If we ignore the technical brilliance?

^ Says the guy running a website where he is the only one ever reviewing stuff. I found the film reviews, but they're hard to read given your love for ugly background image textures. You might want to correct the link to the links section, since it's broken (https://www.pedrosena.com/links).

Edited by MikeEnRegalia - June 14 2023 at 06:26

moshkito wrote: the fact that a lot of reviews can only say that sound like somebody else, which is the commercial way of saying that individuality is not allowed.

Comparing an album to other albums with similar qualities is one of the main things I look for in reviews. That does become a way of recommending other albums if I like the one's review I am reading and letting my know if the album whose review I'm reading might appeal based on the other albums mentioned. I doesn't mean that no individuality is allowed, it means that people commonly associate (we are pattern seeking animals) and that most music is not born in a vacuum in that the people who made the music are influenced by other music (music styles, artists etc.) One can be innovative without being that originative. And one can experiment and try new things within particular musical idioms and play with genre conventions. So one can of course have an individual flavour without being totally or particularly unique.

^ I would like that kind of system, already they have things like tastedive and tastekid which is supposed to make recommendations based on what you like, and the use of various algorithms at different places with the same approach.

^ Very good post.

By the way, and this is not such a quality post. I used to be quite critical of retro-Prog -- I called it regressive progressive rock and gorP (backwards Prog), but I have come to love and embrace so much retro music (Prog and not Prog). I think there are so many really creative ways to return to that sound. And I like music that really sounds like it is of the past, and even pretends to be of the past like Kosmischer Läufer and Klaus Morlock. While that is imitative of older "sounds", and deliberately so, it's also ingenious in its own way. I really like so much music that has obvious retro qualities, and that which I would mistake for coming from another era/ time if I did not know better (the latter being more limited, but quite a few doing that in the folk-horror soundtrack realm).

Edited by Logan - June 14 2023 at 11:01

We are in the age of Ai. Ai will be brilliant. I hugely respect bands that represent humanity's last stand: Animals As Leaders, Thrailkill, Scale the Summit, Piniol... amongst the very few

Edited by telefunk - June 14 2023 at 11:49

^ so true

^ I don't think that "technical brilliance" and "solos" are the same thing. There are many genres and formats that have no "solos", yet to play the music requires a high level of proficiency. But of course solo spots can be occasions where individual musicians get an opportunity to shine. In Dream Theater (probably one of the bands you would accuse of focusing too much on "technical brilliance", all the members usually get their spots, there are also songs that feature "duets" where keyboards and guitar are playing a "solo" together, or they all join and play unisono or in a challenge/response scheme. Anything goes! I'd say if a band wants to focus on flashy playing, let them! As well as the opposite. No matter what they choose, I'll always focus on how well they are playing. And to me it sounds better if they play better, in the simplest possible terms. 

^ Sure! And some of the greatest moments of prog music arise when it all comes together.

^ Yes, he's a long-time favorite of mine as well, and a good example of an artist that probably puts some people off because of the high level of proficiency. But what should he do ... play slower/more sloppy on purpose, just as to not offend these listeners? He's doing precisely what he loves. 

^ Yes, the Freak Kitchen albums are solid, but not truly awesome.