I'm Here Today, Expect It To Stay On - Ki's Journal of Music
 

Hello, you may be wondering "why on earth does Ki have another journal?" well, that's simple. My last one didn't have any focus, didn't have any drive, and I had no motivation to keep it going, so I figured i'd start a new one, and this one will be strictly revolved around music, be it album reviews, artists, etc. So sit tight, it's going to be a fun ride.

Let's start this off by talking about a few OST's that I have been talking about and really diggin' the past couple weeks.

First off, we have The Binding of Isaac OST which my avatar is based off of:

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/41/15/4115269331-1.jpg

You're probably thinking to yourself, why would a soundtrack to a game hold any value, well this one in particular is special, more to do with how talented Danny Baranowski is, which is starting to become much more obvious as more indie games make their way to the top of my list of games. This soundtrack isn't really available anywhere that you could find free downloads, but hey, he's got it on his bandcamp page for .99, which is a killer deal, especially since the soundtrack has 40 tracks on it. Speaking of Danny Baranowski, the next OST I will talk about is one he also did, which is the Super Meat Boy OST:

http://f0.bcbits.com/z/88/62/886296162-1.jpg

Honestly, as hard and frustrating as the game itself is, the soundtrack really makes it worth playing over and over again, even if you feel like destroying your computer monitor in the process. It's fast paced, and a bit techno-ish, but it still makes for a great soundtrack to a fantastic indie game. Yet again, i'll mention that the soundtrack really shows how much talent Baranowski has, and I hope to see his name around more soundtracks as more games become available.

Hey Ki: good to see you getting back into journal writing. I like the OST idea, though I'm nothing like a game head and wouldn't know any of these ones you mention --- think the last one I played was "Doom": yeah, the original!

It's a good idea though, to shift your focus, and hopefully this will give you more pleasure if your other journal wasn't workin' for ya.

Are we to expect crossovers between your journal and your good lady's? ;)

^Thanks buddy. Yes, there will be something that me and LiL will both be doing that will connect our journals, we've come up with the idea of a song of the day sort of thing, however it will be us switching off each day, there will be a post that will explain it coming up.

Welcome to "Song of the day" with myself and Ladyislingering. Basically, this is how things will work. We (LiL and myself) will post in our own journals on a certain day a song that we enjoy on that day. For example, if I was on Monday, there would be a post in my journal with a song for that day that I like, and on Tuesday, there will be a post in her journal with a song of her choosing. We will basically be switching off throughout the week, and skipping the weekend. So Monday, you should expect a post from me. The rest of the week will be as follows:

Monday: Ki
Tuesday: Ladyislingering
Wednesday: Ki
Thursday: Ladyislingering
Friday: Ki

Then, once that week is done, it will be switched around the next week, so my days will be Tuesday and Thursday, and hers will be Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. That will be the basic premise for each week. If you want to follow along, her journal can be found here: http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...ic-memory.html

2013 is finally turning out to be a damn good year for music, especially since a lot of my favorite artists are planning to release some new albums:

Sigur Ros with Kveikur is going to be one of the best this year, I can already tell based on the newly released single alone:



^If the rest of the album is like this, I will not mind that one bit, but I won't mind it even if it's not.

Another one is highly anticipated, 13 by Black Sabbath. I'm sure a lot of us have already heard the new single that they put out, but I don't see a lot of people talking about their album art, which I find to be freaking cool as hell:

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Sabbath_13.jpg

^That album cover just screams heavy metal.

Daft Punk's Random Access Memories is definitely one worth mentioning, since I have recently really gotten into them again after not listening to them for years. Really excited to see what they do throughout this album.

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...s_Memories.jpg

Last one worth mentioning for the time being is Megadeth's Super Collider which judging from the single they released, it doesn't have me too hyped up for it. I'm not saying it's not amazing that they are releasing yet another album, especially since Endgame and TH1RT3EN were both pretty good, I just feel that they may be going back to their classic sound, which really isn't too bad.

There's obviously a lot going on in the music world this year, especially with names like Ayreon, Avenged Sevenfold, and Devin Townsend releasing some new stuff this year.

