Progarchives, the progressive rock ultimate discography
PROG ARCHIVES intends to be the most complete and powerful progressive rock resource. You can find the progressive rock music discographies from 12,217 bands & artists, 71,190 albums (LP, CD and DVD), 1,963,463 ratings and reviews from 67,566 members who also participate in our active forum. You can also read the new visitors guide (forum page).

2023最新澳洲幸运10官网开奖记录-官方在线查历史开奖记录澳洲10开奖结果168-澳洲幸运10开奖历史查询 Latest Progressive Rock Music Reviews


Last 50 reviews
 Trench of Loneliness by ITERUM NATA album cover Studio Album, 2023
3.00 | 2 ratings

BUY
Trench of Loneliness
Iterum Nata Prog Folk

Review by Matti
Prog Reviewer

3 stars Here's the first review for this Finnish artist. An excellent bio by Gordy, by the way. Behind this Latin moniker is Jesse Heikkinen, probably best known as the guitarist in Hexvessel which is also in ProgArchives. Trench of Loneliness is already the fourth release -- the first two were only roughly 29 minutes long -- but the first one to enter my radar. All ten tracks here are of regular length between 3 and 5 minutes, and performed entirely by Heikkinen (apart from tin whistle on the last song).

This music is generally very gloomy and melancholic neo/psych/dark folk. The opening song 'My Name Is Sorrow' sets the tone for the most of the other pieces to follow. The arrangements are rooted on acoustic guitar and ghostly hovering synths. For starters, think of the late sixties Pink Floyd song 'Julia Dream'. The vocals however come closer to e.g. Nick Cave. Another modern day artist used as a reference is the American psych folk band Espers, but in comparison Iterum Nata is, fairly understandably as a one-man effort, sonically narrower.

The tempo is mostly kept rather slow. For the overall mood the album tends to appear as a bit monotonous and tiresome in a casual listening, but the closer you listen to it, the more you notice how melodic it is in the end, and that several songs do have their own personal charm. Perhaps the first four songs or so, none of them bad per se, are most alike in their dark and melancholic "dwelling in solitude" nature. 'The Feather' sticks positively out as an instrumental with a Post-Rock flavour. 'The Mountain' has a faster tempo and a more vital musical performance, including nice percussion.

'Losing Connection', despite continuing the general gloominess, somehow sounds more empowering than the first third of the album, and the slightly country-ish 'I Only Sing With the Dead' even seems to have a tongue-in-cheek attitude, as if the artist looks into his morbid themes with a light-hearted irony. I'm thinking of the Finnish cult band Leningrad Cowboys. The biggest surprise comes in the end: 'Comedy of Humanity' is a relaxed, melodic poprock anthem that makes me think of Traveling Wilburys (Lynne, Orbison etc), and also the arrangement is much wider and more dynamic than on the album in general. This song really stays in your mind afterwards, whether a good or a bad thing. Heikkinen could have attempted to reach more of this variety in moods, and undoubtedly collaborating with fellow musicians or producers would have done good. Solid three stars earned nevertheless.

澳洲幸运10开奖历史查询 MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
 Asia by ASIA album cover Studio Album, 1982
3.20 | 579 ratings

BUY
Asia
Asia Prog Related

Review by Progmin23

5 stars It's quite disappointing how much hate this album receives. Is it progressive rock? Not really, but that doesn't mean it deserve all the negativity. This album is good AOR and deserves a nice spot alongside 80s arena rockers like Survivor and Triumph. You probably heard it many times already: quartet known for their respective progressive works are expected to write a great prog album, but they had other plans. Owned it on cassette first, and had bought it on a whim. I knew "Heat Of The Moment", but hadn't heard the other stuff before. It's a very nice 80s rock album that has very melodic passages, some small, yet clever nods to their progressive roots.

"Heat of The Moment" is on Top 40 radio. Sounds like a hard rock version of "Video Killed The Radio Star" in terms of chord structure and such (ironically, Geoff Downes is a Buggle). Still sounds good nonetheless.

"Only Time Will Tell" One my favorites, it is very melodic and is littered with great synth work and great Howe shreds. The group brings it home with the nice sound of this song.

"Sole Survivor" Starts out with heavy guitar, and devolves back to an upbeat rocker. Guitar and synth duet here and there.

"One Step Closer" another of my favorites. Very upbeat, and not too heavy, the synth work here is almost New-Wave. Vocal work is not too harsh, and the chorus is very mellow.

"Time Again" starts out very proggish with Howe's ominous guitar before the song really starts revealing a song that (to me) sounds like a battle of some sorts. There are some odd pauses where the guitar and keys do some call/response avant stabs to each other.

"Wildest Dreams" is another melodic number. Funnily enough, this song is actually about war. A mix between the upbeat rocking energy of "Heat Of The Moment" and also melodic chords of "Only Time Will Tell". During the chorus, you can hear Howe feeding his guitar through either chorus or a leslie speaker. There is a really nice guitar/synth duet in the middle of the song. Really The songs ending is very nice and ends in a Gmaj7.

"Without You" is the most progressive offering for those who got this far. The song starts as a ballad, but turns into an upbeat song that changes quite a bit. Howe comes in on Acoustic guitar when the song goes back into ballad mode, and I thought it was very cool.

"Cutting Fine" speaking of acoustic guitar, this upbeat number starts with acoustic guitar before going full electric and the synth strings swell into place. This is one is kind of cheesy because of the vocoder that comes in near halfway. The ending of the song turns into a piano/synth/organ ballad and to me that was also quite progressive.

"Here Comes The Feeling" Is an upbeat finisher that starts symphonic, and has piano (both acoustic and electric) littered throughout. Howe comes in on acoustics again which is cool.

