When the "metal" album that you're about to start listening to starts off with a meandering atmospheric guitar that sounds like something from an early 80s Cure album, then you know that you're in for something a little different. There are a number of incredible things that happen on "Weighing Souls With Sand", but I'll say that the first incredible thing that you should know about this album is that only two people made it. It sounds like it could have been thousands. The "soul-crushing" heaviness of some of these tracks would seem like a thousand people were all mercilessly attacking their guitars at once. But, The Angelic Process was just a husband and wife duo. Unfortunately, the group is no more as Kris Angylus took his own life shortly after the release of this album. What a final project to work on though. I love this album from front to back. It blends all of it's influences together well, and it's one of the only metal albums in this vein that does so consistently across the entire album. I don't think I've got much else to say about this. Here's some other stray observations though.
(Programmed Drums are weird, but they somehow fit the overall muddy sound of the production. The only time it's noticeable is when there is nothing else playing except for a drum part.)
(The way all of the sound will just cut to silence on some of these tracks is remarkable. Gives me chills.)
(Ambient passages would work well on their own, and do not detract from the pace or consistency of the album.)
(Same vocal melody from first track comes back in on title track. That's a neat motif.)
(Those siren-sounding guitars on "Burning in the Undertow of God" should have made more appearances on other tracks. Like J Dilla's sirens on Donuts.)
Top Tracks: The Promise of Snakes, We All Die Laughing, Dying in A-Minor, Weighing Souls with Sand, Burning in the Undertow of God
I'm linking this track here, because it's so damn good.
Coincidentally, I've heard that one mere weeks prior to you listening to it in the canon game. And what a great find. Would recommend to anyone looking for noisy, shoegazey and different (almost) metal. Among the best in that niche. _________________ Finally updated the overall chart
Experimental Rock, Jazz-Rock
Chiptune, Jazz, Surf Rock, Avant-Garde Metal, Klezmer, Doo-Wop, Grindcore, Death Metal, Funk, Black Metal, Video Game Music, Bebop, Avant-Prog, Jazz Fusion, Arabic Music, Space Age Pop, Avant-Garde Jazz, Circus March
I'm going to say something really pretentious to start off this review. This is an album for nerds. If you don't have a background or understanding of a lot of different kinds of music, then you won't get the most out of this album. It all seems like a big inside joke, like, "see? I bet you didn't see that coming!" This album wouldn't work on any level if the musicians weren't up to the challenge of being able to play the thousand different genres on the album, but they're more than capable of handling the genre-switching ALMOST all of the time. Some of the changes can be abrupt by song-writing standards, but as long as you're not taking yourself, or this album too seriously, then It shouldn't be a problem.
I'd been searching for a band that "sounded" like Mr. Bungle for a long time and it seems as if I finally found them. Turns out they were right under my nose this entire time, because some of these guys have ties to Secret Chiefs 3 (Trey Spruance's band; he helps out on this album too) and even produced or helped Mr. Bungle with the incredible California. I took the liberty of listening to some other songs from other albums after I finished this one to see if the quality was consistent, and it was. Particularly the gargantuan "Hunger Strike" off of their debut album that clocks in at 20 minutes of Klezmerfied schizophrenia.
At it's heart, this album is mostly 3 things, jazz, klezmer, and metal. At least those are the things that show up the most. Everything else is just for embellishment purposes. Window dressing. But I wouldn't completely discount any of the hundreds of diversions into specific genre tropes that this album goes down, because, most of the time, it's done so well that it really doesn't matter. I just wanted to hear what was going to happen next. Like I've already said, the genre-switching is not impressive unless the performance is actually decent as well. I'd judge that if you took just the metal parts and made a metal album, or just the jazzy parts and made a jazz album, etc. that you would get a great album in that genre. Most impressive to me is the video game music that actually sounds like video game music, which is easily the biggest diversion from what is really a more focused album than what some people think. You can't make an album like this without having a vision and rigid structures.
I could go on and on about this monster of an album, but here's a couple of other thoughts.
What an absolutely amateurish looking album cover. I still haven't figured out why deer-hunting has to do with anything, but it's one of the central themes of the skits and commentary on the album, but ttheir is also some stuff about racism on here too that is kind of strange.
The best part was the three tracks:
"The Bounty Hunter"
"Super Buck II"
"Millennium Child"
Super Buck II is a cover of the Super Mario Bros 2 " Ground Theme".
