Wednesday, July 31, 2019

Similar Bits: Giraffe + Genesis: TIRED OLD MAN/PUPPET SUITE + RIPPLES

I love Tired Old Man/The Puppet Suite; The 3 or 4 variations from Kevin Gilbert and Giraffe (and NRG?), but I CANNOT DENY how the intro/theme/melody is more or less borrowing from the Genesis tune RIPPLES.

I bet Kevin Gilbert himself would in no way argue or deny this.

It just kind of bugs me.

And I love RIPPLES of course, especially the Annie Haslam cover.

Also the song "Undertow" I hear some, but not as many similarities in TOM/PS from Kevin/Giraffe






Monday, July 29, 2019

PURE REASON REVOLUTION: Sign to Inside Out, NEW ALBUM 2020

Very excited to see this, a new album that is like The Dark Third? I wouldn't mind if it wasn't and more like their other records, but I can't deny I still consider TDT a CLASSIC and my favorite of the 3 albums they made.

2020: another HUGE ANTICIPATION...of course Ours new album is coming in 2020 and it seems some others like dredg, Steven Wilson, Pain of Salvation...Pepe Deluxe too.

Fantastic..kind of wants me to go back to The Dark Third now, lol.

PRR are 1 of the bands from the 2000's I miss and I'm hardly alone in feeling they had more great music in them.

Now? I wonder if with Social Media and many years of people hearing their music, the new record might see them find a revival of fandom..old fans coming back, and maybe newer fans who discovered them after the break-up.

Plus new people who never knew them before, etc.

 Facebook

We’re very pleased to announce that we’ve reunited PRR. We played our first show in close to 8 years at the recent Midsummer-Prog-Festival in the Netherlands, performing ‘The Dark Third’ in full. The festival & crowd reaction was incredible. We were touched that people had travelled from Canada, Russia, Italy, Spain, UK and many more countries. The tracks are as exciting as ever to play & it's encouraging to see the material still has relevance and connects.

We are working on a new studio album and have signed to Inside Out Music - the album will be out in 2020. The material for the new album returns to a much more progressive sound & by doing the Dark Third in its entirety, it’s nice to remind ourselves of the genesis of PRR.
We look forward to seeing you in 2020.
PRR (Jon Courtney & Chloë Alper) xx

Saturday, July 27, 2019

4.5 Star Albums List

An album I rate at 4.5 stars? which I consider an album that I love nearly every thing about, but their might be 1 or 2 tracks I'm not as thrilled with, or it might be too long or too short or something.

But at times many albums I rated at 4.5 were bumped up to 5-stars through just growing on me enough or standing the test of time or something else.

The list I have below of course has many repeated artists (Rush of course being one).

But I need to add how there are many albums on this list I rate above others on this list, i.e. if I were rating them out of 10 or 100, some could be between 9-9.9 or 90-99, etc.

But also of course there are many missing here and some that honestly I don't know if belong (Led Zeppelin III and not I, II, Houses of the Holy, In through the Out Door, etc).

This list is taken from what I have rated on my rateyourmusic account, and then I will admit to inserting a few titles just off the top of my head (some were not in there when I copied it, or I deleted them from this list accidentally, like Ghost Reveries for example).

That being said, after putting up the 5-star album list and now this 4.5-star album list, as long as it may take me, I will now mean to put up the 4-star album list which will be likely 4, 5, 6 times as long (500-700 albums?). I likely won't include images, or decide to make it in more than 1 entry.

But I could easily see EDITING THIS LIST based on seeing some of the titles on the 4-star list that I feel are 4.5 now (or even should have been, but I wasn't thinking straight when I rated them at 4-stars at the time).

I.e. there's like 120 or 125 albums here, but I could easily add I dunno, 20, 50 or more. Including EP's which there are very few, but I have been rating EPs higher in recent years and probably feel some of my favorite EPs belong here.

RANKING THESE? they are NOT ranked, they are just listed in Chronological Order. I could try, but for now, I'm not going to bother. Like the 5-star list, I hate trying to rank so many albums that I feel so strongly about. I get a headache trying to do so.



