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progbethyname View Drop Down
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Points: 7750 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 10 2014 at 18:28
Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

The reason the lists have such high ratings is because the year had many big names attached to released albums. Plus people love giving out 5* ratings/reviews before its released or within 3 days of being released.
I also don't understand how a reissue is ranked #2. Oh well.


You make a pretty fair point there. And some people give 1 or 2 star ratings before they come out as well!
I think the latest DT album may have been victimized by this process, but mainly overall we can't get angry about this.
Hard not to though.
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Points: 2673 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 11 2014 at 13:03
Originally posted by Guldbamsen Guldbamsen wrote:

I think people forget that 3 stars means a good album.
Also, if you check the most popular artists inside the last 24 hours, it is almost always artists who've received either a 4 or 5 star write up. Perhaps folks are under the impression that anything less than that is futile to investigate their time in. Sad really...

That's the reason I haven't done any ratings on this site. I don't know how to give an album less then three stars.
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Points: 26171 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 11 2014 at 14:15
Originally posted by progbethyname progbethyname wrote:

Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Back on the subject of whether 2013 was 'really that good'. No not for me. I only loved one album and that was Steven Wilson's. My second favourite album was Three Monks - Legend Of The Holy Circle which is music based around pipe organ. Basically you can wrap anything up round the pipe organ and I would like it. After that Spocks Beard was the only thing that really grabbed before I am down to Frost recyclying their previously released music in a live DVD. I can't remember exactly who I picked from 5 down but it included 'crossover' releases. I wasn't impressed with Desolation Rose all that much but I think it ended up in my top ten almost by default.


Yeah, but it was a beautiful Gothic, wailing pipe organ no less! :)
What a beautiful album. I finally listened to it the other day and was very pleased with the Three Monks latest output.
Glad to hear you really enjoyed as well. However I do feel their first effort, Neo Gothic Progressive Toccats may have a leg up on The Holy Circle. Loved that Goblin, Profondo Rosso cover. Brilliant!

their first album was much grittier and probably got more mileage from the Pipe Organ. The second album seemed a bit lighter as they introduced synths into the equation. Both are great but the first album may just have that 1/10 bit extraSmile
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Points: 26171 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 11 2014 at 14:24
Originally posted by Ivan_Melgar_M Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:

Originally posted by King Crimson776 King Crimson776 wrote:

I'm surprised Ivan wouldn't find it a strong year. Symphonic was stronger than it has any right to be:

The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) - Steven Wilson

PFM in Classic: Da Mozart a Celebration - Premiata Forneria Marconi

Barbarica - Museo Rosenbach

Lifesigns - Lifesigns

In hoc signo - Ingranaggi della Valle

Sensitivitá - La Coscienza di Zeno

Out of the Barnyard - Fright Pig

The Dream Harbour - Willowglass

You Have a Chance - Camelias Garden

L'Angelo rinchiuso - Aldo Tagliapietra

The Continuation - The Windmill

Le Porte del Domani - La Maschera di Cera

The Twenty Seven Club - Magenta

What’s Up? - Motoi Sakuraba

Limiti all’eguaglianza della parte con il tutto - Homunculus Res

Ulisse l'alfiere nero - Progenesi

La Crudeltà di Aprile - Unreal City

Le Sacre du Travail - The Tangent

The High Places - Oblivion Sun

Not a Good Sign - Not a Good Sign

Funfair Fantasy - Trion

Dedalo e Icaro - Il Cerchio D’Oro


Some of those only partially symphonic, but The Raven is imo mainly a symphonic album. The Spock's Beard album was genuinely not a symph album though.


Well lets see:

1.- The Raven: I gave 3 stars being generous, IMO a 2 star album.
2.- PFM: Haven't heard the Mozart Celebration in time to vote, I avoid this kind of albums that mix Classical and Symphonic too much, I gopt it a couple weeks ago and soon will review it..
3.- Out of the Barnyard: Great album, it's in my list BUT IT'S NOT SYMPHONIC, we added the band because it is spectacular and wanted to avoid the ping pong
4.- I was a fan of Magenta, Revolutions was a masterpiece, Seven wasd great, but don't care about their later albums, they became a slightly Neo Prog accessible band closer to Prog Related
5.- Motoi Sakuraba: I voted against his inclusion in 2005 and later, I don't believe jhe belongs in Neo, but I respect the team's vote
6.- Lifesigns is not Symphonic, good album, but not Symph
7.- The Windmill is Heavy Prog if I'm not wrong, and a very light album IMO
8.- Limiti all’eguaglianza della parte con il tutto is anything but Symphonic, closer to Canterbury or Jazz
9.- Progenesi: Closer to Jazz than to Symphonic
10.- Never liked The Tangent, find them as a band who blend everything, but could never find their sound, sorry (Not Symph either).

Honestly, except in Jazz Rock Fusion, my opinion about 2013 is poor.

Iván

I liked Magenta's Metamorphosis a lot. That could never be just prog related but the albums since especially Home (which is basically Christina's first solo album) and Chameleon do lack serious prog credentials. Their latest album is actually drawing on material that Rob Reed wrote at the time Metamorphosis and unfortunately sounds like the desperate attempt to recover lost ground that it is. 

