Amph What Album Did You Just Hear?

No it's fine, it's just... y'know, death metal.

 

Symphony X - The Divine Wings of Tragedy (1997)



This album means a lot to me. I've been revisiting the entire discography of this New Jersey progressive metal group, Symphony X, which has been and still is one of my favorite bands. Why I've decided to draw attention to this particular album is because it was my first exposure to progressive metal when I had just turned 8. It was such a good experience that it was among the first albums that I listened to in one sitting. One of the main reasons I love this band is due to how well the members mesh together in their compositions. It makes their long tracks seem fresh and avoid any real sense of redundancy. This album showcases just that skill with their first 20-minute track which was what the album was named after (and rightly so).

The musicianship on display in this album is simply staggering. There is a lot of wonderful chemistry between the guitarist, Michael Romeo, and the keyboard player, Michael Pinnella. Crushing, complex riffs accompanied by haunting synths that really give this album its own identity. It's truly marvelous. As for the other musicians, there is the bassist, Thomas Miller, who gives a defining performance here. His passages in the compositions are crisp, clean and magnificent. This album does not suffer from the stereotype that the bassist is shoved to the corner. He shines here and he deserves recognition because he is among the best. The same can be said for the drummer, Jason Rullo. There is a great ensemble here that work wonderfully together and none of them are slouches. No weak links here in the slightest.

However, there is one aspect of this band that has lasted since their second official album, The Damnation Game. That would be the vocalist, Russell Allen. Honestly, I think this vocalist was a breath of fresh air to a lot of people and he is one of the components why the band's appeal has lasted as long as it has. There are so many vocalists in other prog metal acts who have really high and airy vocals. Technically proficient, yes, but it may not fit some of the heavier sections leading to some form of listener's fatigue. Allen does not use that style. He is very influenced by other vocalists like Ronnie James Dio. He understands the give and take, being more aggressive in the sections with more fast-paced and epic songs like Of Sins and Shadows or Out of the Ashes but giving these excellent displays of range in the slower, calmer moments that are an important part of songs like The Accolade or Candlelight Fantasia. The lyricism is really great, especially on the Accolade.

One thing I've always disliked about this band's reputation is their constant comparisons to Dream Theater. I mean, it gets ridiculous. Symphony X have a more dramatic and neoclassical flair to their music than Dream Theater anyway. Arguably, the keys weren't as active and fast in Dream Theater as it is in Symphony X until Jordan Rudess was in the band. There are many instances in which the atmosphere is much more different. The comparisons are really detrimental to both bands and their dynamics. But, I digress.

This band's best material, in my opinion, are in all the albums from The Damnation Game to Paradise Lost. Their first official studio album had some good tracks but there were a lot of growing pains involved. Their latest releases, Iconoclast and Underworld, aren't bad by any means but they are a bit more...commercial. The neoclassical and progressive elements are somewhat diminished there and it really doesn't play to what originally made me such a massive fan of the band. However, I encourage you to form an opinion for yourself. I would hate to keep you from an album you may like due to a personal preference of mine.

So, in summary, listen to this album. It is genuinely fantastic and a very satisfying album that gets better with each listen.

 

Rogue1-and-a-half I know you're the person who usually posts full-length reviews on this thread but this album really warranted it.

 

The more long reviews the better. I read them.

 

Foo Fighters - The Colour and the Shape. A huge departure and improvement over their debut album. This was my first introduction to the Foo Fighters with My Hero and Everlong becoming two of my all time favourite songs. I always loved the album cover too

 

Chunga’s Revenge (1970) – Frank Zappa

Don’t it ever get lonesome?
Don’t it ever give a young man the blues?
When the P.A. system eats it,
And the band plays some of the most terriblest **** you’ve ever known.

