The Prog Rock Album Club

Unknown Soldier · 06-01-2014, 06:07 AM

Album Title: Cantus Firmus
Artist: Advent
Nationality: American
Year: 2006
Subgenre: Prog
Familiarity: None
Favourite Track(s): "Ramblin Sailor"
Why? "Ramblin Sailor" A lengthy track which seems to encompass everything that the band has to offer and this includes a somewhat whimsical English slant to the whole thing, which can be said for most of the album.
Least Favourite Track(s): Nothing stood out to be in this category.
Why? N/A
End Impression: Wasn't sure what to expect here, but what I got was a band strong on melody and rhythm and I can definitely see the Gentle Giant and Procul Harum influences on the album. I also read that their sound was influenced on English and Italian renaissance music and again that is noted. This though is not always the type pf prog I'm into and usually have to be in the mood for it.
Comments: I think I need several more listens to really appreciate what the band has to offer
Rating: 3.5

Anteater · 06-01-2014, 07:31 PM

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

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, 01:02 PM

Album Title: Cantus Firmus
Artist: Advent
Nationality: American
Year: 2006
Subgenre: Uber-Prog
Familiarity: None
Favourite Track(s): "Remembering when"
Why? Nice dissonant harmonies in the acoustic guitar with pleasant pentatonic structures in the electric lead guitar and good variety, yet continuity between progressions.
Least Favourite Track(s): "Alison Waits"
Why? Vocals ruin it
End Impression: A lot of it seemed kind of like generic prog, like every other prog album I've heard, especially the flutes and the staccato strings, like in Ramblin Sailor, but the vocals are very plain in timbre and the vocal style is annoying. I hear the style in a lot of prog and it's one of the things that limits my prog appreciation.
Comments: Remembering when was surprisingly good compared to the rest of the album. Not just because of the lack of vocals, but the use of harmony and melody was really quite unique, whereas the rest of the album had a lot of that folky stuff that I really only let Jethro Tull get away with I guess. Maybe that's unfair, but I heard Jethro first!
Rating: 3.5

Anteater · 06-02-2014, 05:16 PM

Good reviews all around everyone! Now, let's try something fun: lets create an order of people who will choose each week's albums like the club worked originally. Based on the current club's participants, here's my suggested order for who can suggest each week's potential albums to review:

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

Basically, when its your turn you need to pick 1-3 possible prog/prog-related albums you'd like to give the rest of the club (and guest reviewers) an opportunity to post reviews over for the following week.

As far as review format goes, we can stick to my abbreviated version of Trollheart's post format or you could just write a few paragraphs worth of impressions and slap a number rating at the end.

...or we can stick with me randomly picking albums off my list if you guys would rather just review what pops up every week instead of bringing choices to the table yourselves. I'm fine with that too since my list is 200+ albums long, lol!

What do you guys think?

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.

06-01-2014, 10:37 PM	#864 (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, 01:02 PM	#867 (permalink)
Xurtio Brain Licker Join Date: Apr 2014 Posts: 1,083	Album Title: Cantus Firmus Artist: Advent Nationality: American Year: 2006 Subgenre: Uber-Prog Familiarity: None Favourite Track(s): "Remembering when" Why? Nice dissonant harmonies in the acoustic guitar with pleasant pentatonic structures in the electric lead guitar and good variety, yet continuity between progressions. Least Favourite Track(s): "Alison Waits" Why? Vocals ruin it End Impression: A lot of it seemed kind of like generic prog, like every other prog album I've heard, especially the flutes and the staccato strings, like in Ramblin Sailor, but the vocals are very plain in timbre and the vocal style is annoying. I hear the style in a lot of prog and it's one of the things that limits my prog appreciation. Comments: Remembering when was surprisingly good compared to the rest of the album. Not just because of the lack of vocals, but the use of harmony and melody was really quite unique, whereas the rest of the album had a lot of that folky stuff that I really only let Jethro Tull get away with I guess. Maybe that's unfair, but I heard Jethro first! Rating: 3.5 __________________ H̓̇̅̉yͤ͏mͬ͂ͧn͑̽̽̌ͪ̑͐͟o̴͊̈́͑̇m͛͌̓ͦ̑aͫ̽ͤ̇n̅̎͐̒ͫ͐c̆ͯͫ̋ ̔̃́eͯ͒rͬͬ̄҉ Last edited by Xurtio; 06-02-2014 at 08:21 PM.

06-02-2014, 08:25 PM	#869 (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	#866 (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