Author Topic: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #1: I'm Not Sorry For That At All  (Read 30648 times)

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Offline Train of Naught

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #105 on: May 21, 2016, 09:22:45 AM »
I agree with this I think, atleast the expectations thing. This one seemed to be pretty much universally loved from what I've seen and read before I tried it. I dig Language I: Intuition but that's about it.
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Offline BlackInk

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #106 on: May 21, 2016, 11:19:48 AM »
This one seemed to be pretty much universally loved from what I've seen and read before I tried it. I dig Language I: Intuition but that's about it.

Pretty much this.

Offline Zantera

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #107 on: May 21, 2016, 11:30:04 AM »
I can't even fathom people liking stuff like The Astonishing or the new Haken over this album, but hey, opinions I guess.

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #108 on: May 21, 2016, 11:44:15 AM »
i don't prefer The Astonishing over this, fwiw

Offline Sacul

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #109 on: May 21, 2016, 12:06:25 PM »
This one seemed to be pretty much universally loved from what I've seen and read before I tried it. I dig Language I: Intuition but that's about it.

Pretty much this.
Yup.

Offline BlackInk

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #110 on: May 21, 2016, 12:46:43 PM »
There's only so many times you can say "ebb and flow" on an album before it annoys me.

But seriously, Language is way better than The Astonishing. But not even close to Affinity.

Offline Sacul

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #111 on: May 21, 2016, 12:55:56 PM »
I've listened to about 15 albums released this year so far and only one of them is worse than The Astonishing :lol

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #112 on: May 21, 2016, 02:41:16 PM »
Oh yeah? Well I've listened to about 3 albums released this year so far and only one of them is The Astonishing.

And yeah I barely know any of these. I must be the only one who is just hearing about The Contortionist for the first time right now.
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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #113 on: May 21, 2016, 02:43:11 PM »
I think I'm up to 6 2016 albums that I've actually purchased and listened to and The Astonishing is second least favorite for me.

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #50: Drown Me
« Reply #114 on: May 21, 2016, 04:46:00 PM »
#50: Riverside - Love, Fear, and the Time Machine
#10 for 2015



I don't think the issues I have with this album have anything to do with them softening their sound. Riverside is a band that's always been able to do softer stuff just as good as heavier stuff. And while I don't think this is their best, I do like it more than their previous album, if only a little. But... bleh. I don't know, the songwriting here just isn't especially compelling.

I'm not going to say there's anything inherently wrong with simplicity, but... a lot of these songs are pretty simple. The primary focus here is on building atmosphere and the subtleties are given a lot more attention than the big picture, and while that does make pretty much every track sound gorgeous, it leaves a lot of them lacking real emotional impact or staying power. Lost and Found, the album opener and closer, respectively, are both pretty effective at setting their moods, and both have good vocal lines as well as strong atmosphere. Under the Pillow has a bit more bite to it, but other than that follows basically the same song arc as Lost. #Addicted has basically two distinct sections, the main groove of the song and the chorus, and while both are pretty strong musically they're not enough to fill 4 minutes on their own. Afloat is a brief nothing of a song that repeats its one main motif relentlessly with atmosphere building behind it, but never feels like it goes anywhere. Discard Your Fear is probably the most "accessible" track of the entire album, straightforward but effective, probably the best of the simpler tracks. And Time Travellers is... too long, and rather repetitive lyrically, but other than that solid enough. None of these tracks save for maybe Discard Your Fear have a lot of relisten value though, I don't find any of them that emotionally potent and the simple structure and instrumentation presents pretty much everything to you in a listen or two.

So, yes, the highlights of this album are the three proggier tracks, the ones that have more to offer than straightforward, catchy hooks and pretty atmosphere. Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire is built around a strict 7/8 groove, and a constant sense of progression and build all the way to the end of the track. Saturate Me is an absolute journey of a song, beginning with the most indulgent instrumental section of the entire album (and it's quite fantastic, feels like a softer version of something off Anno Domini High Definition, which is one of my favorite albums period), before cutting to a long and effective build, repeating a mantra as the song gets more and more intense. There's another pretty compelling instrumental break and a quiet reprise of the main mantra at the end. Towards the Blue Horizon as well takes a journey of its own, starting off fairly bright, with undertones of darkness creeping in until the song kicks in fully with probably the heaviest stretches of the entire album. I do dig the atmosphere though it feels a bit thin at times, the descending guitar riff that repeats is really cool too. The song returns to a melancholic mood near the end before kicking in the heavy atmosphere to finish. I think the pacing of this track is a little bit slow but not a huge problem.

