BLACKFIELD II

Oh yeah. it's time to write a review because by now I think I have spun the CD (including those ripped into my iPod) more than ten times. It's such a pleasure enjoying this album and it serves as a break from day-to-day prog listening. Imagine yourself enjoying Isildur's Bane or Thinking Plague or Somnambulist and your mind feels like "dark" and complex, I think it's about time for you to have a try of this album. It's so nice. The music is quite simple and there is nothing that you need to think whenever you spin this CD. In fact, having listened to this CD many times, it stimulated me to write some words that I post last week on the forum. It says something like this:

I Wish .

This morning, I spun Blackfield II CD / The music is so simple / There is nothing complex / Everything moves smoothly / Nothing distracts me at all, musically / The melody is nice, even though not that catchy / The soundscape. oh yeah! This is THE KEY of this album / Steven Wilson is the master of soundscape / The lyrics are so dark / I sip my kopi tubruk/ while lstening to the music.. and read Edward Macan's book . ROCKING THE CLASSICS!

Oh I wish .. I am a musician ./ How come I am not a musician? / It was the story of the past / I did NOT dare to challenge the "status quo" / I just followed what others did / Study very hard, find the best school / Oh yeah .. I got it! / But .. it does not answer my question . / Why am I not a musician?/ I wish .

........

Let's face it, Gatot! / Don't do any daydream / You are not gifted as musician / You have to enjoy and thankful on what you do now! / What do I do? / Listen to the music / Find all subtleties embedded in the music / Write what "I feel" about the music / Remember .. Music IS emotion / Appreciate the music / What A GREAT LIFE!!!! / Thanks God .! / I choose to be thankful on what I do now / Even though . / I wish I was a musician . (rock music)..

That has proved the music contained in this CD is very emotional and touches my mind and my heart and at the same time triggers me to do something. I have to agree that all lyrics are very dark, the music is simple but powerful.

Is this pop?

Like its previous debut, all 10 songs featured here are structurally straight forward composition and there is a very strong influence from Porcupine Tree music. Major difference with Porcupine Tree is that there is no such thing as curved line here, everything moves simply in one direction and there is no variations in terms of style in typical song. It's just intro-body-chorus-body kind of structure. So, you might call it a pop song. I don't think this is a pure pop song because the music has something more to offer. What is that? The soundscape man! Please spin this CD during midnight in your private listening room, play it very (very!) loud and you will get all the subtleties produced by this album. Fabulous! Observe how the piano is played in floating style, the string section at the back, the bass, midrange and treble, and how Steven Wilson sings. Oh man .. I bet you will love this album regardless you are a die hard prog rock fan or just a pop music fan - it does serve all tastes!!!

The music itself is dominated by Steven Wilson and I will assure those of you who like the music of Porcupine Tree will enjoy this album to the fullest. The vocal department is also heavily dominated by Steven Wilson. In fact, I haven't seen any song that demonstrates Aviv Geffen vocal quality even though there is one song where the lead vocal is by Geffen, ie: "Miss U". At a glance I never thought that this song is sung by Geffen as it sounds like the same with other songs, vocally. So when I read the CD inlay I found that this is sung by him.

The more I spin this CD, the more I like it and there is a need to re-spin the CD, which I did it sometimes. The more spin, the more I know the flow of songs and it infuses slowly into my mind and it's just like telling me a flow of a concept album with inter-related songs. Take an example of opening track "Once" (4:03) which has an upbeat style and good drumwork, followed with mellow-spacey "1,000 People" and going back to upbeat "Miss U". The next is the expected hit "Christening". Wow! What a great flow of songs.

My best favorite track from this album is the end track "End of The World" even though I love all tracks. The last track has everything that fulfills my needs in terms of melody, structure and soundscape. The music has a very strong Pink Floyd influence but in relatively straightforward structure. The lyrics are very captivating : Don't you forget what I've told you / So many years / We are hopeless and slaves to our fears / We're an accident called human beings .. Oh what a great opening. The music flows beautifully through good lyrical passages. I cannot afford not to replay this song whenever it finishes. It's really a masterpiece! But, there is no such this as mediocre track in this album - all of them are excellent. I also love "Someday" especially when Wilson sings the "f" word - so nice, vocally man!

Conclusion

Do I need to conclude? Especially with the above long write-up which admires this album? Well, you can draw the line by yourself then. I am sorry for being too emotional with this review because I cannot help it. This album is damn excellent! You know, my philosophy has always been and will always be: Music is Emotion. A bit of guidance here is that for those of you who like "Deadwing" album, will definitely enjoy this album as well. But it does not mean that those who don't will not enjoy this. This is a universal album that serves any musical taste and I'm sure that you have to give it a try! If you are audiophile, I would suggest you to buy the vinyl. I am sure this album would sound great when you enjoy it with a vinyl. Keep on proggin' ..!

Peace on earth and mercy mild - GW

It's the end of the world / The end of the world / It's a prison for dreams and for hopes / And still we believe there is God / It's the end of the world / The end of the world We're dead but pretend we're alive / Full of ignorance, fools in disguise .

("End of The World" - Blackfield II)

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