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The reviewer wants this album to become a movie!
Dagbladet review. 5/6
I just picked up a copy of the vinyl at my favorite record store. The cover looks great. Listened to record one now so too early for a good overview. First thought: wow, prog! Very impressed so far.
Unfortunately no Dutch reviews so far.
It's a long time since I posted here, but just felt compelled…I picked up the album on my way home from work this morning. Have only had a chance to give it one spin at low volume, with my baby boy at my lap. Nevertheless…
…I am speechless! To be honest, I didn't expect much. In fact, I was rather skeptical….commissioned work, featuring strings, heavy on Storløkken contributions (not that I don't like him on his own and with Supersilent…but with Motorpsycho??). My fears have been duly put to shame.
I thought it was past the point where Motorpsycho were able to "move" me like they used to. The Kapstad era albums have "impressed" me more than actually moved me. LLM is underdeveloped and the songs drag on for too long….CotF rocks like mad and is a fun, but a somewhat slight album…HMF is mega-impressive, but ultimately fails to move me…Roadworks IV felt limp, and I hate the auto-tune vocals. Part of the problem I've felt is that the songs seem more emotionally remote than the classics of the 90s, where Bent's lyrics seemed more personal and I had the feeling that everything mattered that little bit much more (typical of men in their 20s, I guess…)
Then this…an album of entirely fictional songs, a rock opera on a grand scale, featuring a barrage of guest performers… how´s that supposed to work? Well, it just does. For some strange reason, Motorpsycho are even more impressive here than ever before, yet they connect with me like they haven't done for a long time. It all hangs together, it's progressive rock of the highest order. This is an album I dare to put alongside the best prog-rock classics. There are elements of Yes, Crimson, Mahavishnu Orchestra (particularly the albums Apocalypse and Visions of the Emerald Beyond). Still, at its heart, it's quintessential Motorpsycho.
Dare I say it? Well, I will….best album since Trust Us! 6/6.
Thank you shakti, I haven´t gotten my record yet so haven´t heard it yet, but I´ve been very sceptical myself. Sharing somewhat the same feelings you described of the kapstad-era records, I´m now looking very much forward to this. Also, probaly gonna go buy the CD now, as a subsitute until the "real" record shows up.
In the mail today and I have listened to the first half so far. It took exactly 1.15 minutes until I was shaking with excitement. The very first moments made it clear, there's something about to happen for the next 80 minutes.
Moving? You bet. Captivating? Challenging? Soothing? Entertaining? All of it. What it is not (so far at least, my impressions after the first half): a complete departure. There's still the vintage Motorpsycho, like say the Alchemyst or Kill Devil Hills riffing and the unconventional vocal melodies provided by Snah. But it's the whole musical picture with Stale, the woody rumbling noises, the strings and the grandezza that makes it fresh and as surprising as rewarding. I don't want to say it's the best album or better than any other. It's rather that "amalgam" – as it was said in a review before – of all Motorpsychedelisms from Demon Box to Let Them Eat Cake and the well known influences around them that already influenced those albums now pushed as far as probably possible (we probably have to expect the next album to be a return to the short pop format?). Maybe it's only because I just had an early Genesis listening phase recently, that I'm reminded of their fairytale records Nursery Cryme and Foxtrot. At least considering the muscial boldness and the kick into conventions' butts. This is truly independent music and as Bent said, they are progressive in the truest sense. It might not have been such a crazy far out record in 1974 (but surely one of the best, the über ambitious and cheesy "elements" by roger glover just springs to mind) and only so in comparison to the streamlined, safe-bet music making nowadays, but meh… Thankfully the band just does its do and the music is here and it's outstanding. And a slap in the face to contemporary hype bands as much as to the gritty naysayers who complain about modern music.
Ah the packaging is nice. Again. Great inlay picture. Nag nag. This and the lyrics remind me of Walter Moers' tales and imaginations. This might not be of the real class that doesn't hurt according to the liner notes but he's actually a highly original and imaginative storyteller. The german lot here will know him. Think about Käptn Blaubär's sailor yarns.
Anyway, I read Moby Dick when I was around 13 and Homer obviously but later but I don't know the other suggestions. Nice to be inspired and lead to potentially great stuff by communicating artists.
Fond my Unicorn Bundle in the postbox today.
Just listened to the Vinyls the first time. Great!!!
Now I have to listen again…
6/6 in Norwegian newspaper Dagsavisen
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