Smacks
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Post by Smacks on Aug 28, 2017 14:17:15 GMT -5
Re: Gojira I got bored and quit listening halfway through. Too many pinch harmonics, terrible metalcore vocals, too much chugga chugga. Drummer's pretty good though. It happens to me too. I really do like Gojira but I absolutely have to be in the mood. When I'm not it just passes through my ears and I'm zoned out. But when I am in the mood I really enjoy what they do. I think they're unique and definitely deserve a spot on this list. My favorite album is still L'enfant Sauvage but there's some great stuff on this album - Heaviest Matter..., From Mars/To Sirius, Flying Whales. They're fucking great live and are STILL my favorite light show ever.
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fab
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Post by fab on Aug 30, 2017 13:08:15 GMT -5
Gojira - From Mars To Sirius
opening track strikes me as a good candidate for my gripes about the album as a whole: it just feels a bit empty? the main riff of the opener is a prime candidate for Mr. Tom Bak's critique re: unnecessary or excessive pinch harmonics -- and that one in particular just sounds weak as hell. drumming picks things up later, but then it slides back into a... too relaxed groove? amusingly, the main riff kinda opens up a bit right near the end with some harmonic squelching going on. felt kinda boring up until then, far as I'm concerned.
some the blastbeat stuff is fun but not especially memorable. on the whole, it's not consistently grabbing me. every now and then, there's a riff or musical phrase that I dig, but it's few and far between, followed by another shift into more blase fare that seems to be par for the course.
I can't say I listen to stuff all that regularly that I'd qualify as significantly heavier, but whenever I start really digging a blastbeat, it just makes me want to go listen to Napalm Death or Nile or something. and I'm only passingly familiar with bands like that.
skimming around online, it seems they put on a really fun live show, which is always nice to hear. these tunes seem to really fit that kind of vibe. I'd probably appreciate them a lot more after seeing them live, which is the same impression I get of say... Muse. buddy loves them, but their stuff doesn't really do much for me. still, anyone that puts on a good live performance deserves acknowledgement and respect for bringing the goods.
I liked the instrumental track Unicorn, but that's more of an interlude in duration than anything else. if anything, my relative boredom with their musical ideas on this album seems to indicate to me that their later stuff may be a heck of a lot more interesting to me. none of this is bad, it's just boring to me. that may actually be worse than sticking with an overtly slavish tribute or the watered down, radio friendly pop of that Evanescence album.
don't get me wrong... I don't really care for that Evanescence album much at all. I think it's a perfectly acceptable, better than the average modern rock / pop chart album, and it's more confusing that it's on this list than anything else. (I'm certainly not about to check out the Rolling Stone site for the rationale behind that one. obvious clickbait is obvious.) I can say that the melodies have enough prominence in the mix of that Evanescence album to get stuck in my head. it's generally more hooky in that regard, whereas a lot of this just kinda bleeds together.
Flying Whales is maybe the only track that had enough melodic space to breathe in a similar fashion. each phrase was distinct and groovy in its own right. I suppose that's more of a "progressive" inspired tune than the rest. the opening riff from World to Come -- simple arpeggiation with some harmonization -- more of that! almost more frustrating that there are interesting ideas here on occasion, but the overall execution just doesn't do much for me. case in point: you can listen to a lot of these tracks, skip 30 seconds ahead when there are vocals in the mix, be listening to the exact same riff and structure, and there hasn't necessarily been any variation therein during that 30 second chunk. (okay, I'm being a bit facetious here... but not really.) I sure as hell can't sing and play at the same time, let alone do either with a reasonable level of competency, so maybe I shouldn't talk shit, but meh?
From Mars / To Sirius fit together pretty well. the metal growl vocals always kinda make me chuckle when they're audible in the mix and not just some kind of blunt force instrument in the background. I prefer my head being bludgeoned in by vicious double kicks, tom fills, heavy riffage, dank grooves, and growly vocals, in more or less that order of precedence.
this is okay, but assuming that their later stuff shows more... growth? melodic risk? relative diversity? I would rather that album be included instead, unless this has some kind of contextual importance I'm unaware of (which would have to be the argument for the Evanescence album, I imagine.) I've been mildly curious about the band for awhile, but never checked them out. I'm open to recommendations and will likely check out some of their later stuff.
