Wobbler

[NogbadTheBad]

Sounds like Jon mimicry to me

[Trane]

^ You're not allowed to not like Yes.

I don't, so sue me

I don't think he sounds that much like Jon Anderson.

I see quite a few people saying that but I honestly don’t hear it. Just a different timbre and different style to me.

Sounds like Jon mimicry to me

Well, the timbre is close enough, but the delivery is very Yes-like (at least it seemed that way last night) and placated onto a music that sounds too much like the other four Yes dudes. In any way, it's designed to be so, regardless of the results.

Someone mentioned Crimson on the shorter track (the videoclip), but all I heard is Yes (and little else).




But then again, the Yes-clonage (that is too close for comfort for me) has lasted since their third album, though less evident on their previous one (if memory serves well).

[thedunno]

Yessy or not those high pitched unsteady vocals are the weak spot for me. And when I see that singer in a video wearing that silly crown its even harder for me to take him serious.

Havent heared the latest (xept for the videos) but I will probably buy next bandcamp friday.

[progmeister]

Sounds like Jon mimicry to me

...all I hear is Wobbler and damn its good

[NogbadTheBad]

...all I hear is Wobbler and damn its good

Oh I'll still buy it and enjoy it, just kept hearing Jon in my head.

[moecurlythanu]

^ Around here, Jon is in everyone's head.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I just brought the album home with me, physically.



And I want my goddarn MONEYSBACK!!

[chalkpie]

Ill listen today. I dig the other albums so most likely ill dig this too.

[SunRunner2]

All this back and forth relative to the Yes-like vocals only makes me look forward to hearing the new album even more!

By the way, since when did you ever hear of someone rushing to get the earlier Wobbler releases because they couldn't wait to hear the much heralded, world class, outstanding vocal prowess? Not likely. The reason I like the Wobbler catalogue is driven by the excellent instrumentation and compositions, the vocals are alright with me but not the main focus of my Wobbler listening experience.

[spacefreak]

The first Wobbler album I decided not to purchase. Gave it two listens, I don't feel the need to ever listen to it again. As I feared, it was more Yes than I could absorb.

PS. "Naiad Dreams" is the best track on it to my ears. Thanks to the singer not sounding like a Jon clone.

[chalkpie]

And I want my goddarn MONEYSBACK!!

Seriously?

[Scrotum Scissor]

^ No, I haven't listened yet. But I'll admit to asking for the cheapest version (299,- on black vinyl), yet getting what they had in stock at the moment - in other words a clear-vinyl set. Which is fine, although it costs more and I was actually saving those extra 31 kroner for a pack of Fisherman's Friend strong-menthol lozenges.

As for the "Yes-like" vox I'm giving it a go, but I agree with Spyros that it's not exactly what I'm after in a 2020 release. I wish that Presthus would take in daily cigars and Scotch and Fisherman's Friend for a couple of decades and then return with a different vox.

[chalkpie]

^ No, I haven't listened yet. But I'll admit to asking for the cheapest version (299,- on black vinyl), yet getting what they had in stock at the moment - in other words a clear-vinyl set. Which is fine, although it costs more and I was actually saving those extra 31 kroner for a pack of Fisherman's Friend strong-menthol lozenges.

As for the "Yes-like" vox I'm giving it a go, but I agree with Spyros that it's not exactly what I'm after in a 2020 release. I wish that Presthus would take in daily cigars and Scotch and Fisherman's Friend for a couple of decades and then return with a different vox.

I heard Tom Waits is available these days...but then people would complain about his unbearably "rough" voice and demand crystal clear angelic Jon-esque castrato vocals circa 1973.

[SunRunner2]

I heard Tom Waits is available these days...but then people would complain about his unbearably "rough" voice and demand crystal clear angelic Jon-esque castrato vocals circa 1973.

[mozo-pg]

I'm not deterred by the detractors of this album. I'll rely on Lornes' review as his taste is very similar to mine.

[Splicer]

I'm not deterred by the detractors of this album. I'll rely on Lornes' review as his taste is very similar to mine.

This is as it should be. You enjoy what you enjoy for yourself. I like music because I like it - not because I'm involved in a taste competition with other people. I'm not trying to win anything.

[progmatist]

Bought the Hi-Res download from Bandcamp. Very inventive album all around.

I just brought the album home with me, physically.

Easy to do when you also live in Norway.

[Scrotum Scissor]

Sorry, but Frankie wasn't kidding when he wrote that.

