The Album: Many Songs, One Piece

Often just a collection of songs an album is generally how bands release their music, with the exception of EPs and singles. Often an album will have two or three "hit" songs and then several other lower profile, but hopefully still good, tracks. Often the songs are very much separate entities and can sometimes be very different in style from each other. However this isn't always the case, sometimes an album can feel like a single piece of music, even though it's technically split into multiple tracks. To achieve this each song needs to lead into the other, not necessarily seamlessly but the divide can't be too obvious. Also each song must be similar in its style and motifs if not directly continuing the previous song's lyrical subject.

So in this article I'll talk about a few albums that sound like they're one long musical piece and, more than that, work as one single entity. A few of these albums may have been mentioned before on this blog before but I can't leave them out of this list.

Far - Regina Spektor

The interesting thing, for me, about this album with respect to the idea of it being a single piece is that the songs are fairly separated, they vary a little bit especially with regard to their tempo. However despite this it feels a little bit like a journey of sorts and so it fits into this category. A masterpiece of vocals and piano, this is one of my favourite albums. Its beautiful lyrics touch on various melancholic subjects; for instance the questioning of belief in Laughing With (the best song on the album), and in Blue Lips with the lines:

"As they made it past the enemy lines
just to become enslaved in the assembly lines"

A lovely album that, while individual tracks differ, has a nice overall production with relaxing piano part and vocals that make you think while you enjoy the music.

By Tom dl (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0) or GFDL (www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html)], via Wikimedia Commons


10,000 Days - Tool

Simply a masterpiece. The album's dark allure prevails right the way through with songs varying dramatically but still retaining an overall composure. The first track, Vicarious, has to be one of the greatest album openers I've ever heard, and what's more it leads quickly into the crushing introduction to Jambi. The album's absolute highlight, and my favourite Tool song, is 10,000 Days (Wings Part 2). The lyrics for this are sublime and the singer Keenan's emotions come to the surface as he recounts the hardships his mother endured when she was paralysed before her eventual death.

"10,000 days in the fire is long enough,
You're going home."

Talent is so obvious on this piece, along with all the other Tool albums. The multiple time signature changes add to the complexity of the music that amazes me every time I hear it. The album feels like a single entity, and I rarely listen to individual songs from it (with the exception of the song 10,000 Days). It's one of my top two albums (I can't decide how to rank it within that group) and I urge you check it out. If you don't listen to any other music I talk about, listen to this.

Crack the Skye - Mastodon

Departing somewhat from their normal style, 2009's release from Mastodon was far proggier than anything they have released before or since. Not as heavy as Leviathan it features lots of picked acoustic guitar and lovely whiny melodies over heavier riffs. The lyrics talk about Tsar Nicolas II of Russia amongst other things. The songs on this album are sometimes difficult to distinguish from each other; such is the way that the piece ties together. This really emphasises the sense that it's less a collection of songs and more a musical journey. The final track, The Last Baron, is 13 minutes long which along with its style puts it firmly in the progressive category, and also features lyrics that work especially well live. When they toured in 2010 I saw them in Bristol UK where they played the entire album start to finish. Playing an entire album live is rare but it worked really well. This shows the majesty of the album; definitely worth a listen.

By http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowgate/ [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/shadowgate/3703888760/


So those three albums are all examples of where, rather than being firmly split into several unique songs, the tracks are all part of a single identity and form a journey upon which the listener embarks.

Sonisphere 2011: Review

A weekend packed to the brim with music of many genres and calibres, Sonisphere 2011 brought the crowds what they wanted. Taking place in the historic grounds of Knebworth Park in Hertfordshire where the likes of Led Zeppelin have played in previous years, this year's festival was somewhat bigger than last years with all three days selling out. Headlining this year were Metallica (and the rest of The Big Four), Biffy Clyro, and Slipknot. Bands appeared across five stages; Apollo and Saturn, the main and second stages respectively, Bohemia, Red Bull, and Jagermeister stages. Here's a day by day breakdown of the bands I saw.

Friday

The first band I saw on Friday were called Japanese Voyeurs. I left after three or four songs. Playing in the Bohemia tent, the third stage as it were, they were too loud and lacked creativity in my eyes. The singer was obviously a Skunk Anansie fan because she tried to emanate Skin's, the Skunk Anansie frontwoman's, style of soft verses that immediately launch into crushing chorus vocals. It didn't work. So I left them and caught the end of the set of Hammer of the Gods who were very good. I wouldn't deem them to be the most creative band in the world, but they were entertaining and the crowd loved them.

I then returned to Bohemia to catch one of the best performances of the festival. Lower Than Atlantis demonstrated their talent for raw hardcore music and were everything I hoped them to be. During one of the songs the crowd were urged to sit down and then jump up, a move probably borrowed from Slipknot. As it is LTA were masters of working the crowd and provided a hugely entertaining set.

