Forum Member Album Reviews

[Mondo Bungle]

Ki reviewed my three worst albums up there... and all the reviews were positive. How whack is that.
I'm not that good.

I can't even listen to Disgust myself, I think that one sucks so hard. For some reason everyone else who hears it thinks it's so great, I dunno about you guys. But you know, I'm the artist and I declare that it is bad so I'm right, obv.

[Mondo Bungle]

If you wanted to listen to and review an album of mine, make it this https://troublesalad.bandcamp.com/al...ooks-like-snow

Imo there's just a few worth shaking a stick at, and that's one of them

[YorkeDaddy]

Originally Posted by Mondo Bungle

If you wanted to listen to and review an album of mine, make it this https://troublesalad.bandcamp.com/al...ooks-like-snow

Imo there's just a few worth shaking a stick at, and that's one of them

Well my pick for me is obviously "For Now" which is the main page on my bandcamp so head there and imagine you'll really like it.

I thought the album you rec'd me initially was like an hour and a half long :P The one about snow sounds plenty enticing to me though! I'll get around to it on Monday probably.

[Mondo Bungle]

That would be this one: https://troublesalad.bandcamp.com/al...-sleep-machine

I sampled some of yours and thought it was okay. I busted my computer and use library computers now so I don't have much time to listen to a full album and review it.

[Plainview]

Originally Posted by YorkeDaddy

Hey Plainview, sorry for the delay. I'm ready to listen and will be brutally honest. I liked the format you used for the review of my album so I'll go with the same format here.

Plainview's The Deaf Aids - Soft Heat
https://soundcloud.com/the-deaf-aids/sets/soft-heat

1. Soft Heat
Very interesting psychedelic, crunchy guitar opens up the title track. The sound keeps getting developed and layered with more guitars and there's an almost funky sound to it. The production is really nice for the opening part but I might've lowered the gain on the lead guitar a little bit, but what I really like is the transition around the 1 minute part into a softer sound. I really like the subtle transitions that keep the track moving along in interesting new directions. The ambient synths at the end are lovely. Overall a solid opener.

2. Urge To Merge
Love the start of this. All the percussion is really really nice and creates a sweet vibe to this track. The lead guitar that comes in to add melody is really cool. There's not quite as much going on in this track as the first one, and this one favors slower buildups and gradual additions of new layers, honestly this is just a great song. Will probably end up being one of my favorites but we'll have to wait and see since it's still early on.

3. Dark Hearts
Starts off with a deep, droney bass that I like. Goes along with the title very well. Nice atmospheric guitar, but I'm not a particular fan of whatever the instrument is that comes in after the guitar, but the dissonant chords are interesting. The synth solo is cool and well played but not mixed well and a little too high-pitched, it hurt my ears honestly.

4. Lucid Dreamer
Really sick riff to start off, and some nice shredding but some more high pitched twinkling that I didn't enjoy much. Some arpeggios come in that kind of remind me of a song from Super Mario World lol, I'll look for that on Youtube later. This track is kind of all over the place so far, all of a sudden there's some ravey dance synths before it reverts back to the original sound. Kind of hard to evaluate a track like this, it sounds like a molding of a bunch of interesting ideas with little cohesion but the individual parts themselves are generally cool on their own. I love the transition to strings which is starting to go along with the track's title a little better. I would've preferred developing the nice ambiance you had going there rather than throwing in the heavy dance beat, it just seems out of place in the scheme of the album so far. Awesome ending, overall a bizarre track that I quite liked in the end.

5. Like Liquid
Damn very cool abrasive synths there and the accompanying synth really does sound "like liquid". I'm noticing a distinct pattern of 4/4 whole note loops of four measures which are very tried-and-true and generic, I'd recommend exploring different time signatures and combinations to create more variety in the rhythms. Not a bad track at all though.

6. Talisman
Love the opening to this. No idea what these sounds are but they are very cool, almost kind of sounds like someone banging on a tin can or something. Pretty nice transition over to the heavy distorted guitars. Definitely a good track right here.

