Author Topic: Haken thread v. "Evening With" tour (some set spoilers)  (Read 61953 times)

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Online ariich

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #665 on: March 10, 2023, 09:34:47 AM »
3rd spin today and it’s really starting to sink in.

Man, this album is REALLY good. Not hearing the “weak front half” thing that people have hinted at. This is just a straight top to bottom banger.
Yesssssssssssss! I thought you'd dig it.

And yeah I don't find the first half weak at all but I can see how some people who either found the singles less interesting or played them to death already might feel that way.

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Offline TM172003

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #666 on: March 10, 2023, 10:34:02 AM »
There’s just a couple of things I would’ve changed, those being the weird Mickey Mouse vocals in Beneath the White Rainbow, the solos in Island in the Clouds and Sempiternal Beings (which feel really out of place to me) and the heavier sections in Eyes of Ebony. The softer parts of that track are so good, especially when you know the context of the lyrics, and the heavier parts seem a bit out of place in that track.

Just a quick note that I’ve changed my mind about every one of these complaints. ;D

Even the Mickey Mouse vocals don’t annoy me that much anymore. It’s a really great album.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #667 on: March 10, 2023, 11:49:07 AM »
Tempted to pick up the last copy CDJapan has for that bonus track but I calculated the shipping prices and that's a no from me.  :lol
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #668 on: March 10, 2023, 11:58:15 AM »
Tempted to pick up the last copy CDJapan has for that bonus track but I calculated the shipping prices and that's a no from me.  :lol

I spent roughly $36 on it, and it arrived in less than 36 hours from leaving Japan. The bonus track, "The Last Lullaby", is a beautiful coda that plays off themes and melodies from "Eyes Of Ebony". It sounds like watching the credits of a film, or if the band closes a set with "Eyes Of Ebony", then this track would be their post-concert music to play over the house speakers as the band walks off stage.

Definitely not a necessary track but just a bit of sweet icing on an already delicious Haken Cake(n).

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #669 on: March 10, 2023, 12:07:47 PM »
If you like The Last Lullaby and haven't already then you should check out Pete's Nested Shapes stuff.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #670 on: March 10, 2023, 12:10:07 PM »
Tempted to pick up the last copy CDJapan has for that bonus track but I calculated the shipping prices and that's a no from me.  :lol

Can anyone who has heard the bonus track let us know how it is?

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #671 on: March 10, 2023, 12:14:03 PM »
Just listening for the first time now and I noticed in the booklet that it says "lyrics written by Haken." Does the band typically not say which band member wrote the lyrics? I'm don't recall what it says in past booklets. Just curious.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #672 on: March 10, 2023, 12:15:26 PM »
I don't have a feeling that the front half is weak, especially because Taurus, Alphabet and Sempiternal beings are five out of five songs in my book. The album is kind of average in the middle, though, it only picks up with Elephants. But even the three songs that I find so-and-so aren't necessarily bad.
« Last Edit: March 10, 2023, 12:39:24 PM by Mladen »

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #673 on: March 10, 2023, 12:17:07 PM »
Just listening for the first time now and I noticed in the booklet that it says "lyrics written by Haken." Does the band typically not say which band member wrote the lyrics? I'm don't recall what it says in past booklets. Just curious.
They do that for both the music and the lyrics, because it's a collaborative effort. For each song, one or more people will compose the initial music but then they all work on the ideas and arrangements together. Same then goes for the lyrics, one or more of them will initially pen some lyrics but the others will then contribute and critique.

So in terms of knowing who wrote what, it basically comes down to what they've said in interviews or online and that knowledge being passed down. :lol

EDIT: Incidentally I have a pretty clear idea from Pete of who the main musical contributors were to each song, and I think I know who did most of the lyrics too.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #674 on: March 10, 2023, 12:18:59 PM »
3rd spin today and it’s really starting to sink in.

Man, this album is REALLY good. Not hearing the “weak front half” thing that people have hinted at. This is just a straight top to bottom banger.
Yesssssssssssss! I thought you'd dig it.

And yeah I don't find the first half weak at all but I can see how some people who either found the singles less interesting or played them to death already might feel that way.
The first half is definitely not weak.  It's just that the second half is stronger!

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #675 on: March 10, 2023, 12:25:12 PM »
I don't have a feeling that the front half is week, especially because Taurus, Alphabet and Sempiternal beings are five out of five songs in my book. The album is kind of average in the middle, though, it only picks up with Elephants. But even the three songs that I find so-and-so aren't necessarily bad.

I feel the same way. As a whole, it's a great album, but I'm still trying to latch onto "Beneath The White Rainbow" and "Island In The Clouds". They're good but they just haven't filly clicked with me yet. Everything before and after those songs I really gel with and grove to, top-tier Haken for rhe most part.

Tempted to pick up the last copy CDJapan has for that bonus track but I calculated the shipping prices and that's a no from me.  :lol

Can anyone who has heard the bonus track let us know how it is?

