What Are You Listening To?

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  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards
    2011 - 22 to choose from, including 5 double and 1 triple-CD albums. Highlights include A Dramatic Turn Of Events by Dream Theater, Testimony 2 by Neal Morse, The City Sleeps by Touchstone, Fly From Here by Yes, and the Treme Season 1 soundtrack album.

    A Dramatic Turn Of Events is the first DT album without Mike Portnoy, and the video of the hunt for a new drummer is very interesting. Fly From Here was Yes's first studio album since Magnification in 2001, and marked the return of Geoff Downes on keyboards and the removal of Rick Wakeman's son, Oliver. A good album but a little dominated by leftovers from 1980's Drama sessions.

    Today I pre-ordered The Color Before The Sun by Coheed & Cambria...
  • Malcrof
    Malcrof Posts: 5,971 Chairperson of the Boards
    http://slacker.com/r/mZqN9

    Extreme
    Saigon Kick
    Ugly Kid Joe
    Jackyl
    Motley Crue
    Soul Asylum
    Bon Jovi
    Poison

    Slacker adds some gems in the middle as well. Loving this station.. working on a big project.
  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards
    2012 - 35 (!) to choose from, including 7 double and 3 triple-CD albums. An extended set of highlights include XXX by Asia, Driving Towards The Daylight by Joe Bonamassa, The Afterman: Ascension by Coheed & Cambria, Flying Colors and Live in Europe by Flying Colors, Genesis Revisited II by Steve Hackett, Beneath The Waves by Kompendium, Made In Basing Street by Producers, Clockwork Angels by Rush, and A Life Within A Day by Squackett

    What. An. Epic. Year. For. Music.
  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards
    2013 - 10 to choose from, including 2 double and 1 triple-CD albums. Highlights include Bloom by Alpha Rev, The Afterman: Decension by Coheed & Cambria, Genesis Revisited Live At Hammersmith by Steve Hackett, Brief Nocturnes and Dreamless Sleep by Spock's Beard, and Oceans Of Time by Touchstone
  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards
    2014 - 15 to choose from, including 3 double-, 2 triple- and 1 quadruple-CD (!) albums. Highlights include Second Nature by Flying Colors, Songs From November by Neal Morse, Kaleidoscope by Transatlantic, and the troika of Yes albums Like It Is (1), Heaven & Earth and Like It Is (2).
  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards
    2015 - 10 to choose from, including 3 on pre-order and 1 double-CD album. Highlights include The Breaking Of The World by Glass Hammer, Wolflight by Steve Hackett, and Please Come Home by Lonely Robot. A limited list as I haven't had time to listen to any of them more than a couple of times at home. (And some I don't actually have yet.)

    Then it's filling in the gaps with new arrivals that turned up after I listened to the year they were released / recorded. Such as Live Rosfest by The Syn (from 2009), and, er, that's it. So far.

    :edit: 2013's Unleashed In Japan by The WInery Dogs turned up in the post yesterday, so that's another to the catch-up list.
  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards
    It's been a while, so time for an update, everyone's obviously been on tenterhooks to know what I've been listening to...

    With "The Big Listen" completed, I've been listening to things that have turned up since, such as Second Flight: Live At The Z7 by Flying Colors and Live At Radio City Music Hall by Joe Bonamassa.

    Little Girl has recently got into Carrie Underwood, so although it's not generally my taste in music I've given her albums a listen. Blown Away is pretty good.

    I have a bunch of other albums available that aren't part of The Big Listen, mostly because they're Wifey's. Examples are Orchestral Manoeuvres In The Dark, The Alarm, ABBA, Atomic Kitten, Spice Girls. (Washes hands after typing some of those.) But some are okay, so I've had a listen to a few Jimmy Nail albums.

    I've tried to introduce Little Boy and Little Girl to the kind of music I endured as a child. They like The Everly Brothers, but not Buddy Holly, both of which I had another listen to last week. (I draw the line at Jim Reeves, sorry Mother.) And now I'm reminded of Neil Innes and his protest singer: "I've suffered for my music, now it's your turn".

    After finishing off the last 8 CDs of Progeny by Yes, I've done a Jon & Vangelis and Jon Anderson fest, I'm just finishing a Coheed & Cambria fest, and next up is either Mike Oldfield or maybe Marillion, depending on mood. Or I may jump back into Dream Theater. Decisions, decisions...
  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards
    Another new year at work, and The Big Listen begins again...
  • Unknown
    Unknown
    Awww snap there are some amazing female vocalists that I've been listening to over the last few years.

