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tamijo 
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Joined: January 06 2009 Location: Denmark Status: Offline Points: 4287 |
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 Posted: April 17 2013 at 04:01 |
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 Eat em and smile Band Name and description: This is the first studio album, by David Lee Roth supergroup with Steve Vai, Billy Sheehan, Gregg Bissonette. they made one more supreeme album Skyscraper (1988) before the band split. Album information: 1986 The Review
: What we got is a technical very talented Power Heavy. with a bit of
Roth flamboyant and a lot of wonderfull Vai, a lot of humour, and a lot
of sun. Works more than perfect in the car, on the highway, summer days. Works well with a six pack too. Its stripped og the dark Dungeons and Dragons Metal elements, but it gets my head banging on most tracks. Rating - In its own terms, Power Heavy Rock with a twist, its a 5/5, From a prog. point og view Skyscraper may fit better, but in my book this is the true masterpiece. NB: a sidenote :On the CD version of Skycraper, they put in 2 tracks as 1-2
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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 30 2013 at 11:46 |
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Good one! I might want to write one for 1984 after reading this.
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AtomicCrimsonRush
Special Collaborator 
Honorary Collaborator Joined: July 02 2008 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 14258 |
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Posted: March 26 2013 at 22:35 |
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Time for a quick review:
Van Halen (1978) - Van Halen  **** Class act album really, featuring the all time greatest version of You Really Got Me aided beautifully by lead guitar intro Eruption. This lead break knocked everyone off their perch and is quintessential to learning hot licks and hammer ons at high speed. Eddie Van Halen became a guitar god overnight and Dave Lee Roth's voice caused singers to wake up. He is a force on this record and the music is clean, fast and no nonsense heavy duty. Atomic Punk has a scratchy intro with killer speed riff and awe inspiring lead break. Every track has a muscular riff and every thing works on one of the all time greatest debuts. The album sparked a revival of metal designed for girls. The band looked good and the sound was commercial, melodic, but still brilliantly executed. This one is a treasure to revere, and still is heard today now and again on the radio.
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catfood03
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Joined: May 24 2009 Status: Offline Points: 785 |
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Posted: March 26 2013 at 22:08 |
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Autechre - Exai (2013)
 Autechre's music continues to mutate into ways I never thought imaginable. While their prior trio of releases: Quaristice (2008), Oversteps (2010), and Move of Ten (2010), often highlighted the duo's "softer" and ambient sides, Exai is full-on aggressiveness. I always marveled at Autechre's command of abstract beat-making in the past, but I had warmed up to the explorations heard on those recordings. Exai is dense, sometimes overbearingly so for a 2 hour experience, but it is rarely dull. Some highlights that grabbed me most upon first listen... FLeure - Good way to start the 2 hour journey ahead. Let's you know early on that Exai is going to be a rollercoaster ride VeckoS - Best track from the first half/disc. The sound design is thrilling (especially on headphones). Very cavernous and spooky. T Ess xi - There's a lot of sound effects in this track that recall much of Mouse On Mars' earlier work. A good mix of MOM humor with Ae's usual mayhem. Cloudline and Bladelores - I grouped these two together as faves because they offer a bit of retreat from the wilder sections of music. They are both lengthier than most and are as close to "chill" as offered here. Like I said above I'm enjoying what Autechre can do with more relaxed musical atmospheres. YJY UX - Current favorite overall. This rivals LP5's "Drane2" as Autechre's best album closer. Its beautiful, strange, and one of those tracks that could seem to go on much longer and I'd be happy. Only Irlite (get0) and Flep seemed like weaker spots, but I might warm up to them with repeated listens. I'm giving Exai five stars, though even after only a couple spins it is too early to tell if this will stand up to the band's two pinnacle releases, LP5 and Tri Repetae. I've got a good feeling that it'll earn this highest rating even after my frayed mind can process this dense, massive offering. Edited by catfood03 - March 26 2013 at 22:12 |
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dr wu23
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Joined: August 22 2010 Location: Indiana Status: Offline Points: 20623 |
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Posted: March 24 2013 at 11:28 |
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Decent rock/jazz/funk.......reminds me of several Jeff Beck solo lp's. from the 80's and 90's.and maybe the Dixie Dregs. But I've never been a big fan of the funk element....so I'd rather listen to BCC with Joe on guitar or Joe's solo blues rock cd's.
