Author Topic: Spock's Beard Discography thread (Read 111260 times)

RoeDent · « **Reply #525 on:** May 25, 2018, 01:10:24 PM »

Well they should have told us beforehand, and not just on Facebook either. Some of us don't have Facebook and wouldn't touch with a barge pole. They need to be more prominent on other social media outlets if that's the way they want to give their info.

Oh well. I'm able to listen to it for now, and I've got the disc coming next Friday all being well, but it's caused a hell of a lot of unnecessary stress and will probably tarnish my view of the album and a day I've been looking forward to for months.

Mindflux · « **Reply #526 on:** May 25, 2018, 01:38:43 PM »

Fuming that an album is late? Oh boy...

RoeDent · « **Reply #527 on:** May 25, 2018, 01:59:11 PM »

Please don't. It's the first time it's ever happened to me.

The Letter M · « **Reply #528 on:** May 25, 2018, 02:01:46 PM »

Quote from: RoeDent on May 25, 2018, 01:10:24 PM

Well they should have told us beforehand, and not just on Facebook either. Some of us don't have Facebook and wouldn't touch with a barge pole. They need to be more prominent on other social media outlets if that's the way they want to give their info.

Oh well. I'm able to listen to it for now, and I've got the disc coming next Friday all being well, but it's caused a hell of a lot of unnecessary stress and will probably tarnish my view of the album and a day I've been looking forward to for months.

That's a shame your stress might tarnish your opinion of the album as it's a really great one! Definitely a grower, but it's got a lot of promise and great writing (though none by Dave, sadly). I think I like it just as much as TOP, but it might beat it.

Quote from: devieira73 on May 25, 2018, 11:47:22 AM

Quote from: Ninjabait on May 25, 2018, 10:30:57 AM
Just finished listening and it's alright. First three tracks and Box of Spiders are probably the stand outs, and Box of Spiders takes a little bit to get going. Disc 2 was probably some of the weakest songs on the album. Least favorite SB album I've heard so far, but it's not bad by any means.

3.5/5 is probably my final verdict.

Interesting how tastes vary... from my first listen of CD1, my stand outs were Have Wa All Gone Crazy Yet, One So Wise, Box of Spiders and Beginnigns. At first it seems that the songs are somewhat better written/arranged compared with the previous CD. Overall very good first impression!

The one-two-punch of Box Of Spiders/Beginnings is an amazing way to close the album, and I also really enjoy HWAGCY and OSW, especially the latter's driving 6/4 middle section, with some tasty solos!

-Marc.

RoeDent · « **Reply #529 on:** May 25, 2018, 02:09:08 PM »

No, I absolutely love the music! But it will always have the memory of this day and the stress I've gone through associated with it. As I say, in 15 years of collecting new albums, this is the first time this has happened, so I was quite upset earlier. There'd probably be more of an uproar round here if this happened with the new DT album when it comes out. And they're signed to IO now so brace yourselves...

Anyway, the music is awesome, on both discs. Although it's easy to tell that the Cutting Room Floor songs are clearly the more radio-friendly songs.

Also, on a side note, please be aware before you make fun that some of us are a bit more mentally fragile than others. Several months and buildup to this day, only for it not to go according to plan, can't be just laughed off like that. It takes time to heal.

Mindflux · « **Reply #530 on:** May 25, 2018, 02:11:08 PM »

Quote from: RoeDent on May 25, 2018, 02:09:08 PM

No, I absolutely love the music! But it will always have the memory of this day and the stress I've gone through associated with it. As I say, in 15 years of collecting new albums, this is the first time this has happened, so I was quite upset earlier. There'd probably be more of an uproar round here if this happened with the new DT album when it comes out. And they're signed to IO now so brace yourselves...

Anyway, the music is awesome, on both discs. Although it's easy to tell that the Cutting Room Floor songs are clearly the more radio-friendly songs.

