Credit for this featured CD : spellbound
Based on a CD received from the collection bequeathed to Progressive Ears by the late Chris Buckley (Winkersnuff)
spellbound's comments:
I was pleased to receive this CD from the late Chris Buckley c/o Progressive Ears. Although I had heard of Thinking Plague, I had never managed to add one of their albums to my collection, before now. So the band and the album were new to me. A History Of Madness is Thinking Plague’s fifth album, released in 2003. I love the band’s ironic name, and often wish my species would one day be plagued by sentience, if not sapience.
The music is well-played avant garde. But I am no expert, being neither a musician nor a professional reviewer. I can only give you my impressions as a prog fan and music lover, and you can look up reviews if you are so inclined. Better yet, listen to the music, as it will take you where no review ever can. Thinking Plague’s music will not disappoint a progressive music fan.
The album starts out shockingly, if the listener had been expecting something melodic. And it get weird quickly, with instruments known and unknown chiming in. All the instruments played are credited to band and guest musicians on the back cover of the CD and in the CD booklet. The singing, by Deborah Perry, lies quite nicely atop the strange music, her lovely voice grounding you as the music takes off in unexpected directions. There are, of course, many musical interludes and even whole tunes without vocal accompaniment, as is the norm with progressive jazz. Don’t get the idea that the singing is in any popular music style. Ms Perry is quite capable of going with the flow of the avant garde musicianship, tonal or atonal, straight or angular, lovely or cacaphonic. I wouldn’t want it any other way. The lyrics are printed in the CD booklet, lest you think I am describing vocalizations as opposed to words.
The songs on the album have sufficiently odd titles, and each song may have its own mood. Sometimes the music seems dark, but the album, as a whole, does not drag you into the darkness and leave you there, as some of the other albums I enjoy listening to often do. There are upbeat passages, sometimes juxtaposed against creepy drones and atonal noodling. Who would want it to sound all the same? I would say the musical passages on this album run the gamut from Univers Zero to Yes. Perhaps this is in keeping with the title of the album. Like most progressive albums, A History Of Madness is best listened to in its entirety. Thinking Plague is not a singles band.
If you are at all able to tolerate avant garde or avant prog, you will like this album. Even if you think it isn’t up your tree, it might surprise you. I find it quite enjoyable, and will gladly add more Thinking Plague to my collection when I can. A note on my own tastes: I really like dark music, from blues to prog to doom metal, and complexity isn’t a problem for me, as I also like Frank Zappa and classical music and jazz.
This review has been by spellbound for Progressive Ears progressive featured CD feature.
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Originally Posted by Hunchentootz
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