Love or Hate Reborn

Neapolitan · 10-31-2019, 11:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Batlord

Bro I just realized TH is using proper capitalization for album titles now. Crazy.

I "Sandy Brown" his use of proper capitalization.

Trollheart · 11-01-2019, 09:29 PM

Title: New Mexico
Artist: The Oppenheimer Analysis
Genre: Electronic/Dance/Synthpop
Artist Reaction: Shrug; never heard of them
Genre Reaction: Dance I’m not crazy about, synthpop mostly I can enjoy
Familiarity: Zero
Suggested by: Batty
A Little Background: Can’t really find anything about the artist, but it appears to be two guys from the UK. Hopefully this is the right album, as it’s under the name Andie Oppenheimer, though it is called New Mexico and I doubt two bands have the same album with the surname of the father of the atomic bomb in them!
Expectations: Don’t know; hoping for at least a Like
Overview: Can’t tell you much, other than they seem to have had only two albums, of which this is the second, the first released all the way back in 1982. That’s a long time between albums.

Okay well according to Discogs the way Spotify has the tracks listed is wrong, but as it’s easier I’m going to go with Spotify’s version. Don’t suppose it makes too much difference. In which case we begin with

The Devil’s Dancers: Has a very eighties new-wave feel, don’t particularly like the voice of the singer, bit moany, sort of reminds me of Martin Gore. Maybe. Very synth-led of course, with the drum machine going and making it all sound very, I don’t know, plastic? Manufactured? My favourite word for this kind of music: soulless.
Radiance: Slower track, but not too much different from the opener (as Spotify has it); quite depressing really. I do like my synthpop but I prefer it to be more upbeat in tone than this. Also reminds me now of Numan when I’d prefer OMD sort of thing. Bored with this.
Martyr: At least this has a bit more life in it. Still don’t like the singer but this is a lot better.
Cold War: Keeping this moving. I can take this sort of dancy electronica better than the kind of coldwave (?) of the previous two tracks. This isn’t bad. But god that bored vocal! Like a cross between Gore and Tennant, a match for me made in Hell. Yuck.
Don’t Be Seen With Me: This has something about it. Like the rippling synth line, the hollow drums and the basic rhythm of the song. Even the vocal is not bad this time around. Best song so far (though that’s not saying much). This actually opens the album, according to Discogs, and if I had heard this first maybe I might have had a different slant on the album.
Modern Wonder: Then it goes right back to the bored, listless vocal. You know, at times I think he’s not even singing in tune. Ah, what do I know? I know I don’t like his voice on about eighty percent of these tracks, that’s for sure.
Subterranean Desire: There’s a certain something about this track. I can’t say I like it particularly, but I dislike it less than most of the others. Man, if that’s close to the best I can say about this album we done got us a problem!
Scorpions: There’s a nice kind of synth motif running through this. It’s quite Depeche Mode but with a sort of Cars feel in places too. Not bad.
New Mexico: This is a real dronefest though. Very boring. And way too ****ing long. “The land of enchantment”? The land of tedium more like! You know, I’m changing that black to red. **** this. It’s just the same ****ing thing over and over and over again. Why does this have to be nearly eight minutes long? Shut the **** up!
Behind the Shades: Another decent rippling keyboard riff; I think anything would be better after the ****fest of the title track, but to be honest this isn’t that great. Sort of a brassy thing going on too, which is a little interesting but overall it’s dreary and boring. Yawn.
Men in White Coats: Worrying that these guys are going to show up and drag me off at this point. Almost wish they would. This is really terrible. The album I mean. This track does at least have a bit of energy about it, and again the vocal has some personality in it, one of the few times I hear it. Could be decent, give it a chance. Yeah, I can get into this, which puts it very firmly in the minority.
You Won’t Forget Me: This one is okay too, quite good in fact. Snatches of AOR-ish keyswork in there, vocal has some emotion, more of that Cars feel about it. Upbeat and bouncy. Better. Almost sounded like some guitar there!
Science: More downbeat but an uptempo track, not half bad.
Under Surveillance: Says original mix so I assume this is from the other album, the one released in 1982? Well how weird! Looking at that album I see it’s basically the very same track listing, with one or two other tracks. What the blue living -? So I don’t know where this comes from but it’s quite good actually, very uptempo and catchy. One of the better ones.
Fellow Traveller: This time it says “guitar version”, but where the original version is I don’t know. And now I see Spotify has two versions of the album, the second one of which, the one I didn’t see, is the correct track listing that ties in with the Discogs one. Oh well. Looks like I only missed out one track, “Security Risk”, but took in two, no three others in its place. This runs on acoustic guitar, which is a nice change (clue is in the name, Trollheart) and it’s pretty good.

