Rate The Last Album You Heard - General

[release][img]http://quasherthoughts.files.wordpress.com/2011/01/radioheadhailtothethief.jpg[/img] [b]Radiohead - Hail to the Thief[/b] Ever since i had the epiphany that King of Limbs was a lot better than any other album I've really ever heard in the last few years, definitely being on my top 5 for the last 5 or so years, I decided that Radiohead were worth knowing back to front. Before King of Limbs, I'd only listened to OK Computer, In Rainbows, and Kid A, and I figured it was time for that to change. So I went to my local store and picked up the Hail to the Thief CD for a tenner. I hadn't heard much about Hail to the Thief. I knew it was meant to be "OK Computer II" but I really don't know why - It sounds like a natural step between OK Computer and Kid A, like the missing record that linked the two together, not a return to Radiohead's roots. It's also amazing. It's an album that gets better and better each time you give it a listen, and perhaps the only thing that stopped it being a huge hit would be that quite a few songs on are pretty obviously filler material. Obvious stand out songs are There There, which was released prior to the album as promotional material, A Punch Up at a Wedding, which is pretty pop friendly and has got some nice lyrics and I'll be fucked if that bass line isn't one of the catchiest that Radiohead have done. There are some nice Kid A style experiments in Backdrifts, the Gloaming and suchlike, and a really great close to the album with Wolf at the Door, which boasts some unrelenting and hardhitting lyrics about a bar fight his majesty professor Yorke got into with some drunk dudes one night in the year 2000. That said, there are some standout tracks, and some not so standout tracks. As I said before, the album suffers from filler. I'd probably get rid of Sail to the Moon, I Will, and Where I End and You Begin at the least, because they're nothing new, nor are they particularly interesting either - Sail to the Moon continues in the vein of the Tourist, The Pyramid Song, How to Disappear Completely - those slow ballads that always seem to have at least one appearance on a Radiohead album and probably reached the pinnacle with Nude - frankly the tune is interesting but the lyrics are inexcusably terrible, and even for Thom Yorke, their are new steps taken in how to be totally illegible with Sail to the Moon. I don't know how I Will even got onto the album. It bored me. Thing about this album though, is it needs repeated listening. The first time you hear it I think you might catch a hint of the creativity that went into this album, but the way to get the best out of this particular album is to listen to it like, 3 times or more - so long as you skip the filler. Definitely worth the $10 I paid for it. 8/10 [/release]

I love I Will and Where I End and You Begin :(

opinions I guess, I found them to be kinda fillery I have to say, Wolf at The Door has got to be track of like the last 6 months for it, the lyrics are so fantastic FLAN IN THE FACE FLAN IN THE FACE

[release][img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_Vv5CWGX_Cbo/S9IHHlx7mYI/AAAAAAAAAeo/u4OZ9Ihb1gg/s1600/1988-so+far+so+good+so+what+fc.jpg[/img] [b]Megadeth - So Far So Good... So What![/b] So Far So Good is an album I feel is often overlooked by Megadeth fans as "mediocre" and "average". While yes, this is the most flawed of their first four albums, I feel that it's still a good album. The album starts off fairly decently. The instrumental is nice and it gives a modest show of the albums general sound. The next tracks, Set The World Afire and the Anarchy In The U.K. cover are fairly decent. They don't have any spectacular riffs or any amazing showcase of musicianship, they are nice. However I feel the only reason why these songs are so memorable is because the Set The World Afire has an intro sample from the song I Don't Want To Set The World On Fire and the fact that Anarchy in The U.K is such a popular song. They're most certainly not filler but they don't quite grasp your attention. Around the middle of the album the next tracks, Mary Jane, 502 and In My Darkest Hour are great tracks and are essentially what makes the album so great. The guitar work is killer in these tracks, especially In My Darkest Hour. The album finishes nicely with the track Liar, which sounds like it wouldn't be out of place in Peace Sells, and Hook In Mouth. Overall I feel this is one of the most unappreciated Megadeth albums I've heard. It can't compare to something like Rust In Peace or Killing Is My Business, but it's a fine album that will bring some enjoyment. [h2]81/100[/h2] [b]Pros[/b] -Overall great guitar playing -Bass sounds nice -Dave's vocals sound killer on this record [highlight]Cons[/highlight] -Starts off boring -The drums are nearly inaudible. May be an issue on my part? [b][u]FAVORITE TRACKS[/u][/b] [i]Mary Jane 502 In My Darkest Hour Liar[/i] [highlight][u]LEAST FAVORITE TRACKS[/u][/highlight] [i]Into The Lungs Of Hell Anarchy In The U.K.[/i] [/release] /bump