The lyrics on this album are a mixed bag, on one hand Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire might have the best lyrics of the band's entire career, while #Addicted definitely has their worst. Most notably the line "Hashtag me and go" which is repeating several times, showing that they have no clue how twitter actually works, but in general this song ruins its cool groove with groan-worthy "old man yells at cloud" lyrics. Time Travellers expresses a nice sentiment in a kind of awkward and repetitive way, I get what they're trying to go at but the execution is botched. Beyond that there's not a lot notable in one way or another, though I don't tend to notice lyrics much if they don't swing one way or the other.

Pretty much every track has a strong chorus to it, too. Discard Your Fear probably has the best, with Caterpillar right behind. There's not much I about the choruses, really; Under the Pillow's feels like it deserves a bit more rough-edged vocals than it gets, but it's solid, and #Addicted's is only slightly marred by the lyrics, being pretty great otherwise. Really can't get past the lyrics to that track though, sheesh...

Beyond that, I don't feel like I have a lot to say. There's no bad tracks here, it's fairly consistent, with only a few standouts, and even the best songs here don't really hold up to any of my favorite Riverside tracks; they're great, but not fantastic. I never really mind listening to this album, but it's also not one I find myself wanting to put on very often; I didn't really revisit these songs at all after the first month or so I'd had the album. On the whole it's a generally pleasant and solidly written but not very ambitious album, and I can't really fault it, but I don't see myself revisiting this much in the future.

Favorite Tracks: Saturate Me, Caterpillar and the Barbed Wire, Towards the Blue Horizon
Least Favorite Tracks: #Addicted, Afloat

6.25/10

DTF Addendum: Oh man, I'm sure few people are going to agree here  :lol But really, this is a fine album, just... I'm just waiting for something to even come close to ADHD in terms of quality, and this just doesn't scratch that itch for me. Mostly I just find myself waiting for the few tracks I really like, and even then they're not phenomenal. I dunno guys. Doesn't do it for me.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2016, 10:27:36 AM by Parama »

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #50: Drown Me
« Reply #115 on: May 21, 2016, 04:49:07 PM »
:|
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #50: Drown Me
« Reply #116 on: May 21, 2016, 04:50:54 PM »
my next roulette is going to be really, really fun

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #50: Drown Me
« Reply #117 on: May 21, 2016, 06:04:14 PM »
Maybe my favorite Riverside album

I can't wait for you to get to the top10 so we can start poking holes in some truly bad albums  ;)

Offline LordCost

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #50: Drown Me
« Reply #118 on: May 21, 2016, 06:14:05 PM »
Parama, I think you will not find anything great in the first two The Contortionist albums. I put some of the older songs for listening them into the car but the 5-6 I've listened were almost all heavy. Holomovement and Causality are two of the songs I've heard live in Milan and they seemed more on the Language style if I remember well. On that live they have played only Language I and II from the new album but I really appreciated them, in particular the vocalist (the slow robotic movements plus his amazing voice have impressed me). There are instead four songs on Language Rediscovered EP you can find on youtube that are almost post rock. I think they are shifting away from the metalcore completely, I hope they maintain the same style of last album instead..

Integration, Thrive and Primordial Sound are my favourites. I think it's impossible to write an album of metalcore with post-rock influences that doesn't feel forced or unbalanced sometimes, but they have done a great work. It's one of the most interesting album I've listened to in the last decade for me too, even if this experiment hasn't completely worked.

Offline jakepriest

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #50: Drown Me
« Reply #119 on: May 21, 2016, 06:21:09 PM »
Maybe my favorite Riverside album

Saturate Me is absolutely magnificent. The entire album is really.
Parama's bad taste is starting to show here :neverusethis:

Also, it has my most favourite album cover ever.

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #50: Drown Me
« Reply #120 on: May 21, 2016, 06:52:32 PM »
Sorry for the late comments but after the first djent albums of the list and others I did never heard I didn't check the thread for some days :laugh:

I never listened to Riverside and Leaving Your Body Map but I should do it sooner or later. For what regards The Artist In The Ambulance my least favourites are the most poppy tracks like Stare At The Sun and All That's Left (I have always been indifferent to the sound of Sum41, Yellowcard and similar punk bands that were popular 10 years ago. The more metal feel on some songs and the stellar songwriting let me become a fan of them).
The Abolition Of Man and the opener are by far my favourites on the album I still listen today frequently. They have done similar short songs with intense finals with scream vocals (the end of To Awake And Avenge The Dead from The Illusion Of Safety album is almost equal to the final of The Abolition Of Man, but I don't care because I love those parts).

