Trollheart Listens to Every Album on Wiki's List for 2017

Trollheart · 11-03-2017, 07:42 PM

Album title: Freedom Highway
Artist: Rhiannon Giddens
Genre: Folk/Americana/Old-Time
Nationality: American
Release date: February 24
Position in Discography: Second
Fear Factor: Moderate
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.29
What a great name Rhiannon is! Conjures up all sorts of magical images, legend and fairytales and so forth. Perhaps appropriate that this is then an album of road tales from America's history, and ooh is this dark when it kicks off. Love the banjo, slow and moody and very reminiscent of Bernie Leadon; her voice suits the music well and there's a real sense of drama building about this. Nice. This seems quite stripped down and barebones so far. I like this a lot. Her voice is really powerful without being overpowering: think Billie or Ella, you're in the basic area. Her cover of Baez's “Birmingham Sunday” sends chills, man. Chills.

Interesting: there's a rap coming out of nowhere on “Better Get It Right the First Time”, which is a kind of soul/gospel hybrid, though “We Could Fly” drags a little and is kind of dreary really. This is however quickly relieved by the dixieland bop of “Hey Bebe” with some super cool trumpet, trombone or some damn wind instrument anyway. Very jazzy, but that's kind of the problem. I see now why Wiki included the odd genre tag “Old-Time” here: the album has gone from a dark country/folk style into some kind of twenties jazz/ragtime thing, and I have to say I don't like the change. I've never quite altered my opinion so drastically of an album as I listened, but this is literally a record of two halves, and I'm losing interest as we enter the second half. Okay, it reverts to the original folk/country style eventually, but I'm just not as sold on this now as I was within the first three tracks.

Check out more from this artist? I'm really not sure
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

(would have been at least two points higher if the album had stayed the same quality as it began)

Expectation Index: 9

Trollheart · 11-03-2017, 07:46 PM

Album title: Inception
Artist: Sanctuary
Genre: Power Metal/Thrash Metal
Nationality: American
Release date: February 24
Position in Discography: Fourth
Fear Factor: Low
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Yes
Average RYM Score: 3.64
This is, apparently, a bunch of unused songs from 1986 or prior, and man does it sound like it! Production is awful, the riffs and rhythms are right out of Maiden's second album, and basically it just sounds so dated. Plus I was convinced the singer was a woman – it ain't. This is pretty poor now to be honest. Oh dear Dio! Now they're covering Jefferson Airplane's “White Rabbit”. Help me. All I can say about this album is that these recordings, obviously considered not good enough for their debut album, are still not good enough and I have no idea why Sanctuary thought it was a good idea to inflict them on the twenty-first century, but they stand very much as anachronisms and show how out of touch this band is. When was their last actual album? 2014. Hmm. But prior to that, 1990 and before that 1986, which I think shows they hardly have their finger on the heavy metal pulse. Hell, they'd be hard pressed to find it! Disappointing and dull, an album very much out of time and causing me to run out of patience.

Okay, the last three are not terrible, though “I Am Insane” sounds very like “Two Minutes to Midnight.” Spookily so. Probably the most/only interesting thing about this collection of rejects that should have been left on the cutting room floor, where they belong.
Check out more from this artist? Probably not
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes, always

Expectation Index: 9

Trollheart · 11-03-2017, 07:52 PM

MLM (Monkey Lives Matter): just noticed Stormzy is (gasp!) Grime! You might want to prepare yourself for a disappointment......

Should get to it tomorrow anyway.

~~Cuthbert~~ · 11-03-2017, 07:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

MLM (Monkey Lives Matter): just noticed Stormzy is (gasp!) Grime! You might want to prepare yourself for a disappointment......

Should get to it tomorrow anyway.

It's classed as Grime cos he's from that scene but there is very little Grime on the album. Maybe three tracks at most. It's an RnB/Hip-Hop album imo.

You might like it, it's nothing like the Wiley album.

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard · 11-03-2017, 08:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Man like Monkey

It's nothing like the Wiley album.

true. 'cos the Wiley album is actually good.

~~MicShazam~~ · 11-04-2017, 05:27 AM

About Sanctuary, their second album is really where it's at.

Both their 2014 album and the new "lost" album aren't anything special.

