Now Playing Thread

[Nicky007]

PP Fates Warning - FWX I just can't get into this one ... I have the same problem with Rush, sometimes ...

OK, a couple more tips for you, Bupie, as I'm in my generous mood today 

The best Rush album is their latest, Clockwork Angels, and the best FW album (pre Darkness In A Different Light, which I haven't yet heard) is A Pleasant Shade Of Gray (altho the latter is more debatable).

Get these, and then we can talk about it ..... 


NP  Clive Nolan:  Alchemy

First listen. I can already hear that this is a groundbreaking album 

Guys ..... 

- Nicky

[Bupie]

Somehow you always manage to avoid the best albums of groups, Bupie, donno how you do it 

Well, I don't know, maybe it is a gift ? Or maybe I foolishly trust the majority of reviewers/raters for a first try at a band ? Which led me to Paradox with RH : http://www.progarchives.com/artist.asp?id=304 

That being said, I am not always in sync with the majority, as my avatar suggests 

NP Royal Hunt - 20th Anniversary

Still fighting. So far, I have a better feeling with the tracks representing the period from their debut to Fear. Yes, I know Nicky, we disagree again ...

[Nicky007]

Well, I don't know, maybe it is a gift ?

Well, Frenchmen have p*y on their mind all the time (not 90% of the time like the rest of us), so logic and system are a bit astray 

Or maybe I foolishly trust the majority of reviewers/raters for a first try at a band ?

Well, I guess I'm just above all those - as Paxi will readily confirm 

Let me use this opportunity to recommend to you the site with the ablest reviewers of metal and hardrock: www.metal-archives.com

Here, I admit to being upstaged rather often; some of these guys have an unbelievable comprehension.

E.g. it was here that I found the swooning reviews of Outlook I - and I had barely even heard of this group - two of them saying that this was the best metal album eva - and they were right 

Fear

Fear is a great album, Bupie. The RH albums I usually recommend as starters are Collision Course, The Mission, and Fear 

But all of the albums from Moving Target to X are superb 

Just avoid their latest studio album Show Me How To Live. Donno what happened, but it falls real short 


NP  Clive Nolan:  Alchemy  (on repeat)

Spellbinding 

- Nicky

[funkster]

Hell - Chapter and curse

A top slab of metal with hints of Maiden , Priest and Mercyful fate

[maddox]

Steve Hackett ~ Genesis Revisited ii

[Nicky007]

NP  Pantera:  The Great Southern Trendkill

Rather strenuous, admittedly, it has everything - growl, shout, scream, stark lyrics, skew guitars, nervy drums - so not for Caps and Teunises - but super for us who dig expression - a great classic 

Any other Pantera fans around ? They'r Panthe(r)on with me 

- Nicky

[Bupie]

Let me use this opportunity to recommend to you the site with the ablest reviewers of metal and hardrock: www.metal-archives.com

Thanks, I know and visit it regularly 

NP Marillion - Somewhere Else
Not recommended to metal-archives readers ...

[Nicky007]

Thanks, I know and visit it regularly 

Super, Bupie ! Have you written any reviews yourself ?

NP Marillion - Somewhere Else
Not recommended to metal-archives readers ...

H-Marillion are second-line for me, just under Pantheon, the "Other groups & artists that I enjoy listening to nowadays". (Fish-Marillion are Pantheon.)

I have Seasons End, Holidays in Eden, Brave, Afraid of Sunlight, Anoraknophobia, and Marbles - bought under the influence of Room fandom, and in the hope that they would rise to earlier days of glory, which never happened, imo, of course but I got Cap with me here - which I play occasionally. Ms 007 likes them - more than Opeth & Co.

I'm not likely to buy any more - but I'll keep these


NP  Star One:  Space Metal

First listen, sounds more like Ayreon than Guilt Machine, but let's see ..... 

Star One fans: Which is best, Space Metal, Victims of the Modern Age, or Live on Earth ?

- Nicky

[maddox]

Any other Pantera fans around ? They'r Panthe(r)on with me 

- Nicky

Yep, me.

Though I have to be very 'angry' do dive into this band.

[PH]

Steve Hackett ~ Genesis Revisited ii

Good one!

Thanks, I know and visit it regularly 

Me too. They are actually called Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives. And there's also metalmusicarchives.com, the metal brother of progarchives.com.

NP  Star One:  Space Metal

First listen, sounds more like Ayreon than Guilt Machine, but let's see ..... 

