Currently listening to....

[Duck]

Playing Unsung about a thousand times in Rockband kinda killed that song for me.

[Hendo]

I found some Fudge Tunnel albums on Spotify, will give them a play.

[Sly Reflex]

Playing Unsung about a thousand times in Rockband kinda killed that song for me.

At least it wasn't Antibodies.

[Duck]

At least it wasn't Antibodies.

Just when I was finally over that traumatic event...

[radiofloyd]

Right now I am listening to Phil Selway's new album Weatherhouse and it's...great. Take that Thom Yorke. Actually Tomorrow's Modern Boxes is pretty decent, for what it is. I don't think anyone would describe it as anything other than a minor release. But Phil Selway's album has proper songs on it and they sound good to my ears. It has a bit of a classic British pop-rock sound to it.

Also, been listening to Blake Mill's Heigh Ho. Really nice singer-songwriter album. He has a great voice and is a really nice guitar player. The album even has a bit of a country slant at times (which I love). Apparently he is a long time collaborator of Fiona Apple and you can hear the similarities Tracks like Cry to Laugh, Seven, Before it Fell and Curable Disease are just gorgeous. I love the guitar playing on Before it Fell.

And I've been listening to Hiss Golden Messenger's Lateness of Dancers which is another singer-songwriter album. Really good stuff, especially Day O Day, Black Dog Wind and Chapter and Verse.

And finally I've been listening to Leonard Cohen's Popular Problems, it sounds pretty similar to his last album Old Ideas. Parts of it are nice but I haven't decided yet if I can tolerate his gravelly 150 year old voice.

I have that Aphex Twin album but I haven't listened to it much yet. I'm not the best for electronic music. The only thing I'll say is that he's from Limerick you know, like a certain someone...

[Hendo]

I've got Phil Selway's album saved on Spotify to listen to, not got Thom Yorke's album yet.

I'm sure it's not "cool" but I really like the George Ezra album.

[Duck]

I listened to the new Weezer album yesterday. I don't think I give any other band as much chances as I have with that band. Your last 4000 albums have been terrible but THIS time it will be good...it wasn't.

[Hendo]

I think I stopped paying attention around Maladroit which was a very boring album.

[Duck]

I liked Maladroit. But that was definitely the last one before they went drastically down hill.

[illdog]

This is a song called Choker by a Scottish two piece called Honeyblood. Its cool.

http://youtu.be/8srs1YqANfI

[Hendo]

An old video I posted in the song a day thread made me remember The Secret Sisters so I've been listening to their two albums on Spotify. The first album is fairly standard old-fashioned country but the second is a bit darker and has some Tom Waits influence in there.

Also the new Slipknot album which is pretty good.

[Cyberpunk]

Here's my little write up on the new Queen album "Queen Forever"

Now, before I tell you my views of this album, let me give you a little background information on myself. I started listening to Queen when I was ten, way back in 1982. I still remember it to this day. I heard Bohemian Rhapsody on the radio, and loved it. I didn't know what the track was called at the time, but I know it was by Queen, because the DJ said so. Two years later, I bought Queen Greatest Hits on cassette with Christmas money. A year later, a neighbour and family friend is taping his back catalogue for me, and in the summer of 1986 he took me to Wembley where I saw Queen's second to last ever UK concert. Since then, I've bought the entire Queen catalogue, most albums multiple times to keep up with both new tech and remasters. So you could say I'm a fan.

So this album got me quite excited when i first heard of it coming out. The blurb was "New Freddie Songs, mixed from unreleased material!" The only thing at the time which came close was the announcement of Pink Floyd's The Endless River. I know as an old Queen fan that there are dozens of Queen songs that never made it to finished albums. Some where used in part with other songs, like the intro part of Breakthru, Some just never made it anywhere. The last proper Queen album 'Made In Heaven' utilized some of this. So I picked up this album on Amazon, and took it to work to listen to. Here are my views

The headline track which you've no doubt heard on the radio is 'There Must Be More To Life Than This', a duet by Queen and Micheal Jackson. It's not a bad mix by William Orbit, but it's not a true duet. The Freddie vocals are from his solo album 'Mister Bad Guy' and the Jackson vocals were spliced in. Don't get me wrong, the song works as it stands. I do, however, get a hint that it's not quite finished for some reason. I think it's because Jackson's vocals are much more quiet and smooth compared to Freddie's vocals.

'Let Me In Your Heart Again' is a really nice rock ballad, with great piano and souring guitar. I've always loved Freddie's piano style, and thought he was a great player. Unfortunately Freddie himself felt his piano playing was average at best, and played less and less on Queen songs as the band's career progressed.