Trollheart · 11-04-2017, 05:30 AM

Album title: Seis peniques
Artist: Sofia Ellar
Genre: Pop
Nationality: English
Release date: February 24
Position in Discography: Debut
Fear Factor: Moderate
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? A little
Average RYM Score: N/A
Oh come on! Does that title really mean “six penises”???

Surely not. Nah; “six pennies”. Ah well. I think my interpretation is funnier. Debut from what sounds like the English answer to Lana del Rey. Um. Singing Spanish. Kind of. Nice use of the violin. So far, nothing terribly special to be honest though.”G&T's” is a nice ballad, but not much more than that. One of three songs sung in English, “Fire of Fame” is a little better, but overall this is just so bland. There's no personality or identity here, despite these songs (which at least she wrote herself) being apparently about her experiences. Meh.

All right: “Hace Dos Perdices” is not without its charm. Is this album going to make an effort for the final stretch? Well, “Mad Man” tries, and to be fair it's pretty good. I was just about to bail, but I'll hang in there for now. Has to be said that the English songs generally are a lot better than the Spanish ones, and that's not just due to the language thing. I just can't get into the Spanish ones; they seem to have, as already mentioned, no personality. It's like she's trying harder when she sings or writes in English. Still not totally great though, but certainly better. It does end strongly, in fairness.

Check out more from this artist? No
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Expectation Index: 0

Trollheart · 11-04-2017, 06:15 AM

Album title: Lower the Bar
Artist: Steel Panther
Genre: Glam Metal
Nationality: American
Release date: February 24
Position in Discography: Fourth
Fear Factor: Low
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Yes
Average RYM Score: 2.88
Steel Panther have always struck me as something less than a serious band. I mean, come on! Steel ****ing Panther? They have to be taking the piss, don't they? Look at the opening track to this album: “Goin' In the Backdoor”? Wonder what that's a reference to?

Well, I have no problem with humour – especially smutty, schoolboy, sexual innuendo humour – as long as the guys can rock. And can they! Whereas Sanctuary portrayed the worst side of eighties meh-metal on their new album as already reviewed, Steel Panther recall the over-bombast of bands like Van Halen and Def Leppard, bands which in some cases were not the greatest in the world but were masters of the tongue-in-cheek humour. Fun bands, y'know? I mean: “Backdoor never got a welcome mat, but that's never stopped me”.

You gotta love that.

Superb piss-take of Bon Jovi/Poison on “That's When You Came In”, complete with whiny acoustic guitar, and I love the line “That's when you came in and blew me, that's when you came in and blew me, that's when you came in and blew me away!”

Ah, who else could write a song called “Pussy Ain't Free”? Another pop at Bon Jovi in “Wasting Too Much Time”: these guys are so ****ing hilarious! And yeah, they're funny but they sure can rock too. Sweet.

Hey, nobody's gonna accuse these guys of being original – they're taking the best from the Crue, Hanoi Rocks, GNR, you name it, and putting their own spin on it – but you can't not like a band whose drummer calls himself Stix and whose bassist is called Lexxi Foxx! Just good-time headbanging fun with several large beers and a party for all. Can't argue with that. Not gonna win any Grammys or turn up, I would imagine, on anyone's AOTY list, but that's not their aim, as you can see from the album title. Bar successfully lowered. God bless you, guys!

Check out more from this artist? Yeah
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes

Expectation Index: 0

Trollheart · 11-04-2017, 11:26 AM

Album title: Gang Signs and Prayer
Artist: Stormzy
Genre: Hip-hop/Grime/R&B
Nationality: English
Release date: February 24
Position in Discography: Debut
Fear Factor: Moderate
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 3.01
Well, here it is then: the one Monkey has been waiting for me to review. Hope it turns out to have been worth the wait. Well I like the atmosphere on the opening track anyway (storms, y'see?) and the keyboard is cool, very almost Mike Oldfield on Tubular Bells, or as you might know it, the theme from The Exorcist. Second track is more frenetic, but still really good. I like how he uses the music as a backdrop and not just background for his voice, which is pretty damn good. Seems like, unlike other rappers (at least as far as I know) he uses a full orchestra here rather than just synthesisers, and damn but it shows. There's a real lush feel to the music, a sense of depth and drama. “Blinded by Your Grace, Pt 1” (not sure why an archbishop would want to take anyone's sight, but there you go) has a very gospel/soul thing going on, cool organ or electric piano leading the line, and a nice soft vocal from Stormzy, then “Big For Your Boots” sounds a bit humorous, and I like it.