In all, this album is not going to please progressive purists, but for those who enjoy 80s rock music, this is a definite addition to your collection. It's arena AOR with some symphonic and progressive flavorings.

澳洲幸运10开奖历史查询 MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
 The ?  Book by SEVEN STEPS TO THE GREEN DOOR album cover Studio Album, 2011
3.77 | 96 ratings

BUY
The ? Book
Seven Steps To The Green Door Neo-Prog

Review by Mellotron Storm
Prog Reviewer

3 stars There are certain bands that just aren't my thing including this German band listed under Neo Prog here but really variety is their thing and this is all over the place. A concept album that is as vague as they could make it so as not to be controversial. I read a interview with one of the band members who said a "known" singer agreed to be on here but backed out last minute because of the controversial subject matter. A six piece here but we get a male and female who sing only plus nine guests and six of them use their voice. Yes concept albums are all about the story generally to a fault.

The only other album I own by this band is "Fetish" a 3.5 star record and better than this one. The variety is just too much here, I mean extreme vocals growling away one minute then sugar the next. Speaking of sugar someone mentioned MAGIC PIE as a reference to this band and that's another band I have difficulty with. So of course a very talented group of singers and performers showing off their skills in many different styles is impressive but I just can't get into it. But taking the high road with a 3 star snappy rating.

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
 The Endless River by PINK FLOYD album cover Studio Album, 2014
3.27 | 949 ratings

BUY
The Endless River
Pink Floyd Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by TheEliteExtremophile

1 stars In 2014, Pink Floyd announced The Endless River, composed primarily of instrumental outtakes and experiments recorded during the Division Bell sessions. A small number of additions were made in 2013 to complete the album.

When this was announced, I set my expectations low. Gilmour had proven himself to be an inconsistent songwriter, and the prospect of something stitched together from leftover bits did not leave me optimistic.

My initial reaction to The Endless River was, "Wow, this is surprisingly not-[&*!#]ty!" I then proceeded to not listen to it again until writing this essay six years later. That should tell you all you really need to know. It's passable instrumental space rock in small doses, but nothing makes this record noteworthy or worth revisiting. The ungainly length of this record is a hindrance, and it truly lives up to the endlessness promised in its name.

"Things Left Unsaid" is emblematic of many of the sins of this era of Pink Floyd. A dull synth drone acts as the backdrop to a slow, languid guitar line for four-and-a-half minutes. It's "Cluster One" trying to be the closing moments of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond". "It's What We Do" is an improvement, insofar as it has a pulse. This again feels like a weak, sterile attempt to recreate moments off "Shine on You Crazy Diamond". With this being an instrumental album, Roger Waters's presence isn't missed. He was never a standout bassist, as I've mentioned previously, and his playing almost always bled into the background as Wright and Gilmour took the lead. This album's flaccid opening movement closes with the brief "Ebb and Flow", which is all ebb and no flow.

"Sum" is the first place where the album does anything interesting. Wright's organ stutters in a way which evokes many of Floyd's best songs, including "Astronomy Domine". It's too long and lacks direction, but I'll take aimless jamming over aimless airiness. "Skins" is a callback to early cuts like "A Saucerful of Secrets" and "Up the Khyber" with Nick Mason's distinct, tom-heavy drumming style taking the lead. When a drum solo is the strongest cut on an album so far, that's usually not a good sign. "Anisina" is too sweet, and it feels like generic background music to be used in a heartwarming scene on a made-for-TV movie. I also hate the tone of the saxophone on this song.

Another brief, ambient piece?"The Lost Art of Conversation"?doesn't do much beyond occupy two minutes of time, but "On Noodle Street" is one of the better tracks on The Endless River. It's not particularly good in absolute terms, mind you, but enough happens on this brief cut to keep me interested. It's mellow and jazzy, but my ultimate assessment is simply "inoffensive."

"Night Light" harbors some darker, minor-key tones, and "Allons-y" finally gets something going with its bouncing rhythm and a guitar line that could have been one of the better songs on The Wall. "Autumn '68" is a pointless mini-fugue which leads back into the second half of "Allons-y". "Talkin' Hawkin'" features more vocal snippets from Stephen Hawking, and it's nice that this song has enough percussion to maintain an identifiable beat.

"Calling", which opens side 4 of this album, is an interesting collection of moody synthesizers. This one could have been workshopped into something better, but there are nuggets of good ideas here. "Eyes to Pearls" stays in the same neighborhood but with a bit more muscle, and "Surfacing" is one of the rare cuts to feel like a real song.

The one song with vocals?"Louder Than Words"?closes out The Endless River. It's a pretty typical Gilmour-era ballad. Soulful background singers in the chorus feel like a crutch, and the instrumentation doesn't do much to grab the listener. Giving credit where credit is due, the closing guitar solo is quite good.

Looking on this record with relatively fresh eyes, I find its immense bloat and frequent aimlessness hobble any other redeeming qualities. It isn't actively bad in most cases, but it's frequently downright anodyne. Oftentimes, boring is worse than bad. Ummagumma's studio disc is an ungodly, unfocused morass, but they at least were trying weird and different things. The Endless River is endlessly safe. It was a disappointing, unnecessary way for Pink Floyd to wrap up their career.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
 The Division Bell by PINK FLOYD album cover Studio Album, 1994
3.74 | 2196 ratings

BUY
The Division Bell
Pink Floyd Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by TheEliteExtremophile

3 stars The Division Bell was released in 1994 and is unquestionably the strongest of Floyd's three post-Waters albums. Rick Wright rejoined the band as a full member, and his contributions are both noticeable and appreciated.

