3-LockBox
12-19-2007, 01:40 PM
Top 5 Prog albums:
1. Beardfish - Sleeping In Traffic - yet another Swedish prog band, who wear their influences on their sleeves, but are more than mere clones. their tendencies lean toward the folkier, atmospheric side of Swedish prog (Ritual) without the psuedo jazz workouts of some Swedish neo-prog bands.
2. Ritual - Hemulac Voluntary Band - as folky and quaint as Swedish prog gets, but the unabashed love for their culture and children's stories gives the material life and energy, the likes of which that gave old bands like Camel and Caravan their charm.
3. Glass Hammer - Culture Of Ascent - this isn't going to win people over who don't like symphonic prog anyway, but its a breakthrough for me. Lead singer from Salem Hill, Carl Groves gives this band the edge its always lacked. The new guitarist also lends more bite. Sounds like someone finally lit a fire under this band.
4. Rush - Snakes & Arrows - they just keep going and going. Even if previous efforts didn't measure up to the band's past glories, they still have yet to put out a lame album proper (cover album not withstanding). This is as good as anything they put out in the early '80s and the production is at least, better than Vapor Trails (which was still a strong effort).
5. Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet - this took me a while to warm up to, but it is still a quality Wilson release. No, it doesn't delve into alt-pop like the previous three or four albums, but its still unmistakably a PT album, with a sense of urgency, an unexpectedly weighty message and typical great songcraft and musicianship.
Honorable mention goes to Alan Morse - 4 O'clock And Hysteria (jazz/rock instrumental) An unexpected treat from the least eyebrowed of the Morse brothers (Spock's Beard), this doesn't reinvent the guitar soloist album, but its the best of its kind since the Dixie Dregs '70s output.
Biggest prog disappointment (tie) :
(a) Flower Kings-Sum Of No Evil - I guess I wouldn't call it lame or anything, but it bores me. Its a return to form for them, which means safe and same, hippy prog.
(b) Pain Of Salvation-Scarsick. Lacking any fresh ideas and firing band members left and right, leader Daniel Gildenlow tries to hide this album's lack of focus and song-to-song sameness with over-production and includes a few songs with anti-American rhetoric (which I just love to hear from Scandinavian people who forget that their countries were former Nazi capitualtors), as well as a few attempts at nu-metal style rapping. Yes, Gildenlow has used a narrative style spoken voice-over in songs before, but this is different and in excess I might add. The last three songs are closer to what I've liked about POS in the past, but nearly every song on this suggest the cherry picking of other metal bands; too bad.
Top 5 non-Prog albums:
1. Gruff Rhys - Candylion - picked this up after listening to a comp, and it is a very laid back, uncluttered pop affair with flutes and keyboards, and a 14 minute song tacked on the end for us proggers. Gotta love that. (no, its not proggy)
2. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank - after realizing I had 4 or 5 songs on various comp by these guys that I liked (on my MP3 player) I decided to get the latest and I like their quirky, Byrnish brand of pop/rock.
3. Kaiser Chiefs - Yours Truly, Angry Mob - this is the band all the critics tried to say The Vines were, except without the psuedo-sixties psychadelic pretentions and better developed songs.
4.The Shins - Wincing The Night Away Smart Brit-style whistful pop from a band from New Mexico of all places; another comp inspired pick-up. Its nice to hear a band flirt with this style of pop without going full-bore, Phil Spector kitchen sink with the production. I can't think of a funnier album title either.
5. Endless Highway: The Music Of The Band (various artists)- I usually avoid tribute albums like the plague; oh some have their merit and are good for a song or two, but sometimes you wonder if the participants pulled the short straw. This is a great album, with artists who obviously love The Band. A varied cast of bands like Death Cab For Cutie, Rosanne Cash, Guster, Bruce Hornsby, Modest Mouse and others give these songs a fresh sound beginning to end.
Honorable mention goes to Robert Plant/Allison Krauss for the oddest collaboration I can remember and for all its intentional obscurity, works. Also Spoon-Gagagaga, another fine quirkfest with strong, original content from a band that doesn't take itself seriously.
Biggest disappointment: Hot Hot Heat - Happiness Ltd. They're getting further away from the new wave revival quiche that made them interesting in the first place. They can still write decent hooks, but this album attempts the same level of sophisticated production that Elevator did, and that doesn't always seem to fit the material. It comes across like they had a good idea for the hook, and fleshed it out with indie/pop-quiche production, rather than focusing on songcraft. Sounds like an under-developed Strokes album.
