I'm sorry it took so long. 2019 was a strange year for me. In many ways.
Early on in 2019 I met my girlfriend. I fell really in love with her so music became less important for a while. She is ten years younger than me
and she's very different from me as well, which means that a whole new and exciting world was opening up for me. After I got used to the idea of having a girlfriend again
I realised that I was far behind with all the music that I wanted to listen to. There were so many releases and it's really hard to keep up with it. And naturally there's less time to enjoy music.
Then nearing the end of the year I got asked to join another company which made me question a lot of things again. I really liked my job, but I also was ready for something new and felt that this could be the spark to ignite the engines and finally roll into the next chapter of my life after having stood still for so long. So in the end I gave it a shot and applied for the job and got it. I won't go in the details (long and confusing), but it took a very long while (almost two months) for all the papers and other things to be completed which was very stressful too. So there was a lot on my mind all the time (finishing work on my old job, while communicating with the new job). Last Saturday was my last day at my old job and now I have three weeks off before I start the new one, so enough time for music and this forum.
I'm still discovering new things from 2019 and I haven't listened enough to some of the albums I already bought. So more about that later.
Ok, so here we go:
1.
Neal Morse Band - "The Great Adventure"
I was thinking hard about this. When this album was released I was sceptical because "Similitude..." was such a fantastic double album! I thought a new double album could never be as good. Initially I thought I was right, because although I liked it, I could not make it to the end. On top of that, there are many musical reprises or repetitions which I thought were maybe a bit lazy. But after a while these songs really got in my head. Very much. Now I think I like this better than "Similitude..." and this album is probably in the top five of my favourite Neal Morse albums. The other guys really shine as well. Eric Gillette is a prodigy, this guy can do anything. I hope to hear much more of him in the future (solo albums, new bands, etc.).
A Love That Never Dies has some of the most beautiful melodies a song can have. I particularly like "To the river I am going coming across the great divide, mourn not for me for I am entering into a love that never dies". I think I want that song played on my funeral. It's so beautiful and among the very best songs that Neal has done. And Eric is doing such a wonderful job singing it.
So beautiful... Can't listen to this song without breaking into tears.
2.
Leprous - "Pitfalls"
A new Leprous album is a big happening. My Leprous journey started with "Coal" in 2013. I was blown away then by the vocals, the melodies and the brutal metal arrangements. The next album ("The Congregation") was an initial disappointment but after a while I liked it more than "Coal". Same thing happened with "Malina": started as a disappointment but became my favourite Leprous album. "Pitfalls" is no different. It's my new favourite Leprous album now, what an achievement! Wonderful masterpiece! What's going to become of this band? Teunis, it's funny to see that our number one and two are the same!
3.
Pattern-Seeking Animals - "Pattern-Seeking Animals"
PSA is back into comfortzone prog. No new grounds were trodden with this release, but I like it so much. Of course this sounds like Spock's Beard, but it's more like a John Boegehold solo album. This is the guy who is most responsible for post-Neal Spock's Beard. It's the secret fifth member of that band. And here he's finally taking real credit for his amazing writing.
Orphans Of The Universe and
Stars Along The Way are two of the coolest epics released in 2019. The latter has one of those memorable and beautiful vocal melodies again: "Some who slow to look might see a face within the crowd. Shrouded, bowing quietly she prays. Moving silent as the mist, through birds and muffled bells. Fortunes told for all who choose to stay." I don't know why, but Ted Leonard sings those lines so emotionally and beautifully, you cannot not be moved.
Then there's also the shorter
These Are My Things with very funny lyrics and infectious melodies. And the happy
No Land's Man that makes me want to dance and sing along. Isn't that what music is supposed to do to you? Well, maybe not always
but sometimes it's good.
4.
Flying Colors - "Third Degree"
Another poppy prog album. This is easily the best FC album and somewhat in between the two other releases stylistically. The progressive leanings in the second album are extended to this album. The mainstream pop sensibility of the first album is brought over as well but done so much better. My girlfriend really likes
Cadence and
Love Letter, but my favourite is probably
Guardian because I'm such a sucker for 7/4 times and 15/8. I really like
Geronimo as well. On this album the epics (
Last Train Home and
Crawl) are not the better songs. These two songs (while not bad of course) are progressive rock songs tried to make sound mainstream. They feel a bit forced. The strengths are in the 'shorter' songs, which are essentially 4 minute pop songs with 3 minute prog ideas pumped in and scattered around the song.
5.
Big Big Train - "Grand Tour"
This band is still amazing. David Longdon is an amazingly gifted musician and he has effectively hijacked the train to a point that it's as if he is the driving force and leader in the band. Apart from singing, he plays flute, guitar, keyboards and all kinds of other instruments. He writes half the stuff on the album. If he ever decides to quit the band, Big Big Train is doomed.
Which makes me thing about all the other bandmembers in BBT. What is their input? The band consists of eight persons now. Can you think of any other band that has eight members?! "Grand Tour" has some really fine songs on it (
The Florentine,
Roman Stone and I also really like
Homesong), but it's starting to feel a little bit exchangeable with the previous albums.