Later on I saw Firewind, again in the Bohemia tent, on whom opinion in our group was divided. I personally found them boring. The constant shredded melodic solos wore thin after a song or two and I was left underwhelmed by the seeming lack of creativity from such a famous band. However, as I said, many in our group liked them, the crowd certainly appeared to.

At around 7 in the evening I went to see a band called Black Breath who I'd heard a lot about but had never listened to. Playing on the Jagermeister stage, formed from an open truck, they were crushing. The music was so powerful that it was like an assault on your mind. I was one row from the front and I could feel the band's ferocity coursing through my veins. A truly fantastic set and a highlight of the festival.

I then went to get a good spot for Metallica. I'd not gone to see any of the other Big Four bands (Anthrax, Megadeth, and Slayer) since I'd already seen two of them and the one I hadn't seen (Megadeth) I had no interest in seeing since I'd heard they are a weak band live. Anyway, Metallica emerged onstage beginning with Kill 'Em All, a track from the album of the same name released in 1983. Previously I hadn't liked the album. I'd thought that the time changes made it difficult to get into. However I listened to it again yesterday and have changed my mind. Metallica's set was fantastic. A few rarities were thrown in including Welcome Home (Sanitarium) which was great. For me the setlist was a little disappointing because it didn't include Nothing Else Matters which until recently had been a staple for the band akin to Iron Maiden's Fear of the Dark. Overall it was a great performance made better when members of the other Big Four bands came onstage and played Diamond Head's Am I Evil? like they have done at all the Big Four shows. The difference between Sonisphere UK and the other Sonispheres where The Big Four played was that at our festival a member of Diamond Head, Brian Tatler, who had written the song played as well. A truly phenomenal gig which I enjoyed immensely.

By Alberto Cabello from Vitoria Gasteiz (James Hetfield (Metallica)) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/53477761@N08/4936122349/


Saturday

Late Saturday morning I sat down and watched Richard Cheese and Lounge Against The Machine, a group that plays jazz versions of various songs. Their set included covers of Nine Inch Nails and Pink Floyd, but the highlight has to be their cover of Slipknot's People=Shit which was in such contrast to the original song that it belied belief. It was a nice change to have some jazz amongst the metal, it changed the rhythm of the event somewhat which worked well. Last year on the Sunday The Fab Beatles played who, as you'd expect, were somewhat different to the other bands playing at Sonisphere 2010.

Next up were Architects followed by Gallows. Having seen Gallows before back in December 2009 and being blown away I was expecting a great show. I wasn't disappointed at all by their performance. My favourite part was when they played London Is The Reason, which is among my favourite of their tracks. What made it a little more unique was that it was renamed to match the location. They've done this before on their current tour. So this time the lyrics, instead of including the phrase "London is the reason,", were "Knebworth is the reason". However I still left their set downhearted since their singer, Frank Carter, confirmed what I'd heard the night before: he is leaving Gallows at the end of this tour. In my opinion Gallows will never be the same without Frank's raw vocal strength, but time will tell.

At 3 in the afternoon Bad Religion emerged onto the Apollo stage to deliver a great set of their brilliant pop punk anthems. 21st Century Digital Boy was the best moment of their set but the absence of Incomplete was a shame. A problem with their set was that the singer's mic was too quiet. At the beginning I couldn't really hear him at all, and this wasn't fully rectified. Other bands also suffered from parts being too loud or quiet across the weekend.

Immediately afterwards I saw Sum 41 who were boring. I was surprised. In fact the best part of their set was the few minutes they spent playing bits of Metallica songs. However later the second stage headliner came on and really made an impression. Tool-esque prog rockers The Mars Volta were underwhelming for the first 20 minutes of their 1 hour 15 minute set, but after that they really got going. Playing some new songs before embarking on a tour of various classics. They were mind-bogglingly good and their singer was fascinating to watch. At one point he started to climb underneath the staging before wrecking a kettle and trying to fit into a box. The set was fantastic, definitely one of my top five performances of the weekend.

Then it was time for the day's headliner: Biffy Clyro. Having heard only heard one or two Biffy Clyro songs before I went I was expecting to enjoy their set only somewhat. I was wrong. They were brilliant. When they were originally announced the internet was on fire with so many people saying they weren't headliner material, since they hadn't headlined anywhere before. I think it's safe to say those people were proved wrong on Saturday 9th July 2011. Biffy looked like they'd been headlining festivals for years. And so ended the Saturday's music for me.

Sunday

Around midday I watched House of Pain on the second stage. Their set was ok they suffered from what all one hit wonders suffer from. The crowd were only their for one song. Predictably that one song was played last. Last year's Sonisphere UK booked Europe who were the same with their hit The Final Countdown. When House of Pain finally started Jump Around the crowd when mad. So many people leaping into the air that early hour (relatively, it's a festival after all) was quite a sight.