Prestmoe should be less Prest [priest] and more Moe [barman].

[aith01]

He just doesn’t sound all that similar to Jon, to my ears. There’s some aspects that make it markedly different from Jon’s voice. Slightly deeper, and maybe richer although I’m not sure that’s the right word. Not as crystal clear as Jon’s voice was in the 70s (or even the 80s). I don’t hear all that much Yes in this new disc either, contrary to what Trane keeps going on about. No skin off my teeth though!

I’ve liked the last few Wobbler discs, and have no issues with what they’re doing. It’s also perfect for autumn weather, which is when I like to bust out my Änglagård CDs too.

[JKL2000]

^ No, I haven't listened yet. But I'll admit to asking for the cheapest version (299,- on black vinyl), yet getting what they had in stock at the moment - in other words a clear-vinyl set. Which is fine, although it costs more and I was actually saving those extra 31 kroner for a pack of Fisherman's Friend strong-menthol lozenges.

As for the "Yes-like" vox I'm giving it a go, but I agree with Spyros that it's not exactly what I'm after in a 2020 release. I wish that Presthus would take in daily cigars and Scotch and Fisherman's Friend for a couple of decades and then return with a different vox.

The singer’s breath smells like Jon’s after he eats one of those lozenges.

BTW, the clear vinyl sounds warmer than the black vinyl.

[smcfee]

Does the new album include a cover of "Screw Yourself"?

[Zappathustra]

So my first impressions about the new album (and when I say first impressions, I mean I've given it 4-5 random listens).

It's not an immediate winner like From Silence to Somewhere. I had trouble discerning where they're trying to get to - which is a good thing, it means that they haven't followed a recipe. Dwellers of the Deep is their least "prog" work so far, the 4 tracks are relatively simple and the playing is more straightforward than ever. There is a clear turn towards epic, heavy rock with prog edges - which was already evident in songs like Fermented Hours from their previous LP, and it is being fully accomplished in the long piece Merry Macabre. The music is guitar riff driven, in the style of the early Italian masters of Heavy Prog, like Biglietto per l'Inferno or Semiramis maybe, and could well appeal to fans of Uriah Heep or Rainbow or early Kansas, with its heaviness and epic feeling.

I understand the objections on the vocals department. The guy not only sounds like Jon, but also sounds like Chris - which is most clear in the vocal harmonies. What to do, his voice is chromatically very close to both of them. It was mimicry in Rites of Dawn, far less evident in From Silence to Somewhere, and somewhere in between in the latest.

But on the sole music content, this is easily Wobbler's most original output. While there where many distinct references or cloning of their musical heroes in all their previous albums, Dwellers of the Deep is almost completely devoid of any such disturbing passages. Apart from vocals, the Yes/Gentle Giant associations were far stronger in their previous work. There is nothing at all from Yes in Merry Macabre for example. So the Cloning Comity has to absolve poor Wobbler on this one. It's their own ideas, their own sound - and that is an achievement for the band.

Is it as good as their earlier stuff? To me it seems like a very good record, that most probably falls a bit short of Silence to Somewhere (I need more listens to be sure). It's more original, but less inspired in a sense. Maybe this new direction they're taking could be expressed more decisively in a shorter composition format. But it's definitely a very enjoyable and fun record, particularly for fans of classic Heavy Prog.

[SunRunner2]

^^^^

Thank you for the objective and well balanced review. Now, I really must get it and explore the new, original direction for myself.

[Scrotum Scissor]

I really must get it and explore the new, original direction for myself.

But what he wrote was that the direction itself is neither "new" nor "original" for anybody but Wobbler. Other artists were doing this exact thing and taking this direction ca. half a century ago. So you've heard this direction before. Which doesn't mean that it's a bad direction, just that it isn't a new or original direction. It's a kind of old and unoriginal, backwards direction. That's the direction of it.

[Zappathustra]

But what he wrote was that the direction itself is neither "new" nor "original" for anybody but Wobbler. Other artists were doing this exact thing and taking this direction ca. half a century ago. So you've heard this direction before. Which doesn't mean that it's a bad direction, just that it isn't a new or original direction. It's a kind of old and unoriginal, backwards direction. That's the direction of it.

True, others have done it before obviously. But the ideas and the way they're handling their material are more of their own this time, compared to previous records that the sign "Yes", "Gentle Giant", "Genesis" were up on their sleeves quite often.

Anyway, this is how I hear it.