There's some really smooth stuff here, some frenetic stuff, some angry stuff and some stuff that seems not to take itself too seriously, which is refreshing. A nice mix, and it certainly keeps you interested. “21 Gun Salute” is an introspective little brooder, which brings us to “Blinded by Your Grace, Pt 2” and it's a nice development from the first part, more rocky with a touch of gospel. Like this very much indeed. “Don't Cry for Me” is a good song too. Next track is just a phone call though. I've seen this happen a few times, I suppose it's a hip-hop thing, but I don't like it. Lazy. Still, it's really the only low point on the album so I won't go on about it. And it's followed by the cool “Shut Up”, finishing with “Lay Me Bare”, a great closer, bringing us back to the brooding nature of the opener.

Check out more from this artist? Yup
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Uh-huh

Expectation Index: 10

Trollheart · 11-04-2017, 11:46 AM

Album title: Suicide Silence
Artist: Suicide Silence
Genre: NU-metal
Nationality: American
Release date: February 24
Position in Discography: Fifth
Fear Factor: High
Familiar with this artist? No
Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No
Average RYM Score: 1.42

Ah crud! Not Nu-Metal! And I had happy memories of both Steel Panther and Stormzy in my head, now I have this eejit screeching in my ear. Drat. Oh dear! Seems the fans hated this as much as many of the critics. While one of the latter opined that the album sounded like "a garage band sloppily covering Korn and Deftones through a microphone they found in a dumpster"

the fans went further, actually petitioning the band to stop releasing the album! What the ****? Get over yourselves, yeah? Nobody's forcing you to buy it, are they? You might not like it (and I agree; it's total ****) but there might – just might – be someone, out there, somewhere, who does. One person? Anyone? No? Nevertheless, it's not for these wankers to try to stop anyone releasing their album just cos it offends their fanboy feelings. I also find it hilarious that the band's Wiki page has, apparently, been repeatedly vandalised, whatever that entails. Don't condone it, but it is damn funny, and indicative of the over-importance some nu-metal fans will give to the bands they follow. Hey guys! There's a whole world out there, you know?

What? Oh, the album. Yeah. Well what can I say? It sucks. I'm outta here.

Check out more from this artist? Ah, no.
Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Nuh-uh

