So, here we are. It’s been way too long, but results are here. Between my lazy ass, time constraints and almost two weeks without a computer, this has gone on far too long. So without further ado…
The two albums presented were incredibly different. Justin went weird ass prog with Frank Zappa’s Apostrophe while Zander went with a more epic, grandiose For My Pain…’s Fallen. The two albums were very different, but the end result of the two were quite similar. Both were decent listens, but at the end, something felt amiss. For the Zappa, it lacked the spark that could make the weird, sublime. There were most definitely good, bluesy parts that I dug, but as a cohesive album, I felt it lacked a tad. For the For My Pain… record, while I dug the grandiose music, something that was expected given the members of the band, something fell short of my expectations. It’s hard to put a finger on it, but I think that the overall “feel” of the album did not live up to the music within it. Almost as if the parts were greater than the sum.
Now, I will give a near track by track review of the albums starting with Justin’s:
Frank Zappa- Apostrophe:
The album opener, Don’t Eat The Yellow Snow, most likely the only Zappa song I was familiar with coming into my first listen, set up the feel for the rest of the album. Zappa might not have a good voice in terms of singing, but his voice certainly fits the music. This song and the album as a whole have a very bluesy feel with a lot of talking over some walking blues. I dig that to an extent, but I felt that, sometimes, it got a bit excessive.
I still struggle to decide if the album’s weirdness is a good thing or a bad thing. The second song on the album, Nanook Rubs It, is arguably one of the weirdest songs I’ve ever listened to. I didn’t necessarily hate it, as it gave me the phrase GREAT GOOGLY MOOGLY!, but it felt largely superfluous. There was no cohesion and a lot of talking and not a lot of song, if you get my drift. I mean, “He…was very upset…and rightly so…because…the deadly…yellow snow crystals…” just made me laugh.
The next two song, St. Alfonzo’s Pancake Breakfast and Father Oblivion, which feel like one song in two parts is just as weird as the proceeding songs. “…where I stole the margarine!!” These two songs, however, had the feel of a songs, even though they were odd ones. I feel as though Townsend is like a heavy metal reincarnate of Zappa. Crazy, filled with ideas, not giving a fuck, etc. You get the idea, and I’d be willing to bet you agree. “Oh Saint Alfonzo would be proud of me…”
Track 5, Cosmik Debris, was most definitely the best song of the album. By a long shot. Between the slow, bluesy vocals by Zappa, the black vocals in the back ground, and the bluesy as balls music, this was a great song, man. The guitar solo was badass, and Zappa was just great throughout the entire song. Then, the song goes from bluesy to fucking rocking in a matter of moments. If the entire album was like this, I would have liked it more. Not saying I didn’t dig it, just saying that the entire album should have been this good.
The next “song” (it’s like a minute and a half) is good. I just wish it was longer. The music was rocking, and Zappa was singing, which was cool, and I dug it.
Next came the album’s synonymous track. I have since learned that Jay Bruce and Jim Gordon jammed with Zappa on this one, and it shows. The song is very Cream-esque, which is obviously a good thing. A druggy’s paradise, if I were the LSD doing type, I’d definitely pick this to play every so often. The song has a feel of the psychedelic shit going down in the 60s that was awesome. Cream, Floyd, etc. I think this song could have been made better by having the third member of Cream jam some too. Now that would have been awesome. My only complaint is that the jam lasted a bit long. You’ll disagree, but you couldn’t exactly expect me to think otherwise.
The penultimate song, Uncle Remus, was a good one. It was the definitely the most “songy” song of the album, and therefore the least weird. By far the most cohesive, which was nice, and I dug the way the guitar and piano worked off each other. Zappa and his back-up singers were rocking. This song was good because it was succinct, yet it went just as far as it needed to. I’d say this was the second best song on the album.
The last song, Stink Foot, went right back with the (trademarked?) Zappa weirdness. The song was bluesy, weird, psychedelic, and pretty decent. Not great, but decent. A lot of talking over some blues, which is fine in little bits, but bad for most of a song. I’m saying the same things over and over again. At this point, I should end the review here.
So, in conclusion, the album was meh. I’m not doubting the talents or genius of Zappa at all. There were highpoints on almost every track, but I think that doing a track by track review shows me that I would only listen to like 2 or 3 songs outside of their album context. An album is great, not only if it flows and is coherent, but if its songs are good as well. I could totally see myself chilling out on my bed, lava lamp and all, and just letting this thing play. What I can’t see myself doing is digging most of these songs coming up on a shuffle while I’m driving or in school or any of that. The whole is much greater than the sum of its parts, and I’m not sure I dig that in this case. If I were the grading type, I’d give this album a C.
Now, we have Zander’s final pick.