Later on Mastodon took to the mainstage. One of the bands I'd been looking forward to the whole weekend did not disappoint. Playing a greatest hit set this time meant it was quite a different show from when I saw them in Bristol in 2010 when they played all of 2009's Crack The Skye. If I'm being honest I enjoyed the latter more, but their performance at Sonisphere was still fantastic. I love the distinctive hum overtone they add to their pieces, it's something unique to them. They didn't play The Last Baron (the last track of Crack The Skye) but they played lots of other great songs so I wasn't all that annoyed.

The next act on the main stage were Motorhead. For such an old experienced band I was expecting to enjoy a great set of classic rock. Disappointed isn't a strong enough word. Lemmy was drunk, the songs were monotonous and impossible to tell apart, and Ace of Spades was boring. I came away feeling I'd wasted an hour of my life.

Just after 7 o'clock in the evening Alestorm took to the Bohemia stage and began with Shipwrecked, a song from their new album Back Through Time. They were fantastic. It was hit after hit. They even played Nancy The Tavern Wench which is something of a rarity. Barriers were set up to stop any more people entering the already packed tent. After the gig the crowd leaving Bohemia took up the chant of "Alestorm. Alestorm. Alestorm" an en masse we descended upon the space in front of the second stage ready for Bill Bailey.

Playing a greatest hits set that included the BBC News Rave, Das Hokey Kokey, and his Love Ballad, Bill Bailey was great. He also played a Rammstein-esque rendition of Scarborough Fair. The most surprising thing was that there actually was a mosh pit, and a circle pit, to the comedy act. The gig also broke the world record for largest comedy audience.

Finally Slipknot walked out onto the mainstage to enthrall the crowd. The performance was all about celebrating the life of their bassist, the late Paul Gray (right). All wearing orange jumpsuits and masks it was quite a sight, and a great gig. At one point one of the members, I forget which one, crowdsurfed all the way to the sounddesk, quite a distance. He then climbed onto the roof and then leapt off into the crowd during the next song. The band played classics like Heretic Anthem and People=Shit, the same song that Richard Cheese and Lounge Against the Machine had covered the previous day. Towards the end of their set they asked the entire crowd to sit down, before commanding them to "Stand the fuck up", the crowd interaction move that I mentioned earlier when talking about Lower than Atlantis. I was left stunned after the end of the gig, craving more. They were, and still are, fighting Metallica for my favourite performance of the festival.
By bill from jersey city (Slipknot, Nassau Coliseum, 8.06) [CC-BY-2.0 (www.creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons
http://www.flickr.com/photos/72935807@N00/2744748856/

So there we have it; Sonisphere Knebworth 2011. I'll definitely be there next year. Tool are heavily rumoured to be headlining, which would be reason enough for me to go. They're top of my list of bands to see, followed by Flogging Molly (whom I have tickets to see in November). Overall it was a great weekend packed with talented bands.

New Supergroup

It has emerged in the last few hours that Brent Hinds of Mastodon as well as members and ex-members of The Dillinger Escape Plan, The Mars Volta, and Jane's Addiction are to form a supergroup. Currently the group lacks a name. The members (source Noisecreep) will be:

• Brent Hinds (Guitar)- Mastodon
• Ben Weinman (Guitar)- The Dillinger Escape Plan
• Eric Avery (Bass)- (Formerly) Jane's Addiction
• Thomas Pridgen (Drums)- (Formerly) The Mars Volta

So from the start it looks to contain a high level of musical talent. I admit to not knowing Jane's Addiction or The Dillinger Escape plan very well, but from what I know of Mastodon and The Mars Volta this new project could produce some great music. However throwing a bunch of talented creatives into a room together does not guarantee success, as has been the case with many supergroups in the past. The effect of this has been that many in the musical community have been wary of the term as they feel it rarely works out.

An example of a supergroup formed in the last few years is Them Crooked Vultures. This consists of:

• Josh Homme (Vocals/Guitar)- Queens of the Stone Age
• John Paul Jones (Bass)- Led Zeppelin
• Dave Grohl (Drums)- Foo Fighters, Nirvana

