A Stranger's music :: #46 Lemetre, Antlers and more Radiohead [video reviews]

[Stranger of Sorts]

hey could you review some of these albums if possible, and yes... they are very VERY popular. I wanna see what you think of these.

Albums: Boston by Boston, The Wall by Pink Floyd, As Far as Siam by Red Rider, Death Magnetic by Metallica, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band by The Beatles, and Facelift by Alice in Chains.

[HEADING=3]27. A suitable 1000 and something-th post[/HEADING]

[HEADING=1]Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]____by The Beatles[/HEADING]

[h4]Genre = Pop/ Rock

Number of Songs = 13

Highlights = When I'm 64, A Day in the Life + Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite![/h4]

Spoiler: BAM!

When you read this review you should note that there was a whole generation who grew up with The Beatles, it's a generation that tell everyone of the wonders of the band and how absolutely amazing they are. But I am not in this generation, sadly I was born from The Beatles' generation so there's been a bit of a backlash. It's safe to say that listening to the same music as your parents/ teachers isn't exactly cool. So I, much like most my age, grew up thinking that The Beatles were rubbish and shouldn't be touched. Since then I have listened to the Beatles a great deal, although not this album. So how good is "Sgt. Pepper's"? Weeell....

I have to admit that Sgt. Pepper's didn't really captivate me in the way that I was told it would, the same with The Beatles as a whole really. They are far from being the "best band ever" but they are definitely good at what they do. For me they've always shows sparks of genius submerged in a lot of stuff that is not nearly so good. This album however, breaks the trend by being consistently pretty good, there's nothing like Here Comes the Sun or Yesterday to blow you away but neither is there a bad song. There are, of course, highlights.

When I'm 64 is one of these: it's quiet, simple and has a charming oom-pah quality to it. Is it one of the best songs on the album? Probably not, but it is definitely one of the most unique. Nice, pleasant, story-like lyrics sung in a clear, high voice with plenty of pauses and changes of tone... really there's nothing to complain about with the song. I even have nostalgic memories of singing it in a year 5 assembly, so I suppose that's something. It serves as a breath for air in the album as many of you will know that Sgt. Pepper's was the first (if not one of the first) album to have songs merge into each other.

Similarly, A Day in the Life is the album's warm down, coming straight after the quite loud and upbeat Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (reprise). It's equally as quiet as When I'm 64 but with a higher emphasis on the instruments and music than the lyrics themselves. It comes across as quite dark with the contrasting orchestra and dirge-like singing, basically it's the "sad song" of the album, but a good one at that. This is possibly my favourite song on the album since it's amazing that a song written a few generations ago is so easy to connect to.

Some may ask at this point why I haven' listed any of the classics in the highlights like Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds. Simply put, I don't see what the fuss is all about. If anything this along with Get by with a Little Help from my Friends are the weakest songs on the album since they're quite bland. Although that may be because I've heard them so many times before.

Being for the Benefit of Mr. Kite is a song that much better fits my tastes, it's carnival craziness mixes perfectly with an organ (if I'm not mistaken) to create a fun-filled song with an extra lunacy on the side. You will have picked up on my ramblings then, that this song is a bit weird, but note that it's held together with dancing singing (if you listen to the song you'll know what I mean by that) and some instrumental interludes that would hold up very well on their own. I would say it's a head-bopping tune, a term I have just made up, because it is so easy to get caught up with the song's rhythm and style.

Sgt. Pepper's, I am told, is an experimental album and this is obvious from the vast array of unusual tunes on offer where The Beatles dabble in everything from Dark Cabaret to traditional Indian music. It comes out to be a pretty damn good album but no, it is not the "best album ever".

​

GO READ THE REVIEW!

Anyway, it seems I'm very good at getting people to read my reviews, but not many comment. For example, my last separate review got 200 views and only one of them commented. It would be great if this trend could be broken.

For the next review I'm thinking of doing another one of mine, more specifically "Street Horrrsing" by Fuck Buttons. After that I'll do another request, then one of mine, then a request and so on.

Be sure to leave a comment.

Thanks for reading.

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

I won The Beatles: Rock Band when it came out so I only really got into the band this year. I was pretty surprised. I thought, after all the imitators they would seem boring and I wouldn't like them. They're now one of my favourite bands.

This seems to be the case with a lot of people, as I said in the review they have done some incredible songs.