The Division Bell, though, like many albums from the 1990s, is way, way too long. No longer constrained by the roughly 45 minutes you could comfortably fit on an LP, many bands of that era seemed to have been compelled to pump out hour-plus releases simply because they could. Just because a CD can hold 80 minutes, that doesn't mean you need to put 80 minutes of music on a CD.

This is immediately evident with the opener, "Cluster One". I get what they were going for, but this five-minute piece could have easily been shortened to one minute.

"What Do You Want from Me" is passable, kinda funkyish, and sorta-prog. (Look, prog was not in good shape in 1994.) The soulful background singers and over-the-top guitar flourishes sound a bit silly now, but in context, it's not bad.

"Poles Apart" is delightfully varied. The folkiness of the guitar is a nice change of pace, and the lyrics are some of Gilmour's better work. Bits could be seen as addressing either Roger Waters or Syd Barrett.

"Marooned" won Pink Floyd a Grammy for the first (and only) time, but Rush really should have won that year. The Simpsons was correct in its Grammy commentary. It's a strong, melodic instrumental, but it suffers from being culturally overhyped. Gilmour's guitarwork is overdone, and Mason's drumming is too restrained. The keyboard playing feels just (w)right, though.

Let's skip "A Great Day for Freedom". That song sucks. "Wearing the Inside Out" isn't amazing. It's a bit slow, and the saxophone is a bit much. However, it's Rick Wright's last lead vocal performance, and his first since "Stay" on Obscured by Clouds. (He shared vocal duties on "Time" and provided backing vocals on multiple songs on Wish You Were Here.) All things considered, this bit of melodrama is one of the better cuts on this record.

"Take It Back" should have been taken back, and "Coming Back to Life" should never have been given life in the first place. Both suffer from many late-'80s/early-'90s pop-rock ills and offer nothing new or interesting.

"Keep Talking" is pretty cool, and it features a fitting guest bit from Stephen Hawking's vocal synthesizer. It's jazzy yet spacy, but the soulful backup singers come off as something of a gimmick. "Lost for Words" isn't very strong, so let's skip that as well.

The Division Bell closes on "High Hopes", which was recorded after the rest of the album was completed. It's an overwrought but enjoyable cut. It makes multiple, conscious allusions to past Pink Floyd songs and albums. I can't denounce this song, but I can't fully endorse it either. I like this song, but it feels like it's trying too hard, it's too clever for its own good, and it's too self-aware.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
 A Momentary Lapse of Reason by PINK FLOYD album cover Studio Album, 1987
3.07 | 1864 ratings

BUY
A Momentary Lapse of Reason
Pink Floyd Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by TheEliteExtremophile

2 stars Where The Final Cut is often derided as a Roger Waters solo effort, I and others view A Momentary Lapse of Reason as a David Gilmour solo effort. Nick Mason's contributions to the album were minimal, and multiple outside songwriters were utilized.

Pink Floyd founding member Rick Wright was hired on as a session musician (legal issues blocked him from fully rejoining the band), but he barely did anything. By the time he had been brought on, most keyboard parts had already been recorded.

As I've mentioned at least twice now, A Momentary Lapse of Reason, released in 1987, is not a good album. However, it's stronger by a mile than The Final Cut and only marginally weaker The Wall. It has a few good songs, but its bad points are really, really bad.

AMLOR opens with "Signs of Life", an unfocused, meandering, but undeniably Floydian instrumental. This is followed by "Learning to Fly", the big single off the album. I was never the biggest fan of this song, as it feels like a ton of '80s cheese, but it's better than anything other than "Not Now John" off The Final Cut. For as much as I criticize the bluntness of Waters's lyrics, he's miles better than Gilmour with words, and even Gilmour's outside help can't write much of anything compelling.

Jesus, The Final Cut really set the bar low. At least I can write about the individual tracks on AMLOR.

"The Dogs of War" is one hell of a mixed bag. It's got a simple but imposing string motif the lends an air of doom and gloom. Gilmour's vocal performance is strong, and the song's overall starkness works well in its first half. But then the drums come in, and with them, super cheesy organ, guitar, and saxophone, all of which only cheapen the experience.

"One Slip" starts off as a pretty cool Mike Oldfield song, but it quickly turns into typical late-'80s art-schlock. There are some neat musical ideas here, but there's too much bloat and gloss to make it worthwhile.

"On the Turning Away" sounds like an outtake from The Wall, and I emphatically do not mean that as a compliment. It's not bad, but it's overly sentimental and too long. "Yet Another Movie" contrasts this quality by being needlessly grim and solemn, but I'll take that as an improvement.

The Vocoded spoken word of "A New Machine" is oddly alluring; it's disappointing that it doesn't lead to anything interesting. Gilmour's got a great voice, and feeding it through this synth makes for a unique atmosphere. But nothing special comes of it.

"Terminal Frost" is pure garbage, but "Sorrow" is pretty cool. Imposing, icy guitar looms over everything, and that harsh sterility is used to build ambiance. Sequenced synthesizers, understated rhythm guitar, and distant vocals are all hallmarks of Gilmour-Floyd (Gilmoyd? Gilmoyd.), and this is one of the highlights of this particular lineup.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
 The Final Cut by PINK FLOYD album cover Studio Album, 1983
3.19 | 1995 ratings

BUY
The Final Cut
Pink Floyd Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by TheEliteExtremophile

1 stars It's confession time. Prior to writing this retrospective, I'd never heard The Final Cut (Pink Floyd's 1983 follow-up to The Wall) in its entirety. And after listening to it, I wish I hadn't.

