The Prog Rock Album Club

Moss · 06-01-2014, 09:15 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Nice reviews so far! The rest of you...don't dawdle now.

Damn. Have not given it a good enough listen for a fair review yet.

Xurtio · 06-01-2014, 10:37 PM

Me either. Been a busy weekend! Listened to about half of it so far.

Anteater · 06-01-2014, 10:41 PM

I'll give you guys til Monday to spend a bit more time with Advent before we move on to the next subject of review. Fair deal?

Moss · 06-02-2014, 12:36 PM

Thanks for the extension!

Album Title: Cantus Firmus
Artist: Advent
Nationality: American
Year: 2006
Subgenre: Prog
Familiarity: None
Favourite Track(s): "Remembering when"
Why? Had some nice guitar work overall. Good acoustic guitar sound without any other instruments cluttering it up. Some pretty good electric lead work. No vocals which was nice.
Least Favourite Track(s): "Parenting parents"
Why? Ugh, just awful. So mellow but besides that the singing was just bad. Like a bad broadway show song or something.
End Impression: Just did not care for this at all.
Comments: This is not one I will ever listen to again. I really didn't like the vocals at all. Firmus Finale had that kind of cheesy sounding keyboard thing going on. The GK Contramundum (whatever) sounded like a YES 90125 era rip off. Ramblin Sailor had some sort of pan flute thing going on that did not work for me at all. I'm actually surprised at the positive reviews. I don't want to be overly negative so I will say there was some nice musicianship going on overall, they are not slouches by any means. But my lack of exposure to prog rock overall is due to the existance of albums like this one.
Rating: 2.5

Xurtio · 06-02-2014, 08:25 PM

I'd prefer open formatting. Rather than pick favorites and least favorites, I'd just discuss each song of note a little bit in terms of the melody and harmony and give an overall impression (+ number at bottom).

When it comes to album selection, I don't know if I'm proficient enough to what prog encompasses. I know a lot of Pink Floyd and Iron Maiden. But either way, I'd like to to see some human suggested albums rather than random ones.

Anteater · 06-02-2014, 09:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xurtio

I'd prefer open formatting. Rather than pick favorites and least favorites, I'd just discuss each song of note a little bit in terms of the melody and harmony and give an overall impression (+ number at bottom).

When it comes to album selection, I don't know if I'm proficient enough to what prog encompasses. I know a lot of Pink Floyd and Iron Maiden. But either way, I'd like to to see some human suggested albums rather than random ones.

Well, I did compile my list by hand, so technically there is a human element in there. :P

I like to think the whole point of this club is to explore, review and maybe even discuss the various elements of albums that pop up and try to broaden everyone's knowledge of just how varied and interesting prog can be. Trollheart tried to accomplish this by picking albums from "authority" lists, but that was a tad too unfocused.

Whether its a guy like me or a complete newbie to progressive rock, I think its best that everyone gets a fair shot at suggesting what the rest of us should review each week. Plus it might encourage new people to join in.

Moss · 06-02-2014, 10:05 PM

I'm kind of in the same boat as xurtio so don't expect any revelatory prog choices from me, but I like the idea and I will still get exposed to new stuff. I like the idea of the human element instead of randomness.

Unknown Soldier · 06-03-2014, 11:30 AM

I pretty much open to any method here and will go with the flow.

Also Rotasi speaks like a wise man as well

Anteater · 06-03-2014, 01:18 PM

Okay, so we'll go with an open forum then. Here's the order of people:

1. Unknown Soldier
2. Moss
3. Rostasi
4. Carpe Mortem
5. Xurtio
6. Anteater

US, feel free to suggest one or even several possible albums you'd like to give us the option to review. Is everyone still okay with taking one week for reviews or would you rather it be a bi-monthly sort of thing?

Unknown Soldier · 06-03-2014, 01:22 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Anteater

Okay, so we'll go with an open forum then. Here's the order of people:

1. Unknown Soldier
2. Moss
3. Rostasi
4. Carpe Mortem
5. Xurtio
6. Anteater

US, feel free to suggest one or even several possible albums you'd like to give us the option to review. Is everyone still okay with taking one week for reviews or would you rather it be a bi-monthly sort of thing?

Ok will put them up in the next few hours.

06-01-2014, 10:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Xurtio Brain Licker Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 1,083	Me either. Been a busy weekend! Listened to about half of it so far. __________________ H̓̇̅̉yͤ͏mͬ͂ͧn͑̽̽̌ͪ̑͐͟o̴͊̈́͑̇m͛͌̓ͦ̑aͫ̽ͤ̇n̅̎͐̒ͫ͐c̆ͯͫ̋ ̔̃́eͯ͒rͬͬ̄҉

06-02-2014, 08:25 PM	#5 (permalink)
Xurtio Brain Licker Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 1,083	I'd prefer open formatting. Rather than pick favorites and least favorites, I'd just discuss each song of note a little bit in terms of the melody and harmony and give an overall impression (+ number at bottom). When it comes to album selection, I don't know if I'm proficient enough to what prog encompasses. I know a lot of Pink Floyd and Iron Maiden. But either way, I'd like to to see some human suggested albums rather than random ones. __________________ H̓̇̅̉yͤ͏mͬ͂ͧn͑̽̽̌ͪ̑͐͟o̴͊̈́͑̇m͛͌̓ͦ̑aͫ̽ͤ̇n̅̎͐̒ͫ͐c̆ͯͫ̋ ̔̃́eͯ͒rͬͬ̄҉

06-02-2014, 12:36 PM	#4 (permalink)
Moss Scuttle Buttin' Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Boulder Colorado Posts: 972	Thanks for the extension! Album Title: Cantus Firmus Artist: Advent Nationality: American Year: 2006 Subgenre: Prog Familiarity: None Favourite Track(s): "Remembering when" Why? Had some nice guitar work overall. Good acoustic guitar sound without any other instruments cluttering it up. Some pretty good electric lead work. No vocals which was nice. Least Favourite Track(s): "Parenting parents" Why? Ugh, just awful. So mellow but besides that the singing was just bad. Like a bad broadway show song or something. End Impression: Just did not care for this at all. Comments: This is not one I will ever listen to again. I really didn't like the vocals at all. Firmus Finale had that kind of cheesy sounding keyboard thing going on. The GK Contramundum (whatever) sounded like a YES 90125 era rip off. Ramblin Sailor had some sort of pan flute thing going on that did not work for me at all. I'm actually surprised at the positive reviews. I don't want to be overly negative so I will say there was some nice musicianship going on overall, they are not slouches by any means. But my lack of exposure to prog rock overall is due to the existance of albums like this one. Rating: 2.5

06-02-2014, 10:05 PM	#7 (permalink)
Moss Scuttle Buttin' Join Date: Dec 2013 Location: Boulder Colorado Posts: 972	I'm kind of in the same boat as xurtio so don't expect any revelatory prog choices from me, but I like the idea and I will still get exposed to new stuff. I like the idea of the human element instead of randomness.