A photo of the Beatles – George, John, Ringo, and Paul
*The Beatles - Rubber Soul (1965)

 North American release
The Jimi Hendrix Experience - Are You Experienced (1967)

MagicalMysteryTourDoubleEPcover.jpg
The Beatles - Magical Mystery Tour (1967)

Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland.jpg
Jimi Hendrix - Electric Ladyland (1968)

Untitled
Blind Faith - Blind Faith (1969) [Deluxe Edition]

In the Court of the Crimson King - 40th Anniversary Box Set - Front cover.jpeg
King Crimson - In the Court of the Crimson King (1969)

AtomHeartMotherCover.jpeg
Pink Floyd - Atom Heart Mother (1970)

A collage of butterflies, teeth, zeppelins and assorted imagery on a white background, with the artist name and "III" subtitle at center.
Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin III (1970)

 Trespass70.jpg
Genesis - Trespass (1970)

Emerson, Lake & Palmer - Tarkus (1971) front cover.jpg
Emerson, Lake and Palmer - Tarkus (1971)

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Genesis - Nursery Cryme (1971)

Fragile (Yes album) cover art.jpg
Yes - Fragile (1971)

Pink Floyd - Obscured by Clouds.jpg
Pink Floyd - Obscured by Clouds (1972)

RenashesUK.jpg
Renaissance - Ashes Are Burning (1973)

Quadrophenia (album).jpg
The Who - Quadrophenia (1973)

Tales from Topographic Oceans (Yes album).jpg
Yes - Tales From Topographic Oceans (1973)

Queen Sheer Heart Attack.png
Queen - Sheer Heart Attack (1974)

The front of a brownstone, New York, tenement block
Led Zeppelin - Physical Graffiti (1975)

Scheher2.jpg
Renaissance - Scheherazade and Other Stories (1975)

RenCarnegie.jpg
Renaissance - Live at Carnegie Hall (1976)

Rush 2112.jpg
Rush - 2112 (1976)

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Al Di Meola - Elegant Gypsy (1977)

Rush Permanent Waves.jpg
Rush - Permanent Waves (1980)

Moving Pictures.jpg
Rush - Moving Pictures (1981)

Rush Signals.jpg
Rush - Signals (1982)

Police-album-synchronicity.jpg
The Police - Synchronicity (1983)

Pmg - first circle.jpg
Pat Metheny Group - First Circle (1984)

Rush Grace Under Pressure.jpg
Rush - Grace Under Pressure (1984)

A black-and-white photo of a castle with the album and artist name written in dark crimson banners above and below it
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire (1984)

The spectre within (Fates Warning album - cover art).jpg
Fates Warning - The Spectre Within (1985)

A landscape monochrome photograph of U2 in the desert sits in the center of a black background. U2 are standing on the left half of the photograph, with a mountain range on the right half. Tiny gold text reading "THE JOSHUA TREE U2" is stretched across the top of the black background.
U2 - The Joshua Tree (1987)

Untitled
Giraffe - The View From Here (1988)

Fates Warning No Exit.jpg
Fates Warning - No Exit (1988)

Out of the silent planet album cover.jpg
King's X - Out of the Silent Planet (1988)

The Real Thing album cover.jpg
Faith No More - The Real Thing (1989)

Perfect symmetry.jpg
Fates Warning - Perfect Symmetry (1989)

Rush Presto.jpg
Rush - Presto (1989)

Jellyfish Bellybutton.jpg
Jellyfish - Bellybutton (1990)

Faith hope love album cover.jpg
King's X - Faith Hope Love (1990)

Parallels album.jpg
Fates Warning - Parallels (1991)

Kings X Self Titled.jpg
King's X - King's X (1992)

CynicFocus.jpg
Cynic - Focus (1993)

A BluePrint of the world album cover (Wikipedia).jpg
Enchant - A Blueprint of the World (1993)

HandfullofRain.jpg
Savatage - Handful of Rain (1994)

GraceMic.jpg
Jeff Buckley - Grace [Legacy Edition] (1994)

Queensryche - Promised Land cover.jpg
Queensrÿche - Promised Land (1994)

SpocksBeard BewareOfDarkness.jpg
Spock's Beard - Beware of Darkness (1996)

Trid.jpg
Mahavishnu Orchestra - The Lost Trident Sessions (1999)

Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2- Scenes from a Memory.jpg
Dream Theater - Metropolis Pt. 2: Scenes From a Memory (1999)