Some songs are impossible to memorize, I agree with you  :lol. Reading now the tracklist I forgot completely the existence of Hoods On Peregrine, and I remember that I couldn't memorize the closer and Blood Clots And Black Holes even after thirty listens of the album. I had to concentrate on BCABH and play it three times in a row to fix in mind it one day.
There are no bad songs and the album is really well written, to me it's a 9/10.

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #49: Adjective Noun
« Reply #121 on: May 22, 2016, 01:00:36 AM »
#49: Schizoid Lloyd - The Last Note in God's Magnum Opus



Whoo boy, this album. It's... hmm. On one hand, it's alright. Certainly could be worse. On the other hand... man, do I really want to like this more than I do. I heard the first track a fair number of times before actually getting the album, which led me to high expectations, since the first track is actually quite good. It's got a lot of weirdness to it and it's kind of a mess, but its creativity and coherence keeps it an enjoyable listen. It's "wacky prog crap" done well.

Unfortunately the rest of the album doesn't quite skew in that direction. I'm all for music not taking itself too seriously, and I don't think they go too far into "wacky" territory more than a small amount of times, but a lot of other times... it's comparatively normal, and often not as engaging. I have to worry if they're not capable of writing really good songs when they're not being weird, even though Suicide Penguin should prove otherwise. Ehh.

Suicide Penguin probably works so well because it's wacky, but has a solid core to it that the flourishes of weirdness add to instead of overshadowing. The circus organ and choir in the opening, the "Allelujah" bit in the middle, along with all its other various oddities, are mixed in with some intense and engaging riffing, though every instrument is given its own time to shine. It's got a good sense of flow that keeps it coherent.

Most of the other songs are much less diverse, however. Christmas Devil, Avalanche Riders, and Cave Painter all suffer heavily from a lack of dynamics; the first is just a solid wall of noise from beginning to end, the second keeps a medium loudness throughout, mostly sticking to holding a groove, and the third is a constant frantic energy that relies on its medium heaviness to keep it going. They're all relatively simple songs compared to the opener, and they're all solid enough, but not especially compelling.

Amphibian Seer also keeps to a central groove throughout, though it has more dynamics to it to keep it interesting, some heaviness, some quieter groove in the middle, and some in-between moments as well. I really dislike the lyrics of this song though, brings the whole thing down a notch for me. Chicken Wing Swans spends a few minutes stuck on one groove, cutting to a softer piano bit for a while, and a more intense final few minutes, but each of these sections on their own sticks pretty heavily to its chosen volume and the track is rather nondescript beyond the phases it goes through.

The low point of the album, for me, is the overly long Film Noir Hero, which is a piano and vocal track that just feels like it plods on and on for a minute and a half longer than it should. There's no consistent rhythm and there's a lot of showboating that doesn't really add to anything. The final track, Prodigal Son, provides a solid contrast, having more than just the acoustic guitar that drives the song to keep its atmosphere interesting, accompanied by probably the best and most emotive vocal performance of the album in contrast to the oversinging of Film Noir Hero.

That just leaves two songs to comment on, and they're certainly better tracks for their diversity and dynamics. Misanthrope Puppet is probably the strangest track of the album, its "chorus" being delivered as a circus announcer trying to rap, but it works surprisingly well, probably aided by the bright organ and guitar backing it. The song has a strong groove to keep it grounded even at its weirder moments, and the first verse has a nice sinister tone to the vocals. The crushing heaviness of the ending also punctuates the song nicely, even if it feels a bit disconnected from the rest.

And Citizen Herd... hmm. It's an unfortunate tragedy of the song. The first third has a nice atmosphere to it, some somber synths contrasting with frantic drumwork, and a constantly building sense of tension. It takes its time but it's clear that's building to something. The last third of the song builds up on a riff to the most intense climax of the entire album, it's absolutely visceral and chaotic. It gives way to a very soft and somber finale. Everything I've described thus far is pretty good. So what's the problem? They couldn't resist... there's just an absolute disaster of an instrumental section in the middle of the song, with some notably awful keyboard work and lacking any sort of compelling riffs or grooves. It's just two and a half solid minutes of showboating pointlessly and brings the song to a halt. Really, this could've been the highlight of the album if not for this middle section but I really can't forgive that much time wasting.

