|
Qwertyy's Journal of Music Reviews and Other Assorted Ramblings
I'm in a total musical rut at the moment, and in an effort to hopefully allow me to break out of it, I'm going to ask for you all to come through and flood me with some recommendations. Yeah, I'm jumping on the ol' TH Love or Hate band wagon, so what?
If you want a good look at my tastes you can check my RYM, but honestly I'm willing to listen to just about anything once. I'll be giving the albums a pass/fail grade, and I'll be keeping a tab on this post of who has the best recs (most passes) and who has the ****tiest taste or is the biggest troll (most fails.) So with that, go ahead and hit me with some good stuff, but please just rec per person at a time. |
Up Next:
grindy: 2 Foot Yard - Borrowed Arms Mondo Bungle: Secret Chiefs 3 - Book of Horizon Tristan 2 albums at once Geoff : Museum Mouth - Popcorn Fish Guinea Pig & Mannequin Pussy - Romantic Frownland: Indian - From All Purity |
http://www.progarchives.com/progress...3961992009.jpg
My past experience with progressive rock is extremely slim. Sure, I've heard a fair share of songs by Pink Floyd and Rush, and even a few albums by other progressive rock and metal bands here and there. As a whole however, I know very little of the style that has hosted a ton of influential rock acts, including one of the genres biggest innovators, King Crimson. So, because I feel like writing, and also because I feel like brushing up on my musical history, I figured I'd chronicle my first ever experience with King Crimson's critically acclaimed, iconic debut In The Court of King Crimson. 21st Century Schizoid Man: I believe this is the only track on the album I'm familiar with. Although it's not even the King Crimson version that I know, as I remember Ozzy Osbourne covering the song on one of his mid 2000 releases, as well as the sampling of the chorus in Kanye West's Power. Despite my familiarity, the track still manages to catch me off-guard, the angry distortion of the vocal's and guitar coupled with the use of the sax makes for a truly enjoyable experience. Not to mention the brilliant guitar solo and the freeform outro that really caught me off guard. If the rest of the album is this good, I'll be blown away. I Talk to the Wind: A beautiful flute intro kicks off this track as well as the use of dual vocals. It seems as if the band has taken a step away from the high level of bluesy distortion on the previous cut. The flute solo in the middle of the track sounds familiar on this one as well, am I crazy for thinking I've also heard this sampled in a rap song? I don't know, maybe I've just heard something similar before. Nonetheless, the track is coming to a close and while I did enjoy it, I found it to be a tad disappointing after the fantastic opener. Epitaph: Looks like the guitar is going to be featured a little bit more prominently on this track, glad to hear. Turns out the title of the track refers to "a phrase or statement written in the memory of a person who has died" which fits in incredibly well with the dystopian lyrics and methodically paced instrumentation throughout this one. It's definitely a dark song, but I'm digging it. At about four minutes in, it appears we're building to a big crescendo. The music is quiet and surrounded with ambience now, the pace even slower than before. Alright, it's now a couple minutes later and we're wrapping up. Very solid track, I'm not sold on the necessity of such a length, but the album has been great thus far nonetheless. Moonchild: Speaking of massive songs, this one is a twelve minute epic, let's hope it makes the most of it. Early on we're getting some very quiet instrumentation hiding beneath Lake's vocals. It's giving off a really cool feeling, and now we're getting some eerie noise that I can't quite distinguish. A quick google search tells me it's a vibraphone, really cool stuff there. We're getting some more freeform improv, and I'm not exactly sure what to think. It's a cool concept, and I can see how it would be considered an influential moment, but I'm not much of a fan personally. It's been going on far too long and it's not amounting to a whole lot. This one quickly went from one of the best tracks on the album to hands down my least favorite cut. The Court of the Crimson King: Onto the final song in the track listing which was actually the first single released from the album, and Wikipedia is telling me it's one of the band's two songs to chart in the US. Huh, I've actually heard this one before as well, although I don't remember much about it. It's promising early on thanks to the lush soundscape and incorporation of nearly everything we've heard previously throughout the project. If there's one thing worth praising King Crimson for, it's just how many instruments the five members are playing on each individual track. These guys have some serious proficiency with their instruments and the way they're able to write songs that incorporate so many different sounds is very impressive. The last few minutes of the song see's the climax of the track, only to have the band reappear to play for a few minutes longer. The melody of the track is great so it doesn't do any harm. I can definitely see the influence and importance of King Crimson's debut release. Not only was it a great listen, but you can hear the band's passion and how the music they were creating on this record has had a huge impact on progressive music as a whole. While the length of the songs weren't always necessary in my opinion, it just comes down to not being the biggest fan of progressive rock as a whole (from what I've heard, at least.) I highly recommend the album for anyone else like me who has somehow managed to avoid one of the highest regarded prog albums ever recorded. Favorite Tracks: 21st Century Schizoid Man, The Court of the Crimson King Least Favorite Tracks: Moonchild Rating: 4/5 |
You should check out Larks' Tongue in Aspic. It's easily the weirdest prog album I've heard yet. Just totally alien from anything you'd expect from a rock band. I'd post a video, but they don't seem to have any on Youtube.
