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Thread: FEATURED ALBUM: Pure Reason Revolution- The Dark Third

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    Moderator Poisoned Youth's Avatar
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    FEATURED ALBUM: Pure Reason Revolution- The Dark Third

    Now over 10 years old, this debut album quickly put this band on the map for what ultimately turned out to be 3 recordings before parting ways. This first full album had a U.K. and US version, with different tracks on each as well as an EP with songs from the album released before that. How does it hold up over a decade later? I still spin it myself...



    Review from ProgArchives:
    Every once in a while one comes across something that immediately knows to captivate you, no matter what that thing is; a car? A new house in some new town? Maybe even a person you've met somewhere? What's most important is to cherish these special moments. Like many other things, this whole metaphor also applies to this extended musical universe. Because it is so easy to obtain music digitally nowadays, people, myself included, tend to pay less attention to what they're actually listening to. So sometimes you listen to something that one of your many MSN Messenger contacts sends you, or a file you accidentally downloaded from the internet or even *and of course this is NOT the 'done thing'* play an album in a record store and you initial response is something along the lines of "Wow!" Well it happened to me on quite a few occasions before and on one of those occasions that specific artist had the pretentious yet promising name "Pure Reason Revolution".

    I had heard of the name before, but back then this band was not as big as they are becoming right now (with "The Dark Third" being seen as one of the better albums of 2006) and it was hard to come by samples of their music. So I just 'forgot' all about them and focused my attention to other things instead. But what I did remember of those first mentions of this band was that people seemed to describe their music as a sort of mainstream Pink Floyd and being someone who likes being spaced AND rocked out by music this description sounded very promising!

    And then, better late than never, it happened. I received a copy of the "Cautionary Tales for the Brave" mini-album and right from the beginning I knew that I was listening to music of high quality. And the aforementioned description of the music I found most correct. This surely did its job when it came down to spacing as well as rocking me out! And I did not mind that the overtones were more 'rock music' than 'space rock'. it just sounded nice!

    So I decided that it was about time for me to discover what secrets the band's full-length debut held in store for this chap. So I tracked down a copy and gave it a go.

    Could it live up to the expectations created by the EP? - It surely did, even though this one took a bit more time for me to warm up to its beauty.

    The biggest difference between this album, compared to the EP, is that it is less in-your-face from the start. Sure this one most definitely rocks -at times it is even heavier than the songs available on the EP! - but songs like the opening track Aeropause balance that rock aspect out with some typically Floydesque sections. At first I thought it sounded a bit too much like Gilmour's crew, which was not really a good thing, but the further the album progressed and the more I listened to it, the better and seemingly more unique the music began to sound!

    I've seen PRR supporting Porcupine Tree on their most recent tour and I couldn't help but noticing a few things. Firstly, they are as good live as they are on CD, but secondly. they tend to lose that atmospheric aspect of their music when they perform live. Mainly because there was no fixed keyboardist present on stage. Once could say that PRR has two different faces: the ethereal, dreamy world of studio and that energetic live body. This album is a good starter, I'm curious what this talented group of young musicians present us next time around. -Tristan Mulders
    Note: the clips come from the EP



    Last edited by Poisoned Youth; 09-03-2017 at 07:57 AM.
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    Macht das ohr auf!

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    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    Saw them at NEARFest. Wasn't impressed at all, and never purchased anything by them. Just not my thing.

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    Love this album and the follow up - too bad they didn't last longer as I thought they could have done more interesting stuff.

    I'd like to hear more from Jon Courtney but as far as I know he hasn't done much since they split.

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    Member TheH's Avatar
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    There was also the Europe version (or German version) with all the tracks from the US and the UK version plus 3 tracks more.

    I really like this album, a very different take on Prog with a lot of Pop influences. Really good multilayered vocals.

    But I'm not so wild about the following two albums...

  6. #6
    They're fairly fine at what they do, but that thing isn't my cuppa. They're still considered quite important with some minor audiences in their native UK, though - even to the extent that several younger Brits I've met actually perceive them as some kind of "New prog" template.
    "Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
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    Boo! walt's Avatar
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    Never heard of these guys before now.Played both clips and...i dig it.Sounds good to me.