There's also a video game music track called "Green Hill" which uses some Sonic samples.
I find a lot of the progressions on this album seem to have some sort of influence from a lot of soundtrack music from film or TV. 60s and 70s spy and thriller themes (think John Barry and Lalo Schifrin). Japanese video game soundtracks are an obvious influence, and I'd say anime is too, which I don't really know how to articulate, but maybe somebody will know why I'm saying if they give this a listen. There's something about a few moments here and there that make me think of the climax in an episode of something.
The more I describe this album the more ludicrous it sounds, but it's actually not quite as weird as it would seem. Disco Volante is still a much more challenging listen in my mind. I'd give it a listen if you're curious.
After not really having a way to rate albums in a numerical sense for sometime, I had a thought a few days ago on how I could make one that would make sense for me. Make a rubric! So, I made up a rating system kind of based on the same rubric that I use to grade essays for my class.
In case you're wondering, here's what that looks like. (This is only one way in which points may be spread out.)
Focus /25
Development /25
Organization /15
Use of Sources /15
Style /10
Editing /10
That's in a desending order of importance as well. (Which would be why the point totals are what they are.)
Here's what my rating criteria will look like
Composition
Production
Performance
Album Pacing/ Organization
Lyrics
Originality
So, a similar number of categories with a similar point distribution. Speaking of which, here's how the categories will be weighted.
Composition /25
Production /25
Performance /20
Album Pacing/ Organization /10
Lyrics /10
Originality /10
Here is a more in depth look at each category and an album to represent what may be a low or a high score in a category.
New Rating Criteria
Composition /25 --All aspects of songwriting; instrumentation and vocals + how they are placed and maneuvered structurally. Repetition, motifs, melody, and all of those fancy music terms. Not that I really know what I'm talking about when talking about those things, but I try.
Album example with a high score: Stevie Wonder- Songs in The Key Of Life
Album example with a low score: AC/DC- Back In Black
Production /25 --Does the album have appropriate production for the music that is being played? There can be unpleasant-sounding production that is essential to an album's overall feel, so a high score or a low score here is more dependent on the purpose. It's more than just "does it sound good or bad". Although it could be as simple as that sometimes
Album example with a high score: Talking Heads- Remain In Light
Album example with a low score: Baroness- Gold & Grey
Performance /20 --Emotional & Technical aspects of performance. Moreso, the execution and consistency of these aspects on the album, so a higher score in this category is not supposed to be purely musicianship.
Album example with a high score: Nomeansno- Wrong
Album example with a low score: The Mars Volta- De-Loused In The Comatorium
Album Pacing/Organization /10 -- How well an album does at remaining engaging over it's runtime. Track sequencing, song & album length, album fluency, all of those play a factor.
Album example with a high score: The Avalanches- Since I Left You
Album example with a low score: All of the super long Swans albums
Lyrics/10 -- Most of you all already know that I don't care about lyrics that much, but they're there, so they need to be counted. True 10/10 lyrics don't necessarily exist anywhere, but if they don't detract from the album then an album can get that rating. If they are obviously crap, then this category will easily be a 0. (For Hip Hop this category is weighted higher than performance)
Album example with a high score: Mos Def- Black on Both Sides
Album example with a low score: Any Eminem album in the last 15 years
Originality /10 --Simply put; the idiosyncratic, or the derivative. However, albums with obvious influences can still be great as long as they're doing something new and fresh with an old concept. And completely original bands can be a total mess.
Album example with a high score: Throbbing Gristle- 20 Jazz Funk Greats
Album example with a low score: Greta Van Fleet- Anthem of The Peaceful Army (Probably could've guessed that one)
Anyways, I might not do this with every album I come across, but for the canon game and ratings in this diary, I'm going to try and be a little more structured with my thoughts. (Until I get bored and move on to something else of course ).
Addendum: I'm assuming that albums will shake out something like this.
Addendum 2: Packaging was removed and is now a bonus category that can add up to a maximum of 5 points or detract a maximum of 5 points. Point values were changed. accordingly.
Last edited by Tha1ChiefRocka on 05/31/2021 15:59; edited 1 time in total
I only wish I could have an effective system like this one lol. I'm mostly rating based on feel, no particular criteria. Wish you all the best with this Chief and looking forward to reading some reviews.