|
I'll look into it, sounds intriguing.
|
There's this segment of them performing the title track.
|
I also was surprised with how familiar I already was with that album when I checked it out for the first time.
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
|
Quote:
In the seventies they were somewhere between weird, but still recognizable prog rock and free, but groovy improvisations, playing around with modern classical and jazz, but also writing some great, more grounded rock songs and ballads. In the eighties they became essentially a new wave band, while still making incredibly complex, but mostly quite catchy music. From the nineties onward they cultivated a cold, mathematical, very modern and often electronic sound. They also "frakctured" into several smaller groups at some points, playing mostly improvised music with a heavy d'n'b influence. I'm just being a rambling fanboy right now and trying to tell you that King Crimson are a huge and varied musical cosmos with many wonders to explore. |
Quote:
|
http://www.garbage-discography.co.uk...04/garbage.jpg
Garbage by Garbage Released in 1995 Genre: Alt rock/Dance-rock/Power pop I've heard a ton about this album as of late. It seems as if everywhere I look, this is being mentioned as one of the quintessential mid 90's alternative rock releases. With that being said, before this year I had never even heard of the band. Keep in mind I was born in 97', so in theory the album came out before my time. As far as I know, I have absolutely zero familiarity with the band or any songs they've wrote, but based on the King Diamond review, I could be wrong about that again. Regardless, let's dig into this thing. Supervixen: The album opens up with a certain shoegaze inspired sound, in some ways reminiscent of My Bloody Valentine, or maybe it's just the pink album cover causing me to compare the two. Regardless, the only similarity between the two are the buzzing synths, as the vocals are much clearer than any shoegaze act. Definitely the right way to start the album off, a nice intro track, and now it has me intrigued to see where things go from here. Queer: The organ on this one immediately grabs my attention, although I'm unsure if it's in a positive or negative way at the moment. This is a bit of a slower track, perhaps a little bit of grunge influence involved. Solid track, it does have me questioning the dance rock tag however, as these last two tracks are far from being dance rock in my opinion. Only Happy When It Rains: This one is a little underwhelming, feels very much like a generic alternative 90's track. Perhaps they were innovators of the sound, but it still sounds like something I've heard from quite a few different bands so I'm not all that crazy about it. As Heaven is Wide: The beginning of this track is much more upbeat and actually fits within the dance rock category. There's some loud distorted guitar and a drum beat that sounds like it must be coming from a drum machine rather than an actual drum set. It seems the band really likes lush, layered instrumentation and it's especially noticeable on this one. Chalk it up as another decent to good track. Not My Idea: This one opens with a fairly heavy riff (for an alt rock song, no need to get too excited.) The track flips back and forth, the verses are much more pretty and poppy, but the chorus features dirtier, buzzing, distorted guitar play as well as Shirley Manson's chanting of "This is not my idea of a good time." Fairly catchy, and I like it when they incorporate the repetitive guitar on the chorus, it's hypnotizing, good track. A Stroke of Luck: With this one we're officially at the half way point of the album. While there have been plenty of solid cuts, I've yet to be blown away from the band, and find the record to be good, but nothing spectacular. This song isn't going to change my opinion as it's nothing more than a slow-paced filler. Vow: My trusty review companion Wikipedia tells me that this was Garbage's debut single. Interestingly enough it also tells me that Only Happy When it Rains is one of their biggest hits, and I wasn't impressed with that one at all honestly. I like this one a lot more already though, a little reverb on the vocals but they aren't drowned in it, and this one, much like the opener, incorporates a few elements of shoegaze. Another good track, but still nothing to write home about. I'm trying to focus on the lyrics a little bit more, but they've failed to make much of an impression on me thus far honestly, it's more so the incorporation of such a vast range of influences with their instruments that's held my attention up to this point. Stupid Girl: A nice, groovy bass line is pulling this track along. Noisy distortion lays in the background at some parts, an interesting inclusion. At times (mostly on this song) it seems like the band also pull a little bit from the mainstream side of industrial rock. Alright, this one was another solid track but definitely not the type of hit I was expecting considering it was nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Song in 1997. Spoiler for Try and guess who won the award that year.:
