So what are you listening to?

[pxr5]

Cosmograf - The Unreasonable Silence (LP, 2016)


Generated at awesomeprog.com

[Thenop]

New The Cure album. It is very The Cure and not in a bad way. It's a bit laidback but they were never the most energetic band to begin with. Smith's voice is still there, no idea how, but it is. So far (halfway) this would be a worthy album on their way out.

[Slim]

I listened to Yessongs while out on a long bike ride. As most readers will know I'm sure this was a "triple album" back in the day and I really treasured it as a teenager. Back then I had five or six live albums that I treated as immersive; I'd enshroud myself in a pair of headphones in a darkened room and I'd be transported into a concert venue.

Yessongs was the most time-demanding of all of the live albums I had but it was one of my favourites, right up there with All The World's A Stage, Live and Dangerous, Alive II and the Mahogany Rush one, simply titled Live.

Well - I just don't have the attention span to listen to a long album now, except while cycling. Somehow though it felt wrong to listen to an album that was a sort of meditative, transcendent experience while operating a bicycle in broad daylight. But I reflected that I might never listen to it again otherwise. So that's what I did.

I'm sorry to say that in the cold light of day (literally), it didn't quite stack up the way it did when I was 17. For one thing - some of the long instrumental passages are really self-indulgent and not particularly musical. Long bits of The Fish for example. Just aggressive bass noodling. Steve Howe is similarly guilty elsewhere.

Interestingly although it does have a nice ambient concert hall sort of sound, there are one or two parts that are obviously studio overdubs - there's a bit of bass in one of the tunes that sounds like it's been added afterwards to fill out the sound; it sounds nothing like the more distorted, growly bass line that kicks in a few moments later.

If they could have kept the performances a bit tighter (shorter) and lost some of the over-indulgence, this would have been a fantastic double album.

[Thenop]

I listened to Yessongs while out on a long bike ride. As most readers will know I'm sure this was a "triple album" back in the day and I really treasured it as a teenager. Back then I had five or six live albums that I treated as immersive; I'd enshroud myself in a pair of headphones in a darkened room and I'd be transported into a concert venue.

Yessongs was the most time-demanding of all of the live albums I had but it was one of my favourites, right up there with All The World's A Stage, Live and Dangerous, Alive II and the Mahogany Rush one, simply titled Live.

Well - I just don't have the attention span to listen to a long album now, except while cycling. Somehow though it felt wrong to listen to an album that was a sort of meditative, transcendent experience while operating a bicycle in broad daylight. But I reflected that I might never listen to it again otherwise. So that's what I did.

I'm sorry to say that in the cold light of day (literally), it didn't quite stack up the way it did when I was 17. For one thing - some of the long instrumental passages are really self-indulgent and not particularly musical. Long bits of The Fish for example. Just aggressive bass noodling. Steve Howe is similarly guilty elsewhere.

Interestingly although it does have a nice ambient concert hall sort of sound, there are one or two parts that are obviously studio overdubs - there's a bit of bass in one of the tunes that sounds like it's been added afterwards to fill out the sound; it sounds nothing like the more distorted, growly bass line that kicks in a few moments later.

If they could have kept the performances a bit tighter (shorter) and lost some of the over-indulgence, this would have been a fantastic double album.

Must have been quite a sight: record player on the back of your bike, pair of huge cans with those curled wires on your head.

Seriously though: I have a lot of those albums and every time I pull something out and listen to it I find myself thinking: that didn't age well - or better: I aged quite a bit!

[Nickslikk2112]

Devin Townsend - Powernerd (White Vinyl)
Rosalie Cunningham - To Shoot Another Day (White Vinyl)
Beardfish - Songs for Beating Hearts

[captainkurtz]

New The Cure album. It is very The Cure and not in a bad way. It's a bit laidback but they were never the most energetic band to begin with. Smith's voice is still there, no idea how, but it is. So far (halfway) this would be a worthy album on their way out.

Love the songs, but my god, the mix is absolutely terrible - no dynamics at all, everything pushed to 11, cannot make out the arrangements at all.  The final song should be a monster..but it's just mush.

Lucky enough to have been at the Troxy last night - they were brilliant.

[Thenop]

New The Cure album. It is very The Cure and not in a bad way. It's a bit laidback but they were never the most energetic band to begin with. Smith's voice is still there, no idea how, but it is. So far (halfway) this would be a worthy album on their way out.

Love the songs, but my god, the mix is absolutely terrible - no dynamics at all, everything pushed to 11, cannot make out the arrangements at all.  The final song should be a monster..but it's just mush.

Lucky enough to have been at the Troxy last night - they were brilliant.

Full concert is up on youtube now, no need to ask whether it was any good: it was.

[Fishy]

Trifecta.. The New Normal

Lifeson makes an appearance...

[David L]

New The Cure album. It is very The Cure and not in a bad way. It's a bit laidback but they were never the most energetic band to begin with. Smith's voice is still there, no idea how, but it is. So far (halfway) this would be a worthy album on their way out.

Love the songs, but my god, the mix is absolutely terrible - no dynamics at all, everything pushed to 11, cannot make out the arrangements at all.  The final song should be a monster..but it's just mush.

Lucky enough to have been at the Troxy last night - they were brilliant.

Full concert is up on youtube now, no need to ask whether it was any good: it was.

Robert Smith - a freaky amalgam of an elderly Liz Taylor and Barbara Cartland 

[Thenop]

Love the songs, but my god, the mix is absolutely terrible - no
Robert Smith - a freaky amalgam of an elderly Liz Taylor and Barbara Cartland 

A true hero though, refusing to allow dynamic ticketing and notice no commercials on the YouTube feed for the concert.

[pxr5]

Beardfish - Songs for Beating Hearts (LP, 2024)
BC, SPO


Cosmograf - The Hay-Man Dreams (LP, 2017)


Generated at awesomeprog.com

[Nickslikk2112]

King Crimson - Red (Elemental Mixes)

[Nickslikk2112]

King Crimson - Muthers, Nashville 17th April 1974

[Fishy]

Trifecta The New Normal

[Nickslikk2112]

King Crimson - Hollywood Sportatorium, Miami, FL, 20th April 1974