Now Playing Thread

[Teunis]

DeeExpus - King Of Number 33
Cosmograf - The Man Left In Space

[PH]

Now listening to:
Big Big Train - "The Underfall Yard"

Man, this is brilliant!

When I think of the best 2009 albums, I think of Dream Theater, Porcupine Tree and Transatlantic.
But I think "The Underfall Yard" really belongs there, perhaps even on number 1.

[Teunis]

Muse - The Resistance
Riverside - Shrine Of New Generation Slaves

[Teunis]

Fischer Z - Red Skies Over Paradise
Anathema - Weather Systems
Days Between Stations - In Extremis

[Teunis]

The Eagles - The Very Best Of The Eagles
Muse - The 2nd Law

[Teunis]

Shadow Gallery - Shadow Gallery
Steve Thorne - Into The Ether

[Teunis]

Threshold - March Of Progress (what an excellent album )
IQ - The Wake

[PH]

Thank you Teunis, for keeping the forum alive!

I'm joining you now.
Yesterday I played a lot of Opeth (selections from all my albums) and all my Big Big Train albums (four).
I came to the conclusion that Opeth's acoustic guitars are the best I've heard in Prog Rock.
I also came to the conclusion that Big Big Train is (to put it in Nicky's words) a pantheon band for me. I'm hesitating to buy more of their (older) albums, because it simply can't be as good! And they won't have Nick D'Virgilio on drums and David Longdon (!) on vocals, flutes and everything else!

[Teunis]

Thank you Teunis, for keeping the forum alive!

At last, a sign of life .

Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here
Mystery - One Among The Living

[PH]

Now playing:
Dream Theater - "Images And Words"

[funkster]

Good choice PH

Forbidden Evil by Forbidden for me - 80's Bay Area thrash. Just how i like it 

[Nicky007]

At last, a sign of life .

I could be more active ... but nobody seems interested in my posts 


NP  Contagion  (on repeat)

This is also one of my alltime top ten.

Clive Nolan is arguably the greatest lyricist in rock. His lyrics confound bigtime (heard that often here), but if one is willing to pursue them, they definitely lead somewhere.

I now understand why I'm so breathtaken by Ascension. The music and lyrics in themselves are of course fabulous, but what tops it off for me is that Ascension wraps up the curve starting with "Out of the Wilderness".

Wilderness is the entrance into our "civilisation". There's lots going on, of course, as one can follow in the first four albums of Arena.

In Contagion, as I see it, Clive takes the perspective of a Moses character, who in a sense is unsoiled Man, who falls on earth (An Angel Falls), witnesses the results of human passions run rampant (This Way Madness Lies), and the ensuing Deluge (Tsunami).

In Ascension, he is on his way back to the stars.

If you wanna understand my reading properly, you look up my take on "Out of the Wilderness" 

- Nicky

[Teunis]

Wow Nicky, what a story . You know, I usually don't even notice the lyrics . I want to know if they're not satanic/anti religious and I'll definitely avoid that kind of bands, but for me the music is the most important. But I agree, 'Contagion' still is my favourite Arena album.

Gazpacho - Tick Tock (to and from work in the car, really dig this album)
Neal Morse - Testimony Two

[Nicky007]

Wow Nicky, what a story . You know, I usually don't even notice the lyrics . I want to know if they're not satanic/anti religious and I'll definitely avoid that kind of bands, but for me the music is the most important. But I agree, 'Contagion' still is my favourite Arena album.

Teunis

I always read your NP's 

I got into doubt about whether we're talking about Moses or Noah, or some compacted figure. Have to go further ....

Considering Clive's high lyrical standards, I think that the Room could try to be a bit more literate 


NP  Ensiferum:  From Afar 

Wikipedia: "Ensiferum (Latin ēnsiferum, n adj., meaning "sword bearing") is a Finnish folk metal band from Helsinki. The members of the band label themselves as "heroic folk metal." Since their formation, Ensiferum has released five full-length albums, one EP, one compilation, three singles, and three demo albums."

- Nicky

[Nicky007]

OK, just read Contagion Short Story by Clive Nolan again.

www.welcometothecage.com/

I see that it's even more complex than I thought.

We are talking about a Noah figure (with all that water pouring thru), and the main figure and angel is Una.

But I think I got some of the philosophy right.

Have to read up more on the story .... :-)

- Nicky

[Draco chimera]

OK, just read Contagion Short Story by Clive Nolan again.

www.welcometothecage.com/

I see that it's even more complex than I thought.

We are talking about a Noah figure (with all that water pouring thru), and the main figure and angel is Una.

But I think I got some of the philosophy right.

Have to read up more on the story .... :-)

- Nicky

I liked the story a lot. It gives a new perspective on the album I think, without taking away the 'imagination' part of the listening experience.

[Teunis]

Considering Clive's high lyrical standards, I think that the Room could try to be a bit more literate 

I have read the stories behind his musicals 'She' and 'Alchemy', very interesting. I'll dig more into the Arena albums too .

Today:
Anathema - Weather Systems
Asia - Silent Nation

[PH]

Devin Townsend Project - "Epicloud"

[PH]

Anathema - "Weather Systems"
Nolan & Wakeman - "The Hound Of The Baskervilles"

I love "The Hound". If you like synths and keyboards this is really one of the best albums you can get. It also has guitar solos by Karl Groom and Arjen Lucassen. Really cool stuff!
I hope these guys come together again and make a third album. They were planning to, but it seems they got obstructed by other commitments. Like Arena and Caamora for example.

[PH]

...and Transatlantic - "SMPTe"

All Of The Above and My New World are the best songs of this album in my opinion.

[Teunis]

IQ - Frequency

[PH]

Threshold - "Dead Reckoning"
I think this album is still their best! No real weak songs here.
"March Of Progress" is really cool too. But the songs don't grab me in the way they do on "Dead Reckoning". Perhaps it has to do with Mac's vocals which I really like. Every time I listen to Threshold I think of his sad passing. What a loss! 

After all this Prog Rock/Metal I felt I had to listen to something else entirely.

Johann Sebastian Bach - "The Brandenburg Concertos"
A cooling down. Really love this. What a brilliant composer.

Anyone else in here who listens to Classical music occasionally?

[Teunis]

Toto - The Seventh One
Days Between Stations - In Extremis
Anima Mundi - The Lamplighter

No classical music over here PH, but nice you enjoy it.

[PH]

Guilt Machine - "On This Perfect Day"

Of course it has 'Ayreon' all over it, but it still sounds a bit special!
Don't play it very often, but when I do I wonder why I don't.
Cool stuff!

[Teunis]

Today:
Muse - Black Holes & Revelations
Anathema - Judgement
Toto - Turn Back
Riverside - S.O.N.G.S.

np (on Progstreaming.com): Nektar - Time Machine (not my cup of tea so far )