Love or Hate?

The Batlord · 01-10-2016, 11:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

11. The flames of the end: Keyboards opening? Keyboards? More like progressive metal here, even progressive rock! Is this an instrumental? Oh now listen to that guitar bite in! ****ing excellent! Love this one.

The part before the guitar feedback was actually from a soundtrack to a homemade horror movie that one of the members had tried/was trying to film.

Trollheart · 01-10-2016, 12:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

The part before the guitar feedback was actually from a soundtrack to a homemade horror movie that one of the members had tried/was trying to film.

Ah, I see. That makes a certain kind of sense now.

The Batlord · 01-10-2016, 01:09 PM

Along with the end of the previous track, it's one of my favorite outros of all-time. I don't know if the guy would have changed it for the movie, but if not it would have been too overbearing. As a bookend to an extreme metal album it's great, though. So different than anything you would ever expect to hear, and really dark and unsettling. Goes kind of perfect with the general atmosphere of the album, though, as they're both so cold, misanthropic, and bleak in a way that I don't think I've ever heard from any traditional extreme metal band. I'd be curious to hear what the guy (Ander Bjorler) would do with a whole album of that stuff.

The guitar at the end was obviously not part of the original track, and the feedback was actually created by Anders and some other guy not in the band wrestling in front of two amps while holding their guitars. I love little tidbits about studio experimentation.

And while I know you don't give albums second chances, I'd suggest going back over the first two songs again. They're not really different from the others and are two of the strongest on the album. Perhaps you just hadn't "settled down" with the album before track 3 and would like them more with a second listen? It's not like I'm asking you to give an entire album you already didn't like a second chance, just one little bit of an album you already like.

DwnWthVwls · 01-10-2016, 02:04 PM

Trollheart are you familiar with 30 Seconds to Mars? I'm debating on my next recs for when it reopens.

Trollheart · 01-10-2016, 02:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by DwnWthVwls

Trollheart are you familiar with 30 Seconds to Mars? I'm debating on my next recs for when it reopens.

As Martin Prince said in The Simpsons: I'm aware of their work.
Don't think I've heard any though...

The Identity Matrix · 01-10-2016, 03:23 PM

Loved the review. Glad you enjoyed it. Heart in a cage is actually my favorite song off of the record.

Justthefacts · 01-10-2016, 08:34 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Title: Acid Tongue
Artiste: Jenny Lewis
Genre: Indie/Alt-Country
Familiarity: Zero
Recommended by: Justthefacts

Expectations: No idea. I assumed this would be another hip-hop artist. Interested now. Also quite interested to see the reaction if I don't like the album, as this is Justthefacts's first return since D'Angelogate...

1. Black sand: ooh! Really nice, dreamy voice. Good start. Kind of acoustic piano tune, swaying but with power. Kind of hear Kate Bush at times. Nice bit of violin there.
2. Pretty bird: Sort of a jazzy little number, slightly more uptempo and now I hear Beverly Craven. Nice guitar work. Like the sort of distortion a la Chris Isaak (sure he's not the only one who does it, but he's the one who comes to my mind).
3. The next messiah: Hmm. I wonder is almost nine minutes going to be stretching it a little? Nice snarling guitar intro then a blues/boogie vibe as it takes off, good so far, and we haven't yet reached the first minute. Lot of Country in this. Hmm, that's odd. It's like it suddenly became two separate songs, the second sung by a male. And completely different. Not sure about this at all. No, that's just stupid. No wonder it's so long! I do like it, but it's getting a Red for the ridiculous double song here. And now it's going back into the original. Lord help us. That was inane on a massive scale.
4. Bad man's world: This though is very nice, and puts the weird and somewhat annoyed memory of the previous track behind us. I hear Judie Tzuke (yeah), and shots of ELO in the cello parts.
5. Acid tongue: Ah, acoustic guitar start, always good. Great backing vocals here, a super little ballad.
6. See Fernando: Oh I love the powerful slide guitar in this (is it slide guitar? Sounds like it. What do I know?) Hops along in a fine rocking vein. Like that a lot.
7. Godspeed: Almsot filching the melody from “A whiter shade of pale” here Jenny! Nice piano ballad though. Beautiful cello coming in on the third minute, and I like the lyrical idea.
8. Carpetbaggers: Geting back to the rocking in a kind of early Steve Earle vein to a degree, also elements of Nanci Griffith around maybe Last of the True Believers era. Great guitar and some fine organ. Guest vocals from Elvis Costello are interesting. Do they duet? Yes they do, and quite well too. Interesting that the lyric uses the name of one of those Dust Bowl Ballads from Woody Guthrie which I reviewed previously. Wonder if that was an intentional tip of the hat to the old folk legend?
9. Trying my best to love you: Beautiful gospel ballad, really showcases her voice.
10. Jack killed mom: Very honky-tonk piano opening. Changes considerably for the chorus. Nice. Could do without the spoken male vocal though. Total gospel freakout for the end.
11. Sing a song for them: Nice simple little piano tune with some good percussion and a rippling line running through it.