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fab
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Post by fab on Aug 30, 2017 13:51:02 GMT -5
related: I can't remember why I started listening to this album by Emperor - Anthems to the Welkin at Dusk but holy goddamn. I'd heard of all these iconic bands ages ago, just never got around to listening to them for various reasons. this is almost the very definition of stuff I never sought out or bothered listening to due to being more than a bit leery of the divide between art and artist, even if I vaguely recall reading the Wikipedia pages a long time ago out of curiousity when poking around adjacent topics re: metal and the scene. I believe this is the group where a few of the members were involved in the early Swedish black metal scene, burning churches, killed a gay man for having the temerity to hit on one of them, that sort of awfulness. Oh, and one of the members in either this band or another closely related one is a "blood and soil" nationalist, which... you can see where this is going, right? fuck. it's a fantastic album and I'll be kinda retroactively annoyed if it's not included in this list somewhere, given that I'm only just now circling back to these touchstones of certain subgenres like 25+ years later. I'll leave it at that for now.
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Smacks
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Post by Smacks on Aug 30, 2017 14:19:58 GMT -5
Gojira - From Mars To Siriusthis is okay, but assuming that their later stuff shows more... growth? melodic risk? relative diversity? I would rather that album be included instead, unless this has some kind of contextual importance I'm unaware of (which would have to be the argument for the Evanescence album, I imagine.) I've been mildly curious about the band for awhile, but never checked them out. I'm open to recommendations and will likely check out some of their later stuff. My gateway to really liking this band was L'Enfant Sauvage. Try "The Gift of Guilt" or my favorite track "Liquid Fire". They're a little hookier and more memorable than any of the songs on 'Mars' in my opinion. If you're more a fan of the cleaner vocals, you'll like the newest record, Magma.
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fab
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Post by fab on Aug 30, 2017 14:24:50 GMT -5
My gateway to really liking this band was L'Enfant Sauvage. Try "The Gift of Guilt" or my favorite track "Liquid Fire". They're a little hookier and more memorable than any of the songs on 'Mars' in my opinion. If you're more a fan of the cleaner vocals, you'll like the newest record, Magma. sounds good! I have a strong preference for melodic vocals in most instances, but that's because the standard metal grunt / growl is usually kinda samey (even if I have no idea how they pull it off without ruining their vocal chords). right now I'm listening to Immortal - At the Heart of Winter since I guess this left me craving something with more of a thrashy style punch and riffier. the vocals are kinda hilarious in their almost frog-like growl, but it fits and sits nicely in the middle of the mix. the tunes are awesome, so I'm just gonna let that groove burn itself into my head. thanks for the recommendation!
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Post by Il sole sotto la terra on Aug 30, 2017 15:03:38 GMT -5
craving something with more of a thrashy style punch and riffier. Three words: PANZER. DIVISION. MARDUK.
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fab
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Post by fab on Aug 30, 2017 15:49:24 GMT -5
Three words: PANZER. DIVISION. MARDUK.okay, this is pretty good.
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Post by repulsionist on Aug 31, 2017 4:30:14 GMT -5
I dig Aura Noir for that thrashing black urge.
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Post by monodrone on Aug 31, 2017 6:10:02 GMT -5
What is "too much pinches"? I don't understand. Every note could be pinches and I'd still argue that they could fit a few more in if they put their minds to it.
I can see why the chugga-chugga and samey vocals might be a problem though, even if it's not something that bothers me.
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Post by Il sole sotto la terra on Aug 31, 2017 7:50:44 GMT -5
What is "too much pinches"? I don't understand. Every note could be pinches and I'd still argue that they could fit a few more in if they put their minds to it. I'm convinced bands use them just so they can say they're influenced by Gorguts.
