|
|||||||
| Register | Blogging | Today's Posts | Search |
 |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
09-08-2009, 08:51 AM
|
#1 (permalink) |
|
Juicious Maximus III
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Scabb Island
Posts: 6,525
|
Tore's Treasure Trove v2.0 - Album Reviews!
 version : 2.0 Welcome weary forum traveller to my journal on music banter. If you wonder why it says v2, it's because my original journal was hard deleted and this is a remake of that thread. I had posted quite a few reviews on the old one and these have now been restored to working, reading order! If you're new to this thread (or the old) and new to me, a quick introduction might be in place. I'm a norwegian in my late 20s and I think I have a somewhat flexible taste in music although I'll admit I seem to have a bias for bands and artists from 70s England. Anyways, this is where I review albums. Some I like and some I don't, but they all include something which I think is worth getting, even if it's just one song out of 20. These albums are rated on the strength of the whole thing, the finished product. The albums I love the most have a consistency about them, a red line perhaps from start to finish which completes them and makes them something more than just a collection of good tunes. Because me and all other norwegians have a love for 6-sided die, I will use a rating system from 1 to 6. There is no neutral here, 3 and down are various gradients of bad while 4 to 6 means good and perhaps worth checking out. In detail :
Albums Reviewed Thus Far :
PS! If you have Spotify, you can click on the album's spotify link found under the track list to give it a listen for free (when applicable). PPS! Reviews from Kula Shaker's Strangefolk and on may have footnotes. These are pointed to with the following symbols : *, †, ‡, §, ‖, ¶ Reading Tip : I'll be the first to admit my reviews can get rather lengthy. If you're not specifically interested in the album, you can cut down your reading time by reading the introductions and the summaries. I try to organize my reviews so that it's easy to find the information you're after without reading the whole thing. Of course, comments are appreciated and if you wanna find out more about any of these albums, just send me a PM! 
__________________
Something Completely Different Last edited by Guybrush; 06-11-2011 at 04:07 PM. |
|
|
|
09-08-2009, 09:32 AM
|
#2 (permalink) |
|
Juicious Maximus III
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Scabb Island
Posts: 6,525
|
Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha (2008)
Supergrass - Diamond Hoo Ha (2008) 
Listen : Spotify Introduction Members : Gaz Coombes, Danny Goffey, Mick Quinn, Rob Coombes First, a little info about the band is in order. Supergrass is one of the many bands to come out of the 90s britpop era. On their debut album I Should Coco from 1995, they carved out their own niche in music history with fast punk-inspired pop rock that sounded like youth distilled, concentrated and put on a record. Their sound has changed subsequently with each album and as a result, they are removing themselves more and more away from their upbeat and playful debut record. Supergrass last before this one, Road to Rouen, reflected a rough period for the band as the Coombes brothers mother died and drummer Danny had some kind of tabloid ordeal. I was curious to see where Diamond Hoo Ha would take them .. Detailed Review Supergrass are again exploring new ground with their sixth album, leaving behind much of their punk and pop influenced beginnings and adopting a dirtier rock sound comparable to contemporaries like The Raconteurs. The album opens strong with a vulgar, dirty guitar riff on song Diamond Hoo Ha Man. For old fans, this track might be a little hard on the first try, but with a couple of more listenings, it should become an album favourite. Gaz's vocals combined with the rather randy guitar gives you the impression the boys are trying to make love to your earhole. When the sun goes down .. I just can't resist .. BITE ME!It's reasonably kickass and likely the best song on the album! The beat-steady second song is a little catchier. Bad Blood continues much in the same vein as the first, but it's sound is a little more accessible with a nice melancholic refrain. The overall impression is positive and this one is also a good contender for the album's best song. On Rebel In You, the album gets a little cuter. It sounds like a love song with some nice, poppy backing vocals. It's a bit weaker than the other two, I think, but still a nice track. Definetly one of the stronger songs on the album. Steady piano beat song When I Needed You is a nice melodic, melancholic tune. It's not as noticeable as the first three, but I think this might be the kind of tune you'll return to when you've played the attraction out of the other strong songs on the album. 