Did you hear it's follow up?Originally Posted by JAMOOL
Did you hear it's follow up?
I'd like to see some lists of favorite albums from this band (if anybody wants to play). Danke.
I recently got that 5CD set, and I liked the last two much more than the first three. Overall, I'd say "Mammoth" was my favorite, especially the song "The Platform." I'm surprised so many people seem to regard "Sleeping in Traffic, part 2" as their best.
IMHO, the Beardfish album that is the most "all killa, no filla" is "The Sane Day"
"My choice early in life was either to be a piano player in a whorehouse or a politician, and to tell the truth, there's hardly any difference"
President Harry S. Truman
Personally, my favorite of them all is still Destined Solitaire. It's hard for me to rank them though as they are all of such high quality. Probably second for me would be The Sane Day.
The Sleeping In Traffic albums are actually my least favorite, though I still like them a lot. Actually, Sleeping Traffic Pt.2 is great, except for the title track which I think is just not that exciting or interesting and drags a lot for me (but I still find it worth listening to). The other tracks are all among their best though.
I think the one that does the least for me is the debut, but even that is worth hearing and has a couple really great tunes on it.
Here is how I'd rank them (roughly):
Destined Solitaire
The Sane Day
Comfortzone
Mammoth
Sleeping in Traffic Pt. 2
The Void
Sleeping in Traffic Pt. 1
the debut
This is tough...
The Sane Day
Sleeping In Traffic Part 1
Destined Solitaire
Mammoth
Sleeping in Traffic Pt. 2
Från En Plats Du Ej Kan Se
Comfort Zone
The Void
Or maybe I'd put them in three groups with the albums within each group being roughly equal:
The Sane Day
Sleeping In Traffic Part 1
Destined Solitaire
Mammoth
Sleeping in Traffic Pt. 2
Från En Plats Du Ej Kan Se
Comfort Zone
The Void
To be fair, I probably should spin those last two a few more times. I do not get the love lavished on SITP2. About half of the album is very strong material though, so if I were to ignore what I don't like about it, it would rate near the top, but....the long tune just doesn't work for me.
<sig out of order>
1) Sleeping In Traffic, Part Two
2) The Sane Day
3) Sleeping In Traffic, Part One
4) Comfortzone
5) Mammoth
The Prog Corner
The Sane Day
Sleeping In Traffic Part Two
Från En Plats Du Ej Kan Se
Sleeping In Traffic Part One
The Void
Mammoth
Destined Solitaire
Comfortzone
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
I think I agree with this as being THE ONE if we are choosing the one...
Steve F.
www.waysidemusic.com
www.cuneiformrecords.com
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
“Remember, if it doesn't say "Cuneiform," it's not prog!” - THE Jed Levin
Any time any one speaks to me about any musical project, the one absolute given is "it will not make big money". [tip of the hat to HK]
"Death to false 'support the scene' prog!"
please add 'imo' wherever you like, to avoid offending those easily offended.
Gun to my head, this is probably the one I'd go with as well if narrowing it down to only one. There is some insanely good stuff on it, and the band seemed to be brimming with ideas.
What's nice is that there is not a general consensus about what the band's best works are, so I always take that as a sign of high quality.
any great album must rock in one way or another! based on that assumption Void grabs the cup. ranging from Gravel to Lights... covering lots of grounds
Agreed, this is one band that I find it just about impossible to rate their albums as they are all good to great.
1 The Sane day
2 Destined Solitaire
3 Debut (difficult swedish title that I cannot remember)
4 Sleeping in traffic pt 1
5 Sleeping in traffic pt 2
6 Mammoth
7 The Void
8 Comfortzone
They are all pretty good, but for me the first two are special.
The Sane Day is the only one I don't have and it seems pretty difficult to get hold of.
A once-great band (IMO) from "Fran" through "Sleeping In Traffic". I liked some of "Destined Solitaire" but it was all diminishing returns from then on.
"The Sane Day" is their masterpiece.
Been trying to think of how I'd rank the albums, in response to chalkpie's post. Here goes:
1) The Sane Day
2) Sleeping in Traffic, Pt 2
3) Destined Solitaire
4) Sleeping in Traffic, Pt 1
5) Mammoth
6) Comfortzone
7) Från en Plats du ej Kan Se
8) The Void
To be honest, the last four could probably be interchangeable amongst themselves for how much I listen to them. But I think that the song Comfortzone is one of the best things Beardfish has ever done in the realm of "serious music".
Agreed.
That's my big frustration with Beardfish: that they never maintained that level of quality over the course of an album when they clearly had the ability to do so.
Completely agree.
He's now a proper member of Big Big Train. Not sure how much influence he has with the writing yet, but class will always tell.
I see The Void at the bottom of a few lists... the reason it is around the halfway point of my rankings is the song "Note", one of the best things they ever did IMO.
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
Thanks for the responses mate. I ordered that 5-CD set for a ridiculous price of about $17 w/ shipping. I own The Sane Day, just never spent as much quality time with it as I should have. Rikard is a tremendous singer - very soulful and really commands your attention. From time to time I get a Jack Black Tenacious D vibe - no joke(!) - and not a bad thing at all. I love the little bits of oddness they thrown in at points, these nice little "eyebrows' if you will. Looking forwards to diving in with these Swedish lunatics.
PS - I met Rikard before a show that we played a few years back at a NJ Proghouse gig for a two-day festival, super cool chap with a great sense of humor. That was where the "Shrimpboat Captain" reference came from, but you'd have to ask him yourself what that refers to
Yeah, Zappa was obviously a huge influence for them. That influence does diminish as you go through their catalog, which is probably why the later albums are not regarded as highly (IMO, anyway). I have to admit that as much as I like Destined Solitaire (it's the album that made them "click" for me), The Sane Day probably is their best. As others have said though, all their albums are good to great, so you really can't go wrong. The ones I don't pull out as much are the debut and The Void, but both have great stuff on them.Thanks for the responses mate. I ordered that 5-CD set for a ridiculous price of about $17 w/ shipping. I own The Sane Day, just never spent as much quality time with it as I should have. Rikard is a tremendous singer - very soulful and really commands your attention. From time to time I get a Jack Black Tenacious D vibe - no joke(!) - and not a bad thing at all. I love the little bits of oddness they thrown in at points, these nice little "eyebrows' if you will. Looking forwards to diving in with these Swedish lunatics.
PS - I met Rikard before a show that we played a few years back at a NJ Proghouse gig for a two-day festival, super cool chap with a great sense of humor. That was where the "Shrimpboat Captain" reference came from, but you'd have to ask him yourself what that refers to
My favorite thing from that album is actually the last track on the CD of archive material, "Terry Takes the Christmas Route". I friggin' love that song so much for some reason! I think Frank would appreciate it as well, because of the wackyness and the prominent use of accordion.
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