Song reviews of bands we don't like

Hi,

I must admit it's a tall order, and a tricky one though potentially stimulating.   I'm at the point where I can find value to a music and still tear the album to pieces  , and negative reviews do tend to be fun.   But I also enjoy those middle-of-the-roaders where there are both highs & lows, because that can be a real challenge to write about.   No extremes to rest upon and you have to make a real case for mediocrity.  

[sorry I don't have a proper contribution to your thesis; a review and all]

If I am understanding the procedure correctly:

https://www.dailymotion.com/video/x2qn44l


Edited by Logan - March 23 2018 at 11:18

^ Thanks for stepping up to the plate. You got the procedure right, I just made it sound very, very complicated.

EDIT:

My mini-review, or impressions as I listen a second time to that Spock's Beard track (I know that it would need more spins to do a decent job as one often has to adjust to music and breathe it in a bit). In fact, sometimes I have to live with music for a long time waiting until I'm in just the right mood.

I wrote down my impressions on every bit of the song because it does seem a bit of a patchwork with repeating verses and themes, but I din't like how it turned out, so this will be somewhat shorter. I still don't like how it turned out, but family needs me and I won't edit more at this time. I'm not breaking into paragraphs as much a I should to make it harder to read as I'm embarrassed at how badly I have written it.

It is very musically accomplished track that incorporates various styles of music into a sort of symphonic prog form. I'm not sure what the overall structure is, it's not really a suite.... Hmm, it has some pop music structure with other bits thrown in. Certainly parts I definitely liked much more than others. The first minute was gorgeous, and had a cinematic feel, later I enjoyed brassy bits. There's some fabulous cello and french horn in there. The drumming was very good, especially during the jazz bit. The ballady bits were too AOR for me, and the metal parts were not my style, but of course a sum is greater than its parts and I respect that they tried to be diverse. I will say that it reminded me a bit too much of Yes and Rush in parts, but I like Yes and Rush to an extant. My biggest qualm is the vocals. They sounded too AOR for me, and I didn't like the vocal harmonies or certain repetitions of words I don't find the vocalist generally appealing, but there was a vocal bit in the song that I did enjoy. Structurally, I found it rather too repetitive yet at the same time a bit too much of a patchwork (didn't quite gel for me even though themes were repeated and the repetition of refrains). I think it went into verse chorus verse structure a bit too much, or was it too many refrains of the same? You know structure better than I. It did get too noodley in parts, a problem with Yes that it sounded very influenced by to me. I do think it was overlong and would have been better at about half the length (much like this review only this review would be better in one sentence or two), but certainly there was some noodling that didn't move the song forward and harsher editing to keep it focused would have made it rather better. Musically, the individual parts didn't feel that original to me, but I suppose the originality comes from the way they pieced it together and incorporated those parts into a song.

That said, I do think it shows an accomplished group of musicians, and I do think that there are some very good ideas in the song. The vocals were easier to take the second time, so who knows what I will think when I hear it again. Maybe the structure will click more on successive spins. Music is an acquired taste (don't like that phrasing much, but you get the idea), and two tries at listening to a song of a style that one does not usually listen to is not really enough. I do have greater respect for the abilities of the band, found much to enjoy in that music, and I may even get the album at some time. Definitely preferred it to what I heard before of Spock's Beard (the album I bought in about 2004), so thank you. It's actually a really catchy song, and I'm sure that on successive spins I'll totally get it and appreciate it more and more.

Incidentally, I didn't know you could embed dailymotion vids here, cool (video starts every time I enter the thread and needs pausing not to play for me).

Epignosis wrote: And I don't really like Supertramp.

I'm going to edit in my review later (listened already, but need to again -- {AND EDITED IN}), I just want to get in first with a Supertramp song. It's off the debut album from 1970, and at 12 minutes it is the longest track off it. It's called Try Again (which is kind of an appropriate title for the topic). It may be a different side to the band than you already know, and it may not appeal. Others would probably recommend "Fool's Overture", but I suspect you've heard that. Another might recommend "Brother Where You Bound", but I think the debut album is a good one to try.

Unfortunately, I could not find the song itself for embedding, so this is the whole album, so you'll have to move the time slider manually. Song begins at 32:38 and ends at 44:38 (or thereabouts).



{it's funny that I spoke of that Spock's Beard song being overlong, while posting this, as one could very easily say the same of this track}

{Editing to fix youtube embeds in thread since they don't work that way anymore}

Edited by Logan - March 23 2018 at 11:16

Pastmaster wrote: So do I just go ahead and mention a band I don't like if I want to join in?

Yep.

Then someone needs to post a link to a song, or embed a video, from the band, then you can share your impressions of the music (just mentioning this for the sake of clarity all around).

