Cd Reviews

So I needed to give Opeth's Heritage a lot of time to sink in properly. I didn't want to make a rush judgement, but in the end Malcom Gladwell was right when in his book, Blink stated sometimes we need to trust our instincts, specially in subjects we are familiar with. In short my opinion hasn't changed from the first time I listened to it. I find Heritage to be overall a good album, but nothing mind blowing.

I wasn't disappointed by the change in direction and while starkly different from the other releases, it manages to be OPETH. I don't particularly care for the first two tracks and would consider them the low point of the album, but from I Feel The Dark on the album gets progressively better. By far my favorite is Folklore with Famine being a close second. It will be interesting to see how long this creative phase lasts for Mikael.

So again, Really good, nothing special, I have found myself playing a lot as background music when I want to wind down, but that's just me. Definitely deserving of a proper sit down and taking it in. If you are open to change, love music in general, pick it up. If you like your Opeth to be all Death and growls... stay away.
 
hi,

I was wondering if anyone out there knows of any good sites that have
realaudio samples, reviews, and recommendations for good techno CDs.  I find
that it is really hard to find good CDs.  Sometimes I just go to Best Buy
and take my chances and buy one.  However, 4 out of 5 times the albums are
not what I am looking for.  I live in the Tampa, FL are in case anyone knows
some good stores.  Recommendations are always welcome.  My three favorite
CDs right now are "Sash-It's My Life," "Lords of Acid-Lust," and "The
Crystal Method-Vegas."  I really like a lot of music I hear at raves and
house clubs.  Thanks in advance.
 
For Techno I have No clue... I have friends that like Techno so I'll ask them how they find their music and get back to you in like a week (that's when I see them).
 
Got the album this morning and the Classic Rock fanpack. Haven't stopped playing it!

I loved GTBB and still do but I agree with you totally about this being Doug's finest playing,Yuki. The whole band sound brilliant (the new guys are amazing!) and I also really like the diversity of the album.

My favourite track is 'Forevermore'- I think it's one of the best WS songs ever, both David's vocals and the music really touch me.I also really like 'All Out Of Luck' ,'Steal Your Heart Away and 'Easier Said Than Done'.No doubt a few others will become favourites as I get to know the songs more!

Thank you for all the work you put into bringing 'Forevermore' to us,dear Doug,and congratulations to all of you on a superb album.Can't wait to hear some of the songs played live!
Much love,
 
Sorry, need to bump this up to make it easier to find when I start writing up reviews in the next few weeks. I will edit this post with actual content.
 
So I haven't posted here in a while, but to be honest, haven't purchased that much music in the past few years and not much worth reviewing since most have been guilty pleasures or nostalgia purchases like Gorillaz.

Anywho, I recently got Stratovarious' latest Nemesis, Epica's The Quantum Enigma and Dream Theater's Self-Titled.

Nemesis is Timmo Tolki-less Stratovarious chugging along like they have done for the past three albums. Literally nothing new, but solid, consistent Power Metal. I Think of this album like I thought of the movie The Conjuring. They both did nothing new for their respective genres, but they executed the familiar themes and ideas well. This is a very good album and what Power Metal should be. They are the only band I continue to follow from back in the 80's. Helloween has bored me, Gamma Ray are... well... copying everything left and right. Of the "newer" bands, Sonata Arctica began to decline immediately after their first album (even though their second is still a strong effort),Edguy has gone in an interesting direction which leaves me wishing for more Avantasia albums instead and I just don't care for the rest. Stratovarious continues to put out solid albums after losing their main songwriter. Honestly it was needed, Tolki had taken the band to an odd place with the Elements albums and the self-titled effort. Kotipelto and Co. definitely rescued the band.

Dream Theater's self titled... hmm... honestly no opinion. It didn't blow me away like Dramatic Turn of Events did, but it didn't disappoint me the way 6 degrees did. Sounds like a mish mosh of some of their older stuff, but a decent album. I had no expectations for this one and so far the only song that catches my ear is The Looking Glass. Not bad, not good either, just very... Meh.


The Quantum Enigma is my favorite of the three. What a great album. Requiem for the Indifferent was good, but not as memorable as Design Your Own Universe, this one though... comes a close second to DYOU. Great arrangements, powerful performances from the entire band. Highly recommend it.
 
Accept - Blind Rage (released 15 August 2014)

Third album since reunion without their original singer, and I doubt anyone thought they would be around for this long - or be so successful with a new singer. But here they are, once again with Andy Sneap as producer, a name that carries both promise and not such a small amount of fear in that we're certain to get one of the best productions in the genre, but also with a risk of sounding like everything else he has produced.

Blind Rage is in many ways just like its two predecessors, in that it is classic heavy metal with Sneaps usual heavy production. Singer Mark Tornillo fits the band perfectly and no-one will miss Udo Dirkschneider this time either. The real highlight is however as always lead guitarist Wolf Hoffmann, who has an umistakeable style and delivers leads more focused on melody than speed, which sets him apart from most of his colleagues in this particular kind of music.

For Accept, Sneap is the perfect fit and this third album solidifies the new Accept sound. Who would have thought that they would return and make such a serious and lasting impression? There is no doubt that the band is firing on all cylinders, both in creativity and live performance. If you want classic heavy metal the way it is meant to be played, Blind Rage is the album for you this year.

Extra plus points for the excellent cover art. I need to get this on vinyl.

8/10

Seeing them live next week, something I am very much looking forward to.
 
I enjoyed Blood of Nations. Didn't realize they'd kept it up.
I will have to check this out.
 
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