I was first introduced to the title track by Transatlantic who covered it on their Whirlwind album, featuring my favorite dude in the world (Mike Portnoy) on vocals. Glad they did, as it led me to a pretty awesome album I may not have heard of otherwise.
A great album by a great early prog rock band. The title track starts this album off amazingly, with a piano and string-laden story of being at sea. Really an amazing song. The rest of the album is a bit more in the vein of 60s rock with some occasional prog touches. Overall a very solid album, looking forward to hearing more from them.
Thursday, June 23, 2011
Day 14: Tera Melos - Drugs/Complex (2010)
Drugs/Complex is a compilation of an EP by Tera Melos and their side of a split record from a few years before that. It sounds like one consistent album though, somehow. At its heavier moments, this math-rock/noise band reminds me of the better parts of Lye by Mistake, but they are pretty monotonous for me. It's kind of dizzying throughout, even for me. I couldn't get way too in to it, though some of the musicianship is respectable. Complex, chaotic, frantic, noisy... sounds like something I'd be into. But something about its execution I just don't really mesh with. Oh well.
Day 13: Focus - Focus II (Moving Waves) (1971)
If you happened to have heard of Focus, it would have been because of this ridiculous, hilarious, awesome video.
The ridiculous yodelling and falsetto goofiness aside, the music is awesome. So I grabbed the rest of the album which that song is the opener for, and I was pretty blown away by how great it was. Almost the rest of the album is completely instrumental (thankfully), but most of the record after that song is really mellow and beautiful. Some really great classical guitar and piano with some flute playing in there as well, the album is just gorgeous. Reminds me a lot of I Talk to the Wind in parts, which is awesome.
Even when the singing comes back in later tracks, it is beautiful and clear, in the vein of the middle section of Close to the Edge. Definitely check this out.
The ridiculous yodelling and falsetto goofiness aside, the music is awesome. So I grabbed the rest of the album which that song is the opener for, and I was pretty blown away by how great it was. Almost the rest of the album is completely instrumental (thankfully), but most of the record after that song is really mellow and beautiful. Some really great classical guitar and piano with some flute playing in there as well, the album is just gorgeous. Reminds me a lot of I Talk to the Wind in parts, which is awesome.
Even when the singing comes back in later tracks, it is beautiful and clear, in the vein of the middle section of Close to the Edge. Definitely check this out.
Tuesday, June 14, 2011
Day 12: Nurse With Wound - Space Music (2009)
Nurse With Wound, if you've not heard of him, is basically the main outlet of Steve Stapleton since the late 70's or so. They have tons and tons of albums, many of them being fairly different than the others.
This one, Space Music, is a 54 minute track of eerie, ambient sort of electronic noise. It sounds like something you'd play in the background of a sci fi haunted house or something. Or maybe an instrumental break in a Vektor song, haha. I later found out it was actually commissioned music for a planetarium, so there you have it. Anyways it's kind of interesting, but hard to hold your attention with something that ambient for a full hour. Being in the mood for it, it could make some cool background music but overall, pretty meh.
This one, Space Music, is a 54 minute track of eerie, ambient sort of electronic noise. It sounds like something you'd play in the background of a sci fi haunted house or something. Or maybe an instrumental break in a Vektor song, haha. I later found out it was actually commissioned music for a planetarium, so there you have it. Anyways it's kind of interesting, but hard to hold your attention with something that ambient for a full hour. Being in the mood for it, it could make some cool background music but overall, pretty meh.
Monday, June 13, 2011
Day 11: PANTyRAID - The Sauce (2009)
I realized pretty early on in this album that it's just not really for me. It's like an instrumental rap album or something, I forget why I even added this to the list. Some interesting beats I guess, just pretty boring to listen to for 55 minutes.
Friday, June 10, 2011
Day 10: Razor - Violent Restitution (1988)
I'd never really heard Razor, and when I told my Vektor bandmate David I was doing this album-a-day nonsense he suggested I check them out. This album kicks ass! Every riff is solid and badass, and the vocals are really awesome too. Not much else to say, if you like fast, sharp thrash metal then check this out for sure. Beats Slayer any day.
Day 9: Agalloch - Marrow of the Spirit (2010)
I guess I should preface this one for fairness; Agalloch's 2006 record Ashes Against the Grain is one of my favorite albums of all time. It has an amazing mix of mood, metal, rocking-ness and beauty that makes mid-paced black metal so cool. So naturally I was really excited to hear this, their first full-length album since then, and I was definitely not disappointed. It has some of their most intense, fast black metal parts in a long while, but also does not skimp out on the more ambient sections at all.
It doesn't top Ashes for me, but it may work its way up towards that upon repeated listens. Might have to take a long drive with it or something.
Awesome, awesome album.
It doesn't top Ashes for me, but it may work its way up towards that upon repeated listens. Might have to take a long drive with it or something.
Awesome, awesome album.
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