|
Register | Blogging | Today's Posts | Search |
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
10-07-2014, 05:18 PM | #141 (permalink) |
Mate, Spawn & Die
Join Date: May 2007
Location: The Rapping Community
Posts: 24,593
|
I've really been hoping to check out electronica that I've never heard before via this thread, but we can do Gary Numan if you want. I've never heard this particular album, though I do like Gary Numan.
|
10-07-2014, 06:04 PM | #142 (permalink) | |
Dragon
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Kansas, United States
Posts: 2,744
|
Quote:
So why don't we all meet back here in a few days with our reviews. |
|
10-07-2014, 06:30 PM | #143 (permalink) | |
Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,992
|
Quote:
I wouldn't say I liked it but if you check back in my journal (I'll get you the link if you want) I seem to remember thinking he'd come a long way from the days of Tubeway Army and albums like "Replicas" and "The Pleasure Principle". Also, don't worry about my workload: my clones are helping me out here. Share the work, that's what I say!
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 |
|
10-09-2014, 07:00 AM | #144 (permalink) |
gimme gimme
Join Date: Dec 2012
Location: istanbul
Posts: 897
|
I am not a member (yet) but I legitimately don't care. I wanted to listen to this Gary Numan so I did and I am happy to answer the questions.
Questions 1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in (first time)? Intrigue. Straight up intriguing. I don't like evil-sounding stuff like this usually but I can get into anything with a melody. I get a NiN or Marilyn Manson vibe. I'm okay with that. Also, I think this could be something Trollheart would like. Why not, right? 2. Did your first impressions change, i.e., did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)? The second track is alienating me hardcore with the whispering. So, thus far, it's getting a bit worse. I hope this song spins into a cool chorus-type part soon. Okay, it came but it's really just kind of creepy. I much preferred "I Am Dust." The style of the vocals seems to get more and more droning as we go. 3. Which was stronger in your opinion, the opening tracks (first 2-3 songs), or the ending tracks (last 2-3 songs)? Definitely the opening 2 tracks. Did not care for the 3rd track and the final tracks didn't resonate with me. 8. How would you describe the variety of tracks available on this album? Feel free to be very detailed if you like. There are a lot of different flavors and influences present, but honestly the tone stays the same throughout. Dark, depressed, uncertain. It would be nice if the tone was as varied as the styles, or if...at least one song was a bit lighter maybe? The last song kind of does this but it's actually so out of place. It might have been better in the middle, just to shake things up a bit. 10. Is this an album you would listen to again all the way through (for personal, recreational use, outside of listening to it for this club), or are there just a few songs that you would listen to? I would probably just listen to a couple of the tracks. 11. How well do you already know the band/artist? Had never heard of this guy. 14. Would you recommend this album to others? Hmmm... that really depends on who is asking and/or the context of the conversation. Obviously if someone is like "wow I really wish there was something like NiN but less vulgar and screamy on the market" I might say hey have you heard of Gary Numan? 15. Are you interested in listening to more albums by this band? Not really, no. 16. What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to? Industrial? 17. (NOTE: Ignore this question if the album does not have lyrics.) Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions? I actually do like him. He's sexy and pulls you in a bit, makes you want to understand his point of view and actually get a feel for what he's singing about. 18. Your overall album rating on a scale of 1-10? 4 |
10-09-2014, 09:13 AM | #145 (permalink) |
silky smooth
Join Date: Aug 2011
Location: Pangaea
Posts: 4,079
|
Back when this was a thing, the album I was going to nominate when my turn came was Zammuto's S/T. If anyone wants to check that out I highly recommend it
Cool album cover too imo <3
__________________
http://cloudcover1.bandcamp.com/ http://daydreamsociety.bandcamp.com/ 9-Time Winner of MusicBanter's "Most Qualified to be a Moderator" Award |
10-09-2014, 12:09 PM | #147 (permalink) |
the worst guy
Join Date: Oct 2011
Location: Miami is the place
Posts: 11,609
|
Questions
1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in (first time)? Pretty cool first track. Comes across more like a closing track to me at first, so that was a bit weird. 2. Did your first impressions change, i.e., did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)? I think it probably got better for sure. Less repetitive in the second half. 3. Which was stronger in your opinion, the opening tracks (first 2-3 songs), or the ending tracks (last 2-3 songs)? Last three probably. A little more bite about them. 4. On repeated listens (if you did so), did you find you liked the album more, or less? Feel free to be very detailed if you like. I only listened to the album once. 5. What is your favorite track from the album, if you have one? Lost was pretty good. It came at the right time for a slower track. Wish it exploded though. 6. What is your least favorite track from the album, if you have one? Not particular least favourite, they kind of blended into one. 7. Did you change your favorite or least favorite track as you listened to the album? Nope. 8. How would you describe the variety of tracks available on this album? Feel free to be very detailed if you like. Not particularly varied in my opinion. All reasonably slow and dark at first, with a similar build up. 9. What is the overall mood on this album? Quite dark and chilling (an attempt to be at least). 10. Is this an album you would listen to again all the way through (for personal, recreational use, outside of listening to it for this club), or are there just a few songs that you would listen to? Not likely to listen to it again. 