6.
Fervent Mind - "Tranquilize"
From now on the list is not as fixed as my top five, so this is where it gets interesting and different from most lists I guess. And we're going even deeper into the obscure crypts of music. Fervent Mind is pretty amazing. This band from Norway has elements of post rock and little bits of metal in some places and trip hop as well. The main composer and also vocalist is Live Sollid and she has a very unique voice. In a way she sounds like Annie Haslam. Same vocal colour and a beautiful voice but not as high pitched, more like a jazz vocalist or something. The compositions are very strong! This sounds a lot like Porcupine Tree. And at other times they sound like bands such as Massive Attack and Radiohead.
7.
Manuel Schmid & Marek Arnold - "Zeiten"
This duo is making very accessible music with German vocals. It starts off great right away with fantastic piano. I get the impression that Manuel Schmid is responsible for the lyrics and vocal lines and perhaps even the musical outline of the songs? I guess Marek Arnold is the arranger and the one who makes the songs really interesting. I know him from other projects (Damanek, Argos, Southern Empire) and he makes every good song even better with his saxophone and other woodwind instruments and the piano of course. To me, a song doesn't have to scream 'progressive!' as long as the song's good. An interesting arrangement does help though. I was tempted to put this album on spot number six, but this album is very short and not every song is good (
Raum Der Illusion and
Stiller Schrei). In the end, while a good song is a good song, a good progressive rock song is even better.
8.
Kensington - "Time"
Last sentence is also applicable here. I would never have thought that this list would include a Dutch radio band but here we are. Their music is prominent on Dutch radio and in my opinion they totally deserve it. My girlfriend is a big fan of Kensington and she thought I would like it. So naturally I said no.
But she began playing it in the car and everywhere else whenever she could (most of the time I'm the one who gets to choose the playlist
). At first I wanted to point out how it's so mainstream and what I don't like about it blah blah blah. After a while I succumbed and started to enjoy it very much. It's so catchy and classy as well. It's a real band, so not 'a singer and a backing band'. I like the opener (
Bats) and the 80s influenced
What Lies Ahead.
Insane has a very nice buildup and it reminds me of Marillion somehow. I also like to mention
Chronos, Part 2 which is a little instrumental coda from part 1 and is rocking mine (and your) socks off. The best song is
Perfect Family Day and I think it's about the tragic behind (pictures on) social media. Anyway, a really cool album.
9.
Jordan Rudess - "Wired For Madness"
I think it's one of the first albums I bought in 2019. Jordan really outdid himself this time. There are countless of guitar albums (Steve Vai, Joe Satriani, Paul Gilbert, etc. etc.) and I get tired of such albums real quick, because the 'songs' are a vehicle for the musician to show their skills instead of focusing on a good song. Now, there are not many keyboard albums like that (maybe Derek Sherinian, Rick Wakeman) but Jordan Rudess is normally also one of those guys who writes music to showcase his (many many many) keyboard skills. I think that on this particular album he wants to show us his skills in writing music. Of course there's senseless noodling and meaningless shredding, but there's so much more going on here. I like it a lot! It's very jazzy.
10.
Huis - "Abandoned"
Some parts of this album are absolutely stunning. And did I already mention that this is perfect music for people who like Arena?
Actually, I need to listen to this more. I think this probably deserves a much higher spot. I'm not done with this one!
OK, so after these 'mini reviews' here's a list of albums that I've bought but haven't listened to enough, or didn't like as much as the albums above. In no particular order:
Dream Theater - "Distance Over Time"
Karfagen - "Echoes From Within Dragon Island"
Devin Townsend - "Empath"
Ascending From Ashes - "Glory"
Darkwater - "Human"
Opeth - "In Cauda Venenum"
Neal Morse - "Jesus Christ: The Exorcist"
Vangelis - "Nocturne"
Lonely Robot - "Under Stars"
The Flower Kings - "Waiting For Miracles"
And here are some albums that I liked, but never bought and albums that I'd still like to invest some of my time in because I think I might like it:
Joey Frevola - "Gone"
Phil Keaggy, Tony Levin, Jerry Marotta - "The Bucket List"
Guy Hatton - "I Am Concentric"
Thousand Sun Sky - "The Aurora Complex"
Mad Fellaz - "III"
Rhys Marsh - "October After All"
Cheeto's Magazine - "Amazingous"
RPWL - "Tales From Outer Space"
Fleesh - "Across The Sea"
Now In Colour - "Now In Colour"A.C.T - "Rebirth"
Anvil Therapy - "Duality"
Avalanch - "The Secret"
IQ - "Resistance"
The Room - "Caught By The Machine"
Chester Desmond - "Stay"
Lucy In Blue - "In Flight"
Handwrist - "Pilgrimage"
Jordsjø - "Nattfiolen"
Billy Sherwood's "Citizen: In The Next Life"
UMAE - "Lost In The View"
Issun - "Dark Green Glow"
The Invisible Presence - "Between The Truth And What We See"
Moron Police - "A Boat On The Sea"
Any thoughts?
