BLACKFIELD

Probably floats much closer to 2.5, but, slightly perversely, rounded down because I know I like Blackfield. A lot. Best choruses on this website. So, "FTM": in short, some decent ideas, no embarrassingly poor songs, but this is worse than the reviled IV. I know everyone here sets a different threshold for "mainstream pop", but to varying degrees, Blackfield's first five albums were high-quality albums in a more accessible vein. As in, loosely pop-rock, but far better written and executed than most of what litters the charts, and, on two occasions, just about deserving of 5 stars. We're in 2020 now, and Wilson's investment has basically gone by this point; he plays and sings a bit, but doesn't write or produce, which is what he does best. Consequently, we get terribly plastic-y, shiny production, mainly on the drums (genuinely unforgivable), and little of the richness, slightly retro feel that elevated previous releases.

Some of the songs are more than passable. "Falling" is probably the highlight, on the grounds that (1) it's the only song to exceed four paltry minutes, (2) great chorus (as usual with Blackfield) and (3) echoes of Porcupine Tree's "Dark Matter", but in 4/4. Singles "Summer's Gone" (at least by the end) and "Under My Skin" work pretty well as pure pop songs. The poptimist in me can defend for "After All" and "White Nights". The slower ones, though, where Blackfield usually excels, fall a bit flat. Closer "It's So Hard" is overwrought and sentimental, "Over and Over" is boring and "Garden of Sin" is the nadir; although it has a melancholy weight to it and a nice descending guitar figure in chorus, Geffen's singing is extremely poor and the verse beginning "So pick your grandma's sleeping pills / And one by one swallow them" somehow sinks deeper into self-lacerating parody. The opener is stompy and pop-sheened, as well.

Which is odd, because this isn't by any means a sombre album, as the best Blackfield albums are. There's just little to really commend here at all. Oh, and it's barely half an hour, which isn't problematic per se, but just leaves the whole thing feeling underwhelming. Even IV had some great cuts ("Lost Souls" and "Faking"), but this doesn't. It's not unlistenable by any means; I'd just never suggest any non-Blackfield-fan (prog or otherwise) listened to it ahead of the vast catalogue of decent-but-uninspired music out there.

BLACKFIELD his last album just before the release of the last WILSON! I say this because I am deeply convinced that one is the testing ground of the other; more dancing, less intimate sounds, a quick collaboration between Aviv and Steven to release short titles, to give the new version, the new sound that WILSON himself does not hesitate to say loud and clear. An album that risks being the spearhead of the composer and telling the whole world that rock is dead, so prog rock, you understand that it becomes ephemeral as a notion. This album is no less mauavis, it opens up new avenues, new perspectives in the current musical world. A little regret, the duration of this EP in fact, 30 minutes is short, and I dream of a next one with musical digressions, not to say progressive, ambient, latent, melancholy but digressions all the same to always want to follow the projects of the frontman. Aviv continues to sing to her, no matter what, and does it beautifully. In fact, this album advances the music of the 2020s, it's made ... for music!

First of all, Blackfield fans will not be disoriented. The new album "For The Music" is a series of short sometimes inspired (like For The Music), sometimes poppy (like Summer's Gone) or sometimes quite depressing (like It's So Hard) songs, well executed and well produced as usual that does not differ much from the previous albums. Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson stay in their comfort zone, not even trying to risk something new like, why not, a 6-minute tune. The music in itself is not bad but it lacks the Wilson touch in my opinion. But, by listening to the upcoming new SW album, you quickly discover that the Wilson touch is not what it used to be ! But that's an other story. At the end, the most disappointing point would be the length of the album, that looks to me more like an EP : total time just over 30 minutes. Yes, you read right. 30 minutes. Which is in my opinion is rather outrageous. Hard to believe that 2 musicians as talented as Wilson and Geffen would not have enough materials for a couple of more songs. In this time of pandemic, I would rather listen to the new Wobbler album for helping me fight the gloomy atmosphere looming upon us. That said, For the Music is not my cup of tea but good enough to deserve 3 out of 5 stars.

The first and best Blackfield album from Steven Wilson and Aviv Geffen, showcasing a variety of 'pop' songs if you like. I wouldn't really give them the general pop label as that would be a huge injustice to the great music that is heard on this album and these are not just average pop songs. Wilson sprinkles subtle hints of his own prog background with Porcupine Tree into the songs which makes for a very interesting listen. Furthermore, when we do get to hear Aviv Geffen's voice it adds a different colour compared to Wilson's voice, a nice contrast to have.

