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  1. In Memory of LAJ_FETT: Please share your remembrances and condolences HERE

Amph What Album Did You Just Hear?

Discussion in 'Community' started by Rogue1-and-a-half, Oct 7, 2014.

  1. DebonaireNerd

    DebonaireNerd Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
    I've finally embraced their thrash era:

    [​IMG]
     
  2. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
    Evil Empire - Rage Against the Machine
     
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  3. A Chorus of Disapproval

    A Chorus of Disapproval Head Admin & TV Screaming Service star 10 Staff Member Administrator

    Registered:
    Aug 19, 2003
    My wife and I were just cooking dinner and having a lovely sing-a-long and dance-along to hypermilitant straight edge AFI side project XTRMST

     
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  4. DebonaireNerd

    DebonaireNerd Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
  5. Lobey-One Kenobi

    Lobey-One Kenobi Jedi Master star 3

    Registered:
    Nov 30, 2009
    Russ - Shake the Snow Globe
     
  6. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000

    [​IMG]

    Music of Croatia, World Music Event
    (2009) – Various

    So, I’ve been doing some decluttering and I ran across this CD which has probably been setting on my shelf since it came out in 2009. I don’t specifically recall where I got it, but it was obviously something I got for free and then threw it on the shelf and just never listened to it. Well, I’ll give it a listen and then get rid of it, I thought to myself. I then had one of the most joyous and surprising musical experiences I’ve had in a long, long time. This sampler is only seven tracks long and clocks in at just a hair over thirty minutes. But this is an incredibly broad sampling of various genres and I found myself absolutely loving it. The album starts with a rip-roaring live performance by Darko Rundek & Cargo Orkestar; it’s the folkiest track here, what you’re probably thinking of when you think “Croatian music,” but it’s really intense. From there, we get into a lovely acoustic instrumental (Sasa Bulic by Davno), a couple of hard-driving stadium rockers (Paranoja by Letu Stuke), a gorgeous acca pella choral piece (Dalmatino, Poviscu Pritujena by Oktet DC) and more. My favorite is probably Sanjati Cemo Zuto by Gustafi; it’s got a thunderous club beat under some bouncing folk-sounding music and a scream-along chorus that I was singing along with before I knew what the words meant. I loved the sprawl this album had, even with only seven tracks, and I loved the way that all the songs fell neatly into familiar genres, like hard-rock or club music, but all, due to the Croatian origins, featured just slightly different elements, like different chord progressions or melody lines. This was just a full-on blast of fun. Ignore that terrible cover; this one’s pure gold. 4 stars.

    tl;dr – compilation features a large variety of genres, all with a Croatian twist, and delivers an unbelievably fun listening experience. 4 stars.
     
  7. DebonaireNerd

    DebonaireNerd Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
    A strangely overlooked gem in Pearl Jam's discography.

    I still don't understand the disdain for it:

    [​IMG]
     
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  8. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
    It's quite a good album I think. Always thought it was quite well received by fans too. Yield and No Code are my least favourites.
     
  9. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
  10. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    [​IMG]

    Ancestral Voices
    (1992) – R. Carlos Nakai & William Eaton

    On this album, which clocks in at over seventy minutes, Nakai plays the Native American Flute and Eaton trots out various versions of the acoustic guitar and they create a series of kind of ambient instrumentals. On a couple of tracks, there’s some light percussion and some light chants on a couple as well. It’s all very Native American, you know, and I don’t even remember where I got this, but it’s the kind of CD that just ends up on your shelf at some point if you’re Native. I went into it honestly not expecting all that much and I was somewhat pleasantly surprised. It’s tempting to call an album that’s entirely ambient flute-and-acoustic-guitar duets “spa music,” but this is better than that. Nakai & Eaton are genuinely reaching for some artistic merit here; the album is split into three long suites and the album liner notes include some poetry relating to the various tracks. And they’re talented enough that I listened to this CD three or four times and I was actually never bored by it. It isn’t quite the wallpaper music of this type often is. That said, it does all have a very samey quality and it isn’t transcendently beautiful or anything, just pleasant enough. If you’re looking for Native inspired music, this is a better place to start than a lot of other, less artistically motivated albums, but is it something you really need to hear as a work of art? Not really. 2 ½ stars.

    tl;dr – Native American influenced flute and guitar ambience has more than the usual pretensions to artistry and isn’t as dull as it might be; but it’s not exactly good, just not bad. 2 ½ stars.
     