Dog New Tricks: This one's okay. I find that Shirley Manson's vocals often find themselves buried under the melody of the band's music, which isn't necessarily an issue, but it is odd considering how frequently I've heard how great her vocals are. My Lover's Box So is the song title supposed to be a sexual innuendo? Because I can't stop thinking... never mind. This one is forgettable, at this point in the album it doesn't feel like anything new or exciting is being brought into the mix and instead I'm just finding generic popular 90's alt rock (how many times have I said that thus far?) Fix Me Now: More trip-hop influence on the drum beat in this one. Then the guitar hits, and we get a second drum beat, this one coming from the actual drummer Butch Vig, and yet, the noise of the initial trip-hop inspired one can still be heard underneath all the layers. It's incredibly annoying to be honest, it could work if it wasn't buried so far down that you can just hear it enough to know it's there, just another filler track, maybe the worst one yet. Milk We're wrapping up now, and the ending feels a bit overdue. I've also just realized that every genre I've compared the group to is found in their wikipedia description so, just know that I wasn't aware of that until right at this moment. The last track has a certain drugged out, laid back feeling surrounding it that I enjoy a bit, or maybe I just disliked the last few songs so much that I'm glad to see a change in pace. You know, all of the best moments on this album come from the band's use of keyboards, aside from that there isn't much to it. Alright, so here we are, almost an hour later, and I feel as if I barely have an opinion on the album. Is it good? I guess it has it's moments, but there are so many throwaway tracks and lacklustre moments that I can't help but feel that it was boring, for the most part at least. There were a couple good tracks, and Supervixen and Not My Idea are two tracks I can see myself listening to again, but aside from that, I probably won't ever revisit this one. Favorite Tracks: Supervixen, As Heaven is Wide, Not My Idea Least Favorite Tracks A Stroke of Luck, Fix Me Now Rating: 3/5 Also, if anyone has any recs I'd be interesting in hearing them. I'm looking more so for album's that you feel everyone needs to hear, you know, essential albums or whatever. Genre doesn't matter, although I am more familiar with some more than others obviously. If I've heard it, depending on how many times I've listened to it, I might still review it anyway. |
I honestly can't recall any member here mentioning Garbage, it feels like they were too mainstream to talk about. i know that's the reason i never mentioned them but i always liked them and i used to have a crush on Shirley Manson.
Have you heard Bossanova by the pixies or Runners four by Deerhoof? those would be my recommendation if you haven't heard them. |
I don't believe I've seen them mentioned on here either, it's mostly on either YouTube or RYM that I've read about the album.
Coincidentally enough I've only heard Doolittle and Surfer Rosa by the Pixies, so I'll definitely look into that album. I have heard The Runners Four though, any other albums by Deerhoof I should check out? |
Deerhoof Vs evil is pretty good and so is Offend Maggie. Coincidentally, i was listening to Offend Maggie earlier today and developed a little obsession with the groove in this song.
I would say Deerhoof Vs Evil is more consistently good but this album has a few songs that make it worth it too. |
Anthrax, Slayer, Metallica, and Megadeth, who are commonly referred to as the "Big Four" of thrash metal are not only recognized as the acts who helped bring the metal subgenre to tremendous heights in the mid 80's, but also as decorated heavy metal bands who have remained (mostly) true to their roots of creating a fast-paced, hellish blend of hardcore punk and speed metal for well over 30 years.