'Love Kills' is an old Georgio Moroder song, originally recorded by Freddie for Moroder's colour remaster of Fritz Lang's 'Metropolis', the original Sci-Fi movie. The original version was a classic Eighties electro-rock song, and one of my favourite Freddie solo songs. On this album, the vocals have been mixed with a slower acoustic guitar melody to make it a love ballad. Not bad, but takes some getting used to. I actually prefer the version found on the 'Made In Heaven' album.

And after that, there a collection of Queen songs selected to give the album a ballad feel. It includes some album tracks that people who've only ever heard the three Greatest Hits compilations might not recognise, and makes a great companion piece to the 1997 album 'Queen Rocks'. But I can't help feeling that someone is cashing in on the fact that it's been a while since Freddie died, and it's almost Christmas. This album would make a great stocking filler, but it's nothing earth shattering for a die hard Queen fan, such as myself. More rare Freddie tracks would have made it so much better.

[Duck]

My dad listens to that Mister Bad Guy album all the time. It's pretty good.I'll proably pick up that new Queen one for his Christmas.

I've been listening to the new At The Gates record a lot. 20 years since their last album Slaughter of the Soul which is widely considered one of the best metal albums of all time. So I was expecting it to be really really bad. But it's ace. Shockingly so.

http://youtu.be/aoJYZITMZAI

I've also been listening to loads of Throwing Snow at work as my workmates don't seem to appreciate Swedish Thrash/death metal

http://youtu.be/Df2869DhuHc

[Duck]

My dad listens to that Mister Bad Guy album all the time. It's pretty good.I'll proably pick up that new Queen one for his Christmas.

I've been listening to the new At The Gates record a lot. 20 years since their last album Slaughter of the Soul which is widely considered one of the best metal albums of all time. So I was expecting it to be really really bad. But it's ace. Shockingly so.

http://youtu.be/aoJYZITMZAI

I've also been listening to loads of Throwing Snow at work as my workmates don't seem to appreciate Swedish Thrash/death metal

http://youtu.be/Df2869DhuHc

[Cyberpunk]

Pink Floyd - The Endless River

Here's another entry from me, promoting the 'Dad Rock' scene again. But this one is very special. This album is Pink Floyd's last album ever. Dave Gilmor and Nick Mason are retiring the Pink Floyd name, after creating this swansong with old studio recordings of Richard Wright, who sadly died in 2008.

This album was created chiefly of old studio material left over from the recording of 1994's 'The Division Bell'. Gilmour and Mason, along with producers Phil Manzanera, Andy Jackson, sifted through hours upon hours of sessions, highlighting Wright’s contributions and turning them into new songs. So you could say that 'Endless River' is for Richard Wright, as 'Wish You Were Here' was for Syd Barrett. It's a musical eulogy. It's a commemoration of Wright's talents, and contributions to Pink Floyd, and prog rock in general. It's very Pink Floyd, in the sense that it's grandious, pompous, technically brilliant, and very over the top in places.

Roger Waters had no input into this album. Despite the 'Live 8' reunion, Pink Floyd as a foursome never reformed, and Dave Gilmor still held the rights to the Floyd name. This Floyd isn't the band that played to drugged up teens in the sixties, nor are they the recently wealthy but rebellious group of the seventies. Pink Floyd became the wise music veterans, recording what they wanted, not for money as Floyd haven't been contractually obligated since the release of 1982's 'The Wall'. This is Art for Art's sake. As such, this album is definitely a luxury item. It almost reminds me of the soundscape albums you used to be able to find in Hi-Fi shops, that the sales staff used to demonstrate the display models. Dave Gilmor doesn't even sing until 18 songs, or forty-six minutes into the album.

As you'd expect from a Pink Floyd album, it's very conceptual, and in some places a little weird. There are places where the music descends into what the band always referred to as 'Noodling', where the band would move away from formed songs, and go into a formless, aimless ambiance. As usual, there are nods and references to former Pink Floyd albums, such as chords that you might find from The Wall opening the track Allons-y. The saxophone solos remind you of Dark Side, and Wish You Were Here. There's a Stephen Hawking monologue to connect with The Division Bell's 'Keep Talking'. Even the title of the album is taken from the lyrics of 'High Hopes', the last track on The Division Bell.

Ultimately, this album will take a few play through's to grow on the listener, mainly because of the lack of singing. In my opinion, it's a minor release for the band, but a great way to pay homage to Wright, and also put Pink Floyd's affairs in order.