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One does nothing yet nothing is left undone.
Haquin |
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Dieselhead
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Joined: December 18 2006 Location: United Kingdom Status: Offline Points: 25 |
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Posted: March 04 2013 at 17:56 |
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I think most people on this site favour music either from or inspired by bands from the 70's. These guys just bought their first CD out and it's a cracking Funk album featuring Joe Bonamassa on lead. A million miles from Prog but it's guaranteed to take any and all straight back to that decade we all know and love so much. There isn't a bad track on it and there's even a hidden track at the end (on 10 minutes). For that reason I'd give 'We Want Groove' a 10/10 score and heartily recommend.
Rock Candy Funk Party Dieselhead |
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Dieselhead
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rogerthat
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Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
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Posted: February 17 2013 at 07:06 |
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Artist: Prefab Sprout (UK, 1978 to....)
Album: Steve McQueen/Two Wheels Good (1985) Rating: 4.5 stars Prog Appeal: 2) Light appeal (3) Strong appeal to those prog rock fans who like its jazz-influenced side) Review: Just how bad really was the 80s for music at the end of the day? While some archetypal 80s sounds have aged pretty badly, it's a closed mind that believes no good albums were ever released in the decade. One such album is Prefab Sprout's sophomore effort Steve McQueen (available under the name Two Wheels Good in the United States). Comprised of singer, keyboardist, guitarist and 'lynchpin' Paddy McAloon, his brother Martin (on bass guitar), Wendy Smith on keyboards/guitar/backing vocals and Neil Conti on drums, they started out with a somewhat jagged jangle-pop affair Swoon before blossoming with this wholesome jazz pop treat. Robert Christgau gave this a B+ and if you are familiar with his unconditional love for British artists, that says a lot. He also cites J.D.Considine as calling them Steely Dan lite. I could not find where J.D.Considine drew this comparison but it's a good one. I am not too sure about the lite part of it. McAloon's lyrics revolve around personal themes and more specifically his relationship with girls, while Donald Fagen and Water Becker drew from a broader basket, often commenting pithily on society. This album also quite adeptly balances more emotional moments as on 'Goodbye Lucille #1' with Steely Dan-esque cynicism ('Hallelujah'), which on the whole makes it quite a different ride from Steely Dan. Musically, there's more resemblance to Steely Dan in terms of the fondness for jazz. Hallelujah in particular does evoke to me their 'My Rival' from the Gaucho album. But while Prefab Sprout emulate Steely Dan in being complex and cerebral within a relatively accessible framework, there are none of those technically dazzling guitar solos to be found here. Actually, make that no real guitar solos. They compensate for this by drawing on some Pink Floyd-esque atmospherics. The keyboards on say Appetite beautifully evoke the sound of a breeze (similar effects can be heard on When the Angels). There's a more direct 'whoosh' to introduce Bonny. Speaking of Bonny, I quite like McAloon's vocal delivery on that song. There are times where his smoothness - combined with a lack of legato - makes the proceedings a bit dry but on Bonny as well as Goodbye Lucille # 1, he conveys a touching sincerity that Fagen generally found hard to muster. His singing makes these two songs so powerful, so haunting that for a long time, it overshadowed the rest of the album for me. I still find it a bit hard to adjust to Hallelujah or Horsin Around after listening to Bonny. As Christgau puts it, the well meaning cad. McAloon may or may not be a well meaning cad but he is a first rate songwriter, that's for sure. He doesn't appear to have set much store for modesty and he boldly proclaimed himself the best songwriter on the planet. Other than the vanity evident in such a statement, I wouldn't necessarily baulk at that comment because it's far and away the best pop album I've heard from that decade. And he had competition...from Fagen's masterful Nightfly for one and from Kate Bush's Hounds of Love. But Steve McQueen has, as I mentioned earlier, a captivating emotional resonance, if only in places, that Nightfly does not really capture and none of the quirks that necessarily come with the Kate Bush package. Here then is an album that you could simply play on the speakers and slowly but surely start humming along without trying too hard to contextualise it or to let it grow on you. It's meant to be pretty straight up on the surface, while rewarding you with plenty of harmonic delights if you're prepared to listen to it more than once. What might get in the way circa 2013 is the 80s production. To be fair, it's not as 80s as some other 80s albums. The drums are pretty loud (louder certainly than they would have been in the 70s) but they don't have that robotic drum machine sound so typical of that decade. I am not a sound engineer but from observation, I don't think there's too much reverb on the vocals either (another problem usually found in 80s albums). What does hurt, arguably, is a touch of gloss that somewhat takes the life out of the melodic