I just got my copy of llm!!!!!!

i bougth LLM yesterday....
can not say much, yet....
must listen to it over and over...
but i think it´s GREAT!

Wait, oh yes wait a minute mister postman
Wait, wait mister postman!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

general info: swiss post sucks.

okay, first listening, first impressions. ithink the kraut influences are bigger than on any other mp album (cool for me), 2 massive goosebumps scenes (very good for a first listening), kapstad is superb (have to see him live as often as i can), the bass-sound is fantastic. favorites for now: 'a hoof to the head' and 'year zero'(super vocals by snah). classic psychonaut-stuff ... love it ...

yessir ... year zero: 10/10 ... perfect

Crap. Postman just arrived, still no LLM.

Finally! There it was! Popping it into the cd-player as we speak! Can't wait!!

All I can say is ... glæ' dåkk! (Trøndersk and means look forward to it.) Holy crap, this is an instant classic! You're stunned, amazed, overwhelmed, confused after one go, it's just too much to take in. But then, after a second try it starts to fall into place (space). It's just so ... good!

The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and my cat is sleeping beside the computer.. And I got my copy of "Little Lucid Moments" in the mail just now.. And I am about to press play! Life is beautiful!

CaptainAubrey Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> The sun is shining, the snow is melting, and my
> cat is sleeping beside the computer.. And I got my
> copy of "Little Lucid Moments" in the mail just
> now.. And I am about to press play! Life is
> beautiful!

Haha, I bet your cat will instantly have a rude awakening when
you start the CD

He didn't.. Still sleeping! I guess all the metal I've put him through has made him quite tolerant..

Quite the Kodak-moment this, listening to a new MP album for the first time. I hope I like it..

So far, it sounds nice!

Well, today I a actually *do* have a bad hair day...but I'm getting the hang of this album a little bit more, so I'll elaborate a bit on each track:

Suite: Little Lucid Moments - I am beginning to really like this one. I had high hopes for it after hearing it live, but it was really difficult to make out many parts live due to the bad and cluttered sound. The sound remains a little cluttered on record as well, but the energy is palpable, and each of the sections are really nice take on their own. I'm not sure exactly *why* they're strung together like this; it does seem kind of haphazard, but they do tie it together towards the end with a very nice Yes-like coda/"A2" section. And they've never done a prog suite like this before, I'll give them that! For that reason alone, it's cool, even though I do think that each section does tend to drag on for a bit too long.

Year Zero (a damage report) - It sounds a bit like Before the Flood Vol 2 in both tone and structure. Not so keen on this one, but then I wasn't so keen on Vol 1 either... It's OK, and builds to a typical drawn-out Snah solo, but I don't think the song itself warrants 11+ minutes.

She Left on the Sun Ship - starts out veeery nicely, old-school angry Motorpsycho here. Then it kind of runs out of steam, like they don't know where to go, before it picks up with a nice spacey, droney improvised section. Again, I don't think it warrants the full 14 minutes. The spacey section towards the end sounds like something that would have been cool if it happened live, spontaneously. And maybe that's exactly what happened in the studio, I don't know. However, on a studio album I prefer a more condensed, distilled approach. Perhapps the opposite of what they were aiming for, so I respect that, but there you go.

The Alchemyst - top marks here!! This song really reminds me of Glow in the way it's structured, and the way the melody lines/hooks are repeated. It's another long track, but this time it feels like there's rhyme and reason to what they're doing, and not just a jam. Love this one.


The good thing about this record is that it's finally a *band* playing again, and you can hear it! And they've definitely gone for a live-in-the-studio feel. That translates to a lot of energy, but unfortunately also to a lack of focus in many parts. Some songs feel underdeveloped, on the other hand they also don't sound laboured like some songs during their "pop" years tended to. Overall, I heartly welcome the change of direction, and take the record for what it's worth: a band that feels revitalised and wants to simply play again. When this album was recorded the band had only played...5 or 6 gigs together?? It feels short on material, so I kind of hope they will release the other two songs they recorded on an EP or something. When they get to work together for a longer time, I am sure they'll be able to focus their efforts even better, and develop the songs further. I can't help but think that if the band had gotten together before BH/BC and developed *that* material together, the results would have been stunning.

So I have high hopes for the future.

Off to spin the album again...

"She left on the sun ship" is really cool... listening to the end of that s thaong right now, and it's really, really cool. You're right about the fact that this sounds like Motorpsycho live. but isn't that what we're hoping for?