Some overarching problems with the album, aside from each song's individual problems, then. One, that circus organ gets oooold. It's not particularly fitting for a lot of the songs but it's the primary keyboard sound used, though thankfully not exclusively. I also don't find this album to have a very strong emotional core. There are moments of effectiveness, most notably the softer moments of Citizen Herd and the entirety of Prodigal Son, but beyond that I don't get much from this emotionally. And it often fails to please on a technical level, too; the prog noodling on this album is generally its weakest aspect, and there aren't a huge number of cool riffs, though there are at least a few.

Overall though, it's "solid". I can't say even the weakest tracks are "bad", just merely "okay". There's only really one track I think is excellent, and two others that are pretty good though not particularly fantastic either. And the rest are... good, decent, alright. But when so little of the album compels me one way or another, it's hard to enjoy the album as a whole, and considering the strength of its opener I was really expecting more out of this album than I got. It's not that weird, it's not that crazy, it's kind of a facade that betrays the real nature of the album, and maybe it's my fault for having expectations that couldn't be met, but I just don't feel much of a drive to revisit this one.

Favorite Tracks: Suicide Penguin, Misanthrope Puppet, Citizen Herd
Least Favorite Track: Film Noir Hero

6.25/10

DTF Addendum: The trend of the past 5 or so albums and probably for the next 10 or so after is me wishing I liked the album more than I actually do, which is really frustrating. You guys know I'm not being a downer just for the sake of being a downer right? Just stuff that never clicked for me but I kinda like a decent bit.

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #49: Adjective Noun
« Reply #122 on: May 22, 2016, 01:43:17 AM »
I like that you actually checked this out. I love this band though.
Hey dude slow the fuck down so we can finish together at the same time.  :biggrin:
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Offline Train of Naught

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #51: No Habla Español
« Reply #123 on: May 22, 2016, 06:26:04 AM »
I've listened to about 15 albums released this year so far and only one of them is worse than The Astonishing :lol
I'm on 13 2016 albums right now, The Astonishing is like 9th so for me middle of the pack, I love most of the first act but I can barely sit through the second one, if at all. It becomes very tiring with songs like Hymn of a Thousand Voices, Our New World and Astonishing near the end.

That said, I rarely check out new releases if I haven't already liked atleast one song off them that I happened to stumble onto, or an artist I was already really into. There have only been two actual "disappointments" from my list so far and those are Havoc (by Circus Maximus) and Phenotype (by Textures).

Oh and good job parama on killing off the only Riverside album I've ever been able to enjoy beginning to end so far
people on this board are actual music fans who developed taste in music and not casual listeners who are following current fashion trends and listening to only current commercial hits.

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #48: Those Aren't Even Real Words
« Reply #124 on: May 22, 2016, 09:58:12 AM »
#48: Exivious - Liminal



This is one of those albums where I have strange feelings towards it. On their own, each track is pretty good, and as well most every track has a unique sound with the same core sound. But as a whole, the album... well, I enjoy it a fair bit, but I never feel like I'm enjoying it as much as I should be. It's a very technically pleasing album that still has strong core songwriting, few of the songs outstay their welcome, and the album as a whole doesn't drag itself out pointlessly.

I think one major issue might be that they do have a tendency to drag out some bits too long, especially the cleaner atmospheric bits. Entrust has a section in the middle that could easily be cut 30 seconds, and same with Deeply Woven; both cool parts, but needlessly stretched out. The second half of Movement is the same, being just one long repetition of the same guitar pattern. There's some stretched out heavier bits, too; the last minute of One's Glow doesn't feel particularly necessary, and the last two minutes of Immanent start to drag after a while as well. I can kind of forgive this with how short the album is overall, but it makes it feel like they were stretching songs to make them meet some arbitrary runtime more than continuing playing because it felt right to do so.

It's also worth noting that pretty much every song has a similar structure to it. There will be one main theme, there's going to be a softer, atmospheric bit in middle somewhere (without fail, every track has one), a lot of the songs start with a quieter bit as well. And you can expect a tasteful solo or two in most every track. The album starts off pretty strongly and most of what loses me is the fact that after a certain point you've heard all their tricks and get a bit tired of them all.

And it's not that every song sounds exactly the same; aside from Open, I'd say every song has at least some identity of its own, but the same core sound runs through them all and is the most prominent element of most of the tracks here. Entrust feels the most jazzy of all the tracks, One's Glow has a ton of cool rhythmic work, Alphaform is noticeably more melodic than most of the tracks, Deeply Woven is especially intense and frantic, Triguna has a weird amount of dissonance to it, Movement is an inversion of the rest of the album's songs, being mostly quiet with a short heavier break in the middle, and Immanent has a darker tone to it than the rest of the album. These are all pieces of flavor and some of them stand out more than others, especially Entrust and Deeply Woven, which feel like they have the most personality out of all the tracks here.

