|
Post by stringypoo on Jan 22, 2020 18:39:23 GMT -5
I still really like the first track on that record. "Frantic," once you get beyond the trash can drums -- and the dumb lyric you posted -- is a bangin song. I actually went back and listened to that track as well last night because I was bored. Yeah, the first track might be the strongest one. The guitar tone is kind of cool actually. And I guess I like when a guitar riff becomes the lyrical line as well, that guitar riff that becomes “you live or you like it” or whatever that lyric was. It was pretty decent. Still, the track doesn’t really go anywhere, so I felt it fell flat.
|
|
|
Post by stringypoo on Jan 24, 2020 20:58:57 GMT -5
Sometimes I find it really easy to criticize a specific genre or sub genre for constantly recycling ideas for years and years (I tend to think of deathcore here, but it really goes for most styles honestly). And yes, reviewers today spend a lot of time finding new ways to state “the band brings nothing new to the table.” But this is a thought that I get stuck on sometimes: just how easy is it to come up with an original music idea these days? I do a lot of improvisation, used to do improv on people’s albums when I lived in Arizona since a friend ran a recording studio. While I did a lot of good recordings, it was all derivative of something, you know?
It seems like it has been a while since the latest new thing hit metal and core music. I’m wondering what the next big thing will be. We got djent, which people still argue as to whether or not it is a sound or constitutes a sub genre. What will that fresh new sound be like and when will it come? It’s so hard to get outside the box sometimes to start something new. And seemingly it wouldn’t be good if it wasn’t arrived at organically. So I don’t know really why I’m rambling on, but I’m just thinking out loud about this sensation that music is hardly original anymore. Perhaps before we criticize music for lack of originality, we should also always remember that it’s difficult to truly bring something fresh. It’s true with most aspects in life, not just in music. But still, I’m pondering what might a new sub genre be like. Perhaps something that does an opposite effect of a breakdown, although that might be a bit like grindcore. Lol
|
|
|
Post by stringypoo on Feb 1, 2020 21:44:20 GMT -5
It’s about time for another Dance Gavin Dance record. They did say in an interview following release of that track “Blood Wolf” at the end of last year that there will be a new one in 2020. I had to dig pretty hard to find that though. If 2020 gives us another DGD album, I’ll be ecstatic. All in all, I’m a metal guy, but DGD are magical and my favorite band.
|
|
|
Post by v9733xa on Feb 2, 2020 13:45:37 GMT -5
Listening to Godspeed You! Black Emperor at length for the first time, starting today.
A very interesting band. I don't usually like music like this, and I'm not sure that I do now either. These songs have brilliant parts and then meander to something interminably boring and strange. It's hard to get a rhythm on this but there's enough good that I'm going to listen to the discography in full to see what I think by the end.
This is the track I like the best, from their 90s records:
A ways to go. We'll see by the end of the week.
|
|
|
Post by stringypoo on Feb 2, 2020 17:59:18 GMT -5
Listening to Godspeed You! Black Emperor at length for the first time, starting today. A very interesting band. I don't usually like music like this, and I'm not sure that I do now either. These songs have brilliant parts and then meander to something interminably boring and strange. It's hard to get a rhythm on this but there's enough good that I'm going to listen to the discography in full to see what I think by the end. This is the track I like the best, from their 90s records: A ways to go. We'll see by the end of the week. Their 2000 album, Lift Your Skinny Fists... is often considered their greatest work. Maybe you posted that one in your post (not using a vpn at the moment so the video doesn’t show) but just sharing because I used to try getting into this band. I bought their later album, Yanqui UXO, which I listened through probably a good 20 or 30 times. There were moments of awesomeness surrounded by dull moments. In some way, I could relate some of those feelings to my initial thoughts on some doom metal, but doom metal is way more active and engaging as a whole than what Godspeed You offers. And while I listened to their Yanqui UXO album a lot, I don’t really think it was very good. Just a few brief good moments in it. I later discovered Mono and liked them more for a band doing similar music style.
|
|
|
Post by clazza on Feb 7, 2020 2:39:59 GMT -5
I haven't actually listened to music properly this year. Just the odd track here and there. Not feeling it at all which is strange.
|
|
|
Post by clazza on Feb 7, 2020 2:44:13 GMT -5
I still really like the first track on that record. "Frantic," once you get beyond the trash can drums -- and the dumb lyric you posted -- is a bangin song. Dat snare sound tho
|
|
|
Post by tao on Feb 8, 2020 12:43:06 GMT -5
stringypoo, have you listened to the new Creeping Death LP yet?
|
|
|
Post by stringypoo on Feb 8, 2020 18:46:07 GMT -5
stringypoo , have you listened to the new Creeping Death LP yet? Yes, 3 or 4 times. I was easily drawn into it because of how great it sounds. The production along with the band’s style all really works well. Unfortunately, I did not enjoy the album first time through, and enjoyed it less and less each time I listened to it. I found their overall style in the end pissed me off more than anything because they sound so right, but did absolutely nothing interesting in any of their songs (in my opinion, but a shared opinion if you look at metal-archives’s reviews). I kept hoping they’d do something more clever. Oh well. Yeah, the band sounds great. They just need to bring much more to it before I’ll be hooked.
|
|
|
Post by stringypoo on Feb 14, 2020 0:43:26 GMT -5
Figured I’d do a Black Sabbath self titled album post. 50 years old is the album that many a metal historians point to when suggesting the origins of metal. The greatest thing about it is that the band did not aim to be labeled as metal at all. They just wanted to play rock and roll, as Ozzy famously said many times in interviews reflecting on the influence of this great album. Well, regardless of what they felt, it is not hard for me to hear their influence on early metal bands that came after. Perhaps the greatest ounce of influence taken from this record can be heard in the work of Pagan Altar, one of the greatest bands of all time in my opinion, and also a band who got their start in the 70s.
