Listen with Trollheart

Trollheart · 04-18-2018, 11:23 AM

Sea of Destiny – Jacobs Dream (2017)
Genre: Power Metal
Another power metal band. Please let them be better than the laughable Wrathblade, though that wouldn't be hard. No, these guys sound like they have more about them. Yeah, decent enough though not terribly memorable. Trouble is, again, they really sound like they want to be Maiden so bad. They're good, but I'm not really taking in much of what they're playing, and that's never good. You got to grab my attention, and they're really not. Singer could be higher in the mix, but at least he can sing. That twin guitar attack is always gonna sound like Adrian'n'Dave though.

Trollheart · 04-19-2018, 06:07 PM

We Are Glitter – Goldfrapp – 2006
Genre: Electronic

Interesting. I thought this was a compilation album, but it is in fact a remix one, featuring songs from one of their earlier albums. I'm not crazy about remixes (especially albums of them!) and I don't know the album in question, 2005's Supernature, so this could go either way. However I have liked both Goldfrapp albums I've heard up to now, so that's something. Can't say I'm overly impressed however. I think the fact that I don't know the original album lessens the impact, if there were any, of these remixes, and in general as I say, I don't much care for remixes. I hear a lot here though that I'd be interested in coming back to listen to again. Mind you, I'll probably just rack up Supernature to hear the original songs. Not bad though.

Trollheart · 04-24-2018, 06:16 AM

Crimson – Hudson – 2012
Genre: Folk Rock

Hey, you have to admire a band (duo) who write and record any album in seven days, never mind one of this quality. I reviewed this back when it was released, check here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1238919 for that, but haven't listened to it since. I really like it, I have to say. I'm not very familiar with Bon Iver (I know you lot are) but for some reason I'm comparing this to him. Not sure if that's even valid. Damn good album though, and for a band that's pretty well unknown (Discogs and Wiki both look at me in confusion) it's quite a find. Worth giving your time to.

Trollheart · 05-04-2018, 10:31 AM

Contagious – Y&T – 1987
Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock

Interesting. I've only heard one or two Y&T albums, and they have about twenty-odd. Have to say though, I'm not terribly impressed with this one so far. Pretty basic. A few good tracks. “Fight For Your Life” is decent, and “Temptation”, though a little cheesy, isn't a bad ballad. “Rhythm or Not” is a good sleazy rocker, “Eyes of a Stranger” has a Dioesque charm about it, but mostly this feels more on the AOR side of things more than Heavy Metal. Well, it sure ain't no Black Tiger is all I can say. Closes with an instrumental, not bad really. Quite Gary Moorelike. I could see myself coming back to this at some point, though not for a good while.

Trollheart · 05-07-2018, 10:19 AM

The Ones That Matter – Tower City – (2011)
Genre: AOR

Apparently, this is a compilation. From a band who seem to have a total of two albums. All right. It's decent, quite impressive. I mean, AOR is the kind of genre it's hard to get too excited about in terms of diversity or innovation, but this is good enough. I hear a lot here I might be interested in coming back to at some point. Not bad.

Trollheart · 05-08-2018, 10:39 AM

Last of a Dyin' Breed – Lynyrd Skynyrd – 2012
Genre: Southern Rock
Looks like the next one up is one I already reviewed a few years back, one of the few Skynyrd albums I know, and their latest. I remember being impressed by this first time round, let's see how we do with another listen. Yeah, this is brilliant. The guys still have it. What a legacy, to still be rockin' after all these years, and turning out albums like this. Superb.
Here's my original review from 2012 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Last of a Dyin' Breed

Trollheart · 06-04-2018, 09:56 AM

Night Be My Grave – Grimirg – 2016
Genre: Doom Metal
Really interesting idea here from this Russian band, with soft, angelic female vocals, sometimes choir-like, counterpointed by dark, rumbling, almost animalistic male ones, against a backdrop of dramatic, epic doom metal music. Really like this. Very impressed. I'll be listening to more of this.

Trollheart · 06-04-2018, 10:28 AM

The Road Goes on – Offramp – 2015
Genre: Prog Rock
Loved this when I heard it a while back, still love it. Great instrumental music with a real proggy twist. Oddly though, listened to it a third time and I kind of changed my mind. Seemed a little boring. Maybe it took a while but is in fact a “reverse grower”, if there's such a thing? Start off liking/loving it and then grow to not hate it, but not quite appreciate it as much as you had originally.

**Frownland** · 06-04-2018, 10:30 AM

Most definitely. Some albums just don't have long-term playability despite being great on first listen.

Trollheart · 06-04-2018, 10:34 AM

Misconnected Man – Syzygy – 2017
Genre: Prog Rock
Man. I really expected to love this, but boy do I hate it. It's so damn boring. Part of the time it goes into a sort of doom metal kind of vibe, but for most of the time it's a jazzy/psych feel, and yeah it's all instrumental. I think. At least, I don't remember any vocals. Maybe I was too bored to pay attention. Meh. Big disappointment.

