I Talk To The Wind: Prog Blog and Reviews

febus wrote: cacho wrote: TGM: Orb wrote: OK... new stuff arriving now, so my reviewing's been understandably mauled, still I'll throw in a few thoughts Album - (artist, if I don't think it's obvious) starsish, favourite track. Very provisional, since I haven't had a lot of time to listen to all of these yet In Rock - Deep Purple, 4/5, not sure, liked Child In Time and Living Wreck especially Living Wreck and Child in Time! Hard Lovin' Man My faves are Flight of the Rat and Living Wreck.   Living Wreck and Child in Time! Hard Lovin' Man My faves are Flight of the Rat and Living Wreck.   Bloodsucker   into the fire          Speed King       add  Black Night       Deep Purple in Rock             the first hard rock/ metal ever made and still the best for me

SPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED KING!

Review , Nadir's Big Chance, Peter Hammill, 1974

Just before the big reunion of Van Der Graaf Generator for the amazing Godbluff, Peter Hammill gathered up and recorded this selection of essentially pop/punk songs in so distinctive a fashion that it seems to have caught on quite well with his more eclectically-minded fan base. Naturally, the playing from Banton, Evans and Jaxon is fantastic, and Hammill's vocals are simply incredible. The lyrics are, of course, thoughtful and well-written even when the general effort appears to be to put out a simple album. Every song is memorable, moving at times, and some are extremely effective. Perhaps the best chunk of the album is the balladic material in the middle (Been Alone So Long, Shingle Song and Airport), though Open Your Eyes and the title track are equally impressive in their own way. All in all, not a must for any progressive music fan, but a solid addition for anyone who loves Hammill's voice and lyrics or is secretly quite fond of progressive pop. Sure, it's not a breakthrough or forty minutes of near-perfection, like a couple of Hammill's albums, but certainly not a bad way to spend however much a CD costs in your part of the world.

Nadir's Big Chance is a rather bizarre break with anything Van Der Graaf Generatory, bursting through with an insistent rhythm, somewhat aggressive and growling vocals from Hammill, complementing the general guitar-playing, chair-smashing lyrical feel. Evans provides a good beat, Jaxon scrails away in a whirl of soloistic flair that initially had me uncertain of whether it was a guitar or not (hey, I'm still not entirely certain at times). The bass is a constant rhythmic pull, and adds a couple of extremely neat higher-level flourishes. The lyrics, though a tad buried by the general loud aggression of the piece, are great fun, and fit the piece perfectly (gonna scream, gonna shout, gonna play my guitar/Until your body's rigid and you see stars).

A Guy Evans militaristic drum-roll segue leads us onto the quirky The Institute Of Mental Health, Burning, which features more excellent playing, particularly on the menacing bass and/or piano notes. An acoustic sort of tags along with the vocals, initially, while Hammill's vanishing-into-mid-air electric tones trade ideas with Jaxon's stonking sax. A complex piece, with a lot of cool melodies crammed in as well as unusual melodic effects, but also quite catchy in its own way ('Can't call the fire brigade, none of them have been paid'). This track is the essential one for the serious Van Der Graaf Generator fan, being a bit more in their vein than the other stuff on here.

Open Your Eyes is another punkier number, with some general banter opening it together with a couple of fairly basic layers of organ from Hugh Banton. A spattering of good humour comes off nicely, conveyed by a trademark Peter-Hammill-Sounds-Nothing-Like-Peter-Hammill vocal. The lyrics fit well, though song's whimsical nature sort of necessitates them not dominating the song too much. Banton's stabbing organ throughout the piece is a force of considerable rock, as is the electric shunted in under a splintering Jaxon take and an array of percussive sounds. Potent, great fun.

Nobody's Business continues the general loudness of the album, with a dense bass-led rhythm providing a background for the distorted range of vocals, some general sax patterns and an occasional percussion flourish. The lyrics are good, the general rhythm hits, but the real standout feature is Hammill's voice of general force and fun.

Been Alone So Long is a truly amazing love song, with sorrowful, sustained acoustics, touching sax and a vocal which is truly amazing for how unassertive and uncertain it sounds. The Chris Judge-Smith lyrics are essentially perfect. I really do have nothing to say about this, other than that it is probably my favourite 'ballad' ever. I don't understand why, yet, but it is.

