Album Review Thread.

[Deiphobus]

Jethro Tull - Thick as a Brick



1. Thick as a Brick (Part 1)
2. Thick as a Brick (Part 2)

Also known as the mother of concept albums, Thick as a Brick is the first full LP to ever have one single track (split into two separate parts because one side of a vinyl could only hold about 22 minutes worth of music).

The album starts off with the most recognizable part of the song with acoustic guitar and Anderson's instantly identifiable flute and vocals. At about three minutes in, the song makes an instant transition to a more hard rock and blues influenced approach. Aggressive percussion and trumpets kick in, with short by enjoyable keyboard and guitar solos. The music suddenly stops as the bass brings in a different section, this time a primarily flute and keyboard led section. The song continues in this style until the six minute mark, where Anderson's vocals suddenly bring us back into focus, as he sings, "The horses stamping -- their warm breath clouding/ In the sharp and frosty morning of the day/ And the poet lifts his pen while the soldier sheathes his sword." There is another musical interlude with several instruments trading off solos, including flute, electric guitar, and keyboards. The music makes a short climax, and suddenly the bass cuts it off again, moving the song along into another lyrical passage. This time Anderson sings, "The innocent young master -- thoughts moving ever faster --/ Has formed a plan to change the man he seems./ And the poet sheathes his pen while the soldier lifts his sword." A light musical section, alternating between flute and saxophone introduces itself, and the song slows down. However, Anderson's vocals pick the song right up, followed by a short flute solo. Starting softly, a short keyboard solo builds up and is joined by the flute once again. Vocals come in too, this time with a violin, giving the song a folk like taste. After a flute solo, an acoustic guitar comes in, revisiting the original theme, this time with a different melody in the vocals and piano accompaniment. Anderson's flute guides the song through the rest of Part 1, with a guitar solo here and there, and Part 1 ends.

After a few bursts from the flute, Part 2 begins with the same aggressive style of the the beginning of Part 1. Then, suddenly, a drum solo, with some sparse flute and guitar mixed in. There's a small spoken word section with nonsensical lyrics and wild soloing, leading to another reintroduction of the original theme, presented again with a little twist on the melody and prominent acoustic guitar. The song then follows the same pattern of trading off solos between instruments until a new, slow, melancholic theme is introduced by the acoustic guitar. The song goes on like Part 1, with new motifs being played and old ones reworked. Near the end of the song, all the instruments work towards a climax, interrupted by short string interludes. Unsurprisingly, the opening theme makes a final show, at the end of the song, and the album ends on a light note.

In conclusion, a very daunting album that is worthy of the praise thrown onto it. Not for the faint of heart or those who dislike intense soloing.

4.5/5


Also, nice review, Firestorm

I've been meaning to listen to Them Crooked Vultures for a while now.

[Deiphobus]

Attack Attack! - Someday Came Suddenly



1. Hot Grills and High Tops
2. Stick Stickly
3. Bro, Ashley's Here
4. Shred, White, and Blue
5. Party Foul
6. What Happens if I Can't Check My Myspace When We Get There?
7. Interlude
8. The People's Elbow
9. Kickin' Wing, Animal Doctor
10. Dr. Shavargo Pt. 3
11. Catfish Soup
12. Outro

HGaHT is a short introductory track, marked with a small electronic drum intro and shrieking accompanied with some synthesizers. The track leads directly into Stick Stickly, which begins with some heavy riffing, followed by low growling and shouting. Suddenly, the song transitions to more rock orientated section, marked by an autotuned voice with screaming underneath. The song continues in this pattern, switching back and forth between riffing and power chords, shrieking and singing. Later on, a synth joins the rock orientated section, after which the band plays some riffs, and ends the song.

Bro, Ashley's Here plays in a similar style, guitar riffs, synths, shrieking, and autotuned singing, except slightly more brutal to the ears. The song doesn't appear to have any structure beyond the trade off between screaming and singing.

Shred, White, and Blue... is, well, similar to the other songs as well. So is Party Foul. What happens if... There begins a fairly some fairly interesting fairly percussion and instrumentation, but soon devolves into what Attack Attack! has been relying on for the past few tracks, riffing combined with shrieking and autotuned vocals.

Interlude is a decent track, for what it's worth. The track is purely synth and percussion driven, with catchy melodies and counter melodies. Bass drums hitting every beat start the track off, as more and more synth is added. Back beats are omnipresent. It's not really much of an interlude, to be honest.

At this point, it seems like the whole album revolves around riffing, screaming, and the same chords and vocal patterns used when singing. And it does. There's one interesting part in Kickin' Wing, Animal Doctor, where there's some spoken word over heavy guitar playing, but unfortunately, the song quickly reverts to more screaming. There are actually a couple of interesting parts spread about through the tracks, like the trip hop-ish beginning of Catfish Soup or some little bits of solo piano that could be developed into something good. Outro is a good example of the latter, a track that could be a lot more than what it is. For some reason, it sounds to me like a reprise.

I didn't enjoy Someday Suddenly Came. Almost every bit of the album was permeated with nearly unlistenable shrieking and screaming. Most of the songs were very short, lacking in both originality, development, subtlety, or anything else that makes music good.


1.5/5

[Lambeth]

I found this album incredibly boring.

[Firestorm]

I didn't.

Up until Interlude with Ludes, I thought it was rather strong. And the 2nd half is worth sticking around for just for Gunman.

[Deiphobus]

I'm not working anymore, so I'll have The Fame Monster up by tomorrow.

[Shoolis]

I am going to review Asleep's album Between, Above, and Below tomorrow so expect explosions.
Here's a few of their songs.
Note that Machine in the Ghost is the only song that appears on the album.