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M27Barney
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Topic: Comedy of Errors - Best Find 2013! Posted: January 13 2014 at 08:50 |
I have just been blown away by "Fanfare & Fantasy" - so I immediately ordered the first CD. (Hasn't arrived as yet). Who else is appreciative of this sublime CD?
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someone_else
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Posted: January 13 2014 at 08:53 |
It's absolutely a good one. I find the opening track a bit boring, but I tend to forget this soon after hearing the other tracks.
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M27Barney
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Posted: January 13 2014 at 09:01 |
It is possibly the worse track on the CD, but I still like it! Track two was what hooked me on first spin - I just freaked when I heard the instrumental break.....
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lazland
Prog Reviewer
Joined: October 28 2008
Location: Wales
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Points: 13243
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Posted: January 13 2014 at 09:31 |
Same here. That first track is soporific, but the rest isn't too bad. I will have to get round to reviewing it soon.
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Enhance your life. Get down to www.lazland.org
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Tom Ozric
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Posted: January 13 2014 at 12:14 |
Love the album !! Just listened to this one last night and it always impresses. A high quality work indeed.
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richardh
Prog Reviewer
Joined: February 18 2004
Location: United Kingdom
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Points: 26131
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Posted: January 13 2014 at 16:39 |
Never quite brought myself to press the button on it .The samples I've heard don't inspire. Sound Of Contact -Dimensionaut was easily my best of find of 2013 in terms of a band I hadn't heard before.
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Aussie-Byrd-Brother
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Posted: January 13 2014 at 17:34 |
Wow, this was the absolute letdown of 2013 for me! I think it's the most wishy-washy, squeeky cleen album of the year for me. Too many `pleasant' vocal sections really get under my skin too. There's been far better Neo albums throughout the year for me as well, either Flamborough Head's `Lost In Time' or Clive Nolan's `Alchemy' (although that's not really a pure Neo album) wipe the floor with it. I cannot for the life of me work out why it's impressed everyone so much, but at the same time, I'm glad other people have enjoyed it a lot more than me.
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M27Barney
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Joined: November 09 2006
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 03:17 |
Aussie-Byrd-Brother wrote:
Wow, this was the absolute letdown of 2013 for me! I think it's the most wishy-washy, squeeky cleen album of the year for me. Too many `pleasant' vocal sections really get under my skin too. There's been far better Neo albums throughout the year for me as well, either Flamborough Head's `Lost In Time' or Clive Nolan's `Alchemy' (although that's not really a pure Neo album) wipe the floor with it. I cannot for the life of me work out why it's impressed everyone so much, but at the same time, I'm glad other people have enjoyed it a lot more than me. | I will have to find those on the web and give them ear-time before I can comment - they must be bloody good to be better than the COE, or maybe it's just a difference in taste.
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Aussie-Byrd-Brother
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 03:29 |
Truth be told, Barney, I'm a little harsh in my opinion of that new CoE. Many people on here who's opinion usually mirror my own have really enjoyed it very much. It's true it doesn't do a lot for me, and the first track in particular really does turn my stomach, but there's better stuff after that. It's all well played and very melodic, but I think I prefer something a little more demanding. I tink one of my personal hang-ups about it is that I wish there were longer instrumental sections, so much of it is vocal driven. Anyway, I know many others will spring to it's defence! I know I'm in the minority not enjoying it as much. Having said that, I won't be getting rid of the CD, I don't dislike it to that extent!
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Guldbamsen
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 04:08 |
^I feel almost exactly like you do Michael, and am quite frankly surprised not to see more fans chiming in. I mean this album skyrocketed our chart with one raving review after the other, but maybe most of the frontpage people never visit the dark side of the moon? I'm not entirely sure. For me personally, I find this album to be a prime example of what I'd like to call "dad-prog": keyboard and guitar solos in all the usual places and a strong Genesis/Marillion vibe running through everything. It's very well done, but I get no sense of enjoyment out of it. Sorry fans For what it's worth, I feel just like Michael - meaning I'm glad folks are getting into these guys.....I'm just not one of them.
Edited by Guldbamsen - January 14 2014 at 04:11
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams
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M27Barney
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Joined: November 09 2006
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 05:39 |
^ H'mmm - Dad-prog That's another genre to add and maybe the sub-genre - old/farts/with/beards.....? I suppose that melodic and cheerful prog (it is a surprisingly uplifting style of singing I feel) won't be at all appetising for those of you who like the dischord and death growling and the plink/plink/ting/screeech of the artist who thought it would be good to throw a cat with wires attached to it (so 100 volts can be sporadically applied) into a piano - and record the resulting cacophony - experimental I think that's called....