The opener, 'Open mind', is an opener to rival all other openers with its clever deception. It starts with a gentle acoustic section before a raging electric guitar literally descends the piece into chaos, taking the listener into one of the most epic sections of noise - the unexpectedness of it makes it all the more effective. It is probably the closest sounding song to Porcupine Tree on the album and it's a close favourite of mine. 'Blackfield' is closer to a pop song, following an ordinary structure and being very catchy indeed, especially in the chorus. Yet the harmony is not so ordinary; the open strings of the guitar are used wisely in the verse chords to make them sound less fulfilling as major chords and therefore gives them an edge of darkness. Likewise, the chord changes in the chorus keep the listener guessing and the inclusion of an augmented chord surely proves that this is not a regular pop song - a treat to the ears. I love the opening of 'Glow' due to how mysterious it is, plus it's a lovely keyboard sound to be heard isolated. The addition of strings brings a sombre tone to the music and it stays at this level until the final minute and a half in which the drums enter and the electric guitar repeats the tonic note of the chords. This changes the mood from being sombre to now being quite angry or perhaps this anger represents a breakdown of emotions - whatever the intention is here, it succeeds in taking the listener on a brief journey of emotion. These first three tracks begin the album beautifully as they are three dissimilar songs that bring a variety of different ideas to the table.

Other notable tracks on the album include 'Lullaby', 'Cloudy Now' and 'The Hole in Me'. The delicate 'Lullaby' begins with a vulnerable piano that plays a melody similar to that of a children's lullaby. It sounds so innocent until the listener hears the sharpened 5th chord (G#) which adds a dark undertone to this supposed innocence - clever writing. This song is also accompanied by strings to add to its fragility; there is some lovely piano work when the strings enter. It's strange because the song is in a major key, yet the music doesn't really sound happy and the lyrics, in typical Wilson style, are ambiguously morbid. 'Cloudy Now' has a similar undertone of darkness but it is definitely more noticeable, especially in the chorus with that repeating pattern on the piano: it sounds so menacing. I always find myself waiting for that pause in the song that signals the transition from quiet to loud; sometimes a pause can be so much more powerful than sound itself and, in this instance, it works so effectively. The loud section is full of anger, anger directed towards the planet as we hear Wilson shouting his views over the blistering noise of the rest of the band. 'The Hole in Me' is very different, not as sombre or angry, and interesting in terms of musical features. Furthermore, we get a chance to hear Geffen's voice which is heard only in the verses. The verse works well in 5/4 and to me sounds quite Medieval but perhaps that is because of the flute sound used and the way the acoustic guitar is played. The sound then changes in the 3/4 chorus as it is louder and sounds more modern, this time with Wilson singing - what a great contrast in terms of music and voicing. This is another example of how these songs deserve to be called something of a higher accolade than a 'pop' song as they are full of clever little embellishments.

I think that anyone who says they dislike this album, or even just complain, due to its more pop-like approach obviously need to have a more open mind (excuse the pun). Even if it is pop, it is pop done extremely well by two very clever musicians that strive to be different. Of course, I prefer the Porcupine Tree stuff because it is more obviously prog driven, but this is still a masterpiece in its own right - it may not entirely be prog, but it certainly gives off the subtle aroma of prog.

Blackfield II is the 2nd (of course) album by the Steven Wilson/Aviv Geffin project. The music is very similar to Porcupine Tree's music, but in much shorter run times and more radio friendly. This album is quite similar to the first album where Wilson was heading the band as far as what you hear, but Geffin wrote most of the lyrics. Wilson also sings most of the songs except for 'Miss U'. This is the only track Geffin sings this time around except for where he shares lead vocals w/Wilson on 'Epidemic', 'Where Is My Love?' and 'End of the World'.

The songs are in the same vein as the debut album, drenched with strings and keyboards with only some short instrumental breaks. The songs are mostly around the 4 minute mark and only one, 'End of the World' slightly surpassing the 5 minute mark. The tracks are a little better developed on this album, but still seem to be lacking in this department.

Wilson's intention for Blackfield was to let Geffin eventually have control over the project, and while these songs are more penned by Geffin, they still have much influence from Wilson, and it really sounds that way too as it has his familiar tone and sound to the music, which is a good thing. The next album, 'Welcome to My DNA' would see Wilson step more into the background, and thus the quality of the music immediately suffered for it.

As for this album, it is still great music with great lyrics and great emotion from Wilson's influence. It still suffers from being more radio friendly and thus a lack of song development. Still, these are great, mostly straightforward songs that merit 4 stars. Porcupine Tree lovers will still love it and so will some others that don't like the extensive use of instrumentals in PT's music. For me, it suffers from there not being enough exploration, but I still find these songs a step above the normal radio friendly songs. The album is only slightly better than the debut album in I think the songs are better, but others may disagree. Nevertheless, the improvement is slight and not enough to elevate the rating over the debut album. Still, it's worth checking out.

