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Double gigs in Bergen are almost always legendary. I wasn't there this time, don't live in Bergen anymore. However, I will say this; I totally didn't see this stuff coming; Gullible's Travails and an acoustic set including very rarely performed songs. Terrific!
How can one not?
The Crucible is great, but the recent discussion caused me to go back to The Tower. That one is a true masterpiece. Unbelievable that a band can make something so potent so far into their career, And then to follow it up with The Crucible which shows complete mastery of what they do.
But none of that conveys the feeling that Anders communicates. It *is* a love cult and a love affair. I stand by Motorpsycho.
Actually, scrap that….*all* the clips showcase what a great drummer he is! He has brought back a certain way to drive the band that I missed through all the Kenneth years. Not to rag on Kenneth who is an excellent drummer in his own right, but he had a way to play with the beat that I never thought worked all that well with Motorpsycho…kind of lagging ever so slightly behind the beat I think it is. Tomas has a different way of hitting the beat and being able to be simple and complex at the same time. It's very hard to explain and I'm not a drummer, so maybe I am missing completely, but it just works better to my ears.
Wow, Tomas man…. That short Psychotzar really showcased what a brilliant drummer he is. Effortlessly musical. Just a superb fit with the band.
I have to say that Snah's solos on this album are absolutely spot-on. His best playing yet? He can get noodley, but every one of his numerous solos here pack drama, tension and build-up. They are very "Snah", yet he seems to introduce some new elements I haven't heard yet – that biting, sinewy approach on the first solos on Psychotzar for instance, the atonal stuff in the middle of Lux Aeterna (reminds me of Alice Coltrane's Wurlitzer organ wig-outs), and the already-mentioned searching and dsperate playing in the solo leading up to the chorus again at 7-8 mins. Bravo!
Here's a "best" type of title I can affix to The Crucible:
Best single Motorpsycho album!
For the record, I count Blissard and Little Lucid Moments as double, or more precisely one and a half, even though they are both single CDs (although the Crucible beats LLM in any case).
I think this album is the most succesful they've ever done of distilling things and keeping it a short and focused album.
Nah, Lux Aeterna is great with that last drum fill and chorus again. A very obvious nod to In the Court of the Crimson King, but that was kind of ovious already, so why not spell it out loud?
Agree with Kid A above. I have been able to give it several good rounds with headphones today, and can safely conclude: they have delivered again. In fact, the average quality of this album is perhaps the highest they have ever achieved. The production, arranging, playing and writing quality is sky high throughout. There is (hardly) no wasted moment. Everything makes sense and carries some kind of charge and excitement, even the noise section in The Crucible or the wig-out in the middle of Lux Aeterna.
Every band member carries his weight and then some. Snah delivers big-time. Particularly love the solos and twin guitars in Psychonaut (his attack reminds me a bit of my hero John McLaughlin) and the desperate playing at the end of the Lux Aeterna mid section as singled out by Punj Lizard. His playing there has much of the spirit of his 96-98 kind of playing – less noodling, more screaming and going for it, nevermind the occasional flub. Bent is Bent, what more to say? And Thomas? Get out of here. I didn't find his playing on The Tower timid at all (as suggested by Bent), just listen to how he propels Ship of Fools to ever higher heights. But he is absolutely possessed throughout this album. Is this the best drumming ever on a Motorpsycho album? Very possibly. It's hard to surpass Gebhardt in overall impact, he was such an integral part to their most iconic albums and a supremely musical drummer, capable of ESP-like ensemble playing which is crucial to the Motorpsycho experience. Kenneth introduced new levels of virtuosity and power. But Thomas somehow magically resolves those two.
The songs themselves this time are all excellent. All the themes are memorable and moving. The sound of the record/production is also superb IMO.
So overall, am I back-pedaling as I suggested I might be doing? Not really. The *overall* impression remains; this is an excellent album, but not one which will crack my top 5. Probably top 10. I love all facets of Motorpsycho, but most of all I love the Motorpsycho that displays everything all at once, all the time. And they need a double album to do so. This one is simply too short. But I know they did that on purpose, and I dig that too. It's another leaf on the (beatiful) tree. I also love the Motorpsycho that pulls something entirely new out of the hat. I'm not sure I am hearing that here. On The Tower, there were several moments where I caught myself thinking "this doesn't sound like anything else they've done before, yet it's sooo very Motorpsycho". And lastly, I love more than anything the Motorpsycho that reaches for the stars and gets there, getting to heights that other bands aren't even capable of imagining. Such heights as The Wheel, The Golden Core, S.T.G., Un Chien d'Espace, Vortex Surfer and…dammit…Ship of Fools. No such moment here, but it's almost silly to even mention it. I feel greedy and unthankful. Shame on me.