The album isn't without its enjoyable moments. "Not Now John" is a pretty good song. "The Hero's Return" sounds like a weaker sequel to "Run Like Hell", and...and...and good God, I tried to find a third thing about this album I could give even back-handed praise to, but I couldn't. This record is one of the worst [&*!#] sandwiches I've ever heard.

Most of it is like a worse version of the worst parts of The Wall. It's simultaneously over-orchestrated and thin and weak-sounding. Roger Waters's vocals are exceptionally strained, and this 43-minute release feels like it's three times its actual length.

This is the only Pink Floyd album to not feature Rick Wright, and his presence is sorely missed. Nick Mason's drumming is so anemic he may as well not even be there, and David Gilmour's guitar parts are uninspired. Longtime Pink Floyd album cover artist Storm Thorgerson hadn't been utilized on The Wall, but that album has fitting artwork. In contrast, his absence is acutely felt here. This [&*!#]ty, ugly cover was designed by Waters himself, unsurprisingly.

Gilmour complained that Waters mostly brought material which the band thought was too weak for The Wall to the recording sessions, but he had nothing to contribute either. Thus, Waters was allowed to fully dominate the album. The lyrics on The Final Cut feel genuine, but the music is incredibly half-assed and lazy. It feels as if there was a general who-gives-a-[&*!#] malaise over the band.

The Final Cut was originally envisioned as the soundtrack for the film adaptation of The Wall, but the outbreak of the Falklands War prompted Waters to rewrite the material as an anti-war concept album.

Roger Waters is the premier example of a musician whose politics I broadly agree with but who I wish would keep politics out of his music. Animals was an exception, and that was more sociology than politics. Roger Waters's political music is [%*!#]ing garbage. Jesus Christ, shut the [%*!#] up, Roger.

The Final Cut is an embarrassing, abject failure. Dr. Zoidberg really summed this album up well when he said, "Your music's bad, and you should feel bad!"

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
 The Wall by PINK FLOYD album cover Studio Album, 1979
4.09 | 3219 ratings

BUY
The Wall
Pink Floyd Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by TheEliteExtremophile

3 stars **The Wall Is a Middling Album, and This Is a Hill I'm Willing to Die On**

This part of the essay is a bit I've been eagerly anticipating writing for a long time. And if one were to scroll through my personal Reddit account, one could find embryonic versions of the ensuing discussion.

The title of this section is a thesis I've long proclaimed. Setting aside lyrics for the moment?I will get to that?the music on The Wall is woefully inconsistent. There are gems buried in here, but much of the record is plodding and monotonous. There's a pretty decent 40-minute album buried in this 82-minute slog of bloat and self-indulgence.

I've stated many a time on this site that I'm not a lyrically-focused individual. In general, I like the sound of the human voice, and I like the structure of human language, so I prefer music with lyrics to instrumental pieces, all else being equal. However, bad lyrics can hurt otherwise-good music, as can a bad vocal delivery. Roger Waters was never a strong vocalist, and his delivery is especially weak on much of this record.

The lyrics on much of The Wall are bad, and they're delivered in an impossible-to-ignore way. To start, the main conceit of the album is not a strong concept. "I'm so isolated, I feel like I'm behind a wall," is not a particularly new or unique idea, and it's not presented in a very interesting way. It comes off as whiny and full of self-pity. While relatable, this narrative presented in a facile and achingly unoriginal way. The story?adapted from a much more explicitly autobiographical first draft?is overwrought.

The compositions tend to be either blandly spare or needlessly over-orchestrated, and things certainly weren't helped by the band members' deteriorating personal relationships during recording. A combination of depression (stemming largely from a failing marriage) and a falling-out with Roger Waters led to Rick Wright being fired from the band. He was hired on as a session musician for the tour, however.

Wright's reduced input is obvious, as most keyboard parts on The Wall are plain and simplistic. Jazz is noticeably less prominent as well, as Wright often was the one bringing in those uncommon chords on prior compositions. It's Gilmour who carries the instrumental aspects of this album without Wright. Waters was never a standout bassist, and Mason's drumming is so restrained that even Ringo could have pulled it off.

The Wall also suffers from an abundance of sound effects. Snippets of conversation are littered throughout the album, and it often stretches decent two-minute songs to interminable four-minute lengths. The constant background chatter becomes draining. Contrast this to Dark Side, where conversational snippets were smoothly integrated into the fabric of the music. On The Wall, these elements feel hastily and thoughtlessly slapped on.

The individual songs were composed almost entirely by Roger Waters, with only four of the 26 tracks having a credited co-writer. And unsurprisingly, those four songs are some of the strongest on the whole record, demonstrating that Waters usually needed outside input.

"In the Flesh?" opens the album, and it's a bit of a mixed bag. If I weren't told this was a Pink Floyd song, I'd think it was fine. It's Stygian, prog-ish arena rock, but it's nothing to write home about. I do like the soulful backing vocals, but everything else here is either way too much or not nearly enough. That is to say, it's an odd mixture of overblown and unambitious. "The Thin Ice" features an uncharacteristically weak vocal performance from David Gilmour, and the piano-and-synth backing is underbaked, a quality which most of the record suffers from.

"Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)" is the strongest of the three parts of this song. It's got genuine menace, and the sense of isolation and abandonment is palpable. Unfortunately, this mood isn't upheld in either of the following tracks. "The Happiest Days of Our Lives" is a weird, unfocused prelude to what follows. It's more sound effects than substantive music, and the many ideas jammed into this sub-two-minute cut feel disjointed. "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 2)" meanwhile suffers from the irredeemable ill of a child choir and half-assed white-boy faux-funk.

