Trollheart

As I've been spending every spare moment working on my new Game of Thrones journal, I haven't had as much time as I would like to have had to listen to this, but I'm now ready to make my review anyway.
1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
Holy crap! This is good!

2. What did you think of the opening track?
Loved it

3. What did you think of the next track?
Loved that too

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions? (see note 1)
Was pretty good; some of the vocals were (intentionally, I presume) muffled but even then, not bad

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not? (see note 2)
It did, yes. It was very good.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it (first time)?
Much better

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
I liked most of it. Especially “We like Tom Waits” and “Bad Ben”

8. Did you like the instrumental parts? (see note 3)
I did, yes.

9. What did you think of the production?
Production is never my thing. Unless it's totally ****ty I can't say, and this was not totally ****ty.

10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
No and no

11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
No it is not

12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
]Much more; got into it more with every listen

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?
“Leicester Holiday”, “Sean lemon”, “Where's the home”, “We like Tom Waits (Because he's famous)”, “Winner”, “Getting back”, “Trapped in the net”, “Sticky”

14. And the one you liked least?
“Hollywood”. I agree with Frown: it's them trying to be kooky just to say “Look at us! We're kooky!” and it doesn't work.

15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated? (see note 4)
n/a

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
I'd listen to more, yes

17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
Very much so, given the source

18. Did the album end well?
It did, though again I agree with Frown that the closer was over extended and kind of seemed to run out of ideas.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
Kind of not really, no. Well, shorten the closer, maybe.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
Hung together very well.

I'm actually amazed (I know he won't mind me saying this) that I not only like but really love an album recommended by Frown, but this is excellent. I'd give it a 9/10 and a very solid Love.

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Frownland

I can't believe y'all really thought I'd drop an EAI record in here. I might for my next one just to spite you.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Psy-Fi

1. What were your VERY FIRST impressions on listening to the album, say from the first five minutes in?
Psych-rock reminiscent of the Velvet Underground and Grails.

2. What did you think of the opening track?
It reminded me a bit of the Velvet Underground but mostly Grails (especially their album "Burning Off Impurities".)

3. What did you think of the next track?
Louder, noisier psych-rock that started out reminding me of Jefferson Airplane and segued into something reminiscent of Nirvana at their sloppiest before returning to a sloppy Jefferson Airplane sounding ending.

4. Did you like the vocalist? Hate him/her? Any impressions?
Mediocre at best. Didn't really care one way or another.

5. Did the music (only) generally appeal to you, or not?
Some of it was mildly interesting and some of it sounded rather wretched.

6. Did the album get better or worse as you listened to it?
It fluctuated between better and worse.

7. What did you think of the lyrical content?
The lyrics I could understand were rather underwhelming at best.

8. Did you like the instrumental parts?
A few parts were interesting but mostly I didn't care much for them.

9. What did you think of the production?
I thought it sounded like an amateurish 4-Track demo.

10. Did you know of this artiste prior to listening to the album, and if so, did that foreknowledge colour your perception of this album?
Never heard of them before this.

11. Is this, generally, the kind of music you listen to or not?
Not very often.

12. Assuming you listened to the album more than once, on repeated listens, did you find you liked the album more, or less?
Listened twice. didn't make a difference either way the second time.

13. What would you class as your favourite track, if you have one?
A tie between the opening track "Leicester Holiday" and "Sex." I probably would've rated the album higher if more tracks had been like those.

14. And the one you liked least?
A tie between "Digital Image" and "Alone on the A9." Nothing about either one interested me.

15. If the album in question is a debut, did that fact allow it, in your mind, any leeway, and if so, was that decision justified or vindicated?
Didn't make any difference to me.

16. Are you now looking forward to hearing more from this artiste, if you have not heard any of their other material?
No. Didn't hear anything that interested me enough to make me want to listen to them beyond this album.

17. Were you surprised by your reaction - positive or negative - to the album?
No. Wasn't sure what to expect going into it.

18. Did the album end well?
The last track "Getting Back" was too repetitive and seemed to drag on too long for my ears, so no.

19. Do you see any way the album could have been improved?
I wasn't too keen on the overall sound from a production standpoint, It sounded more like a demo than a finished album, so better production might've made a bit of difference to me.
And definitely get rid of that God-awful hair transplant album cover.

20. Do you think the album hung together well, ie was a fully cohesive unit, or was it a bit hit-and-miss?
It sounded like a jumbled mess of different styles to me, and mostly a miss. I thought they sounded like a band going in too many different directions and trying to replicate the sounds of other, more well-known bands without having an identifiable sound of their own.

5/10

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She's a Brick House

Frownland

How many songs were on the version you listened to? Because

Since you weren't huge on the album it's no biggie, I just don't want others to listen to an incomplete album.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Psy-Fi

^ I did see your note of that difference after I listened to it on bandcamp, so I went and listened to the extra tracks before I finished my review. Didn't really change my view on it one way or another, though.

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She's a Brick House

Chicagoslaw8

The guitars are great, reminds me of Music from the 90s or 70s/60s, don't care for the Vocals very much. Don't have much else to say other than I like the Album musically, but not Vocaly, this style is not for me. 6/10
Best:Sex,Leicester Holiday,You're So Sticky,Holiday(Kinda)
Worst: In Zero

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Pet_Sounds

To be completely honest, I haven't really enjoyed any new music in some time, and this was no exception. The production was too messy and I found the vocals grating for some reason. Still, I felt that there was potential if the band had made the record more "accessible." I guess I'll give it a 6/10 for that plus grade inflation.

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Aloysius

Bat-Bike - Getting Back
There's some great creative stuff on this album, moments of magic where the improv really created a spark. Then there's other stuff that just sounded pretty sloppy to me, or dragging out one riff for far too long. Which begs the question - is it good to revise, alter, improve, or does that just destroy the moment of band members finding something original together? William Burroughs said that to revise and delete passages was a form of lying, you are no longer truely mapping out the human psych. It worked for his writing for the most part, for Bat Bike I think this album would be better after some revision, keeping the great stuff (there are some really great moments) and ditching the crap parts. But maybe I'm missing the point.
6/10

Chicagoslaw8

What's the last Album you enjoyed? Spoons New Album is pretty good, but I understand why people may not like it!

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Pet_Sounds

I'm slowly getting into Prince (his music is new to me). To be fair, I don't have much time to seriously listen to music, and I'm more inclined to spend that time doing something else.

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