  11. DebonaireNerd

    DebonaireNerd Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
  12. Chancellor Yoda

    Chancellor Yoda Jedi Grand Master star 4

    Registered:
    Jul 25, 2014
    [​IMG]

    Good ugly and raw thrash.
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2020
  13. Chancellor_Ewok

    Chancellor_Ewok Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004
    Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and Chamber of Secrets by John Williams.

    John Williams. Everything. Better.

    Especially while building Harry Potter Lego.
     
    Last edited: Feb 21, 2020
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  14. Blobofat

    Blobofat Chosen One star 8

    Registered:
    Dec 15, 2000
    Terraformer - Thank You Scientist

    Lovely looking old school double album with great artwork.
     
  15. DebonaireNerd

    DebonaireNerd Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
  16. DebonaireNerd

    DebonaireNerd Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
  17. cubman987

    cubman987 Friendly Neighborhood Saga/Music/Fun & Games Mod star 7 Staff Member Manager

    Registered:
    Nov 7, 2014
    but why?
     
  18. DebonaireNerd

    DebonaireNerd Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
    I have a very unapologetic love of this album.

    It's not a perfect album or a masterpiece, by any means, but I love it.

    Usually, I don't bother with music reviews (unlike the movie thread) but i've sometimes been thinking on making the exception.

    I might one day.
     
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  19. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
  20. Jedi Daniel

    Jedi Daniel Chosen One star 5

    Registered:
    Apr 7, 2000
  21. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    [​IMG]

    Awaken
    (2005) – Natalie Grant

    Natalie Grant isn’t any blood relationship to Amy Grant, but she moves in the same waters: Contemporary Christian Pop-Rock, I guess, though Natalie’s got a more modern sound than Amy’s easy listening vibe. But you don’t even need the details. You can hear what this album sounds like in your head right now if I just tell you, it’s a typical alternative diva album; it’s got kind of crunchy guitars, but soaring melodies and inspirational lyrics about holding on and pressing on and being strong and living life and, you know, they’re vaguely Christian if you turn your head and squint. You get it. The songs are mediocre, with one exception. Grant has pipes, no question; she’s got a big range and a lot of power, but no actual soul. The musician ship is proficient, but also soulless; it’s a mediocre pop album basically where the songs all basically sound the same. Except for Held, which was, as memory serves, Grant’s biggest hit and it deserved to be. It’s written from the perspective of a parent who has just lost their infant child to death; it’s sharply written and full of pain and anger. Even the rhyme schemes and rhythms are kind of jagged and off-kilter. It’s a really wonderful song that both allows for the pain of tragedy and the affirmation of faith to co-exist, as they so often do in this world. It’s the one song I’d keep off this record; the rest of it can go. 2 stars.

    tl;dr – forgettable, almost entirely soulless pop record is technically fine, but there’s nothing really there; boasts one truly great song, but the rest of the album is mediocre at best. 2 stars.
     
  22. DebonaireNerd

    DebonaireNerd Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
    The track Try Not To Breathe certainly takes on some new, ironic but also fitting meaning:

    [​IMG]
     
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  23. Rogue1-and-a-half

    Rogue1-and-a-half Manager Emeritus who is writing his masterpiece star 9 VIP - Former Mod/RSA

    Registered:
    Nov 2, 2000
    Song Exploder did an amazing episode where they broke down Try Not to Breathe and looked at every layer of it separately. Really gives you an appreciation for just how finely crafted the song, and that whole album really, is.
     
  24. DebonaireNerd

    DebonaireNerd Jedi Grand Master star 5

    Registered:
    Nov 9, 2012
    It's a finely crafted album. When it comes to early 90s records, Automatic For The People is my Nevermind or Black Album.

    Love the latter two but they are always second and third to R.E.M's masterpiece.
     
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  25. Chancellor_Ewok

    Chancellor_Ewok Chosen One star 7

    Registered:
    Nov 8, 2004
    Kurzgesagt Vols. 1 and 2.