"Mother" is uneven. A not-insignificant portion of this cut is folky, singer-songwriter bull[&*!#] that I simply don't like. Once "Mother" gets going, though, it's not a bad composition. It's not great, but this solid-C+ cut is a relative strong point on The Wall.

The Wall has some oddball tracks which I really love. "Goodbye Blue Sky" is one of those. It combines wonky folk motifs with sinister synthesizers and opaque-enough-to-be-good lyrics to make something compelling.

"Empty Spaces" is more notable for its stupid backmasked message than for anything else. It's an aimless, forgettable interlude which could have been trimmed from two minutes to 30 seconds. ("What Shall We Do Now?" was an inexplicable exclusion. Originally placed after "Empty Spaces", it was quite a strong 90-second piece, and The Wall would have been stronger to include it.) "Young Lust" also overstays its welcome. Co-written by David Gilmour, this song is a send-up of late-'70s bluesy sex songs. It's another alright cut, but the premise wears thin by track's end.

"One of My Turns" is one of the great successes of The Wall. It aptly conveys the sense of desperation and mania the Waters was striving to portray, and though it's rather unimpressively played, its internal diversity is strong enough to let it stand on its own. Sadly, this is followed by what is likely the worst slog on the album. "Don't Leave Me Now" has Waters warbling off-key over atonal organ chords in a hazy torpor of uninteresting depression for four punishing minutes.

Disc one of The Wall ends with the perfectly passable duo of "Another Brick in the Wall (Part 3)" and "Goodbye Cruel World". Neither is particularly noteworthy: the former is a slightly more energetic rehash of Part 1; the latter is a dull-but-short organ-and-bass dirge.

Thankfully, disc two is markedly stronger than disc one.

"Hey You" is a standout on The Wall, but if it had been on Wish You Were Here, it would have been underwhelming. It isn't a bad song by any means, but it does fall victim to many traps of late-'70s arena rock which I have a distaste for. In addition to being generically overblown at parts, the production is a bit much for me here. Gilmour's solo is decent, but its backing track is repetitious and uninteresting. The organ is too dramatic during those moments, as well. This song thrives in its quieter moments.

Unfortunately, Roger Waters can't let us have two consecutive good songs on this record, it seems. "Is There Anybody Out There?" begins as a dull synth drone, but its second half features more interesting acoustic elements. "Nobody Home" is a track I have an unjustifiable soft spot for. It's a simple piano-based piece with big, warm swells of string and brass that feel almost embarrassingly earnest.

"Vera" is simply pointless. Let's skip this one. Y'know what, let's also skip "Bring the Boys Back Home". Christ, these two messes made it in but "What Shall We Do Now?" was cut? Revisiting The Wall is simply reinforcing my anti-Roger Waters bias.

Finally, we're getting to the good part of The Wall. "Comfortably Numb", on paper, suffers from many of the symptoms of bloat which I'd normally decry on this record. The simple playing and overly lush sound palette would usually be red flags, but the melody has drama to it, and the song has an understandable arc. Gilmour's masterful closing solo certainly doesn't hurt either. (For a truly amazing rendition of that solo, listen to the live version of this song from 1994's Pulse.)

"The Show Must Go On" is nice and warm, if forgettable, and "In the Flesh" is a pointless retread of the album's opening track.

"Run Like Hell", however, is an amazing, energetic, anxious track. It's both claustrophobic in its tight rhythm and wide-open with its guitar tones. It truly evokes the feeling of sprinting from some danger. Waters's snarled delivery is befitting. This song features Rick Wright's one solo on the album, but it's a strong one. Though not particularly technical, the wobbling insecurity of his synth suits the subject matter well.

One of the weirdest tracks on The Wall is "Waiting for the Worms". It's full of allusions to the preceding songs, and the oddball vocal deliveries suit everything wonderfully. It's thumping and lurching and scary, though it's also got some of the most beat-you-over-the-head obvious lyrics on a famously straightforward record.

After the 30-second piano interlude of "Stop", "The Trial" is another strong, wonderful oddball cut. There's a Vaudevillian theatricality here that is absent elsewhere in Floyd's output. The song's sheer weirdness is what saves it. The lyrics continue the trend of ditching any semblance of artfulness, but everything is so odd and surprising, I can't help but love it. "Outside the Wall", which closes the album, feels like an afterthought and makes no lasting impression.

A few paragraphs ago (or maybe a few dozen, it feels like), I mentioned I felt that there was a decent 40-minute album buried in this unfocused mess. Coming from my lyrically-deemphasized standpoint, here is my proposal for an improved, abbreviated tracklist. Certain songs would need to be trimmed down, and those songs have been noted with asterisks. If they were to be taken as-is, this The Wall would wind up north of 50 minutes. Seeing the tracklist now, I'm not sure I could whittle it down to 40 minutes, but 45 seems totally reasonable.

My Streamlined Wall

In the Flesh?* Another Brick in the Wall (Part 1)* Mother* Goodbye Blue Sky What Shall We Do Now? Young Lust* One of My Turns Hey You* Nobody Home Comfortably Numb Run Like Hell Waiting for the Worms The Trial

Lyrics would need to be rewritten if you wanted the story to make sense, but unlike my view on films, I don't need a coherent plot in my music.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
 Animals by PINK FLOYD album cover Studio Album, 1977
4.53 | 3987 ratings

BUY
Animals
Pink Floyd Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by TheEliteExtremophile

5 stars Animals, Pink Floyd's 1977 release, saw Roger Waters dominate the songwriting even more than on the previous releases. David Gilmour only co-wrote one of the three big suites, and neither Mason nor Wright received any songwriting credits.

