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31
Announcements / Re: Jupiter Hell Kickstarter - Year 1 update!
« on: December 22, 2017, 00:05 »Next up - Kickstart LuckyDee's new computer?
Don't worry about me, I have too little time to be playing games anyway :)
Not that I let that deter me... D:
32
Announcements / Re: Jupiter Hell Kickstarter - Year 1 update!
« on: December 21, 2017, 04:20 »An epic tour of all the four (or how many were there? :P) moons! I'll meet you there!
Can't. My computer won't run JH D:
33
Nightmare! / Re: [N!|AoLT|57%|YAVP] Gutt's Heart
« on: December 21, 2017, 03:25 »
You never cease to scare amaze me.
34
Announcements / Re: Jupiter Hell Kickstarter - Year 1 update!
« on: December 21, 2017, 03:23 »I know, right! :D
I became a bit of a lurker, but I'm still here... I'm a ghost that will always haunt the dungeons of the 'forge... (whose soul is stuck in limbo until jupiter hell is released :P)
Awesome. Any travel plans for when you're gonna be set free? ;)
35
Announcements / Re: Jupiter Hell Kickstarter - Year 1 update!
« on: December 21, 2017, 03:02 »Great, awesome!
Hey, you live! You've been silent for an awfully long time... :*(
36
Post Mortem / Re: [M|98%|AoMr|YAVP/YASD] On Nukes and timing + First full win w/100%
« on: December 20, 2017, 06:41 »
Congrats man, MSs is indeed a challenge to get going, but once she's rolling...
And yeah, that's one hell of a lesson to learn. Bet you won't be forgetting that one any time soon D:
As far as your terminology goes: this run isn't a full win, but a partial. It's not a YASD either, as you clearly landed a win. See Da Rulez! and/or the Wiki for further clarification. To answer the unasked question: people pay me to be annoying like this, and I like taking my work attitude home with me ;)
And yeah, that's one hell of a lesson to learn. Bet you won't be forgetting that one any time soon D:
As far as your terminology goes: this run isn't a full win, but a partial. It's not a YASD either, as you clearly landed a win. See Da Rulez! and/or the Wiki for further clarification. To answer the unasked question: people pay me to be annoying like this, and I like taking my work attitude home with me ;)
37
Announcements / Re: Jupiter Hell Kickstarter - Year 1 update!
« on: December 14, 2017, 01:34 »
Congrats everyone. Keep 'em coming!
38
Post Mortem / Re: [M|AoB|92%|YAFW] First win
« on: December 11, 2017, 22:47 »
Nice, and on AoB no less - that's no mean feat. Let's see how much time it will take you to surpass my skill level :S
39
Off Topic / Re: Music Review Trader
« on: December 02, 2017, 01:06 »I have to wonder what your experience with female fronted metal is, if that has been your reaction to it - perhaps your forthcoming review will shed some light on that question for me.
Well, for starters, as I've pointed out before, I think most metal is crap because almost any one band you pick sounds exactly like the next (just as about any band in any genre does). Prolific copy-catting puts me off a certain sound/style very quickly. In my experience, FFM to me is just about the worst of it, because
1) All vocalists sound exactly the same
2) Not only do all musical parts sound the same, they're also among the most standard riffs and progressions you can think of
3) I can't relate to the general mystical/fantastical/goth vibe the most visible of these bands try to convey (a fellow student of mine during my audio engineering course dubbed the style 'Efteling rock', after our most famous national amusement park which started out from a sort of permanent exhibition of famous fairy tales - since then I had to stop taking the entire scene seriously altogether)
What I have experienced from FFM, centered around bands like Within Temptation, is that it's boring, rehashed music that contains no genuine emotion, only the suggestion of one, and specifically one that will appeal to the developing sensibilities of sixteen-year-olds. Substitute the distorted guitars for some electronic samples, and you have pop music.
That being said, I was quite impressed with Vuur and bought their new album to give to my son next week (our version of Christmas, gift-giving-wise) - so there's some hope.
if you have an interest in women in metal, allow me to shamelessly plug this project i put together a few years ago
Hot diggity that's one impressive list. I'm pretty confident there's something on there that will prove my assumptions wrong - there just has to be - but digging into that is pretty daunting D:
40
Off Topic / Re: Music Review Trader
« on: December 01, 2017, 00:22 »
Glad to see you joining us. Be advised, chances are I'll break your heart on this one - female fronted metal generally gets on my nerves really quickly - but then again I never really like really listened to it, so I might be pleasantly surprised...
