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Jasonconfused
If We Make It We Can All Sit Back and Laugh
Gender: Male
Location: Washington
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- #11
- Posted: 04/13/2013 21:49
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Gets better with every listen. _________________
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Patman360
Serenity Now
Gender: Male
Age: 31
Location: Cork, Ireland
Moderator
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- #12
- Posted: 04/13/2013 22:08
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Jasonconfused wrote: | Gets better with every listen. |
Agreed, his best album! _________________
2023
2022
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drakonium
coucou
Location: More than one
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- #13
- Posted: 04/13/2013 22:13
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The first time I listened to it, the sound of the sound was quite unexpected, and I was quickly bored. Then I listened to it months later and it was like... WOAH! Incredible. Totally stellar. Lethal said it best : there is a general consensus about the amazingness of this album.
I have yet to listen to anything else by him, though (except Moondance, which was very good too, but still clearly inferior). Next one is Veedon Fleece
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ProfessorSquid
Gender: Male
Age: 40
Location: Pittsburgh
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- #14
- Posted: 04/13/2013 22:13
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So this is pretty awful, but I just couldn't get into this for the longest time. Then I watched that movie "The Five Year Engagement" with Jason Segel and Sweet Thing plays a part in it. I'd forgotten that song and it was so good that I re-listened to the whole record. At the that point I was hooked. So thanks Jason Segel for my boring Astral Weeks anecdote. _________________ The Swizz
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useless
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- #15
- Posted: 04/13/2013 22:35
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It's not exactly the type of music I would sit down and listen to, but it's so beautifully made and the mystical vibe just nails it. Although some of the tracks drag too long, most notably the title track (yeah, I know it's among the favorites of most listeners, but almost every song which followed seemed better than this) it never gives the impression of excess, it rather flows naturally throughout. Favorite tracks would be Beside You, Sweet Thing and Madame George (which towards its coda elevates to higher levels of beauty). Maybe the only serious issue I have (which is kinda bitchin', since the rich combination of unexpected instruments, the poetic lyrics and the ethereal atmosphere it creates should be just about enough for me to settle down and be happy) are Morrison's vocals which sometimes, when he sings too loud, they sound somewhat... weird (a good example would be "In siiiiiilence easyyyyy"-but there are a lot of other similar moments as well). It's been admittedly a long time since I last gave this a listen so I'm writing this while Sweet Thing plays to get into the mood and it's really as good as I remember it to be. Additionally, a little something which strikes me as surprising to say the least: http://www.chimesfreedom.com/2011/08/15...-astral-we eks/
lethalnezzle wrote: | It's so rare that you ever hear anyone criticise this album, there seems to be a general consensus amongst most avid music listeners I've come across that this is great, which doesn't happen often (Marvin Gaye's What's Going On is another album of that ilk). |
Believe it or not, I have seen on the Internet people criticizing What's Going On about having an "extremely naïve and simplistic" lyrical context.
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Guest
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- #16
- Posted: 04/13/2013 22:46
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useless wrote: | Believe it or not, I have seen on the Internet people criticizing What's Going On about having an "extremely naïve and simplistic" lyrical context. |
What
Okay, I could MAYBE see why it wouldn't be somebody's musical style, but how in holy hell can someone justify calling the lyrics on that album naïve and simplistic?
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sheep21
Gender: Male
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- #17
- Posted: 04/13/2013 23:21
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Really good album. _________________ Back after a while
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EyeKanFly
Head Bear Master/Galactic Emperor
Age: 33
Location: Gotham
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- #18
- Posted: 04/14/2013 00:04
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lethalnezzle wrote: | It's so rare that you ever hear anyone criticise this album, there seems to be a general consensus amongst most avid music listeners I've come across that this is great, which doesn't happen often |
I don't know that I would go so far as to criticize the album, but Astral Weeks just doesn't do it for me. IMO Morrison's voice just doesn't work with the music he writes. There are definitely worse singers out there (some of whom I love regardless, i.e. Bob Dylan), but for some reason Morrison doesn't do it for me. I feel almost ashamed that I can't get into this album, but I just can't. I honestly think that this is the only album in the top 100 (of the albums I've listened to, which is probably about 90-95% of them) that I honestly don't like. And the thing is...it's not bad. I would be ashamed to call Astral Weeks "bad music", but I'm also ashamed that I don't like an album that so many other people like, when usually I consider my taste pretty broad.
Well, that's my rant. Maybe I'll give it another listening today.
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Happymeal
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- #19
- Posted: 04/14/2013 01:08
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It's a pretty good album in my opinion. Can't say why.
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hairymarx1
Gender: Male
Location: London
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- #20
- Posted: 04/14/2013 05:12
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Simply the greatest album ever made. This work of art is an example of how miracles can happen when beautiful and evocative poetic imagery is set to sublime music. This collection of eight songs conceptually split in two parts -'In The Beginning' and 'Afterwards' - is a flawless illustration of stream of consiousness 'Joycean' modernist writing which Morrison delivers in a unique celtic-tinged rapid machine-gun style. This supreme combination of dream-like poetry and jazz is unmatched in the history of popular music.
Morrison's voice is highly expressive and perfectly complements the flowing instrumentation. The playing throughout is wonderful, particularly Richard Davis's bass. But credit must also be given to John Payne and Warren Smith for their brilliant use of percussion, sax, flute and vibes.
Recorded in the space of just 12 hours, the albums almost improvised creation was borne out of the spontaneous creative urges of its protagonists. The album is evocative of both time and place but at the same time manages to transcend both resulting in a timeless masterpiece. Albums and artists come and go, but Astral Weeks is such a solid work, people will be talking about its merits in decades to come.
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