The effect of the musical alliance of this trio was the production of an album entitled Them Crooked Vultures. The album was great, the band members obviously had the right chemistry and it showed in the music. However it's my opinion that they shot to fame as a group too quickly. As a result of having such famous members they bipassed the stage most bands go through of touring as a support act for another band. While they did do at least one support gig, they embarked on a big headline tour. The problem with this is that because they only had one album out they didn't have enough material for a full set, meaning that songs were extended to take up the time. The result? A good gig, but the latter half was too self indulgent for my tastes; especially the inclusion of a very long interlude in one of the songs that was far too monotonal. Had they toured as a support act for longer they could have waited until they had more material before embarking upon their own headline tour, or at the very least swapped out some of their weaker songs for some covers from the many acts the individual members had been a part of. It's not that the album was full of bad songs, it's that most albums aren't suitable to be played in full at a live show. In order for that to be possible every song needs to be good, with no filler anywhere on the album. Looking through my music library I can think of very few albums that I'd like to see played in full. The only ones being Mastodon's Crack The Skye, Iron Maiden's Dance of Death and The Number of the Beast, and Tool's Lateralus and 10,000 Days, with the possible addition of Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly's The Chronicles of a Bohemian Teenager. So those were the main problems with Them Crooked Vultures: they took off too fast, and that they didn't have sufficient material for headline tour.

Right that's it for now.

Thanks,

big_friendly_letters

What the (Near) Future Holds

The year of 2011 looks to be a good one for music; there are many albums I'm anticipating as well as various events I look to attend. Whatever the state of the music industry I maintain that album releases still retain their status as important milestones for bands and should be respected as such. So what does the future hold for this year at least?

Mastodon:

Progressive metallers Mastodon are due to release their fifth studio album this year. The followup to their critically acclaimed Crack The Sky, this next work is to be entitled The Hunter. There's much interest into what kind of sound to expect from the new album since its predecessor was so much more progressive than their previous work. According to their drummer, Brann Dailor, it's going to be "Faster, heavier, crazier". Bill Kelliher, guitarist for the band says: "It's a good representation of where we are," and that there's "A lot of short bursts of energy going on". This suggests that in this album, while exploring new material, the band are returning to the likes of Leviathan and Blood Mountain, whose songs were generally shorter than their counterparts on Crack The Skye. The Hunter will have its work cut out if it's to match the reception that 2009's album received. Mastodon will be playing this year's Sonisphere UK (among other Sonispheres across Europe), I'll be sure to mention them in this year's "Sonisphere: Review" post. There should be a review of the album on this blog as soon as I get hold of a copy. So far there isn't a release date for it yet, but it should be out by the end of the year. Stay tuned.

Paramore:

This band haven't been given their due credit on this blog. Paramore received much praise for their 2007 album Riot!. Full of power it was a hit and is still my favourite album from what I've listened to of their discography. They currently have three albums released as well as three EPs. Their debut All We Know Is Failing was released back in 2005. The band's latest album, Brand New Eyes is a great example of Paramore's talent for their punk genre and, while not quite to the same standard as Riot!, it is a thoroughly entertaining album. In the early weeks of 2011 (Source MTV), Paramore took some time off in order to focus on a new album. I'd anticipate that, while no formal release date has been set, if all goes well the new work should be out by the end of the year.

Sonisphere Knebworth (UK)

In terms of musical events for this year this is the one I'm most looking forward to. I won't go into vast detail about all the different bands since there'll be two posts dedicated to Sonisphere 2011, one before and one after (like last year). However I will talk for a bit about the importance of this year's festival to the world of metal. Last year, after what seems like centuries of arguments and feuds, Metallica, Slayer, Megadeth, and Anthrax, better known as The Big Four of thrash metal, shared the same stage for the first time in history at Sonisphere Bulgaria. The festival in Sofia was the setting for this historical event which culminated in the bands coming together (with the unfortunate absence of most of Slayer due to non-argumentative issues) in playing Diamond Head's Am I Evil?. This year these four bands will be coming to the UK to share a stage for the first time in this country. Other historical events are occurring at this years Soniphere Knebworth in the form of Biffy Clyro's first ever festival headline. Yes the alternative rockers have been given their first headline slot by the Sonisphere organisers, a decision that prompted much debate among the musical community with heavily polarised viewpoints shared. So all in all it looks to be a very important festival for the world of music, one I most certainly will not be missing. As I said I'll talk more about Sonisphere 2011 closer to the time when all the details have been finalised in two blog entries; one before the festival in anticipation, and one after the festival to act as a review.

Tool?

It's looking very unlikely now but I thought I'd mention it briefly anyway. Tool (who I talked about in Notable Artists... V) haven't released an album since 2006's masterpiece 10,000 Days. The gap between their last few albums seems to be usually five years, so we're due a new one any time soon. What's stopping the album is that some members of the band, particularly Maynard James Keenan, have side projects that need time and effort, for instance Keenan has been working with his other band A Perfect Circle. All we can do is wait patiently and hope that an album will be out in the next couple of years. One of the great things about Tool is that although they don't release new material very often, they have yet to release an album that isn't brilliant. I'll keep my eye out for news.


So that's 2011 for me. There are a few things I haven't included, like the fact I'm seeing Iron Maiden in August, but they may get their own blog posts in the form of reviews. Anyway that's all for now.

Thanks,

big_friendly_letters.