instruments and diminishes their individuality. You just get generic guitar and keyboard tones, not tones that you want to hear again and again (like say Steve Hackett's lovely tone on the song Everyday). There again, it appears they have something in common with Steely Dan, sounding more like studio cats than a bunch of musicians having fun. For that reason and because the songwriting is not wow in enough of the songs to warrant a five star rating, I knock off half a star. But I must stress that that is just nitpicking in an attempt to distinguish masterpieces from other stellar albums. I love accessible rock/pop albums that are also interesting musically and offer depth for more than a couple of listens; I would dare to say I love that niche a bit more than prog 101 kind of music. If you do too, this is well worth a try. If you love Steely Dan, grab a copy. Edited by rogerthat - February 19 2013 at 08:02 |
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ProgMetaller2112
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Joined: December 08 2012 Location: Pacoima,CA,USA Status: Offline Points: 3145 |
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Posted: January 19 2013 at 05:13 |
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No Doubt-Push And Shove. Though I love No Doubt's old music(from the self-titled debut to Return of Saturn) this one sounds not so inspired though I do like a few songs on it (yeah and what
 ). Sparkle and Easy are great pop tunes. The album is not that great 2.5./5 . I'm still marrying that Gwen Stefani by the way tell me this girl is not hot I dare you  Edited by ProgMetaller2112 - January 19 2013 at 05:20 |
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“War is peace.
Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength.” ― George Orwell, Nineteen Eighty-Four "Ignorance and Prejudice and Fear walk Hand in Hand"- Neil Peart |
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irrelevant
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: March 07 2010 Location: Australia Status: Offline Points: 13382 |
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Posted: January 19 2013 at 05:03 |
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Horizons
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Honorary Collaborator Joined: January 20 2011 Location: Somewhere Else Status: Offline Points: 16952 |
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Posted: January 18 2013 at 16:22 |
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uhhhhh
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Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
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Wolfhound
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Joined: October 12 2012 Location: Michigan Status: Offline Points: 139 |
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Posted: January 18 2013 at 15:07 |
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 I love this album; amidst the endless onslaught of crappy new radio friendly rock and metal comes this easily radio play worthy rock/metal quartet hailing from Harrisburg, Pennsylvania. This is a tight and solid group that lays down some seriously heavy groove-rock with undertones of metal via a big phat, powerful sound. I would say this band has a sound that evokes Wolfmother, Black Sabbath, Led Zep and Soundgarden (and for me, Lynch Mob of old) but never copies them or mimics them; the influences are there but they are just influences for Crobot's awesome and solid rock sound. The production is top notch and the mix is great; all the instruments and the vocals have great presence and nothing overwhelms anything else. This is the best modern rock album I have heard in awhile; if Crobot does not catch on with the mainstream rock audience I will be really disappointed. There was a definite flow to the album for me with a decent beginning, a great middle and decent end. The first 5 songs are good tunes, but it was the middle three songs that were my favorites; the ending was the weakest part for me as the last couple songs are some of the shortest on the album and don't stand out as much as the beginning and the middle. The only drawback for me is that all the songs are too short LOL! I would love to hear some long jams from this group...badly. I give this album 4 out of 5 stars as I felt the songs were a bit too short and I could have done without track #5 altogether.
Edited by Wolfhound - January 18 2013 at 15:14 |
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Ady Cardiac
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Joined: December 29 2012 Location: Witney , UK Status: Offline Points: 396 |
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Posted: January 08 2013 at 06:07 |
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probably one of my fave albums of last year......nice indie alternative folky stuff.....if you like stuff on bella union records and the like you'll probably like this.....
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rogerthat
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Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
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Posted: January 01 2013 at 11:15 |
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Thanks. Glad you liked the review. Yeah, Ren anyway do have a classical bent in some of their tracks and this album is just perfect for her voice. It's a pity a few more such were not made. I for one would have gladly collected them as well because it's very hard to go wrong with Annie Haslam rendering classical-lite.