It's a killer album. Love it. Can't wait for the next one.
Very well put, Punj!
Need to listen more and will have time tomorrow for repeated headphone listening, but the overall impression remains favourable; a masterful (mostly) prog-rock record, Motorpsycho-style. Nothing short of excellent. But it doesn't hit the loftiest peaks that The Tower did, IMHO. That is an awful lot to ask though. Very few bands are capable of those peaks, and it's probably an intangible thing, maybe more apparent to the listener than to the creator. Motorpsycho simply have to og on creating and releasing excellent music. When the timing is right, some kind of divine inspiration happens and they hit upon something completely out of the ordinary. They did so regularly in the mid-late 90s, and they did it again on The Tower – coming up with something completely unique and transcendental such as Ship of Fools.
I love the groove and sinister, slightly Taifun-like outro section of Psychotzar. Lux Aeterna is beautiful if perhaps a touch "svulstig". Love the end section even if the Court of the Crimson King vibes are perhaps a bit too obvious. The riffage on The Crucible is great, but so far I'm not quite sure if it deserves 20 minutes of extemporization. We'll see after a few more rounds.
I disagree about the "taking time" thing. Motorpsycho are at their best when they work fast. The Tower was recorded right after Thomas joined and by all accounts was a fairly fas affair as I understand it. The more they labour it, the worse it gets. That's why it's good news that they are already working out new material. But the album is another really good album, just not sure yet how high on the excellence-o-meter it rates.
A bit on the strong side, perhaps. I haven't had time to listen more in detail, so my comments were very off-the-cuff. As I said, my opinion may very well change. I have absolutely no reservations about the *quality* of the music, playing and production. The quality is sky high, as always. Plenty to dig into. It's just that The Tower had this extra factor of the band sounding desperate, hungry and there was a certain "necessity" to the music. Plus, being a double album, it allowed them to display all their sides. The Crucible sounded, on first listen, much more like a "genre" record.
I know it's not a good idea to post before getting a few good spins, but I can't help myself. Will also be fun to see if I change my mind, so prepare for desperate back-pedaling down the road. But a few quick first impressions (just streaming this so far until I can get to a record store)
– somebody said "What a weird record". I don't understand that at all. This is one of the least weird Motorpsycho records in their cannon if you ask me. And to my ears, that's a bad thing. It's not that it doesn't contain melodies and twists that you may heir as "weird" on their own, but on the whole, this album is perhaps the most overtly "prog" record they've ever made. There's not really anything that stands out to me as being inconsistent With a prog genre record. It's got a Motorpsycho sound and feel, but my first major impression is that it's missing that X-factor of the unexpected and inspired. It's obviously tempting to compare it to The Tower, and in that comparison it falls short by several marks IMO.
The Tower was a classic Motorpsycho record, it had short and long songs, concise and melodious parts, noise, rock and progressive grandeur. None of it could be clearly labeled as such and such though. It was, in essence, Motorpsycho music, and damn fine at that. It sounded like the band working more like they did in the mid-late 90s, being in the moment and catching lighting in a bottle, but doing so by starting With a set of really good songs.
My first impressions of The Crucible is that it sounds more self-conscious, and overtly "progressive". It's like every song starts out with an announcement; "really big statement ahead". Maybe that's why I end up being slightly underwhelmed. It reminds me of the Here Be Monsters era, even if the sound is slightly different. Others have mentioned The Unicorn and Little Lucid Moments (the suite) and those are all good comparisons.
All that said, this is based on just a quick first listen. I certainly enjoy it and I put it to very tough scrutiny here. It might grow. I like Psychotzar a lot, and perhaps that's because I have heard it several times already.
BTW, this down-tuned riffing that Snah has been doing lately is also a bit of a nod to Motorpsycho's early days. It was all over the first few albums up to and including Timothy's Monster (at least the early version), but then the alternate tunings seemed to take more over.
Perhaps revisiting Demon Box inspired this?
