Bitesize: Trollheart's Daily Album Mini-Reviews

Trollheart · 08-14-2012, 03:52 PM

Thanx as always Ki. I'm afraid I can't give you the credit for KA: I've had this album on my hard disk for about a year now or more, only recently decided I should finally give them a listen. Glad I did.

In fact, if I remember correctly, I think I saw an ad for their album in "Classic Rock presents Prog", back when I could afford to buy the magazine.

Great band, just as I say pity they worship Genesis (what prog band doesn't?) to the extent that it colours their playing and makes them sound a bit too much like the prog giants. I'm going to have a listen to "Nine paths" soon, will let you know how/if the style develops.

Cheers!
TH

Key · 08-14-2012, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Thanx as always Ki. I'm afraid I can't give you the credit for KA: I've had this album on my hard disk for about a year now or more, only recently decided I should finally give them a listen. Glad I did.

In fact, if I remember correctly, I think I saw an ad for their album in "Classic Rock presents Prog", back when I could afford to buy the magazine.

Great band, just as I say pity they worship Genesis (what prog band doesn't?) to the extent that it colours their playing and makes them sound a bit too much like the prog giants. I'm going to have a listen to "Nine paths" soon, will let you know how/if the style develops.

Cheers!
TH

That's ok. I think I naturally thought it was a recommendation due to the fact that it's a familiar album. They do sound a lot like Genesis I agree, I just remember that they are still their own band, and I credit them for that. Lots of similarities between other bands, but they make albums for their band, and that's something to respect on it's own

Trollheart · 08-15-2012, 06:14 PM

The cover sums up my view of this album

Artiste: Ben Howard
Nationality: British (English)
Album: Every kingdom
Year: 2011
Label: Island
Genre: Folk
Tracks:
Old pine
Diamonds
The wolves
Everything
Only love
The fear
Keep your head up
Black flies
Gracious
Promise
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Not terribly impressed. Hard to keep focus.
Best track(s):Keep your head up
Worst track(s):Everything else.
Comments: Folk artists seem to pop up in my record collection every so often. I'm not a big fan of folk, but I just liked the look of the cover on this, so decided to go for it. Was it a good purchase? Acoustic music can be great, especially guitar and piano, but it can wear on you after a while, and a full album of acoustic? I don't know if this will maintain my interest, but let's see. On opening, I'm immediately reminded of, er, Simon and Garfunkel. Does this date the music? Well, it's last year's album, so I would hope not. There's certainly an attempt to make the music eclectic via the use of instruments like accordion, cello and ukulele, most of which are played by India Bourne, and the opener, beginning slow and laidback, later comes to life, bopping along nicely, while there are of course the slower tracks, like Everything and Black flies.

You can certainly hear the influence of Dylan and Mitchell on Ben Howard, with elements of David Gray and John Martyn mixed in there too. Nice sort of military drumbeat to The wolves, quite rocky really, but as the album winds on I'm getting less and less interested. Just too bland, too generic and really coming across as quite boring to me, and we're now halfway through the album. At least The fear gets things moving again, but I'm still not that interested until Keep your head up hits, and then it's a different ballgame. Still, it is a little late in the day to be finding good things about this album, but I'm glad I've been able to find at least one. This track almost makes it worth the price of purchase. Almost. Nice organ, good fast percussion, great beat. Most uptempo track so far.

It all sort of drones on from there though, and in the end I have to say this album bored me to tears, and just did nothing for me; completely empty, not even good music to fall asleep to.
Overall impression: Boring and flat.
Intention: Check carefully before selecting my next foray into the world of folk!

Trollheart · 08-17-2012, 01:26 PM

The man with the Midas touch is back

Artiste: No-Man
Nationality: British (English)
Album: Schoolyard ghosts
Year: 2008
Label: Kscope
Genre: Progressive/Art Rock
Tracks:
All sweet things
Beautiful songs you should know
Pigeon drummer
Truenorth
Wherever there is light
Song of the surf
Streaming
Mixtaped
Chronological position: Sixth album
Familiarity: Nothing other than via Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson's "Grace for drowning"
Initial impression: Melancholy, haunting, ethereal, both laidback and unsettling at the same time.
Best track(s): All sweet things, Truenorth, Wherever there is light
Worst track(s): Oh yeah, right! You are of course joking?
Comments: The stripped-down nature of this album hits you from the beginning, with acoustic barebones piano following the aching vocal on the opener, All sweet things, before the soft acoustic guitar strums its way into proceedings, and I'm reminded in ways of a more emotionally upbeat Antimatter. If there's ever been an album that lived up to its title it's this one: I can feel spectres from the past crowding around me as I listen, and it's ethereal and eerie, strange and sad yet shot through with a vein of hope that life gets better.

