Janszoon

Alright, I have some late breaking reactions:

Linkin Park—Living Things

Full disclosure: I've always disliked this band, but I tried to approach this with as impartial an ear as possible. On my first listen, I found it hard to sit through all the way because I really dislike the Chester Bennington's vocals. After a second listen, I found the vocals a little less grating, so I was able to focus more on the rest of the band. My takeaway is similar to my feelings about Limp Bizkit: the drummer is the best thing about the band. The combination of him and the keyboardist is solid and I might even enjoy listening to a different band with the two of them in it. The bassist might be fine too, but I actually found it hard to track what he was playing. The guitar, though, is only good when it plays a supporting role. Whenever it's the focus of attention it just doesn't work for me. Some of the rapping and screamed vocals are okay, and I would probably enjoy the album more if that's all there was, but then the overwrought nu metal/emo singing comes in and spoils the song for me every time. The best tracks were probably "Until it Breaks", "Victimized", and "Tinfoil", but I'm unlikely to listen to this album again.

3/10

----------------

Vox—From Spain To Spain

I had never even heard of this artist before so I didn't know what to expect with this one. As I listened, I couldn't help wondering about the title and why it was chosen. It wasn't until my second time through that I perceive the musical arc of the whole thing. My first thought was that it's like a journey from Madrid through Andalusia and into Morocco, but I think a better explanation is that the sonic journey is a trip back and forth in time through Spanish history. The earlier tracks certainly have more of a traditional Western European feel to them, despite the occasional oud, while toward the end, it starts to have more of North African or Middle Eastern quality. I liked every song on this album, but there were definitely some standout moments. The first was "Bells For The Virgin (Queen Na Virgin)", with its bells and slow build. "While The Birds Sing" pulled me in with its evocative percussion and flute. "Deus Ex Machina" gets the thumbs up for the surprise cuíca, something I usually associate with Brazilian music, and I love the crazy stereo vocal effects toward the end. "Miragre" felt appropriately epic for a penultimate track. Lastly, "Bearer Of The Cups (Ajuha)" makes for a terrific outro, with its pensive, haunting mood. I noticed that last track has way more plays on Spotify than all the other tracks, I wonder if it was used in a movie or something. I could see it. Anyway, it was a very enjoyable album overall and I'm sure I'll be listening again.

8/10


----------------

Definitely. It's a way better album imo.

__________________
A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

Lisnaholic

Great news to have Janzsoon join the club ! I hope you enjoy yourself here .

Double great news to see a positive review of From Spain To Spain, which turned out to be a dud in most people's eyes. I'm glad someone else enjoyed the subtle variety that exists across the different tracks.
I also wondered about the title and my conclusion was similar to yours, Janzsoon, though not exactly: I thought it referred to the different religious/ethnic enclaves within medieval Spain (Jewish, Christian, Muslim) exchanging ideas in a spirit of peace and harmony, and creating a unique cultural mix born out of mutual admiration for each other's musical expression.
Dream on, Lisna.

__________________
"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

Mindy

Janszoon, welcome to the club!

__________________
https://www.instagram.com/shhons_meme_agency

Janszoon

Thank you both!

I like your take on it! That's an intriguing era in Spanish history.

__________________
A Night in the Life of the Invisible Man

Time & Place

25 Albums You Should Hear Before the Moon Crashes into the Earth and We All Die

last.fm

rubber soul

Welcome, Janszoon.

Yeah, I can see where Grandaddy can be compared to Radiohead. Both rate as my number one albums of 1997 and 2000 respectively. I have to say I was blown away the first time I listened to Grandaddy; not sure if I have as much since.

But we haven't even reviewed this one yet. Let's hear Beach House (another album I'm looking forward to) first. I'm sure SGR would appreciate that.

__________________

SGR

Believe me, once the Beach House comes on, I don't care what anyone is discussing

Lisnaholic

Linkin Park - Living Things

The only thing I knew about Linkin Park going in was that I once watched them by chance on tv for about 2 mins, before I voted with my remote and changed channels.