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Post by monodrone on Aug 31, 2017 11:19:40 GMT -5
96. Kvelertak - Meir[cover art would go here but it's got boobs on it and I don't want to fall foul of proboards' itchy trigger finger which is a shame because it's a John Baizley from Baroness special. Love that guy and his art and his music.] Who the heck are these chumps?What if black metal but Thin Lizzy/Status Quo? The Norwegian 6-piece burst onto the scene with their self titled debut album in 2010 which was followed by Meir (literally translates into English as 'More' which is promising) a couple of years later. I was sold on them I happened across them playing the second stage at the 2011 edition of Download Festival in the middle of the afternoon. The singer wears an owl on his head: The songs, are they good?Apenbaring - heck of a way to start an album. It's not particularly original to have a lone guitar riff slowly build with the addition of rhythm guitar parts but it's effective. Excellent YYYYAAAAAAAAARRRRRRR when the song kicks in for real then it just kind of stops as if it's going to be a smooth transition into Spring Fra Livet - but it isn't. Eh, never mind. This is quintessential Kvelertak, with a chunky riff making way for some sweet, sweet tremelo picking. Really like the octave switching on the bass in that part too. Everything's sounds triumphant, even the Big Rock Outro. Trepan - Fast out of the blocks this time. YES. Great use of the 3-guitar set up just before the quiet section, gotta get those harmonies in. There haven't been enough blazing solos in the first 4 albums, time to make up for that. Bruane Brenn - This is the single. You don't even have to know that in advance to know that it must have been. Lovely snare roll on the intro before YYYAAAAAARRRRRRR #2 for the album. This one's more on the 'n' roll side of things but the thing that sets Kvelertak apart from their contempories on that front is the way they manage to keep the pace up. Evig Vandrar - YYYAAAAAARRRRRRR #3. At about a minute in it gets uncomfortably close to some sort of 80s hair metal that, as you'll see in time, I do not care for before normal service is resumed. Snilepisk - YYYAAAAAARRRRRRR #4. I can see an argument for the overuse of these shouts at the start of songs but I love them and they give me a sense of pure joy every time I hear them so I won't say a word against them. YYYAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR. The tempo shifts are smooth as heck here too, I'm especially keen on the pause/ding/pause/blast/roll/verse move near the end. BOOM. Manelyst - YYYAAAAAARRRRRRR #5. Still smiling. I'm sure someone more well versed in black metal will be able to tell me why this is actually bad but this band really opened up the door into that world for me. I might have got there eventually anyway but Kvelertak were an inspiration to go further into the extreme than I'd been before. Hell of a guitar solo here. Nekrokosmos - There's another YYYAAAAAARRRRRRR buried in Nekrokosmos but it's not the highlight of the song. That lies further towards the end where yr man on drums gets to do some not particularly complex but really fun fills. I like this drummer, he's clearly capable of doing more silly stuff but keeps a lid on it for the purposes of making a good song without ever being boring. Drums are the best, you guys. For some reason there's half a minute of nothing much tacked on which, again, seems like it'll lead smoothly into Undertro - and it kind of does but it doesn't really work for me. This song is a weak link for me. Too slow and stodgy. The descending riff about a minute in always makes me think of Origin of Symmetry era Muse (I like that era!) but I can't pinpoint a song, a weird little thing to get hung up on. The last 3 minutes are interminable. You're out of ideas, lads. End the fucking song. Tordenbrak - Not a whole lot better. Still sluggish in the early running. I guess you could call it a stomp if you were being generous. I appreciate the intro lead guitar part more when it comes back in part way through the song. Catchy but not enough to keep my interest in the song. Skippable. Kvelertak - Hey, that's the name of the band!! It's fun to shout the name of the band, I guess. It's more of the stodge rock but at least they decided to keep the run time under four minutes What d'ya make of it then?I went hard on this album when it came out and almost burned myself out on it but in the last year or so I've found myself coming back to it more and more. It's pretty good. I much prefer the shorter, pacier songs to the last few tracks which were a huge let down and, sadly, a sign of where they were going as their last album, Nattesferd, proved. Those just weren't present in that first album so if you liked the first 8 tracks you should give that a go. Kvelertak (the album) has some of my favourite moments in music on it so it was always going to be tough for them to top it, in my opinion, so there's no shame in Meir taking second place. One of my favourite guitar solos: How to close an album: Reposted Fan Comment on This Album:David Bloom 2 months ago Are the birds pooping? Does it belong on the dang list? Should it be this high?I wouldn't have Meir in there but the self-titled belongs a few notches higher than 96. Next up, at 95, Dream Theatre - Images and Words
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Post by Il sole sotto la terra on Aug 31, 2017 14:38:52 GMT -5
Welp, I made it all the way through Meir, and yep, that sure was an album that had music on it. Some Zep, some spaghetti western, some black metal, some southern rock, lots of annoying generic screamy vocals, that sort of thing. Not sure what it's doing on a list of 100 best anythings, except maybe album covers, but there it is anyway.