No-Man is the result of a collaboration, in case you didn't know, between Porcupine Tree maestro Steven Wilson and vocalist Tim Bowens, one of over a half-dozen projects Wilson is involved in, not counting his day job with the Porcs. As I said in the review to his solo album, “Grace for drowning”, how the man gets the time and energy to do all this is beyond me. This album, far from being something thrown together to gain a few more record sales, or an offhand collection of ideas, is in fact the sixth album from No-Man, and it's a mini masterpiece, absolutely beautiful in its fragility. It's so good in fact that I have no doubt I'll have to give it the full review treatment on the Playlist, as there's just not enough space here to do it justice.

But for now, soft, warm vocals edged with pain and loss, sumptuous arrangements alongside the most simple of instrumentation, tracks like the achingly brittle, country-styled Wherever there is light with its pedal steel and Beautiful songs you should know with its mournful violin and harmonium stand with the stunning twelve-minute epic Truenorth, an example of how No-Man can move you without even trying. And then there's the frenetic madness of Pigeon drummer: just amazing.

I can't recommend this album highly enough. If you want more, keep an eye on my main journal, as this has impressed me so much that I will definitely be doing a full, more in-depth review of it there.
Overall impression: Still trying to get up! Holy ****!
Intention: Review this in more depth, and listen to a lot more of these guys' albums!

Key · 08-17-2012, 02:37 PM

^No-Man are one of my personal favorites. I have all the releases and love each of them as their own. That album however was the first one I heard so it holds a special place in my heart, and for good reason.

Anteater · 08-17-2012, 03:48 PM

Ah man, I had forgotten how much I liked No-Man until you reviewed Schoolyard Ghosts. Muchos kudos!

Don't forget that beyond his own projects as a musician, Steve-O is remastering all of King Crimson and Jethro Tull's respective discographies. In light of that, I honestly do wonder how he manages his time so well.

Trollheart · 08-17-2012, 08:04 PM

Ant, my man! Always welcome in any of my journals!

Yes, indeed I know all the amazing projects Stevie is doing; I mentioned the KC remastering in my review of "Grace". I can only conclude that the man must have perfected the process of cloning; it's the only logical, nay possible answer!

I was so blown away by "Schoolyard ghosts": the first album in a long time that's actually made me shiver and feel warm at the same time. I'll definitely be looking into more of their music. I was thinking of trying NoSound as well, as they seem to be connected?

Ki, as ever, good to have your input, and I promise to listen to pg.lost over the weekend. I'll give you my impressions and will review it shortly after.

Just watched "Prog Brittania" off my Sky box: damn good programme. Proggers unite!

Key · 08-17-2012, 10:53 PM

^ Hey that's awesome! Key is probably the easiest albums to hear their full potential. For pg.lost that is.

Trollheart · 08-19-2012, 09:33 AM

I prefer "Judas Christ", but not bad

(Would have got 4 cookies, but for the death growls on some of the songs...)

Artiste: Tiamat
Nationality: Swedish
Album: Amanethes
Year: 2008
Label: Nuclear Blast
Genre: Dark Metal
Tracks:
The Temple of the Crescent Moon
Equinox of the gods
Until the hellhounds sleep again
Will they come?
Lucienne
Summer is gone
Katarraktis apo aima
Raining dead angels
Misantropolis
Amanitis
Meliae
Via Dolorosa
Circles
Amanes
Chronological position: Ninth album
Familiarity: “Judas Christ”
Interesting factoid: I have absolutely no idea what the title means! Oh wait: on further research I find that Encyclopaedia Metallum has the answer: “Amanethes is a Greek-Turkish word, describing a kind of very slow Eastern-oriented song, which usually contains the word “Aman”. "Aman" can be translated as “show some understanding” or it declares “pain” and “sadness”. Cool!
Initial impression: Vocals grate, but nowhere as bad as I had feared.
Best track(s): Until the hellhounds sleep again, Will they come?, Summertime is gone, Katarraktis apo aima
Worst track(s): Lucienne, Amanes
Comments: This could be new ground for me. Tiamat began life as a doom/death metal band, but when I sampled them was in what would I guess be termed the middle of their metamorphosis into something a little more commercial, a little less heavy, a little more accessible, and I must say I did enjoy the album “Judas Christ”, but I'm reliably informed that this album sees them returning to their heavier, darker roots, so it may be something totally different. Whether the change worked or not I don't know, though this is to date their last album, so perhaps draw your own conclusions from that? Or not.