The Mega-Super-Deluxe edition of The Astonishing came like.. what 10 months after it was supposed to. Yeah... that's something to be upset over. (And I was pretty sore about it)

The Letter M · « **Reply #531 on:** May 25, 2018, 02:21:33 PM »

Quote from: Mindflux on May 25, 2018, 02:11:08 PM

Quote from: RoeDent on May 25, 2018, 02:09:08 PM
No, I absolutely love the music! But it will always have the memory of this day and the stress I've gone through associated with it. As I say, in 15 years of collecting new albums, this is the first time this has happened, so I was quite upset earlier. There'd probably be more of an uproar round here if this happened with the new DT album when it comes out. And they're signed to IO now so brace yourselves...

Anyway, the music is awesome, on both discs. Although it's easy to tell that the Cutting Room Floor songs are clearly the more radio-friendly songs.

The Mega-Super-Deluxe edition of The Astonishing came like.. what 10 months after it was supposed to. Yeah... that's something to be upset over. (And I was pretty sore about it)

This^

I remember getting email after email of hollow promises about when things would ship. Everything came in piecemeal and it was a bit stressful, wondering if/when things would ship. It was fairly poorly handled, especially for an album that was hyped up as much as it was, being the bands big new concept piece. I think even the band knows how poorly everything went - a live album of the tour has not been released, and instead of touring on it some more, they did an IAW tour instead, so they know that the fans probably weren't willing to hear The Astonishing more than they had to.

Also, Noise Floor > The Astonishing.

-Marc.

Mindflux · « **Reply #532 on:** May 25, 2018, 02:29:35 PM »

Quote from: The Letter M on May 25, 2018, 02:21:33 PM

This^

I remember getting email after email of hollow promises about when things would ship. Everything came in piecemeal and it was a bit stressful, wondering if/when things would ship. It was fairly poorly handled, especially for an album that was hyped up as much as it was, being the bands big new concept piece. I think even the band knows how poorly everything went - a live album of the tour has not been released, and instead of touring on it some more, they did an IAW tour instead, so they know that the fans probably weren't willing to hear The Astonishing more than they had to.

Also, Noise Floor > The Astonishing.

-Marc.

Yeah I'm trying to remember.. I think I got the CDs and pin first, then the LPs later.. then finally the box with the NOMAC and other stuff (that's sitting right here in my office, unopened).

The Letter M · « **Reply #533 on:** May 25, 2018, 03:49:20 PM »

Quote from: Mindflux on May 25, 2018, 02:29:35 PM

Quote from: The Letter M on May 25, 2018, 02:21:33 PM

This^

I remember getting email after email of hollow promises about when things would ship. Everything came in piecemeal and it was a bit stressful, wondering if/when things would ship. It was fairly poorly handled, especially for an album that was hyped up as much as it was, being the bands big new concept piece. I think even the band knows how poorly everything went - a live album of the tour has not been released, and instead of touring on it some more, they did an IAW tour instead, so they know that the fans probably weren't willing to hear The Astonishing more than they had to.

Also, Noise Floor > The Astonishing.

-Marc.

Yeah I'm trying to remember.. I think I got the CDs and pin first, then the LPs later.. then finally the box with the NOMAC and other stuff (that's sitting right here in my office, unopened).

I actually went back and checked my emails from Roadrunner, and saw the few "Apologies" emails about delays, then the shipping notifcation emails - the CDs were sent out 2 days before release, the vinyls didn't ship til mid-March, and the NOMAC didn't ship until AUGUST. Three separate shipments over the course of nearly 8 months for something I dropped over $200 on...it was a lackluster experience, and I doubt I shall be ordering DT's next super-duper-deluxe-special-limited-edition. Couple those delays with the fact that both the BC&SL and ADTOE deluxe sets were still in stock over a year after release and were eventuallyu available for less than $50 at the Roadrunner store, I think I can gamble to wait on buying the deluxe set for DT's next album (unless they offer something REALLY nice in the package).

But anyways, back to Spock's Beard. I am digging the album so far. Lots of great music, even among the Cutting Room Floor EP. I am currently trying to work out a "complete tracklist sequence" but I sort of want to wait until I get my Japanese Version in the main in a few weeks, as it contains one more non-Demo bonus track, "Save Our Souls", which I believe is another Ryo Okumoto solo piece (akin to "From The Messenger", "Listening To The Sky", and "Red Sea"), so I may want to incorporate that into the sequence. We'll see...

-Marc.