04-18-2018, 11:23 AM	#51 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Sea of Destiny – Jacobs Dream (2017) Genre: Power Metal Another power metal band. Please let them be better than the laughable Wrathblade, though that wouldn't be hard. No, these guys sound like they have more about them. Yeah, decent enough though not terribly memorable. Trouble is, again, they really sound like they want to be Maiden so bad. They're good, but I'm not really taking in much of what they're playing, and that's never good. You got to grab my attention, and they're really not. Singer could be higher in the mix, but at least he can sing. That twin guitar attack is always gonna sound like Adrian'n'Dave though. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

04-19-2018, 06:07 PM	#52 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	We Are Glitter – Goldfrapp – 2006 Genre: Electronic Interesting. I thought this was a compilation album, but it is in fact a remix one, featuring songs from one of their earlier albums. I'm not crazy about remixes (especially albums of them!) and I don't know the album in question, 2005's Supernature, so this could go either way. However I have liked both Goldfrapp albums I've heard up to now, so that's something. Can't say I'm overly impressed however. I think the fact that I don't know the original album lessens the impact, if there were any, of these remixes, and in general as I say, I don't much care for remixes. I hear a lot here though that I'd be interested in coming back to listen to again. Mind you, I'll probably just rack up Supernature to hear the original songs. Not bad though. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

04-24-2018, 06:16 AM	#53 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Crimson – Hudson – 2012 Genre: Folk Rock Hey, you have to admire a band (duo) who write and record any album in seven days, never mind one of this quality. I reviewed this back when it was released, check here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ml#post1238919 for that, but haven't listened to it since. I really like it, I have to say. I'm not very familiar with Bon Iver (I know you lot are) but for some reason I'm comparing this to him. Not sure if that's even valid. Damn good album though, and for a band that's pretty well unknown (Discogs and Wiki both look at me in confusion) it's quite a find. Worth giving your time to. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

05-04-2018, 10:31 AM	#54 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Contagious – Y&T – 1987 Genre: Heavy Metal/Hard Rock Interesting. I've only heard one or two Y&T albums, and they have about twenty-odd. Have to say though, I'm not terribly impressed with this one so far. Pretty basic. A few good tracks. “Fight For Your Life” is decent, and “Temptation”, though a little cheesy, isn't a bad ballad. “Rhythm or Not” is a good sleazy rocker, “Eyes of a Stranger” has a Dioesque charm about it, but mostly this feels more on the AOR side of things more than Heavy Metal. Well, it sure ain't no Black Tiger is all I can say. Closes with an instrumental, not bad really. Quite Gary Moorelike. I could see myself coming back to this at some point, though not for a good while. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

05-07-2018, 10:19 AM	#55 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	The Ones That Matter – Tower City – (2011) Genre: AOR Apparently, this is a compilation. From a band who seem to have a total of two albums. All right. It's decent, quite impressive. I mean, AOR is the kind of genre it's hard to get too excited about in terms of diversity or innovation, but this is good enough. I hear a lot here I might be interested in coming back to at some point. Not bad. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

05-08-2018, 10:39 AM	#56 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Last of a Dyin' Breed – Lynyrd Skynyrd – 2012 Genre: Southern Rock Looks like the next one up is one I already reviewed a few years back, one of the few Skynyrd albums I know, and their latest. I remember being impressed by this first time round, let's see how we do with another listen. Yeah, this is brilliant. The guys still have it. What a legacy, to still be rockin' after all these years, and turning out albums like this. Superb. Here's my original review from 2012 Lynyrd Skynyrd - Last of a Dyin' Breed __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

06-04-2018, 09:56 AM	#57 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Night Be My Grave – Grimirg – 2016 Genre: Doom Metal Really interesting idea here from this Russian band, with soft, angelic female vocals, sometimes choir-like, counterpointed by dark, rumbling, almost animalistic male ones, against a backdrop of dramatic, epic doom metal music. Really like this. Very impressed. I'll be listening to more of this. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 06-04-2018 at 10:30 AM.

06-04-2018, 10:28 AM	#58 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	The Road Goes on – Offramp – 2015 Genre: Prog Rock Loved this when I heard it a while back, still love it. Great instrumental music with a real proggy twist. Oddly though, listened to it a third time and I kind of changed my mind. Seemed a little boring. Maybe it took a while but is in fact a “reverse grower”, if there's such a thing? Start off liking/loving it and then grow to not hate it, but not quite appreciate it as much as you had originally. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

06-04-2018, 10:30 AM	#59 (permalink)
Frownland SOPHIE FOREVER Join Date: Aug 2011 Location: East of the Southern North American West Posts: 35,541	Most definitely. Some albums just don't have long-term playability despite being great on first listen. __________________ Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth. d e a f b o x

06-04-2018, 10:34 AM	#60 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,994	Misconnected Man – Syzygy – 2017 Genre: Prog Rock Man. I really expected to love this, but boy do I hate it. It's so damn boring. Part of the time it goes into a sort of doom metal kind of vibe, but for most of the time it's a jazzy/psych feel, and yeah it's all instrumental. I think. At least, I don't remember any vocals. Maybe I was too bored to pay attention. Meh. Big disappointment. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018