[HandsomeDead]

I've not listening to much dad rock lately. I think I'm maybe due some, but for now:

I've been getting quite a bit into Justice. It's not a totally recent thing; I got Cross, the first album, a while back and got super into it. It's probably up there as one of my favourite electronic albums. I've been obsessed with it. It has thick, loud and nicely layered melodies and some cool bass. I love it.

But I got round to getting their second album recently and I'm really not feeling it as much. It's different; it sounds like the soundtrack to a cool Megadrive game some of the time but it's mostly just a bunch of okay. Maybe I just need to approach it with a different mind set further down the line. Sometimes I need to do that.

But the 18 minute saga at the end of the album is pretty awesome. It moves from grimy electronica to arena rock and makes it work, somehow.

But I did get a new fix with another album. Lady Gaga's Artpop was been scratching the itch that Cross did scratch which I didn't expect. I know it didn't go down that well but I got off the bus today as the album wrapped up and I couldn't believe how good it ended up being. I like her last effort quite a bit (her first one I can totally take or leave) but I didn't expect this to be as good as it is.

It's got some real good production; pure gittery filth, it's pretty funny at times, it's just a hoot. It maybe doesn't have the hooks but I think it makes up for it in the music being quite interestingly dense, I guess like Justice.

[Cyberpunk]

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road (40th Anniversary Edition)

Every so often a popular artist will release an album which becomes an instant classic. The kind of album where one listen, and you know it'll be in your music collection forever. Some examples of this are Stevie Wonder's 'Songs In The Key Of Life', Queen's 'A Night At The Opera', Radiohead's 'OK Computer'. You can see where I'm going. This is Elton's example.

As a reasonably young (ish) listener to Elton John's music I admit I didn't have very high expectations. I never gave it as much weight as I did other Seventies rock. Like most people, I was aware of this guy who used to where big glasses in the Seventies, and knew his more popular songs, but personally I was turned off by the some of the loathsome ballads he's released in recent times. And don't get me started on the 1997 version of 'Candle In The Wind' for Princess Diana which you heard practically constantly for six months. But this album is nearly as old as I am, and contains some great tracks, so I gave it a go.

To start off, the songs that most people will know are 'Candle In The Wind (Original Version)', 'Benny And The Jets', the title track GYBR, and 'Saturday Night's Alright For Fighting'. Four excellent Elton John tracks that show off his piano playing and singing talents. But from the first track 'Funeral For A Friend' this album this album is a delight. There are some weak points 'Jamaica Jerk Off' but the quality of the whole offsets them. This version is the 40th Anniversary Edition, and as such, it's been remastered to quite a high standard.

Also in this version is a collection of Elton John tracks performed by other artists. I wasn't so hot on this, as most of the covers are distinctively average at best. with Only John Grant, Imelda May and the Zac Brown Band stand out. I'm not adverse to cover tracks, and some of my favourite albums are cover compilations (Dream Theater's version of Dark Side of the Moon for example) I just found these weak. However the other bonus material on this disc is good with rare Elton tracks, concluding with Elton's brilliant version of The Who's 'Pinball Wizard'.

The final surprise in this collection is a double disc recording of Elton John live at Hammersmith Odeon in 1973. It's a remastered version of a bootleg album that most fans will already have but it’s a stormer – ‘Rocket Man’ is predictably gigantic and ‘Your Song’ undoubtedly iconic. It’s hard not to wish though, that when he introduces his most famous song ‘Candle In The Wind’ as being “about Marilyn Monroe” that it had stayed that way, a fragile, heartfelt song about a distant legend, rather than suffering the indignity of worthless regurgitation so many years later.

Versatility is the key to the greatness of 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road', whether musically, lyrically and also in Elton's vocal performance. In fact it's refreshing to hear what a really fine voice Elton had in his youth and it's an album like this that blows away any hint of the personality driven Elton in more recent years who's forte when he does record tends to be more often than not, boring and overblown ballads. On 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' he has greater scope which, whatever he does in the future he'll never be able to match. Elton's range had diminished with age to such an extent that there's no way he could ever record an album so diverse and varied as 'Goodbye Yellow Brick Road' again.

[retroed]

Can't. fool. me.

[Sly Reflex]

I was going to put that niceOC/waitthisisarepost gif up, but I can't bloody find it.

[Sly Reflex]

This is in GTAV, it's really stuck with me though. It only plays once so I ended up looking it up and listening to it. I find it really relaxing.