Expectation Index: 0

11-03-2017, 07:42 PM	#821 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Freedom Highway Artist: Rhiannon Giddens Genre: Folk/Americana/Old-Time Nationality: American Release date: February 24 Position in Discography: Second Fear Factor: Moderate Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.29 What a great name Rhiannon is! Conjures up all sorts of magical images, legend and fairytales and so forth. Perhaps appropriate that this is then an album of road tales from America's history, and ooh is this dark when it kicks off. Love the banjo, slow and moody and very reminiscent of Bernie Leadon; her voice suits the music well and there's a real sense of drama building about this. Nice. This seems quite stripped down and barebones so far. I like this a lot. Her voice is really powerful without being overpowering: think Billie or Ella, you're in the basic area. Her cover of Baez's “Birmingham Sunday” sends chills, man. Chills. Interesting: there's a rap coming out of nowhere on “Better Get It Right the First Time”, which is a kind of soul/gospel hybrid, though “We Could Fly” drags a little and is kind of dreary really. This is however quickly relieved by the dixieland bop of “Hey Bebe” with some super cool trumpet, trombone or some damn wind instrument anyway. Very jazzy, but that's kind of the problem. I see now why Wiki included the odd genre tag “Old-Time” here: the album has gone from a dark country/folk style into some kind of twenties jazz/ragtime thing, and I have to say I don't like the change. I've never quite altered my opinion so drastically of an album as I listened, but this is literally a record of two halves, and I'm losing interest as we enter the second half. Okay, it reverts to the original folk/country style eventually, but I'm just not as sold on this now as I was within the first three tracks. Check out more from this artist? I'm really not sure Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes (would have been at least two points higher if the album had stayed the same quality as it began) Expectation Index: 9 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-03-2017, 07:46 PM	#822 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Inception Artist: Sanctuary Genre: Power Metal/Thrash Metal Nationality: American Release date: February 24 Position in Discography: Fourth Fear Factor: Low Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Yes Average RYM Score: 3.64 This is, apparently, a bunch of unused songs from 1986 or prior, and man does it sound like it! Production is awful, the riffs and rhythms are right out of Maiden's second album, and basically it just sounds so dated. Plus I was convinced the singer was a woman – it ain't. This is pretty poor now to be honest. Oh dear Dio! Now they're covering Jefferson Airplane's “White Rabbit”. Help me. All I can say about this album is that these recordings, obviously considered not good enough for their debut album, are still not good enough and I have no idea why Sanctuary thought it was a good idea to inflict them on the twenty-first century, but they stand very much as anachronisms and show how out of touch this band is. When was their last actual album? 2014. Hmm. But prior to that, 1990 and before that 1986, which I think shows they hardly have their finger on the heavy metal pulse. Hell, they'd be hard pressed to find it! Disappointing and dull, an album very much out of time and causing me to run out of patience. Okay, the last three are not terrible, though “I Am Insane” sounds very like “Two Minutes to Midnight.” Spookily so. Probably the most/only interesting thing about this collection of rejects that should have been left on the cutting room floor, where they belong. Check out more from this artist? Probably not Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes, always Expectation Index: 9 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-03-2017, 07:52 PM	#823 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	MLM (Monkey Lives Matter): just noticed Stormzy is (gasp!) Grime! You might want to prepare yourself for a disappointment...... Should get to it tomorrow anyway. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-04-2017, 05:30 AM	#827 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Seis peniques Artist: Sofia Ellar Genre: Pop Nationality: English Release date: February 24 Position in Discography: Debut Fear Factor: Moderate Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? A little Average RYM Score: N/A Oh come on! Does that title really mean “six penises”??? Surely not. Nah; “six pennies”. Ah well. I think my interpretation is funnier. Debut from what sounds like the English answer to Lana del Rey. Um. Singing Spanish. Kind of. Nice use of the violin. So far, nothing terribly special to be honest though.”G&T's” is a nice ballad, but not much more than that. One of three songs sung in English, “Fire of Fame” is a little better, but overall this is just so bland. There's no personality or identity here, despite these songs (which at least she wrote herself) being apparently about her experiences. Meh. All right: “Hace Dos Perdices” is not without its charm. Is this album going to make an effort for the final stretch? Well, “Mad Man” tries, and to be fair it's pretty good. I was just about to bail, but I'll hang in there for now. Has to be said that the English songs generally are a lot better than the Spanish ones, and that's not just due to the language thing. I just can't get into the Spanish ones; they seem to have, as already mentioned, no personality. It's like she's trying harder when she sings or writes in English. Still not totally great though, but certainly better. It does end strongly, in fairness. Check out more from this artist? No Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Expectation Index: 0 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-04-2017, 06:15 AM	#828 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Lower the Bar Artist: Steel Panther Genre: Glam Metal Nationality: American Release date: February 24 Position in Discography: Fourth Fear Factor: Low Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? Yes Average RYM Score: 2.88 Steel Panther have always struck me as something less than a serious band. I mean, come on! Steel ***ing Panther? They have to be taking the piss, don't they? Look at the opening track to this album: “Goin' In the Backdoor”? Wonder what that's a reference to? Well, I have no problem with humour – especially smutty, schoolboy, sexual innuendo humour – as long as the guys can rock. And can they! Whereas Sanctuary portrayed the worst side of eighties meh-metal on their new album as already reviewed, Steel Panther recall the over-bombast of bands like Van Halen and Def Leppard, bands which in some cases were not the greatest in the world but were masters of the tongue-in-cheek humour. Fun bands, y'know? I mean: “Backdoor never got a welcome mat, but that's never stopped me”. You gotta love that. Superb piss-take of Bon Jovi/Poison on “That's When You Came In”, complete with whiny acoustic guitar, and I love the line “That's when you came in and blew me, that's when you came in and blew me, that's when you came in and blew me away!” Ah, who else could write a song called “Pussy Ain't Free”? Another pop at Bon Jovi in “Wasting Too Much Time”: these guys are so *ing hilarious! And yeah, they're funny but they sure can rock too. Sweet. Hey, nobody's gonna accuse these guys of being original – they're taking the best from the Crue, Hanoi Rocks, GNR, you name it, and putting their own spin on it – but you can't not like a band whose drummer calls himself Stix and whose bassist is called Lexxi Foxx! Just good-time headbanging fun with several large beers and a party for all. Can't argue with that. Not gonna win any Grammys or turn up, I would imagine, on anyone's AOTY list, but that's not their aim, as you can see from the album title. Bar successfully lowered. God bless you, guys! Check out more from this artist? Yeah Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Yes Expectation Index: 0** __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-04-2017, 05:27 AM	#826 (permalink)
~~MicShazam~~ Account Disabled Join Date: Aug 2015 Location: Aalborg Posts: 7,634	About Sanctuary, their second album is really where it's at. Both their 2014 album and the new "lost" album aren't anything special.