I wish that more people would comment on these... it's one thing to beg for attention on my part but really I like to know that people are actually enjoying reading these, or if not how I can improve.

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

Your Reviews are good, and im pleased that you do not add a rating to it, i think ratings are really a biased think to put on a review.
But there isnt a clear reason of why you may think a song is bad, why is it not "the best album ever" for you.

Also the reason for the low amount of comments about your reviews is because you have loads of Indie, and i hope im not mistaken, but i think the tastes of most escapists is mostly rooted in the harder rock and metal bands.(The only bands that could be considered Indie, and ones that i liked was My Bloody Valentine and Tresspassers William).

Id be very interested in your review of Pink Floyd - The Wall, the album that got me into Proggressive Rock.

Pink Floyd is on the list actually, I'll try to PM you if I do it in this week. I've realised the popularity of metal here and am painfully aware of it from all the PMs sent to me saying how "wrong" I am about their beloved genre. Ah well...

I've found that I'm not very good at distinguishing between awesome and not quite as awesome, I tend to speak only in positives if I like something and my template of focussing on three songs hinders me further. With "Sgt. Pepper", I found that the other songs that I didn't talk about were quite bland if anything.

 

[slipknot4]

It would be awesome if you reviewed the Fake Blood ep, it's three songs and it shouldn't take too much time to listen trough them all.
Hope you're into random disco/alternative electro.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Reviewing The Beatles eh? Well you're certainly far more charitable to them then I would ever be - I honestly have never understood why they're this "holy grail" and we all must love them (or be accused of posturing when we say we don't). Which is not to say I think they're bad, they're just really boring (with a few exceptions here and there of course).

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

Reviewing The Beatles eh? Well you're certainly far more charitable to them then I would ever be - I honestly have never understood why they're this "holy grail" and we all must love them (or be accused of posturing when we say we don't). Which is not to say I think they're bad, they're just really boring (with a few exceptions here and there of course).

I thought I'd take a break from being "edgy" which people have accused me of since the Portal review. But yeh it's pretty good, just not nearly as mind-blowing as everyone promised. I may even go as far to say that the Killers have produced better albums (though they did make some good albums so this isn't an insult to the Beatles or anything)

It would be awesome if you reviewed the Fake Blood ep, it's three songs and it shouldn't take too much time to listen trough them all.
Hope you're into random disco/alternative electro.

I'll check it out, might not warrant a full review but I'll tack it along with the next "random shit review" I do.

 

[slipknot4]

It would be awesome if you reviewed the Fake Blood ep, it's three songs and it shouldn't take too much time to listen trough them all.
Hope you're into random disco/alternative electro.

I'll check it out, might not warrant a full review but I'll tack it along with the next "random shit review" I do.

Ahh, thanks. I can't wait for it to be released ^_^

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

[HEADING=3]28. Don't Make Me Choose[/HEADING]
[HEADING=1]Neveroddoreven[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]_by I Monster[/HEADING]

[h4]Genre = Don't make me choose

Number of Songs = 12

Highlights = Daydream in Blue, Hey Mrs. (Glamour Pus Remix) + Heaven[/h4]

Spoiler: I wouldn't click this if I were you

I Monster are a band that I've only recently started listening to properly. Well I say that, but in reality I only heard of the band last week and am embarrassed to admit not hearing of a brilliant album that came out 5 years ago. Lies aside, I believe it was a recent Ford advert that bought "Neveroddoreven" to my life since it involved Daydream in Blue, the single of the album.

The reason I find it so hard to classify the album as a genre is because it ventures into so many. There's a jazz song, an electronica song, a rock song and an ambient song all in the space of half of this album. However, it is tied together by an electronic twist and distorted vocals which prevent the album from sounding like a compilation. The normal things apply to an album with variety, there will be a song that you will love but also one that you won't like nearly as much. Especially since some songs on "Neveroddoreven" are drastically different. The one thing all the songs do have in common though, is that they are all a bit unusual.

Daydream in Blue is unusual in the way that it flips between a slow paced, trance-like part and an electronic voice piled on thick with effects. It works fairly well, although I do think that there are too many effects as they seem a bit crammed. There is a string part in the background however that pulls the song together. All in all it is a good song, though possibly not deserving of its "single" status, there are far better songs on the album.