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The Jester
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Joined: August 13 2012 Location: Athens Greece Status: Offline Points: 698 |
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Posted: January 01 2013 at 10:36 |
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Bravo!
Very good approach on a really good album in my opinion. Ok if you have read some of my posts around here, you might know that I'm a fan of Renaissance (among others), but that doesn't mean that I enjoy every record of them the same. But I really believe that Annie Haslam has one of the best voices in this kind of music, and anyway her works with Renaissance or solo, are in many cases based on Classical music. Eitherway I believe that this is a really good record, especially for those that their music tastes are a bit Classical-orientated. Thank you for the review!  |
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If anybody wants please visit: http://www.gfreedomathina.blogspot.com/
This is my Blog mostly about Rock music, but also a few other things as well. You are most welcome! Thank you. :) |
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rogerthat
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Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
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Posted: January 01 2013 at 09:46 |
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Artist: Annie Haslam (UK, 1977 to....)
Album: Still Life (1985) Rating: 4 stars Prog Appeal: 2) Light appeal Review: Annie Haslam is, of course, a recognized name in prog circles as the singer of British symphonic prog rock band Renaissance. However, she has also had a solo career of modest success, which is very much in the domain of non prog. While most of her solo work was released during the period from Renaissance's breakup in 1987 up to their revival in 2009, the first two albums, Annie in Wonderland (1977) and this one were made during the band's existence. In 1985, as Renaissance, by then down to Haslam and Michael Dunford, struggled to get a recording contract, Haslam teamed up with Renaissance's longtime lyricist Betty Thatcher and arranger Louis Clark to make an album that could be described as pop-classical/classical-lite in that it adapts classical compositions to pop lengths, performed by Haslam and the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. As much as I enjoy Renaissance, I have felt a singer of Haslam's caliber would be better utilized in more vocal oriented tracks of shorter length. The lady herself said in a lengthy interview to DRDP that if all Renaissance tracks were long pieces, she would wonder what did they need her for in the band. Certainly, Renaissance's music explores her range quite well and rarely consigns her to second fiddle. But that by itself doesn't necessarily do justice to the depth of her singing craft. Here, paying loving tribute to the classical masters, she is in her element. It is a far cry from the unhappy travails of 80s Renaissance and, in her own words, one of the highlights of her career. For reasons I'd rather not discuss in detail here, quintessential classical vocal delivery doesn't really appeal to me emotionally, though I certainly respect the skills of the great opera singers like Pavarotti or Joan Sutherland. At the same time, I don't exactly relish more popular classical-lite artists like Sarah Brightman because I need the 'pure' treatment of classical music. Take this statement with a pinch of salt because I am not much familiar with her work! But this, anyhow, is where Still Life works very well for my tastes. For the most part, Haslam doesn't overtly project the emotions and instead delivers the melodies elegantly, allowing the emotion present within to shine through. Where she does emote a little more (like Day You Strayed, which is based on Pavane), it is only in such a manner that makes the music more emotionally resonant. Throughout, her attack is very earnest and heartfelt and yet smooth and relaxed as she effortlessly responds to the demands of the music. And her crystal clear diction ensures that Thatcher's largely well chosen words register and make an impression. While there's the odd track or two from Renaissance albums or Annie in Wonderland where I enjoy her singing more, on an overall basis, this is her most consistent and satisfying work. The years of touring have hardly taken anything away from her magnificent voice while they have given her a lot in terms of experience and polish as she deftly adapts to the varying moods of the compositions, from the delightful One Day to the quiet introspection of Still Life to the intense melancholy of Day You Strayed. I am afraid my assessment of Clark's arrangements is more reserved. Firstly, I don't really relate to the use of gated drums throughout the album. To my knowledge, Clark also arranged Going Home for Haslam's previous solo album, where he did not use drums at all and let Dvorak's wonderful music take care of itself. Maybe it's the era, the dreaded 80s? Mercifully, he still uses it sparingly and, as I have already mentioned, the mood remains sincere and earnest rather than resembling dance versions of classical compositions. But that's not all that I have to say in the negative about his