Tempted to pick up the last copy CDJapan has for that bonus track but I calculated the shipping prices and that's a no from me.  :lol

I spent roughly $36 on it, and it arrived in less than 36 hours from leaving Japan. The bonus track, "The Last Lullaby", is a beautiful coda that plays off themes and melodies from "Eyes Of Ebony". It sounds like watching the credits of a film, or if the band closes a set with "Eyes Of Ebony", then this track would be their post-concert music to play over the house speakers as the band walks off stage.

Definitely not a necessary track but just a bit of sweet icing on an already delicious Haken Cake(n).

-Marc.

It's also 3:14 long, and is instrumental. It's mostly piano and keyboard with some programmed drums and percussion to start, but then it sounds like real drums near the end, along with some distant vocals from the end of "Eyes Of Ebony".

-Marc.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #676 on: March 10, 2023, 12:54:10 PM »
Island in the Clouds took awhile to appreciate, clicked for me when I just focused on the overall soundscape, lots of little flourishes mixed in. Song sounds the most similar to Virus I think, esp. The Strain and Canary Yellow.

Beneath the White Rainbow I was hooked on first listen.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #677 on: March 10, 2023, 12:56:07 PM »
Island in the Clouds sounds mostly like a mix of Porcupine Tree and Host.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #678 on: March 10, 2023, 01:09:12 PM »
I don’t really know what Porcupine Tree sounds like, never could get into… I think Canary Yellow is similar to Host so definitely see that comparison.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #679 on: March 10, 2023, 01:16:00 PM »
Just watched "Love, thy name be Sorrow" today, will start a second attempt tomorrow to make sense of the lyrics of "Beneath the white Rainbow"  :D

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #680 on: March 10, 2023, 01:20:10 PM »
Not even through my 1st spin yet.  I'm thinking this will take me a while.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #681 on: March 10, 2023, 02:22:33 PM »
Not even through my 1st spin yet.  I'm thinking this will take me a while.
It's dense and there's a lot going on so takes awhile to absorb. But once it clicks, it clicks! Excellent album!!

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #682 on: March 10, 2023, 02:36:39 PM »
There is a lot to digest with this one.  Last three tracks are pretty damn good though.  Overall, it feels like glitch-prog.  There's so much syncopation and metric modulation going on that it's a relief when they drop into any actual grooves.  Can't imagine what their click tracks are like to get those precise hits on a lot of these songs! Like, we get it, you guys are more complex than DT!  ;). Honestly though, I'm digging it more with each listen.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #683 on: March 10, 2023, 03:33:34 PM »
I am really loving the "Dogs of war..." Section in Island In The Clouds. And also the chorus of Eyes of Ebony.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #684 on: March 10, 2023, 04:04:38 PM »
Count as one of the fans who lost interest with Vector (although they brought it back a bit with Virus). I prefer they're more melodic stuff, and less of the heavier technical side.

I listened to all the singles multiple times on the run up to release and none of them particularly grabbed me. However, after spinning the album 4 times in the last week, I will say that Lovebite has become my favourite song. On the whole I quite like the album and feel it's on the cusp of starting to 'click'. I'm not sure it'll top anything that came out before Vector/Virus, but I really love their earlier stuff.

Quick ranking...

1. The Mountain
2. Affinity
3. Visions
4. Aquarius
5. Fauna
6. Virus
7. Vector

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #685 on: March 10, 2023, 05:12:51 PM »
Are it’s not exactly the same, but that sort of “bendy” string riff at the beginning of BTWR reminds me a little bit of the main riff of Flame to the Moth by POS.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #686 on: March 10, 2023, 06:25:46 PM »
Another comparison observation. And for the record, I don’t mean anything disparaging about any of these remarks. To me, it’s like swirling wine in the glass and then giving thoughts about the bouquet. “I’m picking up hints of cigar box“

But the bridge of Nightingale reminds me of the ending of The Watchmaker by Steven Wilson
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #687 on: March 11, 2023, 05:48:40 AM »
Initially I did not like the album that much, but after several more spins, really liking the album. I did figure out my music sounds so much better on my phone versus my rather old ipod. Hoping they play Sempiternal Beings on the North American tour.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #688 on: March 11, 2023, 09:23:44 AM »
The bridge in Lovebite reminds me of Ross’s solo album. Not a complaint, I loved that album.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #689 on: March 12, 2023, 05:52:35 AM »
The bridge in Lovebite reminds me of Ross’s solo album. Not a complaint, I loved that album.

For me, that album was better than anything Haken have done.

Perhaps until this album. I have to say, Fauna is magnificent.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #690 on: March 12, 2023, 02:31:30 PM »
The final chorus of Eyes of Ebony reminds me a lot of the finale to Carousel, both among my favourite sections on their respective albums.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #691 on: March 12, 2023, 02:55:07 PM »
Speaking of which, have they ever played Streams live? Maybe in the very early days perhaps.

