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Trollheart 01-16-2017 09:39 AM

https://cagometro.files.wordpress.co...pg?w=600&h=200
Bigger and better for 2017. Well, bigger anyway...

Some changes have occurred. When I started this journal it was as a sort of foil to my main journal, where reviews could be condensed and not run on for ten pages like my usual style. In the interim I've learned to be a little less wordy (no, I have) and so the idea of shorter reviews kind of doesn't make too much sense any more. Also, I now have my “Listening List” thread for that. So here I'm going to change the format.

There will be no reviews. Definitely not. No way. Well, maybe. Occasionally. Sometimes. Depends on how I'm feeling. But the point is there won't always be one. The idea is that I will listen to the album, rate the tracks using my patent pending “Love or Hate?” style, and will write most likely a few short lines, maybe a paragraph in some instances about the album. Just basic stuff. In some cases, this may expand out a little but it most it will just be a line or two. Maybe. Also, some categories are going or being merged. Things like “favourite track(s)” will now be redundant, as you'll be able to see from the track listing what I thought of each one. I'm getting rid of “Initial impression” too, and the ratings will be moved to the end instead of being the first thing you see. Also, although this was originally conceived to only deal with albums I had not heard before, I will now also feature some I know, on occasion, but may either not have heard for a while or may only have listened to once or twice. Actually, you know what? I'm removing all restrictions on albums reviewed here: if I've heard it before, reviewed it before even, if it's part of The Great Discography Project or has appeared in another journal or thread, or is due to, don't care. I may look at it here too. Anything is up for grabs. Taking the Hum Factor out too, as it's really unimportant to how good or bad an album is.

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...tingcrowns.jpg
Artiste: Casting Crowns
Nationality: American
Album: Come to the Well
Year: 2011
Label: Beach Street/Reunion
Genre: Christian Rock
Tracks:
Courageous
City on the hill
Jesus, friend of sinners
Already there
The well
Spirit wind
Just another birthday

Wedding day
Angel
My own worst enemy
Face down
So far to find you

Chronological position: Fifth album
Familiarity: Zero
Comments: You know, I could go on smugly about how this is sub-country mixed with pop/rock and a large slice of Christian worship, but who the fuck cares? If you can put aside the overtly religious messages in the songs (which you should have expected anyway if you had done your research before beginning to listen to this) then you can enjoy this on its own merits. In places, nowhere near as preachy as I had expected, and the songwriting is good. Kind of reminds me of if Bon Jovi did Christian Rock. If that makes your blood run cold, move along; I like most of this. It is a little embarrassing when they try to “rock out” on “My own worst enemy” though.
Intention: I reckon I'll check out more of their material. Who cares if they're part of the God Squad? I listen to (some) Black Metal but don't venerate Satan. This is decent music.
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Ol’ Qwerty Bastard 01-16-2017 09:43 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart (Post 1795933)
Kind of reminds me of if Bon Jovi did Christian Rock.

*projectile vomits onto computer monitor*

Trollheart 01-16-2017 09:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Qwertyy (Post 1795936)
*projectile vomits onto computer monitor*

Quiet, you.
On we go...


http://www.metal-archives.com/images...14067.jpg?3316
Artiste: Val Tvoar
Nationality: Estonian
Album: In Light You Believe ... But In Darkness You Dwell
Year: 2016
Label: Independent
Genre: Stoner Metal/Stoner Rock
Tracks:
Metal of instru
The wizard named Goodbad
There's no tomorrow
Mind reader, the shadow
The last dance
I am you
Three shovels of dirt

The night when everything went wrong and you shot me down
Dark side of mine
REbornCYCLE

Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero
Comments: Of all the Estonian artists I've ever heard, this guy is the first. With a title like that I was expecting Doom or even Depressive Black Metal, but no. I'd have to say, we're five tracks in now and I haven't really heard anything that blows me away. It's all very competent rock, and tracks like “The wizard called Goodbad” (which basically serves as the title track) and “The last dance” stand out, as well as “The night when everything went wrong and you shot me down”, one of the heaviest on the album. But most of it is, well, all I could call it is competent really. That's not fair: it's probably great, and the guy will probably be a big star this time next year, but I just don't see much to get overly excited about personally.
Intention: I'm not that sure I'd be interested in a follow-up, but I might listen to it.
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Trollheart 01-16-2017 10:15 AM

https://img.discogs.com/Iz3AOITog2MC...-4602.jpeg.jpg
Artiste: Captains of Sea and War
Nationality: Spanish
Album: Captains of Sea and War
Year: 2014
Label: None
Genre: Post rock/Prog rock
Tracks:
Call again
Kurtz

