Haken v. new single Nightingale (April 26)

[Train of Naught]

Right now for me:

1. The Architect





2. The Endless Knot
3. Bound By Gravity
4. .exe + Initiate
5. Red Giant
6. 1985
7. Earthrise
8. Lapse

[jakepriest]

6. 1985
7. Earthrise
8. Lapse

You make me violently angry.

[Crow]

like, just look at his signature tho

[Zydar]

Early rankings:

1. 1985
2. Lapse
3. The Architect
4. The Endless Knot
5. Earthrise
6. Affinity.exe + Initiate
7. Bound By Gravity
8. Red Giant

The only reason I've ranked Gravity and Giant so low is because they haven't "clicked" for me yet, a couple of more spins though and I'm sure they will sink in as well.

I'll rank the albums as well:

1. The Mountain
2. Affinity
3. Aquarius
4. Visions

[mike099]

6. 1985
7. Earthrise
8. Lapse

You make me violently angry.

   The great thing about this cd is the top songs vary so much by person.  I am going to try Earthrise and 1985 on my wife and get her reaction.  I believe these two songs will appeal to a lot of folks that do not normally listen to Haken.

Just a couple of items:

Haken is playing in Atlanta at he prog festival in September.  It would be great if they hit some cities and played some clubs in the 500-1000 attendance range.

How does Haken sound live?  Would be nice to have a cd/dvd of them live.

Of course funding plays a part in both of these items.

[ThatOneGuy2112]

Track rankings:

1. 1985
2. The Architect
3. Lapse
4. Bound By Gravity
5. Earthrise
6. The Endless Knot
7. Initiate
8. Red Giant

As for as their albums go:

1. The Mountain
2. Affinity
3. Visions
4. Aquarius

[volwrath]

Haken is playing in Atlanta at he prog festival in September.  It would be great if they hit some cities and played some clubs in the 500-1000 attendance range.

I was a bit disappointed when I looked at the ProgPower site, and saw they were sold out.  It looks like the Center Stage only holds a couple of thousand people. I would have thought it would be bigger.

[mikeyd23]

Do Haken have a big enough following to do a headlining US tour? Honestly asking cause I'm not sure how big their fan base is here.

[ariich]

Do Haken have a big enough following to do a headlining US tour? Honestly asking cause I'm not sure how big their fan base is here.

You mean like the one they did last year?

[mikeyd23]

Do Haken have a big enough following to do a headlining US tour? Honestly asking cause I'm not sure how big their fan base is here.

You mean like the one they did last year?

Umm, I don't really follow the band that closely, but looking quickly on setlist fm, do you mean the ResTOURation 2015? Because if so, I don't know if I'd consider 6 shows in the US a headlining tour...

[Implode]

Well, they were headlining...

And they sounded amazing. Easily my favorite concert I've been to.

[King Postwhore]

I got to see them headline the Saturday night at RoSfest last year. Best band at the festival.

[mikeyd23]

Okay, my band can go out and book 6 headlining shows, but that doesn't equal a tour.

Alrighty though, I guess I'll rephrase: do you guys think the demand is there for Haken to be able to book a substantial US tour that covers a good portion of the country?

[Dellers]

Well, they were headlining...

And they sounded amazing. Easily my favorite concert I've been to.

Really? To be honest I haven't been to a concert in years that sounded anything near good. Always 20 dB too loud to sound good, so all the details are lost and all that's left is a wall of muddy noise. Concerts to me in general are a waste of time as musical experiences, when I go it's just to support the bands.

[Implode]

I admit I have limited concert experiences. That being said, Haken was the quietest metal concert I've been too. I usually use ear plugs and did when I was Dream Theater and Devin Townsend. For Haken I didn't and could still hear at the end of the night, though part of me thinks that's because I was standing right up against the stage and the largest speakers were above me. Either way, sound-wise, I thought it was excellent.

The energy in the band and the venue was amazing. And Ross sounded much better than I was expecting given the live videos I saw on youtube. He's gotten so much better since he started out, and it really shows. Also, the band stuck around for like 40 minutes after the show and talked to people still in the venue and even signed things. We got a photo with Ross as well. It was a great experience.

[Nick]

I'll rank the albums as well:

1. The Mountain
2. Affinity
3. Aquarius
4. Visions

My lord, look, he has found the right ranking!

As for touring, the one they are doing in September should be bigger than the last tour. (which I believe was more than 6 shows)

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Have to say i'm glad I bought the double CD because I listen to the instrumental today and man there's lots of stuff I didn't notice during some vocal part especially during the verses. The Endless Knot for example! 