Ask nearly any metalhead for the bands who influenced and shaped their musical tastes, and it's all but guaranteed at least one of the big four acts will be mentioned. I've always wondered though, which of the band's are truly the best at what they do? There's no concrete answer of course, and everyone has their own opinion on the matter, but I've decided to take it into my own hands to decide who I feel is the superior. I've listened to a fair amount of releases from each band, although I haven't heard every album from any of them. I don't plan on reviewing every album either, as that would make for unfair circumstances and either quantity over quality, as Megadeth have released 15 albums versus Metallica's 9. Instead, I'll break their respective discographies into four (might add a fifth later) categories and award points to each band as follows: Best album: 3pts Second best: 2pts Third best: 1pt Worst: -1pt The categories will be as follows: Debut Albums: Metallica - Kill 'Em All (1983) Slayer - Show No Mercy (1983) Anthrax - Fistful of Metal (1984) Megadeth - Killing is My Business.... and Business is Good! (1985) Best Albums: (according to RYM) Metallica - Ride the Lightning (1984) Slayer - Reign In Blood (1986) Anthrax - Among the Living (1987) Megadeth - Rust in Peace (1990) Worst Albums (again, according to RYM) Metallica - St. Anger [2003(not counting collaborative albums, sorry Lou Reed)] Slayer - Diabolus in Musica (1998) Anthrax - Volume 8: The Threat is Real (1998) Megadeth: Risk (1999) Latest Releases: Metallica - Death Magnetic [2008 (unless their next album is released before this concludes)] Slayer - Repentless (2015) Anthrax - For All Kings (2016) Megadeth - Dystopia (2016) We'll kick this thing off with Kill 'Em All shortly. |
If United Abominations had come out before Risk, Risk would be renowned as their comeback album.
**** UA, basically. |
Quote:
|
Risk or UA?
Nevermind, I know both will have some snarksterpieces. |
Who isn't familiar with Metallica? A band formed by lead vocalist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, they had been gaining quite the buzz for a fair amount of time prior to the release of their debut album Kill 'Em All. In fact, they had even managed to gain an opportunity to open for British heavy metal outfit Saxon, as well as securing an appearance on Metal Blade Records' compilation album Metal Massacre where their song Hit the Lights was featured as the closing track. Even though a misprint on the credits saw them labeled as Mettallica, it mattered not, as their momentum didn't slow one bit. Near the end of '82 the band began planning the release of their first full-length, but because of Metal Blade being unable to support them financially, they were forced to leave and join New York based label Megaforce Records. It wasn't long after signing that they began the writing process for their LP, however just one month before the recording could begin, guitarist Dave Mustaine was kicked out of the band for what the other members deemed to be an uncooperative attitude and more than a fair share of substance abuse issues. Fortunately, the band were able to recruit guitarist Kirk Hammett a short while later, and in May of 1983, the four piece hit the studio. Kill 'Em All, Metallica's highly regarded debut album saw the group fuze together your uncle's favorite New Wave of Heavy Metal (NWOBHM) act with your favorite childhood hardcore punk band and create something you could both use to piss all of your neighbours off. Not only were Metallica the first of the big four to release a full length album, but their project also eclipsed the length of the debuts from their three peers by well over twenty minutes. With ambitious song lengths and plenty of wicked guitar riffs courtesy of Kirk Hammett, Metallica sure took the metal world by storm with this one. The opener Hit The Lights sets the tables perfectly, as the track features impressive musicianship and the kind of finger-blazing guitar solo that proved Hammett was capable of much more than just playing punk inspired riffs for fifty plus minutes. While the lyrics throughout the album are akin to exactly what you'd expect a group of juvenile rockers to come up with, it's the delivery from fired-up frontman James Hetfield that force them to stick as he switches between the screams of a madman and the barking of a rabid dog to help propel his words of violence and warfare overtop of the booming drums and groovy bass lines on songs like Jump in the Fire and Whiplash, both of which were released as singles from the album. With that being said, the heart of this album is of course Hammett's guitar play. This is the album that inspired many of your favorite 90's guitarist to pick up the instrument in the first place, and it's also the record that made thrash metal into what it ended up becoming. Still, some of the credit needs to go to the man who formed Megadeth just a short time later, as Dave Mustaine wrote four of the album's tracks, while his replacement Hammett performed them. Hammett and Hetfield are not the only ones who impress on the album though. The instrumental track (Anesthesia) Pulling Teeth is built purely off of Cliff Burton's bass groove, and is strictly that for the first few minutes before Lars Ulrich joins in on the drums. It's a fantastic showing from Burton, and not something you'd expect to see, but it makes for a great momentary break from the chaos of the other guitar and vocals. The most well known track from this project is of course, Seek & Destroy which went on to become one of Metallica's most iconic songs. The riff is instantly recognizable among metal fans both young and old, and even with a near seven minute runtime, you never want it to come to a close. This single track encompasses everything that the band members had done previously on the album. You get another raw vocal showcase from Hetfield, a great solo from Hammett, and a fantastic rhythm job from both Ulrich and Burton. The music on this project truly speaks for itself, and this right here is the release that gave birth to one of the most legendary runs in metal music through Metallica's first four albums. If nothing else, it's a hard one to match. Thrashterpieces: Hit the Lights The Four Horsemen Motorbreath Jump in the Fire Whiplash Seek & Destroy During the time that this project first hit stores, a little Californian metal group known as Slayer were performing covers of Iron Maiden and Judas Priest songs throughout the So-Cal region. That was, until they discovered the sounds of thrash metal. By combining their Satanic imagery with the same loud, in your face style of Kill 'Em All, they became the band your parents warned you about. We'll save that one for next time though. |
Well, it's been a little while since I've posted in the ol' journal, and I figured now was as good as a time as any since I'm stuck in bed sick rather than outside enjoying the nice weather.