Conclusion: I was pretty convinced I was going to hate this, or at least dislike it as the album went on, but though I do dislike a lot of it, there are a few tracks that I did like and so I can’t really rate it too low. It certainly improved towards the end, making a strong showing and if more of the album had been like the last three tracks or so I would have likely rated it higher.

So, Love or Hate? As it is, I can just about stretch to Like it a little.

Note: I’ve had some comments that people are getting confused by my colour-coding, so in future I will be adding a reminder at the end of each review. Everyone happy now?

True Love
Love
Really Like
Like a Little
Meh
Dislike
Really Dislike
Hate

Neapolitan · 11-01-2019, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Note: I’ve had some comments that people are getting confused by my colour-coding, so in future I will be adding a reminder at the end of each review. Everyone happy now?

True Love
Love
Really Like
Like a Little
>Meh
Dislike
>Really Dislike
Hate

I'm somewhat unsure if this is worth bringing to your attention, since you already established your color system, and maybe it's too late for a change. However I thought I'd let you know I have a hard time differentiating between what's "White" with "LemonChiffon." Maybe it's an optical illusion due to the light color background MB has, but I really can't see the difference. I'm not knocking your color system, it does serve a purpose.

Trollheart · 11-02-2019, 07:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Neapolitan

I'm somewhat unsure if this is worth bringing to your attention, since you already established your color system, and maybe it's too late for a change. However I thought I'd let you know I have a hard time differentiating between what's "White" with "LemonChiffon." Maybe it's an optical illusion due to the light color background MB has, but I really can't see the difference. I'm not knocking your color system, it does serve a purpose.

Believe me I understand. There are so few colours to choose from and I wanted to try not to use variants of any, and I tried also to use ones that would be visible against our blue background. This makes lighter shades of blue unworkable, I see what you mean about white so I'l look into what else I can use. Any suggestions? What about this in place of lemon?

Plankton · 11-02-2019, 07:59 AM

If you use the color spectrum and their gamma's, it makes more sense.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

True Love
Love
Really Like
Like a Little
Meh
Dislike
Really Dislike
Hate

Plus, that cyan can really mess with Neo's head.

**Marie Monday** · 11-02-2019, 08:12 AM

gamma's? Splendid idea though

Plankton · 11-02-2019, 08:16 AM

I'm not sure what the heck that is either, it just sounds cool.

**Marie Monday** · 11-02-2019, 09:07 AM

Lol

Plankton · 11-02-2019, 09:30 AM

I just realized Trollheart can't quote that and copy/paste it if he wants to use it, so here's a quotable copy/paste ready to go.

True Love
Love
Really Like
Like a Little
Meh
Dislike
Really Dislike
Hate

The Batlord · 11-02-2019, 03:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Note: I’ve had some comments that people are getting confused by my colour-coding, so in future I will be adding a reminder at the end of each review. Everyone happy now?

True Love
Love
Really Like
Like a Little
>Meh
Dislike
>Really Dislike
Hate

What the **** those are the same god damn colors?!