Aboard
You need to restart
Far
Zittersheim
Five times the sea
East

Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero
Comments: It's an odd one this. Very good post-rock but there is some singing, which I find a little odd: I always thought post-rock was exclusively instrumental? We don't hear it again until the fifth track, “Far”, by which time it really takes me by surprise, Some good stuff in here though. It's good but as ever it's hard to pin down reasons why it's good, or if it really is that great. Definitely, the addition of occasional vocals is different, and makes the band at least stand out from the hundreds of other post-rock outfits out there.
Intention: I'm not really sure. Might check out their other release, but I don't feel particularly compelled to.
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Trollheart 01-21-2017 11:55 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ve_in_hope.jpg
Artiste: Low
Nationality: American
Album: I Could Live In Hope
Year: 1994
Label: Vernon Yard
Genre: Slowcore
Tracks:
Words
Fear

Cut
Slide
Lazy
Lullaby
Sea
Down
Drag

Rope
Sunshine
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Ones and Sixes
Comments: Don't think I've seen an album before that had one-word titles for every song. Oddly, having downloaded all of Low's discography after listening to and enjoying Ones and Sixes, I chose this one at random, and it turns out to be their debut. Apparently this was one of the albums that helped create the genre of slowcore. Well I can see why it's called that. Very laidback, very relaxed, very downbeat, though at times a little dreary, like on “Rope” and “Cut” but at other times quite breathtakingly beautiful, as on “lullaby” and “Slide”. The cover of “You are my only sunshine” (shortened just to “sunshine”) as the closer is clever and unexpected.
Intention: I'll keep exploring this band. Reckon I'll like them.

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Trollheart 01-21-2017 12:02 PM

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Artiste: If These Trees Could Talk
Nationality: American
Album: Above the Earth, Below the Sky
Year: 2009
Label: Metal Blade
Genre: Post rock
Tracks:
From roots to needles
What's in the ground belongs to you
Terra incognita
Above the Earth
Below the sky
The sun is in the north
Thirty-six silos
The flames of Herostratus
Rebuilding the temple of Artemis
Deus ex machina

Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero
Comments: What can you say about post-rock? I understand how Ki finds it hard to express why certain post-rock albums appeal to him. This is good, strong guitar-driven post rock, but then, isn't most of this genre? Is there anything different about it? Does it stand out from its fellows? No. Does that make it any less good an album? No, but it makes it hard to pin down exactly why I like this. But I do.
Intention: Meh, post-rock is as post-rock does, ya know? I'd probably not avoid their next album, but I wouldn't go actively seeking it out either.

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Trollheart 01-21-2017 12:05 PM

http://www.metal-archives.com/images...25211.jpg?3202
Artiste: Pallbearer
Nationality: American
Album: Sorrow and Extinction
Year: 2012
Label: Profound Lore
Genre: Doom Metal
Tracks:
Foreigner
Devoid of redemption
The legend
An offering of grief

Given to the grave
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Foundations of Burden
Comments: Not really a lot to say. Another brilliant doom metal album, hard to pick out any favourites because they're all good, though the closer is something pretty special.
Intention: They have a new one out this year. Need to check that out.

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Frownland 01-21-2017 12:09 PM

I've tried a few times to get into Pallbearer. They're similar to Baroness for me where they're not exactly bad, but they're just uninteresting and fail to make an impression on me. I might try that album and see if that still fits.

Trollheart 01-28-2017 09:34 AM

https://img.discogs.com/m8nOdVqU8ehr...-7043.jpeg.jpg
Artiste: Vaults
Nationality: British
Album: Caught in Still Life
Year: 2016
Label: EMI
Genre: Electronica
Tracks:
Cry no more
Premonitions
Midnight river
One last night

Poison
Paradise
Bodies

Hurricane
Overcome
Lifespan
Orphan
Bloodflow
One day I'll fly away
Chronological position:Debut album
Rank: n/a
Comments: This is a pretty good synthpop/electronica debut, sort of reminds me of a slower, more downtempo version of Chvrches. Maybe. My attention was piqued with “Poison”; up to that it had been okay, but after that the album just got more and more solid and interesting. The cello accompaniment to “Orphan” is haunting and beautiful. Do a good version of Randy Crawford's “One day I'll fly away”, too. Great orchestral arrangement. Superb.
Intention: Watch them: they will be big in 2017. Seems their videos already gained twenty million views before the album was released! Sounds hard to believe. Or not.