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Guldbamsen
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 06:10 |
Even if I despise death growls....and being experimental for the sake of just that. Hell I rather like a fair few 'melodic prog' acts out there - stuff like Phideaux, Syd Arthur and I and Thou to a lesser extent. I have pretty eclectic tastes and, really, no rules applied to them, I just know what I like is all. Michael mentioned this one as being too polite, which is a good description for me as well.
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams
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M27Barney
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 06:44 |
"Too Polite Prog"...another sub-genre?? I'm not usually a big fan of vocals or lyrics as a rule - but the COE singing and vocal melodies immediately attracted me...You may have a point - as I am a dad (of sons, 19 and 23) and I like prog..and I like COE - so it may just be the correct genre! - What else is dad/prog - suppose Genesis/Yes/Camel and more lately Pendragon/Marillion/IQ/Twelfth Night/Pallas ??
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Guldbamsen
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 06:53 |
M27Barney wrote:
"Too Polite Prog"...another sub-genre?? I'm not usually a big fan of vocals or lyrics as a rule - but the COE singing and vocal melodies immediately attracted me...You may have a point - as I am a dad (of sons, 19 and 23) and I like prog..and I like COE - so it may just be the correct genre! - What else is dad/prog - suppose Genesis/Yes/Camel and more lately Pendragon/Marillion/IQ/Twelfth Night/Pallas ?? |
Well mostly I'm referring to the sound I get from T, Pendragon(yes), CoE, Haken, Flower Kings, Spock's Beard and the likes, where I personally feel like I'm listening to prog created from a recipe. Sorry, I know you're a big fan of a lot of these, and I certainly don't mean to belittle other folks' tastes, I just can't get into them. All the other acts you mention are/were brilliant acts who all had something to say on their own (don't know Twelfth Night or Pallas though) and are furthermore among my favourites. I've never thought of early Marillion, nor IQ for that matter, as Genesis rip offs like some do. Either way, none of these are "dad-prog" to my ears.
Edited by Guldbamsen - January 14 2014 at 08:39
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams
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The Glide
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 06:59 |
lazland wrote:
Same here. That first track is soporific, but the rest isn't too bad. I will have to get round to reviewing it soon. | This album wasn't love at first, might also have something to do with the first track, but damn the instrumental stuff on this one! Great album!
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I've created an atmosphere where I'm friend first, boss second. Probably entertainer third.
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Rick Robson
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 07:36 |
Just because of the Internet I'm getting to know the newer prog bands, and some tracks I enjoyed from this album. However, I'd like to understand why it's happening to me also with quite a few other songs from quite a few other bands which I have a strange feeling that a series of melody fragments (even catchy ones) follow one another without an identifying structure. Would that be because of the old prog I was used to listen ? Marillion (Fish-era) was one of the first prog bands I knew in the 80s' (thnaks to friends), enjoyed it but always focused on the more instrumental and less vocal pieces, sometimes feeling boring the excessive emphasis in Fish's vocals and lyrics. The same I feel with tihs album from CoE, but I think the band has a good talent to be more explored on the next albums.
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"Music is a higher revelation than all wisdom and philosophy." LvB
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M27Barney
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 08:35 |
Aye, I feel that if they decided to be more "bombastic" and self-indulgent they could produce their equivalent of Tales From Topographic Oceans, Garden of Dreams (Flower Kings), or even Subterranea (IQ)... I hope that the next CD is a double thus giving them to explore the possibility of a 160 minute epic.....
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M27Barney
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 08:39 |
Guldbamsen wrote:
M27Barney wrote:
"Too Polite Prog"...another sub-genre?? I'm not usually a big fan of vocals or lyrics as a rule - but the COE singing and vocal melodies immediately attracted me...You may have a point - as I am a dad (of sons, 19 and 23) and I like prog..and I like COE - so it may just be the correct genre! - What else is dad/prog - suppose Genesis/Yes/Camel and more lately Pendragon/Marillion/IQ/Twelfth Night/Pallas ?? |
Well mostly I'm referring to the sound I get from T, Pendragon(yes), CoE, Haken, Flower Kings, Spock's Beard and the likes, where I personally feel like I'm listening to prog created from a recipe. Sorry, I know you're a big fan of a lot of these, and I certainly don't mean to belittle other folks' tastes, I just can't get into them. All the other acts you mention are/were brilliant acts who all had something to say on their own, and are furthermore among my favourites. I've never thought of early Marillion, nor IQ for that matter, as Genesis rip offs like some do. Either way, none of these are "dad-prog" to my ears. | You are referring to the "Prog by numbers" descriptive....You will upset a lot of symphonic prog fans by dismissing it all as if it was "Prog by recipe"...What is T by the way? (Transatlantic?)