Loosely based on George Orwell's Animal Farm, Animals is a concept album about the socio-political state of Britain in the mid-1970s. Waters's lyrics became increasingly on-the-nose here, but it wasn't yet distracting. If anything, they work quite well in this instance, and the songs on Animals are some of the band's best.

Animals is bookended by a pair of brief acoustic pieces titled "Pigs on the Wing". On the 8-track release of this album, these two cuts were stitched into one piece, with a guitar solo by session musician Snowy White acting as a bridge between the halves.

"Dogs" was cowritten by David Gilmour, the only non-Waters songwriting credit on the album. This song starts off with a dark folk backbone, rolling along steadily. Rapid, acoustic strumming and quiet organ and synth provide a subtle backdrop for Gilmour's strong vocal performance. After a brief, mildly bluesy instrumental interlude, "Dogs" enters its extended, down-tempo midsection. There's a signature plaintive Gilmourian guitar solo, and Nick Mason's drumming is restrained but artful.

It's around the 8-minute mark of "Dogs" that Animals hits its one big snag. The drawn-out section of synth drone and dog sound effects overstays its welcome by a significant margin, and it could have been significantly shortened. In the final minutes, though, the opening theme is revisited with Waters on vocals and a wonderful twist on the lyrics.

"Pigs (Three Different Ones)" is the song with lyrics that have aged the worst. They're unsubtly about mid-'70s British politics. The general sentiment is discernible, but many of the specific details will be lost on listeners who don't do their reading. It's also my least favorite of the three opuses on Animals, but being the weakest song on Animals is like being the worst type of non-pineapple pizza. It's still pretty good.

There's a laid-back, funky grooviness to much of the song. This is what "Have a Cigar" strove for but failed to deliver on. "Pigs" carries an air of self-satisfied smugness which suits the subject matter so well. Gilmour's use of a talkbox is handled quite well. That's a tool which is often mis- and over-used, but it's deployed tactfully here.

Animals closes on my favorite of the three main tracks. "Sheep" is a snarling, biting cut that was (sadly) Rick Wright's last huzzah as a soloist. The languid, jazzy opening piano solo is the perfect lead-in to the charging verses. The guitar (played by Waters) slashes aggressively, Wright's organ swirls like a hurricane, and the bass (played by Gilmour) thumps and pounds.

The midsection of "Sheep" features big, bright synthesizers that complement the other instruments to build an anxious atmosphere. The vocoded pastiche of Psalm 23 is a little silly for my taste and presaged some of Waters's most brutally unsubtle songwriting tactics which would crest on Pink Floyd's next two albums. Still, it's a forgivable sin in this context.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
 Wish You Were Here by PINK FLOYD album cover Studio Album, 1975
4.64 | 4438 ratings

BUY
Wish You Were Here
Pink Floyd Psychedelic/Space Rock

Review by TheEliteExtremophile

4 stars Many consider their 1975 follow-up, Wish You Were Here to be equal to Dark Side, but that's a point where I disagree. It's a very strong album, but it does have a few glaring flaws which drag it down.

Roger Waters again penned all the lyrics, and he had a hand in the composition of each song, as well, though songwriting remained an overall collaborative effort. The album's concept is based on the band's experience in the music industry, and its quality varies somewhat.

WYWH opens with the first five parts of the 26-minute "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" suite. It begins with droning synths and a delicate, clean guitar solo. This movement dissolves into an expansive, four-note arpeggio which builds into a sinister, psychedelic blues jam. This particular instrumental passage overstays its welcome a little bit, but it eventually does a good job of transitioning into the verses. The verses are some of Waters's strongest compositions and a loving ode to Syd Barrett. The closing sax solo channels the best moments of Dark Side and is a fitting wrap-up to this first half of the suite.

"Welcome to the Machine" is my favorite song on the album, and it might be my overall favorite song by the band. This menacing, pulsing synthesizer experiment contrasts the harsh sterility of the music against the bitter, plaintive vocals. Acoustic guitar bites brilliantly against the electronic tones, and Nick Mason's restrained drumming complements it perfectly.

This masterpiece is then followed by "Have a Cigar", undoubtedly the weakest track on the album. The faux-funkiness of the backing track feels tepid, and guest vocalist Roy Harper sounds strained.

The album's title track is next, and I've got somewhat mixed feelings on it. In isolation, it's a very good song. The folk and country tones of the main guitar line suit the lyrics and vocal delivery, and the warm synth tones in the outro are very nice. But in the context of this album, it feels out of place. This doesn't sound like a Pink Floyd song, and this track's earthiness and rawness clashes against the lusher sound palettes of the other cuts.

The second half of "Shine on You Crazy Diamond" wraps up the remainder of the album, and it's overall stronger than the first half. The introductory movement revisits ideas from the first half, this time with a bit more purpose. It isn't quite as wandering, and Rick Wright's synth solo is a highlight. This section feels like a slightly updated version of "One of These Days", and it's some of the band's best in-studio jamming. More funk touches come in after the verse, and these experiments feel less forced than on "Have a Cigar". The song's final movement is piano-and-synth-centric, and the very final moments have a rich hopefulness to them.

Review originally posted here: theeliteextremophile.com/2021/03/01/deep-dive-pink-floyd/

MEMBERS LOGIN ZONE

As a registered member (register here if not), you can post rating/reviews (& edit later), comments reviews and submit new albums.

You are not logged, please complete authentication before continuing (use forum credentials).

Forum user
Forum password
Reviews list is cached

澳洲幸运10开奖历史查询 Latest Prog News, Shows and Tours


Prog News & Press Releases (10) | More ...
Prog Gigs, Tours and Festivals (10) | More ...