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Trollheart 02-17-2017 02:22 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...lbum_Cover.jpg
Artiste: Annie Lennox
Nationality: British
Album: Bare
Year: 2003
Label: RCA
Genre: Pop
Tracks:
A thousand beautiful things
Pavement cracks
The hurting time
Honestly
Wonderful
Bitter pill
Loneliness
The saddest song I've got
Erased
Twisted
Oh God (Prayer)

Chronological position: Third album
Rank: Novice
Comments: “Pavement cracks” starts like a ballad but quickly acquires teeth and a beat, and surely that's Stevie Wonder on the smoking sultry harmonica on “The hurting time”? She certainly channels Karen Carpenter on “Wonderful”. The exuberant soul swagger of “Bitter pill” contrasts sharply with the fragile vulnerability of “The saddest song I've got”.
Intention: I think I'd like to hear more of this.

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Trollheart 02-17-2017 02:28 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...thPurposes.jpg
Artiste: Black Sabbath
Nationality: British
Album: Cross Purposes
Year: 1994
Label: IRS
Genre: Heavy Metal
Tracks:
I witness
Cross of thorns
Psychophobia
Virtual death
Immaculate deception

Dying for love
Back to Eden
The hand that rocks the cradle
Cardinal sin
Evil eye

Chronological position: Seventeenth album
Rank: Adept
Comments: Oh I like the little cheeky riff from “Black Sabbath” tossed in at the end of the opener! But I'm amazed that's not Dio on vocals; sounds just like him on “Cross of thorns”. Next one is terrible, almost more punk than metal, but then we're back on track with “Virtual death” and that big crushing guitar of Iommi. Vocal harmonies are very good too. “Immaculate deception” sounds like a song title more suited to Slayer, but in fact it turns out to be a little too proggy for its own good. Having said that, Wiki shows the genre here as Power Metal, and I'm finding it hard to argue with that. It's kind of not the Sabbath I know and love, though it is in some places. Odd.

I listened to this in the hope of filling in some of the gaps in my Sabbath knowledge, and while it's not a bad album there's something definitely missing. Maybe it's that Ronnie and Vinnie had left, and Geezer was making plans too, or maybe it's that it's the first I've heard with Tony Martin on vocals (who does a really good job by the way) but it feels like the fun isn't there anymore. Sense of a wake rather than a band? As Monty Burns once said, where's the love? I don't feel it.
Intention: Unlikely to be returning to this any time soon.

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Trollheart 02-17-2017 02:35 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped..._Elemental.jpg
Artiste: Tears For Fears
Nationality: British
Album: Elemental
Year: 1993
Label: RCA
Genre: Pop
Tracks:
Elemental
Cold
Break it down again
Mr. Pessimist
Dog's a best friend's dog
Fish out of water

Gas giants
Brian Wilson said
Goodnight song

Chronological position: Fourth album
Rank: Apprentice
Comments: Well it's good; I hear nothing I hate but nothing that piques my interest that much either. Instrumental “Gas giants” is good – oh wait, it's not an instrumental: that's what I get for not listening to it all the way through before commenting. “Fish out of water” is good too. The album ends well with two strong tracks in “Brian Wilson said” followed by “Goodnight song”.
Intention: I'll probably finish off their discography at some point, though I wouldn't be in any mad rush to do so.

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The Batlord 02-17-2017 03:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart (Post 1806609)
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...thPurposes.jpg
Artiste: Black Sabbath
Nationality: British
Album: Cross Purposes
Year: 1994
Label: IRS
Genre: Heavy Metal
Tracks:
I witness
Cross of thorns
Psychophobia
Virtual death
Immaculate deception

Dying for love
Back to Eden
The hand that rocks the cradle
Cardinal sin
Evil eye

Chronological position: Seventeenth album
Rank: Adept
Comments: Oh I like the little cheeky riff from “Black Sabbath” tossed in at the end of the opener! But I'm amazed that's not Dio on vocals; sounds just like him on “Cross of thorns”. Next one is terrible, almost more punk than metal, but then we're back on track with “Virtual death” and that big crushing guitar of Iommi. Vocal harmonies are very good too. “Immaculate deception” sounds like a song title more suited to Slayer, but in fact it turns out to be a little too proggy for its own good. Having said that, Wiki shows the genre here as Power Metal, and I'm finding it hard to argue with that. It's kind of not the Sabbath I know and love, though it is in some places. Odd.