What a great fucking song! And the title reminds me of "Lord of the Rings", when they disappear into the sunset..

the waiting one Wrote:
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> 2 massive goosebumps
> scenes (very good for a first listening)

Hehe, I got about two for every side of the LP!
I think it´s absolutly great. They wanted to capture their live-feeling and i think they did it in the best imaginable way! You can hear that they are still trying something new here and there but this is surely the best way to find yourself in a new bandcontext and we have the honor to witness this process.
I´m so looking forward seeing and hearing them play this stuff live! and the other stuff too of course! But this has very much potential to be played live!
All together LLM is perhaps not the best best MP album because of a lack of great melodies, but it has such a great feeling! Very organic!

The Alchemyst!!! Rock on!!!

my favs. so far:
"a hoof to the head"!!
and
"year zero"!!

Hey, mine arrived this afternoon (Netherlands, Stickman pre-order). Going to listen to it now so no opinion yet. Kind of scared to be disappointed, since the Bergen recording of the suite did not impress me so far. Somehow it sounds incoherent/messy, could be due to the sound though. But your comments are giving me hope!

Whoo, I really like The Alchemyst as well. Fantastic song Like it much better than Year Zero which seems like is a hit in other people's homes. Well, not every moment here is perfect, but that is how it is when it's recorded "live". There's a lot of improvisation going on and it just feels so lose at the same time that it's damn tight. I can agree that it does perhaps stretch out longer than needed, but I like this approach compared to the straight rock songs on BH/BC. When it comes to lack of melodies, I think the 'lucid moments' on this record are really catchy, especially the first verse on the suite, which I've been humming to all day as I don't know the words. Anyhow, it's released on Rune Grammofon so it's expected that it feels more like an improvised art-rock album than a pop album with some jams. I dunno how much I like it compared to the earlier albums such as Blissard yet, but repeated listenings will tell.

Ok time for my thoughts; Been listening to the whole thing 4-5 times now, and it's really starting to grow on me! The Suite is simply stunning (gladly i noticed that the poor sound i bitched about before was due to the poor quality streaming from P3)
I simply love the two first tracks; Lawned has such a catchy riff and melody + it's so powerful and harmonic. A Hoof to the head is probably the coolest MP song i've heard in a while. It's got such a high engergy level, with the punch generated from the bass/guitar riff + Kapstads eminent playing. Hallucifuge is also a cool addon, though here i still think that Snah could have done a better job. His rather uninspiring playing and constantly "howling" guitar sound tends to annoy me abit. But apart from this, it's a cool thing to listen too. Sweet Oblivion/Perfect sense is a nice way to close the suite; Nice and melodic + it's cool that they blend in the riff from Lawned. It kind of comes full circle. All in all; The Suite is the best feature on the album. 21 minutes of heaven!

As for Year Zero, i must agree with Shakti. It's like a second version of Before the Flood (which i never really liked that much). Better though. But i think they sould have used the chorus one more time before closing the track, as it stands as the most powerful moment in the song for me, instead of putting on that seemingly endless solo which pretty much fails to move me. The weakest track on the album imho, but it has its moments.

She left on the sun ship: Starts out very cool, and has a nice and energetic feel to it. Many nice and spacy moods in this one. I reaaly like it, except for that weird jam part at the end. Although cool and all, It's far too weak to cover about 7 minutes of the track. They should have gone back to the chorus also here, as that would have completed the track in a much better way i think. But apart from thi, it stands out as a solid and nice track.

The Alchemyst: My second favourite. A very cool and spacey track, again high on enegy and playing pleasure. Plus the ambient intro really suits the song. When the main riff starts, i detect a littlt "Teenage Riot" in there. Kind of the same feel. And that track is one of my Sonic Youth favs, so that's just cool. And the YES like end is just pure gold. On the high notes there, it's almost as if MP borrowed Jon Anderson for a moment

All in all a solid album, lifted by Kapstads fabolous skills. I like it more and more for every listen. The only downside is the jamming. Kind of uninspired at times, something that tends to remove the magic here and there. But the overall energy flow of the album sends it sky high anyway.

I'll rate it 5/6

By the way Shakti: Great review of the album. I couldn't agree more about your statement at the end. It would have been a blast to have this trio working out the material for BH/BC. So to quote your words; I think the future seems bright for MP these days, and i can't wait to see them live again.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 03/29/2008 05:16PM by The Golden Blissard Demon.

been listening to it three times now and i really like it.

nice riffs and melodies, although i think they could have spent a little more time on the structure of the songs.

but after the inconvenience of not having been able to record bh/bc live, i think that is just what they needed. to go into the studio and let it roll.

good to see/hear them back on track, but i honestly think they're still a quantum away from the old quality level.(saying that far from being dissatisfied)