One of these is Hey Mrs., the electronic twist is still there in the voice and a sparse amount of effects but it lets the Glam Rock "other type of" rock part of the song take centre stage. Yeh that's right, you heard me... Glam Rock "other type of" rock. Hey Mrs. starts with a rolling guitar riff befitting of Kasabian overlayed with heavily distorted singing which you wouldn't think would work, but somehow manages to. What is more confusing is the indie chorus, which also works... somehow. It's definitely unusual to have a heavy verse and soft chorus outside of Hip-hop.

While Hey Mrs. is a great song, there is one better one on "Neveroddoreven". Those who have read a few of these will probably have already guessed where this is going but anyway, the song is Heaven and it is the softest song on the album. Oddly enough, it is also the only song that has a sense of cohesiveness about it in the way that all the parts of the song have the same tone. I guess you could say that the song "drifts" as it's both slow and surreal, there are no sharp notes and a haunting backing singer is a constant throughout Heaven. The lyrics too, are surreal as I cannot really tell what the song is about; so far I've narrowed it down to sex (let's be honest, when isn't it?) or contraception from the chorus of "Heaven is inside you". Though the next line of "Heaven, when I ride you is probably the most blatant clue.

I said earlier that there are some songs on the album that you won't like and this is certainly true. In my opinion, about half the album is complete rubbish. Though overall I think "Neveroddoreven" is worth a look just for the good songs, especially if you're into your "weird shit" as I am.

​

Have a listen while you read the review.

READ THE REVIEW


ARRRRRGGGHHHHH

Anyway yeh, sorry this one's a bit short. It started out very well but then I completely blanked on things to talk about. I could have waited till things popped up, but I tend to do these when the feeling takes me.

Oh next time will most likely be The Wall by Pink Floyd because of popular demand (being 2 people, but hey that's double the normal amount)

Thanks for reading.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

Well that song was certainly... interesting. Not really Glam Rock though - I can see why you'd say that, but Glam Rock sounds a lot more like say...

Spoiler: this.

I've pretty much given up on you reviewing The Odyssey, so I tracked down a copy for myself - I really don't get why you seem to find reviewing it such a daunting prospect. It's only an hour and seven minutes long, ha ha!

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

Well that song was certainly... interesting. Not really Glam Rock though - I can see why you'd say that, but Glam Rock sounds a lot more like say...

Spoiler: this.

I've pretty much given up on you reviewing The Odyssey, so I tracked down a copy for myself - I really don't get why you seem to find reviewing it such a daunting prospect. It's only an hour and seven minutes long, ha ha!

I didn't really think it was, but when I was previewing the songs on iTunes I read the review of it there and that was what they said it was. I thought that a professional music reviewer would know hat they were on about, seems like they didn't.

I'm really surprised/ annoyed at myself for not reviewing The Odyssey, I seem to have built it up in my mind as something that's really bad even though I haven't really listened to it yet.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

I'm really surprised/ annoyed at myself for not reviewing The Odyssey, I seem to have built it up in my mind as something that's really bad even though I haven't really listened to it yet.

Well we may only have partially overlapping tastes in music at best, but ask yourself this: When have I ever recommended something you actively loathed?

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

I'm really surprised/ annoyed at myself for not reviewing The Odyssey, I seem to have built it up in my mind as something that's really bad even though I haven't really listened to it yet.

Well we may only have partially overlapping tastes in music at best, but ask yourself this: When have I ever recommended something you actively loathed?

Damn you...

I'm not too much of a fan of the intro to Accolade II, it's a bit pirate like though so that's good. Reminds me of Meatloaf.

EDIT: This guitar solo is bitching!

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

[HEADING=3]God doesn't want you to read this[/HEADING]
[HEADING=1]The Odyssey[/HEADING]
[HEADING=2]_by Symphony X[/HEADING]
[h4]Genre = Progressive Metal

Number of Songs = 8

Highlights = Accolade II + The Odyssey[/h4]

Spoiler: Are you sure you want to click this?

You know what, I've come to a conclusion and that conclusion is that God did not want me to listen to this album. I am not a religious man but I cannot ignore such definite evidence. Firstly, I was recommended "The Odyssey" just after reviewing Them Crooked Vultures, so at a time where I really didn't want to do more requests. Secondly, I study the Odyssey at school so obviously want to steer clear of anything associated with it. Thirdly, I have predispositions about Metal in the way that when I played the electric guitar (I now play acoustic, pretty well too) my teacher would always try and make me learn Metal songs that I really didn't want to play. But there's more! When I started playing the album I was overcome by a distinct feeling of Deja-vu and slight nausea. Try and explain that with your precious science!

