News Archives - Page 36 of 54

Mark’s Quick Review: Galahad’s – Sleepless in Pheonixville

by Mark Monforti | Nov 30, 2017 | News, Reviews

If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are lower than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.

So this is a weird album for me to review. I was at this show and I had never heard of Galahad and they were a last minute replacement for another band.

This is a concert supporting my favorite album of theirs empires never last.

I really liked this concert and the songs they played but this I believe was the first attempt at RoSfest to record live at the show and I don’t think the fidelity is where it needs to be.

If you are an audiophile I say you might want to skip this album.

For me though its well worth the $9 download. I love all the songs on this double album and this live show turned me into a Galahad fan.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(4.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(3.5 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(3.5 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(4.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(4.5 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(4.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Here

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

Mark’s Quick Review: Johnny Unicorn’s – Heavy Jugs to the Moon

by Mark Monforti | Nov 29, 2017 | News, Reviews

If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are lower than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.

So Heavy Jugs showed up in the mail earlier in the month. Johnny is a multi instrumentalist and his quirky albums make him the ultimate opening act for Frank Zappa. His albums take you on a journey and you never know where you will end up. Could he be singing though a toy horn or will he open with a white stripes grove as he does in Once a man.

I personally think that anyone that likes avant guard music especially zappa would be very excited to get this album. Typically not my favorite style of music but every works for me in this album. I have had the pleasure of seeing Johnny in Phideaux 5 times and I really like his song on Phideaux’s number 7 album Thermonuclear cheese.

I have also seem him live twice as his solo work and once yet again with Autumn Electric so I have the advantage over most listeners of being accustomed to his less accessible music.

Please check this album out if you like more experimental progressive rock.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(3.5 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(1.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(2.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(2.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(5.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(4.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(4.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Here

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

Mark’s Quick Review: Dream Theater’s – Score

by Mark Monforti | Nov 28, 2017 | News, Reviews

If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are lower than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.

So when I like Dream Theater I really like them and when I don’t like them, which is rare, I really don’t like them. This is a dream set list for me though. A great review of the last 20 years.

The mix is well done and the playlist is great. It also turned me into a fan of a few songs that I wasn’t that fond of (Raise the Knife). Which is a great sign from a live album

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(4.5 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(4.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(4.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(4.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(4.5 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(5.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Raise The Knife

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

Mark’s Quick Review: Ayreon’s – The Source

by Mark Monforti | Nov 27, 2017 | News, Reviews

The Source, includes James LaBrie (Dream Theater), Simone Simons (Epica), Floor Jansen (Nightwish), Hansi Kürsch (Blind Guardian), Tobias Sammet (Edguy, Avantasia), Tommy Karevik (Kamelot, Seventh Wonder), and Russell Allen (Symphony X), together with newcomers such as Tommy Rogers (Between the Buried and Me)

The Source is set before all previous albums, and tells the origins of the Forever, an alien race central to the Ayreon storyline.

So this one of my favorite bands. I have flown to the Netherlands twice to see him. Once for Theater Equation and earlier this year I saw Ayreon Universe.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(5.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(3.5 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(4.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(2.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(4.5 / 5)
DRAMA:	(5.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(4.5 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: The Day That The World Breaks Down

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

Mark’s Quick Review: Aisles’ – Hawaii

by Mark Monforti | Nov 26, 2017 | News, Reviews

This Chilean band Aisles has been on my radar since 2009. They have a great sound inspired by the prog hero’s of the 70’s and some subtle Chilean influences as well. Their music takes some cues from jazz but does primarily rock. This band is for fans of Project Creation. They primarily have their own sound so I suggest that it’s best that you request a track below and see what you think for yourself.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(3.5 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(3.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(2.0 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(4.5 / 5)
DRAMA:	(4.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(4.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Upside Down

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

Mark’s Quick Review: Genesis’ – Archives Vol 2

by Mark Monforti | Nov 25, 2017 | News, Reviews

If you have never read the key for my ratings below please do so one time. I feel my ratings are lower than my peers. Also Check my last.fm link to see how compatible our music tasts are.

Well this is possibly my favorite band but you if you are reading this and know me I am pretty ok with the Phil Collins era of Genesis but not that ok. Some of the songs on here there is really no reason for another version of. Certainly a longer version of I can’t dance and a live version of Illegal Alien are pretty awful. Other songs didn’t make albums because frankly they are not very good.

Here is where prog people might gasp. I actually liked the never before released cutting room floor song On the shore line. If you see a live track on this compilation that you like. You will like the live version. The quality of the live recordings are great.

The quality of the songs though is just too awful to really recommend. I only have it because I am a completest.

I think I have to suggest you give this a pass.

PREVIOUS BAND RATING:	(5.0 / 5)
ACCESSIBILITY:	(1.0 / 5)
HEAVINESS:	(1.5 / 5)
MELODIC:	(3.0 / 5)
ARTWORK & PACKAGING:	(4.0 / 5)
DRAMA:	(2.0 / 5)
OVERALL RATING:	(2.0 / 5)

ALBUM HIGHLIGHTS: Request Here

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

Mark’s Quick Review: Galahad’s – Sleepless in Pheonixville

Mark’s Quick Review: Johnny Unicorn’s – Heavy Jugs to the Moon

Mark’s Quick Review: Dream Theater’s – Score

Mark’s Quick Review: Ayreon’s – The Source

Mark’s Quick Review: Aisles’ – Hawaii

Mark’s Quick Review: Genesis’ – Archives Vol 2

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