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Thread: Godspeed You! Black Emperor

  1. #1
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    Godspeed You! Black Emperor

    Hi everyone!

    I'm finally digging into these guys' back catalog and really enjoying "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven". Great 'trip' music with lots of huge buildups and crushingly loud dynamics (matched by the softer moments which are in abundance as well).

    Any fans here?

  2. #2
    Yes, got to see them play in Ottawa in 1999 or so for $8. Great show. They only had the first album and the EP at that point but that is still my favorite material from them.

  3. #3
    Yeah, pretty big fan. As good as the albums are, their live show is damned amazing.

    My own fave is the first "comeback" album, "Allelujah! Don't Bend, Ascend." But there's no dud in their catalog either, IMHO.

  4. #4
    Member markinottawa's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by zombywoof View Post
    Hi everyone!

    I'm finally digging into these guys' back catalog and really enjoying "Lift Your Skinny Fists Like Antennas to Heaven". Great 'trip' music with lots of huge buildups and crushingly loud dynamics (matched by the softer moments which are in abundance as well).

    Any fans here?
    another yes here. There are a number of off-shoot bands that will probably require your attention once you've gone through the GYBE! catalogue including Silver Mt. Zion. Set Fire To Flames and Esmerine ( as already mentioned somewhere else) featuring past and/or current members of each. Like Sean I tend to favour the earlier stuff most likely because I heard them first and am more familiar. Dead Flag Blues.

    Quote Originally Posted by smcfee View Post
    Yes, got to see them play in Ottawa in 1999 or so for $8. Great show.
    and I was outside looking in, wondering who was playing.. sigh . Story of my life

  5. #5
    I got into them in the late '90s and followed them through to the haitus in 2003. I know they got back together, but have not heard the albums or seen the shows. They were one of the titans of the late '90s, early '00s post-rock scene, most definitely.

  6. #6
    Member zravkapt's Avatar
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    One of the few rock groups to have been questioned by the FBI for being potential terrorists. As much as I like GYBE I like the offshoot band Fly Pan Am even more:

    The truth will set you free, but first it will piss you off

  7. #7
    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    I love Skinny Fists.

    Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! the best moments are great.

    F♯A♯ Yanqui U.X.O. I haven't spent as much time with, but also have some great sections.

    their new album frankly bored me to tears.

  8. #8
    Haven't heard anything post-comeback, but I used to like them on first time around. Fly Pan Am and A Silver Mt Zion are both good offshoots.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
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  9. #9
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    Fantastic output and live presentation - - - good guys too !!!

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by mnprogger View Post
    I love Skinny Fists.

    Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! the best moments are great.

    F♯A♯ Yanqui U.X.O. I haven't spent as much time with, but also have some great sections.

    their new album frankly bored me to tears.
    I didn't love the new album too much either, until I heard them do it live. Gained a new appreciation.

    I haven't listened to their offshoots as much recently...I remember really liking Set Fire To Flames when it first landed, and the more recent Hiss Tracks was pretty cool. Efrim actually has a solo album out, but it never quite clicked for me.
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  11. #11
    Recently Resurrected zombywoof's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by mnprogger View Post
    I love Skinny Fists.

    Allelujah! Don't Bend! Ascend! the best moments are great.

    F♯A♯ Yanqui U.X.O. I haven't spent as much time with, but also have some great sections.

    their new album frankly bored me to tears.
    New album is great. It was my intro to the band.


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  12. #12
    I heard Dead Flag Blues on Album88 (r.i.p.) in the middle of the night right after F#A# came out. I was lying on the sofa in a dark room, half asleep with the radio on, when this ominous voice suddenly announces, "The car is on fire and there's no one at the wheel." *Gulp* I bolted upright and spent the next 20 minutes trying to figure out who the band was while simultaneously expecting the world to end. Talk about a first impression. Ordered the album straightaway from Constellation and never looked back. Oddly, I've never seen them live.

    Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada is still my favorite GYBE followed by Lift Yr Fists. I was surprised at how strong Allelujah! (talk about a massive sound) was coming after the layoff and the meh of Yanqui UXO. While the latest album has it's moments, overall I'd place it at the bottom of GYBE releases.