A segue takes us onto Pompeii, another of the album's 'quirky' pieces, with an odd percussion rhythm underneath the whole piece, and a couple of saxophone and guitar melodies providing flavour. Every now and then, a bass note does something mildly significant. The almost-grandiose vocals, though excellent, are again only slightly reminiscent of Hammill, and the restrictions of the rhyme scheme do come across a bit more than I'd perhaps like; the lyrics are also good, though not as memorable as many of Hammill's more personal choice. Still a good piece, overall.

Shingle Song is the second 'ballad' of the album, with a movingly honest vocal and a surprisingly sharp acoustic taking the lead. The effective Evans-Banton rhythm section continues to contribute very strongly even in a very soft song, which is, in my view, the real mark of a versatile rhythm section. The piano is extremely moving and pretty. Subtle and . A lamenting Jaxon solo takes the limelight, flowing right into the soul-tearing vocal

'Look at the sky, but it's empty now
Look at the sea, it holds nothing but despair
I raise my eyes, but my head stays bowed
Look to my side, but you're not there'

An incredibly moving and touching song. Not to be missed.

Airport is probably the most unusual of the album's love songs, complete with unpredictably-located harmonies, little melodic catches from the guitar and sax, as well as a fast-paced, hard-guitar-and-stabby-sax jabs at one point. It's sort of a shame that, as Hammill notes, the very blunt tape-runs-out ending doesn't pay off at all. The lyrics are, again, very moving. Highly commendable overall, even if that ending is the album's most obvious weakness.


People You Were Going To and Birthday Special are, in my opinion, the two weakest songs on the album, and the combination of the two brings it down a bit for me. Nonetheless, the hammering piano and the classy Hammill vocals on People is a pretty killer combination, and with the organ and solid percussion additions as well, it's musically quite strong. The only problem is that the lyrics are a touch weaker than I'm used to from Hammill, and so, like White Hammer, it gets a bit more flak from me than it musically deserves.

Birthday Special is another song which is musically great fun, but slightly weaker on the lyrics. The guitar, bass and drums all hammer home their point in an insistent way. The vocals are quite amusing, but wear off after a while, and while the essential message is entertaining enough, and you can see what Hammill's trying to do, it doesn't always quite work. Not bad, just a touch less powerful than the rest of the album.

Two Or Three Spectres is an, in context, fairly odd unsegued piece, driven by the lump of amusing, sarcy and biting lyrics. We can see a couple of subtle electric guitar and piano effects from Godbluff in use, and Jaxon is on absolutely top form in this song, providing lush licks and jarring wails alternately. Dense, thick with effects, full of jabs at the industry and ending with an extremely memorable blocky vocal section ('ten thousand peace signs, but they look different from the back'.

There are albums which I enjoy much less than this which got four stars from me. I don't consider this absolutely essential in the way that The Silent Corner is, but it's still very good if you get it, most definitely progressive at times, full of artistic merit, and solid on the lyrics. Essential for fans of Hammilldegraafgenerator, a good choice for anyone else. Probably the best album I'll give three stars to.

Rating: Three Stars
Favourite Track: Lots of good picks, but Been Alone So Long takes it. Honourable mention to NBC itself.

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Another one. Quite an interesting album, any other opinions on it?

prog4evr wrote: TGM: Orb wrote: ...Heat Of The Moment...     I highlight, "Heat of the Moment," because, on Steve Hackett's live album in Japan (recorded 1996, I think), John Wetton does an unplugged version - acoustic guitar and singing - of this song, and it really sounds good!  Besides the fact that I despise Asia's debut album, that's all I wanted to say...

Edited by Kotro - November 11 2008 at 10:40

TGM: Orb wrote: ...Heat Of The Moment...

A selection of purchases like that are what REALLY make Prog, prog.  All the time signatures in the world couldn't make the case better than this haul.

Well, that's all good. Just decide on a rating already!

Nice one Rob, good to see you back in the reviewing game . I've been really into Trilogy lately, you did it justice

Hey this is a good idea

 

I should do this

 

i have lots of reviews but it would be good to have them all on one post

 

well done so far 

Review 73, Beat, King Crimson, 1982
StarStarStar

Beat is sometimes considered the worst of King Crimson's efforts, and looking at some of the negative reviews here, I have to admit there's some justification for that. The rhythm section is much more restrained than elsewhere, not providing the textural backdrop of Discipline. Belew's prominent lyrics and delivery might chagrin some, even if they do work for me. I suppose the question is whether you view these things as flaws, or merely as features. Sure, Bruford is the storm of percussion he was on SABB, but that gives a much greater chance for the guitar interplay to be heard. Yes, the lyrics and vocals are a key feature, but they are well-written shots of ambiguity, and they mark an attempt of Crimson to move themselves on rather than merely re-doing Discipline.

This is also quite odd as a Crimson album since it contains a genuine concept, but I don't know enough about the subject matter to say anything other than that it gives the album a coherent feel, and the music matches up neatly with the lyrical ideas. The other really significant feature of the album is the significant reliance on the twin lead guitars. Fripp and Belew provide a range of fiery textures and solos, extended and brief, and they, with the vocals, make the mood of just about every song. That might be a bit too lacking in diversity for some, but it does add interest for me.

Neil And Jack And Me opens the album with a series of guitar loops, Belew's shouted, whispered and sung, distorted and clean, often repeated vocals and a supportive rhythm section. Bruford saves up his cymbal crashes to make maximum impact, and Levin's gritty stabs on bass punctuate the piece. The guitars, however, are the real highlight, with a brief background soundscape, a unique solo from Fripp and maddened screeches from Belew. A classy opening, establishing the feel of the album.

Heartbeat follows this well, with two absolutely beautiful guitar tones, a restrained bass part evoking the heartbeat, tolerable lyrics and vocals from Belew. Bruford puts a relatively limited percussion range to extensive use, and the song as a whole is quite neatly arranged. It has a 'pop' feel, but I think this more derives from the limited instrumental choices and vocals than a lack of unusual and creative input.

The instrumental Sartori In Tangier provides a little more material to look at, from Fripp's organ work and soprano-sax-on-guitar-solo to a compulsive bass throb from Levin, which is taken up by Bruford later on. All sorts of weird textures feature fluidly, creating a sort of continuous musical image. Very accomplished, even if it is basically Mr. Fripp's three minute playground.

Waiting Man continues the very textural feel, with Belew's calling (needs a better word, but lacks one) vocal overlaying a static worldish rhythm under which Levin subtly shifts bass tones. A very intricate guitar-drums-guitar interplay section followed by a scraily (screechy+waily, but in a good way) Fripp solo features, allowing for a much fuller re-working of the opening texture.

The bizarre Neurotica is perhaps the highlight of the album, with the first true breakout of the rhythm section. Levin and Bruford are playing constantly, always providing something interesting in the background, while Belew's mostly-nonsensical vocals act don't really feel like a lead instrument, taking the back spot a bit more except in the weaker 'chorus'. Again, the guitars are on good form, providing all sorts of lunatic scrails for good measure.

Two Hands is the one piece from the album that simply doesn't do a lot for me. The boobam rhythm section and guitar touches all sound nice, and the sort of decadent romanticism is perfectly evoked. The guitar solo is sublime. The only problem is that I don't like the lyrics (they're not bad, just not my style at all), and the delivery doesn't do a lot for me either, and they make it harder for me to really enjoy the fleeting perfection encapsulated in the middle of the song.

The Howler is a faster-paced piece, with a generally wailing band accompanying a quite interesting sort of side-spoken vocal from Belew and some rather vicious lyrical touches. Levin especially provides a lot of grit for the song, as does Fripp's sirens-esque solo. Good stuff, though the guitar loops grate a little.

Requiem is a real opportunity for Fripp to illustrate his creativity on scraily guitar very prominently, with an extended, fast-paced and moving solo. Belew provides creaky touches towards the end, while the rhythm section works around the guitar textures with thunderous rolls. I swear one of the more cleverly-veiled guitar parts is reprising something, but I can't work out what. A neat, textural, showcase conclusion, and one that does work for the album.

So, all in all, the songs are not individually at all weak, the guitar-work is an especial highlight throughout. On the other hand, those who aren't already big fans of Belew and Fripp's menagerie of sounds will not really find that much to enjoy. Consequently, if you aren't a fan of King Crimson (Discipline and Red in particular), this isn't an enormous gap in your collection, but if you are, or simply love unusual guitar-work, this is a very worthwhile purchase. Three stars, good, but not entirely essential.

Rating: Three Stars.
Favourite Track: Requiem, I think, but it's a pretty even album, and could be Neal and Jack and Me or Neurotica on different days.
---

Well, reviewing again, and I've got to catch up with some other collab stuff at some point soon.