It's Monday! Which means, it's my time to start off this little song of the day thing! Be sure you are following LiL's journal as well so you can see which songs each of us choose throughout the week. You can find it here. Anyway, let's see...usually when I do these song of the day things, I go with a song that I had stuck in my head when I wake up, but today, that wasn't really the case. I'm gonna go with one that I tend to have in my head 99% of the time, it's Jon Anderson's Surrender!



Be on the lookout for tomorrow's song of the day in LiL's journal, who knows what she will pick, but I guarantee it will be great! See you back here on Wednesday for my song of the day on that day.

Random song because random songs are cool...and random

Happy Wednesday everybody! Can't tell if it's just me, but this week seems to just be flying by. Than again, today is technically my Thursday since my start of the week is on a Sunday. Anyway, it's that time again for the song of the day, and just in case you missed it, here's LiL's Tuesday Song of the Day:

Now for the song that I will be choosing for this wonderfully...er rainy day:

Dream Theater - Lost Not Forgotten



Have a fantastic day, and stay tuned for tomorrow's Song of the Day in LiL's journal!

Celebrating Thursday (my Friday) with Thursday!

Song of the day for 5/10/2013:

Motion City Soundtrack - Everything Is Alright



Ever since I saw MCS live a year or two ago, this song has been one of my favorites, along with the band as a whole, and I got this song stuck in my head earlier today and it's been there all day. Also, since today is Friday, the weekend will be skipped and LadyisLinering will be continuing the song of the day on Monday, and the schedule will go throughout that week alternating between her and I. I hope you guys have been enjoying this thing we have going on between our journals, I for one am really diggin' it. Anyway, see you on LiL's journal for the song of the day on Monday!

God Is Dead? - Black Sabbath



This was something I was waiting for for a very long time, even if it is just the single and the full album isn't due until next month, I was just hoping something would have been released beforehand, and I was happy that they went ahead and released this one. It's been getting a lot of reviews, and I am one of those people who finds it to bring a lot of excitement for the new album, I mean c'mon, Ozzy still has it going for him vocally, that's definitely something. People have been stating that the lyrics aren't very clever, um...Sabotage, Master of Reality, and probably many many more of their albums did not have much thought put into the lyrics, it was more about the music, the heavy riffs, not to mention the confusion that was brought upon those who didn't understand why this type of music was being released, at least that's what I like to think was going on in those days, hell, I'd be mind blown if I heard something like those albums back then. Either way, I find this song to do some good justice for a fantastic comeback, and I am more than happy to prepay for the album, because I can tell it's going to be one of the best of the year, and it will exceed it's hype.

You do realise you're now going to have to justify that by reviewing the album as soon as you have it? There is no escape! :D

Happy Tuesday! It's song of the day time!

Arch Enemy - Burning Angel (Live)



I do in fact love the shit out of the album version of this song, but I think this live version in particular blows that one out of the water. Angela Gossow puts all her fierce energy into this one and I think it was noticeable, especially at 3:26, her growl is by far one of the scariest I have heard from a live metal band. Not sure if that was an added effect with the microphone or what, but it really adds to how awesome this song really is.

iTunes vent:

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I mean no disrespect to those who use iTunes (what's wrong with you?!) but I feel I need to vent a little bit about it. I won't mention the obvious "the sound quality with iTunes is crap" because that's pretty obvious. I will however mention the fact that EVERY DAMN TIME I would open iTunes, I would get this popping up:

http://i42.tinypic.com/6hi5uc.png

Seriously? How many god damn times does Apple need to release a new update that will more than likely lead to a much more infuriating experience with their product. I will admit that I do love my iPod Touch and I wouldn't do anything to get rid of it, but c'mon, they can at least try a little harder, especially with the sales they bring in, and the fact that they stream new albums. It finally got to the point that I was irritated with how much it would slow down my computer every time I started it up, that I just got rid of it and got MediaMonkey, which has proven to be a lot more useful, and it can sync with my iPod which is a huge seller, especially for someone like me who is constantly changing my music. Enough about that though, I may as well bring the quality of sound into this rant.

I can't stand it, when I used to pay for the music through iTunes, I would receive an album with some of the lowest quality albums that I have ever paid for, at which point I decided that sending / receiving music with people was the way to go, because I was for one, saving money, and two, I was getting the quality of music that I can appreciate. I mean, I just want to state again that it's as if Apple is just "trying" to fix their product that it doesn't become completely obsolete while also maintaining it's users, which is slowly declining unless you're one of those "I don't use anything other than Apple" people.

