by Mark Monforti | Feb 19, 2018 | News, Reviews
If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.
This debut album from the band sometimes referred to as VAIN has a nice sound. Not sure it really captivated me as a listener. I think there is some quality stuff here but I don’t think they maintained that quality throughout. There were some times in the album where I was waiting for a change but melody did not change at all.
Personally I would have liked this album a lot better if they would have realized that the album was bit too much straight up rock. I will look forward to hear what they come up with next I think there is potential here.
| PREVIOUS BAND RATING: |  (0.0 / 5) |
| ACCESSIBILITY: |  (2.5 / 5) |
| HEAVINESS: |  (1.5 / 5) |
| MELODIC: |  (4.0 / 5) |
| ARTWORK & WEBSITE: |  (4.5 / 5) |
| DRAMA: |  (3.5 / 5) |
| OVERALL RATING: | (2.5 / 5) |
Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album
Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING
PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.
ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture
HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park
MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House
OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live
See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page
https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists
by Mark Monforti | Feb 18, 2018 | News, Reviews
If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tastes are.
Karmamoi is an Italian band headed by Daniele Giovannoni and Alex Massari that just showed up on my radar this year. What wonderful “blip” it made. 4 unique female vocalists were called on to round out this very atmospheric album. This very melodic album oozes emotion and should be checked out by any fans of early porcupine tree or OSI.
| PREVIOUS BAND RATING: | (0.0 / 5) |
| ACCESSIBILITY: | (4.0 / 5) |
| HEAVINESS: |  (2.0 / 5) |
| MELODIC: | (4.5 / 5) |
| ARTWORK: |  (3.0 / 5) |
| DRAMA: | (4.0 / 5) |
| OVERALL RATING: | (4.0 / 5) |
Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album
Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING
PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.
ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture
HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park
MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House
OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live
See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page
https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists
by progrock.com | Feb 16, 2018 | News, Prog Report
Neal Morse released his latest solo album, LIFE & TIMES, today on Radiant Records via Metal Blade Records/SONY on all digital outlets, including Radiant Records’ website, as well as CD and vinyl.
The Stephen Yake/Christian Rios-directed third video from the already critically acclaimed album, “JoAnna,” premiered exclusively on BigTakeover.com. The song is one of 12 slice-of-life portraits composed by MORSE, which focuses on his son dealing with the loss of a relationship.
“’JoAnna’ is a very special song to me,” explains NEAL MORSE. “It’s one of those rare times when everything spontaneously comes together…the string arrangement, the pedal steel guitar, the drums and bass so tastefully done. It’s one of the best tracks I’ve ever recorded in my opinion. So excited this album is coming out at this time!”
Morse also released a new song recently as a response to the terrible shooting in Parkland, FL. The song called “What if it was your child?” asks every parent to consider what might happen if nothing is done to stop the awful tragedies that have affected US cities in recent years.
by progrock.com | Feb 12, 2018 | News, Prog Report
Neal Morse kicked off his solo tour on board Cruise to the Edge last week in Tampa performing songs from his upcoming new album Life & Times, out on Feb 16th. The opening song on the ship was a new song called “Songs of Freedom” which is not on any record. But now Morse has released the fully autobiographical song as a video which you can see here:
Get the new album Life & Times at Radiant Records.
TOUR DATES:
2/17: Nashville, TN
2/20: Cambridge, MA
2/22: Sellersville, PA
2/23: New York, NY
2/24: Asbury Park, NJ
3/17: Denver, CO
3/22: Decatur, GA
3/23: Charlotte, NC
3/28: Mesa, AZ
3/30: Whittier, CA
4/3: San Francisco, CA
4/5: Portland, OR
4/6: Seattle, WA
4/7: Salt Lake City, UT
4/11: Cleveland, OH
4/12: Evanston, IL
4/13: St. Louis, MO
4/14: Milwaukee, WI
4/18: Quebec City, QUE.
4/19: Montreal, QUE.
4/21: Toronto, ONT.
Europe dates will be announced soon!
Don’t miss out on this rare and intimate acoustic experience! Get your tickets now.
by progrock.com | Feb 12, 2018 | News, Prog Report
British djent/progressive metal darlings TesseracT have just revealed the details surrounding their fourth record, and follow-up to the band’s 2015 full-length offering, ‘Polaris’.
The band’s forthcoming fourth studio album, titled ‘Sonder’, is scheduled to see a release on April 20th 2018 through Kscope. For audiophiles, TesseracT have also produced a binaural version, which will provide a 360-listening experience designed by Klang: Fabrik for headphones listening.
Vocalist Daniel Tompkins has described the record as “Conceptually exploring a deep and devouring sense of insignificance, which ties into the overall theme and meaning behind ‘Sonder’.”
You can take a look at the album artwork, full track listing, pre-order options, and a stream of lead single ‘Luminary’ below.
01.) Luminary [stream]
02.) King
03.) Orbital
04.) Juno
05.) Beneath My Skin
06.) Mirror Image
07.) Smile
08.) The Arrow
You can pre-order the album online now from the band’s official webstore (here), iTunes (here), Amazon (here), and Google Play (here).
by Mark Monforti | Feb 2, 2018 | News, Reviews
If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are tougher than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.
This instrumental album caught my ear almost immediately. This melodic instrumental gets better as it goes. If you do give it a spin make sure to listen to the whole album.
By the time you get into the title track (track #4). You can see how this album turns towards the dramatic and is not firmly ensconced in what I love about progressive rock.
If you are like me and never heard of them, please request a track below and have us play you a track from this wonderful album.
| PREVIOUS BAND RATING: | (0.0 / 5) |
| ACCESSIBILITY: | (4.0 / 5) |
| HEAVINESS: | (2.0 / 5) |
| MELODIC: | (3.5 / 5) |
| ARTWORK: | (4.0 / 5) |
| DRAMA: | (4.5 / 5) |
| OVERALL RATING: | (4.0 / 5) |
Click Below to purchase at Amazon US or Amazon UK and we’ll get a little referral bonus on your whole order. Even if you don’t order this album
Key:
These ratings are just attributes and may not have correlation to the most important: OVERALL RATING
PREVIOUS BAND RATING
0: Never heard of them or debut album.
1: Someone recommended. I give them another shot.
2: Some good moments in the past but never put together an album I really liked.
3: Some 4 or 5 star songs but albums can be hit or miss for me.
4: I like 80% of their songs and probably went to see them live.
5: I would, and probably have gone on a plane to see them live.
ACCESSIBILITY EXAMPLES
1: Weather Report
2: Zappa
3: Genesis – Selling England by the Pound,
4: Marillion – F.E.A.R
5: Kino – Picture
HEAVINESS EXAMPLES
1: IQ – Seventh House
2: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
5: Opeth – Black Water Park
MELODIC EXAMPLES:
1: Opeth – Black Water Park
2: Vanden Plas – Chirst 0, Dream Theater – Scenes From a Memory
3: Porcupine Tree – In Abstentia, Shadow Gallery – Tyranny
4: Discipline – Unfold Like a Staircase
5: IQ – Seventh House
OVERALL RATING:
1: Will Never listen to again and deleted under no circumstances should you buy this
2: Not my thing maybe one redeeming song.
3: I like parts of this and I would check them out if they were near me.
4: I would get in the car and road trip to see this album live
5: I would get on a plane to see this performed live
See if our likes are similar See my Last.fm Page
https://www.last.fm/user/mon40/library/artists
