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You can now buy HMF from http://www.MediaMarkt.de for 9.99 EUR! What a rip off!
P.S the files from platekompaniet is just 256kbps
compared to 320kbps @ http://nl.7digital.com wich is also cheaper (5 EUR)…
I paid with my cell phone at Platekompaniet, worked very well
Hovmod: Gullible’s Travails is one of their best songs ever, for sure.
So I finally got it. Mixed bag. I’m not as happy as most of you.
Starhammer:
Intro, main theme, verse and singing and ending woweeee awesome! Big times come a-rockin’. The jam part drags on for too long. Should end in the middle where it swells for a bit. [EDIT] no I take that back: the Krimsonite build up and the falling notes back into verse are at the rightest place of ’em all.
X-3:
Let there be Fireball. Cool. Getaway Special is a nice twist. Why does no one else do this? This is where this fruitcake is everything but generic.
Bomb-Proof:
Well a bit too busy and overladen I’d say. But most definitely a killer live.
Close your Eyes:
Very good. The delicate build up with piano and mellotron (I think) is wonderfully crafted.
W.B.A.T.:
Daring and great first minutes. But then a surprisingly – dare I say it – generic verse riff. Hmmmm… the ending though is sheer brilliance in classic MP style.
Gullible’s Travails:
Weird. I expected more, I don’t know why. I love the intro riff though. Bonedry to the skull even without drums to back it up. How do they do that? It’s even stronger than that Ocean In Her Eye opening bang. Then there’s again a bit of a generic riff in Part I, although it’s only an inch away from the mighty Nothing To Say riff. The singing is very impressive. The acoustic Nursery Cryme guitars with duet vocals is a winner. The big ending is a bit too much on the kitschy Beyond the Flood side. I thought it was going to be weirder and more varied. And the strangest thing about it is that it’s over so quickly. Feels rather like a 10minute track… oh and where’s that Yes/Fragile reference?
I got the CD so far and compared to LLM, I hear no difference in sound. I don’t hear where it’s better. A bit crispier maybe? Or have I definitely gone deaf by now…
I have not received anything yet… I’m getting quite desperate, especially after reading tons of epic reviews. Oh, mailman, have you got something for me soon? :cry:
oh I just found the Yes reference in Gullible. It’s just before the duet comes in, a soft Close to the Edge synthi figure. hooray. :lol:
Get ready for a raving review:
This is their best album since “Trust Us”! I like the various styles they try out on the record and even if i rate “Little Lucid Moments” as one of their top 5 records, i still feel that “Heavy Metal Fruit” will be rated as one of their career highlights. The cover outshines all Hiorthøys work for the band since the nineties. It’s a beautiful, dark and cosmic cover – well suited for the space travel the listener is about to embark upon [a modern look captured in timeless essence]
The print of side A is beautiful and takes me back to the first time i opened the Timothy’s Monster LP box. It’s fun, dark and a bit mysterious and will surely keep us fans guessing for symbolism for a long time to come. Well, what about the songs…
Starhammer: A wandering guitar are brutally cut off by one of the band’smore metallic riffs. It’s all rock, but with the groovy undertone we’ve come to expect of the band since Bent and Kenneth seem to have grown together at the hip. The song reminds me of the opening of “Un Chien D’Espace”. But this riff is soon abandoned and is replaced by a beat propelled forward by Kenneth and dressed by slow, jazzy guitar lines from Snah; almost sleepy. Vestrheim complements the sound with careful keys – something he’ll do frequently on this record. The song seems suddenly to kick into gear with the band leaning into the it, but they soon lay back again. But, in the end Bent opens up the bassbeast and leads the band forward with Snah waving beautiful sounds with his guitar.
X-3: this song is a great revisiting of Motorpsychos rock’n’roll past – it kicks off like great rock songs from this band always does. A groovy rhythm from Bent/Kenneth are the rocksteady foundation for Snahs guitar and Vestrheims piano. But, without warning, the song turns on the dime. Suddenly the entire band is backing out a loose jam with Mathias Eicks amazing trumpet on top. It escalates to a free soundscape and then stops, what sounds like Snah exclaiming “Fy faen!” and then Kenneth kickstarts the song again, the rest off the band catches on and they let the song fade out after a few seconds.
The Bomb-Proof Roll And Beyond: It’s once again back to the slow flow of the cosmos – the song starts a groove not too far from the spaced out blues of Starhammer. But that’s only the beginning – it kicks of into space with the band sounding as close to a free-form jam as they’ve been on record before. But they meet up and continue the beat, “round and round and round we go”. It ends with a beautiful acapella harmony outro.
Close Your Eyes: They’ve always been called a great rock band with epic masterpieces like “Golden Core”, “Vortex Surfer” et al. But i feel that their quiet songs have been forgotten. Close Your Eyes is one of their most beautiful – a wonderful piano propels the song forward and with a few taps on the keys it mixes the careful with the heavy – a perfect epic in 3 minutes.
W.B.A.T.: This album never cease to surprise me. This must be one of the most imaginative albums in their career?! Who else than Motorpsycho can follow a straight 3-minute pop song with free form jazz not unlike something Miles Davis did on “On The Corner”? It’s Snah running the show with a great guitar with the rest of the group making up a solid, yet playful, foundation for his fluid runs – Kenneths drumming is always a treat. As this free sound ends, they kick it up with a laidback beat not unlike something Clutch would play in a heavy jam session. The song turns into a beautiful epic rock song that is more of everything we like from the band…
Gullible’s Travails: this year’s suite starts up where “W.B.A.T” lets go: a slow rock song which makes head nod and dreams start. But a few minutes into the song, it shifts with a playful bass beat from Bent and soft vocals. The segments drumlessness sets it loose and makes it light as air. But Kenneth is soon enough back on track and motors the song forward – almost motorik/not unlike “Hallogallo” by Neu! It keeps getting harder and louder as one moves further into the track – a sense of “The Wheel” creeps upon me. Is this part III – “Circle”? As the goosebumps starts me to shiver the band opens up with a beautiful riff and continues the song. The songs main riff ends the song after a few minutes of beautiful dreaming…
All in all: one of the best albums by the band in a long time. I must admit that one can hear the influence of Vestrheims touch and Eicks Trumpet. But i feel that Hukkelberg should be mentioned in particular – her voice is used perfectly complementing the band on several songs.
Well, so long. I have to get up and start it all over again and again and again…
[this review is based on the first listening to the LP, alone in my apartment with a sleepy cat on my lap]
by the way: prelistening of the new jaga jazzist record: http://www.universalmusic.no/ecards/jagajazzist-pk/
Shining “black jazz” @ http://3voor12.vpro.nl/luisterpaal !
@Neil Tesor: The “Black Jazz” album is insane! But I think I need some more listenings to understand what’s going on^^ After a first listening I would prefer the earlier Shining without vocals, but I guess I’ll get used to it. Love the to previous records from Shining though. Especially “Grindstone” is a monster!
But this is a bit of topic. Sorry, just had to.
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