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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Textbook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 23 2010 at 04:27
Blakroc (2009)
by Blakroc
11 tracks, 36 mins
 
 
One of the age old knocks against rap from people who usually haven't really listened to it in the first place is that it "doesn't use real musicians/instruments." While I would argue that turntablism and beat construction programmes are instruments that require musically able people to operate them well, an easier way around it is to turn to hip-hop artists that use real instrumentation. The mighty Outkast had a fondness for real musicians and The Roots, one of hip-hop's greatest acts, actually are a band but generally they're quite thin on the ground. Let us not speak of Limp Bizkit who a decade on still make people shudder and vomit every time someone suggests rap/rock.
So yes, Blakroc is a rap/rock project. Or should that be rap/blues-rock? Because the musos in question providing the backdrop are Ohio's Black Keys. Damon Dash, who runs Jay-Z's label, is a huge fan and got together with the band about putting together beats for rappers and Blakroc, who have this album in the can and are working on another, is born.
 
 
Listen to What You Do To Me there and you'll see the results for yourself. An authentic, bluesy sound with soulful vocals from the Keys' Dan Auerbach and Nikki Wray (whose versatile voice leaps from modern R&B to 30s wailing as she pleases over the four tracks she appears on) lay down the chorus, before Jim Jones raps calm and cool before Billy Danze takes the second verse in his typically explosive, excited fashion- and both styles fit the music. The Keys clearly know how to adapt to their current situation.
However, I will freely admit that What You Do To Me is above the standard of most of the rest of the album. The Black Keys seem a bit timid- rather than really getting into the whole concept of the album, most of their music could pass for normal hip-hop beats. There's a nice lick here and there on tracks like Hope You're Happy and Done Did It but mostly they play it conservative- you keep waiting for them to kick it up a gear but they rarely do.
As for the MCs, we're sorted. The only guy I didn't already like was Jim Jones but he drops his usual vapid nonsense for the best verses I've heard from him. NOE was an unknown quantity to me- he comes off as a Jay-Z clone but at least he does it well. Pharoah Monche drops a goodie on Dollars And Sense and legends like Mos Def, Raekwon and Q-Tip are also in the mix. The only bung note is RZA- he does well on Dollars And Sense but drops the ball on Telling Me Things, sounding like he's going to cry and referencing Mork And Mindy which doesn't fly for me. Special mention goes to Coochie, a charming little ditty about well.... if you don't know, ask your dad. It's a simple, even stupid song, but stupid in a good way, dirty fun with The Black Keys appropriately scuzzing it up. Ludacris sounds more fired up here than he does on his medicore new album Battle Of The Sexes but the real treat is the latest posthumous appearance from Old Dirty b*****d, a man who was so uncharismatic that he somehow came out the other side and become charismatic again. Coochie annoyed me at first, but grew on me as the dumb, unreformed fun that it is.
However, the record is not a triumph. Its length and lack of cohesion suggests it could've spent a little longer in the oven- a few songs like On The Vista and Stay Off The f**king Flowers feel like sketches which aren't fully developed. There's certainly a good sound in here but I don't think everything was done that could've been to draw it out.
I'm glad they're making a second album, but not so much because I need to hear more of this, but because I want them to come back and do it right. Then we might have something to really roc about.
 
3/5
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Textbook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: March 25 2010 at 04:24
Boca Negra
by Chicago Underground Duo
10 tracks, 55 mins
 