    Alert the media.
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    cunning linguist 3LockBox's Avatar
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    Own it. Still listen to it. I liked the follow-up but it was so different an album that you wouldn't have guessed it was the same band that did this one. I thought the third one sucked.
    Compact Disk brought high fidelity to the masses and audiophiles will never forgive it for that

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    Member nosebone's Avatar
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    Needs a revisit..., I remember mildly liking it on its release.
    no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone

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    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by taliesin View Post
    Love this album and the follow up - too bad they didn't last longer as I thought they could have done more interesting stuff.

    I'd like to hear more from Jon Courtney but as far as I know he hasn't done much since they split.
    Jon Courtney has a new band called Bullet Height with Sammi Doll. Debut album came out a few months ago.

    Similar to the industrial rock side of PRR on their last 2 albums.


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    Member Guitarplyrjvb's Avatar
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    When I saw them at NEARFEST, they seemed to trigger a lot of instruments to the point where I wasn't sure when they were playing or when the machines were playing. Porcupine Tree and Steve Wilson scratch the itch for this style of music way better than does PRR.

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    Member Plasmatopia's Avatar
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    I bought this not long after it was first mentioned here, I think. It's not something I go back to often, but there are a couple of tracks I really like a lot. I'd have to pull it out to figure out the titles though. I'm thinking one might be The Bright Ambassadors of Morning.
    <sig out of order>

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    Member Since: 3/27/2002 MYSTERIOUS TRAVELLER's Avatar
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    tried the clips, sounds well produced

    gives me the impression 'what Sweet would sound like if they just formed a few years ago'
    Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?

  14. #14
    Quote Originally Posted by moecurlythanu View Post
    Saw them at NEARFest. Wasn't impressed at all, and never purchased anything by them. Just not my thing.
    I really liked this album when I first heard it. The bloom faded from the rose awfully quickly, though. I lost a lot of respect for them when I saw them at NEARFest because...

    Quote Originally Posted by Guitarplyrjvb View Post
    When I saw them at NEARFEST, they seemed to trigger a lot of instruments to the point where I wasn't sure when they were playing or when the machines were playing.
    That’s what led to my disaffection with them. So much of the “live” show was canned. It felt more like karaoke night than a proper live gig. I heard less than enthusiastic things about the follow-up, so I never even bothered with it. Considering one of the things I liked so much about the debut was the violin playing, and the guy that played violin had left before I saw them *ahem* “live,” it didn’t really encourage me to continue to follow them.

    But this album does have its moments. “Bright Ambassadors” is still a pretty boss tune.

    Quote Originally Posted by TheH View Post
    But I'm not so wild about the following two albums...
    There was a third?
    Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...

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    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    Hammer & Anvil

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    i saw them support BLACKFiELD in 2007 and picked up this one. not entirely sure why i like it but i do.

  17. #17
    I saw them live at 3 or 4 gigs about 10 years back, a couple of small venues in London, a one day 'progfest' in Spain with Magenta and IQ, and also at Nearfest.

    I thought they were very good live generally, though I do agree the Nearfest gig seemed to use a lot of samples, more so than I had seen at previous gigs.

    Bright New Ambassadors of Morning remains my favourite track by them.
    I only clicked on it because I thought it was going to be something more interesting...

  18. #18
    Member nosebone's Avatar
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    Love the vocals
    Songs get samey sounding
    Bright New Ambassadors of Morning is my favorite
    Never heard 2nd and 3rd album
    Missed NEARfest that year, 2006?
    no tunes, no dynamics, no nosebone

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    That first LP is fantastic. The other two - not so much.

    Love it and still play it regularly!!!
    The Prog Corner

  20. #20
    Member Staun's Avatar
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    I luv every note of this album. However, being a vinyl person, my first two copies had surface matter problems. The third copy did the trick. How about some quality control out there, huh!
    The older I get, the better I was.

  21. #21
    Personally fell in love with this album and own the rest. This is still probably the best of the three, but there are things I like on all of their albums.

    Was really bummed I missed the NEARFest where they performed.

  22. #22
    Member mellotron storm's Avatar
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    This is the only album I have by them and I like it quite a bit. I do tire of the harmonies before it ends but there's some really good songs on here. My oldest daughter is a big fan of this one.
    "The wind is slowly tearing her apart"
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  23. #23
    Jon Neudorf
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    Call me crazy but i actually like 'Hammer and Anvil'.

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    I absolutely love this album. Really too bad they broke up.

  25. #25
    Member mnprogger's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jlneudorf View Post
    Call me crazy but i actually like 'Hammer and Anvil'.
    nothing crazy about that. All 3 of their records are really good and hold up.

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