I don't want to touch on much more, because I can go hours and hours on this one topic.

Of course!

There's a story that goes along with this, and I am so happy to have found out the name of this song tonight. Years and years ago I traveled to Virginia with my cousin and a friend of his, we were all in the car and his friend was playing the guitar chords to this song. I really really took a liking to it, but was not fortunate enough to have asked him what that song was. It's been about ten years since then and I finally found it. It was on The Voice as I was walking upstairs briefly, and I looked at a recap of tonight's episode, and it revealed the name of the song, in which I went to Youtube, and found it! Tis a happy night for me.

The Cure - Lovesong

Did you notice that "Do not ask me again" box? You can check it and you won't be asked again. At least that's been my experience.
I'm not going to defend Apple's music store, I would never buy from it either.

Ah, there's nothing like a good rant! I too hate itunes, but have to use it because it seems to be the only way to guarantee that the proper artwork will transfer over to my ipod with the albums. I've tried MM and liked it, but when I use it to transfer I end up with something like "Carl Perkins sings rockabilly vol IX" for an album like Iron Maiden's "Killers"! So I use it ONLY for transfer of music to my ipod, and I only use my ipod because these days every single player/dock/charger is manufactured with the ipod in mind. If you want to use another media player (I love my Zen x-fi!) then good luck, because all you'll be able to do is hook it via 3.5mm jack which will neither allow it to stand in the dock, nor give you access to the cooler features of the one I have, like scrolling track and album information and remote control.

Damn them! They built the perfect dock/player for me (Logitech Pure-Fi Dream, well named) and then made it exclusively (effectively) for ipod which meant I had to buy one of the things! I, too, goddamn hate itunes, but it's part of our lives now, and nothing we can do about it. It's bloody everywhere!

Oh, and I wouldn't buy a track from the itunes store if they paid me! Ninety-nine cents a track? I don't think so! I get anything from eight to ten cents where I shop, so 99 cents can buy me a full album. Why would I pay Jobs ten times the price I'm paying?

(This would make a good thread in the main forum you know...)

I've done that a few times and it still pops up. So I uninstalled the program altogether.

I love discovering that a band that I really like released a new album that I had no knowledge about.

I just found out that Streetlight Manifesto released a new album this year, and i've already got it in my queue to be put onto my iPod. I've given a few tracks a listen, and it sounds absolutely fantastic!

Streetlight Manifesto - The Hands That Thieve
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...That_Theve.png



I also just discovered that Iron & Wine released a new album, and it seems as though he's gone for a more jazzy feel with his music, and it really does work with him. Really diggin' it.

Iron and Wine - Ghost on Ghost
http://oi41.tinypic.com/e0qp0.jpg

Number 1 out of 15: A Swarm of The Sun - Zenith

Favorite track: Lifeline



A Swarm of The Sun is a post-rock duo that I have gotten to love a lot since I first heard them about a year ago now. They've been on my to go to list for when I just need something to chill out to. The song Lifeline in particular is a special one for me as well as my favorite, because it was the first song I had heard that gave me an introduction to their music. Not too long after that, I got to experience Zenith in it's entirety, and it is by far one of the best post-rock albums in my collection. It takes me a long time to really find a few key points with a post-rock band that I cling on to, but they are definitely one of the few that have allowed me to see post-rock being done in a bit of a heavier and smoother fashion. I could be butchering this review entirely, but it's late and I wanted to get this part of my journal rolling. Just give the album a listen if you want to hear some good post-rock.

Song of the day for 5/16/2013

Number 2 out of 15: Agalloch - Ashes Against The Grain

Favorite track: Falling Snow



This is definitely an album that I wanted to bring to this list sooner rather than later, for a variety of reasons, a big one being...this album is exactly what I was hoping to hear when I heard there was some post/black metal floating around. The rhythm at the beginning pulls me into the entire song (listed as my favorite above) right away, and it continues to do so throughout, which the album does as well. I quickly checked out their other albums and got the same feel give or take a bit of excitement, but they all seemed to give me the same impression, this is some damn good post black metal, if that's what they call it anyway, i'm just labeling it from what I hear. I also found a vinyl rip of the album online, and i've been keeping it in my mind that I should try to track down a vinyl copy of the album, just to sort of have it in my possession at all times.