Well, from the off I hear a deeper, more gravelly and rough quality to vocalist --- and also guitarist/keyboardist --- Johan Edlund's voice, very black metal, verging towards those death vocals which I hate. The music itself though, at least from the first track, isn't that much different, if at all. The vocals are a little jarring though. I'd always sort of understood that I had, if you like, struck lucky with “Judas Christ”, catching Tiamat at what was basically recognised as their most mellow, and that the rest of the material, at least prior to that album, was a lot heavier and perhaps more off my radar.

Vocals aside though, I find I still like this. Good fast guitars and a certain sense of progressive rock/metal merging with what I assume is death or doom metal. Quite interesting. During Equinox of the gods Edlund reverts momentarily to the sort of vocal that characterised the “Judas Christ” album, and it just changes everything, but sadly he's soon back growling, so in fairness to Tiamat and this album I'm trying to not quite filter out his vocals, but not concentrate on them so much and try to listen to the music behind them. It's not easy, but it shows me that the band have more or less stayed in the same musical direction as they were. Some nice keyboard bits, the guitar is loud but not punishing, and to be honest I've heard heavier.

There's a good doomy cruncher in Until the hellhounds sleep again, where Edlund pulls off a very passable Nick Cave, and again on the slower, almost balladic Will they come?, both of which are actually quite melodic, as really all songs on this album so far have been. Well, I had to say that, didn't I? The very next one does nothing for me, and I'm very disappointed in Lucienne: very discordant after a decent piano opening, sort of goes from one extreme to the other, unsure where or what it wants to be. Pass. Luckily they quickly get back on track with Summertime is gone, which sounds like it has some lovely strings, and yet the guitar bites hard when needed. There's a brilliant sense of urgency, desperation, anger and frustration in the oddly-titled Katarraktis apo aima, which I'm assuming is maybe Swedish, though it sounds more like Greek, and since the album title seems to come from Greek or Turkish, who knows? As for what it means, don't know, but it's just become one of my favourite tracks on the album.

Back to the growly vocals after quite a break then, but happily back to more recognisable vox and then an instrumental for the next two tracks, followed by a really commercial laidback song in Meliae, and the good is definitely outweighing the bad here, and setting most of my fears to rest. There's a resurgence of that growl and howl on Via Dolorosa, but even that can't spoil this great song for me, and only the closing track, Amanes brings any real kind of disappointment: slow, plodding, boring and a perhaps tongue-in-cheek “prayer to Satan”, it sort of seems out of step with the rest of the album. Still, considering how worried I was about the change in direction “Amanethes” was to have taken from my only other experience of Tiamat, I'm pleasantly surprised.
Overall impression: I can live with the gruff vocals, as they're not constant, and I still think I'd be happy to listen to more Tiamat.
Intention: Now to listen to their earlier stuff!

Trollheart · 08-20-2012, 12:22 PM

Smoothly polished to a sparkling glow. American? They're not American!

(I wanted to give it 5 cookies, really, but come on! An AOR album with not one single ballad? I HAD to subtract half a cookie. Sorry guys!)