11. How well do you already know the band/artist? I know him well as a name, but I haven't listened to much of his music. I did watch him live at a Ben & Jerry's event in Manchester though. 12. If you are familiar with this band/artist, how would you compare this album to any of their earlier/later material? I only really know Cars/The Pleasure Principle, and it's nothing like that. 13. Do you see any way the album could have been improved? Needed to be more harsh and brutal. This is a very safe version of this type of music. 14. Would you recommend this album to others? Not really. I'd recommend other albums to people who wanted this kind of thing. 15. Are you interested in listening to more albums by this band? Not likely. 16. What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to? Industrial Rock if I had to. But it's not really that. 17. (NOTE: Ignore this question if the album does not have lyrics.) Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions? They weren't particularly engaging for me. But I am not a huge lyrics guy when it comes to this type of music. He's just saying quite bland and generic things like "You don't love me" over and over again. 18. Your overall album rating on a scale of 1-10? 4/10
__________________
|
10-09-2014, 02:33 PM | #148 (permalink) |
Dragon
Join Date: Jan 2014
Location: Kansas, United States
Posts: 2,744
|
Goofle, are you aware you didn't actually put a rating down for the album?
Oh and @ Misspoptart, I'm just glad to see some activity here. Questions 1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in (first time)?"Man, this sounds epic" were probably my first thoughts. These songs are intense, melancholy, even a bit depressing at times, but they evoke tons of fantastic imagery. Really cool. 2. Did your first impressions change, i.e., did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?Around the third track the album got into this really dramatic ambient sound that was highly, highly addicting. The fourth and fifth tracks were much better than the first three. 3. Which was stronger in your opinion, the opening tracks (first 2-3 songs), or the ending tracks (last 2-3 songs)?Meh, they were mostly similar. I can't choose one set over the other. 4. On repeated listens (if you did so), did you find you liked the album more, or less? Feel free to be very detailed if you like.I didn't listen to the album again, though I did listen to few individual tracks again. 5. What is your favorite track from the album, if you have one?"The Calling," "Splinter," or "Lost." One of those songs. 6. What is your least favorite track from the album, if you have one?Not sure. 7. Did you change your favorite or least favorite track as you listened to the album?Well "The Calling" was my favorite, but then I heard "Splinter" and I liked that just as much. Same thing goes for "Lost." 8. How would you describe the variety of tracks available on this album? Feel free to be very detailed if you like.I've got a mixed feeling about the variety. Most of the tracks stand out on their own, but I just think the album is just a tad too long and could be cut by a few tracks. "The Calling" has this deep orchestral section, and I think "Splinter" has an Oud playing at a few points, so the variety is quite high. 9. What is the overall mood on this album?Definitely gloomy or melancholy, but there are a few moments where the gloomy feeling dissipates and the mood changes to this epic, inspiring melody. Most of the time though, the mood is just gloomy sprinkled with a few changes throughout. 10. Is this an album you would listen to again all the way through (for personal, recreational use, outside of listening to it for this club), or are there just a few songs that you would listen to?It's a bit long, so probably just a few tracks. 11. How well do you already know the band/artist?Never heard of him. 12. If you are familiar with this band/artist, how would you compare this album to any of their earlier/later material?N/A. 13. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?A bit shorter would be nice. The variety is very good as is, but maybe have more contrast between the intense, grinding synth tracks and the melodic ones. "Lost" is very close to a ballad in sound, and maybe if you threw another one in the album, and maybe take out a track from the second half of the album and threw in another grinding synth track, it would be much more entertaining. 14. Would you recommend this album to others?Yeah, I could see most people finding something from this I like. 15. Are you interested in listening to more albums by this band?Yes. I may bring this guy back when it's my turn to pick next. 16. What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to?Intense, gloomy industrial? I don't know honestly. 17. (NOTE: Ignore this question if the album does not have lyrics.) Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?He was great. Had no qualms with him except the whispering on the third track was slightly, very slightly, annoying, but it could have been much worse. Other than that, I have no problems with this guy. Goofle mentioned the lyrics and yeah I will agree on paper, the lyrics sounds cheap, but the flawlessly timed instrumentation that surrounds the vocals really enhances their value I think. 18. Your overall album rating on a scale of 1-106 |
10-09-2014, 06:35 PM | #149 (permalink) |
Born to be mild
Join Date: Oct 2008
Location: 404 Not Found
Posts: 26,992
|
I should say that, as someone growing up in a time when he was super popular, and hating his music at the time, I know probably more about Numan than most of you. That's not a boast, nor a confession. But as I mentioned I had already sampled three of his albums for my journal, and as I'm very busy with Metal Month II these comments will be mostly pulled from that review, though of course not verbatim. The point is, the chances of changing my opinion of the album after one more listen are slim, so I'll go with how I felt when I did listen to it, back then.
