Author Topic: Spock's Beard Discography thread  (Read 110164 times)

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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #560 on: May 31, 2018, 07:47:35 PM »
I am happy to report that more of it is growing on me. Persistence is the key! :P

That said, Box of Spiders is about as boring as Kamikaze (X's one blah song). Ryo-driven instrumentals just don't seem to cut it for me. 

Offline Kwyjibo

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #561 on: June 01, 2018, 12:18:34 AM »
I'm not overly fond of Ryo's instrumentals either, they have some nice proggy parts, but all in all are missing a cohesive structure and/or melody. It sounds like random parts glued together.
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

Offline PepeLePew

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #562 on: June 01, 2018, 12:59:51 AM »
Spun it about 10 times now, and while nothing grabbed me on the first 2-3 listens, it is a grower. There is no song on the album that I dislike, and "So This Is Life", "Beginnings", "Bulletproof" and especially "Armageddon Nervous" are standouts for me.

Offline Mladen

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #563 on: June 01, 2018, 05:38:16 AM »
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).
It's clear to me that the songs weren't written for The Oblivion Particle. I only pointed out that that's how they sound to me.  ;)

I'm still trying to pinpoint what exactly went wrong and why the music isn't doing it for me, but I'm also not excluding the possibility of the album being a grower. Even though I listened to it more times than I usually do with new releases.

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #564 on: June 01, 2018, 02:45:50 PM »
I've been thinking about starting up a new Spock's Beard Survivor, if anyone here is interested. It's been some years since the last one, but with the new album out, I figured this summer would be a good time to do one. I haven't done in a survivor in a LONG time (relatively speaking), so I may take this one slowly (2-day rounds or so), maybe to also give people more time to dive into the songs and really make their choices count.

If there's a relatively good reception to me doing one here, I'll start a thread in the Polls/Survivors forum, and we'll go from there.

-Marc.
ATTENTION - HAKEN FANS! The HAKEN SURVIVOR 2023 has begun! You can check it out in the Polls/Survivors Forum!!!

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #565 on: June 02, 2018, 06:55:01 AM »
I swear, the one line in Bulletproof sounds a lot like a line from I Missed Again from Phil Collins.  Every time I hear it, I keep waiting for Collins to bust out the falsetto and sing, "Would you say if I was wasting my time." :lol :lol

Offline Fritzinger

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #566 on: June 02, 2018, 07:24:46 AM »
I swear, the one line in Bulletproof sounds a lot like a line from I Missed Again from Phil Collins.  Every time I hear it, I keep waiting for Collins to bust out the falsetto and sing, "Would you say if I was wasting my time." :lol :lol

Shoot, you're totally right. I have never noticed that, and I think I never would have  :lol I like the song very much though.

Please don't overlook So This Is Life. I think it's one of the best songs on the album, and has a very particular atmosphere!
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #567 on: June 02, 2018, 07:42:59 AM »
One thing I noticed, too, is if you have all of their albums in alphabetical order in iTunes, Noise Floor is followed by The Oblivion Particle. The way Armageddon Nervous ends and then Tides of Time starts, it sounds like a perfect transition.  The production and volume seem to be exactly the same.  I swear, they had to have planned that.

Offline RoeDent

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #568 on: June 02, 2018, 01:49:58 PM »
I'd be up for a Spock's Beard Survivor. Heck, it might even push me to complete my collection. I still need to get Day For Night, Feel Euphoria, Octane and SB9. I honestly can't remember if we've had one since Ted Leonard joined.

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #569 on: June 02, 2018, 02:44:35 PM »
I'd be up for a Spock's Beard Survivor. Heck, it might even push me to complete my collection. I still need to get Day For Night, Feel Euphoria, Octane and SB9. I honestly can't remember if we've had one since Ted Leonard joined.

I've done 3 SB survivors, each after the last 3 albums were released. If you're curious, here are the results threads from the last two-
3rd SB Survivor  (2016)
2nd SB Survivor (2013)

-Marc.
ATTENTION - HAKEN FANS! The HAKEN SURVIVOR 2023 has begun! You can check it out in the Polls/Survivors Forum!!!

Offline RoeDent

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #570 on: June 02, 2018, 02:50:07 PM »
Oh. I must have taken part in the last one then, certainly. Maybe I'm getting forgetful.

Offline utopiarun

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #571 on: June 03, 2018, 06:50:05 AM »
I had the album on preorder with Amazon and it was delayed as previously mentioned. Sorry to say I cancelled the order as I listened to the album a few times on Spotify and nothing really resonated with me. I will keep trying and if it does hit, I will order it again. Oblivion Particle I have gone back to a few times and still nothing.

Ted is an excellent singer but I just don't like it in this band. there's something about it that rubs me the wrong way. I know that people are saying the album is a grower, but is that just the more you listen the more familiar it becomes?