11-01-2019, 09:29 PM	#72 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Title: New Mexico Artist: The Oppenheimer Analysis Genre: Electronic/Dance/Synthpop Artist Reaction: Shrug; never heard of them Genre Reaction: Dance I’m not crazy about, synthpop mostly I can enjoy Familiarity: Zero Suggested by: Batty A Little Background: Can’t really find anything about the artist, but it appears to be two guys from the UK. Hopefully this is the right album, as it’s under the name Andie Oppenheimer, though it is called New Mexico and I doubt two bands have the same album with the surname of the father of the atomic bomb in them! Expectations: Don’t know; hoping for at least a Like Overview: Can’t tell you much, other than they seem to have had only two albums, of which this is the second, the first released all the way back in 1982. That’s a long time between albums. Okay well according to Discogs the way Spotify has the tracks listed is wrong, but as it’s easier I’m going to go with Spotify’s version. Don’t suppose it makes too much difference. In which case we begin with The Devil’s Dancers: Has a very eighties new-wave feel, don’t particularly like the voice of the singer, bit moany, sort of reminds me of Martin Gore. Maybe. Very synth-led of course, with the drum machine going and making it all sound very, I don’t know, plastic? Manufactured? My favourite word for this kind of music: soulless. Radiance: Slower track, but not too much different from the opener (as Spotify has it); quite depressing really. I do like my synthpop but I prefer it to be more upbeat in tone than this. Also reminds me now of Numan when I’d prefer OMD sort of thing. Bored with this. Martyr: At least this has a bit more life in it. Still don’t like the singer but this is a lot better. Cold War: Keeping this moving. I can take this sort of dancy electronica better than the kind of coldwave (?) of the previous two tracks. This isn’t bad. But god that bored vocal! Like a cross between Gore and Tennant, a match for me made in Hell. Yuck. Don’t Be Seen With Me: This has something about it. Like the rippling synth line, the hollow drums and the basic rhythm of the song. Even the vocal is not bad this time around. Best song so far (though that’s not saying much). This actually opens the album, according to Discogs, and if I had heard this first maybe I might have had a different slant on the album. Modern Wonder: Then it goes right back to the bored, listless vocal. You know, at times I think he’s not even singing in tune. Ah, what do I know? I know I don’t like his voice on about eighty percent of these tracks, that’s for sure. Subterranean Desire: There’s a certain something about this track. I can’t say I like it particularly, but I dislike it less than most of the others. Man, if that’s close to the best I can say about this album we done got us a problem! Scorpions: There’s a nice kind of synth motif running through this. It’s quite Depeche Mode but with a sort of Cars feel in places too. Not bad. New Mexico: This is a real dronefest though. Very boring. And way too **ing long. “The land of enchantment”? The land of tedium more like! You know, I’m changing that black to red. this. It’s just the same ing thing over and over and over again. Why does this have to be nearly eight minutes long? Shut the up! Behind the Shades: Another decent rippling keyboard riff; I think anything would be better after the fest of the title track, but to be honest this isn’t that great. Sort of a brassy thing going on too, which is a little interesting but overall it’s dreary and boring. Yawn. Men in White Coats: Worrying that these guys are going to show up and drag me off at this point. Almost wish they would. This is really terrible. The album I mean. This track does at least have a bit of energy about it, and again the vocal has some personality in it, one of the few times I hear it. Could be decent, give it a chance. Yeah, I can get into this, which puts it very firmly in the minority. You Won’t Forget Me: This one is okay too, quite good in fact. Snatches of AOR-ish keyswork in there, vocal has some emotion, more of that Cars feel about it. Upbeat and bouncy. Better. Almost sounded like some guitar there! Science: More downbeat but an uptempo track, not half bad. Under Surveillance: Says original mix so I assume this is from the other album, the one released in 1982? Well how weird! Looking at that album I see it’s basically the very same track listing, with one or two other tracks. What the blue living -? So I don’t know where this comes from but it’s quite good actually, very uptempo and catchy. One of the better ones. Fellow Traveller: This time it says “guitar version”, but where the original version is I don’t know. And now I see Spotify has two versions of the album, the second one of which, the one I didn’t see, is the correct track listing that ties in with the Discogs one. Oh well. Looks like I only missed out one track, “Security Risk”, but took in two, no three others in its place. This runs on acoustic guitar, which is a nice change (clue is in the name, Trollheart) and it’s pretty good. Conclusion: I was pretty convinced I was going to hate this, or at least dislike it as the album went on, but though I do dislike a lot of it, there are a few tracks that I did like and so I can’t really rate it too low. It certainly improved towards the end, making a strong showing and if more of the album had been like the last three tracks or so I would have likely rated it higher. So, Love or Hate?** As it is, I can just about stretch to Like it a little. Note: I’ve had some comments that people are getting confused by my colour-coding, so in future I will be adding a reminder at the end of each review. Everyone happy now? True Love Love Really Like Like a Little Meh Dislike Really Dislike Hate __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

11-02-2019, 08:16 AM	#77 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	I'm not sure what the heck that is either, it just sounds cool. __________________ See location...

11-02-2019, 09:30 AM	#79 (permalink)
Plankton Just Keep Swimming... Join Date: Apr 2012 Location: See signature... Posts: 7,765	I just realized Trollheart can't quote that and copy/paste it if he wants to use it, so here's a quotable copy/paste ready to go. True Love Love Really Like Like a Little Meh Dislike Really Dislike Hate __________________ See location...