    A Joy Formidable - she has such a unique accent too. Heavy Abacus, Silent Treatment, Cholla are some of my favs.
    CHVRCHES - Lauren is too adorable. Like a modern metric but more synthpop.
    AURORA - she scares me but her cover of Oasis' Half the World Away sends shivers down my spine.
    Lana del Rey - well now she's just super wacked out on all her songs lol, but Born to Die was a great album.
  • energomash
    energomash Posts: 23 Just Dropped In
    too many zooz: https://youtu.be/u0AN9QFp8ss
  • clownstyle
    clownstyle Posts: 21
    Any random neo-80`s music. Makes me feel like I'm escaping some sort of dystopian city while playing icon_e_smile.gif
  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards
    The Big Listen for 2016 is over. So what is new in 2016? It's quite a disappointing year.

    Anderson / Stolt - Invention of Knowledge: Promised much, didn't deliver
    Dream Theater - The Astonishing: just lumbers from song to song, nothing at all memorable about it
    Frost* - Falling Satellites: Experiments In Mass Appeal was a step down from the mighty Milliontown, this is a bigger, further step down
    Marillion - F E A R: That's 4 in a row of theirs that I really don't like. No more pre-orders from me. Rambling.

    Stand-outs were:
    Robert Reed - Sanctuary II: I didn't think that a retro Mike Oldfield sound-a-like would be as entertaining and as good a listen as it turned out to be. Mighty, and fun (as was Sanctuary).
    The Syn - Trustworks: Album of the year for me. Introduced me to Moon Safari, who have their moments, quite a few moments, and those moments are also mighty.

    Still to come:
    Neal Morse - The Similitude of a Dream: Hopefully it can drag the year back into positive territory
  • sht33v
    sht33v Posts: 5 Just Dropped In
    Synthwave! How have I not discovered this genre until now?

    Mostly, Carpenter Brut:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1s9SmrQRE
  • Stormbringer0
    Stormbringer0 Posts: 190 Tile Toppler
    sht33v wrote:
    Synthwave! How have I not discovered this genre until now?

    Mostly, Carpenter Brut:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DY1s9SmrQRE

    That post could be made by me. Great stuff!
  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards
    Another work year commences, and The Big Listen has started again.

    A slight complication is that I have to work from home for a month or two. After the 7.5 quake in November, the car park across the road from the office is unsafe, and they started demolishing it last week. The office should be accessible again in March, maybe earlier.

    Work time = The Big Listen
    Personal time = anything I feel like
  • parksprs
    parksprs Posts: 1 Just Dropped In
    Adele - Someone Like You
  • Sorin81
    Sorin81 Posts: 522 Critical Contributor
    edited December 2018
    Machine Head - Now We Die
                                 Descend The Shades Of Night
    Parkway Drive - The River
                                 Leviathan I

    On the lighter side:

    The Dubliners - The Fields of Athenry
                  
                  

  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards

    So, as The Big Listen of 2018 gets underway, what was new in 2017?

    Black Country Communion had BCCIV, but that wasn't as immediate as the previous albums.  Mike Portnoy had yet another new project with Sons of Apollo, the album Psychotic Symphony was pretty good.  The Winery Dogs' Dog Years was almost awesome.  Neal Morse released Snow Live, which was mighty, recorded in 2016 at Morsefest, an event I'd love to be able to go to one day.  World Trade released their third album, Unify, 22 years after their second, and I still can't figure out why.

    I also picked up some older releases.  Flaming Row's Elinoire (from 2011) is incredibly mighty, though Mirage - A Portrayal of Figures (from 2014) was disappointing in comparison.  Cairo (Say) and The Fringe (The Fringe) were decent 2016 releases.

    What will 2018 bring?  Who knows.

  • Roland113
    Roland113 Posts: 298 Mover and Shaker
    Ok, I'll play.  After reading through the above posts by Moon Roach, I realized I hadn't listened to the Anderson / Stolt release as of yet.  I am correcting that as we speak.
  • Moon Roach
    Moon Roach Posts: 2,863 Chairperson of the Boards

    So, as The Big Listen of 2018 has been completed, what was new this year?

    Joe Bonamassa's Redemption was mighty.  As is Coheed and Cambria's The Unheavenly Creatures.  Kino released their second album, it's okay, but not as good as their first, which was a favourite back in 2005.  Spock's Beard's Noise Floor was pretty good, Tenacious D's Post-Apocalypto was bonkers, The Sea Within's eponymous debut album was disappointing.

    After seeing Mike Portnoy's Shattered Fortress in Auckland at the end of 2017, I checked out his backing band, Haken.  Their stuff is pretty good, if a little heavy and samey. 

    What will 2019 bring?  New Dream Theater and Neal Morse albums, that's all I know so far.

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