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halabalushindigus 
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Joined: November 05 2009 Location: San Diego Status: Offline Points: 1438 |
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 Posted: May 07 2010 at 12:50 |
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^ which would be preferred
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assume the power 1586/14.3 |
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AtomicCrimsonRush
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 02 2008 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 14258 |
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Posted: May 07 2010 at 10:15 |
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Don't get me started as I will waste all my time posting reviews on this thread. However i will be back here to post a few that i love.
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Textbook
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Joined: October 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 3281 |
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Posted: May 06 2010 at 06:04 |
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I'll probably do another one sooner or later. My enthusiasm was dulled by a sense that no one was reading them. And that Chicago Underground Duo record was a pretty scary review, not really convinced I managed it.
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R-A-N-M-A
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Joined: July 12 2007 Location: Calgary, AB Status: Offline Points: 84 |
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Posted: May 06 2010 at 00:16 |
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Come now, give it a go. I want to review another one and I don't want to be the douche who throws down two posts in a row.
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maani
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Posted: April 26 2010 at 22:07 |
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Great idea! However, I think I better not participate because (i) I will become completely and totally addicted to it, and (ii) I will absolutely dominate the thread. LOL. So...I will refrain for now. LOL.
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R-A-N-M-A
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Posted: April 05 2010 at 21:48 |
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The Kinks - Arthur: Or the Decline and Fall of the
British Empire
5/5  Details: 1969 Essential Records Ray Davies - Vocals, Keybords, Rhythm Guitar, Producer Dave Davies - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals John Dalton - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals Mick Avory - Drums, Percussion A Side: Victoria - 3:40 Yes Sir, No Sir - 3:46 Some Mother's Son - 3:25 Drivin' - 3:21 Brainwashed - 2:34 Australia - 6:46 B Side: Shangri-La - 5:20 Mr. Churchill Says - 4:42 She's bought a hat like Princess Marina - 3:07 Young and Innocent Days - 3:21 Nothing to Say - 3:08 Arthur - 5:27 History: Arthur was recorded and released in 1969 shortly after a ban on the Kinks touring the United States had been lifted. Arthur was not commercial success when compared to their early work: like Kinks, home of the rock classic You Really Got Me. It reached 105 on the Billboard album charts in the US and failed to chart in the UK. This was still an improvement over it's critically successful but poor selling predecessor: The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society. Arthur is widely regarded as the Kinks best work and it set the stage for their return to commercial success on it's follow up Lola Vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round. Review: Arthur is one of the great unsung albums of all time. It is a mix of some the best straightforward riff-rock, balads and odd sounding (to North American ears at any rate) british dancehall inspired music. Toss into the mix a lively horn section, a healthy dose of blues rock and everpresent keyboard accompaniment and you have a recpie for a great album. Of course the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts and the cooks have to be given full credit for their work. The master chef is bandleader and cheif song writer Ray Davies. The songs are all lyrically solid and like all good pop rock songs seldom overstay their welcome. There are few if any throw away tracks. Arthur: Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire is the story of Arthur a regular guy whose gone through all the trials and hardhardships of life and come out in one piece. He now lives a pieceful if boring existance. After the loss of his son in the Korean war he packs up and heads for Australia. Arthur is a quintessenially british album. It exudes it's island roots brought about by four years of exile while the rest of the british invasion was raging across the pond. Arthur is based in-part on the Davies brother's brother-in-law who moved to Australia with their sister of whom they were very fond. The album kicks off with a great up beat rocker, maybe the best one actually. It is about a by-gone era of british supremacy. When Dave comes in with those first riffs overtop of Ray's easy going backing guitars, the hooks sink in and never let go. Solid vocals. The shuffling and cynical Yes sir, No Sir about the state of the common soldier comes next. It isn't quite as up beat but the chorus line is no less addictive. Following the first two more rock oriented tracks comes the album's first balad: Some Mother's Son. It is about the loss of generations of