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Yes man, we were blown away at an early age and can’t totally recuperate, (un)fortunately! But I love The Tower and the mature MP, how can you not? But sure, growing up with a band is indeed special, some bonds never break, and shouldn’t. This thing happening now, new peak, new great drummer, great setlists etc etc, almost 30 years in is pretty wild. And Shakti, I feel you (both w concert wishes and 40, turned a couple of months ago, it’s fine!) and will send a prayer to MP-heaven for Rad.Freq. in Larvik (and in Stockholm where I hopefully will catch them if everything works out). And after all, how lucky were and are we? There’re still out there. Playing. Amazing.
@Supersonic Scientist – Yes, I did now about Fiske playing on Eggplant, but I've only listened to that album a couple of times, so have yet to really get into it. To be honest, though, I'm not that conversant with Fiske's output. I have one Dungen album (Allas Sak), which was gifted to me by one of the friends who got me into MP. And I have Silver Mountain by Elephant9. The Dungen album didn't really do much for me, but I need to go back to it again. Silver Mountain, though, is tremendous. And sticking with these connections – I'm also off to see Jaga Jazzist next month. I know very little about them and have heard only a little of their output, but I have a feeling it's going to be special.
WOW! Anekdoten and MP on a double bill – that must have been something else. Anekdoten also played double bills with Anglagard a couple of years back, which would've been brilliant – but that was in Japan and well beyond by reach
@Shakti – Your point about eclectic taste is well made. And this little description of how I spent part of my day yesterday should give you a partial answer to how I feel (so far) about the different MP 'eras' that I've heard to date.
Yesterday I went to a gig in London. Whenever I do this I have a routine that involves getting into London early and walking for miles while I listen to whatever music I'm into at the time. So, with Cowon music player and Audio-technica over-ear headphones on, I set out …
Leaving the house for an energetic walk to the station – Cloudwalker.
After a brief moment to blaze up before going into the station, my high state of mind demanded something upbeat and bright – For Free followed by Go To California (album version of course)
Feeling like something with a little more punch as I neared the end of the train journey and left the station in central London – The Tower followed by A.S.F.E.
Now I'm in one of London's big parks and I'm feling like something with a little more bite, something more visceral and immediate – 577 followed by Evernine
And as I finish my walk in the park I want more of that heavy distorted guitar and bass, something jammy – Flick of the Wrist (I'm reminded of the best of Neil Young and Crazy Horse)
By now I'm walking through London streets and all I can think of is I want more of that raw energy – Trust Us (start to finish)
I meet friends at the pub – and all I can talk about is how brilliant MP are. None of these friends have heard MP, so I'm hoping a couple at least will check them out.
After the gig I'm mellowing out and heading home by foot and on the train again – Here Be Monsters (the whole album)
I leave the station and take it slow and easy on the walk home in the light rain – Vortex Surfer
To my ears, MP have something for almost all moments.
It's great to hear you all enthusing about what this band means to you and how they affected you back in the day. At 55 years old, I guess I'm older than the average MP fan here. Some of you talked about just passing 40. Well here's what I hope for you – that in 15 years you should be as lucky as me to discover a band like MP. Not just an excellent band, but one that blows your f*cking mind.
I'll be at my first ever MP gig at London 02, can't wait.
They have a reputation of being different every night which is scary as haven't learnt eve half their out yet!
I'm a prog head so the earlier albums are a bit grunge for me despite them being considered the peak for many fans, however live they seem to have more impact to my ears so maybe that's how I should get into them eg Walking On Water or acoustic version of Mad Sun which are brilliant. I would love a track from Phanerothyme but doesn't seem like they play that stuff much.
@karnevil9 – I'll be at the Islington O2 too, which will also be my first MP gig. Hope you enjoy it.
Say, Punj, have you gotten hold of all their studio albums yet? What do you make of Timothy's Monster? And what are your thoughts on Demon Box, I wonder… ?
@Great King Rat – Not all of the albums, yet. But I couldn't hold back on Timothy's Monster – had to get it. I haven't got Demon Box yet, though. That's next on my list.
TM is a proper monster – huge, beautiful, ugly, scary, mesmerising. At 98 minutes, I feel it could be improved by shedding a few tracks, but where would you start? You can't! It's all good, just some is much better for my taste – The Wheel, Golden Core, Giftland, Watersound, Feel, Kill Some Day… In the Golden Core vs Wheel debate – today I prefer The Wheel
Where does the album fit compared to all the others? For me that's difficult to say. At the moment, I see this as one of several albums (up to Trust Us) that constitute a certain MP era. Of the ones I have from that era (TM, B, AADAP, TU) Trust Us is the one that really stands out to me as a stone-cold classic. The others all have a few tracks that I don't like so much, but when you're talking about six albums' worth of material in three albums (TM, B, AADAP), that's no surprise – that's just an embarrassment of riches – a brilliant, creative band in full flow.
@TraktorBass – Great question! At the moment I'm firmly on the 'great song' side. But there's many many tracks I like a lot more, and many many more I'd like to see them play before I see that one!
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