[krands85]

Rankings are something like this for me at the moment:

1985
----
The Architect - The first and final thirds are awesome, but the middle kind of lets it down for me
affinity.exe/Initiate
The Endless Knot
----
Lapse
Bound by Gravity
----
Red Giant
Earthrise

The bottom 4 were pretty forgettable on my first few listens to the album. Thankfully, Lapse and Bound By Gravity are beginning to grow on me quite a bit - hopefully the same happens with Red Giant and Earthrise eventually. But at the moment, this is my least favourite Haken album - still great though!

[KevShmev]

You'd get slaughtered if you said The Astonishing is better

But TA is better.   Okay, I have only heard Affinity once, but most of it sounded like the usual okay to pretty good Haken stuff, while much of TA is pretty great.  Not even close in my book.

LOL Kev.  Such a fanboy. 

Is that really the best you've got?

 

[Crow]

right now I'm finding this album "pretty solid" with a "ends with two great tracks" addendum, really

i think the album is generally better post-Architect, Red Giant is just alright but the other three are my favorite songs here, easily

[Dublagent66]

You'd get slaughtered if you said The Astonishing is better

But TA is better.   Okay, I have only heard Affinity once, but most of it sounded like the usual okay to pretty good Haken stuff, while much of TA is pretty great.  Not even close in my book.

LOL Kev.  Such a fanboy. 

Is that really the best you've got?

 

No.  The best I got would probably get me banned.   

[KevShmev]

Well, it's too bad that you can't grasp the concept of someone liking an album by one of his three favorite bands over an album by a band of which he is only a lukewarm fan. 

[BlackInk]

Haken are amazing live.

As for album rankings:

1. Affinity
2. Aquarius
3. The Mountain
4. Visions

[Mladen]

A word from a new fan - I love Aquarius, think The Mountain is also very good, but Affinity doesn't really do a whole lot for me. Not the best time to become a Haken fan, I guess. I don't find it melodically convincing enough, and some of the modern, electronic influences really aren't my cup of tea. Initiate and Earthrise are great, though, and the epic is fine, although a far cry from tracks like Falling back to Earth, Nocturnal conspiracy and Celestial elixir.

[Zydar]

I'll rank the albums as well:

1. The Mountain
2. Affinity
3. Aquarius
4. Visions

My lord, look, he has found the right ranking!

 

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Interesting, my ranking would be:

1. Visions
2. Affinity
3. The Mountain
4. Aquarius

[EraVulgaris]

8. Red Giant

8. Red Giant

Red Giant is just alright

You guys are killing me. 

[home]

I think I'd rank the songs like this:

1. The Architect
2. Red Giant

3. 1985
5. The Endless Knot
5. Bound By Gravity
6. Earthrise
7. Initiate

8. Lapse

I am really sure about 1,2 and 8. The others are at about the same (amazing) level for me.

[MrBoom_shack-a-lack]

Man I just gonna say it, the instrumental version of The Endless Knot is amazing. I listened to it in my car yesterday and was blown away by the synths and ambient stuff in background. You just hear everything more clearly because with vocals your ears are instantly drawn to it but without it's much easier to hear what's beneath.

[me7]

That's the sad truth of brickwalled audio production. Rather than layering sounds atop each other everything is compressed into a tight dynamic space.

[seasonsinthesky]

That's the sad truth of brickwalled audio production. Rather than layering sounds atop each other everything is compressed into a tight dynamic space.

Things are definitely smooshed, but the mix isn't magically un-layered just because of it. I can hear all the layers just fine.

That said, it'd be even better if it got an SW-style "anti-loudness" master put out on HDtracks or whatever.

[Dublagent66]

Well, it's too bad that you can't grasp the concept of someone liking an album by one of his three favorite bands over an album by a band of which he is only a lukewarm fan.

I grasp it just fine Kev.  No need to get all butt hurt when I was just messing with you.  However, you did come here and say Affinity doesn't even come close to TA after only 1 listen.  What did you expect?  Is that really the best you got?   

[DoctorAction]

I've only owned The Mountain a month (and think it's incredibly good) and got Affinity on release day. Loving this band so much. Incredibly good, complex and tasteful. So many feels and styles merged so smoothly.

[mike099]

Does anyone else get an Asia feel in the song 1985?

Now I wish that I had held off and gotten the actual with the lyrics.  I may still spring for it on ebay at 14.99.

[King Postwhore]

I get a Toto vibe from the song