I’ve seen it at least twice!
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #692 on: March 13, 2023, 12:36:47 AM »
After lots of listens I think this is a plus-plus album, their first truly eclectic set of songs ever really. Personal favorite is Beneath the White Rainbow but best/most distinct from their other works is definitely Eyes of Ebony. Only drawback is the mix on a few tracks drowns the singer out. Lovebite and Elephants Never Forget feature Ross prominently and I wish the rest of album did too.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #693 on: March 13, 2023, 01:04:35 AM »
After a lot more spins I think the album is finally growing on me. I must say The Alphabet of Me is the clear favorite for me and wish the other songs follow it more in style and composition. There's a bit of Leprous in there and quite dynamic sound overall. Maybe less shugga shugga and more modern in a way. Impressive single tbh.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #694 on: March 13, 2023, 10:35:38 AM »
6. Aquarious — Love the epic, but boy am I happy they decided to drop the death growls after this record.

This, my god, this. I don’t mind death growls, but Ross’s attempts at them were just laughable and totally out of place.

This baffles me. Because I never even viewed them as “death growls”. It’s a concept album and I always thought that it was the mermaids father speaking and that he was supposed to sound that way because he was like a “merman beast” like thing.  So it’s like I’m watching a Disney movie and this repulsive swamp creature crawls into the scene with seaweed dripping off his body, and when he goes to speak his dialogue, that’s just what he sounds like.

Which in turn, makes it sound totally IN place.

In the album’s defense, the quote attributed to me was from my initial post (where I also ranked the album dead last in their catalog). I’ve since come to love and appreciate the album, even the 15 or so seconds of growling.

I was listening to Affinity the other day and forgot about the vocals at 10:46 of "The Architect" and wondered if there's been one short portion on each album where the band tries some unique vocals? Obviously on Fauna there's the "screaming Mickey through a megaphone" vocals of "Beneath The White Rainbow", and the death growls on Aquarius. I need to go back and listen to their other albums and see if there are others that I'm just not remembering at the moment.

Do these vocal "experiments" bother many folks, even if they're very short and only appear briefly on their respective albums? At this point in my relationship with Fauna, I've come to tolerate BTWR's high-screaming vocal verses, and that part in the middle of "The Architect" never really bothered me, same with the growls on Aquarius.


EDIT - Also, unrelated to the topic of varying vocals, I made this collage of all the artwork used for Haken's albums and singles, and Roine Stolt (Pale Rider on Facebook) commented saying "Aquarium still their best ...." I mean, it's good, and I could see why The Flower King would like it most, but I still feel like Haken have improved bit by bit with each record, and I like that they aren't repeating themselves (too much). I also love how their artwork has evolved and changed over time. I do miss the logo they used between Affinity-Vector-Virus though. Hopefully the new font for their logo sticks around for a couple more albums, it looks pretty good IMO.



-Marc.
« Last Edit: March 13, 2023, 10:53:43 AM by The Letter M »
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #695 on: March 13, 2023, 11:02:31 AM »
Count as one of the fans who lost interest with Vector (although they brought it back a bit with Virus). I prefer they're more melodic stuff, and less of the heavier technical side.

I listened to all the singles multiple times on the run up to release and none of them particularly grabbed me. However, after spinning the album 4 times in the last week, I will say that Lovebite has become my favourite song. On the whole I quite like the album and feel it's on the cusp of starting to 'click'. I'm not sure it'll top anything that came out before Vector/Virus, but I really love their earlier stuff.

Quick ranking...

1. The Mountain
2. Affinity
3. Visions
4. Aquarius
5. Fauna
6. Virus
7. Vector

This would probably be close to my ranking in no particular order album-wise, but 1st four releases vs the last three.  It just seems to me that they've gone in a different direction following Affinity with a few similarities mixed in.  These last three releases really aren't grabbing me as much and I'm finding it difficult to put in the effort.  Especially since I haven't been listening to much of anything lately.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #696 on: March 13, 2023, 11:31:41 AM »
I think Roine might enjoy Elephants Never Forget

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #697 on: March 13, 2023, 11:37:57 AM »
I think Roine might enjoy Elephants Never Forget

That song is definitely the most Aquarius-like the band has sounded since their debut.

-Marc.
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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #698 on: March 13, 2023, 12:37:32 PM »
On the topic of artwork, my favorite is probably Restoration. That is a lovely cover.

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Re: Haken thread v. Fauna, 3rd March 2023
« Reply #699 on: March 13, 2023, 03:10:12 PM »
Finally got around to making a setlist....I chose 2 hrs.

Nightingale
The Alphabet of Me
Taurus
Invasion
Lovebite
The Endless Knot
Sempiternal Beings
Because It's There
Earthrise
Island In The Clouds
A Cell Divides
Elephants Never Forget
Messiah Complex (only because they haven't really gotten to tour for Virus)
Eyes of Ebony
Atlas Stone
Bound By Gravity

I just couldn't leave out these Fauna songs, although I did omit Beneath The White Rainbow, even though I didn't really want to. But with Messiah Complex being a likely candidate for this upcoming headlining tour, I just had to add it. Without Messiah Complex, I would've added BTWR, and also Deathless.

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