[release] [h2]Jeff Wayne's Musical Version of The War of the Worlds[/h2] [img]http://hollywoodgothique.com/myPictures/waroftheworlds1978.jpg[/img] [h2]Genre:[/h2] Progressive Rock [h2]Pros:[/h2] -True to the original story by H.G. Wells, unlike every other adaption of the story -The narration by Charles Burton is fantastic, his voice fits the character (a learned middle class journalist who lives near where the invasion starts) to a tee -The instrumentation in the songs is great and the musical Motifs are memorable -The sound effects are great -The album is filled with lots of synth and guitar, which both hold an equal musical role as the orchestra -The vocals are fantastic (except for "The Artilleryman's Dream, but I think it was meant to be slightly bad.) -Justin Hayward does guitar and vocals on some of the songs [h2]Cons:[/h2] -The actual songs are fairly repetitive (but the sound effects and narration break up the repetition nicely) -Justin Hayward's beautiful guitar solos get slightly drowned out by the other instruments, which is a shame -In my opinion I thought there was wasted potential for more narrative (but luckily enough this is one of the things Jeff Wayne will be facing in his remake of the album) -In my opinion the album could have ended slightly better then it did musically -The vocals in "The Artilleryman's Dream" [h2]My Score: 9/10[/h2] Almost a perfect album but some small issues bring it down [b]Favorite Tracks[/b] [i]Forever Autumn Thunder Child The Artillerymen and the Fighting Machines[/i] [b]Least Favorite Tracks[/b] [i]Epilogue pt.1 Epilogue pt.2 The Eve of War[/i] [/release]

[release] [h2]Bill Frisell - Live[/h2] [img]http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/4350/cover_27359532009.jpg[/img] [h2]Genre:[/h2] Avant-Garde/Jazz Fusion [h2]Pros:[/h2] - An incredible display of musicianship from all three members - One of Frisell's best performances I've heard, he isn't afraid to slow things down and use a lot of space and just play something beautiful, but also knows when to amp things up and go heavy on the distortion, and improvise melodies that just shouldn't be allowed to work, but he manages to find ways of bringing it all together in quite a remarkable fashion - His band does an excellent job of supporting him throughout the entire concert - The audience clapping a syncopated rhythm in perfect unison is confirmation of the type of audience Bill Frisell attracts [h2]Cons:[/h2] - Probably not the most accessible album to the untrained ear [h2]My Score: 9.5/10[/h2] A great live release from Bill Frisell, featuring some of his best guitar playing [b]Favorite Tracks[/b] Crumb/No Moe Pip, Squeak/Goodbye When We Go [b]Least Favorite Tracks[/b] I don't dislike anything [/release]

Don't mind my minimalist rating format [img]http://melancholia.typepad.com/.a/6a00d83451c2ef69e2015434d65ee1970c-800wi[/img] Seefeel - Succour 7.5/10 seefeel are a weird intersection of genres. they're looped in with bands like bark psychosis and stereolab as part of the original post-rock movement as coined by simon reynolds, and their actual sound is more like ambient techno meets dreampop. I checked this out because I heard it was shoegaze but it seems like just too much of a stretch. still this is a really beautiful album. the ambient aspect means that the songs don't really go anywhere and there isn't much dynamic, but it's more of hypnotic waves of melancholy sound. very comforting music on a cold day. [img]http://misssssssskind.no.sapo.pt/dbimg/RideNowhere199049260_f.jpg[/img] Ride - Nowhere 8/10 so I kinda of ignored Ride for a while because I wanted to hear the noisier side of shoegaze and thought this was a bit too alt-rock, but now I finally listened to this album and I wish I had sooner, it's wonderful. a totally different experience than the disorienting, colourful noise of MBV or the soft haze of Slowdive, but it definitely captures some of dat ethereal bliss that the other groups do. the feedback is pretty tame but the songs here are just really fun to listen to, but the best is by far Vapour Trails. [img]http://www.progarchives.com/progressive_rock_discography_covers/4635/cover_31315572009.jpg[/img] Loop - Fade Out 5.5/10 so another shoegaze ish band I checked out, this one is actually a lot more like Spacemen 3 than most shoegaze. the songs have this hypnotic repetition which I thought I could get into (as with Spacemen) but when I listened to this I was just really bored. there's some feedbacking here but it doesn't sound interesting at all. I think I could listen to this again another time and get into it, the minimal sort of pulsating rhythms seem like something I could like, but this time I couldn't make it through.

