I had to pull myself together
Iām taking this in stages. Half an hour a day. I calculate I should be finished by next April.
The first half hour was pretty turgid. Itās very serious. Itās very prog.
We do get a decent bit for the chorus on track one (2.20 using YouTube timings). Sadly it only occurs a couple of times and only last a few seconds.
I persevered but it wears you down. Hence my decision to limit the daily exposure.
So I have enjoyed about 30 seconds out of 35 minutes. To be honest, thatās not a great hit rate and itās not looking promisingā¦
Hmm, it opens with the ubiquitous Bram Stokerās Dracula sample. Not a good sign.
Iām still trying to recover from The Road of Bones which was extraordinary . This week we have @stu fronting up to the butchersā chopping block
Tried listening to this last night and lasted about 1 minute, in case it was just the first track I tried skipping to the next and so on but no I hate it.
I want to know who the geezer on the front is telling to be quiet
Possibly the A&R dude from the label who released this thing. He is clearly either incompetent or deaf.
I fuckinā hate you lot
Or just a tasteless dumb cunt
Jesus, Terry. You absolute bastard.
What would you expect ?
It reminds me of so many other albums, itās not offensive, but itās completely unoriginal and tardy.
1980ās sound & over long.
This is diabolical.
The first problem is that the singer is bad, with a slightly bizarre Bruce Dickinson affectation. I wouldnāt say heās copying him, as that would be placing too much merit on his efforts.
What compounds things is that the lyrics are shocking. Combined with the tragic delivery, this makes for some genuine lol moments.
These two problems put them in the same bracket as Guilt Machine and Steven Wilson. All terrible singers spaffing out pompously earnest lyrics.
The music manages to be be tedious and jarring at the same time. There is NO innovation, just a few random snippets chucked together. Take the title track: an 8:30 snoreathon they have no idea how to end, until the keyboard player plays some random electronic xylophone. For no reason.
The next track, a 19 minute effort, ironically has no progression at all. Just 7 or so random bits of noodling shabbily stitched together.
Disc 2 will forever remain a mystery. I was done after the first.
Appalling.
-4 out of 6.
If anything, your damning of this turgid codswallop is still too generous.
Looks like the season for giving is upon us and everyone is giving it to Terry.
This is bang on!
I gave this a listen as thought it couldnāt be as bad as everyone was making out. I thought it was a bit of a joke as it was Terryās choice butā¦no joke.
Thank fuck.
Just ignoring the hyperbole for a minute, youāve pretty much encapsulated why I like Prog. Unlike the bands themselves, I donāt take it seriously. There are some proper cringe-worthy lyrics and vocal performances but itās usually underpinned by (more often than not) complex and/or interesting instrumentation. Convoluted, self-indulgent, pompous, overblown, and noodly are all positives in my world.
As stated in the OP, this is Vocal driven Prog. I agree it can be a bit earnest and ātry hardā.
It was never going to please everyone/anyone. But I like it.