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Guldbamsen
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Joined: January 22 2009
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 08:47 |
M27Barney wrote:
Guldbamsen wrote:
M27Barney wrote:
"Too Polite Prog"...another sub-genre?? I'm not usually a big fan of vocals or lyrics as a rule - but the COE singing and vocal melodies immediately attracted me...You may have a point - as I am a dad (of sons, 19 and 23) and I like prog..and I like COE - so it may just be the correct genre! - What else is dad/prog - suppose Genesis/Yes/Camel and more lately Pendragon/Marillion/IQ/Twelfth Night/Pallas ?? |
Well mostly I'm referring to the sound I get from T, Pendragon(yes), CoE, Haken, Flower Kings, Spock's Beard and the likes, where I personally feel like I'm listening to prog created from a recipe. Sorry, I know you're a big fan of a lot of these, and I certainly don't mean to belittle other folks' tastes, I just can't get into them. All the other acts you mention are/were brilliant acts who all had something to say on their own, and are furthermore among my favourites. I've never thought of early Marillion, nor IQ for that matter, as Genesis rip offs like some do. Either way, none of these are "dad-prog" to my ears. |
You are referring to the "Prog by numbers" descriptive....You will upset a lot of symphonic prog fans by dismissing it all as if it was "Prog by recipe"...What is T by the way? (Transatlantic?) |
I try not to be dismissive of any music, but what I've heard from either of these bands have failed to grab me in any way, and it's not like I don't enjoy symphonic styled music. Like I said, I love Genesis, Yes, Camel, Marillion, IQ and a truckload of other artists including a fair deal of French and English acts. I just can't seem to get into most modern styled symph bands for whatever reason.
T is a German one-man band, who did a 2013 album called Psychoanorexia that got a lot of positive mentions both on the frontpage as well as on the fora.
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“The Guide says there is an art to flying or rather a knack. The knack lies in learning how to throw yourself at the ground and miss.”
- Douglas Adams
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rushfan4
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Posted: January 14 2014 at 08:57 |
Guldbamsen wrote:
M27Barney wrote:
Guldbamsen wrote:
M27Barney wrote:
"Too Polite Prog"...another sub-genre?? I'm not usually a big fan of vocals or lyrics as a rule - but the COE singing and vocal melodies immediately attracted me...You may have a point - as I am a dad (of sons, 19 and 23) and I like prog..and I like COE - so it may just be the correct genre! - What else is dad/prog - suppose Genesis/Yes/Camel and more lately Pendragon/Marillion/IQ/Twelfth Night/Pallas ?? |
Well mostly I'm referring to the sound I get from T, Pendragon(yes), CoE, Haken, Flower Kings, Spock's Beard and the likes, where I personally feel like I'm listening to prog created from a recipe. Sorry, I know you're a big fan of a lot of these, and I certainly don't mean to belittle other folks' tastes, I just can't get into them. All the other acts you mention are/were brilliant acts who all had something to say on their own, and are furthermore among my favourites. I've never thought of early Marillion, nor IQ for that matter, as Genesis rip offs like some do. Either way, none of these are "dad-prog" to my ears. |
You are referring to the "Prog by numbers" descriptive....You will upset a lot of symphonic prog fans by dismissing it all as if it was "Prog by recipe"...What is T by the way? (Transatlantic?) |
I try not to be dismissive of any music, but what I've heard from either of these bands have failed to grab me in any way, and it's not like I don't enjoy symphonic styled music. Like I said, I love Genesis, Yes, Camel, Marillion, IQ and a truckload of other artists including a fair deal of French and English acts. I just can't seem to get into most modern styled symph bands for whatever reason.
T is a German one-man band, who did a 2013 album called Psychoanorexia that got a lot of positive mentions both on the frontpage as well as on the fora. |
I've seen enough of your posts in the What Are You Listening to Now? thread to know that the music has to be "weird" in order for it to appeal to you. For lack of a better term, I guess that we would have to term what you enjoy listening to as Son Prog.
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