RoeDent · « **Reply #534 on:** May 26, 2018, 08:11:46 AM »

Yeah, my first thought when I got to Cutting Room Floor was trying to think of where the bonus tracks would fit in with the main album.

Fritzinger · « **Reply #535 on:** May 26, 2018, 10:36:08 AM »

Quote from: RoeDent on May 26, 2018, 08:11:46 AM

Yeah, my first thought when I got to Cutting Room Floor was trying to think of where the bonus tracks would fit in with the main album.

How about like this (apart from putting in the EP songs, the order of the other songs remained the same):

1. To Breathe Another Day
2. What Becomes Of Me
3. Armageddon Nervous
4. Somebody's Home
5. Bulletproof
6. Have We All Gone Crazy Yet
7. So This Is Life
8. Vault
9. One So Wise
10. Days We'll Remember
11. Box Of Spiders
12. Beginnings

So there's
1. enough space between the instrumentals
2. a progger between So This Is Life and Bulletproof
3. a nice, poppy, melodic spring tune (Days We'll Remember) before the epic finale double pack Spiders/Beginnings

ytserush · « **Reply #536 on:** May 26, 2018, 01:55:37 PM »

Quote from: Mladen on May 09, 2018, 05:46:26 AM

I thought this interview was pretty cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RETaaYOxi1c&t=1420s

The most interesting part was that Neal initially considered Ted as the vocalist for Flying Colors. I feel bad for him just being worked up about working with Neal and then realizing who else is in the group only after being informed that he didn't get picked. I would have been depressed as well. But oh well, Casey is the perfect guy for the band and Ted is in Spock's Beard, so it's a win-win for me.

EDIT: Also, anyone willing to speculate which band he's talking about at 51:55? I'm going with Rush, although it might be a REALLY long shot.

Had no idea about Ted and Flying Colors (I guess that would be some weird alternative universe) but though I've never been motivated to check out any of Casey's other projects, he's awesome in Flying Colors.

axeman90210 · « **Reply #537 on:** May 26, 2018, 03:48:13 PM »

Quote from: ytserush on May 26, 2018, 01:55:37 PM

Quote from: Mladen on May 09, 2018, 05:46:26 AM
I thought this interview was pretty cool:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RETaaYOxi1c&t=1420s

The most interesting part was that Neal initially considered Ted as the vocalist for Flying Colors. I feel bad for him just being worked up about working with Neal and then realizing who else is in the group only after being informed that he didn't get picked. I would have been depressed as well. But oh well, Casey is the perfect guy for the band and Ted is in Spock's Beard, so it's a win-win for me.

EDIT: Also, anyone willing to speculate which band he's talking about at 51:55? I'm going with Rush, although it might be a REALLY long shot.

Had know idea about Ted and Flying Colors (I guess that would be some weird alternative universe) but though I've never been motivated to check out any of Casey's other projects, he's awesome in Flying Colors.

I had never heard of Casey before Flying Colors, but I really like both the album he put out with Endocine and Alpha Rev's New Morning.

KevShmev · « **Reply #538 on:** May 26, 2018, 10:21:09 PM »

Spock's Beard albums rarely grab me on the first listen, and this one was no exception. It sounded solid, but very little jumped out at me. I am sure that will change as I listen more.

KevShmev · « **Reply #539 on:** May 28, 2018, 08:32:51 AM »

A few listens in, I am not feeling this at all. The music is good and the sound quality is excellent, but most of the vocal melodies are falling flat for me. The songs are ending and I am finding I cannot remember a damn thing about them. That is not a good sign, considering Spock's usually bludgeons us with catchy, memorable melodies all over the place.

devieira73 · « **Reply #540 on:** May 28, 2018, 09:06:30 AM »

Well, personally, I'm enjoying IMENSELY this one.
I also made a personal one CD sequence, flowing like having 2 albuns of 35 minutes each:

1. To Breathe Another Day
2. What Becomes Of Me
3. Somebody's Home
4. Armageddon Nervous
5. Bulletproof
6. Have We All Gone Crazy Yet
7. One So Wise
8. Days We'll Remember
9. Vault
10. So This Is Life
11. Box Of Spiders
12. Beginnings

DoctorAction · « **Reply #541 on:** May 29, 2018, 07:18:36 AM »

Second listen and seems very good. Like others have said, Spock's take a while to unfold. Only one duff track for me (so this is life) and that's a stylistic opinion only.