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #572 on: June 03, 2018, 07:18:46 AM »
It has grown on me, but in the sense that it has gone from "this is not doing it for me at all" to being a solid record.  I definitely think this will rank down there with the self-titled record as one of my two least favorite Spock's records.  Bummer, cause I love the way it sounds (the mix).

I like Ted Leonard's voice quite a bit, but oddly while I rarely think it while listening to the two prior albums, when listening to the one, it is so obvious how much he sounds like Steve Walsh. I would describe his voice as being a huskier Steve Walsh.

Offline Mindflux

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #573 on: June 04, 2018, 07:26:34 AM »
Spock's Beard - "Live at Sweetwater Studios" is up on on spocksbeard.com for order if any mega fans "have to have it".


Offline ich bin besser

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #574 on: June 04, 2018, 10:00:48 AM »
Hehe, the album is $ 8, and shipping is $ 15 to Germany - so no, thank you...  :sad:
I'd take a download for $ 8...
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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #575 on: June 04, 2018, 10:35:43 AM »
Spock's Beard - "Live at Sweetwater Studios" is up on on spocksbeard.com for order if any mega fans "have to have it".

Ordered it not long after Dave posted about it in the SB Forum on FB. Sure, it's just 30 minutes of re-recorded tunes by the NF line-up, but SB is one of the bands I'll try and get everything of, especially since, as previously reported, there will only be 1000 of these CDs released, so I didn't want to miss my chance on getting this! It'll be awesome to hear this line-up perform "Go The Way You Go", and hearing Ted sing a Nick-Era tune ("On A Perfect Day") should be interesting, that is, if he's singing it and Nick is just playing the drums.

-Marc.
ATTENTION - HAKEN FANS! The HAKEN SURVIVOR 2023 has begun! You can check it out in the Polls/Survivors Forum!!!

Offline gborland

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #576 on: June 05, 2018, 04:05:39 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...

I eventually found a 96/24 download on Qobuz:
https://www.qobuz.com/gb-en/album/noise-floor-spocks-beard/ph123ssnpfb6b

Graham Borland

Offline RoeDent

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #577 on: June 07, 2018, 12:36:00 PM »
Man, I could totally get behind Ted singing On A Perfect Day. I'm imagining it now.

In other news, I've ordered Octane! No SB albums for 2½ years (since I got V in Oct 2015), then two in a couple of weeks.

Online The Letter M

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #578 on: June 07, 2018, 02:17:25 PM »
Man, I could totally get behind Ted singing On A Perfect Day. I'm imagining it now.

In other news, I've ordered Octane! No SB albums for 2½ years (since I got V in Oct 2015), then two in a couple of weeks.

After a couple days of listening to the Live At Sweetwater EP in my car, I can say that it was indeed a good purchase. This line-ups take on these 3 songs, all from different "eras" of the band, is pretty amazing. Ted's vocals on OAPD are pretty awesome, but Nick also sings on it as well, and "Go The Way You Go" is pretty superb. And come to think of it, I think Ted sang OAPD during the 2011 High Voltage show, so this isn't his first recorded and released performance of the tune.

Another odd thing about this live EP is that of the three songs, Nick is drumming live for two of them for the first time! He's technically covering Jimmy's parts on "Hiding Out" and Jimmy played all (or most of?) "On A Perfect Day" when they played it live, so we get to hear Nick do them this time!

Given that the Ted-Era hasn't had a proper live album yet (Live At Sea sort of counts, I guess, though it was a short set on the Progressive Nation At Sea cruise; and there was also the High Voltage show, which was even shorter), I'll take whatever "live" album I can get from this line-up. It's weird how, for 3 album-tours in a row, we got full live shows from Spock's Beard (Gluttons For Punishment, Live, and The X-Tour Live), but we've not had a full live concert released since 2011. Hopefully if the band tours this time around on Noise Floor, we got a proper full live show from them, with whoever they have drumming, though it's a shame we never got a tour concert release with Jimmy in the band.

And yes, I know, I'm not counting Snow Live for a reason - it was a special show and not a typical SB Tour concert, but it's definitely one of my favorite SB live releases!

-Marc.
ATTENTION - HAKEN FANS! The HAKEN SURVIVOR 2023 has begun! You can check it out in the Polls/Survivors Forum!!!

Offline Kwyjibo

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #579 on: June 08, 2018, 01:13:18 AM »
Hehe, the album is $ 8, and shipping is $ 15 to Germany - so no, thank you...  :sad:
I'd take a download for $ 8...

Yeah, this. I'm really interested in this album but I'm not ready to pay almost double for shipping than for the cd.

Dear Spock's Beard, make this available as a download and you get my money in no time.
Must've been Kwyji sending all the wrong songs.   ;D

Offline RoeDent

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #580 on: June 11, 2018, 12:06:29 PM »
Octane arrived this morning, and I'm listening now. Just finished the magnificent A Flash Before My Eyes, and now on to the rest of the album. What does NWC stand for?

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #581 on: June 11, 2018, 12:19:42 PM »
What does NWC stand for?