My first time hearing this record was a good 16 or more years ago. I found a very special copy that was likely to have been from a BS concert, as it was a special edition I’ve yet to find anywhere else. It had the first whole album plus a few other tracks. Got it at Hastings back when they were still a live business for about $1. Wow, I was convinced I’d love this record, but wow did I hate it when I popped it in! At the time, I was all about bands like Thrice, Thursday, Aiden, Silverstein, Scary Kids Scaring Kids, and the like. This Black Sabbath record did absolutely nothing for me. It felt slow, light, and empty to me.
I got back to this record about 10 years later or so to give it another listen for some reason. And it just really clicked with me. I was surprised Ozzy ever sang that well, and I was really sold on it when I got to the big track “N.I.B.” That is an incredible track, guys.
So I’m sitting here listening through this album today because of knowing its big anniversary. Been a while since I’ve listened to it. The biggest points that hit me listening today are that firstly, this record ages very, very well, and although I’ve heard it more than 50 times now, I still find new things to pick out. Secondly, “NIB” is still a monster track. So amazing. Third, Ozzy sounded amazing on a few of these tracks, singing with more soul than I’d ever heard him. Fourth, this album is actually only five original Black Sabbath songs. If you cut out Evil Woman and Warning, the two cover tracks which total 13 minutes, this is a very short record with only about 25 minutes of original music. Fifth, the bass is incredible on this album. Wanna hear some great bass lines? This is the place to go for bass! Lastly, this record is just a jam band delight. These guys didn’t go out to crush everything and start heavy metal? They just really liked to jam, and the improvisitory nature of jam bands is not only a huge presence on this record, but anyone who has seen multiple clips of their live performances can tell that they love to improvise, as they will often perform a song differently in different performances. They were very talented, and rooted in blues, which is the most traceable influence to begin metal and its sound.
Well, I feel like a rambling man. My point? This record is phenomenal. Not for everyone, but I personally think it’s incredible.
|
|
|
Post by stringypoo on Feb 16, 2020 3:41:57 GMT -5
Having listened to the first Black Sabbath album twice through the other day, I got my Black Sabbath itch. It doesn’t come around that often, but here it is. I listened to the second album today, Paranoid. It’s a damn fine record, definitely up their with the first album. More bluesy bass action scratching around in the low end really is the highlight for me in their early music. This record sounds paper thin at times, and they did not have much money to record it. I believe I read they recorded it in two days. But wow, it’s excellent. “Iron Man” was always a track I thought massively overrated, as well as “War Pigs,” but nah! Those are great too. Black Sabbath were just one of the greatest bands ever, no doubt for me!
|
|
|
Post by tao on Feb 16, 2020 7:03:54 GMT -5
First four Black Sabbath are stone cold classics. You could make a case for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage, but you can already hear the quality slipping away in those two.
|
|
|
Post by stringypoo on Feb 16, 2020 7:36:09 GMT -5
First four Black Sabbath are stone cold classics. You could make a case for Sabbath Bloody Sabbath and Sabotage, but you can already hear the quality slipping away in those two. With me being a big old school metal nerd, I’ve been enjoying going through these albums in chronological order and picking out where they’ve innovated a sound used in other bands that soon followed. Now that I am much more knowledgeable of the early wave of metal, I really see a lot of connections. Perhaps the coolest one I made today was how similar the guitar tones of the Master of Reality album are to that of Cirith Ungol’s amazing album, King of the Dead. And I also believe Master of Reality is the first heavy metal sounding album of the bunch. It’s tuned lower, heavier production, and a less bluesy jam band feel than the self titled and Paranoid, showing why it’s often a favorite among the metal community. Really cool and fun going back through these albums after a couple years.
|
|
|
Post by tao on Feb 16, 2020 23:22:03 GMT -5
Master of Reality is probably my favorite out of their first 6 albums.
|
|
|
Post by stringypoo on Feb 16, 2020 23:44:19 GMT -5
Master of Reality is probably my favorite out of their first 6 albums. It’s really good. I feel like prior to it, there had never been a song with that overall feel of “Children of the Grave,” a song which clearly inspired a lot of traditional heavy metal songs. And “Lord of this World” is probably one of my favorite Black Sabbath songs ever. Was thinking about what you said regarding the drop in quality after the first four albums. I listened to Volume 4 twice last night. I kinda don’t care for that record, and it’s not because they put a ballad like “Changes” on it. Lol! I kinda love that song somehow. But I didn’t like the feel of the first track, SFX was a waster track, and I just don’t find any track to have that magic the previous three albums had. I like how Sabbath Bloody Sabbath opens with a banger, however. Not sure where it stands for me, but I love it way more than Vol. 4. However, I like the Heaven and Hell album more than almost all of these albums we’ve discussed. The title track gives me so many feels by the end, “Neon Nights” is my favorite faster BS tune, “Lady Evil” has a really cool psychedelic feel with really great lyrics, and I really just love “Die Young.” Also, I just really love Ronnie James Dio. He probably wasn’t the right face for Black Sabbath, it really was Ozzy’s game, but holy damn was he good on Heaven and Hell!
|
|