Chunga’s Revenge is an endearing album. It’s got a refreshingly hard edge to it. Zappa’s taking on seventies era hard-rock in his own special fashion, which is to parody something while also executing it flawlessly. Chunga’s Revenge starts with Transylvania Boogie, a gritty, rocking little number that is already cranked to eleven when it starts; the opening seconds of this song feels like falling through the floor into a concert you didn’t know was happening. There’s a lot of super-strong material here: the blues pastiche Road Ladies, the surprisingly heartfelt Sharleena, the high-intensity Tell Me You Love Me & even the winking spoof songs Rudy Wants to Buy Yez a Drink & Would You Go All the Way. The instrumental stuff is more variable and, in point of fact, smacks of filler. To this point, I’ve always felt that, even when an album was too long, that everything was where Zappa wanted it, but with this album, I can see the places where Zappa had to plug in some stuff off the floor in order to get to a respectable running time. The album is only forty minutes and both the two minute percussion track The Clap and the interminable ten minutes of Nancy & Mary Music feel like stuff that wouldn’t have made the record if Zappa had a couple more actual songs. Without those, we’re under thirty minutes, which wouldn’t really be long enough. Even if you leave half of Nancy & Mary Music, which you could maybe make a case for, we’re still well under forty minutes. But the filler isn’t a huge problem for me in this case. I have a problem with album filler when it’s padding the album to an hour or more, but when padding and all only equals forty minutes, well, that’s short and brisk enough that I can be kind of charitable about it. Still, like a quarter filler? That’s not going to be a masterpiece, no matter how strong the rest of the stuff is. But it’s a lot of fun, only briefly kind of tedious and the energy level is high; everyone, from the band to the listener, seem invigorated by the grungier, garage-band-esque sound on a lot of this album and it’s a distinct pleasure. 3 ½ stars.

tl;dr – harder, grungier sound collides with some well-written genre tunes to create an energetic party feel on this solid album; a not unsubstantial amount of filler detracts a bit. 3 ½ stars.

More Music Reviews!

 

"Most terriblest"?



Listening to the Tron Legacy OST by daft punk. Future-synth styled electronica, which in a way reminds me of the Vangelis Blade Runner score. Not tonally, but in terms of trying to capture the mood and emotion of a neon-soaked future cityscape.

 

yesterday Alphaville Forever young. The day before Split Enz True colours

 

My favourite Dylan album, which I come back to again and again, never to be disappointed.

 

Not even close to Zappa's worst lyric.

Interesting. Impossible for me to really pick, but it's my choice as well, if I'm forced to make the call. It's amazing, start to finish. Probably helps that I first heard it coming off of a horrible relationship that left me extremely emotionally broken. It was both a quiet confirmation of my feelings and a healing balm to them. Great album. Great, great album.

 

Yeah, I wouldn't go so far as to say it's his best. Some fairly stiff competition after all. It is my favourite though. Like you, I spent a lot of time listening to it at a fairly transformative time in my life and so it's especially resonant.

 

Waka/Jawaka (1972) – Frank Zappa

You should be diggin’ it
While it’s happening
‘Cause it just might be a one shot deal

I was excited to hear Waka/Jawaka. The cover references Hot Rats explicitly and that is probably my favorite Zappa album. But I was pretty disappointed really to the degree that I’m going to say some things about this album that I never expected to say about a Zappa album. There are only four tracks; two lengthy instrumentals and two shorter vocal songs. The instrumentals are basically a wash in my opinion. Big Swifty opens the album and is almost eighteen minutes long, but it’s a really meandering and unmemorable piece. I found that my mind kept wandering when I tried to listen to it and, whether I was loving it or hating it, no other Zappa track had allowed my mind to wander. Waka/Jawaka closes the album and isn’t as bad. It has some fine guitar work, but it’s still just kind of lackluster. The two vocal songs are of varying quality; Your Mouth is of no interest whatsoever & It Might Just Be a One-Shot Deal is fun only because it’s a pretty good impression of the Allman Brothers (and I do love those musical impressions). The guitar bits in One-Shot Deal that purposely evoke the Allmans are nice. The production is good, of course. Beyond that, I really have nothing to say about this album. This isn’t an album I hate; nothing on here is “bad” exactly, but nothing’s really any good either. It’s kind of wallpapery, to be perfectly honest. It might be worth pointing out that Zappa put out three albums in 1972. On the one hand, if you put out three albums in a calendar year, they probably won’t all be winners; on the other hand, if you’ve put out two albums in a calendar year, no one’s making you put out a third. To this point, Zappa has been often great, often awful & always engaging. But this album is none of those things. It’s something totally unique so far: bland. I never thought I’d encounter a Zappa album this lackluster and uninteresting. Again, it’s not terrible and that’s good. But, you know, something I never expected to say about a Zappa album, it’s just pretty dull. 2 stars.