As 15 Albums You Should Probably Listen To...But You Don't Have To...I'm Just Going To Write About Them Anyway and the collaboration for The Song of the Day are both doing pretty well, I wanted to add a third item to my list of things that I will have featured in my journal for the time being. I don't want to get too overwhelmed to the point that I don't want to finish anything, but I have been thinking of this one for a while, so...introducing...


This will basically include two key characteristics:

1. Allowing me to listen to albums / bands that I have thrown to the side due to not being too interested.
2. Trying to understand why the albums / bands get as much hype as they do. Bands like KISS, Radiohead, Led Zeppelin, etc.

I won't be doing full discographies, and most of the reviews will be brief, but they'll end with one of two outcomes:

http://i41.tinypic.com/x1ghgm.png

Disclaimer: None of this is meant to be taken as fact, as i'm doing this for myself and the enjoyment of posting it in a journal. If you disagree with any of my outcomes, feel free to let me know, however it most likely won't change my opinion.

Number 3 our of 15: Pendulum - Immersion

Favorite track: Under The Waves



When it comes to electronic-esque, dubstep-esque kind of music, this is what I like. I don't go with the "wub wub wub" constant type stuff, but when it can combine a great singer and awesome music to dance to, it really makes for a fantastic album as a whole. This one in particular is a personal favorite based mostly on The Island (parts 1 and 2), because I remember dancing to it when they played it at the show I went to about a year or so ago. They put on a fantastic performance, and I would easily see them again if they made their way here again.

Song of the day for 5/20/2013

Alexisonfire - Rough Hands

That's right. The first entry for Worth The Hype? will be introduced by none other than Daft Punk. With their recent album "Random Access Memories" being a huge hit among most of their fans, it brings up the question, are they worth all the hype they receive? A lot of people out there seem to see them as this basic electronic group that don't understand why they are so important, but than there are the people who do understand why they are so important. Me personally? I see them in the category of "sticking to their original plan". It never seizes to amaze me the beautifully structured things they can put together, hence the term "two heads are better than one". I remember when it was released that Daft Punk were the creators of the soundtrack for Tron, as if the movie hadn't been badass enough, just add a more than badass soundtrack, it's a fantastic listen if you ever get the chance. They are also very well known for tracks like One More Time, Around The World (in which that's ALL they say, and yet it still sounds good) and Robot Rock. I don't know, I could be completely butchering this and saying the wrong things, but I do see them as a duo of extreme talent that have only gotten better through the years, and their latest release proves that they've still got a bunch of talent in those heads that is just waiting to burst. So the album in general was definitely worth the hype, but is the band? Well...

http://i39.tinypic.com/lfyfd.png

That's is a big yes from me. They are a group that you need to give a fair listen to without jumping to conclusions too quickly, because with them, you don't know what you've missed. They could change your opinion in a blink of an eye just with one or two songs sounding differently than the others you've heard. Would I recommend listening to all their albums in one sitting? Probably not, we don't need your head to explode. But I will recommend listening to them when you have the time, because concentration is key.

Aaaaaand, we are back to a regular-ish schedule, we had our memorial sale day and pre sale day at work so I needed sleep, but now I can be distracted with my journal. Now...let's see:


I know i'm treading dangerous territory by posting about this band at this forum as I know there have a large fan base, and trust me, before you read further, please keep in mind that I have given them a very thorough listen to come to the conclusions you will read about. Now...onto my brief review. So, to start off, when The King of Limbs was released back in 2011, I was actually one of those that actually found some songs that I liked, but I didn't really have much familiarity with the band other than the fact that people go bat **** crazy over them, personally, I don't get it, I have asked many times what is special about them, and I get the same answer: "listen to OK Computer and Kid A and you'll see", well...I took that advice and got myself a copy of OK Computer and Kid A, and you know what I was left with? The same damn confusion that I had when I asked the question prior, so then I asked the question again, and I got another response that was along the lines of "you mustn't be listening to the albums correctly." Well then, I had no idea I was supposed to listen to an album a certain way. Now don't worry, this won't be all negative, I did find some and that is a small amount of liking with OK Computer, with a track called Electioneering. I'll probably regret this later, but I found Thom Yorke listenable in that song, which is tough since I can't seem to find a reason why people see him as this fantastic singer, I find him to be average at best. This band definitely gets a lot of hype, and perhaps more hype than they deserve, but hey, they have a huge fan base whom love their music to death, so I suppose they are doing something right, so I congratulate them for that. However, as you've probably already assumed, my verdict comes to...