澳洲幸运10开奖历史查询 Latest 3 Progressive Rock Videos


All videos
MOST POPULAR ALBUM (last 24h)
FORUM NEW TOPICS

澳洲幸运10开奖历史查询 Prog Lounge

Prog Polls

Prog Interviews

BUY PA T-SHIRTS & MORE
Arjen Lucassen (AYREON's mastermind) wearing the classic long sleeves PA t-shirt
Arjen Lucassen (AYREON's mastermind) wearing the classic long sleeves PA t-shirt.
To buy Progarchives.com custom items: t-shirts, beer steins, coffee mugs, mouse pads, bumper stickers, go to http://www.zazzle.com/progarchives, select the ones you like and checkout (PayPal support). All orders are handled by Zazzle from invoicing, printing to shipping.

Thanks in advance for supporting us and for spreading the purple prog !
TOP PROG ALBUMS
  1. Close to the Edge
    Yes
  2. Selling England by the Pound
    Genesis
  3. Wish You Were Here
    Pink Floyd
  4. In the Court of the Crimson King
    King Crimson
  5. Thick as a Brick
    Jethro Tull
  6. The Dark Side of the Moon
    Pink Floyd
  7. Foxtrot
    Genesis
  8. Red
    King Crimson
  9. Animals
    Pink Floyd
  10. Godbluff
    Van Der Graaf Generator
  11. Fragile
    Yes
  12. Pawn Hearts
    Van Der Graaf Generator
  13. Larks' Tongues in Aspic
    King Crimson
  14. Nursery Cryme
    Genesis
  15. Mirage
    Camel
  16. Per Un Amico
    Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM)
  17. Moonmadness
    Camel
  18. Moving Pictures
    Rush
  19. Relayer
    Yes
  20. Darwin!
    Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso
  21. Hemispheres
    Rush
  22. Aqualung
    Jethro Tull
  23. Io Sono Nato Libero
    Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso
  24. Hybris
    Änglagård
  25. Hot Rats
    Frank Zappa
  26. In a Glass House
    Gentle Giant
  27. Si on avait besoin d'une cinquième saison
    Harmonium
  28. Kind of Blue
    Miles Davis
  29. A Farewell to Kings
    Rush
  30. Storia Di Un Minuto
    Premiata Forneria Marconi (PFM)
  31. From Silence to Somewhere
    Wobbler
  32. Birds of Fire
    Mahavishnu Orchestra
  33. H To He, Who Am The Only One
    Van Der Graaf Generator
  34. The Yes Album
    Yes
  35. Scheherazade and Other Stories
    Renaissance
  36. In the Land of Grey and Pink
    Caravan
  37. Crime of the Century
    Supertramp
  38. Metropolis Part 2 - Scenes from a Memory
    Dream Theater
  39. Octopus
    Gentle Giant
  40. Zarathustra
    Museo Rosenbach
  41. Images and Words
    Dream Theater
  42. The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway
    Genesis
  43. The Power and the Glory
    Gentle Giant
  44. The Grand Wazoo
    Frank Zappa
  45. The Snow Goose
    Camel
  46. The Raven That Refused to Sing (and Other Stories)
    Steven Wilson
  47. Meddle
    Pink Floyd
  48. Still Life
    Van Der Graaf Generator
  49. The Mothers of Invention: One Size Fits All
    Frank Zappa
  50. The Silent Corner And The Empty Stage
    Peter Hammill
  51. A Trick of the Tail
    Genesis
  52. Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso
    Banco Del Mutuo Soccorso
  53. Ommadawn
    Mike Oldfield
  54. Free Hand
    Gentle Giant
  55. Hand. Cannot. Erase.
    Steven Wilson
  56. Fear of a Blank Planet
    Porcupine Tree
  57. Acquiring the Taste
    Gentle Giant
  58. Still Life
    Opeth
  59. The Inner Mounting Flame
    Mahavishnu Orchestra
  60. Rock Bottom
    Robert Wyatt
  61. Permanent Waves
    Rush
  62. Romantic Warrior
    Return To Forever
  63. Mekanïk Destruktïw Kommandöh
    Magma
  64. Obscura
    Gorguts
  65. Depois do Fim
    Bacamarte
  66. In Absentia
    Porcupine Tree
  67. 4 visions
    Eskaton
  68. Misplaced Childhood
    Marillion
  69. Space Shanty
    Khan
  70. A Drop of Light
    All Traps On Earth
  71. Hatfield and the North
    Hatfield And The North
  72. Dwellers of the Deep
    Wobbler
  73. Blackwater Park
    Opeth
  74. Ghost Reveries
    Opeth
  75. Viljans Öga
    Änglagård
  76. Radio Gnome Invisible Vol. 3 - You
    Gong
  77. Symbolic
    Death
  78. Hamburger Concerto
    Focus
  79. Script for a Jester's Tear
    Marillion
  80. In A Silent Way
    Miles Davis
  81. Arbeit Macht Frei
    Area
  82. Voyage of the Acolyte
    Steve Hackett
  83. Crimson
    Edge Of Sanity
  84. Ashes Are Burning
    Renaissance
  85. Emerson Lake & Palmer
    Emerson Lake & Palmer
  86. Second Life Syndrome
    Riverside
  87. Sing to God
    Cardiacs
  88. If I Could Do It All Over Again, I'd Do It All Over You
    Caravan
  89. Of Queues and Cures
    National Health
  90. Spectrum
    Billy Cobham
  91. Bitches Brew
    Miles Davis
  92. Felona E Sorona
    Le Orme
  93. K.A (Köhntarkösz Anteria)
    Magma
  94. Elegant Gypsy
    Al Di Meola
  95. The Road of Bones
    IQ
  96. Maxophone
    Maxophone
  97. Anabelas
    Bubu
  98. On Land And In The Sea
    Cardiacs
  99. Remedy Lane
    Pain Of Salvation
  100. We'll Talk About It Later
    Nucleus

* Weighted Ratings (aka WR), used for ordering, is cached and re-calculated every 15 minutes.