RoeDent · « **Reply #542 on:** May 29, 2018, 08:54:22 AM »

My Noise Floor CD arrived today, 3 days earlier than I expected. Pleasant surprise. Now I can properly enjoy the album.

Mindflux · « **Reply #543 on:** May 29, 2018, 09:01:05 AM »

Quote from: RoeDent on May 29, 2018, 08:54:22 AM

My Noise Floor CD arrived today, 3 days earlier than I expected. Pleasant surprise. Now I can properly enjoy the album.

Mine is still in limbo.. should I be raging mad?

The Letter M · « **Reply #544 on:** May 29, 2018, 11:32:24 AM »

Quote from: RoeDent on May 29, 2018, 08:54:22 AM

My Noise Floor CD arrived today, 3 days earlier than I expected. Pleasant surprise. Now I can properly enjoy the album.

Awesome!

Hope you enjoy it as much as I have!

As for the songs, they're all really growing on me. I've been listening to it about once a day, though I've picked a few songs here and there to listen to out of order, just to hear them every now and then. Every song on the main album is fairly strong, unique from the others and contributes something to the whole album. The EP has some great stuff on it, as well, and I think I might like this album a bit more BNADS, but only time will tell. BNADS has some GREAT melodies across it, but NF's melodies are starting to creep into me as well. I may try and listen to all three Ted-Era albums in a single day just to get the full experience of this line-up.

-Marc.

RoeDent · « **Reply #545 on:** May 29, 2018, 02:38:51 PM »

Something I have yet to see mentioned in any reviews or whatever is comparing Box of Spiders to another Ryo-led instrumental, namely Kamikaze from X. In fact, this is the first instrumental on a main Spock's album (ie. not counting bonus tracks) since that very track 8 years ago.

DoctorAction · « **Reply #546 on:** May 30, 2018, 07:59:44 AM »

So this is life is no longer bothering me. And the solo is superb.

I had a thought today while listening. This feels the most like a Neal era Beard album of any post Neal albums, imo. Liking it.

Nekov · « **Reply #547 on:** May 30, 2018, 08:31:51 AM »

Hmm, I wasn't expecting this album to go back to such a classic prog sound, that took me by surprise. Obviously I need to listen to it to get accustomed and adjust my expectations. That will be my only comment for now.

Kwyjibo · « **Reply #548 on:** May 30, 2018, 10:06:50 AM »

Finally listened to it for the first time. Nothing really stood out but then I wasn't expecting that. Need more listens before I can form an opinion.

gborland · « **Reply #549 on:** May 30, 2018, 10:42:37 AM »

Anyone know where I can get a hi-res FLAC download? HDTracks doesn't have it, SB's bandcamp page doesn't have it, InsideOut store doesn't have it, SB.com doesn't have it...

kaos2900 · « **Reply #550 on:** May 30, 2018, 10:53:10 AM »

After several listens I think the album is okay. There are a handful of really good songs, a handful of songs I don't care for at all, and a handful of meh songs.

The Letter M · « **Reply #551 on:** May 30, 2018, 01:17:40 PM »

Quote from: gborland on May 30, 2018, 10:42:37 AM

Anyone know where I can get a hi-res FLAC download? HDTracks doesn't have it, SB's bandcamp page doesn't have it, InsideOut store doesn't have it, SB.com doesn't have it...

Someone on Facebook had asked about high quality/hi-res downloads but Dave Meros had commented that the label didn't want to offer them at this time. The best bet will just to get the CD and rip from there. It's unfortunate that that isn't an option that InsideOut was willing to make available as it's a very easy way to make money from digital-only fans.

-Marc.

Mladen · « **Reply #552 on:** May 30, 2018, 01:22:36 PM »

I'm very underwhelmed by Noise floor. It's like they had plenty of vanilla, average songs lingering from TOP sessions and decided to put them together and call it an album. TOP turned out to be a bit of a grower, but even that one had some tracks that immediately sounded great. The only song on here I would call great is the opener, and that's only if I'm in a good mood.