So I was pleasantly surprised with the electronic intro to the first track, Lost In The Echo. Pretty soon though, a rap singer joins in, which spoiled the track for me. And that pattern was repeated throughout the album: some agreeable surprises in the variety of Linkin Park's styles, but I was always turned off by the re-emergence of the rap elements.

Until It Breaks is another track that demonstrated what I felt was the good and bad of Living Things: There's lots of interesting electronically modified sounds going on at first, but then that heavy-handed rapper comes in with, as far as I could judge, the same old tell-it-like-it-is swagger about urban survival on mean streets. Yawn. But then, with a complete change of tempo and mood, the track ends with some sweet Beach-Boysie singing. The whole track feels like Linkin Park in a four-minute nutshell.

I quite liked the gentler tracks, Castle Of Glass, Powerless, and the short explorations of electronic/industrial sounds, but what I took for LP's variety ultimately resolved itself into two types of sound in my mind: annoying rap and unexceptional old-fashioned pop. Enduring the former while waiting for the scant rewards of the latter didn't make a very satisfying listening experience for me, so 3/10
.

__________________
"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

Trollheart

Linkin Park Living Things

See, I always get these guys mixed up with Limp Bizkit. Don't laugh. I had heard zero from LP so had no idea what to expect, but from the first I really liked this. Then I started to love it. I've listened to the album five times now, this is my sixth as I review. I sort of feel like I did the first time I heard Bodycount: I love the mix of rap and rock, and some/most of the songs are truly spectacular. Feel free to laugh at me, haters, but I'm downloading their discography as I type.

So then: the powerful synth and percussion opening "Lost in the Echo" is joined by the thumping guitars and then the rap comes in, and look, I have nothing against rap or hip-hop. I just get bored with all the boasting. This sounds far different and has a kind of post-hardcore (as I understand it, which is probably not very well) sound to it too. Great energy in it and it's hard to ignore it, excellent opening and it just gets better with "In My Remains" which has a slightly slower, kind of marching rhythm, using more "normal" singing than rapping, with a great hook in the chorus; the buildup is superb. "Burn it Down" stays in the same basic rhythm with a good punching chorus and a really good rap too, while "Lies Greed Misery" comes in on a stabbing almost eighties AOR synth with a powerful rap and a manic vocal, bouncing along like a mad thing.

A little more restrained then is "I'll Be Gone", a driving guitar leading it, with almost orchestral synth, still fizzing and crackling with energy and enthusiasm, a kind of slightly industrial feel merging with eighties new wave in "Castle of Glass", touches of a sort of country rhythm, puts me in mind of a train chugging along. Love the hook here; the lower-key vocal really works with this song. Things kick back up into fifth gear then for "Victimized", on which I have mixed feelings. I'm no fan of the screaming, almost out-of-control vocal on the chorus, the rap I could live without but I do love the sung parts of the verse, for some reason reminds me of Simon and Garfunkel. Shut up. If there is a track thus far that I don't actually love, then this is it.

The first ballad then in "Roads Untraveled", driven on a beautiful soft piano with a crooned vocal, the melody reminding me of a slowed-down version of The Animals' classic "House of the Rising Sun". Favourite track for sure. Love this one. The "whoa-oh-oh-oh" in the chorus is perfect. After that the tempo slams right back up for "Skin to Bone" with a busy keyboard line and buzzing guitars, "Until it Breaks" runs on a punchy rap with a marching synth melody; I could probably live without this one too. A really short instrumental in "Tinfoil" - the main melody of which is very familiar but I can't place it - takes us to what should be the closer, another ballad, "Powerless", which is really nice, but for some reason there's another track which seems to appear on none of the versions I can see via Wiki, but is on my YouTube, and seems to be called "Not Alone"? It's another nice ballad, just not too sure where it comes from.

Overall, really superb album, one of the few I've heard here from which I've been actually singing the tracks when away from the computer. Made me a fan, that's for sure.

Rating: 9.9/10

__________________
Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

djchameleon

I'm a bit shocked by this but since you are doing that listen to Meteora then Hybrid Theory even though Meteora is their second album.

I feel like it slightly edges out Hybrid Theory but that's just my opinion though.

__________________

Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

Mindy

Thats nice you liked the album! Nice review!

__________________
https://www.instagram.com/shhons_meme_agency