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Smacks
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Post by Smacks on Aug 31, 2017 14:42:45 GMT -5
Oh well now here we fucking GO, monodrone To start may I just say.....YYYAAAAAAARRRRRRRRR! So I've seen Kvelertak live twice. The first time was purely on recommendations from people with similar music tastes. I had some cash to burn and wanted to see a band so I went to the show. They are great fun live, and the second time he did have the owl on, but as an aside I must mention that Cancer Bats wiped the floor with these guys. But anyway, on to Meir! The first couple songs are great, but I remember Bruane Brenn being the song that stood out as really defining their sound as a band, to me. By the way, you must check out the live version on the split EP they did with Gojira. He manages to introduce Bruane Brenn as if it has 14 syllables "BWUUUAANNNEEE BUUWHEEEHHHNN" (whilst sounding like Capt. Caveman) and I don't know, maybe it does. I admit I like Kvelertak best when they're doing their sleazy rock riffs, so I actually like Evig Vandrar and it's 'Bullet Boys' vibe (hee hee). I dig that track and it's raunchy sleaze. I'm digging that style of music being barked over by a Norwegian metal singer and not some guy with eyeliner and a feather boa. Track 6 Snilepisk which seems really fun to say, is where this album really gets going for me. I second the "drums are the best, you guys" claim. We're carried nicely into track 7 and this solo is on fire, so yes this rocks. So, you guys, Nekrokosmos is by far my favorite track on this album. I'm starting to remember how much I like this band. Instead of starting off with a YYYAARRRR we get an OOOUUH! Love it. I love the slow down to that nice groove halfway through and the outro is EPIC, other than that unnecessary last 20 seconds. This song has the raunchy riffs, the black metal stylings, a solid groove, this is everything I want from these guys. 9 & 10 are boring comparatively to the rest of the album, this is true. But Kvelertak is fun and I think they were smart to end this album on an easy, memorable riff. I look at them as a rock-n-roll band with a touch of black metal, not the other way around, so they seem to know where their wheelhouse is here, as well as what their fans want? Hell, I don't know. I enjoy this band and should put them in the rotation more often. They absolutely earn Spot #96 in my book. Bonus points for the John Baizley art and owls on heads.
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Post by Some Kind of Munster on Aug 31, 2017 15:24:07 GMT -5
I never really want to listen to a Kvelertak album because they tend to get pretty same-y after a song or two, but man, whenever a song pops up on shuffle I enjoy the hell out of it. Also, more props for the amazing John Baizley art – he's become one of those guys where I'll listen to any album just because he illustrated the cover, which isn't a thing that's happened since the late '80s when Pushead was designing Metallica t-shirts. Now, if you'll bear with me, I'm about to potentially ruin the song "Kvelertak" for you. Are you ready? It sounds a hell of a lot like Bryan Adams' hit song "Run To You"!
But that's OK! That's a good Bryan Adams song!