11-04-2017, 11:26 AM	#829 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Gang Signs and Prayer Artist: Stormzy Genre: Hip-hop/Grime/R&B Nationality: English Release date: February 24 Position in Discography: Debut Fear Factor: Moderate Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 3.01 Well, here it is then: the one Monkey has been waiting for me to review. Hope it turns out to have been worth the wait. Well I like the atmosphere on the opening track anyway (storms, y'see?) and the keyboard is cool, very almost Mike Oldfield on Tubular Bells, or as you might know it, the theme from The Exorcist. Second track is more frenetic, but still really good. I like how he uses the music as a backdrop and not just background for his voice, which is pretty damn good. Seems like, unlike other rappers (at least as far as I know) he uses a full orchestra here rather than just synthesisers, and damn but it shows. There's a real lush feel to the music, a sense of depth and drama. “Blinded by Your Grace, Pt 1” (not sure why an archbishop would want to take anyone's sight, but there you go) has a very gospel/soul thing going on, cool organ or electric piano leading the line, and a nice soft vocal from Stormzy, then “Big For Your Boots” sounds a bit humorous, and I like it. There's some really smooth stuff here, some frenetic stuff, some angry stuff and some stuff that seems not to take itself too seriously, which is refreshing. A nice mix, and it certainly keeps you interested. “21 Gun Salute” is an introspective little brooder, which brings us to “Blinded by Your Grace, Pt 2” and it's a nice development from the first part, more rocky with a touch of gospel. Like this very much indeed. “Don't Cry for Me” is a good song too. Next track is just a phone call though. I've seen this happen a few times, I suppose it's a hip-hop thing, but I don't like it. Lazy. Still, it's really the only low point on the album so I won't go on about it. And it's followed by the cool “Shut Up”, finishing with “Lay Me Bare”, a great closer, bringing us back to the brooding nature of the opener. Check out more from this artist? Yup Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Uh-huh Expectation Index: 10 __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-04-2017, 11:46 AM	#830 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Album title: Suicide Silence Artist: Suicide Silence Genre: NU-metal Nationality: American Release date: February 24 Position in Discography: Fifth Fear Factor: High Familiar with this artist? No Familiar with the genre or subgenre? No Average RYM Score: 1.42 Ah crud! Not Nu-Metal! And I had happy memories of both Steel Panther and Stormzy in my head, now I have this eejit screeching in my ear. Drat. Oh dear! Seems the fans hated this as much as many of the critics. While one of the latter opined that the album sounded like "a garage band sloppily covering Korn and Deftones through a microphone they found in a dumpster" the fans went further, actually petitioning the band to stop releasing the album! What the **? Get over yourselves, yeah? Nobody's forcing you to buy it, are they? You might not like it (and I agree; it's total ) but there might – just might – be someone, out there, somewhere, who does. One person? Anyone? No? Nevertheless, it's not for these wankers to try to stop anyone releasing their album just cos it offends their fanboy feelings. I also find it hilarious that the band's Wiki page has, apparently, been repeatedly vandalised, whatever that entails. Don't condone it, but it is damn funny, and indicative of the over-importance some nu-metal fans will give to the bands they follow. Hey guys! There's a whole world out there, you know? What? Oh, the album. Yeah. Well what can I say? It sucks. I'm outta here. Check out more from this artist? Ah, no. Check out more from this genre or subgenre? Nuh-uh Expectation Index: 0** __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018