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Thanks Frode, whoever you are! Great stuff! Second track begins in a floydian "churchyard by the river" (Cirrus Minor), but then…
This is just the music I've been missing for so long!
Had to edit this post several times – just fucking unbelievable! Just when I started to get only very slightly disappointed by the last album they come up with this! MP at their best!!!
@ supernaut: Listened to Side 2,3 and 4 the other day once again and realized it's not all as bad as I thought the first time. Some songs sound just as they should – I probably was just a little overwhelmed by the new "straight" heavy/symphonic rock" concept. Still not entirely satisfied with the "Lurker" though…
Great compilation! Great radio show! Makes you think over all the petty discussions on the latest album sound or the best MP album of all times. In this context some of the old and new jewels shine on. As the best MP song is always the one you're listening to it can happen that you rate "Serpentine" much better than all the new MP stuff you have listend to recently. And vice versa, of course
Obviously we have quite different ideas of sound. I like the warm instrumental sound in the mix on HBM, especially Side 1. Big Black Dog propably suffered in the mix from volume/intensity overkill…
Clarity for my is not a value in itself – it can sometimes also lead to sterility, while the most murky sound mix can nonetheless sound warm and comforting.
The philosophy of sound can certainly lead to endless debates, some of them quite futile.
@ supernaut: The least thing I want is to open a merely technical/theoretical debate. I'm sorry if you got that impression. I merely try to explain why some albums – the latest MP opus among them – sound rather unsatisfying to me compared to other albums. In the end I can only repeat what I have read, learned and (partly) experienced myself, without any absolutist stance.
As a matter of fact I rate the sound feeling highly, thus sometimes excellent composition and playing craft is overshadowed for me by unsatisfying sound. I like a warm, organic sound (for instance on HBM) much better than a more cold, to me rather sterile sound, a feeling I have when I listen to KoO. This is at first hand a purely personal feeling that I try to understand in a way by considering recording and mixing techniques. In the end what counts is the direct experience, and I can only relate to that. As a matter of fact I have often experienced the sound of more technical oriented bands (virtuoso playing over overall expression) to be rather thin or sterile. Whether there is really a relation between these phenomena is open to debate.
Which only shows the "Progarchives" crowd took its time to recognize Motorpsycho's qualities (or is rather slow on the intake). Once you are convinced even the weaker albums are rated higher than the brilliant ones – or to put it another way: it takes a real monster of an album to convince you, the rest then is an easy ride for the Trondheimers
Obviously: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Motorpsycho#Albums
Doesn't mean too much these days – they probably had to sell more albums to reach #80 with Phanerothyme back in 2001.
@ shakti: watch your fuckiing language
HBM: I love that "turd" – I consider it the best thing to come since god knows when – HMF probably. Of course there was new – and arguably even better stuff – following soon.
Hell mini-LP is a very good idea – especially as a Roadwork IV 1/2 live "Hell" album!
Probably the Düsseldorf version with the thunderstorm raging outside…
@ Elvin: "The Watcher" as the darkest KOO number belongs to the LP version I think. Emphases the atmosphere
I'd suggest a final EP/Mini-Album in Barracuda Style with folk (-rock) tracks only. Probably one or two additional ones. I'd love that!
Motorpsycho's first AOR album. And still a motorpsychedelic album – squaring the circle, I'd say. Clearly a headphone album. I like it the way I liked the Dead's last official studio album "Built to last" – very headphoney
@ supernaut: How do you then explain the sterility of sound quite a few people have complained of? Maybe your programs tell you there is not too much compression – I rather trust my ears and feelings. But then I'm an analog freak and used to record my band's stuff on 12 channel tape. I remember we had the sterility problem even then – it depended, who did the mix. So it is probably not (just) compression. I have experienced a lot of people mixing according to theory (fixed frequency values etc.) and forgetting about the warmness of the instrumental sound. Probably this is an ideological debate – but still I find Snah's guitar sound on this album quite unsatisfactory. Probably already too compressed during recording the tracks – or whatever. Probably microphones too close to the amp/speaker. The distortion sounds quite flat to my ears. Place your (Marshall) amp at one end of the room and the mics at the other and turn up the volume! This procedure of course depends on the studio room available with all its sound properties.
I think you could debate endlessly – in the end it is the result that counts.
@ the conscience: It is not the music itself – I consider that really great. Just some special sound properties that put me off a little. Probably I just have too turn up the stereo to full volume
Hehe – that's because this reviewer obviously doesn't know mid 70s Jethro Tull – so he has to revert to the "poor man's 90s prog band".
@ Punj Lizard: There's one dominant cause for the lack of dynamics you & others experienced. It's called "compression" and has been lamented here before. Not only kills the organic sound of the album, but also reduces some of Snah's divine solos to (almost) trash Рsoundwise. Reminds me of the latter day Moțrhead albums Рcouldn't stand the guitar sound Рobviously digital recording compressed to death. Shouldn't happen on a heavy rock band's album! But these are the times РI can hardly listen to most of the stuff published today, however interesting musically Рsoundwise it's Armageddon!
I'm not totally opposed to a little compression here & there, especially on bass, but it shouldn't kill all the living essence of a good guitar sound – let alone excellent music in general!
@ supernaut: Motorpsycho according to Sting – "If I ever lose my faith in you"…
@ ebo: you're absolutely right – the compression habit is awful, even on this gem.
A lukewarm review, but at least they know what they write about, obviously listened to the album, contrary to Sueddeutsche Zeitung with their favourable review. Problem is – this album needs a few spins, a good rocking chair and ideally an excellent pair of headphones. Nothing to grasp at first listen, as I can tell