I'm dedicating this post to Dean Blunt, an artist who I've just recently discovered through his last full-length solo project Black Metal, which despite the name, is very very far from being even the slightest bit comparable to the extreme metal genre that originated in the 1980's and 90's. In fact, the album is, really unlike anything I've heard before it. From the intro track, titled Lush,that overflows with baroque pop influence, to the third track Blow that takes a much more folky approach, and see's Blunt using his voice in very intriguing fashion. That becomes a running trend on the album, as it's clear from the start that he isn't the strongest vocalist. It's the way he uses his voice, however, that makes him stand out. With his delivery, that at times feels almost hip-hop like with the way he mumbles over the words as he spouts them out rather nonchalantly, as well as lyrically, as he ponders a wide range of topics on the project. He doesn't shy away from his hip-hop influence with his lyricism either, as he rambles on with lines like "molly water flowing in my dome" and "ridin' through these streets, I'm strapped with my nina." There's one rather huge, ambitious cut with Forever, which runs 13 minutes long and remains almost exclusively an instrumental track throughout that time frame, and when it's followed up with the ambient, drone filled intro of X, it really shows the diversity Blunt is capable of. It's really hard for me to put a finger on exactly what goes on throughout the rest of the album, as his blend of hypnotizing art-pop is quite frankly too diverse to put a finger on. I think at the end of the day, it's an album you need to experience for yourself in order to get a grasp of exactly what's going on, and I would highly recommend to those who enjoy weird, left field pop music that isn't going to shy away from some more experimental influences. So, what are you waiting for? Give it a listen. |
You know, it's kind of funny to think about when you look at the grand scheme of things. Here I am, about to finish high school and pursue a career in journalism, with dreams of diving into the pool of music journalists head-first, holding onto the hope that I'll be able to swim and not sink despite my inexperience; and yet, lately I've struggled with consistency and often times, I just lack the effort required to do any sort of writing.