tl;dr – Zappa album isn’t bad, isn’t good & isn’t interesting; always iconoclastic & interesting musician takes a break from those things to produce a dull, forgettable album.

 

I don't really like Waka/Jawaka either.

 

I think dull is probably the right adjective because anything else would erroneously imply strong feelings.

 

I might do a review of this little gem. I mean, this album is incredible. There isn't a single bad track here.

 

Foo Fighters - There Is Nothing Left To Lose. Another hit album following The Colour and the Shape. Most of the songs show a softer side of Grohl. I remember hearing this album in high school and 'Learn to Fly' was used as our graduation song. Most of the songs I consider favourites weren't even hits but I consider Generator the best. The main reason is it's unique use of the talk box attached to the microphone. It still fascinates me how it works

 

The Grand Wazoo (1972) – The Mothers

Waka/Jawaka might have Hot Rats on its cover, but The Grand Wazoo has Hot Rats in its blood. Small wonder then that this is, chronologically, my favorite album since Hot Rats and, again chronologically, his first out and out masterpiece since Hot Rats. We’re entering something of a strong section of his career maybe; his next album after this one is Over-Nite Sensation, another masterpiece. But back to Wazoo, it’s made up of four fairly lengthy instrumentals and one vocal track. The vocal track feels like an outtake from Uncle Meat; I should say a reworked and substantially polished outtake from Uncle Meat, but from Uncle Meat nonetheless. On the original album, it was the first track; on CD, it’s been moved to second position and the title track, a thirteen minute, high-energy big-band track has been moved to the opening position. This is the right decision, I’d say. The instrumentals aren’t all equal, but they’re all very good. The title track is maybe the best; it’s thirteen minutes of near perfection. The other perfect track is the Peaches en Regalia of this album, the three minute, unbelievably catchy Cletus Awreetus-Awrightus (sometimes I hate the titles SO much). Eat That Question is the one instrumental that wouldn’t fit right in on Hot Rats; it’s more Chunga’s Revenge, a dark, grinding, grungy theme serving as a great backdrop for some great keyboard work/guitar solos. The final track, Blessed Relief, is the most surprising song on the record. It’s a beautiful, layered track that is, by a country mile, as mellow as Zappa’s ever gotten on record to this point. This isn’t a problem; the track is an intriguing and captivating outlier in his career this far. Coming right after the dark frenzy of Eat That Question, it functions as a nice dessert course to this album, capping it off just perfectly. It’s probably not a perfect track taken on its own merits (though it’s certainly very, very good), but as the closer to this album, it’s undeniably perfect. The vocal track feels a bit like filler; cut it and you have an album just a hair over thirty minutes and, while that’s very short, it would have worked, I think, and created a better album with a sweeter flow and tone. Even with it, the album is basically a masterpiece, a compelling evolution of a lot of stuff Zappa’s done before, but with surprising twists and plenty of real passion backed with memorable themes. And it’s unequivocally good natured, upbeat & optimistic (interestingly so, given that Zappa was confined to a wheelchair for its composition & recording). Chalk up another one. 4 stars.

tl;dr – Zappa’s style evolves & expands with epic instrumentals; vocal track is basically filler, but the rest of the album is excellent. 4 stars.

 

I haven't given this a full listen in probably two or three years. When it first came out, I played the hell out of it for about a couple of months and then got bored. Since then, i've never really been inspired to revisit the album but not because I dislike the album. It just...lacked something. Maybe the fact that the guys were trying to sound too hard like they were in their mid twenties? Rick Rubin literally recommended that during down time from the studio that they listen to the exact same records they used to listen to in the mid 1980s.

