I think the strongest message about this album is the potential that Mothers have...
Agreed. Listening to it, there were a couple moments where I felt there was something really special happening and then there'd be other tracks that fell flat.
Exactly, but I think I could totally see Mothers releasing something amazing in a couple years _________________ Progressive Rock
I can't get over how much this album sounds like Elbow. Steve Mason's voice is almost identical to Guy Garvey's, and the style of music that Mason makes is very similar to Elbow. The album is actually produced by Elbow's Craig Potter, so the connection makes even more sense. Regardless, this album is very warm and very joyful. Despite the fact that Mason has such a melancholic voice, these songs are confident and happy. The use of strings throughout the album is excellent, accenting each song they're featured in really well, very similar to the way Elbow uses strings, and Mason's songwriting is quite good and very subtle. Overall, it's a really enjoyable, well done album. _________________ Progressive Rock
Without a doubt, The Moody Blues are, to me, one of the best prog rock bands of all time. Somehow, they're able to create these complex, beautiful works that work both as accessible rock music, and don't sound completely self-indulgent. Much of prog sounds like a bunch of guys just stroking their own egos by creating overly complicated pieces of music, but the Moody Blues don't do that (at least, not on this album they don't). This is an album about discovery, about exploration, whether it's exploring actual places, exploring your mind, exploring a higher consciousness, this album is all about discovery and exploration. It kicks off exceptionally strong with "Ride My See-Saw" and is just loaded with excellent pieces, from the "House of Four Doors" songs to the beautiful "Voices in the Sky", to "Visions of Paradise", there just isn't a bad track on this album. The only one that isn't completely stellar is probably "Legend of a Mind", but even that is still pretty cool. It's one of the best prog albums ever from one of the best prog bands ever. _________________ Progressive Rock
Above all else, this album kicks ass. That's what it does. It's straight ahead, no screwing around, blackened thrash metal. The riffs are big, the guitars are blazing fast, and the drums are fierce, there's nothing left to wonder here, this album will kick you right in the nuts and spit in your face. Now, if it was just all fast guitars and drums, the album would be pretty much all the same thing. But it isn't. Destroyer 666 are able to not only power forward with steam-powered thrash metal, but they step back and make some really good music sometimes too, adding in a couple atmospheric black metal bits here and there, and other things to differentiate themselves from the rest of the pack. Now, if you love fast guitars and rip-roaring solos, don't worry, that's here, but this is more than just shredding, all of this has a purpose. But above all, it kicks ass. _________________ Progressive Rock
Turin Brakes have an album here that's gentle, full of soft, stirring melodies, and touches of Americana. Olly Knights' voice has an easy, almost falsetto quality to it and the music behind him is exceptionally well-crafted. There's a very obvious pop sensibility here, many of these songs could easily find their way onto the radio. It's an enjoyable album, while it's not reinventing the wheel or anything, it's done well. _________________ Progressive Rock
It shouldn't be a surprise that Loretta Lynn has made another fantastic country album. The woman is a legend of the genre, and even at 80-some-odd years old, she can still kill it. Most of this album is covers, but it works because that's part of the tradition of country music, much like it's part of the tradition of folk music. But the Lynn originals that are on here are excellent, as expected, and her covers are perfectly executed. She does old classics like "Always On My Mind", "In The Pines", and many others. She features Elvis Costello and Willie Nelson on two tracks respectively as well, but Loretta is always at center stage. The woman just knows how to make a really good country album, she's straightforward and honest and her "tell it like it is" style of songwriting is what makes her so good. If you like old school country, this is the album for you. _________________ Progressive Rock
Lecrae isn't afraid to speak his mind, and I think that's very important considering the place he finds himself in. He's a rapper who's a Christian, and kids who only listen to "Christian music" listen to him and pay attention to him, and Lecrae isn't going to pander to them. I think the best example of that is "Gangland", where he and rapper Propaganda take a look at the history of the United States to explain gangs, crime, and racial issues. I think Propaganda lays it out best:
"There's a high school in Alabama named after Robert E. Lee And it's 89% black, you don't see the irony?/What it do to a psyche, it's simple, you don't like me/What I'm 'posed to do now?/Delusional calling that system criminal justice/Where the rich and the guilty are safer than the poor and the innocent/Why would we listen?/When American churches scuff they Toms on our brother's dead bodies/As they march to stop gay marriage/We had issues with Planned Parenthood too/We just cared about black lives outside the womb just as much as in"
That's directly calling out a lot of the people who might think this album is "ok hip hop" for their kids to listen to, and that's fantastic. Aside from the very obvious message that Lecrae is trying to get across, this is just good hip-hop. The beats sound radio ready, and Lecrae's flow is excellent. It's a really solid album, whether you're there for the message or not. _________________ Progressive Rock
It's been awhile since I've listened to Say Anything. I enjoyed In Defense Of The Genre, as most did, and since then I've kind of not paid attention to them. I feel like the genre of pop punk/emo isn't one that I deeply connect with that much, I've never had the angst, depression, and dissatisfaction with the world around me that seems to fuel a lot of the genre. Now, that doesn't mean that I can't enjoy an emo album, I can without a doubt and I can appreciate it for what it is, but this album just didn't really connect with me. I mean, it's a fine album, don't get me wrong, it's not bad at all, but it feels a little disjointed and all over the place. It feels like it's been done before. On the positive side, the instrumentation is pretty good, the drums especially are great, having Mutemath's Darren King on the album is certainly a plus, but this just isn't really an album that hit me. It's fine, but that's about it. _________________ Progressive Rock
Esperanza Spalding has this fantastic blend of jazz, funk, and rock all put together into one sound that's uniquely hers. Probably most obviously is the jazz influence in the harmonies and the structure of this album, but this isn't a "jazz" album, just as it isn't a funk album or a pop album. The beauty of this album is that it blends genre after genre and transcends classification. And for an artsy, jazz-style album, it's surprisingly accessible. It's not some deep, hard to access, artistic think piece. Anyone who's been into the stuff Janelle Monae has put out, or even Prince, could find something to really enjoy about this album. From a composition standpoint, this album is exceptional, it's very complex, constantly changing time signatures and full of intricate chord progressions. It's an impressive album, and an enjoyable one too, absolutely worth listening to. _________________ Progressive Rock
Anna Meredith's talent as a composer is on full display on this album. It's crazy, polyphonic pieces that blend electronic and acoustic instruments together. It's a wild ride, and one that will make your head spin after awhile. Thankfully, Meredith has a couple borderline ambient tracks that serve as a welcome rest from the frenetic craziness that is the rest of this album. It starts of with a bold brass fanfare in "Nautilus" that kind of sets the tone for the whole album, and it just rolls from there. Meredith's songwriting is fantastic, and the execution of it is great too, making for an exceptionally interesting and crazy ride of an album. _________________ Progressive Rock
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RockyRaccoon