Blackfield's 3rd album 'Welcome to My DNA' finally starts to see Steven Wilson step back and let Aviv Geffen take charge. Wilson promised that Geffen would be taking charge of the band eventually, plus Wilson was also busy working on his solo albums. In this album, Wilson only wrote one track, 'Waving'. All of the others are written by Geffen only or with some help from Wilson. Geffen is also singing more of the songs on this one, with Wilson only singing lead on only 5 of the 11 tracks, though he does help on backup. Of course, Wilson continues to add guitar parts and is in charge of production. Wilson would also continue to step back even further on subsequent albums.

Right away, the music is not as well developed as on the past two albums. The tracks continue to be short, with the longest one, 'Zigota' being the only one that reaches the 5 minute mark, and most of the tracks staying around 3 to 4 minutes. The tracks are nice and lush, reminding one of the orchestrations of The Beatles and even Pink Floyd from time to time, but the tracks suffer overall from the brevity. Just as the songs seem to be going somewhere, they end. They also suffer from the lesser involvement of Wilson, who is the stronger songwriter and musician.

A few of the songs, like 'Go to Hell' and 'Oxygen', are embarrassingly bad when it comes to lyrical content and inventiveness in the musicianship. The point of the band was for Geffen to improve as he took more involvement in the band, but he hasn't been improving and now the added responsibility seems to be drowning him. Now, the album isn't a complete write off. Of course, 'Waving' is one of the strongest tracks on here, and sounds like just like a track Steven Wilson would do, except for maybe a little poppy, but still enjoyable. Geffen does almost hit the mark on 'Dissolving with the Night', especially when the song starts to pick up some tension in the middle and into the ending. 'Blood' is mostly instrumental except for a few vocal interludes and it is more aggressive than most of the rest of the album and is a nice change of pace.

The aim was to keep things majestic, yet simple. Things are majestic enough especially because of the orchestration, but they are also simple, much too simple. The music doesn't really challenge at all, and just seems to lack development. The beauty and darkness from the previous 2 albums is missed very much. Geffen's attempt at the same darkness is usually laughable on this album.

Overall, the minuses are much more apparent than the few pluses. Wilson's lesser involvement is felt on this album, and with only a few nice songs and sections, the album doesn't really reach the pinnacle of the last two albums. It squeaks by with 3 stars, but only because of the nice string arrangements and the excellent production. The songs for the most part, however, lack substance.

Blackfield 1 and 2 were two of my favourite albums, I've listened to them regularly since I first acquired them, welcome to my DNA and IV were quite frankly dreadful, Steve Wilson's input obviously the missing factor. Then came news of Blackfield V, the cover picture indicating the return of the collaboration and style of the first album was a very welcome sign of things to come, I wasn't disappointed. The album is not the same as the first two, it's better! The sound and make up of the songs are very different and need more than one or two listening's to fully appreciate. I'm not going to give a description of each track as I like them all, though the 2nd to last track, "Lonely Soul" reminds me a little too much of a TV theme tune, the name of which currently escapes me. At 44 minutes I found myself wanting more, a good size for vinyl but hardly fills a CD or blue-ray, which incidentally I would heartily recommend as well worth the extra pound or two. Finally upon reading the credits I find Steve Wilson's input on the song writing to be much less than I thought, His production and musical skills still shine through on what can only be described as an absolute triumph of song writing from Aviv Geffen, sir, I forgive you for Welcome to my DNA and IV!

After two albums dominated by Aviv Geffen comes the fifth album by Blackfield labeled as another collaboration between Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson. But is it really a comeback to Blackfield and Blackfield II that the press release makes it sound like?

I haven't really been much of a Blackfield fan over the years but did enjoy some of the material on Blackfield and Blackfield II. Once Steven Wilson's contribution began to fade on Welcome To My DNA and Blackfield IV I stopped listening to the band completely. Once I heard that the new album would be released in late 2016 (this was later changed to early 2017) and that Blackfield V will be a return to a collaboration between Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson I immediately pre-ordered the record.

The first teaser of the album came in the form of Family Man EP that was released in late 2016 and featured Family Man, How Was Your Ride? and Sorrys. These three tracks sounded like Steven Wilson was back in the band since both Family Man and How Was Your Ride? featured him on lead vocals and the sound of these compositions seemed like something that Wilson might have written. This is why I was completely surprised when I found out that all of these three compositions were in fact written Aviv Geffen. When the album finally arrived and I browsed though the songwriting credits I was even more surprised to see that only 3 out of 13 tracks had Wilson's contribution (two on which are co-writing credits). I was also saddened that the previously marketed collaboration with Alan Parsons as producer was only limited to three tracks (How Was Your Ride?, We'll Never Be Apart and The Jackal).