1. Beardfish - Sleeping In Traffic - yet another Swedish prog band, who wear their influences on their sleeves, but are more than mere clones. their tendencies lean toward the folkier, atmospheric side of Swedish prog (Ritual) without the psuedo jazz workouts of some Swedish neo-prog bands.
2. Ritual - Hemulac Voluntary Band - as folky and quaint as Swedish prog gets, but the unabashed love for their culture and children's stories gives the material life and energy, the likes of which that gave old bands like Camel and Caravan their charm.
3. Glass Hammer - Culture Of Ascent - this isn't going to win people over who don't like symphonic prog anyway, but its a breakthrough for me. Lead singer from Salem Hill, Carl Groves gives this band the edge its always lacked. The new guitarist also lends more bite. Sounds like someone finally lit a fire under this band.
4. Rush - Snakes & Arrows - they just keep going and going. Even if previous efforts didn't measure up to the band's past glories, they still have yet to put out a lame album proper (cover album not withstanding). This is as good as anything they put out in the early '80s and the production is at least, better than Vapor Trails (which was still a strong effort).
5. Porcupine Tree - Fear Of A Blank Planet - this took me a while to warm up to, but it is still a quality Wilson release. No, it doesn't delve into alt-pop like the previous three or four albums, but its still unmistakably a PT album, with a sense of urgency, an unexpectedly weighty message and typical great songcraft and musicianship.
Honorable mention goes to Alan Morse - 4 O'clock And Hysteria (jazz/rock instrumental) An unexpected treat from the least eyebrowed of the Morse brothers (Spock's Beard), this doesn't reinvent the guitar soloist album, but its the best of its kind since the Dixie Dregs '70s output.
Biggest prog disappointment (tie) :
(a) Flower Kings-Sum Of No Evil - I guess I wouldn't call it lame or anything, but it bores me. Its a return to form for them, which means safe and same, hippy prog.
(b) Pain Of Salvation-Scarsick. Lacking any fresh ideas and firing band members left and right, leader Daniel Gildenlow tries to hide this album's lack of focus and song-to-song sameness with over-production and includes a few songs with anti-American rhetoric (which I just love to hear from Scandinavian people who forget that their countries were former Nazi capitualtors), as well as a few attempts at nu-metal style rapping. Yes, Gildenlow has used a narrative style spoken voice-over in songs before, but this is different and in excess I might add. The last three songs are closer to what I've liked about POS in the past, but nearly every song on this suggest the cherry picking of other metal bands; too bad.
Top 5 non-Prog albums:
1. Gruff Rhys - Candylion - picked this up after listening to a comp, and it is a very laid back, uncluttered pop affair with flutes and keyboards, and a 14 minute song tacked on the end for us proggers. Gotta love that. (no, its not proggy)
2. Modest Mouse - We Were Dead Before The Ship Even Sank - after realizing I had 4 or 5 songs on various comp by these guys that I liked (on my MP3 player) I decided to get the latest and I like their quirky, Byrnish brand of pop/rock.
3. Kaiser Chiefs - Yours Truly, Angry Mob - this is the band all the critics tried to say The Vines were, except without the psuedo-sixties psychadelic pretentions and better developed songs.
4.The Shins - Wincing The Night Away Smart Brit-style whistful pop from a band from New Mexico of all places; another comp inspired pick-up. Its nice to hear a band flirt with this style of pop without going full-bore, Phil Spector kitchen sink with the production. I can't think of a funnier album title either.
5. Endless Highway: The Music Of The Band (various artists)- I usually avoid tribute albums like the plague; oh some have their merit and are good for a song or two, but sometimes you wonder if the participants pulled the short straw. This is a great album, with artists who obviously love The Band. A varied cast of bands like Death Cab For Cutie, Rosanne Cash, Guster, Bruce Hornsby, Modest Mouse and others give these songs a fresh sound beginning to end.
Honorable mention goes to Robert Plant/Allison Krauss for the oddest collaboration I can remember and for all its intentional obscurity, works. Also Spoon-Gagagaga, another fine quirkfest with strong, original content from a band that doesn't take itself seriously.
Biggest disappointment: Hot Hot Heat - Happiness Ltd. They're getting further away from the new wave revival quiche that made them interesting in the first place. They can still write decent hooks, but this album attempts the same level of sophisticated production that Elevator did, and that doesn't always seem to fit the material. It comes across like they had a good idea for the hook, and fleshed it out with indie/pop-quiche production, rather than focusing on songcraft. Sounds like an under-developed Strokes album.