I listened to this in the hope of filling in some of the gaps in my Sabbath knowledge, and while it's not a bad album there's something definitely missing. Maybe it's that Ronnie and Vinnie had left, and Geezer was making plans too, or maybe it's that it's the first I've heard with Tony Martin on vocals (who does a really good job by the way) but it feels like the fun isn't there anymore. Sense of a wake rather than a band? As Monty Burns once said, where's the love? I don't feel it.
Intention: Unlikely to be returning to this any time soon.

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Yeah Tony Martin is definitely a Dio soundalike. You should check out The Headless Cross. It's probably their best with him. I'm not a huge fan of Martin-era Sabbath but that album is definitely notable.

Trollheart 02-17-2017 07:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord (Post 1806645)
Yeah Tony Martin is definitely a Dio soundalike. You should check out The Headless Cross. It's probably their best with him. I'm not a huge fan of Martin-era Sabbath but that album is definitely notable.

I'll put it on the list. The long, long list...

Trollheart 03-09-2017 05:12 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...mastranger.jpg
Artiste: Soul Asylum
Nationality: American
Album: Candy From a Stranger
Year: 1998
Label: Columbia
Genre: Alt-Rock
Tracks:
Creatures of habit
I will still be laughing
Close
See you later
No time for waiting
Blood into wine
Lies of hate
Draggin' the lake
New York blackout

The game
Cradle chain
Chronological position: Eighth album
Rank: Novice
Comments: Not a lot to say. Very solid album, not a lot that makes me really look up and stop and write something effusive, but in no way a waste of my time.
Intention: I'll probably check out more of their stuff at some point.

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Trollheart 03-09-2017 05:19 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...a4/Saviour.jpg
Artiste: Antimatter
Nationality: British
Album: Saviour
Year: 2001
Label: Prophecy
Genre: Rock
Tracks:
Saviour
Holocaust
Over your shoulder
Psalms

God is coming
Angelic

Flowers
The last laugh
Going nowhere

Chronological position: Debut album
Rank: Master Adept
Comments: I don't believe either Mick Moss or Duncan Patterson are religious, but this being their debut album there's a lot of references to religion, especially Christianity. Other than the title, there's “Psalms”, “God is coming”, “Angelic”... As it goes, “God is coming” is a great piece of I don't know what to call it: ambient industrial? A very dark little instrumental anyway. As they would do throughout their career, Antimatter employ the services of guest female vocalists here, splitting duties between Hayley Windsor and Michelle Richfield, (both on “Angelic”) which leaves little chance to experience the vocals of Mick, which are considerable, as I found on the other albums.

“Flowers” is typical of the kind of stark, morose beauty you get with Antimatter, with not a little Wall-era Floyd thrown into the mix, while closer “Going nowhere” is as haunting as I've ever heard this band, which is saying something. I do have to say though, this album doesn't hit me right between my two hearts as the likes of Planetary Confinement or The Judas Table did, but it's a solid effort nonetheless. Given it was theri debut I guess I can allow for that.
Intention: I'm a real fan of Antimatter so I just need to hear one or two more albums of theirs and I'll have heard them all. Then it's just the long wait for whenever they release a new one.

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Trollheart 03-09-2017 05:22 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...recday-300.jpg
Artiste: Evergrey
Nationality: Swedish
Album: Recreation Day
Year: 2003
Label: Inside Out Music
Genre: Progressive Metal
Tracks:
The Great Deceiver
End of your days
As I lie here bleeding
Recreation Day
Visions

I'm sorry
Blinded
Fragments

Madness caught another victim
Your darkest hour
Unforgivable
Trilogy of the damned

Chronological position:Fourth album
Rank: Novice
Comments: It's a decent album as it turns out, but kind of doesn't really catch my attention until “I'm sorry”, a cover of the song by Swedish singer Dilba, a really nice ballad. After that it sort of catches fire and it's solid to the end. The bonus track at the end is killer.
Intention: I'll probably give them another go.