Star One fans: Which is best, Space Metal, Victims of the Modern Age, or Live on Earth ?

I really like "Space Metal". It's been in my possession a few years longer than "Victims Of The Modern Age", which I also like, but I guess I need to listen to it more to give a better opinion on it.
I don't have "Live On Earth" (yet), but I always prefer studio albums over live albums. Having said that, I plan to buy it, since there's a reissue and it's pretty cheap. And on "Live On Earth" they play some Ayreon songs, which is great.

I think "Victims Of The Modern Age" might be more to your liking. It's more modern (it was released a year after Guilt Machine), and I think it's less Ayreon sounding.

JP
Haken - "The Mountain"
This is really a Shattered Room must have.

Ratings:
Prog Archives: 4.48 (4.5/5 stars)
Metal Music Archives: 4.79 (5/5 stars)
Encyclopaedia Metallum: 89%

NP
Roine Stolt - "Wall Street Voodoo"
Guys, if you're looking for a guitar album, look no further. Roine is one of my favourite guitarists and his style is so recognisable on this one. I love it!

[Nicky007]

Though I have to be very 'angry' to dive into this band.

Maybe I should annoy you some more, and make you Mad, or Madder, or Maddest, or whatever the f* 

Me too. They are actually called Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives.

In German, there's a word for it: Klugscheisser 

I think "Victims Of The Modern Age" might be more to your liking. It's more modern (it was released a year after Guilt Machine), and I think it's less Ayreon sounding.

OK, I'll check it out. Thanx, Paxi 

Haken - "The Mountain"
This is really a Shattered Room must have.

You'r prob right about that, Paxi 

Haven't heard it yet myself. Too busy checkin stuff like:

NP  Sepultura:  A-Lex 

I go very much for the ruffstuff 

Just ordered the cd 

From Wiki: A-Lex is the eleventh studio album by the Brazilian metal band Sepultura. It was released on 23 January 2009 by independent German record label Steamhammer Records. This is the first album featuring new drummer Jean Dolabella, since the departure of Igor Cavalera in 2006.

This is the second concept album released by Sepultura, following 2006's Dante XXI which was based on Dante Alighieri's The Divine Comedy. A-Lex is based on the 1962 book A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess, which in 1971 was adapted into a film version by Stanley Kubrick.

The title is a pun on the main character from the novel, Alex, and the Latin for "without law": a (without) + lex (law); presumably referring to how Alex and his companions behaved.

- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/A-Lex

Tasty 

- Nicky

[Bupie]

NP Big Big Train - English Electric Full Power

Arrived today. Great package, great booklet, great music. Me happy    Who wants my EE Pt1 copy (not kidding) ?

[maddox]

Maybe I should annoy you some more, and make you Mad, or Madder, or Maddest, or whatever the f* 

Ah sweetheart. Thanks! 

[Nicky007]

Ah sweetheart. Thanks! 

Didn't know you were a masochist, Mad. Out with the whip then .... 

NP  Seventh Key  YouTube Mix

Winds Of War is a great song - straight to my Classic list 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lG_DCYp8sfM&list=PL4E12442A48CB88F7

Got Mike Slamer from City Boy on the guitar, and Billy Greer from Kansas on vox and bass, so ... First listen to this group .... 

You guys aint up to much these days

- Nicky

[Nicky007]

Nothin like a b* with B*s to liven up the music 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ANGkoCkVazA&list=PL4E12442A48CB88F7

Check up Mike's look when she turns up 

Actually it's not such a great song, rather standard rhythm and blues, but who cares 

- Nicky

[Nicky007]

Immortal:  All Shall Fall 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOOebk_dKFo

I seem to be alone with this pleasure in the Room 

- Nicky

[Nicky007]

Nice surprise:

NP  Decapitated:  Homo Sum

www.youtube.com/watch?v=-KFObx3n2K0

From Wiki: Decapitated is a death metal band that formed in Krosno, Poland in 1996. The group comprises guitarist, founder and composer Wacław "Vogg" Kiełtyka, vocalist Rafał Piotrowski, and bassist Paweł Pasek. Decapitated have gained recognition as one of the genre's most widely respected bands and one of the finest exponents of technical death metal. The band earned an international fan base in the underground music community, and became an innovating act in the modern death metal genre.

- en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Decapitated_(band)

Hm, who would'v expected something like this from Poland ?