Instead, I sit at my desk, eyes fixed on the brightly lit screen of the MacBook Pro that will be my co-pilot on my journey for the foreseeable future. I want to write, scratch that, I need to write, and yet I can't. The scholarship applications are stacked thick on top of the black Canon printer to my right, and the deadlines, ranging from next week, all the way to next month, taunt me. They can't speak obviously, I mean, they're all just flimsy pieces of paper after all, right? In spite of that, I can still hear them talking. "Come on, you don't have much time left." "You really think you can afford to let this money just slip through your fingers?" "You know, you probably wouldn't get this one anyway." At this point, I just want the world to stop spinning. I want to stay where I'm at with life until I'm ready to move on. I want my biggest worry to be which friends' house I'll be crashing at after the next party, not how and if I will be able to micromanage my spending for the next four years in a reasonable fashion. Unfortunately, the Earth will be continuing it's rotation for the time being, and despite my urge to do the complete opposite; I have no choice but choosing to grow up. And so the routine starts again: Open Microsoft Word. Stare at the cursor, it flashes slowly before my eyes, pleading to me, begging me to just start typing. I'll check my phone, maybe something new is happening on one of the various social media sites I browse. I mean, it has been almost 15 minutes now since the last time I checked it. Back to my computer screen, and it's still just a big blank canvas, waiting to be painted by sentence after sentence of qualifications, past experiences, and any other achievement I can use to persuade the reader that I'm the best choice for the grant, even though I'm not. I mean, surely the other applicants aren't procrastinating like me, are they? Jennifer from Ontario is probably a straight A student, planning to major in political sciences before pursuing her law degree so that she can follow in her father's footsteps and become a lawyer herself. I'm sure her ambition to succeed is the reason why she's writing right now. And Alex from Montreal, well, Alex he comes from a storied background to say the least. His mother died when he was still crawling around in diapers, and the only other relationship his father has held since has been with the neck of a beer bottle. He has no choice but to write, whether he wants to or not, he needs to, his future depends on it. I can't relate to Jennifer or Alex. I've never faced that kind of adversity, and I've never had a real drive to succeed. I've just kind of, well, lived, I suppose. No real end goal for me, no way folks, I'm just doing whatever it takes to ensure that I keep floating on by and living to see another day. Now that I think about it, maybe that is my talent. Is simply "existing" enough of a challenge that I should be proud of achieving 18 years of it? If only just existing was the recipe for happiness, and held the answer to my problems. As the spider in the corner of my room stares back at me, I contemplate talking to him. I just want someone to hear me out. I don't need to talk to a friend who will just agree back, and tell me whatever it is they think I need to hear. I don't want to talk to a family member either, they'll tell me to grow up and stop whining about the things that need to be done. I want someone who won't talk back, someone who will sit and listen, or, hang I suppose. But not even the spider who spends his day upside down in a room cluttered with dirty clothes and assorted collectibles would want to hear what it is I have to say. I don't even think I want to hear what I have to say, honestly. The sad truth is, I could talk for minutes, hours, days even, and still, I would be saying nothing in the end. |
Congratulations. You've made it to adulthood. Never again will anyone outside of your family ever pretend to give a flying **** about you or anything you care about. All you can do is bull**** your way through and hope that you don't get the **** bombed out of you by a corporate psychopath bent on making his way up the ladder by any means possible.
Good luck! |
Just finished my last day of high school today; for better or worse I have two more years at home while going to community college, so I have a chance to make up for not doing anything of note over these last four years. Good luck to you with journalism, I love your writing so that has to count for something, right? I'm sure youll make it places bro.
|
I appreciate it Tristian, best of luck to you as well! We still have a month to go before the school year is officially finished here, but this last month is essentially just a cluster of grad events and school activities. I'm hoping to make this summer a memorable one, since I suppose it will be my last as a young, naive, high school student, but I see a lot of time spent at work in my near future.
What is it you're taking at college? |
This summer definitely has potential, planning on going busking a bunch with the other half of my two-peice.
I'm majoring in Film Studies after I get my associates in arts. I wanna be an indie film producer and be poor and without responsibility. Honest career path. I feel like the point where you're not having fun with life, being more focused on getting up in the career ladder instead of hanging out and living is when you're already dead. Like in American Beauty I guess, lol. |
Quote:
As far as the money thing goes, I feel the same way. I've come to terms with the fact that I may never see a lot of money in the career I chose, but writing makes me happy, and I feel that alone is reason enough to pursue it. |
Quote:
|
I'm in a total musical rut at the moment, and in an effort to hopefully allow me to break out of it, I'm going to ask for you all to come through and flood me with some recommendations. Yeah, I'm jumping on the ol' TH Love or Hate band wagon, so what?
If you want a good look at my tastes you can check my RYM, but honestly I'm willing to listen to just about anything once. I'll be giving the albums a pass/fail grade, and I'll be keeping a tab on this post of who has the best recs (most passes) and who has the ****tiest taste or is the biggest troll (most fails.) So with that, go ahead and hit me with some good stuff, but please just rec per person at a time. Spoiler for Pass/Fail Results:
|
Cause you like Nails and stuff. Cause why not. |
Bitch I said one rec at a time.