345 speeds the album up again with an interesting, noisy guitar riff - quite an unconventional one for pop-rock. It also has some of the attitude from the first two tracks. Also one of the strongest songs on the record. We're about halfway through and so far, so good. Return to Inspiration sounds like the album's first filler to me. It doesn't exactly sound bad, but aside from a dreamy refrain, it brings little new to the table. Rough Knuckles is perhaps the best track on the second half of the album. As you will soon see, that's not saying an awful lot. This one is also stylistically similar to the earlier songs, but it doesn't quite have the attitude. Ghost of a Friend .. Eew, I don't like much. It's a melodic song with acoustic guitar and steady beat, but the only thing I really like about it sounds like it was stolen from Bob Dylan's Like a Rolling Stone .. Not a fan! Alright, let's make this quick. Whisky & Green Tea, Outside and Butterfly all sound like fillers to me. They're not really adding much to the album, except some strange backing vocals and saxophone on Whisky & Green Tea (which is never heard before on a Supergrass song as far as I know). They're not really bad either, but it makes the album feel like it's dying a repetitive, slow death as it nears it's end .. None of them are interesting enough to contend with the stronger material of the first half. Review Summary So what do we have here? On Diamond Hoo Ha, it's appearant the boys have left behind the sadder days of Road to Rouen. The first half of the album is good, I think, and deserves a reasonably good score (4). The second half of the album, however, is nowhere as charming and gets repetitive (3). There were fillers on the earlier Supergrass albums too, but they still had that unique Supergrass sound. Now that the magical concoction is being diluted more and more all over the album, the weakest tracks offer little to interest me. I'll add that I don't think the strong songs on the album can at all hope to measure up to the strong songs from the earlier albums. None of them suck you in like I Should Coco song Time. None of them have the energy of In it for the money track Richard III. None of them are as downright awesome as Supergrass (their eponymous 3rd album) track Mary. So that's it. At best they are good songs, but not awesome. If I was to rank the Supergrass albums, I'd do it like this.
I'd still recommend the first half of the album to new listeners and old, but - if you are a new listener, you might as well take a look at the albums on the top of my list first. As for me, I feel slightly disappointed overall. Supergrass is one of the few bands in this genre I've had real interest in and it saddens me a bit that they seem to move away from what it is I liked about them. As you can see, their latest 3 are all at the bottom for me, so now I'll officially stop with the expecations. Toretorden's Treasure Trove rating : 3/6 - The first half is good, but the last half pulls it down at least a point.
__________________
Something Completely Different |
|
|
|
|
09-08-2009, 09:49 AM
|
#3 (permalink) |
|
Juicious Maximus III
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Scabb Island
Posts: 6,525
|
Airbourne - Runnin' Wild (2007)
Airbourne - Runnin' Wild (2007) [/CENTER]
Listen : Spotify Introduction members : Joel O'Keeffe, Ryan O'Keeffe, David Roads, Justin Street I read somewhere that the O'Keeffe brothers had gotten their old uncle's rock and roll records in with their breastmilk when they were kids. That must've been some awesome records - and some hot sauce in those tits too - cause these guys ****ing rock - hard. Like their musical forefathers (obviously AC/DC), Airbourne is a hard rock band from Australia and although they've been making songs for a few years and gained an ever-growing following for their pub rock sound, they didn't release their debut until 2007 in Australia and 2008 for the rest of us. Get ready to get your ass kicked! Album review Damn! Listening to Airbourne's debut is like getting punched in the ear with the fist of rock & roll and it hurts - only in a good way. You know? The opener, Stand up for Rock 'N' Roll opens with a riff that sounds like you just put on a Megadeth or some other metal band album. However, after a little suspension buildup, the song reaches a climax and the hard rock sound punches through and hits you straight in the face. Awesome! Then it keeps climaxing for the rest of the song. I haven't heard anything this genuine in a long time. These guys are the real deal - and they sound like it. This track was (unsurprisingly) the first I ever heard of Airbourne and it blew me away right from the start. It's a true beer drinking, ass-kickin' Rock & Roll anthem and a powerful opener on a what sounds like a great debut record. The second track, Runnin' Wild just continues the goodness. The vocals are harsh, gritty, the beat is steady and the guitar sounds raw and the riffs are dirty. This is true headbanger's music. Another awesome track. Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast, Diamond in the Rough, Fat City and onwards, they all continue much in the same vein as the first couple of songs. It's all ass-kickin, riff-based hard rock and the quality is high. I don't think there's a single weak track on this album. The lyrical themes are right where they should be. From "Too Much, Too Young, Too Fast" : Too much, Too young, Too fastClearly something youthful people in all ages can relate to. Awesome! Review Summary So what do we have here? Aside from possibly last or this year's strongest debut (depending on where you are) and a good contender for most testosterone put on a record, Runnin' Wild is one helluva rock album. It takes the oldschool sound and attitude of AC/DC and mixes it with the best from modern production and youthful energy. If you like AC/DC, you cannot help but like Airbourne's sound. The first time I put it on, my girlfriend actually thought I'd put on an AC/DC record (the old guys should be proud - or they should perhaps call their lawyers). Anyways, while there are no weak tracks, the songs lack variation (which is why I skipped doing a detailed track-by-track review). However, I think for an album like this, most people won't mind at all. They'll probably be getting drunk. So - if you have your friends over for beer one day, put this on. They will thank you. Strongly recommended for everyone who still likes their rock music with balls! Toretorden's Treasure Trove rating : 5/6 I'm looking forward to hear how Black Ice compares to this.  Oh, and if someone in Oslo could get them for a concert, that would make me happy!
__________________
Something Completely Different |
|
|
|
|
09-08-2009, 09:54 AM
|
#4 (permalink) |
|
Juicious Maximus III
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Scabb Island
Posts: 6,525
|
Caravan - For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night (1973) 
Introduction Members on this album : Pye Hastings, Geoff Richardson, David Sinclair, John G. Perry, Richard Coughlan Caravan is a (still active) prog-rock band from the Canterbury area and were part of the canterbury scene along with contemporaries like Soft Machine. Unlike some of their contemporaries who often moved in a more jazzy improvisational direction, Caravan eventually pursued a more good-natured pop-rock sound that sometimes had slightly naive or silly lyrical themes. They released a well-recieved eponymous debut album in 1968 which was followed up by more well-recieved album "If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You" (1970, awesome title by the way) which was followed up by even more well recieved and critically acclaimed classic "In the Land of Grey and Pink" (1971). After the third album, then-keyboardist David Sinclair left the group and was replaced with Steve Miller .. Then they released another album, Waterloo Lily, but it did not recieve so well with fans and critics as their previous albums. Ouch. Anyways, to make a long story short, the band was broken up leaving only Hastings and Coughlan who recruited some new names and after a while, David Sinclair returned to the band. I hope I'm not boring you this early on with facts. You can read about it on Wikipedia if you wanna know all the details. Anyways, Sinclair leaves -> slightly disappointing 4th album - Sinclair comes back -> ... what happens then? Why, they make the album "For Girls Who Grow Plump in the Night" of course! Album Review "So is it good?!" you wonder, probing at the feelings of suspense and wonder I left you with in my introduction. "Patience man! You can't just dive head-first into an album like this. Now, let us start with the first track" ... Memory Lain opens the album with a solid, catchy guitar riff - bass and hats come in, followed by drums after a couple more turns on the riff and WHAM! Harmonius, playful vocals enter and the magic that is Caravan opens up and sucks you in, lulling you with soft rock goodness. Wow! After a couple of goes at a wonderful refrain, the song softens up with a lovely part on the flute before it heads into an instrumental jam on the same theme. Everything is so catchy, dreamy, perfect - you can't help but get sucked in. After