work. Some of his arrangements sound cliched and borderline cheesy. The track Shine (based on a Satie composition) has a whispering chorus interjecting the word shine between Haslam's vocal lines. It sounds fit for a soap ad, you know...the kind where you have the latest glamour girl taking a bath! But Haslam in full flow is well nigh unassailable and she delivers a haunting performance that forgives these flaws. Bittersweet (The Swan) is pretty cheesy too but Haslam makes it sound as distant from a romantic pop ballad as she can with these arrangements. Where the music complements her singing well, as in Still Life (based on J S Bach's Air from Suite no.3 in D Major) or aforementioned Day You Strayed, the results are magnificent. The one track that didn't go down so well with me is Save Us All, based on Albinoni's Adagio in G Minor, because I couldn't help comparing it with the more memorable Cold is Being, which achieves more telling effect with a plaintive organ than the grand orchestra and a more subdued Haslam do on this track. The album has become notoriously difficult to find over the years, though I believe it was reissued a few months back. My copy is a Japanese print (or so I gathered from the Japanese script in the sleeve notes). It has a bonus CD with instrumental versions of this track and should the voice fail to appeal to the listener, there is still hopefully something to salvage. If I cannot give it 5/5, it is partly because of some minor drawbacks which I have covered above and also because of the limitations of this format. Call it my bias against covers or adaptations, if you will, but this kind of album, for all its consistency, does not to me possess a substantial brilliance necessary for me to hail it as a masterpiece. However, if you like classical music and are not too much of a purist, this should do very well. If you really like Annie Haslam's singing and don't have this one, you need it. Edited by rogerthat - January 01 2013 at 18:29 |
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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: November 05 2012 at 20:44 |
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Album: Never Hear the End of It http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cjhlViRrSFU Rating: 5/5 Band: Sloan Year: 2006 Genre: Power-Pop Run Time: 76:23
Track Listing: Flying High Again Who Taught You to Live Like That? I’ve Gotta Try Everybody Wants You Listen to the Radio Fading Into Obscurity I Can’t Sleep Someone I Can be True With Right or Wrong There’s Something Wrong Ana Lucia Before the End of the Race Blackout I Understand You Know What It’s About Golden Eyes Can’t You Figure It Out Set In Motion Love is All Around Will I Belong Ill-Placed Trust Live the Life You’re Dreaming Of Living with the masses HFXNSHC People Think they Know Me I Know You Last Time in Love It’s Not The End of the World Light Years Another Way I Could Do It Background: If you've never heard of Sloan, it probably means two things. Firstly,
you didn't really listen to the radio in the 90s and secondly, you probably
aren't from Canada. No matter, I can fill you in with on important deets. They first really hit the scene with the release of their critically acclaimed second album in 1994, Twice Removed. If you look into it, it is usually regarded as one of the best Canadian albums ever released. Their third album, One Chord to Another, was a watershed moment for the band. For a while it seemed like they might really hit it big. Replete with their toe tapping hooks, their witty but often awkward lyrics and generally sunny demeanour they were the ideal band for the mid 90s. Young listeners like myself were treated to a string of hits throughout the 90s and 2000s. Wider fame ultimately proved elusive however and their fame eventually waned. After the release of their seventh album in 2003, which featured the
will received single Rest of My Life, the band sort of seemed to fade from
view. 2005 saw the release of their first best of A Sides Win and it seemed
like the band had be relegated to nostalgia. The Review: This is where I come in. I picked up A Sides Win in 2005 as I was
finishing high school and along with the Steve Miller Band’s Best of 1968-1973
was one of their less conventional albums I picked up. It was probably an
indication that by that time next year I would be discovering the truth about
Rush and the getting my first Yes album. That next year, 2006 also happened to
see the release of Sloan’s 8th album Never Hear the End of It. I
wish I could say that was a watershed moment for me, but it wasn’t. I was
getting into a whole new kind of music and didn’t really have time to pay
attention to a new contribution from 90s rock-radio stalwarts. It wouldn’t be
long before I stopped listening to the radio all together anyway. Fast forward a couple of years to 2008 and I’m most of the way through university and way into a diverse offering of prog bands now, but I decide to go back to one of the anomalous CDs in my collection A Sides Win. In a conversation with one of my friends, he mentions that Sloan didn’t really give in after A Sides Win and that I should check out their more recent release Never Hear the End of It. After about 25 listens in the first few months of having it, all I could say was better late than never. As it turns out instead of retreading old ground and just trying to