End result: A triumphant return indeed. JTF comes back out of the wilderness and delivers an album I can only love. It's a far cry from the hip-hop “opuses” we argued over, but I'm glad to see there's more to him than just that one genre. This was quite a revelation, and I'm glad I got a chance to hear it. Have to say, again based on the title and JTF's preferences as I understood them, I was not looking forward to it, but I'm glad to say I was wrong. Welcome back, man!

So, Love or Hate? This is a definite Love.

Glad you loved it man. But if you don't like Back To Black, Godspeed you for an Amygate.

Trollheart · 01-15-2016, 11:10 AM

Title: Still Bummed
Artiste: Nouns
Genre: Emo/Punk
Familiarity: Zero
Recommended by: Machine

Expectations: Not much: I see the words “noise rock” and “emo punk” thrown around in the description of their music, none of which appeals to me. At least all the songs are short.

1. Dogs: Somewhat less frenetic than I had expected; quite relaxed guitar intro in fact. Very melodic. Didn't expect this at all. More like indie rock at the moment. Will probably kick up in a minute ... well yeah, but still pretty cool when it does. Sort of a marching beat to it, good vocal with good backing vox. Some really new-wave synth is odd and yet doesn't seem out of place. Yeah, enjoyed that. Lyric is hilarious.
2. Still bummed: Short, frenetic, still very damn good.
3. School bus: Starts off as a real emo song, slow and emotional, then kicks, almost literally, into a raucous “we ain't gonna take it” style slice of chaos, then back to the reflective guitar and emo stuff. Good juxtapositioning.
4. Conch: No such emo in this one; bouncy and exuberant from the off. That weird little Casio-like keyboard going again.
5. Yaw: Another nice little gentle guitar here, reminds me of “When love breaks down” by Prefab Sprout. Wonderful vocalise; runs along on a really gentle swaying balladic theme. Well, for about half the song, then it kicks into life on punishing drums and harder guitar.
6. Dumped: Now that's some stark piano, and a hollow vocal for the first few seconds, then it just explodes with emotion and drama. This would be the emo in emo/punk I assume.
7. Way: Bassy single piano notes and a narrated vocal. Interesting. Then heavy slow crashing drums and just the piano until one hell of a wounded vocal comes in. Strong organ joins in and the recording returns.
8. You're not the one that I want: Another fragile piano with vocalise, very slow and morose. Really nice guitar in this.
9. The graduate: Alternates between stripped-down guitar and more solid synth and piano, good closer.

End result: Really expected to be writing a harsh review of this and ranting at Machine for wasting my time, but I'm quite surprised to find I really liked everything here. If this is what emo mixed with punk is like, maybe I should open my ears to more of this.

So, Love or Hate? Thought it would be Hate, or maybe Meh, but I have to admit, it's worth a Love of anyone's money.

Trollheart · 01-15-2016, 02:43 PM

Title: Blunderbuss
Artiste: Jack White
Genre: Rock
Familiarity: I've listened to one album by The White Stripes, but the way everyone here talks about this guy it's like he's the Second Coming or the reincarnation of Hendrix or something. We'll see.
Recommended by: TechnicLePanther

Expectations: Perhaps it's unfair, but given all the hype around him, the almost messianic at times praise for him and his band, and the coverage of him in the music press, I'm expecting to be seriously impressed.