More PA TOP LISTS
100 MOST PROLIFIC REVIEWERS

Collaborators Only

ratings only excluded in count
  1. Mellotron Storm (4701)
  2. Warthur (3189)
  3. Sean Trane (3161)
  4. ZowieZiggy (2931)
  5. apps79 (2629)
  6. siLLy puPPy (2413)
  7. UMUR (2219)
  8. kev rowland (2071)
  9. b_olariu (2042)
  10. Easy Livin (1932)
  11. Gatot (1811)
  12. BrufordFreak (1801)
  13. Windhawk (1699)
  14. Conor Fynes (1613)
  15. SouthSideoftheSky (1597)
  16. Matti (1474)
  17. Tarcisio Moura (1455)
  18. Evolver (1425)
  19. TCat (1407)
  20. AtomicCrimsonRush (1357)
  21. Bonnek (1333)
  22. kenethlevine (1319)
  23. snobb (1223)
  24. erik neuteboom (1201)
  25. Finnforest (1146)
  26. tszirmay (1068)
  27. Rivertree (1056)
  28. octopus-4 (1025)
  29. ClemofNazareth (1011)
  30. Cesar Inca (928)
  31. memowakeman (923)
  32. loserboy (897)
  33. Rune2000 (877)
  34. Marty McFly (840)
  35. Guillermo (794)
  36. Neu!mann (759)
  37. Chris S (753)
  38. DamoXt7942 (743)
  39. Eetu Pellonpaa (724)
  40. Aussie-Byrd-Brother (719)
  41. greenback (685)
  42. progrules (666)
  43. Seyo (659)
  44. admireArt (648)
  45. VianaProghead (630)
  46. Prog-jester (624)
  47. friso (624)
  48. Epignosis (624)
  49. lor68 (601)
  50. andrea (582)
  51. Prog Leviathan (582)
  52. Ivan_Melgar_M (560)
  53. philippe (540)
  54. hdfisch (492)
  55. Chicapah (486)
  56. stefro (486)
  57. Menswear (476)
  58. The Crow (472)
  59. Dobermensch (464)
  60. zravkapt (460)
  61. colorofmoney91 (459)
  62. J-Man (449)
  63. ProgShine (444)
  64. russellk (440)
  65. Atavachron (429)
  66. Sinusoid (403)
  67. Queen By-Tor (396)
  68. Progfan97402 (369)
  69. tarkus1980 (369)
  70. Zitro (365)
  71. Greger (365)
  72. Nightfly (365)
  73. fuxi (362)
  74. Modrigue (360)
  75. Cygnus X-2 (353)
  76. lazland (352)
  77. Andrea Cortese (348)
  78. rdtprog (345)
  79. Negoba (333)
  80. EatThatPhonebook (326)
  81. Guldbamsen (322)
  82. richardh (320)
  83. FragileKings (318)
  84. Tom Ozric (306)
  85. patrickq (302)
  86. Kazuhiro (299)
  87. Flucktrot (298)
  88. GruvanDahlman (290)
  89. progaardvark (290)
  90. Proghead (288)
  91. OpethGuitarist (287)
  92. Second Life Syndrome (279)
  93. daveconn (266)
  94. Trotsky (264)
  95. Muzikman (263)
  96. Slartibartfast (261)
  97. DangHeck (259)
  98. clarke2001 (254)
  99. aapatsos (253)
  100. The T (239)

List of all PA collaborators

NEW RELEASES

Bumper Book of Mystery Stories by I Am The Manic Whale album rcover
Bumper Book of Mystery Stories

I Am The Manic Whale

Skaza by Budka Suflera album rcover
Skaza

Budka Suflera

Home Coming Queen by Davenport album rcover
Home Coming Queen

Davenport

Birds of Passage and the Enchanted Forest by Karfagen album rcover
Birds of Passage and the Enchanted Forest

Karfagen

Les Dunes by Dunes, Les album rcover
Les Dunes

Les Dunes

INTERACTIVE

RSS feeds

+ more syndication options

Copyright forgottensilence.net 澳洲幸运10开奖历史查询 Prog Archives, All rights reserved. | Legal Notice | Privacy Policy | Advertise | RSS + syndications

Other sites in the MAC network: JazzMusicArchives.com — jazz music reviews and archives | MetalMusicArchives.com — metal music reviews and archives

Donate monthly and keep PA fast-loading and ad-free forever.
友情链接: 彩票开奖网,极速赛车-幸运飞艇-澳洲幸运官方体彩,官网直播开奖结果&全天开奖记录 极速赛车,澳洲幸运,幸运飞艇,飞艇 澳洲幸运5开奖结果查询官网|最新开奖直播视频|2022澳洲幸运五开奖号码 澳洲幸运10开奖历史 澳洲幸运10开奖记录体彩 澳洲幸运10历史开奖结果查询记录,现场直播,168开奖网澳洲10官网正规网站 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网 澳洲幸运10官网开奖 澳洲幸运10开官网 澳洲幸运5|澳洲幸运5官网开奖结果app+开奖记录|澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网 澳洲幸运8:澳洲幸运8开奖手机版-开奖结果查询-2022澳洲选八开奖视频 澳洲幸运8手机版开奖结果 澳洲幸运10开奖历史查询 2023澳洲幸运5开奖直播