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When I bought the thing about a year ago, I had to pay shipping charges of fourty euros and on top of that a 30 euro customs fee…
Dear Friends,
The Mirror and the Lie is an amzing piece of music. 99,9% of all "Alternative Rock" artists wish they could write a track like that. I'm glad you all agree!
Regards,
Hans
I really enjoy reading all the different comments whether I agree with them or not. Just shows that Motorpsycho attract fans from all walks of life, a truly interesting bunch!
I guess I'm a metalhead at heart, that's why I miss that "primitive oomph", as supernaut rightly put it, and that's why I started this thread, but let me say that I love all of MP's different musical phases. I adore the three non-hard rock albums, I love the hippie vibes in general, I'm a sucker for prog rock concept albums and jazzy drumming on top of psychedelic freak-outs. I'm glad that Motorpsycho followed their tastes, made the riffs a bit more intricate, the overall playing a bit more frisky; changing drummers several times forced them to reshape their music.
Still, I can totally see where those who cherish the 90s phase the most are coming from, and I guess I am one of them. The albums from the nineties truly display a certain urgency, no matter if the songs are slow, fast, three or twelve minutes long. There is a certain incredible drive and emotional depth to their playing, as if the next note, the next song they play might be the last. There is a scene in This Is Motorpsycho where Bent talks about the relationships within the band and says something like "Snah is kinda my main man in the band and I know where he is in times of need. We are friends, too, but it is mostly about the band." He seems kinda down in that interview, at odds with himself. Later, he can be seen sitting in a dressing room or something, surrounded by Geb and Lolly, feeling like he's a failure, totally depressed about the way the gig went. To me that sounds totally like the kind of person who would write songs like Kill Some Day and Greener. And maybe he needed to be that way to write heavier metal stuff as well as heart-wrenching ballads like Sungravy (I swear to god, every time I hear that song I have to keep myself from crying!). I guess so. And in a way it's great that he isn't the same person anymore, makes things probably way easier for his family.
I reckon the band have kinda found themselves. The genre-hopping is more or less a thing of the past. Motorpsycho albums are not as diverse as they used to be. That is not necessarily a bad thing, as they excel at playing the kind of music they love. But I don't think the whole "They never repeat themselves!" thing holds true anymore. Their last few albums, I guess ever since 2009, are "Variations on a Theme" (Om) to me, because since then they have been playing full-on seveties psych/prog/hard rock, which has always been present in their sound, but I don't really hear that much Fugazi or Sonic Youth in their music anymore.
And that's great. I know where I to go when I need my fix of hippie rock and get out the old caftan. So what am I trying to say? I guess I'm just greedy and want it all! I want the acoustic guitars, the millions of effect pedals, the horns and strings as well as that damn Hate Bass! I wish daddy Saether could go for a walk with his family, put the kids to bed, lock himself in his man cave, take out that down-tuned Jazzmaster, and still lay down some mean and nasty licks like he did back in 92. But I guess that's just not how he rolls. Still, I'm gonna keep on dreaming, and I wish I had had the money to see them play that Demonic Box two years ago. Would have torn my head right off!
First world problems, folks! You want everything, all the time! By the way, does anyone have that live version of Lake Innersfree which appeared on some bootleg?
I'm glad to encounter some fellow Helmet-heads on this forum! I guess they were somewhat of an influence in the early days, I mean the dropped-d tuning coupled with the bone dry guitar sound was unheard of in the late eighties and everyone who played heavier rock was directly or indirectly influenced by Hamilton's riffing, from Entombed to Carcass and Pantera.
Just checked some older interviews with Bent from the Demon Box era and he said that he liked the band but thought that its songs sounded too much alike: "… one you've heard one song, you know all of their songs." To me that's a bit of an exaggeration, but unlike Motorpsycho, Helmet have never really been an album band to me. Many of their songs are outstanding, but there is always a bit of filler on their records, so yeah, I see where Mr Saether is coming from. But he can permit himself to have a big mouth, after all he is one of the best songwriters of his generation…
@mister conclusion: Thanks for your insights, mate! I know what you mean, writing some more aggressive songs might become embarassing, but only if you're faking it. I don't think age has necessarily something to do with your capabilities to write "brutal" stuff, it just depends on what kind of a person you are. I mean, the new Godflesh record crushes everything released under the banner of extreme metal nowadays and those guys are in their 40s and 50s, respectively. But if Bent doesn't feel the need to write some more stuff in the vein of Feedtime, that is totally fine with me, I'll even go see them if they play two-hour acoustic sets. I'd just enjoy them even more if they played and/or recorded more "metal" songs. So yeah, hearing them perform Feedtime live was definitely fun, but in a good way (at least for me)! Hearing something like a ten-minute version of Grindstone as well as the melancholic softness of Lacuna/Sunrise at the same concert seems like pure bliss to this old dog!