[QUOTE=ThatCrazyGmanV2;34319816][b]Least Favorite Tracks[/b] [i]The Eve of War[/i] [/QUOTE] what

[QUOTE=Hakita;34320918]what[/QUOTE] just his opinion bro, read the reasons.

[B][release] M83 - Hurry Up, We're Dreaming[/B] [IMG]http://theneedledrop.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/08/M83-HURRY-UP-WERE-DREAMING.jpg[/IMG] I really am not sure what to call this. It's a lot of electronic, but elements of indie, rock and pop as well as some shoegaze. Whatever youw ant to call it, it's not 'weird', which imo is an artistic success. If something is surprising because it is weird it is often because it's not completely worked through, and feels unnatural in one way or the other. This is different without being weird, and suprising by being just amazing. The sound is very dynamic and wall-of-soundy, sort of like post-rock but with pop structures. The music evokes a similar emotional response as when I listen to post-rock, which is one of grandieur and natural, inherent beauty in the world. The vocals are especially heartwrenching. It is quite long, 22 songs in about an hour, but manages to refrain from being boring even to me, who has relatively little patience. 8/10 at the least, maybe even 9/10. I will definitely listen to this a lot, and I strongly reccomend it to anyone who likes post-rock/metal and/or shoegaze. Or anyone, really.[/release]

I like that one a lot. But it doesn't seem worthy enough for two discs. When you do that, you tell the world you have the balls to show your ambitious with every single title. Maybe I nitpick, because it still is well put together.

guess I need to check out more M83 on my current shoegaze binge, I loved Dead Cities

[QUOTE=Hakita;34320918]what[/QUOTE] It's a good song, but it's so repetitive.

m83 shoegaze lol

There's a lot of shoegaze elements on Dead Cities and even some in HUWD

I don't think there's anything in that album remotely close to what I would classify as shoegaze just because it's fuzzy or there's a 'wall of sound' is it shoegaze

[img]http://musicandliteratureislife16.files.wordpress.com/2011/12/cover.jpg[/img] All of a Sudden I Miss Everything by Explosions in the Sky 7/10, really great to listen to on different occasions, the music is really powerful and inspirational-type. Not as much "listening" music as the other stuff I listen to, but it's not necessarily background music either. I usually listen to it when I go to sleep or when I'm on a long drive in the morning or something like that. It's the kind of music you would hear in an inspirational speech video. I like it.

[QUOTE=En-Guage V2;34335169]I don't think there's anything in that album remotely close to what I would classify as shoegaze just because it's fuzzy or there's a 'wall of sound' is it shoegaze[/QUOTE] Lots of reverb, effects, quiet vocals. Sounds pretty shoegazey.

I never really got how M83 was shoegaze either, I mean I can see the comparison but I would call M83 a lot of other things before shoegaze.

Yeah, same. However, it's still something that is pretty prominent in his music.

[QUOTE=En-Guage V2;34335169]I don't think there's anything in that album remotely close to what I would classify as shoegaze just because it's fuzzy or there's a 'wall of sound' is it shoegaze[/QUOTE] Shoegazing is more atmosphere imo. But a certain hazy atmosphere which pretty much all the shoegaze albums I've heard had it, M83 didn't have it. It's kind of a dream pop record. [editline]22nd January 2012[/editline] [QUOTE=Take_Opal;34335303]Lots of reverb, effects, quiet vocals. Sounds pretty shoegazey.[/QUOTE] so Fleet Foxes are shoegaze eh? :-)

the only thing about that album that made it worth listening was the psychedelic frog song

in actual reality it's your average synthpop record with some dream pop elements. Their earlier stuff is probably more psych and less easily accessible.

