And a less positive review:
https://progressivemusicplanet.com/2023/02/13/haken-fauna/
This review completely lost me on this point:
Maybe the rest of the album was more like the Haken I liked in the past.
Maybe I’m an outlier music lover, but the reason I love Haken is *because* nothing they do sounds like their past.
If this was The Mountain Part 3, I would probably think it was OK, but at this point they would be just another “passing band” and then just faded away because they kept repeating themselves.
People who think along the same lines as this reviewer are the same as people who just listen to classic rock radio to listen to the same 100 songs over and over and over and over again.
TLDR - that “negative” review made me want it even more.
I don't think this necessarily holds true to be honest.
Look at Arjen Lucassen, Nightwish, Kamelot and the likes, the discourse here and online is that their recent releases have been very much in line with past material (for most releases I'd agree to a large extent). But doing so they have been more successful in recent times than in the past in varying ways (say, post 2010-2015, which is late in their careers). I actually count Steven Wilson/Porcupine Tree in this category as well. He/they gave us a PT record and it was a big success.
I don't really disagree with you though, but to me it is only a factor and it also heavily depends on the quality of the music and the enthusiasm/passion of the performances (studio and live). I am not against artists changing their sound. There are those where I really dislike it (In Flames) and some where I enjoy it very much (Sonata Arctica, Leprous, Opeth).
To me, it depends entirely on what people get out of the music. People desire certain aspects of their music. I call myself a music fan, rather than a fan of a specific genre, because I enjoy any type of music out there. I would love for any band to make any style of music they please, regardless of whether it's an unpopular genre or style.
I think one thing to consider is the prog genre often requires change because the fans appreciate that. If you look outside the genre, that's not really normal. It actually is often times despised to see bands make changes to their sound from the fan base. So it's actually no surprise that bands that stick to what they do best do find success from doing the "same thing" over and over.
Yup, and you just have to look at those bands setlists, always containing the same exact songs on every tour with a couple of others sprinkled in. Then you get Iron Maiden wanting to play their new songs, only to resort to playing the tried and true classics American Maiden fans desire from the band. But then again, I love when the genres blend in unexpected ways, such as Country Hip-Hop, or Black Metal Reggae (now this is an oxymoronic genre blend). And honestly, that's where music is at now.
I have grown to appreciate how a band wants an album to sound, more so than expecting what I want to hear from the band. This is how I appreciate Haken making Virus/Vector and do not really have a problem with it's sound and style.
From what I have heard of Fauna so far, I can hear a blend of all their previous styles and hints of previous things they have done. Such as The Alphabet Of Me giving me Host and Veil vibes with the use of the electronic drums and supporting ambience.
Topic: Haken thread v. "Evening With" tour (some set spoilers) (Read 68854 times)
