The TV Tropes Album Exchange Club

John McLaughlin ... Al di Meola and Paco de Lucia.

Fuck yes.

edited 21st Nov '10 7:36:50 PM by Solstace

Well, I suppose I should start listening to this album. Also, to the new people who are commenting: please suggest an album to join the lineup.

EDIT: Okay, it looks like this is going to be one of those albums that I might want to like but won't be able to. The group is able to lay down some good grooves, but I don't think I heard one good solo in the entire album. Any time an instrument came to the forefront it sucked the life out of the track. Naturally, the tracks I like the most were the ones with the least amount of soloing, namely #1 and #7. #2 was especially bad. That one hit me the most as so much potential wasted.

edited 21st Nov '10 8:58:55 PM by arks

New album time, I guess. Random number generator says "4", which is Janelle Monae - The ArchAndroid. That means it's time for Soltace to take the floor and spit mad in this hizzouse, yo.

Another concept album. This thread seems to like those. Each song flows into the next, so listen to it in order.

The songs are light, without sacrificing substance, and extremely catchy without being generic. The allegory of the lyrics really stuck with me, as well.

edited 8th Jan '12 7:52:55 PM by MetaFour

Bad news: I need to take my computer in for repairs later today, so I won't be able to take part for a while (not sure of how long the repairs will take). I can still post here using the school computers (which I'm currently doing), but I won't be able to find the time to listen to a whole album while in school.

UPDATE: Seems like I misjudged the time that was needed to repair the computer; it took about 10 minutes, and now it's working fine. So... false alarm? Anyway, I can still take part in the club.

edited 22nd Nov '10 8:59:51 AM by Lordnecronus

Janelle Moane - The Arch Android

Track 1 - Nice symphonical intro, nothing more.

Track 2 - Almost hip-hop, with nice background vocals. I like this! It's weird and alternative, so it's my kinda stuff.

Track 3 - I still like it, and will definitely keep it, but this is a weaker track.

Track 4 - No change in style. It's a nice BGM, but not much more...

Track 5 - Mellow and overally not really interesting.

Track 6 - Finally an energetic, upbeat track! A great listen with some really catchy stuff.

Track 7 - More of the energetic catchy stuff! Yaay!

Track 8 - An interlude, I don't have much to say about it.

Track 9 - It sounds like a generic pop song from the 70s... I don't like this.

Track 10 - Genre shift again: now we're on Alternative Rock grounds. And this is actually not bad!

Track 11 - This is boring... :-(

Track 12 - Nice interlude!

Track 13 - Sounds like something from the 40s or 50s, not too interesting for me...

Track 14 - Upbeat and weird, but nothing really stands out. It lacks the power of the other great tracks.

Track 15 - A bit mellow, but really weird. And I like it! Nice vocals, nice instrumental work.

Track 16 - Mellow, uninteresting and boring

Track 17 - Atmospheric and has nice vocals, all in all a mediocre track.

Track 18 - A mixed bag. I liked parts of it (the jazzy sounds), but overall it's not very well structured, and the end sounds like a movie soundtrack. Which is not a bad thing, but I don't really like this style.

All in all, the album is very varied, in terms of genres and in terms of how much I liked it. I was surprised that it didn't really sound like a concept album for me. Like at all. So this is a plus, because I don't like concept albums. An interesting album with suprising genre twists and boring mellow filler tracks. It could have been a lot better, but nice as it is. I liked it, that's what I wanted to say as a conclusion

@ Lordnecronus: That's great! Now what was the album you were suggesting again?

Listening to the album. This is really good in small doses, but prolonged listening is kind of tiring. It is nice and catchy though. There are a few problems, mostly with repetitiveness of a few tracks and such, but it's fun enough.

I'm going to guess knowing nothing about the album that Janelle Monae has hip hop roots. Even when she tries to break away from it, there's a hip hop sensibility in everything. (I'm hearing it a lot in harmony and production).

edited 23rd Nov '10 11:49:25 PM by arks

I wouldn't know about that (I haven't listened to the album yet), but she did spend a fair bit of time around Big Boi and P. Diddy.

Also, I'm curious as to what you mean by hip-hop sensibilities in the harmony.

It's a good album, very eclectic but cohesive, well written, performed and produced... but it just didn't grab me for some reason. Guess it's not really my thing?

Now what was the album you were suggesting again?

Yeah, sorry about not suggesting it before. I've finally settled on Candlemass's Nightfall, the artwork of which I'm currently using as an avatar.

I'll listen to the Janelle Monae and Mahavishnu Orchestra albums later today. I know the Mahavishnu Orchestra listening time has passed, but I didn't catch up in time, so I'll just lump in my mini-review of it with the Janelle Monae one.

