The Syndicate

MovingPictures07 wrote:

Golden wrote:I don't think my opinions should make anyone feel bad. I know nothing, and so it's just about what happens to be pleasing to my ears.

Yeah, I'd agree, I just hope that no one would take to heart if their album gets ranked at the bottom or anything of mine once we've gone through 5, 10, or however many. It's obviously not personal, and no one's judgment is better than everyone else's.

Golden wrote:On a second listen, I got more from some of those tracks, though. The weakest tracks on the album are, for me, ones that lack in lyrical originality as well as musical originality.

nutella wrote:Llama, I also love The Water's Fine, and yeah I do get what you mean about the tone of those tracks toward the end but I still enjoy it also lol that first interpretation of make me a boat never occurred to me

MovingPictures07 wrote:

S~V~S wrote:I don't like his (her?) voice. It is jarring to me and doesn't mesh well musically with the instrumentals imo. The vocals stand out too much and it is almost discordant to my ears/taste.

Personal preference, I guess.

I'm drawing an interesting parallel with you saying this right now; I remember a few folks on ProgArchives who couldn't stand The Decemberists for nearly the exact same reason you describe here. Colin Meloy's vocals never bothered me either, but now that you mention this, it was a parallel that struck me as intriguing and worth bringing up. I know you're a Decemberists fan so you likely don't feel that way about them, but perhaps it's an indie thing?

Golden wrote:I listened to the first 2 tracks so far (I assume... the YouTube clip doesn't split them)

It's interesting. I think the melodic choices are a little more mainstream than I was expecting (probably just because I expect you all to be weirdos). I hear Muse influences in the first track. I really enjoyed the track, including the vocalist. Next pass I'll try to listen to the lyrics more closely. If I had one criticism, that cello player is attacking the thing so hard that you get those tuneless screeches, which clashes with my classical musician sensibilities perhaps, or maybe it's just a love/hate relationship I have with strings generally. It does have a bit of 'cello guys' to it though.

The second track was nice but gave me less to talk about.

MovingPictures07 wrote:

MovingPictures07 wrote:Going to listen to Beneath the Brine for the first time now. I'm stoked!

Oh man, that opening to the first song, that draws me in for sure. Nice.

I won't further comment until I've heard this whole thing at least once though.

thellama73 wrote:It starts with a flute playing the same note twice. Then a cello. Then a choir, violin, and drums. Then a singer sings some words. That's as far as I've gotten so far.

MovingPictures07 wrote:What's going on? I thought I clicked on The Syndicate. This looks more like ProgArchives.

Next thing you know there will be 10 polls on Yes vs. Genesis.

MovingPictures07 wrote:

thellama73 wrote:

S~V~S wrote:I love the orchestration. So far, two tracks in, I can say I would like this much better if it were instrumental only. I really, really don't like the vocalist. Her (?) voice does not seem to go well with the instrumentation. Perhaps it is me; I cannot think what vocalist I might like better with this. I really like the music as an instrumental.

I completely agree. I would like it much more if it were instrumental.

I also forgot that no good music has been made after 1989, so that's probably part of it.

I knew it was only a matter of time before you dropped that Walter reference.

S~V~S wrote:I love the orchestration. So far, two tracks in, I can say I would like this much better if it were instrumental only. I really, really don't like the vocalist. Her (?) voice does not seem to go well with the instrumentation. Perhaps it is me; I cannot think what vocalist I might like better with this. I really like the music as an instrumental.

Golden wrote:Hey, this is the place for analysis. It's ok not to like things (some of you aren't going to like my tastes, and I'm not sure I'm going to like some of yours). But, I think the idea is to put your finger on why.

JaggedJimmyJay wrote:I've deferred to llama.

G-Man wrote:I've long held the belief that you can't appreciate where things are now without an understanding (if not an appreciation) of the past. My submission:

Chuck Berry
Chuck Berry Is on Top
Genre: Rock and roll
1959
12 tracks
29:26

YouTube Playlist- Listen to the first six tracks (through Johnny B Goode), then listen to this solo track (Little Queenie), then resume the playlist.

Sorry for the split-up nature of this submission. This is my favorite of Berry's albums. I almost submitted his first album, After School Session, but I feel like this is album (his third) is a tad better.