keep up with the times, Sloan had decided to chart their own course. Never Hear
the End of It played like one suite clocking in at mammoth 76:25. The mood
deliberately shifts in waves across the 30 main short semi self-enclosed pop songs
which paints one of the most complex and meticulously crafted listening
experiences I have yet heard. From a prog fan, I have to think that is saying
something. Right from swaying organ raw rocking of Fliying High Again to the
dark crunchiness of Another Way I Could Do It, I’m hooked every time. Along the way the band makes a dizzying number of stops, but there are a few true standouts which few people outside of their most devoted fan base have really heard. The double punch of Flyin’ High Again and Who Taught You to Live Like That? which kick off the album is right away among the best of the album’s impressive content. Their combination of is the bouncing rythm and distant slightly distorted vocals set the tone and the immersion for the rest of the album. It is no surprise that Who Taught you to Live Like That is the first single from the album. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=avhFyFm3Nj8 The absolute best track of the album, Fading Into Obscurity hits pretty early as well at track 6. It is by any definition, a miniature progressive suite complete with timing and key changes. Not only musically intimidating, it possesses some of the most piercingly self aware lyrics I’ve ever heard. It is a triumphant personal call to arms about damning fame and doing it for the love of the music. I know every word. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2U3IMk12Bo From there the A side is packed with a number of other soulful tunes and hard rockers, probably the best of which being Right or Wrong, Something’s Wrong and Black out. The next behemoth closes out the A side at track 14, I Understand. Here Sloan again progresses into hitherto unknown territory. It is a simple, but impassioned anthem which sees loan going for an wall of sound arena ballad and pulling it of very sincerely. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GTlJChWXKe4 Jumping forward to track 21, through the witty and self deprecating suite beginning on Can’t You Figure It Out and ending on Will I Belong , you land on the hardest rocking track of the album, the third single Ill Placed Trust. Sharply written and even more sharply played it stays loosely on the theme of past success but does it with such brazen aplomb it’s hard not to rock out no matter what you’re doing when you hear this track. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GthokC2S3aE The last super-highlight of the album comes way at track 29, Light Years. This lighter than air bitter sweet recount of to a girl is completely unlike anything else on the gone are the pounding beats and guitar hooks. In their place are light piano and shy vocals. It sends a shiver right up my spine every time. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2U-KzqT0Xv8 Any way. After hearing Never Hear the End of It, I see them every time they come to town, I’m hooked. I’ve gotten quite deep into their anything but superficial collection of 10 albums and 2 EPs speard over 20 very fruitful years. The work Sloan went on to do after Never Hear the End of It is immaculate polished and they’ve gone on to some renewed chart success especially with 2011’s The Double Cross. The crown jewel however will always be Never Hear the End of It. There are few albums like it personal, presentable, pop and soulful. One of the easiest 5 out of 5 I’ve ever had the pleasure to give. Prog Appeal: Medium To High, this masterpiece is pop album with prog presentation and production. You have to be a pop listener first for this one, but if you are expecting more you’ll be pleasantly surprised. |
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rogerthat
Prog Reviewer
Joined: September 03 2006 Location: . Status: Offline Points: 9869 |
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Posted: September 29 2012 at 06:47 |
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Band: Alice in Chains (USA)
Album: Dirt (1992) Genre: Metal/grunge On this forum, reference to drugs is forbidden. But it is very difficult to review this album without alluding to drugs. In terms of his meteoric rise and subsequent slide to tragedy, Layne Staley could be compared to maverick rock icons like Syd Barrett and Jim Morrison. But where those 60s legends let their imagination fly, Staley and the band capture the descent into a drug induced spiral in chilling detail. Where Beatles referred to a girl called Lucy in the sky with diamonds and Black Sabbath sang about a sweetleaf, Alice in Chains have no time for metaphors. Words like trip/drug/dealer are sprinkled in healthy quantities in the lyrics generally. In fact, one of the songs is titled Junkhead, to me one of the most interesting, lyrically, from this album. Staley confronts bookworms like me with hard hitting lines: "You can't understand a user's mind/But try, with your books and degrees, If you let yourself go and opened your mind/I'll bet you'll be doing like me" In challenging the staid and the balanced with such forthright words, Staley asks larger questions of the social norm. Are we too uptight? On