  13. #13
    facetious maximus Yves's Avatar
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    They play here somewhat regularly. Tickets are very hard to come by as there is little advertising and the prices are always low so they literally sell out in minutes. I did manage to see them once about 5 years ago. Amazing live performance! The music is a lot more dynamic when played live. They were 9 on stage, two drummers.... Great visual effects too, primarily from a guy with a couple of super 8 projectors and a bunch of film strips he feeds into them manually, to be synched perfectly with the music. He's probably the busiest guy on the stage!

    I own a few of their late 90s/ early 00s releases but they just don't grab me. This is a band that needs to be seen to be fully appreciated, imo....
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  14. #14
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    A life-changing band. Love, love, love them!!! Everything they've released so far has been amazing. (Even the new album. Hey, you can always skip the droning middle section...)
    The Prog Corner

  15. #15
    Quote Originally Posted by miamiscot View Post
    A life-changing band. Love, love, love them!!! Everything they've released so far has been amazing. (Even the new album. Hey, you can always skip the droning middle section...)
    Heh heh...for me, the drones are some of the finest recorded moments on the recent records. I love the atmospheres they create
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  16. #16
    ^^^^^same here. Love drones, just find the new album underwhelming as a whole.

  17. #17
    Traversing The Dream 100423's Avatar
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    I haven't heard their latest one but I really dig the others.

  18. #18
    I have F#A# and "Lift..." and really like them. Along with Tortoise I think they are the best of the post-rock bands I've heard. The offshoot "A Silver Mount Zion" is hit or miss for me. I can't take the whiny vocal tracks (his voice is ridiculous imho), but some of the instrumentals are gut-wrenching (in a good way).
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  19. #19
    My first experience with them was on the Progressive Rock channel on Spinner, where they would have "Blaise Bailey Finnegan III" on heavy rotation. Really like them and glad they reformed so that I could see them live in Baltimore.

  20. #20
    Insect Overlord Progatron's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by frippster View Post
    Slow Riot For New Zero Kanada is still my favorite GYBE followed by Lift Yr Fists.
    Right there with you on this!
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  21. #21
    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by battema View Post
    I didn't love the new album too much either, until I heard them do it live. Gained a new appreciation..
    I would love to, but they seem to boycott my hometown. The 1 time it seemed they might finally come to Minnesota, even as an opener, was when they went on tour with Nine Inch Nails a couple of years ago. But of course that tour, some dates had Explosions in the Sky open (who I never have, nor don't imagine ever will like), and EitS was the opener at the St.Paul, MN show, and not Godspeed.

    And every tour since and before since I've been a fan (which goes back not that long before their hiatus), they have failed to come to Minnesota.

    Why? I dunno if it's a limited tour dates, routing of course which sucks all kinds of ass, or maybe more than likely, the promoters in my hometown don't have the confidence to pay what their people ask for.
    Last edited by mnprogger; 09-23-2015 at 01:17 AM.

  22. #22
    W.P.O.D. Dan Marsh's Avatar
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    Seeing them on Monday in Philly!

  23. #23
    Quote Originally Posted by mnprogger View Post
    I would love to, but they seem to boycott my hometown. The 1 time it seemed they might finally come to Minnesota, even as an opener, was when they went on tour with Nine Inch Nails a couple of years ago. But of course that tour, some dates had Explosions in the Sky open (who I never have, nor don't imagine ever will like), and EitS was the opener at the St.Paul, MN show, and not Godspeed.

    And every tour since and before since I've been a fan (which goes back not that long before their hiatus), they have failed to come to Minnesota.

    Why? I dunno if it's a limited tour dates, routing of course which sucks all kinds of ass, or maybe more than likely, the promoters in my hometown don't have the confidence to pay what their people ask for.
    Oh man...Explosions instead of GYBE? You got cheated...saw EITS just a couple of weeks ago and was thoroughly unimpressed by their show.

    That's too bad...I can't imagine GYBE having the loftiest requirements for promoters to meet, but maybe it is just the area. I hope that changes for you...they are quite good live.
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  24. #24
    They have a new album that was released on Friday. I can't stop listening to it.


  25. #25
    I think this one might be their strongest overall since reforming.

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