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Oh, I must also mention that I *hate* to this day the “pastiche” songs like Whip That Ghost and Go to California.
(I became a fan between Timothy’s and Blissard at the age of 14)
The run from Demon Box to LTEC was incredible. Every album sounding very different, both in production and soundwriting (well, perhaps except Angels and Daemons which kind of summed up their career to that point) and all classics/masterpieces.
Phanerothyme felt “safe” and somewhat uninspired to me. Still a nice listen, except for Go to California which almost ruins an good (“terningkast 4”) album.
But it must be among the best selling MP albums? At least soon after the release. I was at university at the time and this album was everywhere. Every student dorm had that poster of Bent’s face on the wall.
Is there a specific song or album that Go to California is a pastiche of?
I love Whip that Ghost and the reference to Song for a bro’.
I’d say the instrumental part leans heavily on Light My Fire, while Baard’s keys also sound a lot like Manzarek’s on Riders on the Storm. Me personally, I’m still a big fan of GtC.
Yep – Manzarek rhythm in the solo part. Though I rather think of his instrumental part in “Light my fire”.
@ shakti: Love it or hate it – but MP have developed a mastery of “pastiche” songs over the years. “Barracuda” is full of them, and there are several on the much loved and much hated “pop” trilogy.
yeah me too . I was lucky enough to stubble upon the band playing a show in Nurnberg in 94 after Timothys monster had been released but before blizzard was released . the set was songs from both records which blew my mind . what an incredible band at that time . im not such a fan of prog and to m y era thats the direction things have continued to shift as the years have passed . once Gebhardt left I think they lost what made those first records so magical . also that run of eps until after Phanerothym were great too but ive found it hard to remain as engaged s before although they clearly have a lot of talent still . on another note this may well be documented but I never gave the australian band feedtime any attention but the other day they came across my radar and I suddenly realised where the inspiration for the song from demonbox had come from . even the artwork on the seedtime records was clearly inspiration for the demonbox mad scientist character . am I alone in thinking this
Any thoughts on the new artwork of the re-release?
Couldn’t compare it yet, as I only have the first press..m
The new artwork is beautiful.
I remember very well the whole Phanerothyme divisive reactions back in the day, the questioning artwork, how much “Go To California” was debated, or the many references to Nick Drake in the promo interviews.
It is a good album that I go back to semi-frequently because of how easy and soft it is. Happy to hear some of those songs during this Comeback tour.
An album that is simply a nice page in MP history.
I also like the new artwork very much. It isn’t that new since it has the same images as the old one but reversed. I think I like this one better though. The new version is also remastered and sounds very good.
Phanerothyme has always been my favorite of the pop-era.
It’s pretty consistent and has unified/consistent songwriting + sound.Only song I don’t like is B.S. (that tanzband guitar by Snah, oof). Other than that, 8 lovely + well-written psyche-pop-rock tunes reminiscent of The Doors, Love, Moby Grape etc.
A bit surprised to hear that Bent doesn’t like it much. I consider it vastly superior to both LTEC and IALC (LTEC lacking energy+direction, while IALC’s 2nd half features 3 of my alltime least favorite MP songs)
My first impression of Phanerothyme was that of a rather unspectacular, nice but rather short album. With MP delivering far less that they could. A rather short-sighted first judgement, as the songs started to develop in my ears over the years and I began to recognize the subtle quality of the compositions and recordings. I was rather a newly-convert then, having known MP by name and a rather muddy sounding old cassette for years, but not really discovering them until Trust Us and becoming a full enthusiast with RW I. So the following albums seemed a bit of a downer to me, fool that I was.
Bent’s commentaries about Phanerothyme especially are probably due to the fact that it is an album full of songs very hard to reproduce on stage to the band’s satisfaction. Really a studio effort. Besides that the massive touring betwenn 2000 and 2002 took its toll on the band, so I understand this period is not always regarded highly by them. Still there’s always some of material from this period represented in recent setlists.
Let them eat cake is a fantastic album. Basically impossible not to be coming after the 3/4 better ones of the old MP…
Phano is the closest to ‘MP goes commercial that we had’. Not really but yeah. Great album too. But you know at the time I thought was the worst one yet (myself coming from AADAP forward and bit after backward catalogue).
@soundwater You’re not alone. I agree with everything you say.
I guess for me Phanerothyme has been a bit of a rediscovery, in the way that when the “pop” trilogy came out I was a bit over MP, too diehard in the 90s to really accept the change in the direction. How sad was I!? There are obviously great songs on all three albums, perhaps three on both LTEC and IALC that I really cherish (Barracuda wasn’t for me), but yes, P is 10/10 (except Cali). And, I remember when P came out, thinking it was too soft and scandi-poppy (there was a bit of a nostalgic thing going on w esp Norwegians bands in that time if I remember right). But MP being MP of course navigated these waters much more tastefully than others, obvious to everyone even back then.
Anyway, P has been a companion for some years now, maybe like some of you say; with age you search for other qualities than you did in your 20s. And for me this album is such a flower – it’s an anomaly in the MP cannon, it’s soft and pretty and homey?, but also (like always) thoughtful and pensive, and the melodies are all gems that opens up in different nuanced ways than on other efforts. It’s just different. In my ears! So this one is still a good companion for me, as I rarely go back and play old MP records on repeat.
And, I didn’t know its being (or been) reissued? Would love some demos etc! I hope they restart their anthology thing, must be so much gold left in the vaults!
And, yes Shakti, I hear you regarding the pastiche songs, not a good fit.
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