young men in warfare. It is characteristic for it's use of harpsichords. Some might say it's a touch preachy, but this is nowhere near John Lennon's league. The levity returns with Drivin'. Within the first verse war has been cast off for a carefree sunday drive. The lightest track on the album follows straight after the most serious. Succeeding Drivin' is the shortest track Brainwashed. It's theme is the monotony of working life. It is anything but boring. It is fast paced compared to most of the album. Funky guitar work and typically impecable lyrics are front and centre. Australia is one of the curiosities of Arthur. This is where the dance hall hits like an atom bomb. It starts with smooth vocals and fairly minimal backing. This is probably one the catchiest pitches for a move the otherside of the planet ever written. I can't help but be reminded of the 1950s aesthetic when I hear it. Part way through the song converts into a prolonged blues rock out. I think this is as close as Arthur ever gets to being long winded. It is a welcome change to the slightly odd vocal work which preceeds it however. I still like, however I would call it one of the weaker tracks on the album. After Australia we return to the balads with Shangri-La which is about Arthur and his comfortable home life. I like it better than Some Mother's Son, mostly for it's excellent chorus line and groovy second half. Things slow down and get a little bluesy yet again with Mr. Churchill Says. It is loaded with quotes and anecdotes from Churchill and other british World War II era political personalities. The delivery boarders on satirical; not in a mean spirited or mocking way. Like a good many tracks on Arthur Mr. Churchill Says has a a change up partway through. The second half is very groovy and likely contains the best solo guitar work on the album. The second primarily dance hall piece is She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina. This one is about regular folks emulating the british upper class. It's a a bit cheesy for my tastes. The Harpsichord and other keyboards for most of the backing until a change up into more eratic and sound effect laden send up. The delivery of the dance hall concept is much stronger than on Australia. Young and innocent days is the final Balad from Arthur. It is perhaps the least remarkable track on Arthur and as close as the Kinks come to having a throw away track. The Kinks as ever remain solid. Soothing vocals and the best keyboard work on the album keep it from being banal. Arthur closes like it opens, with two solid rockers. Nothing to Say, which touches on family relations. These rockers are the big reason you should get Arthur. The riffs are picture perfect! The Finale is the title track Arthur. Maybe not quite as great as Nothing to say, but it is a show of upbeat solidarity for the eponymous hero. Arthur is the kind of album where you'll find yourself singing along with every track before you've even heard it all the way through. Arthur is a must have for anyone. It will be especially cherished by those who are want for unadulterated rock music. I think it is good enough to convert people to the cause too, so even if you don't really think you like this sort of stuff I say give it a try. All it'll cost you is the better part of an hour out of your life at most. The Kinks score a 5/5 for Arhur: Or the Delcline and Fall of the British Empire and a place in my personal top ten albums. Prog Appeal: While excellently written and played, Arthur is an uncomplicated album. Folk proggers out there might like the stripped down style and dance hall influences. If what you are looking for is overly elaborate and complex compositions look elsewhere. Edited by R-A-N-M-A - April 05 2010 at 22:04 |
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Textbook
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Joined: October 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 3281 |
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Posted: March 25 2010 at 04:24 |
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Boca Negra
by Chicago Underground Duo
10 tracks, 55 mins
 This is almost certainly the most puzzling review I've ever written. I've reviewed "difficult" music before- f**k Buttons spring to mind- but I've always been able to say whether I like or recommend it even if I couldn't quite capture the sound in words. With Chicago Underground Duo's latest, I'm really grasping at shadows putting things on paper- Frank Zappa's great quote "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" has never been more applicable for me.
Drummer Chad Taylor plays in Iron And Wine but the last thing you should do is let that be a reference. Nothing of Sam Beam's influence is to be found here.
The cover gives a clue- it's not clear what the point is, the band are obscured, you can't quite tell what effect they're going for, at first I didn't even notice the title/name was written on it, appeared to be one of those pure image covers. This kind of throwing-off the audience is par for the course on Boca Negra.
Imagine if Autechre tried recording with live instruments. Though CUD are rooted in jazz, on this record there's a lot of tracks that seem to depart entirely from it, even in a free/experimental jazz sense. Perhaps we have found the genre of post-jazz? I hesitate to call it prog/fusion because while it's BIZARRE at times which rings up the prog-ometer there's very little rock/fusion feel to it. This is not technical. Dizzying solos aren't there. Nor is it freeform improvising. Nor is it ambient. Sometimes rhythm/melody seem to be entirely absent though music is being played.