the other hand, does freeing the mind lead to such dangerous consequences? It's worth bearing in mind that Staley was remorseful of his addiction towards the end of his life - and it was a sad, sorry end - so this album retrospectively serves as a first person documentary of the ill fated defiance of the junkhead against his imminent doom. At other times, though, the lyrics strike a bleak note, portraying his arrival to a point of no return. And did I mention that the impact of these lyrics is magnified by his passionate delivery. But it's not just the lyrics that make Dirt a compelling work. Musically, too, Alice in Chains are far from being normal and typical. It is not so evident on the surface as they sound like a 90s update of Black Sabbath. But more patient listening made me aware that Alice in Chains are like the creepiest songs of Sabbath put together one after the other with the creepiness raised a few notches higher. At the same time, Rooster and Down in a Hole are more poignant than mostly anything you'd find on a Sabbath album. The same lack of make believe that makes their heavy rockers menacing also lends a vulnerability to their ballads that you rarely find in metal albums. Also, a trademark of their style is their distinct vocal harmonies...an aspect that particularly stands out on Would. Their vocal melodies are also often a lot more twisted than Black Sabbath, Hate to Feel and Angry Chair being good examples of this. While Alice in Chains are undeniably influenced by Black Sabbath, they were so good that they might just have influenced Black Sabbath's style on the ultra heavy Dehumanizer (considering that Alice in Chains's earlier album Facelift predated Dehumanizer). And oh, they don't have very much in common with other bands usually 'tagged' as grunge. Whether they are grunge at all could be questioned, but that's what the media slotted them as and it has stuck. I have gone on and on about Staley, but Jerry Cantrell is also one of the pillars and chief songwriters of the band. I also love Sean Kinney's work at the drums. It's not jazzy, ultra technical or dazzling but it fits their sound to a tee and it helps that he comes up with interesting patterns like on Would. Mike Starr often plays independent basslines rather than doubling up with the rhythm guitar track, again unusual for this style of music. The album is well produced, with a rich and clear, but dirty, sound. Dirt was no doubt the darling of critics when it came out, but it was also a massive commercial success, selling 5 million copies. Blimey, 5 million copies of an album about drugs....just the description sounds incredible circa 2012 with its rather lacklustre mainstream rock scene. And yet, Staley's uncompromising account of a life less ordinary makes you wonder whether such creativity came at too high a price in the past and if such is actually desirable. Perhaps, in the era of musicians who work day jobs, there is no room anymore for the Layne Staleys of the world. Rating: 5/5 Prog appeal: Limited, if any, prog appeal but fans of prog metal might like....if they haven't already heard this one.
Edited by rogerthat - September 29 2012 at 12:08 |
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HolyMoly
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Retired Admin Joined: April 01 2009 Location: Atlanta Status: Offline Points: 26138 |
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Posted: September 26 2012 at 09:46 |
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Jandek - "Brooklyn Wednesday" (2007)
 "Jandek" is the musical project of an anonymous man in Texas (though in common parlance the man is usually referred to as Jandek himself) who has been putting out dozens of cryptic, atonal records since 1978. His records typically consist of a single detuned acoustic guitar, played in a way that doesn't resemble traditional guitar technique in the least, with moaned, sometimes anguished lyrics intoned over the top. However, he also has put out a number of records (mostly in the mid 80s) consisting of him on electric guitar, ramshackle drums by a guy who clearly isn't a drummer (Shaggs fans take note), and sometimes a girl named Nancy on vocals. All of these albums (50 or so of them) are pieces to a strange puzzle - who is this guy, and why is he doing this? Is this music? But you know what? Like any strange language, you come to understand it after a while, and it rewards patience. Sure, some albums/tracks are better than others, but when it clicks with this guy, look out. When he's on, he can find the most direct line to your emotional core. It can be a scary trip. In 2005, he gave his first public performance, and has been touring sporadically ever since. Surprisingly, he usually opts to perform in a group setting, with local musicians sitting in and basically improvising a set of music with him. Better still, he tends to play electric "power trio" music in these cases. Such is the case with Brooklyn Wednesday (recorded in 2005), an album I got a couple of months ago and which now stands head and shoulders above the other dozen or so Jandek albums I have. Brooklyn Wednesday is one of those free improv albums where everything seems to work, and the focus and interplay of the trio is most impressive. And it lasts over two and a half hours, too. Four CDs, each