With all these setbacks I was actually surprised that the final record is in fact pretty solid and shows that Aviv Geffen is a much better songwriter once he collaborates with Wilson. Two of my favorite moments on the record are October and Undercover Heart and feature some of the most heartfelt lyrics by Geffen. The vocal contribution by Wilson on October is very different from anything that he has done before and I was initially unsure if it in fact was Wilson that was singing. I also really liked Lately and From 44 To 48, the latter being the sole songwriting contribution by Wilson (A Drop in the Ocean and Life Is An Ocean are co-written by Geffen and Wilson) but I lack the emotional punch to these tracks compared to previously mentioned October and Undercover Heart.

Overall, I was surprised that Blackfield V managed to changed my mind completely on the importance of the collaboration between Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson. Geffen is a great songwriter and has almost perfected the 3 minute pop song format. Wilson might not be as active on the songwriting front but his vocals and arrangements make it clear that his contribution to Blackfield is very important. This is easily my favorite Blackfield release since their debut so if you're a fan of Blackfield then you should definitely give this album a go.

***** star songs: October (3:31) Undercover Heart (4:02)

**** star songs: Family Man (3:37) How Was Your Ride? (3:58) We'll Never Be Apart (2:54) Sorrys (2:58) Life Is An Ocean (3:26) Lately (3:24) The Jackal (3:56) Salt Water (2:39) From 44 To 48 (4:31)

*** star songs: A Drop In The Ocean (1:23) Lonely Soul (3:42)

Give it a few tries. After having impossibly high expectations since the first two Blackfield albums are two of my favorite albums ever, it was hard not to feel disappointed on my first listen. I was ready to give this three, maybe even two stars. But after a few more listens, I realized that it didn't need to sound like the first two records to be a good record in its own right. And there's definitely a lot to like, although there are a few moments that I blatantly disagree with. Opener "Family Man" plays a similar role to that of "Open Mind" from the first record, starting the album with a rocker. "How Was Your Ride?" is just classic Blackfield, a dreamy melancholic track that might be one of the best on the record. Other highlights for me were "October" (an absolutely heartbreaking track), "Sorrys", and the brilliant closer titled "From 44 to 48", which is just melancholia at its finest. There's a lot to like about this records, just don't let your unreasonably high expectations get the better of you.

This third release by Blackfield, known here due to the involvement of Steven Wilson, continues the collaboration's between one of the most prolific musicians in art/prog music and Israeli singer/songwriter Aviv Geffen. I found Blackfield enjoyable for the most part, Blackfield II laborious, but not quite disappointing, and now with Welcome to My DNA unpleasant in exactly the ways I was expecting.

The songs are short, warm, melancholic, and filled with lush instrumental sounds. They have the stellar production values we've come to expect with anything bearing Wilson's name, and the combination of background sounds - strings, keyboards, guitar textures - is the overwhelming highlight of this album. The writing is serviceable for the album's goals, and is actually sometimes quite interesting, such as in the jaunty and drifting "Waving," or the intensity and time changes in "Zigota." Mostly, though, the songs are just nice.

But this is a "pop" album, so there's bound to be plenty of singing for "normal" people to "enjoy." (OK, no more "excessive" finger quotes).

Wilson's vocals are smooth as always, though noticeably more bland then in his principle works. He sits comfortably in his middle register and doesn't give the listener much to walk away or help connect with. Remember the soaring passion heard in Hand.Cannot.Erase? Or maybe the skillful inflection on In Absentia's "Trains"? There isn't an ounce of that here. Ironic, given that Blackfield albums are meant to be emotional pop records. Geffen's vocals are not as good. In fact... they're actually quite unpleasant. In timbre and inflection he comes across as sniveling. Suffice to say that it's distracting and draws the ear away from the fine tones and chords of the music in the background. However, the real strike against Welcome to My DNA is the puerile lyrics, which sort of grumble their angst-filled way from song to song. Some of them are genuinely bad, others are offensive, some noticeably poetic, but mostly they're just boring.

If this were an instrumental album, then I'd be on-board and enjoying the experience much more. The vocals, and therefore the album simply don't work for me, and unless you're a 100% die-hard Steven Wilson fan-boy, it probably won't for you either (as it turns out, I'm only a 99.9% fan-boy).

Songwriting: 3 - Instrumental Performances: 2 - Lyrics/Vocals: 1 - Style/Emotion/Replay: 2