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Trollheart 03-13-2017 11:37 AM

https://img.discogs.com/WP08lNfD9X-P...47616.jpeg.jpg
Artiste: Gazpacho
Nationality: Norwegian
Album: Firebird
Year: 2005
Label: Racket Records
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
Vulture
Symbols
Swallow
Orion I
Orion II
Prisoner
Jezebel
Black widow
Firebird
Do you know what you are saying?
Once in a lifetime
Chronological position: Third album
Rank: Appremtice
Comments: One of the albums made before Gazpacho signed to a major label, this has the often dour tone of their records, though it is more uptempo than say Missa Atropos. It's the old problem though: I can never remember any of these songs. I'm pretty sure I liked the album – wasn't anything on it I didn't like, anyway – but I would be hard-pressed to point to one specific track and say what I liked about it, and later on I won't even remember the album. I could play it again right now and it would all sound new. It's almost like nothing is going in, and it's not me, because I've reviewed god knows how many albums now here, and though some do occasionally pass me by, there is always that one track that stands out. But here: nothing. Weird, as I do like these guys, but I could not hum or sing or even remember one single track from any of the, now four, albums of theirs I have listened to. This has led to me being unable to assign the album a rating or rate any of the tracks. Yeah: a few days after I had written this review I came across one of the tracks in a shuffled playlist; I hit NEXT. That's not good, is it?
Intention: I'll keep plugging away, trying to get into their music. It ain't easy though.

Trollheart 03-13-2017 11:42 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...d_a_prayer.jpg
Artiste: Gerry Rafferty
Nationality: British
Album: On a Wing and a Prayer
Year: 1992
Label: Epic
Genre: Pop
Tracks:
Time's caught up on you
I see red
It's easy to talk
I could be wrong

Don't speak of my heart
Get out of my life woman
Don't give up on me
Hang on

Love and affection
Does he know what he's taken on

The light of love
Life goes on

Chronological position: Seventh album
Rank: High Priest
Comments: It's quite amazing to watch the progression of a breakup through the track listing, as this album came about while Raffery was in the throes of divorce from his wife of twenty years. Tracks like the opener, “Time's caught up on you”, which sounds reflective, move on to “I see red”, which is self-explanatory, though it is something of a ballad with some really nice brass, then the somewhat accusatory “It's easy to talk” and on to bitter songs like “Don't speak of my heart” (although again a ballad, and a beautiful one into the bargain) and the angry “Get out of my life woman.” This is immediately followed by what sounds like second thoughts or fears in “Don't give up on me” with a great latin beat and some fine mandolin and “Hang on”, a snide dig at the ex-wife and her new lover in “Does he know what he's taken on” and ending on the philosophical acceptance of “Life goes on.” Beautiful orchestration in “The light of love”. Superb album.
Intention: There are still some of his I need to listen to.

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Trollheart 04-07-2017 11:47 AM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...d_the_myth.jpg
Artiste: House of Lords
Nationality: American
Album: The Power and the Myth
Year: 2004
Label: Frontiers
Genre: Prog rock
Tracks:
Today
All is gone
Am I the only one
Living in silence
The power and the myth
The Rapture
The man who I am
Bitter sweet euphoria

Mind trip
Child of rage
Havana
Chronological position: Fourth album
Rank: Novice
Comments: I tried to get into this album a long while back, but it didn't impress me. Let's give it another go. Yeah, not as bad as I remember but really I have a hard time remembering any of these tracks and very little stands out. The ending on “Mind trip” is nice and bluesy, and I like “Am I the only one”. The opener's good too, but nothing that's really making me sit up and take much notice. Okay, “Child of rage”, the closer, is amazing. But it's too little, too late. Don't see myself coming back to this for a third try.
Intention: I really enjoyed their latest, so who knows? Maybe this is just a bad example of the band.

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Trollheart 04-07-2017 12:05 PM

https://img.discogs.com/CZZZOYICVVh9...-4598.jpeg.jpg
Artiste: David Roberts
Nationality: ?
Album: Better Late Than Never
Year: 2011
Label: Avenue of Allies Music
Genre: AOR
Tracks:
Best thing I never had
Better late than never
Someone else's song
Before I go
Stay with me tonight
Be gentle with my heart