With a track like Left Hand Of Darkness, I'm really not sure what the duet of cornetist and drummer are doing. Alien clanging and whiney noises titter along for a few moments with the odd sudden shift in pitch or volume or pattern. They do this very slowly and carefully too- it doesn't feel at all haphazard but as though it has been very painstakingly put together. The track, like a few of the quiet ones, keeps feeling like it is going to collapse into silence altogether though there's always another subtlely unexpected noise about to burble up and have you striving to find the connections. And just when you think this is going to end up a successor to Metal Machine Music, something that feels a bit like a groove/song kicks up two minutes in, as the marimba finds a line and the cornet slots into place over it, but if you don't sit down and concentratedly listen to the music, the contrast between desperate reaching for sound and then the relief of identifiable elements, which I think is the intention, is lost. But at the same time, sitting down and giving all of your mind to just these four minutes is quite draining and at no point particularly fun. By the time you get to the truely obscure Roots And Shooting Stars near the record's end, where electronic whispers and cornet that alternately drones and sqawks eventually metls into barely audible marimba twinkling (but you can't quite relax because by this point you're sure something baffling is just around the corner) one feels quite exhausted despite not having moved at any time.
However, the entire record is not this obtuse. Green Ants and a cover of Coleman's Broken Shadows are on offer, though both seem to raise the question "What is jazz and what is two guys fooling around on their instruments?" There are moments when they find great grooves and trills and moments when it feels as if I had put two eighth graders in an instrument storage room, said "Whatever" and then hit record.
Yet just to make this a real record that is everything yet not quite anything, there is an accessible patch in the middle, from the 5th to 7th tracks. Confliction begins in an obstreperous fashion with someone slowly beating a piano as though they're trying to piss people off while cornetist Mazurek occasionally pipes up as if he's in the next room and doesn't know the mic is picking him up. So of course this being this record, after two minutes of that, they go straight into an enjoyable Dave Brubeck type jam. Quite why it had to be preceded by the piano equivalent of water torture I couldn't say but sixth track Hermeto makes up for some of the awkwardness by giving us a lush, beautiful piece of atmospherics where marimba and what I think is a thumb piano mix with wind sounds to soothe us after all the mental hopping we've been doing. And seventh track Spy On The Floor is actually groovy and after the drums come in after a short, quiet, but logical intro has no surprises up its sleeve and works as evidence that these guys can really play when the fancy takes them.
All in all, this not a record I like or dislike. Maybe my musical IQ isn't high enough or I haven't listened to enough experimental jazz to get this but I can neither praise it highly as I didn't really enjoy myself but nor can I pan it as Despair type trash because I can feel a definite creative, intelligent talent in the framework, even if it's not speaking a language I understand. But please, feel free to give it a try if you're adventurous- maybe you can find the words to evaluate it that continue to elude me.
2.5/5
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Textbook
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Joined: October 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 3281 |
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Posted: March 23 2010 at 04:27 |
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Blakroc (2009)
by Blakroc
11 tracks, 36 mins
 One of the age old knocks against rap from people who usually haven't really listened to it in the first place is that it "doesn't use real musicians/instruments." While I would argue that turntablism and beat construction programmes are instruments that require musically able people to operate them well, an easier way around it is to turn to hip-hop artists that use real instrumentation. The mighty Outkast had a fondness for real musicians and The Roots, one of hip-hop's greatest acts, actually are a band but generally they're quite thin on the ground. Let us not speak of Limp Bizkit who a decade on still make people shudder and vomit every time someone suggests rap/rock.
So yes, Blakroc is a rap/rock project. Or should that be rap/blues-rock? Because the musos in question providing the backdrop are Ohio's Black Keys. Damon Dash, who runs Jay-Z's label, is a huge fan and got together with the band about putting together beats for rappers and Blakroc, who have this album in the can and are working on another, is born.
Listen to What You Do To Me there and you'll see the results for yourself. An authentic, bluesy sound with soulful vocals from the Keys' Dan Auerbach and Nikki Wray (whose versatile voice leaps from modern R&B to 30s wailing as she pleases over the four tracks she appears on) lay down the chorus, before Jim Jones raps calm and cool before Billy Danze takes the second verse in his typically explosive, excited fashion- and both styles fit the music. The Keys clearly know how to adapt to their current situation.
However, I will freely admit that What You Do To Me is above the standard of most of the rest of the album. The Black Keys seem a bit timid- rather than really getting into the whole concept of the album, most of their music could pass for normal hip-hop beats. There's a nice lick here and there on tracks like Hope You're Happy and Done Did It but mostly they play it conservative- you keep waiting for them to kick it up a gear but they rarely do.