Artiste: Houston
Nationality: Swedish
Album: Houston
Year: 2010
Label: Rocket Songs
Genre: AOR
Tracks:
Pride
Truth slips
Hold on
I'm alive
One chance
Give me back my heart
Misery
She's a mystery
Now
1000 songs
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Although named after an American city, these guys hail from Sweden.
Initial impression: Very slick, very professional, and very American sounding. I like!
Best track(s): Pride, Truth slips, Hold on, give me back my heart, 1000 songs
Worst track(s): None
Comments: Well, you certainly wouldn't know it from listening to them, but Houston come from Sweden, not the US. Confusing, eh? The lead singer has obviously spent a lot of time listening to the likes of Steve Perry, Joey Tempest and John Parr, and has honed his sound to mirror that of the major American AOR vocalists, which is certainly not a bad thing. For a debut album this is nothing short of damn impressive, and certainly worthy of all the praise that was lavished on it by critics upon its release. Hooky melodies, strong vocals, great guitar solos placed at just the right place and time, and of course banks of bubbly keyboards help to make this one of the standout AOR albums I've listened to this year, and I'd put it on a par with Millenium's “Angelfire” and Fergie Frederiksen's “Happiness is the road” as one of my top ten AOR discs so far.

There are the usual influences and sounds of course --- Journey, Toto, Foreigner, elements of Asia, bit of Boston --- but Houston have managed to incorporate these styles into their music without becoming a clone of any of these bands, or even a hybrid of some or all. Nice touch is the female vocals, which come in on second track Truths slips, and are supplied by Helena Alsterhed, and a powerful voice she has too, just this side of Nancy Wilson. The real standout though comes in the “I remember this from the 80s!” bombast of Hold on, which evokes everything good about AOR music from that era, with big, punchy keyboards and heavy guitars, a passionate vocal and a hook you could hang your coat on! It was also the first single to be taken from the album: good choice, say I.

Wonderful harmony vocals and tinkling digital piano on One chance, a slower song, almost a power ballad, with grinding guitars and indeed a beat very reminscent of Survivor's mega-smash hit, with some chunky keyboard fills, then we ramp back up slightly for Give me back my heart, but my only real criticism so far is that since the second track we haven't heard Helena's dulcet tones again, so it looks like she's being criminally underused here. Though of course she may be a session muso, or a guest: information on Houston is not that easy to find.

There's definitely more than a smattering of Rainbow's All night long guitar riff in Misery, then they borrow a title and a keyboard riff from Bon Jovi, on She's a mystery, evoking memories of Runaway, the vocals interestingly mechanised, almost, but still no sign of Helena, a real pity. The album finishes strongly with 1000 songs, a good uptempo commercial potential radio hit. I am a little surprised that Houston didn't see fit to include any ballads at all on this album, but perhaps that's a measure of their confidence in their music, which is certainly justified.

Damn fine album, and a great first effort.
Overall impression: If you're an AOR fan, why haven't you got this? Oh, you never heard of them, did you not? Well, now you know about them, so go buy it!
Intention: Well, I can't really do much as this is their debut, but hopefully with two years almost now passed they'll be releasing a second album, and I'll certainly be having a listen to that.

08-14-2012, 03:52 PM	#51 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Thanx as always Ki. I'm afraid I can't give you the credit for KA: I've had this album on my hard disk for about a year now or more, only recently decided I should finally give them a listen. Glad I did. In fact, if I remember correctly, I think I saw an ad for their album in "Classic Rock presents Prog", back when I could afford to buy the magazine. Great band, just as I say pity they worship Genesis (what prog band doesn't?) to the extent that it colours their playing and makes them sound a bit too much like the prog giants. I'm going to have a listen to "Nine paths" soon, will let you know how/if the style develops. Cheers! TH __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