about 40 minutes long, documenting two full sets of damaged avant-rock. Matt Heyner (bass) and Chris Corsano (drums) provide a powerful yet sensitive foundation for "The Representative from Corwood Industries" (as he prefers to be called) to explore atonal blocks and shards of sound on the electric guitar (switching to fretless for set 2), usually keeping a propulsive rhythm going even as he steers clear of any kind of tonality or repetition. Kind of like early Sonic Youth, really. There are 17 tracks ranging from about 5-15 minutes long apiece, and each one offers a different angle on the trio's chemistry - loud, fast, quiet, slow, angry, sad, what have you. The Rep from Corwood also sings/recites/spits out bitter, depressed lyrics in which self-loathing and helplessness are recurring themes ("I wish I was in jail / Please put me there"). This album hits me deeply. I'd recommend it to the adventurous - but it may take some time to assimilate. It's a whole different type of music. Edited by HolyMoly - September 26 2012 at 10:04 |
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My other avatar is a Porsche
It is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle if it is lightly greased. -Kehlog Albran |
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Vibrationbaby
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Joined: February 13 2004 Status: Offline Points: 6898 |
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Posted: September 11 2012 at 10:55 |
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Lady Gaga
This record is very rythmical. It has a lot of beat but absoluteyl no feeling or intelligence. I guess If Frank Marino or Segovia were playing guitar it would have been a little bit better. She auditioned for Yes once but Chris said no way. But she is very sexy I think. Could you imagine what she would do to a male in the sack. I wouldn't even need her music. But I would buy this record just to gawk at the cover so this is why I give it a 5 star rating. Lady Gaga rules regardless of her sub-moronic intelligence. Better than any of the worst prog albums from the late seventies including that really bad Genesis record when they had only 3 guys because the guitar player was so fed up and went on an insane drinking binge and the got his life back together and returned to making good music.  |
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Prog Sothoth
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Posted: September 10 2012 at 20:36 |
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Norah Jones - "Little Broken Hearts" (2012)
 If people a few years ago were to tell me that a Norah Jones album would someday rank in the the upper echelons of my fav albums of whatever year, I'd probably laugh and then spill their lattes onto their laps, but damn it they'd be right. I love this album. Yes, it's produced by Danger Mouse, but it's still a Norah Jones album through and through, though edgier than her other works, moreso by her own writing than her producer's input. Musically it's of a professional quality, with Norah herself playing numerous instruments herself along with some stellar session musicians. Being a Norah Jones album, it's a bit of a departure in some ways from her more Starbucks friendly far, but don't expect a grindcore release or whatnot. It's generally mellow, but with some bite thanks to studio trickery and the willingness to branch out into trippier waters. I'm almost reminded of Phil Spector's work on George Harrison's All Things Must Pass album in terms of that echo-drenched effect on her folksier acoustic tunes, whereas her broader based pop tunes sound almost alternative in style, but fuller than the sparse qualities attributed to that genre. There's a genuine variety to her output here in that unlike her first few albums there's no sense that this is an album to cure insomnia. Lyrically the theme doesn't veer from the formula established by the album's title, but there's a lot to mine from that concept here which Norah pulls off better than I expected. Whether she's ready to travel and find herself in "Travelin' On" or kill someone concerning the haunting "Miriam", the album conveys an emotionally charged situation with a wide array of ideas from different angles utilizing clever lyrics to capture the feeling of loss without resorting to mere 'mopiness'. Again, this album turned out to be a shocker in that I was never much of a fan of her music despite respecting her talent during the days when every yuppie had to own Come Away With Me and such. Normally I don't wish ill on someone undergoing a nasty breakup, but beginning with The Fall, Norah's output suddenly became something of interest to my ears, and with this album it 's become apparent that I'm now a what can be considered a true fan, much to my own surprise. I wish her the best and hope she finds her happiness someday, as long as it doesn't compromise the level of her current material. I own the white vinyl LP, had the poster it came with mounted (the cover is a recreation of a Russel Meyer film), and damn it I find myself spinning this thing a lot these days. Groovy. Miriam http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MZgkClKE6hQ Edited by Prog Sothoth - September 10 2012 at 20:41 |
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