What Are You Listening to Now 7.0
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litfan10
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and I await with bated breath.....
Haulover
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Marillion : An Hour Before It's Dark
Opinion follows:
Great listen. Not their greatest album, but far from their worst (which IMO was Anoraknophobia). Excellent production, excellent performances, and good (but not great) song writing.
@litfan10 , you mentioned the word "lush". I agree - but much of the album is "lush" to a fault, leading to a somewhat linear album without enough variety.
Kelly's keyboards are more at the forefront than usual, and Rothery's excellent Gilmoureseue guitar work takes something of a back seat. That seems to be a key contributor to the "samey" feel of the first several tracks,
"The Crow And The Nightingale" is supposed to be a nod to Leonard Cohen. I don't hear it - but a less "lush" and more minimalistic instrumentation might have achieved that.
The first 5 tracks don't have the separation - the tempo shifts or the tonal variety, of (e.g.) "Marbles" or "Afraid Of Sunlight". "Sierra Leone" is an important exception to that, and "Care" is very good too. Pity the best 2 tracks are left to the end.
Thankfully, it's a bit more light-hearted than FEAR was.
It's one of the better releases in the band's Hogarth-era - but not one of the best.
More listens might lead to more positive views.
Opinion follows:
Great listen. Not their greatest album, but far from their worst (which IMO was Anoraknophobia). Excellent production, excellent performances, and good (but not great) song writing.
@litfan10 , you mentioned the word "lush". I agree - but much of the album is "lush" to a fault, leading to a somewhat linear album without enough variety.
Kelly's keyboards are more at the forefront than usual, and Rothery's excellent Gilmoureseue guitar work takes something of a back seat. That seems to be a key contributor to the "samey" feel of the first several tracks,
"The Crow And The Nightingale" is supposed to be a nod to Leonard Cohen. I don't hear it - but a less "lush" and more minimalistic instrumentation might have achieved that.
The first 5 tracks don't have the separation - the tempo shifts or the tonal variety, of (e.g.) "Marbles" or "Afraid Of Sunlight". "Sierra Leone" is an important exception to that, and "Care" is very good too. Pity the best 2 tracks are left to the end.
Thankfully, it's a bit more light-hearted than FEAR was.
It's one of the better releases in the band's Hogarth-era - but not one of the best.
More listens might lead to more positive views.
litfan10
owner of slave_
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Actually there is an explanation regarding Kelly's forefront and Rothery's back seat.Marillion : An Hour Before It's Dark
Opinion follows:
Great listen. Not their greatest album, but far from their worst (which IMO was Anoraknophobia). Excellent production, excellent performances, and good (but not great) song writing.
@litfan10 , you mentioned the word "lush". I agree - but much of the album is "lush" to a fault, leading to a somewhat linear album without enough variety.
Kelly's keyboards are more at the forefront than usual, and Rothery's excellent Gilmoureseue guitar work takes something of a back seat. That seems to be a key contributor to the "samey" feel of the first several tracks,
"The Crow And The Nightingale" is supposed to be a nod to Leonard Cohen. I don't hear it - but a less "lush" and more minimalistic instrumentation might have achieved that.
The first 5 tracks don't have the separation - the tempo shifts or the tonal variety, of (e.g.) "Marbles" or "Afraid Of Sunlight". "Sierra Leone" is an important exception to that, and "Care" is very good too. Pity the best 2 tracks are left to the end.
Thankfully, it's a bit more light-hearted than FEAR was.
It's one of the better releases in the band's Hogarth-era - but not one of the best.
More listens might lead to more positive views.
Marillion writes songs as a jam band, always have. When they wrote this album Rothery who is diabetic was "terrified for his life and refused to leave his house" according to H in an interview so the other four carried on in the studio without him. H continued that much like F.E.A.R. Kelly produced the lion's share of the new material that they built off of and Rothery came in after he felt safe and added his parts.