1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in (first time)?Dark, heavy, oppressive .. you know, Numan! 2. Did your first impressions change, i.e., did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?Definitely better. I had listened to two other albums (“I, assassin” and “Exiles”) and hadn't enjoyed them at all. Though I'm not, and never will be, a fan of his music, I found myself liking more of this than I thought I would. 3. Which was stronger in your opinion, the opening tracks (first 2-3 songs), or the ending tracks (last 2-3 songs)?Last 2-3, though for me the strength of the album lies in the middle, with tracks like “Lost”/”Splinter”/ “A shadow falls on me”. 4. On repeated listens (if you did so), did you find you liked the album more, or less? Feel free to be very detailed if you like.n/a 5. What is your favorite track from the album, if you have one?“Lost”, “A shadow falls on me” 6. What is your least favorite track from the album, if you have one?Surprisingly, I can't really fault any of the tracks. 7. Did you change your favorite or least favorite track as you listened to the album?No. “Lost” was pretty much the pinnacle and I didn't really hear anything better than that. 8. How would you describe the variety of tracks available on this album? Feel free to be very detailed if you like.I find a lot of the time, in the little electronica that I have listened to, there's not too much room for variety. The change in singing style on some of the tracks (falsetto on “A shadow falls on me” and the whispers in the opener) was interesting, and there was some nice piano on some of the songs, but overall it maintained the same sort of feel throughout. 9. What is the overall mood on this album?Dark, depressive, hopeless. When the word “love” is used it's almost mockingly so. But Numan has never been one to rock out or sing about his lady (or man), so I'm not surprised. But I wouldn't recommend listening to it if you're in a depressed state. It certainly won't cheer you up! 10. Is this an album you would listen to again all the way through (for personal, recreational use, outside of listening to it for this club), or are there just a few songs that you would listen to?I'd be unlikely to listen to this again. 11. How well do you already know the band/artist?Gary Numan hit the big time with “Are friends electric” in 1979 but that was with his then-band Tubeway Army. After that he scored a few hits such as “Cars” and “Warriors”, but he was a leading light (or darkness) of the new wave movement and was on the radio and the telly all the time back when this was popular, so I know him quite well. I had however not listened to a single album from him prior to my “Triple Boxset” slot. 12. If you are familiar with this band/artist, how would you compare this album to any of their earlier/later material?Compared to the other two I reviewed, this was livelier (seriously!) and better put together, more a hint of industrial music about it than the others, which were fairly bland and faceless. Of the three, I prefer this one. 13. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?Hard to say. I'm not a fan of new wave so I wouldn't have any suggestions. For what it is, I think it hits the right target. 14. Would you recommend this album to others?Not personally; it's not the sort of music I prefer to listen to. 15. Are you interested in listening to more albums by this band?No. Three is enough, I've paid my dues. 16. What sub-genre, if any, would you assign this music to?New wave/new romantic with a touch of the kind of Krautrock that the likes of Kraftwerk play. 17. (NOTE: Ignore this question if the album does not have lyrics.) Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?Numan's voice has always been one of the things I like least about him. It's usually too high, whiny and always come across to me as cold, emotionless and flat. Given that, he can certainly sing, and if you like this style of music you'll probably enjoy his voice. I personally think I'd rather listen to Slayer! 18. Your overall album rating on a scale of 1-10 (whole numbers please. Also, please BOLD or otherwise make this rating easy to see. Use this color pattern for ratings:
__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 |
|