You're next in line right after Tavana.
You're next in line right after Tavana.
41
Off Topic / Re: Music Review Trader
« on: November 30, 2017, 01:25 »
Wow, excellent piece right there. You're obviously deeper into the music theory than I am - which I kinda already knew - and I could learn a thing or two from that. And of course I'm glad you're impressed with the album. Mike Patton (whom most people will know from Faith No More) is the mastermind behind this, and I'm a big fan of nearly everything he does. I don't even think this is Fantômas' best work - check out Suspended Animation if you want - but yeah, the pure evil dripping off most every direction this album takes is really impressive to me.
I've grown pretty much accustomed to listening to less conventional pieces like this one, but I do realize it may be daunting to take it all in and still beg for more. Kudos to you for your effort, and good to know we're even as far as pulling each other from our comfort zones is concerned.
Insert album to continue.
I've grown pretty much accustomed to listening to less conventional pieces like this one, but I do realize it may be daunting to take it all in and still beg for more. Kudos to you for your effort, and good to know we're even as far as pulling each other from our comfort zones is concerned.
Insert album to continue.
42
Off Topic / Re: Music Review Trader
« on: November 27, 2017, 22:41 »
I have Spotify, so I'll have a look. You're next on the list!
43
Off Topic / Re: Music Review Trader
« on: November 27, 2017, 08:30 »
Artist: Aphrodite’s Child
Album: 666
Grade: 4/10
Motivation: Paradoxically good album considering that it’s mainly made up of poor songs.
As someone who grew up in the eighties, Vangelis is a familiar and respected name to me. First and foremost associated with synthesizer hits in the vein of Chariots of Fire, which later took a more orchestral turn with Conquest of Paradise, trying to place this album in his oeuvre required some serious effort on my part. As of yet, I’ll admit I haven’t succeeded, but fortunately whether or not I eventually do so is of no consequence to a review of this particular album. Originally a two LP title, it’s a 78 minute concept piece on the biblical Book of Revelation – highly progressively laid out even by today’s standards, let alone those of 1972 in which it was finally released.
Compositionally speaking, with concept albums like this one there’s always two types of structures to consider: the macrostructure, or how the album is built up, and the microstructures, or how the individual songs are set out. On a good title, both structures will have been given equal attention and will match one another. This is one of the main reasons I’m so impressed with Ænima: as the album progresses, the songs becoming increasingly varied and unpredictable while still maintaining an overall coherence in sound and texture. Whether or not it can be considered a concept album is up for debate, but at least I consider it so.
Examined on the macro level, 666 has been thoroughly planned. There’s a lot of songs with relatively short run times and enough deviation between them to keep things interesting, but still adhering to the main theme. It includes both traditionally composed songs (by pop/rock standards) as well as more experimental pieces. It also comprises a very big array of instruments and voices, which helps to convey the right atmosphere for the individual pieces. I’m no big Bible fan myself, but I’d say the big picture is an honest attempt at translating the story into music.
Unfortunately, that’s where the praise stops. Sound-wise, the production doesn’t sound too different from other contemporary albums – which is neither a good nor a bad thing. It just fits the sound of that time. The death sentence is spoken through the individual songs, which are repetitive, pretentious or both. This may have sounded a lot different to someone actively experiencing this album upon its release – and possibly tripping balls in the process – but by my standards there’s not a single interesting song on the entire work. Neither the chord progressions nor the lyrics are exciting enough to warrant repetition to this extent, meaning nearly all the songs would be better off being a lot shorter than they currently are. Literally no effort is put into trying to break the monotony. And especially with songs like ∞, which is essentially a woman moaning varying configurations of about five different words over and over and over again for five minutes, this gets on my nerves in about a tenth of the time it’s being allowed to go on.
And when they finally take ample time to come up with something truly grandiose, such as the 20 minutes they spend on All the Seats Were Occupied, it doesn’t amount to much more than rehashing previous tracks and interspersing them with more monotony.
Had this work been carried out in about half the time it runs for in its original state, it would have been so much better. As it is, the album falls in much the same category as the Bible upon which it was inspired does: at some point in time it must have been a great idea, but what could have inspired people to think so is beyond me.