Yeah, they can't all be winners.

The Letter M · « **Reply #553 on:** May 30, 2018, 01:47:54 PM »

Quote from: Mladen on May 30, 2018, 01:22:36 PM

I'm very underwhelmed by Noise floor. It's like they had plenty of vanilla, average songs lingering from TOP sessions and decided to put them together and call it an album. TOP turned out to be a bit of a grower, but even that one had some tracks that immediately sounded great. The only song on here I would call great is the opener, and that's only if I'm in a good mood.

Yeah, they can't all be winners.

That's pretty interesting, considering that only 3 of the 9 songs on TOP were written by performing members of the band while of the other 6, 5 were written by Boegehold and 1 by Ausmus. With NF, a lot of the songs were written by the performing members of the band - Ted, Al, Dave and Ryo - but to you, they sound pretty plain/vanilla? I'm fairly certain that the band has said most of these songs were written FOR Noise Floor, though I do recall one or two of the members saying they did use some ideas from the last sessions (though that may have been one particular Ted song that's been touted as a possibility on the last two albums).

I think what I love about NF so far is that the 8 main songs are all so different from another that they stand out because of it. You have the Beatles/Floydian sounds of "So This Is Life", the crazy instrumental by Ryo on "Box Of Spiders", some great classic-SB sounds in songs like "One So Wise" and "Have We All Gone Crazy Yet", and a killer closer in "Beginnings". The first trio of tracks is pretty strong, too. It's not AMAZING like BNADS, but like TOP, I think it's got room to grow. I think maybe some fans will only now feel differently about TOP because it's been some years since it came out, and maybe the same will happen with NF when SB14 is released (whenever that might be).

-Marc.

Ninjabait · « **Reply #554 on:** May 30, 2018, 02:07:19 PM »

I'll be honest, I'm probably the only person here who prefers the "one or two people being the primary composer(s)" method to the "writing process is spread out among the band" process. Usually, when the writing process takes a more "populist" approach I end up liking the music a bit less. I find that the former is more focused and has more of a goal or purpose in mind than the latter, which just feels more like jamming sometimes. idk to each their own I guess

KevShmev · « **Reply #555 on:** May 30, 2018, 06:22:59 PM »

TOP at least had a few immediate grabbers for me. The new album does not.

And I see that I am not the only one struggling to like this, so I am not totally crazy.

KevShmev · « **Reply #556 on:** May 30, 2018, 09:25:48 PM »

So This Is Life and Bulletproof are starting to make a little bit of a dent with me. Hopefully, more will follow.

The Curious Orange · « **Reply #557 on:** May 31, 2018, 04:10:18 AM »

On first listen Bulletproof, Have We All Gone Crazy Yet, So This Is Life and Box of Spiders are the ones making the most impact. Hopefully the rest will start to grow on further listens.
I do agree that a lot of this is a bit vanilla. One thing I'd criticise this line up for is chasing the classic Neal Morse sound. Beginnings could almost be a NM song. The NDV-led line up always seemed to be trying to move away from that.
That said, for me this is nearer in style to SB9 than either of the last 2 albums.
But then again, this is SB, so my opinion is likely to completely change after a 2nd listen!
Now, how about those tour dates??

The Letter M · « **Reply #558 on:** May 31, 2018, 08:38:05 AM »

Going along with the previous two posts - "Bulletproof" is really growing on me as well. The slow-but-quirky middle section where Ryo and Al trade little riffs is pretty fun, and the song as a whole has some good melodies in it. The chorus is currently stuck in my head (but I just listened to it about an hour ago before going to work).

I think this will grow on me as much as TOP has over the last couple of years, and like TOP, it has some immediate stand-outs, but I think the rest will have their eureka-moment with me eventually.

-Marc.

RoeDent · « **Reply #559 on:** May 31, 2018, 12:10:20 PM »

Nice to see so much love here for Bulletproof. Easily my favourite track on Cutting Room Floor.

News: Fall Into the Light, official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JFxH4kky6z4

Author Topic: Spock's Beard Discography thread (Read 111260 times)