it was alright I just checked it out because of all of the hype

Thought I might do this cause it made me depressed and I needed to vent about it Just finished listening to two albums by The Beach Boys. I've recently been getting into them (I've always loved Pet Sounds, but I wanted to hear the rest of their stuff.) [img]http://musicimg.cyworld.com/ALBUM/015/009/15009874.jpg[/img] Little Deuce Coupe - 1963 This album pretty much just appealed to the part of me that loves corny pop music, and this whole album is that in a nutshell. The one reason I love The Beach Boys is their fantastic vocal harmonies, I honestly can't get over how nice they are. Makes me want to practice my singing a lot more than I actually do. The guitar work is relatively simplistic, and the lyrical content is really sappy and kinda unbearable at times (good examples are "Be True to your School" or "Car Crazy Cutie") and for some reason they really like Cars... but I still enjoyed it. Especially "I Get Around", easily the best track on the album. I RATE IT SEVEN SOUPED UP VINTAGE CARS OUT OF TEN And then I listened to this: [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zHQyBM7OxYo/TueUruzGNvI/AAAAAAAABKk/AqDz2sj_vzA/s1600/the-beach-boys-surfs-up-1.jpg[/img] Surf's Up - 1971 This album officially wins the award for most misleading title, and the most depressing album art ever. This is not Beach Boys? I'm sew confused. Now, this is the post-psychedelic era of The Beach Boys (A lovely era which gave us Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile) but what? Where are the vocal harmonies I love so? Where are the lovely cheesy songs about surfing and girls and cars etc.? I miss you now, even though I ridiculed you at the time. It's no wonder The Beach Boys were so obscure during the 70's; this album was actually awful to listen to. It made me actually sad. I GIVE IT TWO DEPRESSED ME'S OUT OF TEN. [editline]22nd January 2012[/editline] it's just interesting to see how much a decade can do to a band, really

[QUOTE=Oman;34339107] And then I listened to this: [img]http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-zHQyBM7OxYo/TueUruzGNvI/AAAAAAAABKk/AqDz2sj_vzA/s1600/the-beach-boys-surfs-up-1.jpg[/img] Surf's Up - 1971 This album officially wins the award for most misleading title, and the most depressing album art ever. This is not Beach Boys? I'm sew confused. Now, this is the post-psychedelic era of The Beach Boys (A lovely era which gave us Pet Sounds and Smiley Smile) but what? Where are the vocal harmonies I love so? Where are the lovely cheesy songs about surfing and girls and cars etc.? I miss you now, even though I ridiculed you at the time. It's no wonder The Beach Boys were so obscure during the 70's; this album was actually awful to listen to. It made me actually sad. I GIVE IT TWO DEPRESSED ME'S OUT OF TEN. [/QUOTE] It is a depressing album. You should get Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue, much more uplifting. But Brian Wilson's Smile is probably the most uplifting album I've heard.

[QUOTE=AK'z;34339233]It is a depressing album. You should get Dennis Wilson's Pacific Ocean Blue, much more uplifting. But Brian Wilson's Smile is probably the most uplifting album I've heard.[/QUOTE] it wan't just depressing, it was kinda awful too. The songs were just bland and not very good.

[QUOTE=AK'z;34338522]Shoegazing is more atmosphere imo. But a certain hazy atmosphere which pretty much all the shoegaze albums I've heard had it, M83 didn't have it. It's kind of a dream pop record. [editline]22nd January 2012[/editline] so Fleet Foxes are shoegaze eh? :-)[/QUOTE] Never heard Fleet Foxes. But if all those elements are in their music consistently, than I'd say they have some aspects of shoegaze.

[QUOTE=Take_Opal;34341822]Never heard Fleet Foxes. But if all those elements are in their music consistently, than I'd say they have some aspects of shoegaze.[/QUOTE] dude, shoegaze is a LOT more than just "reverb, effects and quiet vocals". you just generalized something that's actually quite complex.

Quiet vocals, distortion, layered melodies, effects. Shoegaze may be complex, but those are all things that make shoegaze what it is and you cannot deny that. All of that is present in Dead Cities and because of that you can safely say that Dead Cities is inspired by or partly shoegaze. And we're generalizing about genres. That's what you do.