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fab
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Post by fab on Sept 1, 2017 9:39:09 GMT -5
this Kvelertak is pretty decent, but any time the vocals venture into screamy-ish territory I feel myself drifting away. it reminds me of terrible emo-core, and I don't want to insult a band like this that is clearly having way more fun and putting forth decent stuff. occasional, there's actual singing with the belted out stuff being accents! DO MORE OF THAT.
solid grooves and I'm a sucker for any decent riff. there's some good ones in here. I'm feeling a bit of mild aural whiplash at times, but again, it's the vocals that I find jarring more than anything else.
I could get into this. it's all over the place but hella fun. I just don't know if I want to acclimate myself to the vocal stylings, really.
the owl on the head thing cracks me up. brilliant.
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Sept 3, 2017 15:50:34 GMT -5
I honestly don't think I'd even heard of Kvelertak before this, but I thought Meir was a good album. As a lot of other people have said, it gets a little samey, and it gets a bit weaker towards the end (although I thought the last track was pretty fun); Munster's point about them being a good band to come up when listening to stuff on Shuffle is a good one, because most of these songs are pretty solid on their own, but they do sorta blend together after a while. I particularly liked "Apenbaring" and "Nekrokosmos", although I wasn't quite as big a fan of "Bruane Brenn" as most of the rest of you seem to be, honestly. The chorus just doesn't really grab me. I bet it's a fun song live, though.
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fab
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Post by fab on Sept 18, 2017 9:44:47 GMT -5
monodrone -- need metal fix, what's the next entry :3
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monodrone
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Post by monodrone on Sept 18, 2017 10:24:22 GMT -5
monodrone -- need metal fix, what's the next entry :3 Oh yeeeeaaaah, I've been away on holiday but I'm back at work today so I'll have something on Dream Theater's Images And Words in the next day or two. Here's what I think about them before I press play on Images and Words: I was dimly aware of Dream Theatre as a band without having heard them for a while because I'd always see people in their merch at gigs/rock clubs in ~02-05 but their stuff all look really goth and shitty and I've never been one for goth (I can't pretend that I'm not one for 'shitty') so I didn't bother trying to hear them. Remember the Rock Band games? They were popular for a while. Panic Attack was on RB2 and I loved that song pretty much immediately. It's a good song. That happened to coincide with a period of my life where I was buying an album every week, as a result I have a copy of Octavarium. I haven't listened to any other Dream Theater albums, which should tell you all you need to know how highly I think of the non Panic Attack songs on there.
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fab
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Post by fab on Sept 18, 2017 12:38:35 GMT -5
monodrone -- need metal fix, what's the next entry :3 Oh yeeeeaaaah, I've been away on holiday but I'm back at work today so I'll have something on Dream Theater's Images And Words in the next day or two. Here's what I think about them before I press play on Images and Words: I was dimly aware of Dream Theatre as a band without having heard them for a while because I'd always see people in their merch at gigs/rock clubs in ~02-05 but their stuff all look really goth and shitty and I've never been one for goth (I can't pretend that I'm not one for 'shitty') so I didn't bother trying to hear them. Remember the Rock Band games? They were popular for a while. Panic Attack was on RB2 and I loved that song pretty much immediately. It's a good song. That happened to coincide with a period of my life where I was buying an album every week, as a result I have a copy of Octavarium. I haven't listened to any other Dream Theater albums, which should tell you all you need to know how highly I think of the non Panic Attack songs on there. Rock Band was the reason I got an Xbox 360... I didn't own any other consoles, and they had exclusivity for the first eight months or whatever, so that kinda clinched it for me. now that they released Rez Infinite on PC, the only reason I still have the Xbox 360's sitting around on my shelf is on the off chance that I can get the old console to work. of course, all the paid DLC I got is tied to one specific hard drive and console against an email address I lost, which is balls. I loved playing the drums in those games. (I beat Guitar Hero II on Expert and never bothered much with the plastic guitar controllers again.) I've never listened to a Dream Theater album that I'm aware of... my buddy has probably put one on in its entirety before, and odds are it blended together into some kind of proggy homogeneity, such that I never noticed. almost one of the quintessential examples of a band with chops that I just don't give a toss about.