As for the MCs, we're sorted. The only guy I didn't already like was Jim Jones but he drops his usual vapid nonsense for the best verses I've heard from him. NOE was an unknown quantity to me- he comes off as a Jay-Z clone but at least he does it well. Pharoah Monche drops a goodie on Dollars And Sense and legends like Mos Def, Raekwon and Q-Tip are also in the mix. The only bung note is RZA- he does well on Dollars And Sense but drops the ball on Telling Me Things, sounding like he's going to cry and referencing Mork And Mindy which doesn't fly for me. Special mention goes to Coochie, a charming little ditty about well.... if you don't know, ask your dad. It's a simple, even stupid song, but stupid in a good way, dirty fun with The Black Keys appropriately scuzzing it up. Ludacris sounds more fired up here than he does on his medicore new album Battle Of The Sexes but the real treat is the latest posthumous appearance from Old Dirty b*****d, a man who was so uncharismatic that he somehow came out the other side and become charismatic again. Coochie annoyed me at first, but grew on me as the dumb, unreformed fun that it is.
However, the record is not a triumph. Its length and lack of cohesion suggests it could've spent a little longer in the oven- a few songs like On The Vista and Stay Off The f**king Flowers feel like sketches which aren't fully developed. There's certainly a good sound in here but I don't think everything was done that could've been to draw it out.
I'm glad they're making a second album, but not so much because I need to hear more of this, but because I want them to come back and do it right. Then we might have something to really roc about.
3/5
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Atkingani
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Honorary Collaborator / Retired Admin Joined: October 21 2005 Location: Terra Brasilis Status: Offline Points: 12288 |
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Posted: March 22 2010 at 21:16 |
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Stickied to check if it'll grow...
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Guigo
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Textbook
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Joined: October 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 3281 |
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Posted: March 22 2010 at 04:34 |
 A Badly Broken Code
by Dessa
14 tracks, 47 mins
To people who don't pay particular attention to it, hip-hop seems to be a coastal thing. We got the smooth, violent gangster stuff on the West Coast and we got the gritty, violent gangster stuff on the East Coast. Of course things are never that simple and if you look closer you'll find a much more complex musical palette within hip-hop than what is offered up by the mainstream. Of course hip-hop gets made between those two coasts, and I don't just mean Chicago and Detroit which have suitably gangster reps. In this case we're talking about Minnesota which has one of the most active and vibrant alt-hip-hop scenes in the country.
Meet Dessa, a spoken word artist turned rapper/singer who affiliates with the acclaimed collective Doomtree. Doomtree cohort POS hit big in 2009 with his third LP Never Better's compelling mix of rap music with hardcore punk. Can Dessa's combination a Lilith Fair MC and traditional singing of a variety of styles also win the day?
Well, yes and no. A Badly Broken Code is a good album, but it's not a great one. It's a quality product and Dessa is certainly talented and interested but the album lacks the knockout punch needed to break through the sturdy preconceptions surrounding hip-hop which create the situation whereby the very people who would probably like this will never check it out. But for a start off, not only is this not typical hip-hop, a lot of it is not hip-hop at all. The beautiful, cascading vocal work of the a capella Poor Atlas shows that Dessa can really sing and isn't at all confined by the expectation that she only rap due to being a Doomtree artist. Go Home is a straight R&B song- a bit of a dull one but it's no embarrassment. And there are other genre-busting moments but my favourite is The Chaconne, the kind of song I wish they were playing on the radio. A poignant lyric, a fragile hook from Matthew Santos, Dessa's understated and expertly delivered singing on the verses- a real winner. However, great though this would be as a single (crazily it isn't one) no other song on the record casts the spell over me this one does.
So we've seen that she can go right outside the hip-hop box, but what about when she gets in it? You'll find her doing the traditional bragging on the swaggering, brass laced The Bullpen and repping her posse Doomtree (though in a genuine, touching way) on Crew. But you'll also find her advising an abused girlfriend on how to get away with seeing that her boyfriend has an "accident" on Alibi or narrating an intense phone call with an ex lover that sees them running through their whole messed up relationship on the tense Mineshaft II. Or there's the quirky opener, Children's Play, where she talks about the odd but anchoring connection she shares with her younger brother even as her parents misunderstood the two of them and eventually divorced.