http://i39.tinypic.com/2zjkqo0.png

I really don't want to come off as one of those typical Radiohead haters, because I really am not trying to piss people off, I did give them a fair chance by listening to all their albums, and even listening to the two highly acknowledged albums, and like I said, I did find some enjoyment out of OK Computer, so I am happy that I was able to see some sort of liking. I did try, and I wanted to like them, I also wanted to see what the big deal was with all the hype, and to me, it wasn't worth it. I didn't get what I was hoping to get with listening to them, I was actually filled with a lot of disappointed and a weird sour taste in my mouth. At some point, I do plan to give them another thorough listen to hopefully alter my opinion, but I don't see that happening anytime soon.

On Daft Punk: Does anyone know what the story is with Darth Vader helmets?

Number 4 out of 15: Asia - XXX

Favorite track: Tomorrow The World



This album got a lot of hate for being from a band that have been in the music business for a very long time. I for one am not one of those that found a lot of disappointment from this album, I thought it sounded exactly what I was expecting from a new album by them. The first track (and my favorite) Tomorrow The World is a great way to open an album, just based on the fact that it is so god damn catchy and addicting. I do find that perhaps there are a few boring songs within the album, but there's always bound to be with any album. I loved hearing this album for the first time when it came out, but I want to say, searching for the album on Google can at times be a very awkward search, so just be sure to have safe searching on, because those clever bastards decided to name their album XXX, which can bring up some interesting results, especially for a band named Asia. Fantastic album, and definitely a worth of a place on my top 15 list.

You know of course that I disagree with you in the strongest possible terms that don't escalate to a knock-down fight or perhaps a round-the-world balloon race. Absolutely hated it, start to finish. Pretentious crap, and not worthy of the name of this fine band. A total crapfest, massive disappointment and not only that, they ripped off BOC on the riff for "Got no religion".

Other than that, it was fine.
:rolleyes:
Seriously, I had a big argument with another reviewer on a separate site who thought as you did. How anyone could think this album worth doing anything with other than using it as a frisbee is beyond me. You're entitled to your opinion of course, but you are wrong ;) --- never gonna see eye to eye (hah!) with anyone who praises this album in the slightest. Almost ruined Asia for me, terrible, terrible album with not a hint of creative thought or interest in doing anything to mark the thirtieth anniversary of the band. I mean, what the fuck is "Gatto negra" about?

Funny point about the Googling though: top marks there! Hope Lil wasn't with you when the results came onscreen! :shycouch:

http://i39.tinypic.com/14w7epe.jpg

Man oh man, where have the days gone?! Hello everyone, yes...I am in fact still alive, the last few months have gotten busier than I could have foreseen. What with moving into my new apartment, starting and still working at my new job, and managing my time with sleeping and working. Honestly, I have been wanting to write more entries for my journal, because I really like what I have going here, but unfortunately the time does not allow for it. Anyway, while I also haven't had much time to update my journal, I unfortunately have not had enough time to get around to listening to some of the new releases that I have been hearing about. Today, while I am "stealing" some of the libraries WiFi, I have decided to download a few just to get things rolling again:

First one in the queue is one I have been hearing nonstop good things about -

City and Colour - The Hurry and The Harm
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I don't know what to expect from this album other than a typical Dallas Green album, which is completely alright with me. Even though I do miss the Alexisonfire days, Dallas Green has managed to make a name for himself with his solo career, and with each new release, he's managed to continue to make his name known. His last release "Little Hell" was one that I held very dear, one that made it to my favorite albums of all time lists, this new one will hopefully meet those standards if not exceed those standards. With this one, I'm really hoping to be as satisfied as I usually am with his albums, because I know he can deliver, and I hope he doesn't start going down a rough slope as more of his albums evolve.