Possibly the biggest problem, though, is the lack of emotional depth to this album. This is a pretty constant problem I find in instrumental prog, but there basically is none. There's stuff that sounds nice enough, pretty atmospheres and pleasant leads, but it's never a moving album in any way. That's fine for an album to be if it's pandering to the crowd who is only in it for the technicality of the playing, which this album does well; tasteful and rarely overindulgent, more focused on making interesting songs than showing off. But for me personally, I do like emotional depth in my music, it's really quite important.

I think it sounds like I'm being really down on this album because it's "just not my thing" but I don't mean to be unfair. There's still a lot here I like, I still do get a fair bit of enjoyment out of this album, but not as much as I could be getting. The elements are all there to make a great album - I particularly like the prominent basslines, the drumwork throughout is pretty cool, there's a lot of tasteful soloing, and the sax at the end of Deeply Woven is icing on the cake - but I don't think the execution is quite there yet. At the same time, I'm not sure it could be; most of the problems I have with this album are personal gripes more than the songwriting outright feeling wrong. If you're in to technical instrumental metal, this is probably some of the best out there. Far better than Animals as Leaders, for sure.

Favorite Tracks: Deeply Woven, Entrust
Least Favorite Tracks: Triguna, Alphaform

6.5/10

DTF Addendum: Instrumental prog is always one of the hardest things to keep interesting, but this is still a pretty alright album, in all honesty. Everything left is a good distance away from "bad" now, at the very least.

Offline Tomislav95

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #48: Those Aren't Even Real Words
« Reply #125 on: May 22, 2016, 10:38:24 AM »
Wow, I didn't know they released second album. I guess I'm 3 years late.
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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #48: Those Aren't Even Real Words
« Reply #126 on: May 22, 2016, 03:54:25 PM »
My attempt to guess your top 5:

1. East of the Wall - The Apologist
2. Thank you Scientist - Maps of Non-Existent Places (you got this last year, right?)
3. The Ocean - Pelagial
4. Ulver - Shadows of the Sun
5. Brand New - The Devil and God Are Raging Inside Me

But maybe Shiny Eyed Babies or EGO will make the top 5  :corn

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #48: Those Aren't Even Real Words
« Reply #127 on: May 22, 2016, 03:57:57 PM »
Ulver is a 2016 purchase  :lol

Offline Sacul

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #48: Those Aren't Even Real Words
« Reply #128 on: May 22, 2016, 04:00:00 PM »
Ok so... replace it with Shiny Eyed Babies then  :P

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #48: Those Aren't Even Real Words
« Reply #129 on: May 22, 2016, 04:01:54 PM »
will do, cap'n  :corn

Offline Sacul

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #48: Those Aren't Even Real Words
« Reply #130 on: May 22, 2016, 04:03:19 PM »
when will i know if i won or not

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #48: Those Aren't Even Real Words
« Reply #131 on: May 22, 2016, 04:37:07 PM »
when the top 5 is revealed. i'm not spoiling it in advance  :lol

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#47: Coheed and Cambria - The Color Before the Sun
#9 for 2015



Ergh. This is one of those cases that frustrates me, because this album is... "fine". Basically every track is "fine". None of them are bad, or even mediocre. This is actually the first time since... heck, In Keeping Secrets that I can say that about a Coheed album.

At the same time, the highs here just come nowhere close to any other of their albums, even Year of the Black Rainbow. The album is just operating on a steady 7/10 the whole way through. The songs here aren't as adventurous or ambitious as I've come to expect from Coheed, they're all very safe. Well-written, sure, but they're ultimately not groundbreaking.

The strength of pretty much every song on the album is its chorus. There are a lot of good, strong choruses on this album. Here to Mars has the best, easily, but Island, Colors, Atlas, and You Got Spirit, Kid all deserve mention too. Eraser probably has the weakest chorus of the album, all things considered, aside from The Audience which doesn't "really" have one. I can't complain about the hooks here though, they're generally pretty solid and earwormy.

Each song also tends to have one guitar line as its "main theme", but it varies between being overused and being used just enough. I think Island and Young Love especially rely too much on their guitar lines, while Ghost and You Got Spirit, Kid hit the right level of use, probably also because they have better guitar lines to begin with.

