality: German Album: Perfect insanity Year: 2009 Label: Frontiers Genre: Power metal Tracks: Intro Love is a killer Fly away Bloodstained lies Tonight Freedom call One life one death Rising Hell just arrived Psycho kiss Come to the feast Exterminated Chronological position: Tenth album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Initial impression: Very powerful, I would have said more power metal initially than AOR. Best track(s): Fly away, Tonight, One life one death, Hell just arrived, Come to the feast Worst track(s): None really. Comments: Ok, well after the frankly ridiculous intro which sounds like someone's cassette got caught in their player (yeah, old reference, I know) --- but then, it's probably meant to sound like that; jarring though --- the album kicks off in high gear with Love is a killer, and the guitars courtesy of Pete Ostros certainly are that! Powerful, upfront, snarling while vocalist Johan Fahlberg does his best to scream above them, and has a good go, but Ostros's guitar is just not giving up centre stage! Good fills on the keys too from Henning Wanner, but this is definitely a guitar-centric track, if not album, and although I originally had Jaded Heart pegged as an AOR band, I think it's fair to say they're really more power metal, at least here. The guitars scale back a little for “Fly away” to allow Fahlberg to come more to the fore and yes, he is a decent singer. Jaded Heart purists seem determined to compare him to the original singer, Michael Bormann, but I'm not at all familiar with this band so can't comment. For me, he's a good singer, maybe not a great one but certainly acceptable. Jaded Heart certainly won't leave you jaded, but to use an Irish expression, they may leave you “jacked” (ie tired, exhausted)! They slow it down slightly with Tonight, a big heavy cruncher on which Fahlberg really gets to exercise his powerful pipes, then they're back rocking and fret-burning again, though they pull right back on the throttle for, of all things, a ballad, in One life one death, quite nice little acoustic number with a sort of feel of Poison about it. Good vocal harmonies, and Fahlberg gets a chance to show us how sensitive his voice can be. Of course, Ostros can't resist slipping in a few hard riffs, but the rest of the song tries to ignore this and carries on. Guitarists, I ask you! In fairness, though, it's nice to see our man Pete can be very expressive on the guitar too, as he does with a semi-classical melody in the closing sections of Hell just arrived; he is, however, back to shredding in Psycho kiss, and joined by fellow shredder, UFO's Vinnie Moore for the closer. Powerful stuff: melodic but with a real kick. Overall impression: Power metal meets AOR and gives it a good kicking! Intention: I'm interested enough to check some of their other albums. |
As the evenings begin to get longer and the kids grumpily trudge back to school (having suffered “Back to school!” ads since early August!), and people begin to toy with the idea of the “c” word --- no, I mean Christmas, you dirty --- now look what you've made me do! It's out there: everyone will be talking about a countdown any day now. You just watch the TV ads! Right, anyway, where was I? Oh yeah: it becomes apparent that with only four months left in the year, and new albums mounting up on my hard drive, with more being released every week, the chances of my getting through all or even most of the ones I want to review are becoming slimmer than a stick insect. Problem.
