I have listened to this album five times and I still can't form an opinion of it. It's like the thing just leaves my memory during the time that I am listening. There's some cool jazz fusion stuff, but beside that.. On the plus side, I was able to listen to the thing five times.
edited 18th Jan '11 4:27:36 PM by arks
Video Game Census. Please contribute.Sorry for the late response, but I've been busy with that Soup Bowl thingy and college, but I'm listening to it now.
I guess I should start out by saying that I'm not really into Jazz in general, although this album seems like the milder kind of jazz, sort of like prog. First off, I think the synthesisers were a mistake. The album would be considerably better without them, preferably with an organ instead. It dates it worse than the Final Countdown (what, too cruel?).
Drums and bass throughout are pretty fantastic in my opinion, but the guitar? I'm not too sure. Sure, the solos throughout are pretty cool, but at times to me it just sorta sounds messy, but then again most jazz does to me.
And yeah, Panic Station is definitely the highlight of the album, but imagine how much more awesome it would be without the synth's! Sorry, I just really dont care for the synths's. (Bass solo FTW!)
Not many people realize, 50 Cent is half man, half cossack. - Ross NobleI think it's time for a new album. This one has been getting some healthy discussion, so I let it go for a while.
Random Number Generator says "8", which is Procol Harum - A Salty Dog. I've heard a few tracks from this one. This should be fun.
Anyways, merton, take it away.
Video Game Census. Please contribute.I'll put my thoughts on this one up after a few others have given their opinions.
edited 8th Jan '12 8:14:05 PM by MetaFour
Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.So, I just listened through the album, and first I'll have to ask forgiveness at the fact that I'm not great at explaining how I feel about things. This means my review will be short, and probably at least a little vague.
That said, A Salty Dog. Over all, I liked it. I didn't find it mind blowing, or anything like that, but I enjoyed it. I'll admit that I wasn't paying close close attention to each song, and thus I can't really describe how I feel about each song. I was listening to it as a whole, and it would take repeated listenings for me to get a good feel for individual songs. This is, overall, how I am with all albums. If that's any sort of problem, I can try to adjust for the purposes of this thread.
I liked how the album was mellow, and had a joyous sound. As I almost never pay attention to lyrics on a first listen, I can't say if there was any Lyrics Dissonance, and maybe the album wasn't as joyous as it sounded at first. But, it did sound joyous. So there.
I said that I didn't pay close attention to songs, and this is true, but there were a few that stood out. For instance, "Pilgrim's Progress", which, to me, sounded out of place on the album. It just sounded different than the other songs on the album, and it was a bit jarring. I also didn't care for "Juicy John Pink". It sounded very...messy, I suppose.
"The Devil Came to Kansas" was probably my favourite song of the album for reasons I can't specify. It stood out to me the most. Maybe on another listen my favourite song will be different? Who knows.
Anyway. That's the best I could do. Sorry if it's not very good.
"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."A Salty Dog. I really like this album (as probably be guessed, considering that I submitted it). It came around the end of psychadelic era and the beginning of prog rock, and as such sort of seems like a missing link between them, with a tinge of old-school blue and r&b thrown in (best heard on "Juicy John Pink" and "Crucifixion Lane"). It's ostensibly a natically-themed concept album, and though there are good number of sailing songs here, it doesn't hew very close to the concept. It's a melancholy affair, and remains understated even its more grandiose moments, such as "The Wreck of the Hesperus". Mainly, I like it for how well it evokes a certain quiet, contemplative mood, like an evening listening to tall tales as the sun sets over the marina.
Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.That last bit you said was probably my favourite thing about the album.
"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."I'm in the middle of listening to the album for the first time (I'm at "The Wreck of the Hesperus" at the moment) and liking it so far. What Merton said about this bridging the gap between psychedelic rock and progressive rock certainly explains a lot (I initially had them pegged as prog-rockers deciding to write something more accessible, à la 90125 by Yes).
Also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Wreck_of_the_Hesperus
Man, I keep forgetting about this album completely.
Anyway, I haven't listened to it completely. From what I've heard, though, the 'psychadelic' label doesn't make much sense. Aside from the varied instrumentation and lyrics, it seems pretty straightforward. It's a good album. I agree with what merton said about the atmosphere, I really like that part of it.
You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!It sorta reminds me of Jethro Tull, now that I think about it.
You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!Yeah, Procol Harum started out as a psych band but by this time they had pretty much abandoned it.
Words cast into the uncaring void of the internet.Listened through A Salty Dog. It was pretty mellow and nice, for sure, but I just wasn't picking up the atmosphere on this one. Dunno why. That said, there were a couple of pretty tasty moments on the album - "All This and More" and "Crucifiction Lane" were really great tracks, and the first minute or so of "The Milk of Human Kindness" was good as well. However, there was nothing else on the album that really stood out. It was an alright listen, but the whole 'bluesy prog rock' thing wasn't quite doing it for me. I might give it another listen at some point, because I think it does deserve a second chance, but I dunno if my opinion will change that much. Perhaps if I can pick up on the atmosphere that people are mentioning I'll like it more.
Okay. Finally formed an opinion. There are some really good tracks (like the title track) and some merely passable tracks. The singer has a very warbly voice which doesn't fit with the music in a few places. At their best, they really draw you into the music and sound interesting and unique. At their worst, they feel almost nonexistent. Also, I don't know if this is a case of "Seinfeld" Is Unfunny (or some other trope which is more specific), but many of the backgrounds sound very familiar, like they were taken from other songs.
Video Game Census. Please contribute.It gets put into the current round.
It works like this: Everyone submitted one album for the first round. When everyone was done submitting albums, they all got put in a numbered list. Whoever's managing the club then uses an RNG to select one of the albums on the list. Everyone listens to that album, and when enough people comment, another album is selected. This repeats until all the albums in the list have been listened. At that point, before the next round starts, all participants can submit another album, and the process repeats.
You can't even write racist abuse in excrement on somebody's car without the politically correct brigade jumping down your throat!

Ah, okay, I wasn't certain that I was supposed to listen to the current one. I shall do so tomorrow after class.
"I can't imagine what Hell will have in store, but I know when I'm there, I won't wander anymore."