Really though, the strengths of this album are found mostly in the quieter tracks. Ghost, for one, is probably the best acoustic ballad Coheed has ever done. I don't think Claudio's ever sung so low before, and the minimal accompaniment works well to provide a nice backing without overshadowing his performance. Colors was probably the biggest grower on the album, one of the more emotive vocal perfomances, and the softer verses contrast well with the swell of the chorus. As well, the shift between 4/4 and 3/4 is really well-executed.

The biggest standout though definitely has to be Peace to the Mountain, starting off with some really gorgeous guitar lines and having a constant sense of progression and build, slowly but surely. The harmonized vocals singing the title again and again while layers of horns and strings come in and the song swells further and further... it's just beautiful stuff.

The other songs are mostly solid, but not as impressive all the way through; a lot of them feel stretched too thin for material. This is even true of Here to Mars, which I like a fair bit; it's got a great chorus and the rest is fine too but it feels like there's too little here to support a 4 minute song. This holds true for tracks like Eraser, Young Love, and You Got Spirit, Kid, and especially Atlas, all of which have too little meat on their bones for their runtime and rely too heavily on one or two elements. I do like Atlas' lyrics, probably my favorite on the album, but beyond them the song doesn't stand out compared to others on the album, or others in Coheed's library.

A few extra comments; there's this short 15-second bit at the end of Island that segues into Eraser and it's one of the coolest moments on the album. I'm not sure why they didn't develop that into a full song, that would've been a really cool song. And I think The Audience deserves special mention for how out-of-place it seems on this album, not necessarily in a bad way though. It's way heavier than the rest of the album, bordering on metal, and it doesn't really have a verse/chorus song structure like the rest of the album either. I do like the track for its uniqueness, if nothing else.

Honestly, overall I can't say I regret getting this album. It's different as far as Coheed albums go, being far more personal, and I'm glad for Claudio that he was able to get this out of his system and release a solid pop-rock album at the same time. On the other hand, even the songs I like don't match up to the greats of previous albums, and a lot of these tracks can get lost in the shuffle fairly easily. For how catchy and accessible the album is, it doesn't really stick with you that well, and it's far from an essential release.

Favorite Tracks: Peace to the Mountain, Colors, Ghost, Here to Mars
Least Favorite Tracks: Young Love, Eraser

6.5/10

Man, over half of the 2015 albums are already gone, huh. I was excited for a lot of 2015 albums and then a lot of them turned out very average, I guess  :P Anyways this album is fine and I ended up moving it up a few spots right before I locked the list in place because really the album is probably the most "solid" album on the list up to this point.
« Last Edit: May 30, 2016, 10:27:52 AM by Parama »

Offline Crow

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #46: Act Like You're Not Sleeping
« Reply #133 on: May 23, 2016, 01:14:27 AM »
#46: Karnivool - Sound Awake



I got this one long enough ago and haven't listened to it in a fairly long while and it makes it seem like something I've known for far longer than I actually have, which may speak to its staying power but may also speak to it just not being something that's ever really clicked for me. At a base level all the songs here are good, there's nothing I dislike, but not many of the songs stand out that much, either. And it's not like the songs blend together, either, they all do have a pretty distinct sound to them, even with a general core sound running through the album.

It's just... the perfect example of a "solid" album. Doesn't do anything wrong, is competent in its songwriting, knows what it wants to do and does it well. But at the same time it's not very ambitious, it's probably a bit too long, and at the end of the day there are only a few songs that stick with me. Set Fire to the Hive and Change are the clear standouts, with All I Know, Deadman, and Illumine being a little bit behind but still pretty good. The only track that feels wholly unnecessary is The Caudal Lure, which is still "fine" if not a bit flavorless. There. That's my entire opinion on this album.

Nah, that's a bit of a cop-out... like I said, most songs do have some defining features to make them stand out. Simple Boy and Goliath are particularly bass-driven and both have edges of intensity to them, pretty rockin' tracks. Simple Boy as well as the ending bit of Deadman have some xylophone bits to them which are pretty nice as well. New Day, All I Know, and Illumine are particularly straightforward songs that are pretty catchy, though the first might be a touch long. All I Know and Illumine have probably my favorite choruses on the album overall behind Set Fire to the Hive. Umbra has a pretty strong chorus too and a nice groove in the back half of the track. The Medicine Wears off is brief but has a nice soft to heavy arc through it.