Okay, I'm seven tracks in, and this is really darn catchy.

Suite II is really cool stuff, eclectic and catchy.

Suite III, I didn't care much for on first listen. Enough of a change in tone and tempo that it didn't feel to me like it fit the first half of the album. I'm giving it another listen now.

Track 1: Starts off with clapping, and goes into some kinda violin solo or something. Sounds pretty nice.

Track 2: I can't for the life of me find the words to describe this track, but it's really good. I like Saul Williams's part, and the lyrics are a little word salad-y, but that's okay.

Track 3: Whoa this one started almost indistinguishably from the second. Not sure I like that... although, Janelle has a really nice voice here. Although I must say, I'm not really seeing the concept thus far.

Track 4:

On track seven now, it's an interesting album, but I don't know if I like it yet. I like the production, definitely, but something about Jan's voice is a bit jarring. Not necessarily bad mind, but it's odd.

"Neon Gumbo" is certainly a thing, I wan to reverse the reverse singing to hear what she's saying.

"Oh, Maker" is pretty interesting, very old-school soul sounding, you know? The tail end sounds a lot like Alicia Keyes' "No One", though. Not sure if I like that.

"Come Alive (War of the Roses)" is a little too old school sounding, though. She seems to be unable to decide if she wanted to an old swing-style song, or something hard rock. It's an interesting fusion, but it doesn't work too well. And the scream-singing? Lolno

"Mushrooms and Roses", suddenly the slow breakbeat and violins approach shows up? Interesting, but the singing is too heavily...I'm not even sure, I'll just say "distorted" for it to be truly enjoyable. And then suddenly, PSYCHEDELIC GUITAR FREAK OUT at the end, I like that.

"Suite III Overture", what am I listening to, a classical interlude? Nothanks.

"Neon Valley Street", I think we're going down the ballad street, no? Nice drums, has a nice back alley noir feel, and then the talking part comes in, which I don't much like, it's okay, but straight singing all through would've been better, methinks.

"Make the Bus (with Of Montreal)" OH GOD WHAT IS THIS IT'S SO AWFUL. It would be fine if it was entirely instrumental, but the singing...oh gods the singing....remind me to never listen to anything by Of Montreal.

"Wondaland", wtf is this. Seriously, what am I listening to? It's...interesting, I think, but I don't really think it's good, in any way. It's incredibly bizarre, maybe it'll grow on me.

"57821", nice and relaxing, not sure what was being gone for here though, has an almost choral feel about it.

"Say You'll Go", ever seen the painting...oh, I forget the name. Anyway, this song reminds me of that painting, very under the sea sounding. HAY LOOK A FISH. The end reminds me of surfacing after a long swim, but then switches to a more wintery sound, can't accurately describe it.

"Ba Bop Bye Ya", well it starts with some loose drums, and some strings...this is shaping up to be interesting. And then she starts singing in the soul woman style again, which works pretty well here, and then it picks up and gets almost but not quite dancey, and then it gets weird and almost choral again....this song is a thing. Jan sure likes her classical influences...

Well, I couldn't hear the lyrics too well, so maybe I'll give it a re-listen later on. But it's pretty good, I like it. Solid effort, not an overflood of guest stars, and a wide array of influences.

8/10

edited 26th Nov '10 11:24:08 AM by SpainSun

There was originally going to be a track by track analysis, but I lost it 'cause ahm stupid.

In conclusion, I really liked this album. I can see what arks said about hip-hop roots, and it gives it a sort of upbeat feeling. Which combined with all the eclectic influences, made for a really interesting listen. My only real complaint is the album's concept, which was only the slightest bit apparent on most of the songs. Stilly really good.

I give it a 4/5.

WAKE UP, THREAD.

Should I send a round of wake-up PMs?

I'm ready for the next one, if y'all are.

I hope it's mine.

Shameless, I know.

The remaining albums, for reference.

1. Zagar - Local Broadcast
2. cLOUDDEAD - cLOUDDEAD
3. Robin and Linda Williams - Devil of a Dream
4. Battles - Mirrored
5. Titus Andrunicus - The Monitor
6. Candlemass - Nightfall

You guys should probably start thinking about your Round Three picks.

edited 28th Nov '10 6:14:47 PM by Wicked223

Yeah, I'm ready for a new album, too. It's been long enough, at least.

Should we drop a line to Saeg and Lordnecronus first?

Yeah, definitely.

It should be our policy to drop a line to members who are absent without having left notice for us before we move on.

I'm here, and ready for the next album.

I haven't given the previous two enough listens to evaluate them in-depth, but I enjoyed both of them.

Line to Saeg is dropped.