 
This is almost certainly the most puzzling review I've ever written. I've reviewed "difficult" music before- f**k Buttons spring to mind- but I've always been able to say whether I like or recommend it even if I couldn't quite capture the sound in words. With Chicago Underground Duo's latest, I'm really grasping at shadows putting things on paper- Frank Zappa's great quote "Writing about music is like dancing about architecture" has never been more applicable for me.
Drummer Chad Taylor plays in Iron And Wine but the last thing you should do is let that be a reference. Nothing of Sam Beam's influence is to be found here.
The cover gives a clue- it's not clear what the point is, the band are obscured, you can't quite tell what effect they're going for, at first I didn't even notice the title/name was written on it, appeared to be one of those pure image covers. This kind of throwing-off the audience is par for the course on Boca Negra.
Imagine if Autechre tried recording with live instruments. Though CUD are rooted in jazz, on this record there's a lot of tracks that seem to depart entirely from it, even in a free/experimental jazz sense. Perhaps we have found the genre of post-jazz? I hesitate to call it prog/fusion because while it's BIZARRE at times which rings up the prog-ometer there's very little rock/fusion feel to it. This is not technical. Dizzying solos aren't there. Nor is it freeform improvising. Nor is it ambient. Sometimes rhythm/melody seem to be entirely absent though music is being played.
With a track like Left Hand Of Darkness, I'm really not sure what the duet of cornetist and drummer are doing. Alien clanging and whiney noises titter along for a few moments with the odd sudden shift in pitch or volume or pattern. They do this very slowly and carefully too- it doesn't feel at all haphazard but as though it has been very painstakingly put together. The track, like a few of the quiet ones, keeps feeling like it is going to collapse into silence altogether though there's always another subtlely unexpected noise about to burble up and have you striving to find the connections. And just when you think this is going to end up a successor to Metal Machine Music, something that feels a bit like a groove/song kicks up two minutes in, as the marimba finds a line and the cornet slots into place over it, but if you don't sit down and concentratedly listen to the music, the contrast between desperate reaching for sound and then the relief of identifiable elements, which I think is the intention, is lost. But at the same time, sitting down and giving all of your mind to just these four minutes is quite draining and at no point particularly fun. By the time you get to the truely obscure Roots And Shooting Stars near the record's end, where electronic whispers and cornet that alternately drones and sqawks eventually metls into barely audible marimba twinkling (but you can't quite relax because by this point you're sure something baffling is just around the corner) one feels quite exhausted despite not having moved at any time.
However, the entire record is not this obtuse. Green Ants and a cover of Coleman's Broken Shadows are on offer, though both seem to raise the question "What is jazz and what is two guys fooling around on their instruments?" There are moments when they find great grooves and trills and moments when it feels as if I had put two eighth graders in an instrument storage room, said "Whatever" and then hit record.
Yet just to make this a real record that is everything yet not quite anything, there is an accessible patch in the middle, from the 5th to 7th tracks. Confliction begins in an obstreperous fashion with someone slowly beating a piano as though they're trying to piss people off while cornetist Mazurek occasionally pipes up as if he's in the next room and doesn't know the mic is picking him up. So of course this being this record, after two minutes of that, they go straight into an enjoyable Dave Brubeck type jam. Quite why it had to be preceded by the piano equivalent of water torture I couldn't say but sixth track Hermeto makes up for some of the awkwardness by giving us a lush, beautiful piece of atmospherics where marimba and what I think is a thumb piano mix with wind sounds to soothe us after all the mental hopping we've been doing. And seventh track Spy On The Floor is actually groovy and after the drums come in after a short, quiet, but logical intro has no surprises up its sleeve and works as evidence that these guys can really play when the fancy takes them.
All in all, this not a record I like or dislike. Maybe my musical IQ isn't high enough or I haven't listened to enough experimental jazz to get this but I can neither praise it highly as I didn't really enjoy myself but nor can I pan it as Despair type trash because I can feel a definite creative, intelligent talent in the framework, even if it's not speaking a language I understand. But please, feel free to give it a try if you're adventurous- maybe you can find the words to evaluate it that continue to elude me.
 
2.5/5
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote R-A-N-M-A Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 05 2010 at 21:48
The Kinks - Arthur: Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire

5/5



Details:
1969

Essential Records


Ray Davies - Vocals, Keybords, Rhythm Guitar, Producer
Dave Davies - Lead Guitar, Backing Vocals
John Dalton - Bass Guitar, Backing Vocals
Mick Avory - Drums, Percussion

A Side:
Victoria - 3:40
Yes Sir, No Sir - 3:46
Some Mother's Son - 3:25
Drivin' - 3:21
Brainwashed - 2:34
Australia - 6:46

B Side:
Shangri-La - 5:20
Mr. Churchill Says - 4:42
She's bought a hat like Princess Marina - 3:07
Young and Innocent Days - 3:21
Nothing to Say - 3:08
Arthur - 5:27

History:
Arthur was recorded and released in 1969 shortly after a ban on the Kinks touring the United States had been lifted. Arthur was not commercial success when compared to their early work: like Kinks, home of the rock classic You Really Got Me. It reached 105 on the Billboard album charts in the US and failed to chart in the UK. This was still an improvement over it's critically successful but poor selling predecessor: The Kinks are the Village Green Preservation Society. Arthur is widely regarded as the Kinks best work and it set the stage for their return to commercial success on it's follow up Lola Vs. the Powerman & the Money-Go-Round.

