Anglagard? THey are reviled around here.
Not.
Anglagard? THey are reviled around here.
Not.
^ The good thing about music that you can listen to whatever you want, irrespective of what others may think
Now, on a serious note: Am I the only one who thinks Viljans Öga is a little bit better than Hybris?
You clearly have stated your dislike of neo-prog, to the point of dismissing it, that is just wrong. I'm not sure what the hell you are trying to say about great vs. quality or whatever. You totally lost me. Re-read your sentences, you might be making some great point, but its a convoluted mess. I wasn't defining what is great music, I just clearly stated that I'm not concerned with how new or experimental something is, that was never my attraction to prog in the first place. I like the epic scope of it all, and music not confined to 3 to 4 minutes, where strong playing is clearly on display. I want ambitious arrangements and musicians paying attention to every detail, without much of the rock and roll attitude nonsense that I find in most mainstream rock and pop. Many sub-genres of prog fit the bill for me, they keep me interested where most mainstream music just bores me. And the music I choose takes many forms, hardly just one or two styles like symphonic or neo. But groundbreaking and envelope pushing? All fine and dandy, but that never defined prog for me, certainly not to the point of being a primary attraction.
Totally agreed. To me they are an object lesson in what happens when talented creative people get together with an ethos of "Quality above all else".
I must admit I'm keen to hear back from the OP, especially as it's the first time I've heard of anyone coming to Anglagard via Thieves' Kitchen rather than the other way around
I know everyone likes to play the "which is the best?" game, but it wears a bit thin for me after a while. Imagine we were all forced to pick our favourite album of all time, and then all others in our collection were taken away .... all that amazing music we'd never get to hear again ... eeek!
So, hands up anyone willing to give away their copies of any of the three Anglagard studio albums .... Nope? thought not
I like the one with the Mellotron best...
HuGo"Very, very nice," said a man in the crowd,
When the golden voice appeared.
She was gold alright, but then so is rust.
"Such a shame about the beard."
Maybe not "Everyone", but many do seem to like playing the Which-Is-The-Best game, and the Hands-Up-Who-Is-Willing-To-Give-Up-Their-Albums game, and engage in many other displacement activities ... Lord love them
I was just trying to find out whether there is anybody on this forum thread who perchance likes Viljans Öga more than Hybris? And if yes, why, because both albums are of similar quality and style. Both being of course five-star albums.
I like both albums a lot, probably Hybris more than Viljans Oga at the moment but that's probably due to familiarity & the fact that Hybris was my first Anglagard album. It'll take at least another 6 to 12 months before my tastes settle.
Ian
Host of the Post-Avant Jazzcore Happy Hour on progrock.com
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Gordon Haskell - "You've got to keep the groove in your head and play a load of bollocks instead"
I blame Wynton, what was the question?
There are only 10 types of people in the World, those who understand binary and those that don't.
ugh! overrated crapola
send them back when they arrive
see my Gnosis ratings
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?
Ian Beabout
Mixing and mastering engineer. See ya at ProgDay !
https://cuneiformrecords.bandcamp.co...m/bakers-dozen
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colouratura.bandcamp.com
I think Viljans Öga is notably better than Hybris and Epilog (as amazing as those two are). To my ears the compositions and arrangements are more mature and fully developed on this latest album. And production-wise these albums are almost unparalleled- incredibly dynamic, organic and detailed.
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Needless to say, I'm an avid Änglagard fan. Ranking albums is fun, but misses the point, which is: all three albums are very good. Some think they are truly amazing, other find them too derivative. Personally, I think of Hybris as a collection of odd (but good) musical ideas tied together with used Mellotron tapes. Epilog is a forest of odd (but good) musical ideas, grown in the wild, with mighty trees and fragile branches. Viljans Öga also appears to me very much organically grown - but this time around it's a forest plus a glen plus a stream of purple waters plus scarlet flowers plus glittering stars above plus hidden valleys and mighty mountains that cast flickering shadows in the evening light plus a bunch of Swedish wanderers out there searching for keg of beer.
I rate Viljans below H and E by quite some margin.
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Oh dear. I was about as intent on making myself "understood" as you obviously are on comprehending - in general. Your claims on other people's alleged "snobbery"? Before stating your very own derogatory judgments on the rock and roll attitude nonsense that [you] find in most mainstream rock and pop - is this for real? And where the hell did you learn about that "prog" of yours being anything other than mainstream? Did it ever occur to you that your "prog" might appear as the other man's "mainstream"? Did you ever wonder why almost all major "prog" musicians of the 70s seem eager to write off the term - or their purpoted allegiance to it? And that "new" or "experimental" are terms denoting nothing but a point beyond your subjective and personal perception - in this case regarding music?
Convoluted mess? Yes, I certainly hope so.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
My thanks to all thread participants for keeping this thing alive while I was away from PE for Holy Week.
I've heard and read so much positive re: this band that it felt almost obligatory to give them a good listen. No CDs yet (of course), but the comments here have given me a lot of great context from which to listen once they arrive.
I'll definitely do that, CB.
Of course, this could be said about many great prog bands (and some not-so-great ones as well, for that matter) ...
I've noticed a lot of this with Opeth as well - a lot of non-traditional (and frequently linear) song structure.
It was one of several considerations for me, but I've been a fan of "The Water Road" and "Shibboleth" since "Road" was released to much acclaim around PE parts.
LOL x2.
Will update with my initial impressions once my discs have arrived and I've had a chance to give them some quality listening time.
Discs arrived today - great timing, since I have two weeks of vacation time coming up (beginning on 04/20), which will give me time to knock out several projects - one of which is to give some serious time and attention to this body of work.
Since there is no thread on the newest album here (that is fuckin' bizarre and strange), and I'm too lazy to start one, this will do.
The new one is starting to blossom for me - I've been spinning it a bunch of times. These compositions demonstrate a bunch of textures of a very organic nature without resorting to sound effects/processors/etc...I dig how it is accomplished the olde way. I do like the occasional moments of weird shit this time around, and the addition of instrumental color. These pieces are also very contrapuntal, as what seems like a unison lead melody line is underscored with a melodic bass line that is a counter-subject in itself...but then the keyboard may be "riffing" on some trance-like figure in an opposing time signature. Go you crazy Swedes. And to this oblivious yank, the Scandinavian vibe is still there as it was with the first two. Or maybe its just the table from IKEA that this computer is resting on? Great soaring melodies too. Gun to my head, I'd still pick "Epilog" as the masterpiece, but this album is no slouch and may be more advanced in almost every aspect. Great shite mates!
To me, the latest may be more compositionally advanced, and it is very good, but Epilog is their most dynamic and striking effort. Hybris is also quite good, and I get why some people rate this as their favourite.
Bottom line is that they are all awesome, and I hope that you enjoy the musical journey to come!
neil
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
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