Originally Posted by Trollheart

From the Choir Girl Hotel - Tori Amos

Okay, I'm going to stop here. I can't get past the basic aping by Amos of Bush. Her inflections, her pronunciations, her wails, her intakes of breath: it's all Kate Bush and I don't want to insult you by giving this a very biased review, so I'm going to pass on it. I doubt I'll listen to another Amos record. All through the first listen to this all I could think of was how much I would prefer to be listening to a Kate album. I'm sure it's not deliberate, but it's like she's capitalising on Kate's style to such an extent that she's a poorly watered-down copy of her, and I don't like that, even if it's only my own perceptions that are doing it. **** it: even her "quirkiness" seems put-on, as if she's read all there is to read about Kate and thought "I'll have some of that" or "It worked for her, so it'll work for me." I want the real thing, not a cheap and very obvious knock-off.

I'll do one of the other albums, but I'm passing on this.
Sorry.

Originally Posted by MicShazam

Holy cow, that's not the reaction I was expecting. I know she rubs some people the wrong way, but still. Fair game anyway. While I don't quite see the Kate Bush aping, it's at least a bit easier to kinda understand what you mean with this particular album, as it plays up the arty poppiness a bit. I definitely feel like Tori very much has a singing voice all her own, with a distinct Southern twang that only seems to get more pronounced with age.

If you still want to do another, then that Helloween album, Better Than Raw would be fun to see your take on. For some reason, this album and the one before it are not on Spotify. It seems they belong to a label that have not agreed to the same contract as Nuclear Blast - who probably owns all of the other albums of the band at this point.

If you can't find a good quality upload on Youtube or elsewhere, I could upload it myself. Just let me know.

Originally Posted by Trollheart

No that's cool. I own all the Helloween discography. I'll do that one and another one from your list. I'll take a look. Sorry about Tori: guess we'll have to split the divorce proceedings.

Originally Posted by MicShazam

Allright cool. Didn't know how familiar you would be with Helloween.

If you're gonna do an additional one, then can I change which Dir En Grey album it would be? If I can, I'd pick Withering to Death instead. If not, then I'd rather you did the Céu album that I mentioned (Vagarosa). Totally your choice of course

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Yeah, I'll do the Grey dudes, sure. Why not? Hell, I'll do that other one too. I have a lot of time on my hands now. Might as well make meself useful.

Originally Posted by Trollheart

Better Than Raw – Helloween (1998)

Hah! Love the tongue-in-cheek orchestral intro, and the title. ****ing great. Ah shoot though: there's no Kiske and no Kai. Darn: I really preferred Helloween with those two guys in. It's kind of a little generic really, though “Time” perks me up, and “I Can” has a lot of commercial appeal about it (hence its being released as a single, though not a successful one) – in fact, the album gets a lot better after that. Even so, it's a pale shadow beside the likes of Seven Keys, Walls of Jericho or even Master of the Rings. Then again, how do you make a power metal album stand out? Not so easy, though I do like the humour Helloween use here on some of the songs. Nice to see they don't take themselves all that seriously. But I wouldn't consider this one of their better albums, to be honest.

Track Listing
Deliberately Limited Preliminary Prelude Period in Z
Push
Falling Higher
Hey Lord!
Spit On My Mind
Revelation
Time
I Can
Handful of Pain
Laudate Dominum
Back On the Ground
Midnight Sun