For My Pain…-Fallen:
The album’s opener, My Wound is Deeper Than Yours is pretty good. It took a while for me to dig the song, but when I started to finally like it, I did…wow, that sounded dumb. The one thing this album attempted that I don’t think Justin’s did was a hook. The album tries to be epic and grandiose and what comes with that, inevitably, is an attempt at “big” moments. Where this album disappoints is when the “big” moments fail to reach their largest size. For example, while I dug the chorus, I didn’t find myself just belting along with it the same way I would a better song of the genre. It most certainly was not bad, and a decent kick off to the album.
The next song, Dancer in the Dark, suffers from the same problem as the first song, but much worse. Music? Awesome. No doubt. However, there was something lacking in the way the lyrics were given. Notice how I didn’t say vocals. The dude and chick had good voices, but there was something missing. The chorus gave me no emotion, which is a complete must for this type of music.
The third song on the album, Queen Misery, is pretty sweet. I really dig the singer’s voice and the way the music builds to a very great chorus. The best part about this song is that it sticks in your head. This was the first song I remembered after my very first listen of the album. It’s true that songs “grow” but often my favorite songs are the ones that catch me the first time I listen to them. This was probably one of the better songs on the album.
The fourth song, Sea of Emotions, is also a pretty good songs. During songs like these, I can’t help but notice how beautiful and grand the music is, but it is beautiful and grand in a subtle way. I know that makes no sense, but if you listen to this then listen to Nightwish, both bands have a grand feel but one is much more subtle. It’s choruses like these that I dig. They are catchy, but I’d still like it if they had a bit more punch. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I really like it, but I don’t love it. It doesn’t leave me fist pumping at air like the best them do. Still, the song was good.
Next, we have Rapture of Lust. The song started off a bit too much like the rest of the album, which isn’t good, and the song’s chorus, which attempted to be sing along-y faltered. This, to me, just missed the mark. It wasn’t bad, but it didn’t have the punch that previous songs had. It was one of the boring tracks on the album, although it did have a pretty sweet solo/instrumental section toward the end of the song.
The next song, Broken Days, was an improvement on the last song, but it still lacked something. It’s hard to put my finger on it, but while the song wasn’t bad, it just wasn’t all that great either. It was beautiful, melodic, but it seemed to miss that spark. I don’t know. I could be crazy.
The next song has arguably one of the worst titles to a song ever…Dear Carniwhore. I mean, seriously? That’s pretty laughable, but I try not to judge, so I let the music decide whether I dug it or not. This song was definitely heavier than the rest of the album with heavy palm muted notes in the back ground, and while that was cool, I didn’t really dig the way the lyrics were song. It just didn’t seem to flow with the music in the background. I guess this is a time to go off on a tangent…
I feel like this album has a ton of potential but falls short very often. I’ve said it a lot before. It isn’t bad, but it lacks something. It could be that I haven’t listened to it enough. I mean, I’ve probably listened to the album 5 or 6 times by now and have a pretty good feel, but I think it took Addicted by Devin Townsend (now one of my favorites of all time) at least 10 listens for me to fully love it. That could very well happen, considering I like what Iike enough to keep trying. It’s a shame these guys only did one album. I would have tried to get into any other stuff they might have done. I guess I have to make my way to the individual band members’ bands.
The eighth song, Bed of Dead Leaves was decent. Not very bad but not very good. The music was excellent, as expected and as usual, but the was something lacking in the overall song. The chorus was pretty good as a whole. I think I just need to listen to the second half of the album more. This usually happens with me. I listen to the first half a ton and by the second, something usually happens that makes me shut off the second half, putting the first half in my memory.
The ninth song, Autumn Harmony, was another heavier song. I dug this more than some others. For the same reason I couldn’t put my finger on what it was I felt lacking in the other songs, I can’t quite put my finger on why I like this one. I think it was because the chorus seemed to “work” by combing the right vocal delivery with the right music. It’s a hard concept to talk about and I do a shitty job of it, so I’ll shut up. The instrumental section near the end of the song was pretty swell as well. Once again, it’s times like these that make me realize how awesome the music is by itself.
The final song, Tomorrow Is A Closed Gate (Dead For So Long), seems like a fitting close for the album. Often, bands end an album with a song that feels like it belongs in the middle of the album, and they have ass kickers that belong as the end as a nice close but somehow end up in the middle. Here, a grandiose song to end a pretty grandiose album. I actually dug the somewhat monotonous vocals used in this song and once again, and for the final time, the music was awesome.
Overall, the album was good. Not great. It might have the potential to be great if it really “clicks.” It is sort of in an in between state between clickage and still being new music. If I were to grade it as of right now, I’d have no qualms giving it a B.
So, if anyone has read this entire thing, they know who the winner is. Congrats to Zander for his awesome effort and thanks to everyone for participating. Expect one more post to cap this thing off, involving a bunch of thank yous and requests for new music.
Cole
PS. Yeah, open the flood gates of hate. A Gothic Metal supergroup beat Frank Zappa. Meh.
PPS. I still got this in before 12 o'clock, so no addresses for anyone.
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