Agree about Lifesigns. Solid album but not symph.

Its interesting that your feelings about The Raven are exactlly how I felt about Villjans Oga in 2012. The boot is now on the other foot.LOL
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Points: 23998 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 11 2014 at 15:50
Originally posted by King Crimson776 King Crimson776 wrote:

I'm surprised Ivan wouldn't find it a strong year. Symphonic was stronger than it has any right to be:

The Raven That Refused to Sing (And Other Stories) - Steven Wilson

PFM in Classic: Da Mozart a Celebration - Premiata Forneria Marconi

Barbarica - Museo Rosenbach

Lifesigns - Lifesigns

In hoc signo - Ingranaggi della Valle

Sensitivitá - La Coscienza di Zeno

Out of the Barnyard - Fright Pig

The Dream Harbour - Willowglass

You Have a Chance - Camelias Garden

L'Angelo rinchiuso - Aldo Tagliapietra

The Continuation - The Windmill

Le Porte del Domani - La Maschera di Cera

The Twenty Seven Club - Magenta

What’s Up? - Motoi Sakuraba

Limiti all’eguaglianza della parte con il tutto - Homunculus Res

Ulisse l'alfiere nero - Progenesi

La Crudeltà di Aprile - Unreal City

Le Sacre du Travail - The Tangent

The High Places - Oblivion Sun

Not a Good Sign - Not a Good Sign

Funfair Fantasy - Trion

Dedalo e Icaro - Il Cerchio D’Oro


Some of those only partially symphonic, but The Raven is imo mainly a symphonic album. The Spock's Beard album was genuinely not a symph album though.

 
Nice list Approve! All the albums on this list that I have heard (save one) are in my top 15. Though I would not call all of these symphonic: In Hoc Signo is on the jazzy side of RPI, The Raven is only remotely related to Symphonic, Le Sacre du Travail has some symphonic elements, but it is hard to define. Homunculus Res is more like Canterbury Scene, Camelias Garden is something like mellow sympho with strong folky influences and Fright Pig has some symphonic keyboards in Emerson-style, but the bacon leans on classic era-styled heavy hams and is larded with a bit of pork folk now and then.
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Points: 2762 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 11 2014 at 18:30
I guess I have a slightly broader view of symphonic than some. But actually, yeah, only two Raven tracks are symphonic come to think of it: Luminol and Watchmaker. Symph can have plenty of jazz to it so long as the overall structure is symph (Flower Kings etc.). Didn't mean to include Homonculus Res (copypasta'd from my full list). The Windmill is a bit too simple I guess. Some would actually put the new Comedy of Errors but I'm a little stricter than that.

Edited by King Crimson776 - February 11 2014 at 18:44
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Points: 6 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 11 2014 at 21:42
This year looks to be a lot better. Yes we had Steve Wilson but...
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Points: 4287 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 12 2014 at 07:27
I just hope that one day everyone will just listen to the music, forget about overrated underrated points and scores.
Just listen to the music, enjoy every single track as if it was the only piece of music in the world, think about what the artist had in mind with this particular piece, ect ect.
It is not a sports contest.
Points are totaly irrelevant when it comes to art. Even more so if you start thinking about a year v year contest, what is the point ?
Prog is whatevey you want it to be. So dont diss other peoples prog, and they wont diss yours
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Points: 19535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 12 2014 at 10:31
Originally posted by tamijo tamijo wrote:

I just hope that one day everyone will just listen to the music, forget about overrated underrated points and scores.
Just listen to the music, enjoy every single track as if it was the only piece of music in the world, think about what the artist had in mind with this particular piece, ect ect.
It is not a sports contest.
Points are totaly irrelevant when it comes to art. Even more so if you start thinking about a year v year contest, what is the point ?

There are Great, Good, Average, medioccre and bad albums.

That'ssomething we can't deny.

We only say our truth
            
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Points: 178 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 12 2014 at 15:00


Ideally,
reviews should be posted after around 20 listens. 

The first few listens are basically 
the "getting to know each other" phase.  

5 to 10 listens is the honeymoon stage. 

11 to 15 listens is the period when you really 
get familiar with all the little intricacies of the album. 

16 listens and up is when you start looking around 
at all the other attractive albums on the market. 

At around 20 listens, you can truly declare 
whether it is love... or if it was just a torrid passing fling. 

Heart

PS: If you couldn't get past 5 listens,
then it simply wasn't meant to be (more than 3 stars). 



Edited by altaeria - February 12 2014 at 15:04
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Points: 16952 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 12 2014 at 16:18
No. I can get through 20 listens in a day. It doesn't matter - it's time that changes your view of an album and really shows it's true value. 

I wouldn't want to put a number on the amount of time you need for each "stage" but i would wait a least a month. 
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Points: 17499 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 12 2014 at 17:14
Originally posted by Ivan_Melgar_M Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:

Originally posted by tamijo tamijo wrote:

I just hope that one day everyone will just listen to the music, forget about overrated underrated points and scores.
Just listen to the music, enjoy every single track as if it was the only piece of music in the world, think about what the artist had in mind with this particular piece, ect ect.
It is not a sports contest.
Points are totaly irrelevant when it comes to art. Even more so if you start thinking about a year v year contest, what is the point ?