a while, the song slows down again and a probing, haunting flute finds it's way into the music and steers it down a new path. A steady beat picks up until eventually, the song starts breaking up again. But not for long. Suddenly, the drums and guitar kicks off again in perfect sync in what must be Headloss. The rock & roll riff will send shivers down your spine and the vocals are are right back again in what sounds like a real feelgood rock tune. "I got my pipe and I got my song - and I got love to keep me happy"After some rounds of this, the song kicks off into it's final jam and finally ends at a little more than 9 thrilling minutes of great music. I hope I'm able to convey some of the love and wonder I have for this song. The moment I heard it, I knew I liked it and the replayability is tremendous. It feels like it grows on me a little more everytime I hear it, making me more and more fond of this album. Next song, Hoedown also kicks off with a solid riff in what is one of the "rockier" songs on the album. However, being the shortest song on the album, it soon hands things over to Surprise, Surprise, Surprise which is another absolutely wonderful song, a bit poppier than the first two tracks with some absolutely lovely backing vocals and lyrics that contains words like "sunshine" and "love". Associations in my head is walking in the sun a summerday, being young and in love. If what I write sounds tacky, then I'm sorry - don't take it out on the song. It is awesome. The sweetness dies away a little with scary-themed C'thulu Thulu (Cthulhu fthagn!) song, but instead of breaking up the so-far sweet theme of the album, it's playful style and humorous refrain makes it more like a humorous anekdote about something spooky that happened one day. Now and then, it surprises you with a raw guitar sound (relative to whatever else on this album) and jams out .. The next song is The Dog, The Dog, He's At It Again. Oh my. Oh .. wow. This joyful song with the most harmonius vocals so far should hit you right in the heart. If you say you don't like this song, well - I just don't believe you. Of course, it continues the sweet, feelgood theme of the album. A jam in the middle shakes things up a little and makes you long for the vocal verses once again and when they return, it feels oh-so satisfying. I'll add that the song has some very playful, fun and interesting lyrics. Supposedly, Pye wrote this song as an ode to blowjobs or something along those lines. My mother said that I should stay out of bed,So please - sit back, relax and enjoy this song in it's entirety. Next track, Be Alright / Chance of a Lifetime ups the pace again in a more beat-steady rock tune with some skillfull solo-guitar and orchestral arrangement that are perfectly mixed, keeping it in line with the rest of the album. However, when it makes it's slide into the Chance of a Lifetime theme, we're onto new ground . The song slows down and is takes the shape of a kind of slow-jazzy bossa nova. In my mind's eye, the warm music conjures up pictures of white beaches and blue waves as the song jams, hits a new verse and then slowly breaks to a halt, leaving the stage for the album's last song. Last track opens with acoustic guitar and some wonderful violin in a theme similar to Chance of a Lifetime before it kicks into a beat-steady prog-instrumental piece A Hunting We Shall Go. The next theme is another haunting instrumental part dominated by piano at first, then strings and clarinet. It picks up towards the end with more horns and strings adding to the sound, making it sound more or less like a pure orchestral piece - growing more and more pompous. Within the song's last minute, the rock riff from earlier comes back in with the orchestra for a final showoff before the album ends abruptly in what sounds like a thunder .. the album has reached it's inevitable end. Sigh. Now, if you are fortunate and have the bonus songs, you might hear what sounds like "memory lain" starting up again. Oh joy! If you don't have them, putting the album on repeat will suffice. Review summary While Airborne's last album will pick you up, throw you on to the table and have rough sex with your eardrums, Caravan's "For Girls who grow plump in the night" will seduce you, make you fall in love with it, make sweet lovin' to your soft and ravaged little ears and make you beg for more in the morning. This is some of the most seductive rock-music I've ever heard. It may take a few listens to really get into it, but it's not hard. The first time I heard it, I was like "Wow! This is a good album!" A couple of listens later, I was like "Someone get me a glass of water. Drooling hydrates me. Dear Caravan, thank you for making sweet love to my ears. Will you please do it again? Aaahh". This has rapidly become my favourite album these days and I'm sorry for all the comparisons between sex and listening to music, but if you were me, you'd understand. It's also a real "feelgood"-album, more so than the previous albums I've heard from them .. more so than any other prog-rock album I've heard, at least so far. That, to me, makes it a little extra special. It's an album for the good times in your life - or - as is my case right now, remembering them (Well - I've been working a lot the last few days). Where I am right now - in the polarnight where it's dark and cold 24/7, I sincerely appreciate it. So what can I say? Unless you already have it or your taste in music is narrower than a mite's arsehole, you need to get this album. If you do get it, bear in mind that this album may not be appropriate any time of any day. It may not be appropriate for a night's beer-drinking with your bachelor friends, but you could possibly listen to it when you're driving your car in the summer with the top down (the roof, I mean). If you have a long bussride to get through, you could put this album on your iPod and let yourself slip down into the warm and seductive sounds of Caravan .. (It also works when you're out walking in -20 below and strong gale winds as long as you cover your head properly.) So how do I rate this sly sucker? My heart tells me to give it a 6, but I'm in a vulnerable state right now - like I'm in love and I can't think straight. I need to think with my head and not with my heart. Can I trust Caravan? Maybe they're taking take advantage of me?! ... Toretorden's Treasure Trove score : 6/6 All good tracks combined with the way they all add to the outstanding wholeness of the album deserves, right now, a 6 - I think. If you find the time, try listening to it in it's entirety. You will see what I mean.
__________________
Something Completely Different |
|
|
|
|
09-08-2009, 12:50 PM
|
#6 (permalink) | |
|
Juicious Maximus III
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Scabb Island
Posts: 6,525
|
Quote:
__________________
Something Completely Different |
|
|
|
|
|
09-08-2009, 04:53 PM
|
#7 (permalink) | |
|
Account Disabled
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: classified
Posts: 639
|
Quote:
|
|
|
|
|
|
09-09-2009, 07:41 AM
|
#8 (permalink) |
|
Juicious Maximus III
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Scabb Island
Posts: 6,525
|
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside (1978)
Kate Bush - The Kick Inside (1978) 
Listen : Spotify Introduction Me and Kate go a relatively long way back. The first time I noticed her was when me and a mate was at a nachspiel (after-party) at another one of my female friend's place. I was sitting on the couch while her overly drunk boyfriend was feeding me cold rice-stew with a ladle. And we were listening to Kate Bush's Wuthering Heights, although I didn't know it was her at the time. The song made a lingering impression, but the next morning at the pub, I couldn't remember who the artist was .. Somehow I rediscovered her some time later, could've been a year or two - I don't remember exactly when or how it happened. At first, I wasn't quite sure wether I thought her unique voice was truly beautiful or just strange, but I was intrigued. When I downloaded some of her music videos, the weirdness of Kate Bush really opened up to me. The girl seemed utterly crazy with her sometimes squeaky voice, wild eyes and often not-so-graceful dance moves, but somehow I found it all immensely and strangely appealing. Mesmerizing almost! I quickly became a fan of her very early works and I even bought a T-Shirt. Some of my friends still tease me about it (the bastards) .. However, that is now a while ago now and my relationship with Kate has sobered up a bit since then .. So who is Kate Bush? Well, when she was little, she studied the violin and the piano. She also quickly started writing her own songs and was a bit of a prodigy. In her early teens, she was discovered by none other than David Gilmour. With his influence and recommendations, she signed a contract with EMI at a mere 16 years of age. She would spend the time between the contract and her debut album writing more than 200 songs as well as getting dancing lessons and finishing school. According to Kate Bush, recording her own album was a childhood dream and The Kick Inside supposedly contains songwriting material that she wrote all the way down to 12 years of age. The album was released when she was 19 and spawned several singles. With Wuthering Heights, she became the first female UK artist to reach Nr. 1 on the charts, immediately catapulting her into stardom. As her musical career developed, she became a shy celebrity who preferred to do her own stuff without being a public figure. As a result, over time she somewhat removed herself from the mainstream appeal of her first albums. Album review The two first tracks, Moving and The Saxophone Song are beautiful, fragile, feminine and sometimes haunting songs. Both are among my favourites and a great way to start off such a strong album. Strange Phenomena (which is appearantly about menstruation) and particularly Kite lightens the mood of the album with a more playful, youthful and in the latter, whimsical sound at times. Kite also features Kate Bush doing very extensive backing vocals in her own song, much to the listeners pleasure. The Man With The Child in his Eyes is another fragile and beautiful song written by her at the age of 16. The recording of the song was done under the supervision of David Gilmour and it's also the second single from this album. As such, they made a music video for it that you can watch below! This very strong song is immediately followed up by her first single from the album and possibly Kate Bush's most famous song ever, Wuthering Heights. As I wrote earlier, it was the first single by a female artist to reach nr. 1 in the UK, making it a historical and unique pop song. Although I've heard it hundreds of times, it still has great replay value and I think it's a quite hard song not to like. The lyrics are obviously inspired by Emily Bronte's book by the same name in which the ghost of Kathy is standing outside Heathcliff's window .. The video does a good job of showcasing everything that is strange and at the same time appealing about Kate. Enjoy! After Wuthering Heights, we enter the second half of the album. While not as strong as the first, there are still good songs. Feel it, although it sounds like a melancholic love song dominated by Kate's voice and her piano, sounds like it might be about sex. Oh, to be in Love is another fun track that has male backing vocals in the chorus and Them Heavy People is another whimsical tune about realising your potential .. I think. The album inevitably finishes with the title track The Kick Inside which is an absolutely lovely song and definetly one of my favourites from this album. Review Summary So why should you want to listen to this album? For one, it is a well-produced album with some wonderful songs by a an incredible artist. Secondly, it is truly unique and a collector's item for any person who is half-serious about his music collection. When they discovered Kate Bush as a teenager, they realised her potential and instead of forcing her talent, they nurtured it and gave it time to grow. When she bloomed, The Kick Inside was the first fruit of many from Kate Bush and for me, it is by far the sweetest. Producer Andy Powell has done a great job lifting and showcasing this teenage girl's amazing talent and the album feels like it captures her essence at that time. It's unspoiled, youthful, amazingly creative for a pop record and often quite feminine and innocent despite some lush orchestral arrangements now and then. Kate quickly matured after her debut and so some of the qualities of this record are quickly lost, leaving an overall feeling of fragile beauty when seen in the larger perspective from her discography. I think this album has two ratings. If you know nothing about Kate Bush and only listen to it, I'd say it's a very good album and I would give it a 5/6. However, if you can appreciate it's amazing history and where it comes from, feelings of awe may haunt you at every track and quickly turn it into an excellent album. Since these reviews are all about my opinions and what I feel, I give it .. Toretorden's Treasure Trove score 6/6 Favourite tracks Moving, The Saxophone Song, Kite, The Man With the Child in his Eyes, Wuthering Heights, The Kick Inside. For such an album to come from a girl in her teenage years is nothing short of amazing. The Kick Inside makes Kate Bush an inspiration for every young artist out there.
__________________
Something Completely Different |
|
|
|
|
09-09-2009, 09:26 AM
|
#10 (permalink) |
|
Juicious Maximus III
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: Scabb Island
Posts: 6,525
|
Her debut is one of those albums that have stayed with me for so many years now and I definetly have a very sentimental relationship with it. Not everyone will find listening to it as rewarding as I do of course, but those who think they like what they hear in those youtube vids or get curious from reading her story should definetly check her out!
__________________
Something Completely Different |
|
|
|
|
|
|
what else do I have to say?
Linear Mode
