Alestorm

It does sound like he wasn't a fan even before Chris blotted his copy book ...

I must admit I was surprised they managed to come up with a song less tasteful than Anchor but somehow they've managed it (Cannonball) :lol:

To be fair to this guy "a bunch of gurning cosplayers yelling "AAAARGGHHH!" at each other" (sic - it's "YAAAARGGHHH!" you fuckwit) is not an inaccurate description but then this is not automatically a bad thing. Okay it's not inovative and there's nothing really new here but it's still a solid, fun album. And yes there is a noticeable "family resemblance" to a lot of their earlier stuff. But the thing is, I actually don't care because when I'm listening to music I don't need anyone to approve of my taste, I just want to relax, let my hair down, drink beer and have a good time. And since I can rarely hear Alestorm without smiling it doesn't seem like a bad place to start.

Does anyone know what kind of reviews this guy usually writes? What sort of bands does he actually like?
 
Black Abyss Babe said:
It does sound like he wasn't a fan even before Chris blotted his copy book ...

I must admit I was surprised they managed to come up with a song less tasteful than Anchor but somehow they've managed it (Cannonball) :lol:

To be fair to this guy "a bunch of gurning cosplayers yelling "AAAARGGHHH!" at each other" (sic - it's "YAAAARGGHHH!" you fuckwit) is not an inaccurate description but then this is not automatically a bad thing. Okay it's not inovative and there's nothing really new here but it's still a solid, fun album. And yes there is a noticeable "family resemblance" to a lot of their earlier stuff. But the thing is, I actually don't care because when I'm listening to music I don't need anyone to approve of my taste, I just want to relax, let my hair down, drink beer and have a good time. And since I can rarely hear Alestorm without smiling it doesn't seem like a bad place to start.

Does anyone know what kind of reviews this guy usually writes? What sort of bands does he actually like?
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I mean, I think it's pretty irrelevant what the reviewer likes or doesn't like. He's a professional writer and has given his thoughts on the album. I'm glad that some rock/metal platforms such as this Metal Hammer review have finally called out Alestorm for their shitty behaviour and hopefully it's a sign to other artists with awful views on race and women that they won't get away with their bs. And regardless of that, Alestorm are a genuinely terrible band.
 
Black Abyss Babe said:
But the thing is, I actually don't care because when I'm listening to music I don't need anyone to approve of my taste, I just want to relax, let my hair down, drink beer and have a good time. And since I can rarely hear Alestorm without smiling it doesn't seem like a bad place to start.
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Couldn't have said it better myself.

Starting up the album right now. :edmetal: :)
 
Spaldy said:
I mean, I think it's pretty irrelevant what the reviewer likes or doesn't like. He's a professional writer and has given his thoughts on the album. I'm glad that some rock/metal platforms such as this Metal Hammer review have finally called out Alestorm for their shitty behaviour and hopefully it's a sign to other artists with awful views on race and women that they won't get away with their bs. And regardless of that, Alestorm are a genuinely terrible band.
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It should be irrelevant what the reviewer's personal tastes are, but then again art is an intensely personal thing so how can you review art you don't understand? And if this guy is so "professional" how come he hasn't really discussed the music at all (except to say it sounds like their earlier stuff)? He hasn't really given his thoughts on the album at all, just about Chris Bowes' past conduct, whether a band singing cheesy songs about pirates should still exist after 15 years and the lyrics to just one song.

Even without the Gloryhammer thing I get the impression that the rest of the review would probably still be the same, ie "why can't this band just die, can't they see the joke wore off years ago?" It's the kind of review that I just can't see the point of anyone bothering to write, there's nothing qualitative in it at all.

They are not a "terrible band" - I can vouch for that on account of the four times I've seen them live. What you, or I, or anyone thinks of their subject matter and/or their songs is a separate issue. Whatever their level of "maturity" might or might not be, their bandcraft is top notch.

@Spaldy I already derived from the Gloryhammer thread that you have some sort of personal beef with Chris Bowes, and that this is based on the reports of your friends who also know Chris. And that's fine too, I respect that you respect your friends and their opinions/judgement. But your friends are unknown to me and I'm not going to be forming any opinions based on the nebulously-defined-but-implied-negative opinions of people I've never met.

You're clearly not a fan and that's fine, you can't like everything. But now you've nailed your colours to the mast (absolutely no apologies for the nautical metaphor) about this I don't really have anything further to say to you on this particular subject, I'm not here to convince or convert anyone and there is no discussion topic here that we would both be interested in pursuing. See you elsewhere on the board ;)
 
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I guarantee that the band is taking that review as a badge of honor. I wouldn't even put it past Chris to put Charmless Dickwaddle on his business card.

Personally I have mixed feelings about the album. The good songs are on par with the best of any other album, but the pisstake songs this time around feel like they're not even trying. That said, I'm really happy for my bandmate who did the Spanish part on Wooden Leg part 3.
 
Helphyre said:
I guarantee that the band is taking that review as a badge of honor. I wouldn't even put it past Chris to put Charmless Dickwaddle on his business card.

Personally I have mixed feelings about the album. The good songs are on par with the best of any other album, but the pisstake songs this time around feel like they're not even trying. That said, I'm really happy for my bandmate who did the Spanish part on Wooden Leg part 3.
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All totally fair comments.

Basically I like the album - on the first playthrough it was all good fun musically and nothing jumped out as filler/a complete stinker/whatever. My biggest problem is with Cannonball - not because it's particularly offensive per se but because it feels like they might have been trying to identify a formula to recreate the success of Anchor. And Cannonball is basically the exact same format as Anchor (ie a feeble plot excuse to have a lot of swearing and dubious content) but the thing is they just didn't need to do that because:

a) we already had Anchor,
b) the format worked much better on Anchor and
c) part of the cheeky charm of Anchor was that they only did it that once.

If they've started looking for successful formulae to repeat then I'm a bit concerned going forward but I'll wait to see what they do next before attaching any real significance to this observation. It might just have been a fluke/one bad judgement call.

Apart from that my thoughts up to this point are that Magellan's Expedition, P.A.R.T.Y. (yes I actually really like this one!), Seventh Rum, Return to Tortuga (basically the same lyrics as the original Tortuga but with a completely different tune and style) and Wooden Leg (Part III) are solid and the rest is okay. (I didn't need the Leopold Bloom-type detail in Come to Brazil however :lol:).
 
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