@Uranium, sorry if this isn’t quite what you’d expected, but I found the album very tough to digest and have tried to explain why as objectively as I could – as far as this is possible with an opinion, of course. The album sparked some link to the title I’ll offer you in return, although I’m hard-pressed to tell you how or why. It’s the first album of a double which has haunted me ever since childhood and, by its curious purpose, has withstood the test of time excellently in my opinion. Please enjoy the first part of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds.
Album: 666
Grade: 4/10
Motivation: Paradoxically good album considering that it’s mainly made up of poor songs.
As someone who grew up in the eighties, Vangelis is a familiar and respected name to me. First and foremost associated with synthesizer hits in the vein of Chariots of Fire, which later took a more orchestral turn with Conquest of Paradise, trying to place this album in his oeuvre required some serious effort on my part. As of yet, I’ll admit I haven’t succeeded, but fortunately whether or not I eventually do so is of no consequence to a review of this particular album. Originally a two LP title, it’s a 78 minute concept piece on the biblical Book of Revelation – highly progressively laid out even by today’s standards, let alone those of 1972 in which it was finally released.
Compositionally speaking, with concept albums like this one there’s always two types of structures to consider: the macrostructure, or how the album is built up, and the microstructures, or how the individual songs are set out. On a good title, both structures will have been given equal attention and will match one another. This is one of the main reasons I’m so impressed with Ænima: as the album progresses, the songs becoming increasingly varied and unpredictable while still maintaining an overall coherence in sound and texture. Whether or not it can be considered a concept album is up for debate, but at least I consider it so.
Examined on the macro level, 666 has been thoroughly planned. There’s a lot of songs with relatively short run times and enough deviation between them to keep things interesting, but still adhering to the main theme. It includes both traditionally composed songs (by pop/rock standards) as well as more experimental pieces. It also comprises a very big array of instruments and voices, which helps to convey the right atmosphere for the individual pieces. I’m no big Bible fan myself, but I’d say the big picture is an honest attempt at translating the story into music.
Unfortunately, that’s where the praise stops. Sound-wise, the production doesn’t sound too different from other contemporary albums – which is neither a good nor a bad thing. It just fits the sound of that time. The death sentence is spoken through the individual songs, which are repetitive, pretentious or both. This may have sounded a lot different to someone actively experiencing this album upon its release – and possibly tripping balls in the process – but by my standards there’s not a single interesting song on the entire work. Neither the chord progressions nor the lyrics are exciting enough to warrant repetition to this extent, meaning nearly all the songs would be better off being a lot shorter than they currently are. Literally no effort is put into trying to break the monotony. And especially with songs like ∞, which is essentially a woman moaning varying configurations of about five different words over and over and over again for five minutes, this gets on my nerves in about a tenth of the time it’s being allowed to go on.
And when they finally take ample time to come up with something truly grandiose, such as the 20 minutes they spend on All the Seats Were Occupied, it doesn’t amount to much more than rehashing previous tracks and interspersing them with more monotony.
Had this work been carried out in about half the time it runs for in its original state, it would have been so much better. As it is, the album falls in much the same category as the Bible upon which it was inspired does: at some point in time it must have been a great idea, but what could have inspired people to think so is beyond me.
@Uranium, sorry if this isn’t quite what you’d expected, but I found the album very tough to digest and have tried to explain why as objectively as I could – as far as this is possible with an opinion, of course. The album sparked some link to the title I’ll offer you in return, although I’m hard-pressed to tell you how or why. It’s the first album of a double which has haunted me ever since childhood and, by its curious purpose, has withstood the test of time excellently in my opinion. Please enjoy the first part of Jeff Wayne’s War of the Worlds.
44
Off Topic / Re: Music Review Trader
« on: November 23, 2017, 23:48 »
Ok, this was not quite what I'd expected, but I'm game :) Be back with thoughts soonest.
45
Off Topic / Re: Music Review Trader
« on: November 22, 2017, 14:49 »
Awesome, thanks for your input man! I wish you would appreciate this piece as much as I do, but I know full well how a vocalist can make or break a record simply by the sound of their voice - it's exactly what makes a lot of metal completely unenjoyable for me. Glad you liked the experience though, it's a thrill I like exposing myself to and it's nice to be able to share this.
If you're up for another round, just feed me another title.
If you're up for another round, just feed me another title.