The most interesting tracks to talk about are the especially compelling Set Fire to the Hive and the last two tracks. Set Fire to the Hive is more intense than the rest of the album and works so well for it. The frantic guitar and drums in the intro, the desperate sound of the vocals in the first verse, the "bumblebee" bridge with some fun rhythm play, the melodic prechorus and absolutely crushing chorus... pretty much all my favorite moments of the entire album are on this one track, it's a clear standout. It's pretty chaotic but juuust accessible enough.

Deadman is the first of the longer tracks and mostly relies on one guitar line, though there's still plenty here; a pretty nice groove, a strong chorus, and the bit at around the 7 minute mark is probably the most emotionally evocative moment of the entire album. It's pretty consistent with the rest of the album and does drag a bit in the middle but I still enjoy it. Change on the other hand is instantly different from the rest from the start, some tribal drumming contrasting with crushing guitar chords and bright guitar leads. There's a nice contrast between quiet, cleaner moments and heavier, more intense moments, and the hook of "halo hollow" or whatever is strangely catchy. The drum groove that closes out the track and album is pretty interesting too. It may also be a bit too long for its own good but it never really feels like it drags.

Beyond that though, there really isn't a lot to talk about here. If it were about 10 minutes shorter I'd probably rate this higher, but still not too high; it's at best a solid album that I can certainly appreciate but one that doesn't stand out too much from the crowd and doesn't have much unique to offer, but all the right pieces are in all the right places to make a competent prog rock/metal album. This'll probably do more for others than it does for me, too, I guess I'm just tired of this schtick by now.

Also yes they sound a fair bit like Tool but there's enough to keep them distinct in my mind. Lateralus is much more interesting than this album, for one. There, I said the thing.

Favorite Tracks: Set Fire to the Hive, Change, All I Know
Least Favorite Track: The Caudal Lure

6.75/10

DTF Addendum: I dunno what it is about this album, but I never really find it more than "fine". Can't really say there's any bad songs. Can't say I remember a lot of the songs either. I have no clue what The Caudal Lure sounds like honestly but I guess I liked it the least when I did this review, for one reason or another.

Offline Train of Naught

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #46: Act Like You're Not Sleeping
« Reply #134 on: May 23, 2016, 01:45:08 AM »
I know it's not on the actual album, but along with the Set Fire to the Hive single they released a version of Roquefort with additional horns done by The Cat Empire, one they originally intended to do on the first album, and it's bloody awesome.

What's up with Deadman not being on the favorites list?
people on this board are actual music fans who developed taste in music and not casual listeners who are following current fashion trends and listening to only current commercial hits.

Offline Zantera

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #46: Act Like You're Not Sleeping
« Reply #135 on: May 23, 2016, 02:19:10 AM »
I like Karnivool quite casually (even though they are quite the Tool clone) but could never get into Coheed and Cambria. Do not get the love for them at all, and their most recent album was a disappointment even among their fans it seems.

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #46: Act Like You're Not Sleeping
« Reply #136 on: May 23, 2016, 04:13:07 AM »
I think you are pretty spot on with your review of The Color Before the Sun. It is solid but I was hoping for so much more. I absolutely love Coheed and Cambria, they are in my top 3 bands of all time, but they are probably the only band in my top 5 that i still listen to regularly. Their back catalogue is just awe inspiring, they haven't released a bad album in my opinion. I just don't get bored of their music.

That being said this album was the quickest of theirs to grow on me, which of course led to me start to lose interest in it quicker. Which is a shame. I agree about the choruses being the high points in most of the songs. I do like all of the songs on the album, there aren't any I skip, but I don't love The Audience or Peace to the Mountain quite as much as you. Not sure if you heard the bonus demos disk but the two extra tracks on there (Fangs of the Fox and Bridge and Tunnel) but they are also worth a listen.

This album was kind of what everyone expected, a solid non-concept album with a more pop rock approach, that didn't have the depth and complexities of their other albums. I know Claudio needed to get an album like this out but I hope he goes back to writing like he used to and that is the natural progression of what he wants to do. I mean that I want him to do what comes naturally and not force anything!!

I know they can come back stronger with their next release and don't doubt it for a second.

Offline jakepriest

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #46: Act Like You're Not Sleeping
« Reply #137 on: May 23, 2016, 07:22:37 AM »
I don't find The Color Before The Sun fine at all. In fact, the only positive thing I have to say about it is that the cover is pretty damn nice.  :lol I've listened to the full album once and I don't plan on returning to it anytime soon unfortunately.