Eighth wonder
This is how I say goodbye
If I woulda been there
What I've been missing
Chronological position: Second album
Rank: Noob
Comments: Try as I might, I have not been able to find a scrap of information on this guy. Even the nationality tag on Discogs says “Europe”. Thanks a lot! So I've no idea who he is, if he was with some big AOR band, or if he's even still alive. No thanks to Wiki or even Google, who keep sending me to the wrong pages. Anyway, this is his second album and I'm in the mood for some AOR I've not heard before. Fergie Frederiksen was a real find a few years back, so maybe we'll hit gold again. Or regret ever hearing the name David Roberts. Meh, nothing really grabbing me so far. “Stay with me tonight”, though a nice ballad, borrows way too much of its melody from Steinman's big hit for Air Supply, “Making love out of nothing at all” to impress me on its own merits. “Be gentle with my heart” reminds me of another song (Richard Marx's “Quit playing games with my heart” I think) and “Eighth wonder” is just terrible. I'm hearing a hodge-pog of third-rate AOR, disco and some soft rock/pop; almost a pastiche of everything that is bad in the genre. This guy ain't no Fergie! Oh, and a trite Country ballad to end. Sigh.
Intention: Never again

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Trollheart 04-07-2017 01:03 PM

https://img.discogs.com/Fo5cIN47byDk...-8120.jpeg.jpg
Artiste: Pretty Maids
Nationality: Danish
Album: Pandemonium
Year: 2010
Label: Frontiers
Genre: Hard Rock
Tracks:
Pandemonium
INVU
Little drops of Heaven
One world one truth
Final day of innocence
Cielo Drive
It comes at night
Old enough to know
Beautiful madness
Breathless

Chronological position: Twelfth album
Rank: Noob
Comments: I remember reading about these guys in Kerrang! And thinking what an odd name they chose for their band. If they were all women I would understand, but no, not a pair of tits between them. Nevertheless, to date they've released fifteen albums, so they must be doing something right! Woo-hoo! Four tracks in and I already love this! And it just gets better. Not even a single track I would consider weak, and most of them are just totally kickass perfect.
Intention: Must hear more

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The Batlord 04-07-2017 01:32 PM

^^^

Got that album on my hard drive but haven't listened to it yet (just started it though). Got into their Future World album a little while ago and it's quite a'ight.

Trollheart 04-07-2017 02:17 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...and_Danger.jpg
Artiste: John Martyn
Nationality: British
Album: Grace and Danger
Year: 1980
Label: Island
Genre: Folk Rock
Tracks:
Some people are crazy
Grace and danger

Lookin' on
Johnny Too Bad
Sweet little mystery
Hurt in your heart
Baby please come home

Save some (for me)
Our love
Chronological position: Tenth album
Rank: High Priest
Comments: Superb stuff, as I remember. Right from the off, “Some people are crazy” is a great slab of smoking soul folk, if you can imagine such a thing, whereas the title track rocks all over the place before “Lookin' on” takes Martyn back to his jazz roots. Unsurprisingly, not one of my favourites on the album. Not too crazy about “Johnny Too Good” either; it's okay but nothing special. But then we get the sublime “Sweet little mystery”, just beautiful, and from here it just keeps getting better. “Hurt in your heart” is a bittersweet ballad almost on a par with the previous, better-known track, with some gorgeous fretless bass and soft tender percussion from Phil Collins. “Baby please come home” is simple and yearning, but “Save some” has Collins's annoying handprints all over it, very poppy, even electronic and teeth-grindingly aggravating. Back to the soul of the opener for the closer, with “Our love” being the only song on the album co-written by his wife.
Intention: I have all his albums. Must make time to check out some more.

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Trollheart 04-07-2017 05:28 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...ck_Is_Back.jpg
Artiste: Raven
Nationality: British
Album: The Pack is Back
Year: 1986
Label: Atlantic
Genre: Heavy Metal
Tracks:
The pack is back
Gimme some lovin'

Screamin' down the house
Young blood

Hyperactive
Rock dogs
Don't let it die
Get into your car and drive
All I need
Nightmare ride

Chronological position:Fifth album
Rank: I covered Raven in my NWOBHM article, so have heard a few of their albums
Comments: So this is the one that almost made Raven into Def Leppard/Praying Mantis, eh? The one where they were convinced to soften their music and tailor it more to the American AOR market than the headbanging thrashy UK metal one? This could be interesting. Hmm. The opener tries so hard to be, well, hard, but fails miserably, and putting Spencer Davis Group's “Gimme some lovin'” on the album sounds like a desperate attempt to get a single. It failed. The album didn't even chart. “Young blood” shows us the Raven we had come to know and love, though it sounds like there are keyboards in there. Keyboards? Oh Jesus! And horns on “Hyperactive”? Horns? It's a terrible song too. As is “Don't let it die”. Yeah, it's pretty much a fail. No wonder it didn't sell. Thank God Raven went back to doing what they do best after this abortion.
Intention: Try to wash the memory of this from my mind and ears!

