Lonestar: Headspace – “Daddy Fucking Loves You”: Hmmm. Expectations were high here, with the pedigree of Adam Wakeman. I saw him recently poking his head out from behind the black curtain at the Sabbath show, but didn’t know what to expect here… it was good, but not great. There were moments; the epic part at 12:30-ish that sounded like Myles Kennedy singing a Yes cover (and I mean that in the best possible way) but there was something that kept it from being just… amazing, and I don’t know what it is. At first I thought it was the vocals, but they weren’t bad, actually, even if a little reedy for me. I didn’t follow any of the lyrics, and, as a dad myself, if you’re going to title something “Daddy Fucking Loves You”, it’d be cool to know where that’s pointed, and I still don’t. I’m going to hope that what I hear next from them is a little more focused, and give it a… 7.5
Elite: Procupine Tree – “Arriving Somewhere But Not Here”: I just don’t get the notion of Stephen Wilson. I really don’t. He’s done some great things – the Crimson remasters, “Sunsets On Empire” (my favorite Fish solo song, BY FAR). This had moments, but in typical Wilson fashion, one time I’d listen and say “This fucking SUCKS”, and yet one time I listened (in the shower; does that matter?) and it hit closer to home and I liked it. But then I tried to revisit that, and it never really happened again. Nice chorus; I generally like that kind of drone-y take on things, but, again, as with many things Wilson to me, the work just seems to never quit trying to remind me how superior and clever it (and he) is, and I find that annoying. 7
v_clortho: Fates Warning – “Ghost of Home” and Lethean: Fates Warning – “The light and Dark of Things”: Same write up for both, since the comments are the same. I have a theory, and an unpopular one for some, I’m sure: bands generally get the recognition they deserve. I know, I know, but if only people heard [insert my favorite song] it would be top of the charts, better than that shit from [insert pop tartlet of the moment]. But I generally think that’s the exception to the rule. Things have a way of getting heard, and if they don’t, they don’t. Fates Warning never clicked with me, and they just seem to be a second-tier version of things that I’ve heard before and like better. It doesn’t help that I kept thinking “Blaze Bayley!” each song, other than some riffage in the middle of “TLADOT”, everything just seemed to be… I don’t know if uninspired is the right word, but maybe derivative? I don’t judge anyone for liking it – believe me, there’s a shit ton of music I LOVE that is at best “derivative”, but this didn’t click, perhaps because I’m so into what it’s derivative of. 7
Home: Mastodon – “The Czar”: I hated this at first, but in my playlist, it was right after Michael Kiske’s song, so I got to hear it a lot and it just grew and grew on me. I liked the droning aspect of it, at first the vocals really didn’t connect, but after a few listens it hit me: this is what Ozzy SHOULD be doing now, rather than that programmed industrial shit that seems to have pervaded “Black Rain” and “Scream”. The more I listened to this – especially the end half or so – the more I realized this channeled the best of one of my favorite bands (and my favorite period of that band), the Sabotage-era Sabbath. I liked this, and the score has climbed accordingly; my preliminary score was 6.5, and, well, now that the listening is over and I have to commit, I’ll put it at… 8