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Post by Roy Batty's Pet Dove on Sept 18, 2017 19:14:52 GMT -5
Don't worry, y'all. I'll be here to play the role of Dream Theater apologist when most people inevitably don't much care for Images and Words. Like, for instance: monodrone, "These Walls" is still a pretty solid song off of Octavarium, right?
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monodrone
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Post by monodrone on Sept 19, 2017 5:51:01 GMT -5
Don't worry, y'all. I'll be here to play the role of Dream Theater apologist when most people inevitably don't much care for Images and Words. Like, for instance: monodrone , "These Walls" is still a pretty solid song off of Octavarium, right? I listened to These Walls on my morning commute and it's fine but it also sounds like a late period nu-metal ballad with some fancier sticking patterns on the ride/hi-hat. The chorus specifically sounds like Numb by Linkin Park and Crawling in the Dark by Hoobastank were smashed together. It's only fair to point out that I like both of those songs, so that's not intended to be an insult, but much of that is based on nostalgia for being a dumb 19 year old and being presented with something not unlike that as a dumb 33 year old without that tie to the past is less appealing.
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monodrone
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Post by monodrone on Sept 19, 2017 10:27:54 GMT -5
95. Dream Theater - Images And WordsWho the heck are these chumps?Dream Theater are an American prog-metal band who've been on the go since the late 80s. I've already done a bit about them but the other thing I already know is that two of the main fellas, Portnoy and Petrucci, are usually towards the top of the Best Drummer/Guitarist lists that you get in rock/metal media so I'm expecting CHOPS. Images and Words is the band's second album and remains their most commercially and (from what I can tell) critically successful work. The songs, are they good?Pull Me Under - Hello to you, guitar riff from Metallica's black album. It opens up a bit when the vocal comes in which is nice. This is fine. I like the little post-chorus instrumental breaks, good wee riffs but the chorus itself is a bit too hair-metal for me. Guitar solos >>>>>>>>> synth solos. The (I assume) synth-produced string sound in the outro is stupid to me. Another Day - and am I missing something or is this a smash cut into a piano ballad? Is there something supposed to be in be in between these songs? I get that this is a song about a very real, very sad thing but I hate everything about it, especially the saxophones. I hate saxophones in any non-ska-punk capacity. Take The Time - YEAH! Great start here with all the noisy guitar and pounding drums. NOPE! I take it back. Popping bass lines and sub-Mike Patton raps? What to heck? It got better again. This is going to happen a lot, isn't it? This is why I can't listen to Octavarium, for every minute of wild guitars and drums you get minute of complete toss. Surrounded - fucking hell, this is extremely not my thing. I don't get the appeal of ballads like this at all so I'm looking forward to reading a defence of it to see what I'm potentially missing. As above, it's not a total loss - there's 30 seconds of rad guitar two thirds of the way through. Metropolis Part I ["The Miracle And The Sleeper"] - Another strong opening but I'm not going to get my hopes up. At last, some good dicking about with time signatures and fun with playing things really fast. Ah man, the start stop section plays right into my love of janky math rock. I think I can straight up like this song as long as they don't fluff the ending. Which they don't! Hurray. Under A Glass Moon - the synths make everything sound like a metal version of a final fantasy soundtrack which in theory is good but in reality isn't what I want to listen to (The Black Mages did it pretty well though). Wait For Sleep - nope. I didn't like this when Evanescence did it and I don't like it here either. Learning To Live - it's a long song. The singer goes full Rob Halford for a spell which is fun. I'm in favour of Full Rob Halford. Rob Fullord. What d'ya make of it then?Outside of a few sections in a few songs I don't like it. Even in those parts I do like the production is offputting. The drums sound like they've been programmed rather than played with the slight hiss on the hi-hats and dead, dry snare snap. Frontline synths in metal aren't my thing at all and the reverb on the clean guitar does my head in too. I can't complain about the musicianship itself but I wish they'd have got into more of the techy/mathy bits that they touched on in Metropolis. It doesn't sound like a 'metal' album most of the time. Is it generally considered to be one? I know it's on the list but 1. It's Rolling Stone and 2. Evanescence are on it. The ballads. Oh man. So bad. Reposted Fan Comment on This Album:John Ro Myung 3 months ago (edited) is it possible that dream theater is listening a lot of justin bieber??? Does it belong on the dang list? Should it be this high?NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO. Next up, at 94, Deafheaven - Sunbather
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Post by Il sole sotto la terra on Sept 19, 2017 12:43:41 GMT -5
95. Dream Theater - Images And Words
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Smacks
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Post by Smacks on Sept 19, 2017 14:24:25 GMT -5
Well I need to start with a disclaimer: I love James LaBrie's voice. So the overblown choruses work for me. "Pull Me Under" is a killer song and I actually love the string outro, even if it sounds a mite cheesy.