08-15-2012, 06:14 PM	#53 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	The cover sums up my view of this album Artiste: Ben Howard Nationality: British (English) Album: Every kingdom Year: 2011 Label: Island Genre: Folk Tracks: Old pine Diamonds The wolves Everything Only love The fear Keep your head up Black flies Gracious Promise Chronological position: Debut album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Initial impression: Not terribly impressed. Hard to keep focus. Best track(s):Keep your head up Worst track(s):Everything else. Comments: Folk artists seem to pop up in my record collection every so often. I'm not a big fan of folk, but I just liked the look of the cover on this, so decided to go for it. Was it a good purchase? Acoustic music can be great, especially guitar and piano, but it can wear on you after a while, and a full album of acoustic? I don't know if this will maintain my interest, but let's see. On opening, I'm immediately reminded of, er, Simon and Garfunkel. Does this date the music? Well, it's last year's album, so I would hope not. There's certainly an attempt to make the music eclectic via the use of instruments like accordion, cello and ukulele, most of which are played by India Bourne, and the opener, beginning slow and laidback, later comes to life, bopping along nicely, while there are of course the slower tracks, like Everything and Black flies. You can certainly hear the influence of Dylan and Mitchell on Ben Howard, with elements of David Gray and John Martyn mixed in there too. Nice sort of military drumbeat to The wolves, quite rocky really, but as the album winds on I'm getting less and less interested. Just too bland, too generic and really coming across as quite boring to me, and we're now halfway through the album. At least The fear gets things moving again, but I'm still not that interested until Keep your head up hits, and then it's a different ballgame. Still, it is a little late in the day to be finding good things about this album, but I'm glad I've been able to find at least one. This track almost makes it worth the price of purchase. Almost. Nice organ, good fast percussion, great beat. Most uptempo track so far. It all sort of drones on from there though, and in the end I have to say this album bored me to tears, and just did nothing for me; completely empty, not even good music to fall asleep to. Overall impression: Boring and flat. Intention: Check carefully before selecting my next foray into the world of folk! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 06:39 AM.

08-17-2012, 01:26 PM	#54 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	The man with the Midas touch is back Artiste: No-Man Nationality: British (English) Album: Schoolyard ghosts Year: 2008 Label: Kscope Genre: Progressive/Art Rock Tracks: All sweet things Beautiful songs you should know Pigeon drummer Truenorth Wherever there is light Song of the surf Streaming Mixtaped Chronological position: Sixth album Familiarity: Nothing other than via Porcupine Tree and Steven Wilson's "Grace for drowning" Initial impression: Melancholy, haunting, ethereal, both laidback and unsettling at the same time. Best track(s): All sweet things, Truenorth, Wherever there is light Worst track(s): Oh yeah, right! You are of course joking? Comments: The stripped-down nature of this album hits you from the beginning, with acoustic barebones piano following the aching vocal on the opener, All sweet things, before the soft acoustic guitar strums its way into proceedings, and I'm reminded in ways of a more emotionally upbeat Antimatter. If there's ever been an album that lived up to its title it's this one: I can feel spectres from the past crowding around me as I listen, and it's ethereal and eerie, strange and sad yet shot through with a vein of hope that life gets better. No-Man is the result of a collaboration, in case you didn't know, between Porcupine Tree maestro Steven Wilson and vocalist Tim Bowens, one of over a half-dozen projects Wilson is involved in, not counting his day job with the Porcs. As I said in the review to his solo album, “Grace for drowning”, how the man gets the time and energy to do all this is beyond me. This album, far from being something thrown together to gain a few more record sales, or an offhand collection of ideas, is in fact the sixth album from No-Man, and it's a mini masterpiece, absolutely beautiful in its fragility. It's so good in fact that I have no doubt I'll have to give it the full review treatment on the Playlist, as there's just not enough space here to do it justice. But for now, soft, warm vocals edged with pain and loss, sumptuous arrangements alongside the most simple of instrumentation, tracks like the achingly brittle, country-styled Wherever there is light with its pedal steel and Beautiful songs you should know with its mournful violin and harmonium stand with the stunning twelve-minute epic Truenorth, an example of how No-Man can move you without even trying. And then there's the frenetic madness of Pigeon drummer: just amazing. I can't recommend this album highly enough. If you want more, keep an eye on my main journal, as this has impressed me so much that I will definitely be doing a full, more in-depth review of it there. Overall impression: Still trying to get up! Holy **! Intention:** Review this in more depth, and listen to a lot more of these guys' albums! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 06:40 AM.