Then I thought about “Bitesize”. Sure why not? I can just as easily review new albums there, the same way I've been reviewing older ones, and hopefully get through more than if I just doled out the one a week or less through my normal journal. ... or maybe just a void (geddit? A-void? Avoid?) Oh I give up! http://s5.postimg.org/b88jqzk9f/cookierating2.jpg http://www.metal-archives.com/images...29448.jpg?1140 Artiste: Mercurial Void Nationality: American Album: Mercurial Void Year: 2012 Label: Self-released Genre: Progressive Metal Tracks: One way Slumber collections Volume I Disembodied Hollow as my heart What's coming to you (Ego meets reality) Fever dream Anxiety addict Deflated and isolated Chronological position: Debut album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Initial impression: Well it started off really heavy then, um, changed, so not sure. Best track(s): Hollow as my heart Worst track(s): Kind of everything else really... Comments: As I say above, this album seems to change from style to style. A big heavy, almost doom metal opening swiftly changes to a melodic, almost progressive style, and the opening track's almost halfway through before there's any vocals at all. Kind of almost the best of both worlds really: heavy and fast coupled with real instrumental expertise. The song titles certainly denote more a doom/death influence, although the second track is pure progressive rock. Whoa! My head is spinning. This was actually one of the very first (possibly the very first) 2012 albums I got, and yet it's taken me this long to get around to reviewing it. Starting to regret that delay now. There are only eight tracks on the album, and I must say at times the production lets it down, sounding very demo-tape-ish, but these guys certainly know how to play, and the singer ain't bad either. As it happens, Jesse Blankenship plays guitar and keyboards as well as doing the vocals. I must admit, I haven't yet heard too much of the keys; this seems to be pretty guitar-oriented so far. Some of it's very intricate, indeed, and a very prominent bass presence too. The only real problem I see --- and it's a big one --- is that nothing, so far anyway, seems to stand out. The tracks come and go. They're mostly good, but nothing that make me sit up and take notice. It started well, but I'm beginning to wonder has this album got what it takes to go the distance? Do I? The amateurish production values raise their head again in Disembodied, which is exactly how Blankenship's vocal sounds, isolated and tinny. Of course, they are self-releasing this album so maybe I shouldn't be so harsh on them, but really, if you can't get decent production right, why not wait until you can get a professional to sort it for you? Get what ya pays for. That's not to say the vocals are bad, or weak, cause they're not. But they just seem a little, I don't know, removed from the rest of the band, who come across as very together. Maybe Jesse should concentrate on his singing and leave the instrumentation to others, farm it out? Of course, if that's him on the guitar solo in this track, then maybe it's a case of not playing while at the same time singing, as he seems to be a very decent guitarist. There's no shame in it: the great BB King himself has to stop playing guitar to sing. Nothing wrong with that; it's hard to do both at once I'm sure, and I have nothing but respect for those who manage it, and do it well, but sometimes it's asking too much of yourself, and that then translates across to the listener. Okay, I can hear his keyboards now on Hollow as my heart, and they're certainly very nice; ethereal, progressive, sumptuous. Nice bit of piano too, and the vocals are certainly up to par here. This would have to be the closest Mercurial Void have come to a ballad, and it's a nice change, even if the harder guitars cut in from time to time. Probably the standout at this point. Certainly grabbed my attention. Ah yeah, but then a little more than halfway through it turns left, and becomes a hard-edged rocker, which I really don't feel sits well with what has gone previously. Doesn't ruin the song, but doesn't really help it either. I think Mercurial Void's problem is that they're not sure at this point what they want to be: a speed metal band? A power metal band? A progressive metal band? It's like those soccer friendlies, where the manager tries out various formations and gives hitherto untested players a run out. That's what it seems like the band are doing here; trying out ideas to see what works. But they don't yet seem to have found the answer, and as the album goes on it jumps from style to style, with What's coming to you (Ego meets reality) more in the vein of Iron Maiden, with elements of Nirvana thrown in, while Fever dream seems to rely on a Sabbath style of playing. Almost rips them off, if I'm honest. And Maiden. Totally. Guys, the way to write a long song is NOT to stitch together a Sabbath melody and a Maiden one and pretend it's your own original composition. Oh crap! It's eleven minutes long! That's it: I'm outta here. Don't worry: I listened to the rest of the album, but more or less passively. I didn't hear anything though that changed my opinion, more reinforced it really. Possibly released too soon, guys: come back to me when you decide what sort of band you want to be, and have your own sound, not just copying the greats. Overall impression: Confusing. Sometimes good, but pretty amateurish and hard to get into. Not original enough. Intention: IF they release another album I MAY give it a listen, but I'd be in no hurry... (It may speak volumes that I could only find one video for these guys on the web, and that it's recorded by a guy whose camera cut out halfway through the song. Kind of a blessing really. I could have created my own, but I've been so disappointed by this album that I just could not be bothered. This gives you an idea of what they're about, anyway) |
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