Review:
Arthur is one of the great unsung albums of all time. It is a mix of some the best straightforward riff-rock, balads and odd sounding (to North American ears at any rate) british dancehall inspired music. Toss into the mix a lively horn section, a healthy dose of blues rock and everpresent keyboard accompaniment and you have a recpie for a great album. Of course the whole is greater than the sum of it's parts and the cooks have to be given full credit for their work. The master chef is bandleader and cheif song writer Ray Davies. The songs are all lyrically solid and like all good pop rock songs seldom overstay their welcome. There are few if any throw away tracks.

Arthur: Or the Decline and Fall of the British Empire is the story of Arthur a regular guy whose gone through all the trials and hardhardships of life and come out in one piece. He now lives a pieceful if boring existance. After the loss of his son in the Korean war he packs up and heads for Australia. Arthur is a quintessenially british album. It exudes it's island roots brought about by four years of exile while the rest of the british invasion was raging across the pond. Arthur is based in-part on the Davies brother's brother-in-law who moved to Australia with their sister of whom they were very fond.

The album kicks off with a great up beat rocker, maybe the best one actually. It is about a by-gone era of british supremacy. When Dave comes in with those first riffs overtop of Ray's easy going backing guitars, the hooks sink in and never let go. Solid vocals. The shuffling and cynical Yes sir, No Sir about the state of the common soldier comes next. It isn't quite as up beat but the chorus line is no less addictive.

Following the first two more rock oriented tracks comes the album's first balad: Some Mother's Son. It is about the loss of generations of young men in warfare. It is characteristic for it's use of harpsichords. Some might say it's a touch preachy, but this is nowhere near John Lennon's league. The levity returns with Drivin'. Within the first verse war has been cast off for a carefree sunday drive. The lightest track on the album follows straight after the most serious. Succeeding Drivin' is the shortest track Brainwashed. It's theme is the monotony of working life. It is anything but boring. It is fast paced compared to most of the album. Funky guitar work and typically impecable lyrics are front and centre.

Australia is one of the curiosities of Arthur. This is where the dance hall hits like an atom bomb. It starts with smooth vocals and fairly minimal backing. This is probably one the catchiest pitches for a move the otherside of the planet ever written. I can't help but be reminded of the 1950s aesthetic when I hear it. Part way through the song converts into a prolonged blues rock out. I think this is as close as Arthur ever gets to being long winded. It is a welcome change to the slightly odd vocal work which preceeds it however. I still like, however I would call it one of the weaker tracks on the album.

After Australia we return to the balads with Shangri-La which is about Arthur and his comfortable home life. I like it better than Some Mother's Son, mostly for it's excellent chorus line and groovy second half. Things slow down and get a little bluesy yet again with Mr. Churchill Says. It is loaded with quotes and anecdotes from Churchill and other british World War II era political personalities. The delivery boarders on satirical; not in a mean spirited or mocking way. Like a good many tracks on Arthur Mr. Churchill Says has a a change up partway through. The second half is very groovy and likely contains the best solo guitar work on the album.

The second primarily dance hall piece is She's Bought a Hat Like Princess Marina. This one is about regular folks emulating the british upper class. It's a a bit cheesy for my tastes. The Harpsichord and other keyboards for most of the backing until a change up into more eratic and sound effect laden send up. The delivery of the dance hall concept is much stronger than on Australia.

Young and innocent days is the final Balad from Arthur. It is perhaps the least remarkable track on Arthur and as close as the Kinks come to having a throw away track. The Kinks as ever remain solid. Soothing vocals and the best keyboard work on the album keep it from being banal.

Arthur closes like it opens, with two solid rockers. Nothing to Say, which touches on family relations. These rockers are the big reason you should get Arthur. The riffs are picture perfect! The Finale is the title track Arthur. Maybe not quite as great as Nothing to say, but it is a show of upbeat solidarity for the eponymous hero.

Arthur is the kind of album where you'll find yourself singing along with every track before you've even heard it all the way through. Arthur is a must have for anyone. It will be especially cherished by those who are want for unadulterated rock music. I think it is good enough to convert people to the cause too, so even if you don't really think you like this sort of stuff I say give it a try. All it'll cost you is the better part of an hour out of your life at most. The Kinks score a 5/5 for Arhur: Or the Delcline and Fall of the British Empire and a place in my personal top ten albums.

Prog Appeal:
While excellently written and played, Arthur is an uncomplicated album. Folk proggers out there might like the stripped down style and dance hall influences. If what you are looking for is overly elaborate and complex compositions look elsewhere.