However, new stuff:

Things I've Been Listening To A Lot:

Peter Gabriel III (Crossover) 5ish. Justifies the existence of crossover. Incredible vocals, probably my second favourite album in terms of vocals ever (am I overenthusiastic? As always), just after Pawn Hearts.
Rock Bottom (Canterbury) - Robert Wyatt 5ish. Not so keen on A Last Straw, but Sea Song is simply incredible, as is Alifib/Alife. Really emotional experience, but not without a sense of humour.
World Record (Eclectic) Van Der Graaf Generator 5ish. Really, really stunning. Love the lyrics and some of the really interesting harmony ideas ('Easy targets, easy crosswords, easy life/These key margins leave you balanced on the knife'). Great vocals, wasn't expecting miracles, but got them.
Genesis Live (Symphonic, Live) 4ish. Admittedly Gabriel sometimes doesn't quite hit the vocal levels he can in the studio, but very dry and humorous, and improving on most of the studio versions in some ways, and the version of The Knife must be the single funniest piece of music I've heard other than 20 Tons of TNT.

Things I've listened to a time or two

U.K. - U.K. 3ish. The vocals didn't always work, and occasionally the band felt a bit clean and restrained for my liking. Rave about Holdsworth all you like, but he hasn't really caught onto me yet.
Are You Experienced? (Um... protopsychmaybe? dunno) - Hendrix. Made much more of an impression the second time round. Great writing, good lyrics, good on all musical fronts, love the soloing madness. 4ish.
Trilogy - ELP. 4/5ish. Great, I'd got all the tracks except Endless Enigma pt. 2, Fugue and the real version of Abaddon's Bolero, but the remastering job was really superb in bringing new character to the album compared to the worn out sound on the compilation. Trilogy all the way.
Pictures At An Exhibition - 3ish. Great in parts, but the synth tones don't always work. Actually (bite me), I prefer the studio version to this in many parts, since the live sound on the main album leaves Palmer feeling a tad stranded to my ears. Still, early days.
The Great Deceiver (vol. 1) - KC. Really good live collection. All great versions, especially the Providence, RI, version of Easy Money (laughed quite a bit when I heard the altered lyrics...). Highlights a lot of the strengths of individual pieces, and a lot of interesting changes, while keeping the basic outlines in place. 4 stars.
Fear Of A Blank Planet - PT. Liked the sound. Disliked the lyrics. Quite a good album, but really I am going to have to put on my 'pretend Pete Sinfield wrote the lyrics in 1969' ears. 3/4ish.
Hall Of The Mountain Grill - Hawkwind. Great stuff, even if I haven't had the time to really just sit down and listen to this one yet. 4/5ish.
Phoenix - Asia. Great opener, the rest left me a bit unmoved. Plenty of perfectly good stuff in there, but it seemed a little lacking in diversity. Only one listen, though, so...
Still Got The Blues - Gary Moore. Some classic stuff, no really weak tracks, great arrangements, incredible guitar tone.
Allman Brothers Band - Live At Fillmore East. A revelation. You need this album.
The Quiet Zone/The Pleasure Dome. Good, but I don't think the vocal 'your so...' bit pays off much. Cat's Eye Yellow Fever, The Last Frame and The Wave are all pretty killer, though.
The Nice - THoughts of Emerlist Davjack. Good, made progressively more of an impression as I went through and got past a slightly sixties feel. Keith Emerson =

Things I've heard, but can't really comment on
In Rock - Deep Purple. Really liked it on the first listen, which I wasn't fully expecting. Good stuff.
Disraeli Gears - Cream. Ditto.
Even in The Quietest Moments - Supertramp. Didn't really go in. Need to listen again.
Doomsday Afternoon - Phideaux. Was interrupted by family. Sounded good from what I'd heard.
Leg End - " "
Free Hand - Gentle Giant. Good. Felt the medieval pieces were a bit meandering, but first listen is never a good indication with GG.
Misplaced Childhood - Marillion. Heard too late at night to really listen, so cut it out about halfway through.
Ziggy Stardust - Only one listen. Needs more.

Things I have, but haven't heard
Quadrophenia
Time Out
Images And Words
Led Zeppelin II
Interview
Gnidrolog In spite/Lady Lake
A Saucerful of Secrets
Hunky Dory

probably more, but I'm lazy.