echolyn - I Heard You Listening

[Nearfest2]

...based on the opening track thus far i'm prematurely (operative word) having some slight qualms with the overly self-important lyrics and representation of such but we'll see for later

Interesting. I get no self-important tone from "All's Right."

[ca1ore]

Prog is funny .... albums that I was initially unimpressed with have grown on me to become all time favorites .... albums loved initially have become dust magnets. I guess it's good news than that I was not all that impressed with this album upon first listen. It's good, but not yet memorable.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I think they would find that a very flattering comparison that would make them proud.

Agree. On the other hand, Wilco themselves approached the outer perimeters of "prog" already with A Ghost is Born, so to have Echolyn become the "Wilco of prog" might even appear part pleonastic.

Good analogy nonetheless. And, indeed, the songwriting abilities of Kull & co. remains the one reason why I still enjoy them while not too many other "third wave" artists.

[infandous]

This new album is fabulous, and as I said to a friend recently, these guys are on a roll! This one and the last one seem, to me, like the best things they've done. Most bands seem to do their best work when the members are relatively young, but these guys have broken that mold. Which isn't to say the albums they recorded in their younger days aren't great, because they are. It's just that, as has been mentioned, they seem very focused on composition, which gives them a great base to display their instrumental abilities in without ever "showing off" or degenerating into a wank fest (not that they ever did that, of course). Anyway, I need to hear this more to really absorb it, but to my ears it is in the same league as the previous masterpiece of an album, and could equal it or possibly top it for me.

[Haruspex Carnage]

Interesting. I get no self-important tone from "All's Right."

Hard to describe...maybe it's a sort of occasional lyricism that would make the term "emo" seem uh embarrassed?..(And even that seems a bit ridiculous, the term emo at large ha)...but sometimes there're deliveries/lyrics that feel a bit overtly schmaltzy to me...but honestly that's really my ONLY qualm with this band.

[echolynfan]

Prog is funny .... albums that I was initially unimpressed with have grown on me to become all time favorites .... albums loved initially have become dust magnets. I guess it's good news than that I was not all that impressed with this album upon first listen. It's good, but not yet memorable.

This one is definitely a grower - it took about 3 spins before it grabbed me and now I can't stop playing it...I have "Different Days" playing in my head all day.

[echolynfan]

Interesting. I get no self-important tone from "All's Right."

Yeah...I didn't understand where they came from either - I've never found any of their lyrics "self-important".

[Fracktured]

This one is definitely a grower - it took about 3 spins before it grabbed me and now I can't stop playing it...I have "Different Days" playing in my head all day.

I've only made it through 2 songs so far and you've played it 3 times all the way through? Guess I need more free time.

[echolynfan]

I've only made it through 2 songs so far and you've played it 3 times all the way through? Guess I need more free time.

I've now lost count on how many....I know it's over 20 and it just keeps getting better and better. I have my own business so I can crank up in my office and in my vehicle as well. As much as I love the last album and TEIB I was hoping echolyn would get back to their old sound and they just blew me away with this release!

And hell yeah I'm exuberant so stick it haters lol

[Fracktured]

I've now lost count on how many....I know it's over 20 and it just keeps getting better and better. I have my own business so I can crank up in my office and in my vehicle as well. As much as I love the last album and TEIB I was hoping echolyn would get back to their old sound and they just blew me away with this release!

And hell yeah I'm exuberant so stick it haters lol

You do realize that we have to take everything you say with a grain of salt from your name echolynfan?

[Plasmatopia]

I took the "stick it haters" part seriously.

[echolynfan]

You do realize that we have to take everything you say with a grain of salt from your name echolynfan?

You can take it anyway you want to...this is just a music forum post not a Rolling Stone review.

[eporter66]

I've had a number of listens, and I am still absorbing everything, another great release from these guys, just so GOOD!

[sergio]

my 24/96 1.3Gb download crashed at 25%, and I cant recover it( waiting on CD to arrive

[Haruspex Carnage]

i've about 5/9 ways through off the podcast...honestly...i'm sort of let down...what happened to the power and the edge MATCHED with the melody and beauty? It's good don't get me wrong but this one dynamically seems sort of flatlined...

[smcfee]

Haruspex, maybe listen to a good quality recording more than once? I've never had an echolyn album click on me first listen except Suffocating.

[Sean]

This is all killer, no filler! I loved the last one but this one has more...edge to it.

[progeezer]

I really like it a lot, and to me, it seems like they tried to make their music more accessible for the Echolyn uninitiated. There's no trace of the band that wrote & recorded stuff like "A Little Nonsense Now & Then" and "Mei" imo.

Still sounds awesome to me, and, like some others here, I believe this is one of the few bands that can do no wrong.

[echolynfan]

Haruspex, maybe listen to a good quality recording more than once? I've never had an echolyn album click on me first listen except Suffocating.

Agreed. I didn't listen to the podcast before the release because i didn't want my 1st listen to be low quality. I would wait until you can buy a HQ download or buy the cd and give it at least 3 spins before passing judgement.

[zombywoof]

How great is Warjazz? Listen to the way it builds - when the vocals come in it sounds really big and triumphant. Awesome track.

[echolynfan]

I really like it a lot, and to me, it seems like they tried to make their music more accessible for the Echolyn uninitiated. There's no trace of the band that wrote & recorded stuff like "A Little Nonsense Now & Then" and "Mei" imo.

Still sounds awesome to me, and, like some others here, I believe this is one of the few bands that can do no wrong.

It's definitely more accessible than As The World which absolutely turned me off on the 1st listen. It wasn't until I heard Suffocating The Bloom that I gave them a chance and re-visited ATW and fell in love with it.

"i heard you listening" is old echolyn now polished and refined - they're at the top of their game. mei was brilliant but it was just lacking (to me) and I always preferred the harder, more edgy echolyn sound. The new album has much more in common with Suffocating and ATW than mei and resurrects that edgy prog rock sound that I love. it also has qualities of the last album with the tracks "All This Time We're Given" & Carried Home which are beautifully melodic.

There's something for everyone on this disc.

[smcfee]

It's early for me but I don't get that same feeling of a throwback. I feel like this is album two in the phase of the band starting with windowpane.

[Sean]

I get that vibe too. Sort of like Windowpane meets TEIB.

There does seem to be a bit more prog bang for the buck though, so I guess that could echo back to their 90s stuff, some of the dissonances remind me of it at times too.

[Haruspex Carnage]

All echolyn albums clicked for me on first listen although admittedly going back to early ones production-wise they're sort of tinny and raw...

My ears must be somewhere else these days (not hearing what you guys are; to me it feels like the keys are more dominant in the dynamic sections which to me don't carry it)...but i'll give it a deeper chance once i get the actual release!

[Nearfest2]

Yeah, never base an opinion of an album on a podcast. It's like eating a photograph of a cheeseburger.