Now I care very little for ballads. 1992 was pretty big year for ballads (and hair metal) though, so I don't blame these guys for packing it in. Goddammit, "Another Day" sounds like REO Speedwagon, but worse. I barely made it to the end. I hate it.
"Take the Time" is about as proggy as this has gotten so far. I don't hate it. I enjoyed "Surrounded" and "Metropolis" more than expected. Especially on "Metropolis" I can see where my favorite prog-metal bands got their influence and the middle to end section of this track is killer. I'm liking this album the more that it goes on.
"Under A Glass Moon" was almost rocking enough to keep my attention, but lacked any truly memorable sections. Why they wasted 2 & 1/2 minutes jamming another silly ballad ("Wait for Sleep") in between two prog songs is beyond me. My only answer is because 1992.
Maybe this is a little too dated for me. I respect what these guys have done for the genre but it's just lacking -something- for me. I've always found them slightly underwhelming for the hype they get. I take nothing away from their musicianship, I guess it's the songwriting. Maybe it's just not quite heavy enough for me. Certainly a stretch to call it a metal album.
Does it belong on a list of Top Metal Albums? Nah. Does it belong on this list? Sure, why not.
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dwarfoscar
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Post by dwarfoscar on Sept 19, 2017 15:33:50 GMT -5
Dream Theater represents prog at its most ostentatious. But I have a fondness for that album cause i listened to it when I was entering the world of prog-rock/prog-metal. While I discovered since that my kind of prog is not that kind of prog, I still consider Images and words one of my guiltly pleasures, when I'm in the mood for some "look at me, I'm a virtuoso!" music.
Were you weirded out by the way "Pull Me Under" ends abruptly ?
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Smacks
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Smacks from the Dead
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Post by Smacks on Sept 19, 2017 16:25:25 GMT -5
Dream Theater represents prog at its most ostentatious. But I have a fondness for that album cause i listened to it when I was entering the world of prog-rock/prog-metal. While I discovered since that my kind of prog is not that kind of prog, I still consider Images and words one of my guiltly pleasures, when I'm in the mood for some "look at me, I'm a virtuoso!" music. Were you weirded out by the way "Pull Me Under" ends abruptly ? I have a hard time considering Dream Theater to be "prog at its most ostentatious" when Ayreon exists. But I find most Ayreon albums have catchier hooks and more intricate songwriting overall than what I know of DT's catalog. Prog and theatrics easily go hand in hand. Concept albums abound. I love that shit.
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dwarfoscar
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it's complicated
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Post by dwarfoscar on Sept 19, 2017 16:40:44 GMT -5
Dream Theater represents prog at its most ostentatious. But I have a fondness for that album cause i listened to it when I was entering the world of prog-rock/prog-metal. While I discovered since that my kind of prog is not that kind of prog, I still consider Images and words one of my guiltly pleasures, when I'm in the mood for some "look at me, I'm a virtuoso!" music. Were you weirded out by the way "Pull Me Under" ends abruptly ? I have a hard time considering Dream Theater to be "prog at its most ostentatious" when Ayreon exists. But I find most Ayreon albums have catchier hooks and more intricate songwriting overall than what I know of DT's catalog. Prog and theatrics easily go hand in hand. Concept albums abound. I love that shit. I'm not really familiar with Ayreon, but by "ostentatious" I meant the tendency to show off a lot. Endless soli, unrequired shredding, weird time signatures "just bec ause we can"...
