The Dear Hunter v "Migrant Returned" (10/6/23)

[SoundscapeMN]

saw them last night in Minneapolis.

review/setlist spoiler

https://allmediareviews.blogspot.com/2015/09/the-dear-hunter-live-91315-at-triple.html

[SoundscapeMN]

https://www.facebook.com/therealTDH/photos/a.10153594684509166.1073741825.9588469165/10153594684369166/?type=1

When I started writing the story for the Dear Hunter in the winter of 2004, it never occurred to me that it would reach ears beyond my family and friends. It would be easy to dismiss my career thus far as "lucky", I know it's more than that; this is all thanks to the open minds and hearts in the world who have given me and this music a chance. You all are just as responsible for this music as I am- and should be as proud of its success. I promise to you all, if you keep giving me this opportunity- the chance to be myself, to respect the audience as much as the art, and to shy far from compromise- I will never take it for granted, and will always show you all the greatest respect I can through this music. Thank you all, from all corners of my soul.

- Casey

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Well I'm pretty sure they're my favorite band now.

Also, I feel like I hear some Coheed on Act IV. Not in a bad way of course, I just wonder if Casey likes C&C.

[SoundscapeMN]

The Dear Hunter did open for Coheed if I recall on 2 different tours about 5 or 6 years ago, so he's at least familiar with Coheed's music, if not a fan.

also here's a new interview Casey did, talking about Act IV and a lot of pop songs he wrote that he got rid of, among other things.

https://voiceandversepodcast.com/2015/09/16/episode-039-casey-crescenzo-the-dear-hunter/

[Big Hath]

King of Swords really sticks out in a good way. Pretty much the rest of the album is the TDH we have already heard before, nothing really new, and so when King of Swords pops up, it just has such a different style than everything else. Maybe the catchiest song they have done.

it's kind of like Prince meets Talking Heads or something

[hefdaddy42]

Finally finished my first listen.  Another classic from The Dear Hunter.

I agree about King of Swords standing out.  What a great song!

[FlyingBIZKIT]

Now that we've had a few weeks for it to soak in, I'd say it's a wonderful album. Maybe song rankings soon? 

[Zantera]

It still holds up well for me. Probably in my top10 of 2015, which says a lot considering the other great releases.

[Heretic]

Top 5 for me. Amazing album.

[SoundscapeMN]

Graphic Novel series coming soon.

https://instagram.com/p/8EMWTIpGRa/

[hefdaddy42]

Well, that's interesting.

[lordxizor]

I feel like I'm the only one lukewarm on King of Swords. It's a fine song, it's just so jarringly different from the rest of the album that it feels like it doesn't fit. To the point that I'm tempted to skip it. If I'd heard it own it's own out of the context of the album I think I'd like it a lot more.

[Nick]

I feel like I'm the only one lukewarm on King of Swords. It's a fine song, it's just so jarringly different from the rest of the album that it feels like it doesn't fit. To the point that I'm tempted to skip it. If I'd heard it own it's own out of the context of the album I think I'd like it a lot more.

You know, I didn't think it was THAT different, but I definitely get what you're saying.

Also I move to officially name this the "Incommunicado Effect"

[TioJorge]

So last night I did a massive catch up on these guys and listened to their last three albums in a day (I say a day cause I started listening around 8 or 9 and stayed up till 6 listening to either albums entirely or skipping around with different songs on different albums). What a bombardment of awesomeness that was. But I'm definitely going to take it slower and not be such an album slut. But I just started listening to IV and wowee, while some stuff is more or less TDH by the numbers...it's got some really great new vibes to it as well. I am loving the hell out of Waves and The Line. I'll need an immense amount of time with every album, as I always do with their albums, but this is looking like it's going to be an awesome journey that'll put these guys back on the map for me, perhaps at the top!

That said, I really doubt anything will hit me as hard as TCS, specifically Indigo. That one part of TCS has thrown me through the best of loops and gotten me through some seriously fucked up times despite how quick it goes by. Act IV though, being a full proper album, might just be my favorite thing they've done in a while; though Migrant needs a revisit as well. That was the album that I kind of started to get back into the guys with but somehow just left it by the wayside. I've always enjoyed their darker side though, so I'm surprised how much I like IV so far given that a lot of it is really uplifting. It's funny though, some songs definitely have this brooding undertone and a soft, deeper layer...then is washed away with another bout of sunshine.