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Anteater 04-08-2017 11:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart (Post 1820730)

David Roberts' debut, 1982's All Dressed Up, is a soft rock classic along the lines of the first Christopher Cross album with a killer studio lineup of musicians and players. The one you reviewed here is just a hodgepodge of stuff he wrote long after the first album and I agree that it sucks. :p:

Trollheart 04-09-2017 05:03 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord (Post 1820760)
^^^

Got that album on my hard drive but haven't listened to it yet (just started it though). Got into their Future World album a little while ago and it's quite a'ight.

Yeah, I definitely need to listen to more of these guys. Very impressed.
Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater (Post 1821424)
David Roberts' debut, 1982's All Dressed Up, is a soft rock classic along the lines of the first Christopher Cross album with a killer studio lineup of musicians and players. The one you reviewed here is just a hodgepodge of stuff he wrote long after the first album and I agree that it sucks. :p:

So he's nobody really? I thought, as I said in the comments, he might be from some band I knew, but after listening to him, I'm glad I didn't. Urgh. Also, did you know Fergie Frederiksen died? I was so shocked... what a talent, cut short so early. :(

The Batlord 04-09-2017 10:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart (Post 1821449)
Yeah, I definitely need to listen to more of these guys. Very impressed.

Their first two are pretty fantastic.

Trollheart 04-09-2017 12:55 PM

https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikiped...nifer_Rush.jpg
Artiste: Jennifer Rush
Nationality: American
Album: Out of My Hands
Year: 1995
Label: EMI
Genre: Pop
Tracks:
Tears in the rain
Out of my hands
In the arms of love
Fortress
Shocked
Who wants to live forever
Untouchable
Only Heaven knows
Crazy 'bout you
Cry, baby
Nights in white satin

Chronological position:Seventh album
Rank: Apprentice
Comments: When I first heard “The Power of Love” I wrote Jennifer Rush off as another one-hit wonder, but something made me buy the album Heart Over Mind and man was I impressed! Not a duff track and some really excellent ones. I thought, here may be a proper star in the making. So I bought her other albums, listened to them but somehow was never quite as impressed as I had been by that first listen to her material. I haven't heard much from her in the last few years – wasn't even sure if she was still alive; you never can be sure these days – but it seems she's still churning out the albums and having the odd hit. So I decided to check this one out.

I'm a shade disappointed to find so many covers on it – Robin Beck's “Tears in the rain” is beautiful, and an excellent opener, and her version of Queen's “Who wants to live forever” (one of my favourite Queen songs) with Brian May on guitar and vox is decent but not a patch on the original (don't like the ending) – but then you have some standard disco/synthpop dross like the title track and I'm beginning to think that HOM was her best, or at least most mature album, the one I would venture to describe as rock, which may be why I was so let down by the other albums I heard from her. Still, as it goes on it seems that title track might be the exception and the rest is proving pretty solid if not mindblowing. Her version of the Moody Blues' classic “Nights in white satin” is a decent closer.
Intention: I'll probably drop the odd album in now and then, in the hope of her ever recording a worthy successor to Heart Over Mind. This is quite close, but it ain't it.

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Trollheart 04-09-2017 01:02 PM

https://img.discogs.com/X2W7si8Z9dl-...-8788.jpeg.jpg
Artiste: Pendragon
Nationality: British
Album: Men Who Climb Mountains
Year: 2014
Label: Toff
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
Belle Ame
Beautiful soul
Come home Jack
In bardo
Faces of light
Faces of darkness
For when the zombies come
Explorers of the infinite
Netherworld

Chronological position: Tenth album
Rank: Apprentice
Comments: Although I've only heard one full Pendragon album all the way through, I've managed to hear most of the rest of their stuff via playlists, and almost invariably, what I've heard I've liked, so I'm expecting big things from this, their latest offering. Three times now I've listened and three times I've missed the break which separates “Belle Ame” from “Beautiful soul”, though both appear to be excellent tracks. There's some beautiful reflective guitar in “Come home Jack”, the tale it would seem of a traveller and what he has seen, with a typical mix of styles and sections in the ten-minute opus. It's a pretty superb track, favourite so far, and given the quality of the other two tracks that's saying something. I really like the way that, although there's no title track, the idea of exploration and conquering obstacles runs pretty solidly throughout the album. Lovely piano work from Clive Nolan on “Faces of light”, and the song really builds up well, seguing nicely into its opposite, “Faces of darkness”, with some appropriately dark, breathy synth and ominous guitar, and just as ominous and creepy is “For when the zombies come”. This is absolutely excellent. Love everything on it, no exceptions. Truly tremendous.