Nothing to feel sorry for, mate, I'm just interested in your opinion! Everyone has their own taste, and I think it's great that MP attract fans with such different tastes. There is something for almost everyone! I love Phanerothyme and LTEC as well! I just think it's a pity that they still write songs in the vein of Landslide but won't release Flesh Harrower Part 2 :wink:
Hey folks. I think in this case I have to agree with the critics. I don’t really get why MP haven’t been more considerate towards the larger fanbase with this project.
MP know that most of their fans don’t live in Norway but abroad, and they therefore should be aware that those people most likely don’t understand Norwegian. So why would they not give people the opportunity to simply ditch the books and just go for the CD or LP bundle? I can only speak for myself, but I’m into the band because of the music, some author’s thoughts on an album is merely the icing on the cake, especially if I lack the knowledge to understand his writing. Yes, I do get the whole idea of bringing together literature and music, the album is called Demon BOX, a literary reference (most likely), so let’s bundle everything up in a neat little package. But the again, why can I order the books on their own? The interest in the music is probably way greater, at present there are only two backers for the literature-only package. I guess most of us are record and music enthusiasts, so why not give people the opportunity to choose what they want to invest their money in? Demon Box is my favourite album of all time and I’d hate missing out on a professional, official live recording of this masterpiece, but the project at its current state forces me to acquire goods I have no real interest in. Will we be able to buy a downsized, music-only release in the future? No-one knows, so you better get moving and pay within the next 30 days, otherwise you might lose out.
Thor Egil wrote that shipping from Norway was expensive, but it is probably also so expensive because one simply has to buy so many wares. And we can also discuss whether MP had to release a limited item through a crowdfunder situated in Norway. Other limited releases, like the Konsert For Folk Flest could be acquired at a reasonable price (including shipping) from Stickman. The audience for a “normal†limited release through the label exists, since Demon Box is still one of MP’s most lauded and beloved albums. Even if they still wanted to fund the project with the help of funde.no, non-Norwegian-speaking music lovers should be given the chance to acquire the CD or LP package on its own, so the shipping costs don’t become unbearable. Just to give you an example of how other bands deal with the whole funding business: The Swedish metal band Entombed also crowdfunded the recording of a special album celebration back in 2016. One could choose to spend money on all kinds of fancy packages or simply buy the recording of the concert as a digipack made up of two CDs and a DVD. That simple package was sold for 25€ including shipping.
If you want books, LPs, handwritten lyric sheets, that’s great. If you’ve got the money to pay for all of that to be delivered from Norge to your doorstep in Italy, that’s even better. But I’m a student from Germany and I wasn’t expecting to spend something like 130€ (CD package plus dispatch) to get the new live release from my favourite band. That’s a lot of money for most people, esspecially the younger fans. I agree, MP have always treated their fans really well, three-hour concerts for thirty euros and rereleases for the same price show that the band care about their listeners. Still, I believe that those criticising the whole crowdfunding campaign raise valid points and the statement “If you don’t like it, don’t buy it†falls short. I like parts of the box, other parts I don’t like, and I can’t choose to buy the parts I prefer. I don’t believe that’s too much to ask. Maybe we could ask the band whether they would be willing to sell the audio and video files as downloads…
I don't think you have to apologise for anything. Duties always come with opportunities, in this case finacial means. I'd totally download all of MP's releases illegally if I didn't have enough money and later buy everything step by step once I had the funds to do so. Of course it would be cool if you could buy the albums and support the band, since they themselves invested a lot of time and money. But I'm pretty sure that the tough-talking big shots on this forum might also from time to time watch a movie online without paying (gasp!) or listen to a full album on Youtube (dear Jesus!) or download a record without paying a penny (at least initially). By the way, social human rights grant us the right to culture, and as you support the band withing the bounds of your personal possibilities, I don't think you take advantage of that right.
Hey folks. I have been a silent reader of this forum for years, but I guess now it's time to speak up a bit. While I believe that everyone is entitled to have their own opinion, I think the way we communicate our disagreements is of great importance. I really don't have that the feeling that doglicksman is interested in having a serious discussion about the greatest band in the world and the way it does/should release its music but would much rather exhibit his supposed mental superiority by insulting forum members and Motorpsycho's new drummer, all of whom he has probably never met. Were he at an MP show, hurling abuse at Tomas Järmyr or members of the audience for allegedly being leeches who just live off government benefits, he would just get thrown out. I don't know about you, but I really don't want to read any more of his insulting and irrational rants. I therefeore believe the moderators should consider blocking the guy.