1. Missing pieces: Good musical build up at the beginning, decent rocker but a bit meh for an opener. Awful ending.
2. Sixteen saltlines: Better rocker; biting guitar. Still waiting though.
3. Freedom at 21: #Justnotfeelingit
4. Love interruption: Bit better. Good female vocals and nice clarinet. Still just okay though.
5. Blunderbuss: Nice Country style ballad. Some lovely violin and piano. A lot better. About time.
6. Hypocritical kiss: Sweet rippling piano opening this; good rolling drumbeat. Lot of emotion and energy.
7. Weep themselves to sleep: I assumed this would be a ballad. It isn't. Uses a lot of piano but in very much more an uptempo way. Pretty great really.
8. I'm shakin': As you might expect from the title, too much Elvis/Rockabilly in this, which I hate. So Red for this, sorry.
9. Trash tongue talker: This also has an element of rockabilly in it, but I like it more. More piano in evidence and a sense of blues mixed with soul too.
10. Hip (eponymous) poor boy: Kind of folky, upbeat Country feel to this. Not bad.
11. I guess I should go to sleep: More female vocals added, decent enough song, more Country style. Thought it would be a ballad. Wrong again. The piano run that keeps coming in is disconcerting and annoying; does not fit in with the rhythm or tone of the song.
12. On and on and on: Lovey soft violin opening but it kind of loses me along the way, pulling me back in for the end. Meh.
13. Take me with you when you go: I think what this album is missing (well, one of the things) is a really lovely soulful ballad. This is not it.

End result: On the strength of this, I would venture to say that White's reputation is overblown. I thought it was okay, in places very dull in others very annoying; nothing I'm really going to take away from it and nothing that's going to push me in his or his band's direction.

So, Love or Hate? Because it has a few decent tracks I'll save it from a meh and give it a very low key Like.

Machine · 01-15-2016, 03:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Title: Still Bummed
Artiste: Nouns
Genre: Emo/Punk
Familiarity: Zero
Recommended by: Machine

Expectations: Not much: I see the words “noise rock” and “emo punk” thrown around in the description of their music, none of which appeals to me. At least all the songs are short.

1. Dogs: Somewhat less frenetic than I had expected; quite relaxed guitar intro in fact. Very melodic. Didn't expect this at all. More like indie rock at the moment. Will probably kick up in a minute ... well yeah, but still pretty cool when it does. Sort of a marching beat to it, good vocal with good backing vox. Some really new-wave synth is odd and yet doesn't seem out of place. Yeah, enjoyed that. Lyric is hilarious.
2. Still bummed: Short, frenetic, still very damn good.
3. School bus: Starts off as a real emo song, slow and emotional, then kicks, almost literally, into a raucous “we ain't gonna take it” style slice of chaos, then back to the reflective guitar and emo stuff. Good juxtapositioning.
4. Conch: No such emo in this one; bouncy and exuberant from the off. That weird little Casio-like keyboard going again.
5. Yaw: Another nice little gentle guitar here, reminds me of “When love breaks down” by Prefab Sprout. Wonderful vocalise; runs along on a really gentle swaying balladic theme. Well, for about half the song, then it kicks into life on punishing drums and harder guitar.
6. Dumped: Now that's some stark piano, and a hollow vocal for the first few seconds, then it just explodes with emotion and drama. This would be the emo in emo/punk I assume.
7. Way: Bassy single piano notes and a narrated vocal. Interesting. Then heavy slow crashing drums and just the piano until one hell of a wounded vocal comes in. Strong organ joins in and the recording returns.
8. You're not the one that I want: Another fragile piano with vocalise, very slow and morose. Really nice guitar in this.
9. The graduate: Alternates between stripped-down guitar and more solid synth and piano, good closer.

End result: Really expected to be writing a harsh review of this and ranting at Machine for wasting my time, but I'm quite surprised to find I really liked everything here. If this is what emo mixed with punk is like, maybe I should open my ears to more of this.

So, Love or Hate? Thought it would be Hate, or maybe Meh, but I have to admit, it's worth a Love of anyone's money.

Very glad you enjoyed this. I wasn't sure if it was really up your alley, but I figured it was accessible enough for anyone to get something out of.