7. Restless
Damn are you playing that bass? That's a sick line right there and the organ-like synth is a nice touch. I love the melody of the main riff, this song develops very nicely throughout the first half and the brief transition in the middle is great. Love this track, it's up there with "Urge To Merge" for me so far.

8. Midnight Complex
The title had my hopes up for a slower song and it sounds like that's what I'm gonna get. Nice aquatic sounds and reverb in the beginning. The atmosphere to this is very nice. As with most of this album your transitions are generally on-point and generally come at the right time to keep things interesting. Really like the synth around 2:30, especially the way it kind of rises and falls sometimes. The ending is great. Just overall a job well done with this track.

9. Puzzle the Will
Nice chill beat and guitar here. Seriously love when the guitar comes back in with a slightly different sounding melody in the middle. Not a whole lot else to say about this track, some very solid work here. One of the highlights.

10. Phasing Out
Trippy stuff to start this one off. Not a fan of those high pitched beeps but I've already voiced my dislike of stuff like that so it's a personal thing. This is one of the more experimental tracks on this album that's for sure. I like the guitar that comes in, but the phasey synth in the background that serves as the central meat of the track goes on for a bit too long and kind of loses its effectiveness. Kind of hard to figure out what's going on at the end to be honest, some very trippy psychedelica going on there. I dig most of this but some of particular layers are miss rather than hit for me.

11. Canned Light
Pretty cool groove for the first part of this. Digging the guitar playing for sure. The slowly unraveling phasers are an element that might be overused throughout the entire album, there might only be like one or two tracks that I don't remember hearing it utilized. The transition in the middle of this is wonderfully executed. Overall just a solid track but it didn't blow me away or anything.

12. A Different Alloy
Let's see how you finish things up. I like how this wailing synth weaves in and out seamlessly. Definitely some serious experimentation going on in this track and I like it a lot. Very nice textures at work when these multiple layers are working together. Extremely cool track and an interesting choice to make it the closer of the album.

Verdict:
Definitely a good album, no doubt about that. The production is generally great, the physical instruments are all piloted masterfully and some of the tracks seriously stand out. Going through some of them again and I'm convinced "Urge To Merge" is the top track of the album, that's just a really fantastic piece you made there so bravo for the whole thing but especially that track. There really wasn't a track I disliked and the variety was very fun, it's awesome when an album keeps me on my toes and I have no clue what could be coming next.

Cheers for the review! Glad you enjoyed it over all. Interesting that you mentioned time signatures. I basically went through I phase where I couldn't make anything in 4/4 without thinking it wasn't interesting enough, so I challenged myself to create a full album in 4/4 this time around.

What is really good is that the different people who have given feedback have all pointed out different tracks as their favourite.

I definitely over did it with phasery synths in hindsight I think. They're generally just an easy way to fill space. Gotta get out of that habit.

Glad you like the 'Restless' bass line, just came up with a really bouncy/fast one which I thought could carry a track.

Thanks again.

[Pet_Sounds]

Originally Posted by Plankton

Thanks again for that outstanding review. New album is in the works, but won't be available until next year. Professional mastering and all the fixings included this time around.

Awesome! Lemme know when it's released.

Originally Posted by wolverinewolfweiselpigeon

Yeah, seriously Pet Sounds. I had forgotten how rad your review was. I can't remember if I ever shared it with my band mates or not, but I'm going to now.

Thanks.

[Trollheart]

I guess you missed my question so again...

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Yorkie, do you want us just to link or post the whole thing? Like I said, most of mine would need two or three posts per album....

[Key]

^i say just post em, TH

[YorkeDaddy]

Originally Posted by Trollheart

I guess you missed my question so again...

Yeah just post em, or if you're really worried you can link to them too. Either way's fine

[Machine]

It'd be cool if this thread was stickied so we don't have to go searching for it if someone wants to submit a review.