08-17-2012, 08:04 PM	#57 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Ant, my man! Always welcome in any of my journals! Yes, indeed I know all the amazing projects Stevie is doing; I mentioned the KC remastering in my review of "Grace". I can only conclude that the man must have perfected the process of cloning; it's the only logical, nay possible answer! I was so blown away by "Schoolyard ghosts": the first album in a long time that's actually made me shiver and feel warm at the same time. I'll definitely be looking into more of their music. I was thinking of trying NoSound as well, as they seem to be connected? Ki, as ever, good to have your input, and I promise to listen to pg.lost over the weekend. I'll give you my impressions and will review it shortly after. Just watched "Prog Brittania" off my Sky box: damn good programme. Proggers unite! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

08-19-2012, 09:33 AM	#59 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	I prefer "Judas Christ", but not bad *(Would have got 4 cookies, but for the death growls on some of the songs...)* Artiste: Tiamat Nationality: Swedish Album: Amanethes Year: 2008 Label: Nuclear Blast Genre: Dark Metal Tracks: The Temple of the Crescent Moon Equinox of the gods Until the hellhounds sleep again Will they come? Lucienne Summer is gone Katarraktis apo aima Raining dead angels Misantropolis Amanitis Meliae Via Dolorosa Circles Amanes Chronological position: Ninth album Familiarity: “Judas Christ” Interesting factoid: I have absolutely no idea what the title means! Oh wait: on further research I find that Encyclopaedia Metallum has the answer: “Amanethes is a Greek-Turkish word, describing a kind of very slow Eastern-oriented song, which usually contains the word “Aman”. "Aman" can be translated as “show some understanding” or it declares “pain” and “sadness”. Cool! Initial impression: Vocals grate, but nowhere as bad as I had feared. Best track(s): Until the hellhounds sleep again, Will they come?, Summertime is gone, Katarraktis apo aima Worst track(s): Lucienne, Amanes Comments: This could be new ground for me. Tiamat began life as a doom/death metal band, but when I sampled them was in what would I guess be termed the middle of their metamorphosis into something a little more commercial, a little less heavy, a little more accessible, and I must say I did enjoy the album “Judas Christ”, but I'm reliably informed that this album sees them returning to their heavier, darker roots, so it may be something totally different. Whether the change worked or not I don't know, though this is to date their last album, so perhaps draw your own conclusions from that? Or not. Well, from the off I hear a deeper, more gravelly and rough quality to vocalist --- and also guitarist/keyboardist --- Johan Edlund's voice, very black metal, verging towards those death vocals which I hate. The music itself though, at least from the first track, isn't that much different, if at all. The vocals are a little jarring though. I'd always sort of understood that I had, if you like, struck lucky with “Judas Christ”, catching Tiamat at what was basically recognised as their most mellow, and that the rest of the material, at least prior to that album, was a lot heavier and perhaps more off my radar. Vocals aside though, I find I still like this. Good fast guitars and a certain sense of progressive rock/metal merging with what I assume is death or doom metal. Quite interesting. During Equinox of the gods Edlund reverts momentarily to the sort of vocal that characterised the “Judas Christ” album, and it just changes everything, but sadly he's soon back growling, so in fairness to Tiamat and this album I'm trying to not quite filter out his vocals, but not concentrate on them so much and try to listen to the music behind them. It's not easy, but it shows me that the band have more or less stayed in the same musical direction as they were. Some nice keyboard bits, the guitar is loud but not punishing, and to be honest I've heard heavier. There's a good doomy cruncher in Until the hellhounds sleep again, where Edlund pulls off a very passable Nick Cave, and again on the slower, almost balladic Will they come?, both of which are actually quite melodic, as really all songs on this album so far have been. Well, I had to say that, didn't I? The very next one does nothing for me, and I'm very disappointed in Lucienne: very discordant after a decent piano opening, sort of goes from one extreme to the other, unsure where or what it wants to be. Pass. Luckily they quickly get back on track with Summertime is gone, which sounds like it has some lovely strings, and yet the guitar bites hard when needed. There's a brilliant sense of urgency, desperation, anger and frustration in the oddly-titled Katarraktis apo aima, which I'm assuming is maybe Swedish, though it sounds more like Greek, and since the album title seems to come from Greek or Turkish, who knows? As for what it means, don't know, but it's just become one of my favourite tracks on the album. Back to the growly vocals after quite a break then, but happily back to more recognisable vox and then an instrumental for the next two tracks, followed by a really commercial laidback song in Meliae, and the good is definitely outweighing the bad here, and setting most of my fears to rest. There's a resurgence of that growl and howl on Via Dolorosa, but even that can't spoil this great song for me, and only the closing track, Amanes brings any real kind of disappointment: slow, plodding, boring and a perhaps tongue-in-cheek “prayer to Satan”, it sort of seems out of step with the rest of the album. Still, considering how worried I was about the change in direction “Amanethes” was to have taken from my only other experience of Tiamat, I'm pleasantly surprised. Overall impression: I can live with the gruff vocals, as they're not constant, and I still think I'd be happy to listen to more Tiamat. Intention: Now to listen to their earlier stuff! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 06:41 AM.

