Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

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.

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

INDEX

Green = Pass
Red = Fail

Frownland: Tim Buckley - Starsailor
The Batlord: Cheap Trick - Heaven Tonight
Frownland: Man Is The Bastard - Thoughtless
grindy: Bob Drake - Bob's Drive-In
Frownland: Girl Pusher - Jan.1 EP
The Batlord: Violent J - Wizard of the Hood
grindy: Only A Mother - Feral Chickens
Ki: Sigur Ros - Valtari
Frownland: Huun-Huur-Tu - Ancestor's Call
1blankmind: Wax Fang - LA LA Land
The Batlord: Ringworm - Hammer of the Witch
Frownland: Armand Hammer - Race Music
grindy: Auktyon - Na Solntse
The Batlord: Acme ... To Reduce the Choir to One Soloist
Goofle: Collen Green - I Want To Grow Up
Tristan Geoff: MC Trustan - Metaphoric Train Wrec
grindy: Alec K. Redfearn & The Seizures - Exterminating Angel
1blankmind: TruckFighters - Gravity X
Frownland: Dimesland - Psychogenic Atrophy
Batlord: Stampin' Ground - A New Darkness Upon Us
Mondo Bungle: Orthodox - Amanecer en Puerta Oscura
Mondo Bungle: Q'uq'umatz - Tepeu
grindy: Volapük - Polyglöt
Ki: The Weeknd - Starboy
Tristan Geoff: Animal Collective - Feels
Frownland: Jute Gyte - Ship of Theseus
The Batlord: Reprisal - Boundless Human Stupidity

Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

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

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Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

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

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The Batlord

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.

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Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

I'll look into it, sounds intriguing.

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Frownland

I also was surprised with how familiar I already was with that album when I checked it out for the first time.

grindy has been ****ting Henry Cow links left and right all over this forum, and that's weirdest prog that you know of?

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

grindy

I think I need to make an AvantProg education thread sometime.

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A smell of petroleum prevails throughout.

The Batlord

I'm hella lazy about checking out other people's recs and videos.

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Ol’ Qwerty Bastard

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.



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.

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