Tha1ChiefRocka wrote:
Composition /20 Album example with a high score: Stevie Wonder- Songs in The Key Of Life
Album example with a low score: AC/DC- Back In Black
Production /20 Album example with a high score: Talking Heads- Remain In Light
Album example with a low score: Baroness- Gold & Grey
The Baroness one hits too close to home... Fortunately live these songs sound magnificent. And Back in Black is not that bad, cmon _________________ Finally updated the overall chart
The Baroness one hits too close to home... Fortunately live these songs sound magnificent. And Back in Black is not that bad, cmon Laughing
I tried listening to that album again recently, and it's just shocking how bad it sounds. I hope they can get somebody to fix that, because the songs are actually great.
I would have most of their albums ranked relatively low in the songwriting category just because there's so little variety. However, they make up for that with incredibly loud and energy-filled performance and prodcution.
Most of Justin's best stuff is still found on this album, and it wouldn't be terrible if he never topped it. The first two tracks have about a million different hooks to get stuck in your head, and "what goes around" is easily one of the best written pop songs of this current millenium. A surprising amount of variety is found on this album from the more synth-laden opening tunes to the more organic and live-instrumentation of the later songs. A bit of chopped & screwed followed by a James Brown-esque funk song with "Chop Me Up" and "Damn Girl" would not be found anywhere else in 2006, or on most other albums for that matter. The ballads on the 2nd half of the album are the most major let down, but they're still better made than most other artists that worked in the same style.
Production 23/25
Timbaland is a match made in heaven for JT, and it's his clubby, but inviting production that allows this album to work both as a statement broad enough to appeal to the masses, but artistic enough to merit some finer musical discernment. Nothing else around this time period sounds quite like it. (Except for other Timbaland stuff of course). Like all great albums, it's the little things that stick out. Like that guitar lick that appears between verses on "Sexyback". The indie-sounding guitars that come in at the end of "Lovestoned/ I Think She Knows". That sample on "Damn Girl" actually got them into some trouble though. Apparently it hand been used by DJ Shadow, and they tried to clear it with the wrong people instead of the original creator which was some little known 60s funk/soul guy. Love that sample though. And that sample isn't the only callback to old school on this album. Considering this album is supposed to be about advancing the sound of (sex?) it's certainly indebted to a lot of the tropes of R&B and Funk of the past. Also need to shoutout "Danja" who is the lesser known of the main producers on this album.
Performance 18/20
There's a reason that Justin Timberlake is one of the biggest performers in the world. His persona on this album is of asinine bravado, but he somehow makes you believe him. Justin tries his hardest to channel his inner-Prince on this album, and it mostly works. I understand that a near-perfect score seems like a lot, especially because JT is a good (but not great vocalist) but the presentation and feeling of the album is all convincing and cohesive, and Justin is the star of the show. The features help him out immensely on some of the tracks like "My Love" with T.I. and an appearance by Three 6 Mafia. Thank God Justin didn't try to rap on this album or this category would probably be a lot lower.
Album Pacing/ Organization 7/10
At 66 minutes, it's totally longer than it should be, but for the party kind of atmosphere this album is going for, an hour is not exactly asking too much. If , but it's not enough to derail what is a pleasant listening experience. It's also way A Side heavy, but I'm not as down on the B side as others.
Lyrics 5/10 It's exactly what you're expecting, and they're not good. Honestly should go lower here, but they're not detracting on most things.
Originality 9/10
In the grand scheme of the pop music landscape in 2006 and beyond, this album still stands out as attempting to do things different than the rest. And, at least in it's execution, was successful. I'd still rather hear most of the songs on this album than a lot of what was on the radio then or now.
Bonus: I love the glee on his face while he's smashing the disco ball. I'm not sure exactly what it's supposed to symbolize, but it seems pretty obvious that Justin wants to destory world of pop music. +3
Total 86/100=ohhhhhhhhh yeaaaaahhhhhhhh
That's an appropriate tier for this sexy album.
Best tracks: Futuresex/Lovesounds, Sexyback, Lovestoned, What Goes Around, Damn Girl, Summer Love
Last edited by Tha1ChiefRocka on 05/31/2021 16:02; edited 1 time in total
great review. JT's 2006 and 2013 albums are some of my fave pop ever. This is a classic. Thanks for reminding me of it and now I'll relisten. _________________ -Ryan
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