There are Great, Good, Average, medioccre and bad albums.

That'ssomething we can't deny.

We only say our truth
 
...we only say our opinion, not truth. Reviewing is subjective, an opinion not truth.
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Points: 3145 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 12 2014 at 20:03
Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

Originally posted by Ivan_Melgar_M Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:

Originally posted by tamijo tamijo wrote:

I just hope that one day everyone will just listen to the music, forget about overrated underrated points and scores.
Just listen to the music, enjoy every single track as if it was the only piece of music in the world, think about what the artist had in mind with this particular piece, ect ect.
It is not a sports contest.
Points are totaly irrelevant when it comes to art. Even more so if you start thinking about a year v year contest, what is the point ?

There are Great, Good, Average, medioccre and bad albums.

That'ssomething we can't deny.

We only say our truth
 
...we only say our opinion, not truth. Reviewing is subjective, an opinion not truth.

Good points Handshake
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Points: 8856 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 12 2014 at 21:15
Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

No. I can get through 20 listens in a day. It doesn't matter - it's time that changes your view of an album and really shows it's true value. 

I wouldn't want to put a number on the amount of time you need for each "stage" but i would wait a least a month. 
I've reviewed during my first listen (once). Embarrassed
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Points: 16952 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 12 2014 at 22:23
Originally posted by Polymorphia Polymorphia wrote:

Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

No. I can get through 20 listens in a day. It doesn't matter - it's time that changes your view of an album and really shows it's true value. 

I wouldn't want to put a number on the amount of time you need for each "stage" but i would wait a least a month. 
I've reviewed during my first listen (once). Embarrassed

Stern Smile
Crushed like a rose in the riverflow.
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Points: 19535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 13 2014 at 00:24
Originally posted by Catcher10 Catcher10 wrote:

Originally posted by Ivan_Melgar_M Ivan_Melgar_M wrote:

Originally posted by tamijo tamijo wrote:

I just hope that one day everyone will just listen to the music, forget about overrated underrated points and scores.
Just listen to the music, enjoy every single track as if it was the only piece of music in the world, think about what the artist had in mind with this particular piece, ect ect.
It is not a sports contest.
Points are totaly irrelevant when it comes to art. Even more so if you start thinking about a year v year contest, what is the point ?

There are Great, Good, Average, medioccre and bad albums.

That'ssomething we can't deny.

We only say our truth
 
...we only say our opinion, not truth. Reviewing is subjective, an opinion not truth.

I said OUR truth, not the truth.
            
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Points: 19535 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 13 2014 at 00:29
Originally posted by altaeria altaeria wrote:



Ideally,
reviews should be posted after around 20 listens. 

The first few listens are basically 
the "getting to know each other" phase.  

5 to 10 listens is the honeymoon stage. 

11 to 15 listens is the period when you really 
get familiar with all the little intricacies of the album. 

16 listens and up is when you start looking around 
at all the other attractive albums on the market. 

At around 20 listens, you can truly declare 
whether it is love... or if it was just a torrid passing fling. 

Heart

PS: If you couldn't get past 5 listens,
then it simply wasn't meant to be (more than 3 stars). 


Almost impossible.

I hardly listen any album more than 20 times in 3 years.

I have nearly 3,000 albums in CD format, almost 2,000 in LP  and  a lot in legal MP3.

I wouldn't be able to rate more than 20 or 30 albums if I had to listen all of them 20 times.

You can afford that luxury when you have 100 albums, but I never review an album before the fourth or fifth listen..

Iván
            
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Points: 26171 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 13 2014 at 01:46
Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

No. I can get through 20 listens in a day. It doesn't matter - it's time that changes your view of an album and really shows it's true value. 

I wouldn't want to put a number on the amount of time you need for each "stage" but i would wait a least a month. 

so is there a point when your view of an album becomes 'fixed'?
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Points: 4515 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 13 2014 at 05:05
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

No. I can get through 20 listens in a day. It doesn't matter - it's time that changes your view of an album and really shows it's true value. 

I wouldn't want to put a number on the amount of time you need for each "stage" but i would wait a least a month. 

so is there a point when your view of an album becomes 'fixed'?


 20 listens for any album younger then 3 years is really rare.
there's too much new stuff to check and too much old favorites to keep enjoying (so I might be at around 200 listens for certain 70's albums by now Shocked )

my view on an album never becomes fixed, i'm a progressing being Smile
it's one of the reasons I'm mixed about reviewing now, I wrote a couple of 1000 in a year only to find out 2 years later I sometimes don't agree at all with that older me that did them

to review an album it's certainly good to be away from it for a couple of weeks so that the initial surprise has worn off a bit
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Points: 4515 		Direct Link To This Post Posted: February 13 2014 at 05:07
Originally posted by Horizons Horizons wrote:

I also don't understand how a reissue is ranked #2. Oh well.


Camel?
That's because I can't even be bothered to post the 1 star review I've written about it Dead





Edited by Bonnek - February 13 2014 at 05:07
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