Edited by R-A-N-M-A - April 05 2010 at 22:04
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote maani Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: April 26 2010 at 22:07
Great idea!  However, I think I better not participate because (i) I will become completely and totally addicted to it, and (ii) I will absolutely dominate the thread.  LOL.  So...I will refrain for now.  LOL.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote R-A-N-M-A Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2010 at 00:16
Come now, give it a go. I want to review another one and I don't want to be the douche who throws down two posts in a row.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Textbook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 06 2010 at 06:04
I'll probably do another one sooner or later. My enthusiasm was dulled by a sense that no one was reading them. And that Chicago Underground Duo record was a pretty scary review, not really convinced I managed it.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote AtomicCrimsonRush Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2010 at 10:15
Don't get me started as I will waste all my time posting reviews on this thread. However i will be back here to post a few that i love.
 
 
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote halabalushindigus Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2010 at 12:50
^ which would be preferred

assume the power 1586/14.3
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote R-A-N-M-A Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 07 2010 at 23:36
Originally posted by AtomicCrimsonRush AtomicCrimsonRush wrote:

Don't get me started as I will waste all my time posting reviews on this thread. However i will be back here to post a few that i love.


It's fairly apparent that if this thread survives, it is destined to become the pet album thread. That's not necessarily a bad thing though. If it's good enough for one of us to love it's probably worth the rest of us giving it a chance.
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Textbook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 13 2010 at 04:24
 
Boxer
by The National
12 tracks, 43 mins
 
I went down to the shops and grabbed new The National album High Violet. But before listening to it, I decided to revisit their previous two albums, both of which I consider excellent, Alligator and Boxer. Alligator is excellent and I may review it also soon but something happened with Boxer which shows how much I like it- I realised how much I love this album and am listening to it instead of trying the new one. High Violet will have its work cut out dethroning this, but The National may just have what it takes to do that.
And like a lot of the best albums, this is grower. In fact it's a grower's grower. In fact I'm still noticing new things about it, like how good Bryan Devendorf's drumming is- check him out on Brainy. But he plays that excellently without being the least bit flashy or overbearing about it. Like everything else about the band, it is subtle and understated and requires attention and time to be noticed. This is a band of real songcraft.
I was also shocked after first encountering them back in 2005 to find that they are American- there is an extremely English vibe to them, with Matthew Berninger's tranquilised undertaker voice and depressive wit and the music's reminiscence of Joy Division giving pop rock a go. The song seem to be what Leonard Cohen might produce if he tried to go commercial though as you can imagine it's still not that commercial. Still, there are tracks with a warm glow and choruses which at first pass seem indistinguishable from the verses till you begin to feel the little swells and variations The National tuck into their tunes.
 
 
Most of the album goes for a more somber, twilight feeling, the kind of thing you might listen to on a lonely bus going home late with a distant lit city skyline out the window. As well as more alt-pop-rock (Mistaken For Strangers is particularly strong with a great dumline and the most high-impact chorus of the album) the album drifts seamlessly into more unexpected territories such as the extremely sinister acoustic pub-folk inflected Green Gloves, probably my favourite song on the album. There's also the droning horns of Racing Like A Pro. What could be awkward experiments are saved by Berninger's expert vocals. His delivery and phrasing and choice of words are just right- he seems to deadpan and convey a lot of emotion at the same time, the love child of Tom Waits and Morrissey (lyrically, not vocally, though Waits' dunken aura can be felt here.)
Listen to the atmosphere his delivery creates on Brainy. It's like Interpol with good songs.
 
 
From opener Fake Empire's playing of two tempos at once to closer Gospel which moves about as much as music so quiet and undynamic could- The National create mental pyrotechnics without sonic ones- this is a deeply rich album and just about perfect. After three years, I'm not bored in the slightest. Excellently written songs performed excellently. I don't just like every track, I LOVE every track. There are no weak moments. Those who demand explosions and dramatic events may be deeply uninterested at first but I've seen this album persist and punch through to people who at first thought it wasn't for them. I can't recommend it enough and I hope that you can look past this embarrassingly gushing love letter to give it a try :)
 