They're both short though so I'll let it slide. |
|
Quote:
|
Bob Drake - Bob's Drive-In
Just saw that it's not on Spotify/Youtube/Bandcamp. Do you need a link or do you use Soulseek like a normal person? |
http://www.progarchives.com/progress...1512112009.jpg
Starsailor by Tim Buckley Recommended by: Frownland Come Here Woman - The album opens with some hauntingly dark instrumental work. It starts off as exactly what one would expect from a Frownland recommendation, with some noodley, wonky, avant-garde inspired guitar work, but it isn't long before the song transitions into a fairly impressive piece of bluesy psychedelic rock. I Woke Up - This one showcases Buckley's voice quite well, as he's accompanies by some sparse instrumentation. Most notably some lovely horns and a loud, booming bass drum. I might not be sold on the experimental approach he takes, but I will say I dig his voice and I like his jazz rock influence. As the song progresses, I'm starting to be put off a little by his guitar work, and I much prefer hearing the horns or even the organ from the first track. Monterey - As soon as I give him a dig for his guitar work, he comes through with this one and impresses me. The guitar tone kind of reminds me of Beefheart in some ways, and this is perhaps the most straight forward psych rock track of the three I've heard thus far. I will say however, he still keeps coming with the jazz rock and does a pretty damn good job with it as well. By the end of the track, he's getting pretty wild with his vocals, it's a nice little touch. Now he kind of sounds like he's imitating a monkey, and strangely enough it still fits. Moulin Rouge - This one starts with Buckley singing in french, and it's a much more laid back, easy going cut. Not very experimental, but the wonderful horns return, and I absolutely love this one. It kind of reminds me of something you would find being played in a bar scene of a classic film. Song to the Siren - This one is a little boring to be honest, it's a little too heavy on the ballad side of things and I think it's a fairly big let down after how the album started. His vocals also feel a little contained on this one, and I really want to hear him be a little more wild again. Jungle Fire - This one is a jazzier track. The instrumentation is all over the place, but not in necessarily in a bad way, although I do feel it meshes quite heavily with vocals and is somewhat grating. At least the wild vocals return on this one. The second half of this track is much stronger than the first. Starsailor - Time for the title track, and I'm not sure what to expect as this album hasn't really stayed true to any sound thus far. Buckley starts the song by... yodeling? I mean, he's not literally yodeling, but the way his vocals are cutting out it almost sounds like he is. Quick side note: it's hilarious listening to this album while looking at the album art, it really does not prepare you for what you're getting into on this one, if anything it looks like the kind of album you'd find in your grand parents record collection. There's a lot of different vocal recordings on this one, it's cool for awhile, but at almost five minutes in length it's just a little too much. The Healing Festival - Wow, this one is super jazzy. Love it. It's fast paced and the way the sax floats from the background to up in front of the tracking is great. Is it weird to say I think Buckley could have fronted a really awesome post-punk band? There's something about his voice that I really enjoy, he also can hold a note for an incredible length, so there's that as well. As the track wraps up, I can definitely say it was the sax work that stole the show on that track, this is gearing up for a strong finish. Down by the Borderline - This is a groovy psych track that seems to leave the experimental rock alone, at least for the moment. It's strange how quick Buckley is to dip in and out of the more experimental aspects on this album, half of the tracks are almost, dare I say, accessible to a mainstream audience? Aside from maybe his wild vocals that is. Never mind, I'm eating my words as the album concludes with an awesome little jazz freak-out, led again by some awesome sax work. Apparently there was a flugelhorn on this album, can someone tell me what a flugelhorn is? This was definitely an interesting listen, and while it was a little bit of hit-or-miss, I felt there were more strong tracks than weak ones. Again, I think he has a very strong voice, and I think there were moments on this record that I feel could have inspired some successful modern musicians. The vocal effects throughout reminded me Thom Yorke's interest in toying with the pitch and speed of his own vocals, and there were plenty of moments that actually reminded me of Swans, The Healing Festival in particular. Final Verdict: Frown gets a solid pass for this one. |
Quote:
|
I've come around to Song of the Siren a bit since I've delved into his earlier works and got more acquainted with the style, but I felt the exact same way when I first heard the album. I love the record because there isn't anything quite like it despite it being around for over 45 years.
|
Song To The Siren is ****ing beautiful and totally appeals to my romantic, girlish side.
And yeah, that album is awesome. Didn't expect such a non-amazed review. |
Quote:
|
| All times are GMT -6. The time now is 03:54 AM. |
© 2003-2025 Advameg, Inc.