Wow, the Poles seem eager to join the game, and they sure are getting there 

- Nicky

[maddox]

Didn't know you were a masochist, Mad. Out with the whip then .... 

Only when I watch Cars, Nicky.

Admit it, you still like me!

NP> Riverside ~ Shrine of New Generation Slaves : Deprived (Irretrievably Lost Imagination) [8:26]

[Nicky007]

Only when I watch cars, Nicky.

It's called a Maserati, Mad, there's a difference 

Admit it, you still like me!

So much that I'd like to give you a beating 


JP  Mike Oldfield:  Amarok

Wonderful album, full of gems, Mike treats us to a bit of everything, and jars us now and then 


NP  Van Halen:  Balance

VH is my latest big discovery. III is of course a masterpiece. So I also got Balance, the one right before. First listen, sounds 

- Nicky

[Teunis]

Subsignal - Paraiso
Traumhaus - Das Geheimnis

[Peter]

Immortal:  All Shall Fall 

www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOOebk_dKFo

I seem to be alone with this pleasure in the Room 

- Nicky

As if you didn't know the cause for this. Overuse of double bass, scream/growl/whatever esacapes the throat, overall noise hardly recognizable as "music", i.e. played with instruments meant to create music, but obviously completely failed to do so. Sorry. I also have a colleague at work who constantly tries to convince me of "the next level in music", which to me is basically white or pink noise that would make me think something's wrong with the stereo, but he says it's highly sophisticated sound creation. Am I too harsh on these things, or too narrow minded? Maybe. I would rather call it conservative

End of rant.-

on topic:

np: Electric Light Orchestra - [Flashback (Disc 3) - 2000 - #01] - Don't Bring Me Down

[maddox]

As if you didn't know the cause for this. Overuse of double bass, scream/growl/whatever esacapes the throat, overall noise hardly recognizable as "music", i.e. played with instruments meant to create music, but obviously completely failed to do so. Sorry. I also have a colleague at work who constantly tries to convince me of "the next level in music", which to me is basically white or pink noise that would make me think something's wrong with the stereo, but he says it's highly sophisticated sound creation. Am I too harsh on these things, or too narrow minded? Maybe. I would rather call it conservative

End of rant.-

Definitely not a rant in my book.
You like it or you don't, I'm okay with that.
Personally, there are quite a few symphonic/progressive blackmetal bands that I don't like but I do like some of the growls from time to time.
It fits with Opeth, it fits with Scar Symmetry and the likes, but it doesn't fit in everything.

NP> Epica ~ The Phantom Agony

Yup, growls.
And Simone Simmons. 

[Nicky007]

As if you didn't know the cause for this.

Cap. Pleazzz don't keelhaul me 

Yeah, well, I understand why most people, even you guys who are more open, don't like this sorta stuff.

Until I experienced them live at Copenhell, I also wondered how anyone can actually enjoy it.

Well, the concert was a bomb - almost literally. It was like being assaulted with a Stalin Organ - with Stalin himself growlin thruout - with loving jabs 

Needless to say, everything else gets blown outta your mind - total catharsis.

But what's great about this particular band is that they'r really fabulous musicians. There's a lotta atmosphere and the lyrics are very vivid - mainly cooooooold. And after a while you begin hearing the variation - after a looong while.

It's a very special musical experience - and therefore they'r pantheon with me 

And therefore I just ordered their latest album All Shall Fall 

Well, after this, I guess I'll have to take the keelhauling, gotta make some sacrifices for great music 

NP  Immortal:  Sons Of Northern Darkness

Their classic album 

- Nicky

[Nicky007]

NP  Subsignal:  Beautiful & Monstrous 

Subsignal are a worthy heir to the great Sieges Even. They took the melodic and atmospheric part, and tuned down the jazzy experimental part a bit

I think that all Roomies can enjoy this music

Teunis, occasionally you really have good taste

Thanx for tipping me on this super band (not cuz I wanna kiss you, but I'v used the other happy smileys)

Well, OK, a bit more than occasionally

Even tho you'r not old enuff for growl, you and I share quite a number of great groups

I just ordered Paraiso (at Amazon.UK)

- Nicky

[funkster]

Hey Nick

Immortal are a no for me - the blast beats , satanic imagery and corpse paint are really not my thing at all.

Decapitated -  i am partial to a bit of well made death metal - Pestilence , Carcass , Hail of bullets , Bolt thrower and Decapitated are certainly in that bracket. Good call sir