Edited by Logan - June 30 2016 at 02:52

Edited by Logan - March 23 2018 at 11:17

Hey, not fair!  

I must confess to being something of a hypocrite with Supertramp.  My experience with them has been limited to the radio and Crime of the Century.  I like the radio hits a fair bit, but they're not the kind of thing I'd go out of my way to listen to.  I call myself a hypocrite in this regard because Kansas (my favorite band) rides in that same boat for a lot of people- they only know what gets airplay and not a note beyond that, and so their perspective of the band is limited and ignorant.  That's the same way with Supertramp and me.  Like I said, I dig the radio hits, and on the basis of the high rating here, I thought Crime of the Century would be worth checking out.  It didn't do anything for me.

"Try Again" is a different beast entirely.  It sounds a lot like early Genesis morphing into early-early Kansas when the bluesy guitar solo takes off.  Excellent stuff.  If you know my musical interests at all, you will already know that I could care less for the "Moonchild"-inspired business that transpires toward the end of the song.  I like how it comes back together for one more driving rehearsal of the main theme.

4/5

That was fun.

nat health wrote: Hey, not fair!   As an instrumental piece, it has its moments.  I like the last minute or so, when the synth (or maybe synth saxes?) kick in. The rest is a bit too obvious in its "Victory Theme" / Chariots of Fire approach.  Also, where have I heard that main motif before?  Genesis?  It'll come to me. I suspect VGG  has many instrumental high points, but I haven't been able to bear listening once the HAMmill bone is served.  I'd like to hear a track with vocals that do not sound like a high school production of HAMlet. The gauntlet has been thrown.

I know I was being cheeky by choosing an instrumental. I couldn't resist. The Theme One single went number one in Italy (I think one reason why they loved VdGG Hammill as much as they did there had something to do with their operatic tradition, even if Hammill is no Puccini). I just found out that "Theme One was an instrumental piece, originally written by Beatles producer George Martin as a fanfare for the BBC radio station Radio 1" (wikipedia) in 1967. So me not just choosing an instrumental but choosing a cover is really shameful . Maybe Genesis based some music on it. http://www.allmusic.com/song/theme-one-mt0003556198

George Martin has few versions, and have to admit that as much as I love VdGG's version, George Martin owns it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0EVpvrDeVg8

Hopefully you will now get a decent suggestion since you explained more about the haminess. My problem with Hammill's hamminess that I used to say made me ill before I acquired a taste for it was the histrionics, but I liked his singing on the gentler songs such as "Refugees", "House With No Door" , and "Out of My Book". That said, they do have those HAMlet qualities you profess.

I'll let someone else you knows more of the VdGG material well choose a track for you. I only regularly listen to The Least We Can Do (my fave), He to He, and Pawn Hearts. I used to have Godbluff, but it went missing.

Meltdowner wrote: ^ I guess mine was already answered. It's a really good song, it's nice to see these great musicians getting the attention they deserve. "Godbluff" is actually the only album I find tolerable since it's short, more instrumental and has less aggressive vocals. About Spock's Beard, did you hear anything from the first two albums? I think they are quite different from the next ones, less mature in a good way, in my opinion. I have to say though that the AOR is part of the appeal, similarly to Kansas. [/snip] [

Maybe Godbluff would be a good one to find a suitable track for Nat's wants. No, I hadn't listened to early Spock's Beard (or barely). Only album I have had of Spock's Beard is Snow, and Spock's Beard was recommended specifically to me back then because I was a Gentle Giant fan, and the album just didn't meet my expectations, unlike say Et Cetera https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3tOes0y2hQ, but it's not like I requested a clone. I discovered another modern band back that had some of the same spirit back then called Miriodor, also from Quebec, that exceeded any expectations.

I like the song that Epignosis posted on the whole, and I think the one you posted is good. I knew I'd misjudged the band based on my particular expectations. And there's a lot of music in the AOR universe that I do enjoy. Kansas is another that, while I don't care for the vocals much of the time, they have undeniably good music. I like less mature often, a reason why I very often prefer the early albums of a band (especially when it comes to late 60s and 70s bands even before they hit their major Prog classics r commercial success). For instance, I prefer the debut of Supertramp to later stuff, I prefer early Magma to later Magma (first two albums), I generally prefer earlier Tangerine Dream to Phaedra up albums (though I like the later stuff too), earlier Pink Floyd to post Atom heart Mother Pink Floyd, and I prefer early Yes to later Yes (but I could think of many hundreds).
There's often a rawness to the early production that I like, and later on albums get too slick and refined in a sense. A problem I often have with AOR/ melodic rock is that it is so slick (bet a lot of that would sound better to me in concert).

Pastmaster wrote: ^^Here's an Anathema song for you. Mind you, I only like their early doom metal stuff like this. As for me, I don't really like Genesis.