Musically the beats use a range of instrumentation- the oriental string plucking of Children's Play, the bassoon underpinning the 40's flavoured hip-hop of Dixon's Girl (the actual single), the klezmer inflected Matches To Paper Dolls, the more explosive drumming that comes into play when Seamstress gets angry. Yet as I mentioned earlier, the album still feels sort of grey. Dessa and her team do all these things well, but not excellently- the X factor to make this brilliant is missing.
Still, A Badly Broken Code is a good debut and if Dessa improves on future releases, alternative hip-hop may have a new queen in town, though A Badly Broken Code itself may be a little too niche to give her that push. Thoroughly worth checking out if you'd like to see intelligent rap from a female perspective.
3.5/5
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Icarium
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VIP Member Joined: March 21 2008 Location: Tigerstaden Status: Offline Points: 34055 |
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 09:16 |
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Review Synchronicity - The Police
I don't know quite what style of music there is on this album but sure it is eclectic, ranging from New Wave,, world, Jazz, Avant garde, pop/rock, reggea, dare I say Neo prog and post punk. i will guide through a track by track review 1 Synchronicity Prt 1. this is In My Opinin some of the greates rock songs and album starters, some sort of Vibraphone starts this song which will be looped thorough the hole song, then some HI hat strokes by the drumer, then the pounding bass line by Sting, and what follows is greatnes, a solid and agressive track, and then a nice bridge, i realy like the pace of this song fast, agressive (agian), realy interesting sounds from the guitar, Andy Summer is a master of making untradisjonal sound of the guitar and predates Tom Morello in manny aspects. Brilliant track 2. Walking in Your Footsteps - is more in a World music landskape, carribean influeced, congas and other percussive instruments and atmospheres laid by the guitar and bass with simple but efficiant effects. you can almost smell the Amazon Forest. I also think there is some anti war message in the lyrricks Nice track 3. O My Good - opens with a solid bass groove with some effects (and probably frettless) and saxophone and Synth atmosphere. nice pulseing drum beat, some nice guitar effects, the world music influence is here as well but with more Jazzy approach, also a bit prog influence in an almost post rock fassiond overall atmosphere, nice sax solo and the sax plays the last notes. great song and then ..... 4. Mother (Andy Summer) - one song not sung by Sting, well and what a song this is, very strange, Avant Garde, often dissmissed by the pop crowed and often said to be the weak point of this album. starts of with some sopran sax, frettless bass indo/raga guitar and some untradisjonal drum beat and time sig. verry good guitar solo and mad vocals. I would call this Progressive rock, and sounds a bit like Elephant Talk by King Crimson, Quirk and strange also a bit Gentle Giant ish. raga rock and exotic, interesting song, not great but funny. 5. Miss Gradenko - very good lead guitar meoldies, melodic bass line, funcky, great corouse, one of the best guitar solos i have heard jazz guitar with a toutch of avant, great song with fantastick guitar solo. 6.Synchronicity II - WOW this song is fantastic, starts off with some guitar strumming, some synth chords, and then a fantastic drum groove, pounding bass (simple but awsome), wonderfull vocal lines, infectios guitar lines wonderfull riff, brilliant tone, great bridge/mid part i can't find anything wrong about this song, my favourte police song. FANTASTIC (not very Objective sorry) 7. Every Breath You Take - the Big hit, nice pop song, mellow not so loud as the previos song and give you a time to think and to reflect, about the message of this song (which are to many to put to words atleast for me) also coverd by P Diddy after the passing of Notourios B.I.G and that gives this song even a bigger impact and momentum. great song (even if it is overplayd on radio) 8. King of Pain - starts off with some bass, vibes, piano, some nice chord changes, nice bass line, then comes the pulseating groove that keeps the attention of the listener wile it builds upp to the corous, with some nice guitar riffs, a lot of temposhifts in this song, slow , fast, intensive but still a lot of space, Reggea influence, nice guitar solo, ambient part that gives you the chills. Art rock: Good song 9. Wrapped Around your Finger - my second or theard favourite on this album, wonderfull atmosphere provided by a frettless bass and guitar, piano a lot of subteltle tones and complex harmonies wile kept subtle, this song demands many listnes, if you want to grasp what is spessial about this song, alot of hidden detales, nice bridge, Sting plays a different bass line on the third verse and the tones he choose ther is just magical, Amazing... great vocal line - Pure Bliss 10. Tea In the Sahara - start wtih some subtle bass groove, atposphere, saxophone, guitar and synth reggea influenced, nice tune, with pre post rock sound, ( i wonder how much the Police have influnced Talk Talk) 11. Murder By Number - fast rim shots starts this song, this song have an jazz/avant verse, i realy like the corous, almost swing in the verses, nice drumming by Copland he is such a great drummer great song. a bit repetative corous but that is mariginal  solid five stars or more like 4,30 masterpeace of rock (and did I say that the production on this album is prestine clear)Prog appeal : i'm sure this album have enough progressive elements to appeal to prog-fnas, verry ecelectic album cover a lor of styles, some of them are presented as subgenres on Progarchives. like avant, jazz, indo/raga rock. |
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ExittheLemming