[lordxizor]

So in The Line, the common phrase "it's the end of the line for you and I" is not grammatically correct. It should be you and me. Bugs me every time. Good song otherwise though.

I think poit the main thing that's keeping Act III better than Act IV is the ending gorgeousness that is Son, Father, and Life and Death.

[BlackInk]

Started listening to these guys last week. So far only listened to Act IV and Migrant. Act IV was great. I didn't like Migrant as much but it was still really good.

[SoundscapeMN]

So in The Line, the common phrase "it's the end of the line for you and I" is not grammatically correct. It should be you and me. Bugs me every time. Good song otherwise though.

Maybe Yes should also take note 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rdL2KkvzY

[Aefenwelg]

So in The Line, the common phrase "it's the end of the line for you and I" is not grammatically correct. It should be you and me. Bugs me every time. Good song otherwise though.

Maybe Yes should also take note 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H-rdL2KkvzY

The song title alone is not enough context to know if 'And You and I' is correct, but looking at the lyrics, it is.
The Line is not.

[TioJorge]

Except in the song, 'you and me' would sound ridiculous. At least to me it would. Right or wrong, phonetically it'd sound odd to my ears. Grammar whores!  I couldn't care less. If I nit-picked every time grammar was incorrect in music (how about the complete raping of annunciation of certain words to make them fit in the song? or even just to fuckin' rhyme?) I'd just stop listening to music altogether. That's just nuts.

I'm having to take a step back and take my time with each album a bit more than I thought I would. Not because I don't like it but because there is so much going on with their music that it's overwhelming at times to try and get into multiple albums at once. I might start from the beginning again and just skip TCS given that I've listened to that ten times over.

I will say though that the ending to Act IV is fucking amazing and Ouroboros is one of my favorite songs by the guys. I left it at those first couple listens though and went back to Act I and I think that'll take me some time to get into. I'm not sure but it didn't hit me all that hard and I couldn't pick out a favorite track. Act II and III however were amazingly epic and there's a lot of favorites on there. The whole first half of Act III is incredible...my favorites being The Tank and The Thief. SO MANY AWESOMES.

[BlackInk]

(how about the complete raping of annunciation of certain words to make them fit in the song?

I actually can't stand it when this happens. Either you say the word as it's supposed to be, or you rework the lyrics and put another word there. Wrongly annunciated words in music, even intentionally, are like nails on chalkboard to me.

[pain of occupation]

...I am loving the hell out of Waves and The Line...

I was lukewarm on Waves first listens, and then it hit me hard. It's probably gotten circa 80 spins at this point. \m/

[pain of occupation]

(how about the complete raping of annunciation of certain words to make them fit in the song?

I actually can't stand it when this happens. Either you say the word as it's supposed to be, or you rework the lyrics and put another word there. Wrongly annunciated words in music, even intentionally, are like nails on chalkboard to me.

Can you even listen to anything non-instrumental?! Every song ever written has Vocalists change words that end in a hard E sound to all of a sudden end in hard A sound.
But what do I know, I thought 'you and me' is incorrect.

[BlackInk]

...I am loving the hell out of Waves and The Line...

I was lukewarm on Waves first listens, and then it hit me hard. It's probably gotten circa 80 spins at this point. \m/

Yeah, Waves is wonderful. That and A Night on the Town are probably my favorites so far.

Can you even listen to anything non-instrumental?! Every song ever written has Vocalists change words that end in a hard E sound to all of a sudden end in hard A sound.
But what do I know, I thought 'you and me' is incorrect.

I might have annunciation confused with pronunciation. I'm not quite sure what the difference is, or if there is one.

[FlyingBIZKIT]

I'm super excited to see them this Saturday

[Genowyn]

Annunciate means to announce.

Pronunciation is how you pronounce things, which letters make which sounds.

Maybe you're talking about stresses? Like they are stressing the wrong syllables to make it fit the rhythm?

Also different is enunciation which is just speaking clearly.