You have an amazingly discerning ear, Mr. Haulover.
litfan10
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I have to confess: of the post Fish albums Anoraknophobia is probably my favorite as a whole album and gets the most playing on my system.Marillion : An Hour Before It's Dark
Opinion follows:
Great listen. Not their greatest album, but far from their worst (which IMO was Anoraknophobia).
Haulover
Literotica Guru
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@litfan10 - thanks for the kind words, and the info about Kelly / Rothery. I've been out of touch with them for a wile. (I once interviewed Rothery, and I spent about 2 hours - socially - with Trewavas.)
I guess I need to re-listen to Anoraknophobia. I definitely think Marbles is their best "h" release.
Now - on to the new Flower Kings. (I'm not their biggest fan, but will give it a few spins...)
I guess I need to re-listen to Anoraknophobia. I definitely think Marbles is their best "h" release.
Now - on to the new Flower Kings. (I'm not their biggest fan, but will give it a few spins...)
litfan10
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Don't forget, Stolt shares A LOT of the lead vocal duties now in the new FK lineup.
To me the absolute best Marillion is Misplaced Childhood and Fugazi; however, I really believe you have to look at Marillion as two bands with Fish and H being the dividing point. H-era favs are Anoraknophobia, Brave and Marbles.
Stockholmblondie
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Pearl Jam, kind of before my time, but love it
Lori_the_Hoosier
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Japan - Quiet Life
Oh my God, David Sylvian's voice...even after all these years, shivers and goosebumps
Oh my God, David Sylvian's voice...even after all these years, shivers and goosebumps
Zeb_Carter
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Well, nothing on the player right now, so in my head I'm listening to "Dragostea Din Tei" or in English "Words of Love" or more familiarly known as "Numa Numa".
Blind_Justice
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Nope. Sabaton have peaked with "Carolus Rex" and everything since has been either a lukewarm rehash of their own back catalogue or atrocious, cheesy fluff. No wonder, since right around "Carolus Rex" the singer and bassist did fire the rest of the band over "creative differences". Probably "let's shake up our formula a little to avoid becoming stale" - "YOU'RE FIRED LIKE THE CANNON OF A KÖNIGSTIGER TANK!"
Now Playing:
They Dream Of Starfish - Sunrise In Dystopia
Once again, shameless self-promotion. Our latest track, the ninth for our upcoming album and one of the best melodies my lady love has come up with yet. I especially like the contrast of floating melodies over a rather brutal stompy groove.
litfan10
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See, I find the atrocious, cheesy fluff hysterically funny. Between the over-the-top delivery of lyrics and the frantic pace of the music I am very guiltily amused.
A very welcome pure giggle-fest.
Which I don't think was their intention but oh, well - the giggles will stay.
Yay! For new They Dream of Starfish music!
Sounds great!
Blind_Justice
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I actually didn't stop to look at their output that way. Okay, whatever makes you happy I guess. They are a bigger cartoon act than Kiss by now, that's true.
Also, I did send you the new song yesterday. Don't you look at your mailbox no more?
(Which will have something else to look at in just a moment)
litfan10
owner of slave_
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Yeah, I got it and thoroughly enjoyed! You and Dani make very good music.I actually didn't stop to look at their output that way. Okay, whatever makes you happy I guess. They are a bigger cartoon act than Kiss by now, that's true.
Also, I did send you the new song yesterday. Don't you look at your mailbox no more?
Blind_Justice
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You should see all the half-started loops and melodies in our projects folder. Compared to that, my plot bunny kennel is clean as a whistle. The ratio of good songs vs. things which will probably never be released is one in twenty. The biggest problem we have, songwriting-wise, is our tendency to write metal songs without being able to play shred guitar. Or sing. Or have a decent drum sound. And Dani is even more of a perfectionist than I am, which is saying A LOT. Mixing "Sunrise..." alone took two days until everything sounded just right.
shakna
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Well, now I feel incredibly old.Pearl Jam, kind of before my time, but love it