Anyway, putting this one on for the first time in a while. I like it again. But that clipping...

 

Interestingly enough, I've got a copy of Death Magnetic on my shelf right now. Been there for a bit; I've been shoving it to the side while I listen to all this Zappa stuff. It's one I've never heard in its entirety and I want to remedy that. The stuff I have heard, I really, really like, so I look forward to getting it in context and seeing what my thoughts are on the album.




Strictly Commercial (1995) – Frank Zappa

Super-super nice
It’s, like, so bitchin’

It’s kind of unfortunate that this compilation album includes “The Best of Frank Zappa” on its cover because it was never intended to be that. It was always intended to be what the title says: a collection of Zappa’s most accessible, commercially viable work. Back when my Zappa project was going to include only seven albums, I tacked this one on as a way to kind of get a broad overview of a lot of the stuff I wasn’t going to be listening to. Now that I’m listening to TWENTY-ONE Zappa records, instead of seven, this is less necessary, but it’s still worth reviewing this compilation because it really is just so damn good. It includes the single versions of some songs, like brutally truncated Montana, a stripped down Joe’s Garage & an edited together version of part of the Yellow Snow suite. It includes nineteen songs, very nearly a full eighty minutes and it’s got a lot of really, really great stuff here. It opens with Peaches en Regalia and then goes through Dancin’ Fool, San Ber’dino, I’m the Slime, Disco Boy, Trouble Every Day . . . one thing this will teach you is that even when being “commercial,” Zappa sprawled all over the places. Peaches, Disco Boy, Trouble Every Day, I’m the Slime; you don’t hear those four songs and then guess that one guy did them all. The sound quality is fantastic, though the album does feature some different mixes of a few songs which may throw a few superfans. There are a few hiccups here. Let’s Make the Water Turn Black is surely not “commercial” in any sense of the word and we’ll all have our choices for songs that should be here but aren’t. But I liked a few of the tracks I didn’t know anything about as well; Sexual Harassment in the Workplace is one of my favorites, a genuinely epic guitar-driven instrumental, and I’d never heard of that one. Also, just a word for Valley Girl; God, that is still just so good. I know it’s a novelty tune of a sort and a lot of “serious” Zappa fans find it cringe-inducing, but I think it’s great. It’s the kind of song that would typically make me cringe, but Moon’s vocal performance is just brilliant. Anyway, great sound quality; solid song selection; a great introduction to Zappa. Also just a good time even if you’ve heard all of these songs elsewhere; as Zappa mixtapes go, it’s high-energy, raucous fun. 4 stars.

tl;dr – Zappa compilation focuses on more accessible material & the result is a super-bitchin’ party mix of Zappa’s more mainstream material; no compilation is perfect, but this one is a joy. 4 stars.

 

It's a solid album but also an album made in hindsight rather than in 2008. I think that's what I meant when it lacked something. It lacked presence. It would be like The Stones trying to recapture the best moments of Exile On Mainstreet. The charm or the spontaneity of the moment would be missing, much like Metallica's attempts to return to 1988. Honestly? I prefer St. Anger because when you watch the documentary, Some Kind Of Monster, the album makes complete sense to such a point that it nearly tells a story. At least that album had better mastering than its follow-up. So, Magnetic isn't a bad album. It's just piecemeal and way too calculated. You can hear the band saying to themselves that they had something to prove. That's a typical Rick Rubin style of production - for some its excellent, for some it's the antithesis of what a band needs.

Fun task - once you listen to Death Magnetic, play the latest single directly after the album's closing track and convince yourself you're listening to a brand new song written and recorded 8 years later. It's so close to that track.

 

Picking between St. Anger and Death Magnetic is a sucker's game with a correct answer of "just listen to Ride the Lightning again."

Not terribly commercial but for reasons I can't totally explain I've always been kind of fond of that weird ditty. Maybe it's the insistence on sing-song euphemisms.

 

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