If anyone is wondering the cover art depicts Odysseus' encounter with the Sirens. The reason he is tied to the mast is that the Sirens lure passing vessels with a beautiful song. So Odysseus makes everyone else where ear muffs while he ties himself down and has a listen.

The thing is though, that I do like this album. I certainly don't regard it as a classic as some others have told me but it is definitely well produced and contains some great songs. The songs in this album typically consist of a light backing melody, usually in the form of a piano piece, overlayed with heavily distorted guitars that provide the umph. There is also a heavy influence of symphonic metal as their name suggests.

"The Odyssey" kicks off with one of the best metal songs I have ever heard, Accolade II. It starts off with quite a nautical theme before the singer comes in, befitting the album and getting the listener in the right mood for the rest of "The Odyssey". Somehow Accolade II manages to be heavy without overdoing it: it takes several breaks from the guitar, the rhythm constantly changes and the piano in the background is constant. More impressively is the way it manages this while incorporating a pretty sweet guitar solo that gets the balance of technical skill and ear-pleasure just right. On top of this there is the incredibly good chorus that makes you want to head bang. Not in a manic death metal way but in a more measured out, rhythmic fashion. Add all these things together and you're left with an amazing song.

Before I get onto The Odyssey I'd like to bring up something that relates to the whole album, but is more relevant to that song in particular. The songs are quite long, not shockingly so from a metal/classical perspective but from my music background it takes some getting used to. The length means that some parts seem stretched out and there perhaps in't quite enough variety in the songs to make up for it. Oh and did I mention that the Odyssey is over 25 minutes long? I didn't? Well it is!

The song itself is very interesting, it isn't simply one incredibly stretched out song but a collection that fit seamlessly together as a retelling of Homer's Odyssey. It switched from heavy to soft constantly while getting a few guitar solos in there at points. Listening to The Odyssey does not feel like you're listening to a song, rather a whole album. This means that there are bits I like (the quieter bits, come on I don't really have to say this any more...) and there are parts that are not so good as they overstay their welcome for a few minutes. Overall though, it's spectacular and definitely worth a listen, if you have the time that is.

There are other things on this album that are good, the singer for example, is pretty strong and has an impressive vocal range that thankfully never verges on growling. The different instruments are put together beautifully to create an astounding overall effect. Should you listen to this album? Well considering that the likeliness is that you like metal, you should kill for it.

​

Give it a listen while you read, then you can save time and time is precious.

Do you know why I always fill this place with meaningless jarble? It's because the quote box doesn't cover the video if I don't do it.

Oh and sorry if these have been slowing down even more, I made a User Group you see and am spending quite a bit of my Escapist time on it. It actually takes a surprising amount of effort to get the ball rolling so you can sit back and enjoy what you've started. If you're interested in good threads then I suggest you join it.

I didn't mean to advertise it but it's the only way I could think of to fill out space. Sorry.

 

[Gildan Bladeborn]

See, I knew you'd like it - you had yourself all worried over nothing. You'd probably like their other albums too, though I'm certainly not going to nag you to review those (unless you want me to), heh.

I should totally review the "Tunisian Symphony X" now!

 

[Stranger of Sorts]

See, I knew you'd like it - you had yourself all worried over nothing. You'd probably like their other albums too, though I'm certainly not going to nag you to review those (unless you want me to), heh.

I should totally review the "Tunisian Symphony X" now!

I think I've had my fair share of nagging. Thanks for the offer though.

 

[Scizophrenic Llama]

I'm glad that you decided to go against all of the factors leading you against The Odyssey and reviewed it anyway. It is a bit all over the place with how heavy and light it is. I personally like that though, Russell Allen has an awesome voice and I like to think that kind of shows his diversity. Michael Romeo is a badass on guitar, as the guitar solo in Accolade II shows.

Nice to see a review from a different musical perspective though. I also thought it was rather cool to see music based off of something I had to learn in school, but I didn't mind having to read The Odyssey. It definitely helps the song if you have read the story, in my personal opinion.