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LazBro
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Post by LazBro on Sept 20, 2017 13:27:21 GMT -5
In high school our drum corps instructor was a big prog nerd, so in back-to-back years our competition routines were Dream Theater's "Metropolis: Part 1" and Steve Vai's "Fire Garden Suite." They were fun as hell to play, but know this: 90's prog metal is NOT the way to the judges' hearts. Couldn't remember a lick of it today, but for a time I could play the entirety of "Metropolis: Part 1" on marimba, solo and all. To the matter at hand though, I do not like Dream Theater. If I had to listen to a DT record, this would probably be the one (well, maybe Octivarium), but I would be doing so against my will. Too cheesy to engage me emotionally, not heavy enough to engage me physically. It frustrates me that this band and really all the bands in that wing of prog I like to call "fancy power metal" is held aloft as one of the banners of prog rock and metal. True enough, they've got chops for days, but you know what? This is metal. Everyone has chops for days, and I could name drop plenty of players on any instrument I prefer to these guys, talented though they are. Like dwarfoscar said above, it's just not my cup of prog. ETA: I am very much looking forward to the next record in our list though. I don't know where Deafheaven are on their "backlash to the backlash to the backlash to the backlash to the backlash..." journey, but I do know that I love Sunbather.
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Smacks
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Smacks from the Dead
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Post by Smacks on Sept 20, 2017 14:24:17 GMT -5
Too cheesy to engage me emotionally, not heavy enough to engage me physically. I like when other people put into words what I cannot. My summation exactly. Agreed on Octivarium as well, though I'd put that before this album we're discussing. It's the most listenable DT album in my opinion. I'll wail along with "Tear Down These Walls" every time. As an aside, I'm currently listening to Strapping Young Lad's "Alien" and if this doesn't belong in every existing list of everything metal then everything I know is wrong. Fucking SYL.
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fab
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strange days
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Post by fab on Sept 21, 2017 9:23:53 GMT -5
Dream Theater - Images And Words
I've definitely heard "Pull Me Under" a bunch -- was this ever a single? I'm mostly familiar with them through stuff like Rock Band or whatever, b/c I'm a filthy casual. (the only other song I can recall is Panic Attack, as per RB2?)
also, is the song supposed to be just cut off abruptly? I can't tell if the production is overly tinny, or if it's the fact that I'm streaming it. (perhaps both? these Sennheiser headphones don't exactly have a ton of low end.)
y'know what I didn't want in my prog? schlocky ballads. is that an actual sax or a synth? the synth lines and strings scattered in various places remind me of my buddy's excessive appreciation of Styx. I love him dearly, but I could prolly go the rest of my life without hearing an absurdly extended Styx tune, whether in style or actuality.
I was kinda more into the cheese vocals at various points, but sometimes it's just beyond overly earnest and I'm mainlining cheez whiz straight into my veins. is prog always this... staid? the smooth arpeggio runs and legato are pretty great but the overall structure ain't doing much for me.
Take the Time's intro was fine... then... holy what the fuck is going on. it's like Def Leppard with more reverb? nobody asked for this. I don't know if I'm gonna make it through the whole album. (but then the remaining fifth was kinda okay, albeit triple extra cheese on my cheese pizza.)
I'll give the album a background listen, but I highly doubt I have much more to say on any of this, and I'm only three tracks in. barring an actually great track (which could potentially happen! if they don't cave to their worst impulses, which... yeah I don't hold out much hope for that), I figure this will stand on its own.
there's gonna be more Dream Theater on this goddamn list somewhere, isn't there... *prepares to flip table*
edit: P.S. I just conflated the intro of "Surrounded" with that fucking Faith Hill song "Breathe" as soon as I hit post. That is not a good sign.
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