01-15-2016, 11:10 AM	#2608 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Title: Still Bummed Artiste: Nouns Genre: Emo/Punk Familiarity: Zero Recommended by: Machine Expectations: Not much: I see the words “noise rock” and “emo punk” thrown around in the description of their music, none of which appeals to me. At least all the songs are short. 1. Dogs: Somewhat less frenetic than I had expected; quite relaxed guitar intro in fact. Very melodic. Didn't expect this at all. More like indie rock at the moment. Will probably kick up in a minute ... well yeah, but still pretty cool when it does. Sort of a marching beat to it, good vocal with good backing vox. Some really new-wave synth is odd and yet doesn't seem out of place. Yeah, enjoyed that. Lyric is hilarious. 2. Still bummed: Short, frenetic, still very damn good. 3. School bus: Starts off as a real emo song, slow and emotional, then kicks, almost literally, into a raucous “we ain't gonna take it” style slice of chaos, then back to the reflective guitar and emo stuff. Good juxtapositioning. 4. Conch: No such emo in this one; bouncy and exuberant from the off. That weird little Casio-like keyboard going again. 5. Yaw: Another nice little gentle guitar here, reminds me of “When love breaks down” by Prefab Sprout. Wonderful vocalise; runs along on a really gentle swaying balladic theme. Well, for about half the song, then it kicks into life on punishing drums and harder guitar. 6. Dumped: Now that's some stark piano, and a hollow vocal for the first few seconds, then it just explodes with emotion and drama. This would be the emo in emo/punk I assume. 7. Way: Bassy single piano notes and a narrated vocal. Interesting. Then heavy slow crashing drums and just the piano until one hell of a wounded vocal comes in. Strong organ joins in and the recording returns. 8. You're not the one that I want: Another fragile piano with vocalise, very slow and morose. Really nice guitar in this. 9. The graduate: Alternates between stripped-down guitar and more solid synth and piano, good closer. End result: Really expected to be writing a harsh review of this and ranting at Machine for wasting my time, but I'm quite surprised to find I really liked everything here. If this is what emo mixed with punk is like, maybe I should open my ears to more of this. So, Love or Hate? Thought it would be Hate, or maybe Meh, but I have to admit, it's worth a Love of anyone's money. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

01-15-2016, 02:43 PM	#2609 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Title: Blunderbuss Artiste: Jack White Genre: Rock Familiarity: I've listened to one album by The White Stripes, but the way everyone here talks about this guy it's like he's the Second Coming or the reincarnation of Hendrix or something. We'll see. Recommended by: TechnicLePanther Expectations: Perhaps it's unfair, but given all the hype around him, the almost messianic at times praise for him and his band, and the coverage of him in the music press, I'm expecting to be seriously impressed. 1. Missing pieces: Good musical build up at the beginning, decent rocker but a bit meh for an opener. Awful ending. 2. Sixteen saltlines: Better rocker; biting guitar. Still waiting though. 3. Freedom at 21: #Justnotfeelingit 4. Love interruption: Bit better. Good female vocals and nice clarinet. Still just okay though. 5. Blunderbuss: Nice Country style ballad. Some lovely violin and piano. A lot better. About time. 6. Hypocritical kiss: Sweet rippling piano opening this; good rolling drumbeat. Lot of emotion and energy. 7. Weep themselves to sleep: I assumed this would be a ballad. It isn't. Uses a lot of piano but in very much more an uptempo way. Pretty great really. 8. I'm shakin': As you might expect from the title, too much Elvis/Rockabilly in this, which I hate. So Red for this, sorry. 9. Trash tongue talker: This also has an element of rockabilly in it, but I like it more. More piano in evidence and a sense of blues mixed with soul too. 10. Hip (eponymous) poor boy: Kind of folky, upbeat Country feel to this. Not bad. 11. I guess I should go to sleep: More female vocals added, decent enough song, more Country style. Thought it would be a ballad. Wrong again. The piano run that keeps coming in is disconcerting and annoying; does not fit in with the rhythm or tone of the song. 12. On and on and on: Lovey soft violin opening but it kind of loses me along the way, pulling me back in for the end. Meh. 13. Take me with you when you go: I think what this album is missing (well, one of the things) is a really lovely soulful ballad. This is not it. End result: On the strength of this, I would venture to say that White's reputation is overblown. I thought it was okay, in places very dull in others very annoying; nothing I'm really going to take away from it and nothing that's going to push me in his or his band's direction. So, Love or Hate? Because it has a few decent tracks I'll save it from a meh and give it a very low key Like. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018