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Joined: October 19 2007 Location: Penal Colony Status: Offline Points: 11415 |
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 05:06 |
Really liked the track you posted, sorta That Petrol Emotion via the Velvets via Television. Excellent stuff. |
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Kotro
Prog Reviewer 
Joined: August 16 2004 Location: Portugal Status: Offline Points: 2815 |
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 04:21 |
I was thinking along the lines of a reviews-only topic, sticked, with a review index on the first post, and linked to the Home Page, and a separate, non-sticked reviews discussion topic. But your idea is quite good and really not that hard to implement - perhaps something to take to big chiefs?
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Bigger on the inside.
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rogerthat
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Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 04:20 |
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Great, will do that, but a bit later...let this thread grow, then I will post mine so that people don't have to turn the pages.
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Kotro
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 04:16 |
Roger, like with normal PA reviews, I don't suppose we are limited to one review per album - you should review Grace if you wan't to, especially since you seem to show a lot more love for the album than I do.
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Bigger on the inside.
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rogerthat
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 03:28 |
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Artist: Stevie Wonder
Album: Songs in the key of life (1976) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Songs_in_the_Key_of_Life His homepage leads to where you buy it from Itunes  so I am posting the wikipedia page for the track listing. Hmmm...Stevie Wonder is my favourite Western music artist and certainly one of my all time favourite Western singers. And this album is his magnum opus. Suffice it to say that the album truly lives up to its title. This is indeed an astonishingly diverse collection of tracks which somehow put together produce a consistent and pleasing flavour (that is to say, the idea of putting together a wide variety of music in one umbrella doesn't come off as gimmicky). It would be an obvious hyperbole to say that there is a song for every key of life here and yet it would not be overstating the case too much, for from naughty (I Wish), contemplative (Summer Soft) to romantic (Knocks Me off my feet) to joyful (Isn't She Lovely), there is a song for every mood here and it all rings true and sincere, as only it can when the man executing it is Stevie Wonder. The thing that sets him apart - and always has - from much of the pop crowd is the sheer spontaneity of his music craft. He wrote these songs because he loved them, not to fill disc space and/or generate the 'hit', though succeed it did. So, the proceedings never sound contrived or overdone or plain artificial, if anything the quantity and quality of music gets overwhelming to keep pace with. It is also worth mentioning here that I cannot think of any other singer who would be able to maintain his distinct personality through such vast and diverse material, but Stevie pulls it off effortlessly. What I do have a problem with is the prolonged codas in many songs, be it Love is in need of love or Joy Inside My Tears, not to mention Another Star which simply goes on and on, though the flute interlude is very enjoyable for a prog fan.  But while the album is not as consistent as his previous three masterpieces - Talking Book, Innervisions, Fulfillingness's first finale - at its best moments, it surpasses mostly everything on these three, be it Summer Soft, All Day Sucker, Sir Duke, Have a Talk with God, so on. If I had to pigeonhole the music, I would say it's classic R&B, which means the songs will sound 'happy' and will be piano/keyboard-based for much of the time. But to reiterate a point already made, Saturn for instance sounds nothing like Pastime Paradise which in turn has nothing in common with Contusion (jazz fusion?). Also, while the proceedings are largely rooted in pop form, there is yet much compositional complexity to be devoured here, so it's not quite what you'd expect if you have a typical pop album with its assembly line creations in mind. If my review is not particularly helpful, I am afraid I simply have to throw up my hands in the air, for it's hard to tame this gigantic beast of an album. It can only be experienced, not explained. The production is excellent and the long list of sessions performers do their job immaculately, while the blind genius enthralls all the time on mike, keyboard, harmonica and drums. Rating: Flawless? No. Perfect? Yes.Prog Appeal: This is certainly progressive songwriting (in terms of ideas, not necessarily the structures) but the lack of electric guitar/rock influences in most songs and the generally breezy, accessible nature of the music could potentially be off putting for the prog rock fan. It's not however necessary to be an out and out pop music lover either to like this album, for nor am I. |
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Textbook
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Joined: October 08 2009 Status: Offline Points: 3281 |
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 03:15 |
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Actually, the best thing to do (for this idea, not necessarily for PA) would be to give it its own folder, a non-prog reviews folder. Then each review could get its own thread and not be lost in the winds of a single thread.