08-17-2012, 02:37 PM	#55 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	^No-Man are one of my personal favorites. I have all the releases and love each of them as their own. That album however was the first one I heard so it holds a special place in my heart, and for good reason.

08-17-2012, 10:53 PM	#58 (permalink)
Key . Join Date: Dec 2010 Posts: 13,153	^ Hey that's awesome! Key is probably the easiest albums to hear their full potential. For pg.lost that is.

08-20-2012, 12:22 PM	#60 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,992	Smoothly polished to a sparkling glow. American? They're not American! (I wanted to give it 5 cookies, really, but come on! An AOR album with not one single ballad? I HAD to subtract half a cookie. Sorry guys!) Artiste: Houston Nationality: Swedish Album: Houston Year: 2010 Label: Rocket Songs Genre: AOR Tracks: Pride Truth slips Hold on I'm alive One chance Give me back my heart Misery She's a mystery Now 1000 songs Chronological position: Debut album Familiarity: Zero Interesting factoid: Although named after an American city, these guys hail from Sweden. Initial impression: Very slick, very professional, and very American sounding. I like! Best track(s): Pride, Truth slips, Hold on, give me back my heart, 1000 songs Worst track(s): None Comments: Well, you certainly wouldn't know it from listening to them, but Houston come from Sweden, not the US. Confusing, eh? The lead singer has obviously spent a lot of time listening to the likes of Steve Perry, Joey Tempest and John Parr, and has honed his sound to mirror that of the major American AOR vocalists, which is certainly not a bad thing. For a debut album this is nothing short of damn impressive, and certainly worthy of all the praise that was lavished on it by critics upon its release. Hooky melodies, strong vocals, great guitar solos placed at just the right place and time, and of course banks of bubbly keyboards help to make this one of the standout AOR albums I've listened to this year, and I'd put it on a par with Millenium's “Angelfire” and Fergie Frederiksen's “Happiness is the road” as one of my top ten AOR discs so far. There are the usual influences and sounds of course --- Journey, Toto, Foreigner, elements of Asia, bit of Boston --- but Houston have managed to incorporate these styles into their music without becoming a clone of any of these bands, or even a hybrid of some or all. Nice touch is the female vocals, which come in on second track Truths slips, and are supplied by Helena Alsterhed, and a powerful voice she has too, just this side of Nancy Wilson. The real standout though comes in the “I remember this from the 80s!” bombast of Hold on, which evokes everything good about AOR music from that era, with big, punchy keyboards and heavy guitars, a passionate vocal and a hook you could hang your coat on! It was also the first single to be taken from the album: good choice, say I. Wonderful harmony vocals and tinkling digital piano on One chance, a slower song, almost a power ballad, with grinding guitars and indeed a beat very reminscent of Survivor's mega-smash hit, with some chunky keyboard fills, then we ramp back up slightly for Give me back my heart, but my only real criticism so far is that since the second track we haven't heard Helena's dulcet tones again, so it looks like she's being criminally underused here. Though of course she may be a session muso, or a guest: information on Houston is not that easy to find. There's definitely more than a smattering of Rainbow's All night long guitar riff in Misery, then they borrow a title and a keyboard riff from Bon Jovi, on She's a mystery, evoking memories of Runaway, the vocals interestingly mechanised, almost, but still no sign of Helena, a real pity. The album finishes strongly with 1000 songs, a good uptempo commercial potential radio hit. I am a little surprised that Houston didn't see fit to include any ballads at all on this album, but perhaps that's a measure of their confidence in their music, which is certainly justified. Damn fine album, and a great first effort. Overall impression: If you're an AOR fan, why haven't you got this? Oh, you never heard of them, did you not? Well, now you know about them, so go buy it! Intention: Well, I can't really do much as this is their debut, but hopefully with two years almost now passed they'll be releasing a second album, and I'll certainly be having a listen to that. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 01-13-2015 at 06:42 AM.