The next one in the queue will be one that I have been so eager to listen to -

Sigur Ros - Kveikur
http://cbp.s3.amazonaws.com/img/0/0/...eikur-cd-d.png

First off, holy hell, another new album? It hasn't even been that long since Valtari was released has it? Maybe it has, but hey, my grasp on time is very flawed. I cannot even believe they've managed to pull another album out in such short time, but I cannot express my excitement in just words, because I always seem to be blown away with their new releases, and nothing stops me from listening to their new albums 100+ times without it becoming stale, sort of how Daft Punk's new release has not grown stale, I do feel that this one will have that same effect. I don't want to say much on this one, seeing as I have yet to hear it, but I will say more once I listen to it a few times.

Anyway, that's my update for today, hopefully I can pull some more through in the next few weeks.

I'll admit, it's been a while since i've given Led Zeppelin a thorough listen, however I remember back a few years ago when I decided it was a good idea to have physical copies of all their CD's, was it a good decision? I look back on it, and I still answer yes to that question, since it allowed me to experience them as a whole in one sitting, which was fun. Admittedly, I didn't see much to them when I listened to them for the first time, as I was expecting something super fantastic, however I also didn't find them boring and underwhelming, because there was a lot that I loved about the whole experience. Before I allowed myself to experience all their albums, I was one of those people who only knew about Kashmir and Stairway To Heaven. Which brings up another point, sure...Stairway To Heaven is a great song, but holy hell, I don't think it deserves as much praise as it receives, but it helped to continue to think about the fact that it's only one song, and that there were plenty of others that I grew and have still loved to this day, one being Ten Years Gone which coincidentally is placed on my favorite Zeppelin album Physical Graffiti. I am happy to admit that this band receives a rating of...

http://i39.tinypic.com/lfyfd.png

Definitely worth the hype, I mean...at first I found a lot of the Zeppelin discussion to be rather boring and bland, but after giving them a nice thorough listen, I found them to be very enjoyable, and it even opened up the opportunity to listen to Robert Plant's solo work, which I also found enjoyable, but i'll save that for another day.

Number 5 out of 15: City & Colour - Bring Me Your Love

Favorite track: Death of Me



Bring Me Your Love was the first album I ever heard of Dallas Green's solo work. My cousin actually introduced me to it when he learned that I was a pretty big fan of Alexisonfire, he told me that Dallas Green had been going solo and at that time, I wasn't entirely sure who he was, but when I heard this album, it became clear that he was very easy to spot out while listening to Alexisonfire. I'm pretty happy with that fact. This album overall has had a huge impact on my music taste more for the fact that I feel it opened my mind to vocalist that were a bit different, but evidently knew how to write a good song, which brings me to the point of why I find Death of Me to be one of the best, and obviously my favorite track on the album. It appeals to me in a way that most songs appeal to most people, it has a bit of personal touch to it that certain people can relate to. He talks about having alcohol being a muse as I did at one point in my life, and that made me realize that this guy has a lot more to offer than what I initially thought. Ever since then, i've been keeping an eye open for his new releases and each time, I can feel the personal touch that he puts into his music to appeal to those who need it most.

So, I work at Value Village, and no, I'm not one of the people who stands up front and manages the cashier all day, I actually have a job in the back where we receive the donations. We call it the "Community Donation Centre". At first I was thinking this job would be sort of boring and it'd get old fast, but boy was I wrong. This last week, I came across something that was pretty cool, I mean...we get a lot of cool things in, like antiques, records, etc, but this one really got me excited:

http://i44.tinypic.com/2u5urt2.jpg
Columbie GP-3 model portable record player

At first, I was looking at it and it looked like a standard portable record player, so my first instinct was to price it between 5$ and 7$. However, upon further investigation, I noticed that the controls were not in English, so I decided to look up the brand and the model number that was located on the bottom of the record, low and behold I find a few links providing pricing details ranging between $95 - $150. At that moment, I decided if I had priced it as low as I wanted to, it would have sold super quick, but for the wrong reason. I decided to price it at $29.99, which to some is still a steal, but we are required to price our items less than half of the worth since we are still a thrift store. Before pricing it and bringing it out to the floor, I figured it'd be nice to see if it even worked. I plugged it in, grabbed a Def Leppard album that was sitting on the book cart, and at my surprise, it was working, and it sounded fantastic. It was shocking and amazing to find such an interesting piece, but it was also surprising to find that it was a vintage piece that was worth far more than what I thought. I bet the person who donated it is kicking himself in the butt, especially if they decide to walk into the store and find that it is located in our showcase. Every day at my job is different, but finding these sorts of treasures is what makes it worth getting up in the morning and going through the day. Needless to say, I love my job, and this is just one example of why.

