Pet_Sounds

After a prolonged absence, I have returned, and as I dislike metal and don't feel like posting in the Lyric Without Music Daily Review, I thought it was time to start a new journal chronicling my recent folk craze. Hopefully this will be a way for me to discover some new bands and learn more about a genre whose depths I have merely skimmed the surface of.

EDIT: I'll try to post an album review once a week, and a song review in between, starting with some reviews of 1960s folk rock, a genre I know somewhat. Here are some of my bands and songs or albums I'll be looking at:

The Mamas and the Papas - California Dreamin'
The Beatles - Rubber Soul
Bob Dylan - Like a Rolling Stone
The Byrds - Fifth Dimension
Buffalo Springfield - For What It's Worth
Simon & Garfunkel - Bookends
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Down on the Corner
Crosby, Stills & Nash - Crosby, Stills & Nash

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

Isbjørn

Traditional folk, too? Because I'd like to see your take on The Dubliners or Silly Wizard.

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Pet_Sounds

I'll certainly be looking at traditional folk, and I'll do a write-up on those two for you.

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

Pet_Sounds

My tolerance of folk began as a result of my parents listening to such singer-songwriters as Gordon Lightfoot and John Denver. While it faded somewhat when I was on my recent psychedelia craze, during the past few months my passion has been rekindled. It was these guys, and this song in particular, that did it.

I should clarify. I've liked S&G for a long time now, but only recently did they make me think "Man, I want to find more like them." The starting place was obvious…

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

Pet_Sounds

…The Byrds. Not owning any of their albums on CD (my iPod bit the dust recently and music streaming sites don't work on my device), I had to resort to YouTube. I haven't had the time to listen to an entire album yet, but I already knew their biggest hit: Mr. Tambourine Man.

Listening to this song is like taking a shower - you have to let the music flow over you. I hadn't heard it in a long time. The moment that jangly guitar intro began, I was entranced. The harmonies are spot on, and the lyrics, though repetitive, evoke an escape so well that you feel like you have been on the tambourine man's "magic swirling ship". Jim (soon to be Roger) McGuinn's voice has a nasal quality that stands out just enough from the blend to make the words crisp and clear, yet not enough to sidestage the rest of the band. Overall, this is near-perfect and possibly my favourite cover song of all time. Of course Bob Dylan's brilliant songwriting deserves some of that credit, but The Byrds' version so eclipses his that you would barely know they were the same song. This is one of the few instances where I give most of the credit to the performers over the writer - Dylan's song is good, but The Byrds' trimmed it and shaped it into a masterpiece.

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

Pet_Sounds

I've decided that once I'm through with those four albums and a few songs, I'm going to try folk metal.

*gulp*

After all, Trollheart is doing Metal Month II, and if there is going to be any subgenre of metal I can get into (there have been none so far) it will be this. However, I know nothing about the genre and will likely need a recommendation.

I hope you all realize what a stretch this is for me….

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

Pet_Sounds

"All the leaves are brown, and the sky is grey.
I've been for a walk on a winter's day…."

Stop. Right. There.

Let me explain a few things. I am from Canada. Not way up in the wilderness, but about as far north as you can get while still being considered Southern Ontario (sorry, non-North Americans, don't know if you can picture this). Our 2013-14 winter lasted about six months - the longest in my lifetime. It's not supposed to snow in temparatures below about -5 degrees Celsius, but we got blizzards in -20. The no parking sign on my street corner was buried, thanks to snow both from the sky and kicked up by our ****ty clearing service, which sometimes doesn't get the street plowed until 1:00 pm. If, in your winter, there are still leaves on the trees, regardless of colour, and if you can manage to get out for a walk, you are lucky. Having said that, I can relate to this song right now. Yes, now, when our short summer has given up the ghost.

Autumn is my favourite season. I love the crisp feeling in the air, the fall colours, and the easier sleeping temperatures. In fact, I dislike sunshine and heat, and am quite happy on an overcast, 15-degree day. But I am shaking in my fur-lined moccasins right now at the thought of another winter like last year's being potentially only a couple months away. And this one is supposed to be even worse.


California Dreamin' is an old favourite. The harmonies are immaculate, the lyrics are emotive, and The Mamas' and the Papas' voices are pleasing to the ears. The meaning isn't overly cryptic - it seems to be about a homesick musician who is pining for his hometown of Los Angeles - until the last verse, when it is implied that the narrator could leave if it wasn't for "her". I'm not going to attempt an analysis of the lyrics. That's been done before by wiser minds than mine. I'm happy simply to listen to and enjoy this gorgeous song without dissecting it.

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Everybody's dying just to get the disease

mythsofmetal

Try any of these ten Folk/Pagan Metal albums.

Forefather - Steadfast
Manegarm - Vargstenen
Manegarm - Vredens Tid
Manegarm - Dodsfard
Gallowbraid - Ashen Eidolon
Ensiferum - Ensiferum
Ensiferum - Iron
Equilibrium - Sagas
Bran Barr - Sidh
Catuvolcus - Gergovia

Isbjørn

Ensiferum's eponymous debut is neat, but it features harsh vocals that might be a turnoff if you're not into extreme metal.

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Lisnaholic

I see you´ve started with some absolute classics of '60s folk rock, Pet Sounds. Bookends is a beautifully written and beautifully put-together album, and the same is true of the songs you chose; California Dreamin´and Mr. Tamborine Man. TBH, i prefer Dylan´s original though; it sounds a lot harsher, but that just makes it sound more heartfelt to me, and I love the way Dylan just piles up the surreal lyrics until they seem to have an unstoppable momentum of their own. To my knowledge, no one else had dared do that at the time.

I´m looking forward to your reviews of the other albums you listed in your OP, and also to learning something about folk metal, which l know nothing about.

i notice that - Beatles apart - you don´t have much from outside North America on your list, so I thought I might invite you to listen to these guys. i think you may like their sound: http://www.musicbanter.com/country-f...pentangle.html

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