5/5
 
 
 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote motrhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2010 at 18:13
   Being the FNG, I need to ask if we are allowed to disagree and comment on the posted reviews? I have differing opinions on 4 or 5 of these albums (that I have owned or heard), but don't really feel they need another review from me. How does it work out here in the forum?
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Textbook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2010 at 21:43
I think disagreement, comments and even full "Second Opinion" style re-reviews are entirely welcome, otherwise the thread becomes a dead end. As long as you avoid the "YOU'RE A STUPID IDIOT" type of disagreement I can't see why anyone would mind :)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote motrhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 19 2010 at 22:47
Okay, I will comment. This is a cool thread. I haven't done any reviewing yet, but I plan to, and wanted to to give my own personal quick comment on a few of the albums that were already reviewed -that I have experienced or owned. Nobody take this personally though. This is IMHO.
 1-Death Cab For Cutie-Plans...I really like this album, and I think the prog appeal rating should be higher than 1! These guys are quite original and creative. Overall  I would personally rate this album higher than:
 2-Midnight Oil (which is nowhere near a 5 in my book). For some reason many of the Aussie bands don't appeal to me, and I suspect it's because of my dislike for Country music which seems to have somehow influenced all of Australia. (But I do like AC/DC, The Divinyls, and Flash and the Pan). I find Peter Garrett annoying and grating.
3-Jeff Buckley...I think he is highly over-rated, and the songs are weak. No appeal to me, sorry. May be a good addition for a pop fan. Many try to compare him to Matt Bellamy or Thom Yorke, but the songs are simply too weak, boring and pop for me. It takes more than a great voice.
4-Stevie Wonder...I cannot stand Stevie in any way shape or form. The only thing worse would be Michael Jackson or "Papa Was A Rolling Stone". I wouldn't give it half a star . ;-) 
5-Police-Synchronicity- Yes. I do like this one. I pretty much agreed with that entire review.

 I had forgotten about the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club. I may have to pick that album up. It sounds like something I would enjoy.
 I do have an album or two I will review shortly, and then all of you can feel free to tell me how wrong I am.Big smile 
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote Textbook Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2010 at 00:05
Wow, I do believe this is the first person I've seen swing this hard on Stevie Wonder. I hope you've actually listened to his classic run of 70s albums and aren't just judging him on "You Are The Sunshine Of My Life" or something ;)
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote motrhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2010 at 00:41
  Sorry Embarrassed I never really liked anything he did, and yes I have heard most of it. I respect him, and think he's a cool guy and all...it's the jazz warbling/timing thing on everything he does. I can enjoy traditional jazz and a lot of cool jazz, but Stevie's style just bothers me...like country music.  I don't mind  one or two songs by  Al Green, and  the occasional gem by Coltraine, Miles Davis et. al, but as a rule I'm not a jazz fan. But then I can't stand Paul McCartney solo either Smile
 But I am a fan of Sade, Korpiklaani, Bjork, Final Virus, the Reverend Horton Heat...and Tchaikovsky.  To each their own right?


Edited by motrhead - May 20 2010 at 00:44
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rogerthat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2010 at 01:05
Originally posted by motrhead motrhead wrote:



3-Jeff Buckley.... Many try to compare him to Matt Bellamy or Thom Yorke, but the songs are simply too weak, boring and pop for me. It takes more than a great voice.


OK, I will respond to this because the rest is purely your taste and it's no concern of mine if you wouldn't give less than a star to my favourite Western music artist. LOL  Jeff WAS more than just a great voice(I hear this a lot about Annie Haslam too and it's frankly quite tiresome to have to explain things), he could beat the daylights out of both those gentlemen in singing (and I am a HUGE fan of Radiohead and Muse, so no prejudice here!) and was a brilliant songwriter too. I do not know at this point if it would be worth elaborating on the wonderful and unpredictable shifts in the vocal melody and chord sequences on just the title track of Grace, as also the incredible control over falsetto he displayed on the same song but if that is not interesting, don't know what is.  Maybe if there are other fans or somebody who is in a mood to reexamine opinions...
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote motrhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2010 at 02:45
  I knew I would be treading on someones hallowed ground. Embarrassed I went out of my way a while back, and checked out Grace for myself. I agree Jeff had a great voice, and his is a sad story, but sometimes I think it's like the Heath Ledger /Kurt Cobain thing. His singing is too James Blunt (or dare I say it, John Mayer...nah, that's not quite fair) for my liking. I prefer someone like Perry Farell,or Matthew Good for intense vocals. Those guys sing from the cajones, but Jeff doen't quite convince me, except  on Hallelujah (no surprise, it's a Cohen cover like one of my all time faves by Concrete Blonde-"Everybody Knows"), but his other songs just seem a little weak to me.  
 As far as Matt Bellamy goes, check out Muse,"Hoodoo", or "Falling Away With You". Matt can sing too, while he plays the blistering guitar, or classical piano. I saw Muse in April, and they were freaking amazing live. 
 I am biased. I like my music to rock harder, or be more gentle and folkie. Jeff's music is lost somewhere in the middle and doesn't really grab me. It's reminds me of one of many  weak 80's albums that I can't really get into. 
 I do have Halelujah in my music folder on this laptop, but that's the only one of his.Tongue
 I'll shut up and duck now. lol
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rogerthat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2010 at 05:47
Originally posted by motrhead motrhead wrote:

  I knew I would be treading on someones hallowed ground. Embarrassed I went out of my way a while back, and checked out Grace for myself. I agree Jeff had a great voice, and his is a sad story, but sometimes I think it's like the Heath Ledger /Kurt Cobain thing. His singing is too James Blunt (or dare I say it, John Mayer...nah, that's not quite fair) for my liking. I prefer someone like Perry Farell,or Matthew Good for intense vocals. Those guys sing from the cajones, but Jeff doen't quite convince me, except  on Hallelujah (no surprise, it's a Cohen cover like one of my all time faves by Concrete Blonde-"Everybody Knows"), but his other songs just seem a little weak to me.  
 As far as Matt Bellamy goes, check out Muse,"Hoodoo", or "Falling Away With You". Matt can sing too, while he plays the blistering guitar, or classical piano. I saw Muse in April, and they were freaking amazing live. 
 I am biased. I like my music to rock harder, or be more gentle and folkie. Jeff's music is lost somewhere in the middle and doesn't really grab me. It's reminds me of one of many  weak 80's albums that I can't really get into. 
 I do have Halelujah in my music folder on this laptop, but that's the only one of his.Tongue
 I'll shut up and duck now. lol

Expressing an opinion is not treading on anybody's hallowed ground Smile, so why would I object to that?  I am responding to saying "takes more than a great voice", calling him overrated and now that he's a Heath/Cobain case.  Jeff has way more facility as a singer than Bellamy or Yorke, especially in oscillating smoothly between falsetto, mixed and head voice.  He also used to play guitar while singing live and had great facility on guitar too, for your info. Wink I don't think most serious fan overrate him because he had a great voice or died early, actually I didn't know he was dead the first time I heard Grace and I had already been swept away.  And while Grace is not hard rocking in the Muse sense, moments of it like in Mojo Pin, the title track or Forget Her are a lot more intense than any Muse.   It is quite amusing to hear Jeff get called overrated because so few even seem to perceive the full extent of his vocal wizardry or his unorthodox adventurism as a songwriter.  
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote motrhead Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2010 at 10:25
 Okay we'll agree to disagree.Smile He is pretty good, I'll give you that...but to those saying he's better than Yorke or Bellamy, I won't agree, since I think Matt is better (IMHO).
 Mojo Pin doesn't work for me. The vocal (and song) sounds contrived like he was trying to be Robert Plant, and he just doesn't have the power. Now Blind Melon could have made that song work...
 This is why I don't own any of the later Queen albums. Freddy's vocals got to sound more and more contrived (yes, I understand that was always his style, but it seemed worse later) -like he was singing show tunes or something. I despise show tunes and voices warbling all over for the effect, unless it's a  Marlene Dietrich torch song.  
 I disagree about  Buckley's songs being more intense than Muse; I find just the opposite.
 So there we have it.  I'll wave the Muse flag, and you can wave Jeff Buckley's.Thumbs Up



Edited by motrhead - May 20 2010 at 10:26
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Post Options Post Options   Thanks (0) Thanks(0)   Quote rogerthat Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: May 20 2010 at 11:08
Originally posted by motrhead motrhead wrote:

  since I think Matt is better (IMHO).


What is IMHO better?  One prefers some singers to others, which is taste, and one establishes to a reasonable extent who is better.   I can easily establish that Jeff had far more control as also range than Matt, it's not a question of opinions because there are many things in music that can be observed and singing skills is one of them.
 
Quote The vocal (and song) sounds contrived like he was trying to be Robert Plant, and he just doesn't have the power.


Like hell he doesn't have the power when he can hit notes Plant couldn't have touched.   Once again, these are things that can be established.  And Robert Plant is only one aspect of the vocals and song, what about the Hindustani phrasing in that delicate landing in the middle?

 
Quote So there we have it.  I'll wave the Muse flag, and you can wave Jeff Buckley's.Thumbs Up



This is quite ridiculous, I have already said I am a Muse fan.  I didn't know being a Muse fan entails saying that Matt is a better singer than Jeff. Wink
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