Tesseract - Altered State (2013)

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...m_Cover%29.jpg

Of Matter
| Proxy
|| Retrospect
||| Resist

Of Mind
| Nocturne
|| Exile

Of Reality
| Eclipse
|| Palingenesis
||| Calabi-Yau

Of Energy
| Singularity
|| Embers

So, I picked up this album because of two things, one: it was released this year and I have been trying to both get into new bands and listen to the new material / catch up with music this year, and two: it was released by a band that I had never heard of, but they were labeled as progressive metal, so I was instantly interested.

This album wasn't something I was super excited to listen to right away, so it's been a few weeks since I got it. I listened to the full thing yesterday, and I was really hoping I had listened to it right away. It's a fantastic prog album, and everything about it oozes with jazzy proggy influence. The vocalist also does a great job in keeping the line between vocalist and musicianship very small. It basically all goes together very well and nothing really seems to out of place.

I was thought it was curious as to why the album is split up into 4 separate categories, but than I noticed as I was listening, the sections are very different from each other, they range from very fast paced proggy goodness, to slow melodic acoustic-esque musicianship. There's also a lot to be said about how well the album flows as a whole, so i'll go ahead and hit on that next.

I was sort of expecting to hear just a normal prog album that had a lot of thought musically into it, but I wasn't expecting to feel as though I was in a musical journey whilst listening. I ended up really getting into the music, and at some points, I was sad to know that the album was going to end soon, because some of the songs are short, but they are not in anyway filler, which I think this album does a fantastic job at. No filler. Just straight to the point, progressive rock.

Overall, I am really satisfied with this band and this album and I wish them oodles of success in their future endeavors. I don't know much about the band so I hope I didn't just butcher this review. I will however be getting a hold of their other records, even though they only have one other studio release, titled "One", so I guess it won't be all that hard to get caught up on their music. They also started in 2007, which was also shocking since it seems like they've been around for quite some time. I really do hope they keep up the good work because if they continue to shine as they did in this album, I see a lot of great material coming from them in the future.

I remember about a year or two ago, this band was on my list of bands that I had to give a fair listen to, fortunately I had a friend on another forum who was absolutely crazy for them, so the recommendations he suggested helped me form a proper opinion about them. I was also told to give them a listen based on the fact that they have a similar sound to The Pineapple Thief, whom I have a huge liking for. I heard the similarities both in the instrumentals and the vocalists at some points, however in The Smashing Pumpkins case, there's one thing I cannot stand and can't seem to get my mind around it, Billy Corgan. He's not a great vocalist from my perspective, the experience I had with him was the same experience I had with Radiohead where I found the music to be awesome, the vocals were absolutely terrible. It didn't fit the music as well as I was hoping, but I really wanted to give it a few more listens, so I gave Siamese Dream a good few listens before I moved onto their other albums hoping something would change, but I wasn't too surprised when they didn't. My overall experience be it not the greatest, wasn't too much of a waste of time since I went out of my comfort zone and did my best to see what it was that people went so crazy about. I'm just not big on the whiny-esque vocals mixed with alternative-rock. I can stand it when it's a genre like emo or screamo because it's something to expect. So my overall opinion comes down to...

http://i39.tinypic.com/2zjkqo0.png

I do find it unfortunate that I find them to not be worth the hype they receive because they were a band that I did want to like, which is saying a lot since I don't normally go into listening to new material hoping to like them, I usually keep an open mind and decided later on, but I was giving such positive feedback when I said I was going to listen to them that I just felt it would be necessary to go into listening to it with the mindset that I will like them. Unfortunately I was wrong, but it's ok. I just don't think they're as great as people claim that they are. They sit on the same pedestal as Radiohead, so I don't see myself giving these guys a listen in the near future.