Intention: I'm currently reviewing the entire Pendragon discography in depth in my Prog Journal, so there'll be a full review there at some point.

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Frownland 04-09-2017 01:05 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart (Post 1820730)
https://img.discogs.com/CZZZOYICVVh9...-4598.jpeg.jpg
Artiste: David Roberts
Nationality: ?
Album: Better Late Than Never
Year: 2011
Label: Avenue of Allies Music
Genre: AOR
Tracks:
Best thing I never had
Better late than never
Someone else's song
Before I go
Stay with me tonight
Be gentle with my heart

Eighth wonder
This is how I say goodbye
If I woulda been there
What I've been missing
Chronological position: Second album
Rank: Noob
Comments: Try as I might, I have not been able to find a scrap of information on this guy. Even the nationality tag on Discogs says “Europe”. Thanks a lot! So I've no idea who he is, if he was with some big AOR band, or if he's even still alive. No thanks to Wiki or even Google, who keep sending me to the wrong pages. Anyway, this is his second album and I'm in the mood for some AOR I've not heard before. Fergie Frederiksen was a real find a few years back, so maybe we'll hit gold again. Or regret ever hearing the name David Roberts. Meh, nothing really grabbing me so far. “Stay with me tonight”, though a nice ballad, borrows way too much of its melody from Steinman's big hit for Air Supply, “Making love out of nothing at all” to impress me on its own merits. “Be gentle with my heart” reminds me of another song (Richard Marx's “Quit playing games with my heart” I think) and “Eighth wonder” is just terrible. I'm hearing a hodge-pog of third-rate AOR, disco and some soft rock/pop; almost a pastiche of everything that is bad in the genre. This guy ain't no Fergie! Oh, and a trite Country ballad to end. Sigh.
Intention: Never again
http://www.trollheart.com/cookierating1andhalf.jpg

This is a good instance of it being appropriate to judge something by its cover.

Trollheart 04-09-2017 01:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1821583)
This is a good instance of it being appropriate to judge something by its cover.

Spot on. :thumb:
And the title is weirdly inappropriate too! In this case, far better the latter than the former. Take my word for it.

The Batlord 04-09-2017 01:32 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1821583)
This is a good instance of it being appropriate to judge something by its cover.

So it's an Emilio Estevez album of Bruce Springsteen covers?

Trollheart 04-09-2017 02:12 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord (Post 1821595)
So it's an Emilio Estevez album of Bruce Springsteen covers?

Even that would be preferable to this lame, boring, uninspired collection of third-rate AOR soft rock knockoffs.

The Batlord 04-09-2017 02:15 PM

Whoever came up with the concept of soft rock should be shot in the back of the head btw.

Frownland 04-09-2017 02:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord (Post 1821619)
Whoever came up with the concept of soft rock shoot be shot in the back of the head btw.

And their whole family line shoot be shot in the back of the head too.

Anteater 04-09-2017 02:21 PM

Too bad you guys don't know anything about soft rock. Though I did attempt to educate in the past...sigh.

Frownland 04-09-2017 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater (Post 1821628)
Too bad you guys don't know anything about soft rock. Though I did attempt to educate in the past...sigh.

I tried to let you educate me on smooth jazz with your journal. You failed and lost all credibility as far as taste goes.

Anteater 04-09-2017 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Frownland (Post 1821629)
I tried to let you educate me on smooth jazz with your journal. You failed and lost all credibility as far as taste goes.

No, I'm just on a higher level than you are and had the same mindset you did....like eight years ago when I first joined this forum. It turns out dismissing entire genres of music you have little-to-no-experience in is wrong. Who woulda thunk it? I can show you a door, but if you don't walk through it then nobody can help you. ;)

http://www.crystalinks.com/BuddhaSitting.jpg

The Batlord 04-09-2017 02:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater (Post 1821628)
Too bad you guys don't know anything about soft rock. Though I did attempt to educate in the past...sigh.

Capitalist pig dog.


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