Been wondering this for over 12 years now...and no, no one in the band has said what it means, or have said it doesn't mean anything when asked.

Who knows... (maybe NDV does...)

-Marc.
ATTENTION - HAKEN FANS! The HAKEN SURVIVOR 2023 has begun! You can check it out in the Polls/Survivors Forum!!!

Offline RoeDent

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #582 on: June 11, 2018, 12:44:10 PM »
Maybe it's pronounced "nooc" instead, like a nonexistent Welsh word.

I'm not good at "reviewing" albums/giving first impressions at all, other than to say I enjoyed everything. As Long As We Ride gave me a Beatle-esque vibe.

Offline Mladen

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #583 on: June 11, 2018, 02:16:48 PM »
Octane is probably their most underrated release in my book, the suite is jam packed both with classic moments and some edgier, modern stuff. It's also cool how the album isn't just the epic and then some average tunes, tracks like As long as we ride and There was a time are also highlights. It's one of my favorite albums of theirs.

Offline RoeDent

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #584 on: June 11, 2018, 03:17:29 PM »
Yeah, I love the rhythms in NWC, and The Planets Hum gives us some Spock's quirkiness. One of the most noticeable things was Dave Meros' awesome bass lines, quite prominent in several places.

For the record, I managed to get the special edition, so I've also got the bonus disc.

Online The Letter M

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #585 on: June 12, 2018, 01:15:38 PM »
According to this blurb about SB's first announced live show this year, it appears that former-Saga-drummer Mike Thorne will be taking the drum throne for SB on tour! I suppose, since Saga retired, that he'd be looking for a new drumming gig.

Can't wait to hear how he'll sound with the band since I'm not at all familiar with Saga or any of Mike Thorne's work!

-Marc.
ATTENTION - HAKEN FANS! The HAKEN SURVIVOR 2023 has begun! You can check it out in the Polls/Survivors Forum!!!

Online Orbert

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #586 on: June 12, 2018, 01:27:19 PM »
Saga's big hit was "On the Loose" from back in the 80's.  I'm sure they've done stuff since then, but mostly in Canada (I think).  They never really made it big in the U.S.

But I remember "On the Loose" has a driving rhythm all the way through it, an energy that doesn't let up, and that's mostly due to the drums.

Offline PepeLePew

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #587 on: June 13, 2018, 06:13:53 AM »
Saga have been most succesfull in Germany and in Puerto Rico.

They made great (to may taste) albums over 4 decades with only a few in the 90s where they tried new musical directions that I consider "meh". They have been awesome live, lots of energy at the shows that I have been to. If you want to check them out, I would recommend the studio album "Trust" or "Live in Hamburg" for a live album. There's also tons of videos to be found on youtube.

EDIT: Mike Thorne joined AFTER they recorded "Trust", so if you want to get an idea of him try "20/20", "Sagacity" or the live albums "Spin it again" and "Live in Hamburg".

EDIT#2: Sorry for placing Puerto Rico in South America, I corrected my mistake... geography was never my thing...
« Last Edit: June 13, 2018, 06:26:06 AM by PepeLePew »

Online Orbert

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #588 on: June 13, 2018, 07:39:06 AM »
Yeah, forget everything I said.  Thorne didn't join until 2012, so he's not on any of those awesome albums from the 80's.  But they are Canadian.  At least I got that part right.

Offline KevShmev

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #589 on: June 13, 2018, 06:35:12 PM »
Wind Him Up from the same Saga album was also a minor hit, IIRC.  But yeah, On the Loose was the big hit.

Offline jingle.boy

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #590 on: June 15, 2018, 12:57:04 PM »
But they are Canadian.  At least I got that part right.

From my hometown!

On The Loose, Wind Him Up, and Scratching the Surface are still staples on Canadian classic rock airwaves.
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Offline King Postwhore

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #591 on: June 23, 2018, 07:22:52 PM »
Ok. While this album does not have many major chord melodies or outright hooks, I'm really digging this album.  It's an album that takes multiple listens to soak in.

Standouts are,

Somebody's Home
Have We All Gone Crazy Yet
Beginnings
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #592 on: June 24, 2018, 06:53:24 AM »
Ok. While this album does not have many major chord melodies or outright hooks, I'm really digging this album.  It's an album that takes multiple listens to soak in.

Standouts are,

Somebody's Home
Have We All Gone Crazy Yet
Beginnings

Those are good choices, and I would throw the bonus tracks Days We'll Remember and Bulletproof into the pile as well.

Box of Spiders is really the only skipper for me at this point.

Offline King Postwhore

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #593 on: June 24, 2018, 06:54:56 AM »
I agree.  I love the mix.  Every instrument is clear and separated.   I love that.
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Offline KevShmev

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Re: Spock's Beard Discography thread - v. New album in 2018!!
« Reply #594 on: June 24, 2018, 06:56:00 AM »
For sure.  Even early on, when I was kinda iffy on the album after just a couple listens, I loved the sound of it.