I totally respect Coheed for putting this out after all the more progressive albums they've put out, but it's exactly the kind of pop-rock that's not for me. There were signs of this kind of writing in the latter half of the Descension album too.

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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #46: Act Like You're Not Sleeping
« Reply #138 on: May 23, 2016, 07:28:57 AM »
I like The Color Before the Sun a fair bit, probably more than you do, Parama. No, it's not among their best albums, and it's disappointing if you're looking for prog, but I think it's a perfectly enjoyable rock album. Like a nice 7.5/10. I also like it better than Year of the Black Rainbow, though I have not listened to that one nearly as much as Color Before the Sun.

I do agree with your choice of favorites, except maybe for Ghost. But Peace to the Mountain, Colors and Here to Mars are all real standouts.
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Re: Parama's 2015 Retrospective List: #45: Welcome to Sky Valley in Sin
« Reply #139 on: May 23, 2016, 09:15:14 AM »
#45: Intronaut - Valley of Smoke



Intronaut is a band who in theory I absolutely love, but in practice I seem to find most of their albums have about half interesting tracks and half solid but forgettable tracks, and that feeling is stronger here than it is on any of the other albums I got from them in the past year. That's not to say this is a bad album, far from it really, but the songwriting here seems... hmm, I don't exactly know how to put it other than "off".

I think the main thing is that, while this album does have its own distinctive sound in the Intronaut category, it's in part due to the fact that a loooot of the tracks sound pretty similar. A lot of similar jagged riffs, a lot of high-energy frantic drumming, and especially a lot of delay-soaked atmosphere. And it's not like any of these elements are bad, just that the result is that any moment that doesn't fit into one of these categories tends to stand out more than the rest of the album.

Elegy has a really proggy riff that gradually spaces out the further the song goes on, starting pretty frantic, then gaining a half-time feel, and devolving further from there. It creates a nice sludgy effect without actually dropping the song's tempo. The thumping bassline in the quieter moments of the song is also pretty noticeable too. Core Relations starts out with a gentle palm-muted guitar line that provides some unique texture, and the weird slide guitar bits with an out-of-place empty atmosphere behind them stick out in a good way as well. And Valley of Smoke is a pretty consistently unique track, mostly for its dual-bass interplay throughout; the inclusion of Justin Chancellor from Tool creates a really interesting instrumental because of the two players' interplay.

Beyond that, a lot of the album sounds the same, though I'd be hard-pressed to say any of the tracks are particularly weak. It's more that they're just cut from the same cloth, and it's a pretty high-quality cloth, but not a cloth you'd want to use for 75% of your quilt. I really can't point to any other atmospheric moments that are particularly notable, but they're all pleasant and kind of dreamy. The often jagged riffs on the album tend to be pretty cool, as are the slower, sludgier ones, but there's not a lot that stand out from the others in either a good or bad way. Same goes for the basslines, which are consistently quite good, as is the drumming, always fitting the mood, whether that be frantic or more laid-back. I'd really say that the core of Intronaut is the bass and drums, which pretty consistently steal the show on every one of their albums.

I'd say the weak link here is the vocals, which is also pretty consistent with other Intronaut work; they're passable and fit with the music, but the harshes are a bit dry and the cleans aren't that soulful. Intronaut in general isn't a band I find to be that emotionally powerful, that may be the biggest problem I have with them, but they're good when it comes to building a nice atmosphere as well as building really technically engaging music; lots of polyrhythms driving the more progressive elements of the tracks.

If I could point to one singular weak moment of the track, I'd say it would be the very end of the last track, Past Tense, a solid bass groove which, while fine on its own, just doesn't provide for a very satisfying finale. And yeah, it's not that it's even "bad", just unsatisfying.

It's honestly impossible for me to say there's any bad or unpleasant music on this disc. At the same time, it all kind of blends together, and I enjoy the album while it's on but never have a strong drive to return to it like I have with other Intronaut albums. I've listened to it just as much as the others that I have, and it's always stood out as the weakest to me, but still far from weak. I guess that more than anything it's just not particularly adventurous. Still, if you like their other albums there's no harm in checking out this one as well since you'll still likely enjoy it.

Favorite Tracks: Core Relations, Valley of Smoke, Elegy
Least Favorite Track: Past Tense... I guess.

6.75/10

DTF Addendum: Behind David Maxim Micic, Intronaut is the band with the second-most albums on this list (4) but this is pretty easily their weakest to me. Three cool tracks and the rest being solid but kind of indistinguishable.