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tamijo
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Joined: January 06 2009 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 4287 |
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 03:08 |
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Great idear - beeing logisticly impossible to include everything on PA this is the way to go.
But maby some ADM would consider splitting it into 3-4 sticky sub genre treads, like :
Classical Reviews
Rock Reviews
Jazz Reviews
Other Reviews
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Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
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Posted: March 20 2010 at 02:39 |
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Damn you, I came to this thread to write about this album and I see I was beaten to it.
Grace is my favourite 90s album forever and ever.  I agree that it doesn't have much prog appeal and perhaps even outside prog, its appeal is not universal but for those who love it, there are few things as precious in life as Grace album.  He doesn't have much in common with Tim Buckley's folk rocking too, save the falsetto wizardry...in general, his music is sentimental, precious and replete with Hindustani/Sufi influences which particularly appeals to my sensibilities. While we'll never know how much he would have built on his promise, he offered a tantalizing alternative to er... the alternative rock music of the time. I mean, I have a bit of a problem with mainstream rock being all dirty and ugly or lofty and pompous (Radiohead, Muse, U2). Jeff's music and singing was so beautiful in a very natural and spontaneous way, we needed/need a few more like those. 
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Kotro
Prog Reviewer
Joined: August 16 2004 Location: Portugal Status: Offline Points: 2815 |
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Posted: March 19 2010 at 07:15 |
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Artist: Jeff Buckley
Album: Grace (1994)
 Tracklist:
Reviewing daddy Buckley for PA got me thinking about his son Jeff, specifically of his legendary album Grace. Released in 1994, it was considered at the time one of the finest debut albums of all-time, a springboard for greater this to come from this young artist with undeniable musical pedigree. Alas, Jeff died three years later while working on the follow-up to his first album. So what’s Grace all about? Well, to begin with, it’s a pop-rock album filled with love-hate tunes. The terrible cover art gives the impression we are about to hear a hippie crooner, but what we get is closer to this wild notion of Tim Buckley fronting Led Zeppelin. The first two tracks are co-written by the legendary experimental guitarist Gary Lucas and, certainly not by chance, are the ones I consider the best among the seven original compositions on the album. They open Grace with a great demonstration of power and finesse, a talent in composition not expected from a debutant – but then again, that’s probably Lucas’ finger. The remaining original material is not that exciting, falling in between rockier love ballads (Last Goodbye, So Real, Lover You Should’ve Come Over) and inconsequent heavier songs all following the same structure (Eternal Life, Dream Brother). The album also includes three cover songs, of which the most famous is the excellent phantasmagoric rendition of Leonard Cohen’s Hallelujah. Lilac Wine and Corpus Christi Carol won’t harm your hears, but are really nothing compared to the originals. More due to Jeff’s own life rather than his musical talents, this album has gained an impressive following, and much of the generations going through adolescence in the mid-90’s have been hailing it as one of the most perfect albums ever released – it is not. If you scrape the album you will find an album filled with a lot of emotion, but very few focus, treading genres in search of the perfect fit, worrying too much with the beautiful, and not very much with the memorable (the only true exceptions being the title-track and the haunting Cohen cover). Rating -
 : a good addition to any rock collection. Prog Appeal - Not much. This album should please fans of daddy Buckley, hopeless romantics, women in general, and anyone who enjoys sensible and intelligent pop music. Just don’t go looking for Prog in it.
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Bigger on the inside.
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Kotro wrote: