Sometimes it's just fun to take a chance on an album. I've often done this before, buying one on a whim. Like a small child in a sweet shop that's excited but doesn't know quite what he wants --- everything looks tasty but is it good for you? --- or a magpie, I'm attracted to shiny things. It's either going to be the title of the album, the name of the artiste or indeed the cover art that attracts me, but usually I check further to see what genre this music belongs to, because a really cool cover could hide a band or artiste I do not want to hear. But now I'm going to start taking chances, especially since I signed up for Spotify, which allows me to experience these albums without actually having to pay for them. I've decided that every week (he says hopefully) I'll just grab something off either Spotify or one of my online music vendors that I like the look or sound of, and try it out. Whether it's good bad or indifferent I'll review it here and let you know what I thought of it. Could end up being something really cool, could be meh, could be god why did I even think that would be good, but it's all, as they say, in the roll of the dice. At the end of the review I'll score the album with two dice (original, huh?), in a manner I'll explain at the end.
And yes, before any smartarse comments and says so, it's pretty much an extension of "The Meat Grinder", just widened beyond the scope of heavy metal. But these won't necessarily focus on the bands per se and then the album, as in that other section: these will be a review of the album with information back on the band. Of course, the album may end up getting me into the band, or making me stay a million miles away from them, but we'll see.
Anyhoo, the first sparkly thing that caught my eye was this.
All the little lights --- Passenger --- 2012 (Nettwerk)
What was it about it that caught my eye? Well, you can see from the album cover it's a really nice colourful one, quite simple and yet at first glance can be taken as two separate things: a sort of forest scene at night with the sun going down, or a galactic nebula in space. I believe it is the former, but either seem to fit. Then there's the band name: Passenger. Immediately this brought to my mind the Mostly Autumn album of almost the same name, and wheels began turning. Maybe it's something similar, I thought? Progressive rock? Though with my luck it'll be hip-hop or punk! Finally, the title --- "All the little lights" --- not only ties in well with the cover but gives a sense of nature and simplicity that appealed to me. So I racked it up on Spotify and began to play it.
Now, in a departure from my usual method of reviewing I'm not going to do this track-by-track, but more like the reviews in "Bitesize", though a little more comprehensive than those. I'll be breaking the review up into things like first impressions, likes, dislikes, sound and overall satisfaction (or disappointment) with the album.
First impressions: A lovely celtic feel and atmosphere, very laid back and gentle. The vocal from Mike Rosenberg, who is basically all that remains of Passenger these days, is a little off-putting; it's the accent, it's very harsh. Kind of reminds me of yer man from The Lightning Seeds, but I think I'll get used to it. Lovely instrumentation, including violin and acoustic guitar, and though Rosenberg is essentially a solo act he does recruit an Australian band to help him on the album. There's a sense of melancholy and loss in the music, and certainly sounds quite folky at times. Opener "Things that stop you dreaming" is a great introduction to this artiste, and it gets better as it goes along.
Likes: Celtic/folky instruments, soft gentle sound, backing vocals, simple lyrics that still say a lot
Dislikes: Singer's voice --- not really though: it just takes a little getting used to. I'm used to it by about the third track.
Development of album: Nice upbeat country-style tempo on "Staring at the stars". Love the line
"All our girfriends are long gone/ We watch too much internet porn/ Who needs love when you've got silicon and strap-ons?" with a real bleak message in the boppy music. The uptempo continues in the title track, with some really nice vibra- or xylophone work and something of a Beautiful South vibe to it. Slowing things back down a little then, with a sort of marching beat is "Circles", with lovely violin and some heavy hollow drumming, while "Keep on walking" recalls some traditional ballads and ups the tempo again. Lovely waltz-style ballad in "Life's for the living" with some cool trumpets and a great sense of determination, standing against the darkness of despair in "Holes", with a great building chorus and fine backing vocals. Excellent closer in the hilariously right-on "I hate". Love it, just puts the seal on a great album by a band I had never heard of before, but intend to check out more now.
Overall sound: Very gentle, laidback with a dark thread of sadness and bitterness running through it. Can also kick up the tempo but the down-to-earth honesty remains in the lyrics. Everyman music at its best.
Reminds me of: A gentler Waterboys, Deacon Blue, bits of David Gray
Favourite track(s): "Holes", "Things that stop you dreaming", "Staring at the stars", "Keep on walking" --- pretty much all of it really.
Least favourite track(s): There's nothing on this album I don't like.
Overall effect on me: Really loved this album, would more than likely seek out further examples of Passenger's work. I listened to this on Spotify but I loved it so much I'm now off to buy it.
TRACKLISTING
1. Things that stop you dreaming
2. Let her go
3. Staring at the stars
4. All the little lights
5. The wrong direction
6. Circles
7. Keep on walking
8. Patient love
9. Life's for the living
10. Holes
11. Feather on the Clyde
12. I hate (live)
So here's how the rating system works. Two dice, obviously one to six, one being the lowest rating, six the highest. The first dice is just an expression of how much I enjoyed, or didn't enjoy the album, but the second one is the more important. It refers to how familiar or not I am with this genre or subgenre. If it's one I hate(d), didn't know of or had little experience with, it'll be a high score. So for something I've never heard or listened to before it could be a four to a six, whereas if it's something I know well it'll be down in the one or two region. This means that in order to get a really high value, like ten or more, the album has to be not only excellent but something I was not well-versed in beforehand. Using that logic, the best a, say, prog rock album I've never heard before but end up thinking is amazing can get is maybe seven (six for die one but only one for die 2), whereas an album that I end up loving but comes from a genre I'm not familiar with, something totally new or surprising to me, could get six on die one and five or six on die two, total eleven to twelve.
I'm hoping this system properly rates my attempts to perhaps break into new genres or subgenres, and how successful or otherwise I am in that endeavour. Anyway, based on the above my rating for this album runs like this:
Die one: How did I enjoy this? Loved it. Not a bad track. Got to get a five, if only because I'm going to reserve sixes for totally out-of-this-world albums and though this was excellent there are a very few small niggles. Also I don't want to rush into awarding sixes right at the start. So for this
Die two: How unfamiliar was I with this genre? Well, I have heard some folk and acoustic rock, and while I'm not entirely sure where this falls in terms of genres, I couldn't honestly say it was new to me, so let's give it a three, as it's not the sort of stuff I always listen to.
Therefore, total rating for this album: rolling the dice I've come up with