[Joshin U]

I just wanted to say that I saw these guys on Tuesday in Austin and it was a fantastic experience.  Casey at the top of his game, got to chat with one of the guys afterwards, and both Gates an Chon pleasantly surprised me and my wife.  They played a slightly different setlist than Soundscape mentioned and in the best way possible.  The keyboards went to hell after a couple songs and so the band had to stop playing for a bit to fix them and while they did that, the crowd yelled for Casey to perform something solo.  One guy yelled out "His Hands Matched His Tongue!" and Casey went, "No, shut up. Shut the fuck up".    But he ended up playing it anyways and it was incredible.  By the time he finished, the keyboards were fixed and the show went on without a hitch.  Ended up playing King of Swords as their first encore, to my wife's absolute delight, and that was absurdly fun.

Setlist spoilers follow, and I'm not sure if this was the EXACT order but yeah.  I have video links up for the 3 songs I recorded.

Wait
The Thief
Mustard Gas https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XxNT6noJfv
The Old Haunt
Waves
His Hands Matched His Tongue
Smiling Swine
The Bitter Suite IV and V
A Night on the Town    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FpLfB6phLu0
Misplaced Devotion
The Church and the Dime
Things That Hide Away
Home
Life and Death https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8j4CQb0zAAA

ENCORE

King of Swords
Whisper

[Ben_Jamin]

That's an amazing setlist. I'd like to see them sometime again.

[Train of Naught]

I'm new to The Dear Hunter, today I've heard ACT IV: Rebirth in Reprise for the first time (which is also the first time I've heard this band), amazing stuff man! Apparently this is their newest album, which albums would you recommend to a new Dear Hunter lover?

[Zantera]

Act II is generally regarded their best, so that might be a good one to try next. I don't really think you could go wrong with either one. I liked Migrant slightly less, but it's still good. The Color Spectrum is such an interesting beast since it's 2 ½ hours of music, 9 EPs, each of them an individual color and with 4 unique songs to its color. So it definitely covers the most ground out of their releases, but might also be the hardest to take in. For example, you have Green which is Folk/Indie rock, Red which is Garage Rock, Indigo being Electronic and White which is more Piano-centric.

I think The Color Spectrum, Act II and Act IV are their best releases, but like I said, I don't think you could go wrong with either one. If you love Act IV, then Act II will have a few parts you will recognize (being reprises in Act IV).

[Train of Naught]

Act II is generally regarded their best, so that might be a good one to try next. I don't really think you could go wrong with either one. I liked Migrant slightly less, but it's still good. The Color Spectrum is such an interesting beast since it's 2 ½ hours of music, 9 EPs, each of them an individual color and with 4 unique songs to its color. So it definitely covers the most ground out of their releases, but might also be the hardest to take in. For example, you have Green which is Folk/Indie rock, Red which is Garage Rock, Indigo being Electronic and White which is more Piano-centric.

I think The Color Spectrum, Act II and Act IV are their best releases, but like I said, I don't think you could go wrong with either one. If you love Act IV, then Act II will have a few parts you will recognize (being reprises in Act IV).

I might like Act 2 even better, they're both great and honestly, completely distinct from every other album I have ever heard, I think that's what makes it so amazing, it's also way happier sounding than most of the prog bands out there.

[BlackInk]

I'm also new to these guys. I love Act IV, and Migrant was really good. But I'm not really feeling The Color Spectrum. I mean, it's not bad. Orange, Indigo, and Violet were pretty good. Black and White were alright. But I only barely liked one song each from Yellow, Green, and Blue, and I didn't care for Red at all.

Still a big fan of this band though. I haven't gotten further back in their discography yet, but I look forward to it!

Oh, and Mr. Malum sounded just like something the swedish prog band A.C.T. could have done. Not really something negative or positive, just something I thought of when I heard it.

[Train of Naught]

Yeah the first band they reminded me of were A.C.T. aswell, Circus Pandemonium in particular.

[ariich]

Act III is the best them, whatever Zantera says.

[Xanthul]

I'm a big fan of Act I myself, just so you have one opinion of each

I hadn't listened to II and III in a while and just recently I listened to both. I always considered Act II superior but it turns out I felt it drags in parts while III remains interesting the whole time - the highs are probably equally outstanding but the lows are much better, if not inexistent.

[Zantera]

Act III is great but it doesn't really have any standout songs for me. It's a big chunk of goodness, but I prefer Act I over it, and definitely Act II and Act IV. Still, weakest out of the acts, still a good album.