I really think SB is on a roll. After a couple post-Neal duds they have released four excellent albums in a row. The Oblivion Particle was terrific. I don't care what anyone says. I'll fight you!!! (No I won't.)
Really looking forward to this and NDV's return to the fold.
Also: John Boegehold and Stan Ausmus are underrated songwriters...
The Prog Corner
You won't have to! I've seen mostly very positive comments about this one.Originally Posted by miamiscot
They are, in fact Boegehold cowrote several of my favourite post Neal SB tunes. However I couldn't help but notice that he wrote the majority of Oblivion Particle on his own and I have often wondered if it wasn't the sign of a lack of involvement from the band members. I sure hope they're more involved in the writing this time around.
I must get Brief Nocturnes then, because I have enjoyed the heck out of Oblivion--specifically the "crazy prog" stuff. Seems like everyone here seems to think BN is way better!
And, I think "grab people's attention early on" was a motivation for the sound of some of the Nick era, particular Octane. Catchy, simple, crunchy... But it didn't hold up, for me, anyway. After about 10 listens I was done. Nothing more there to see, or hear.
Both Feel Euphoria and Octane suffered from this. They righted the ship on the self-titled and, especially, X.
The Prog Corner
Forget I said this - I was thinking of Dream Theater’s last album! These days though, there’s not that much difference between DT and SB. But I don’t really follow either band much anymore.
This is obvious from this comment:
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
The Astonishing? Cheesy!?Surely you jest!
Diff'rent strokes, I suppose. I thought Feel Euphoria was decent, and Octane is very strong, especially when you include the bonus disc. X is good, for sure.
Totally agree I don't think they hold up well. The self-titled album is killer and it's been all good for me since.
I don't think any of the post-Neal Beard albums have been as good from beginning to end as the Neal era albums, but the good tracks on each of them are very good IMO. I could probably make a fantastic CD of the best of those albums - which would surely include Ghosts Of Autumn, Follow Me To Sleep, All That's Left, Jaws Of Heaven, There Was A Time, Something Very Strange, and an edited version of Their Names Escape Me that fades out when Nick starts singing all the names.
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.
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There's actually a better alternate version of that song without the names. It's very well done and adds a nice soaring sax solo to it:
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
It's not exactly a new element in the SB sound though - since Day for Night almost every album had those.With the inclusion of a set of instrumentalists similar to Big Big Train, could one conclude that NDV is using the BBT instruments in that fashion?
Same for me. I enjoyed Ausmus' and Boegehold's contributions to previous albums, but was a bit surprised to see them dominating the writing credits on TOP to that extent. Add to that two songs written solely by Ted and you have only one song written by the old crew. And nothing from Meros, who contributed some great stuff to Octane, SB and X.However I couldn't help but notice that he wrote the majority of Oblivion Particle on his own and I have often wondered if it wasn't the sign of a lack of involvement from the band members. I sure hope they're more involved in the writing this time around.
All of that made TOP feel like an album put together in a rush, almost as if they just wanted to get an album out just to keep to schedule.
Feel Euphoria is one of my favourite SB albums actually (a rare opinion I know), love Octane as well. The self-titled to me felt a bit weaker and too all over the place, though really like some of it.Both Feel Euphoria and Octane suffered from this. They righted the ship on the self-titled and, especially, X.
I have a much better opinion of FE than I did when it came out. I've always liked Octane, I think it has some strong songs although it's lighter on the epics (the 28 minute suite is just short songs strung together so the fans wouldn't be too disappointed but it didn't fool me!). I agree that the self titled one had some great stuff lost among the filler. To me X is really where SB Mark II realised its full potential.
I never really got what people's problem with it was - I guess some of it is a bit more direct and harder rocking, but I think it's mostly just down to Neal's departure. And I really don't get the hate for A Guy Named Sid.I have a much better opinion of FE than I did when it came out.
It's a shame, the less than enthusiastic reception meant those songs didn't get played much live afterwards. I went wild when they brought Onomatopoeia and The Bottom Line out in 2008 while everyone me looked like they had no clue what those songs were.
Most importantly I hope they can find a singing drummer to tour the album with.
On release I felt the songwriting was weak and that Sid was a dodgy attempt at putting an epic together from bits and pieces.
Returning to the album recently I found the songs were much better than I remembered and that Sid actually kind of worked.
So yeah, maybe it was a reaction to what I expected from Morse, and after getting used to the new version of SB in the following years, it seems FE stands quite well next to the other NDV-era albums, although there are better ones.
FE didn't "click" with me until I heard Octane. Then it all came together.
FE was a bit jarring, coming after Snow. It was (obviously) so different, and Neal's absence was so glaring. But, when they put out Octane and it featured much of the same "sound," I was able to re-visit FE and listen to it with a different perspective. Outside of the title track, I think FE is a great album.
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Same here, I actually think FE has aged quite well.
I actually like the real version better although the sax solo is well done. Something about "Siiiiimon the Prog Caaaaat" gets me smiling.
On of my favorite names sung in there comes shortly after Simon da Prog Cat... "Chris-to-pher Hayyyyyyyyyyes"
What about the fact that yours is sung twice?
I was sort of shocked when I heard this track at the official listening party. I have been in the recording studio during sessions for Snow through X, and I have been privy to hearing the works-in-progress through completion of those albums. Nick (and all of the Beard/songwriters) kept "Their Names Escape Me" a secret from me until that listening party. I laughed when I heard it.
"Membership has its privileges"
Music isn't about chops, or even about talent - it's about sound and the way that sound communicates to people. Mike Keneally
Little story: I was in on that arrangement back in 2009. At the time I was making money hand over fist and just had a f***ton of it squirreled away. At the time I was also doing a webcomic that had eight main characters in it.
When I heard the names plan, I swore I was going to contribute *four times*, and then combine the eight names into four sets of two (four of the characters' names could plausibly be last names), thus getting all eight character names in there. I was really excited about the prospect of Nick singing my characters' names and not knowing it.
Then my mother got sick and I had to redirect my finances towards taking care of her. I look back and I think, "Eh... it might have been cool, but despite 'Simon the Prog Cat' being one of the names, I'm pretty sure NDV et al might have been annoyed at being duped into singing a bunch of cartoon characters' names!"
"Arf." -- Frank Zappa, "Beauty Knows No Pain" (live version)
Something I'd forgotten about "Their Names Escape Me" until just now. I compiled all of the names and arranged them into groups that worked rhythmically and melodically within the song, then sang them all on the demo for Nick as a guide vocal. After he sang the parts, he left town for the circus. A few days later we found out that the pronunciation of a couple of the names was incorrect (emphasis on the wrong syllables) but he couldn't redo them. Luckily, Dave had just gotten Melodyne and was able to tweak the names so they sounded correct. Damn, I love technology. BTW, the second "Gruno" was Nick improvising.
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