Transatlantic SMPTe.jpg
Transatlantic - SMPTe (2000)

Porcupine tree lightbulb sun.jpg
Porcupine Tree - Lightbulb Sun (2000)

Disconnected.jpg
Fates Warning - Disconnected (2000)

Toa-front-s.jpg
Zero Hour - The Towers of Avarice (2001)

Manicmoonlight.jpg
King's X - Manic Moonlight (2001)

Clann Zú - Rua
Clann Zú - Rua (2002)

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Ours - Precious (2002)

TheBand3-HalfLife.jpg
3 - Half Life (2002)

A blue book similar to an American passport lies on a desk surrounded by papers, folders, a pen and a glass of water. The blue book has "OSI" printed on its top centre, and "Office of Strategic Influence" along the bottom centre of the book in smaller text. The eagle found on American passports has been altered: the arrows are double-headed, the olive branch is wilted, and the eagle's wings have been clipped.
OSI - Office of Strategic Influence (2003)

Frengers.jpg
Mew - Frengers (2003)

In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth 3 cover.jpg
Coheed and Cambria - In Keeping Secrets of Silent Earth: 3 (2003)

Inter.funda.stifle.jpg
Fair to Midland - Inter.Funda.Stifle (2004)

Untitled
The Velvet Teen - Elysium (2004)

Untitled
Bend Sinister - Through the Broken City (2005)

Frances the Mute.png
The Mars Volta - Frances the Mute (2005)

Klimt 1918 - Dopoguerra (2005).jpg
Klimt 1918 - Dopoguerra (2005)

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Time of Orchids - Sarcast While (2005)

Catch Without Arms.jpg
dredg - Catch Without Arms (2005)

Imogen Heap - Speak For Yourself.jpg
Imogen Heap - Speak for Yourself (2005)

Ghost Reveries (Opeth) album cover.jpg
Opeth - Ghost Reveries (2005)

Everyone into Position.jpg
Oceansize - Everyone Into Position (2005)

And the Glass Handed Kites Album Cover.jpg
Mew - And the Glass Handed Kites (2005)

Muthemath, album cover.jpg
Mutemath - Mutemath (2006)

European release cover
Pure Reason Revolution - The Dark Third (2006)

Thelakesouth.jpg
The Dear Hunter - Act I: The Lake South, the River North (2006)

Untitled
Kacica - Kacica (2006)

Untitled
dredg - Live at the Fillmore (2006)

Untitled
House of Fools - Live and Learn (2007)

Fables from a Mayfly What I Tell You Three Times Is True.jpg
Fair to Midland - Fables From a Mayfly: What I Tell You Three Times Is True (2007)

FramesOceansize.jpg
Oceansize - Frames (2007)

Untitled
Kacica - Mosaic (2008)

Untitled
Eroica - Hisen the Architect (2008)

Untitled
The Reign of Kindo - Rhythm, Chord and Melody (2008)

Untitled
夢中夢 [Mutyumu] - イリヤ -Il y a- (2008)

ExquisitecorpseEP.jpg
Warpaint - Exquisite Corpse (2008)

note. my city cover.jpg
note. - my city of ghosts, stars and hours (2009)

Untitled
Umphrey's McGee - Mantis (2009)

Hospicecover.jpg
The Antlers - Hospice (2009)

PureReasonRevolution AmorVincitOmnia.jpg
Pure Reason Revolution - Amor Vincit Omnia (2009)

Avoid the Light.jpg
Long Distance Calling - Avoid the Light (2009)

Dredg-the-pariah-low-res-2009.jpg
dredg - The Pariah, The Parrot, The Delusion (2009)

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The Dear Hunter - Act III: Life and Death (2009)

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Ramona Falls - Intuit (2009)

Mew-No-More-Stories-Cover.jpg
Mew - No More Stories / Are Told Today / I'm Sorry / They Washed Away // No More Stories / The World Is Grey / I'm Tired / Let's Wash Away (2009)

Localn-gorill 02.jpg
Local Natives - Gorilla Manor (2009)

Untitled
Lehto and Wright - Children's Songs (2010)

Untitled
Jazzkamikaze - Supersonic Revolutions (2010)

A number of people are swimming under water.
Foals - Total Life Forever (2010)

Image of an African American female shoulders up with headgear consisting of multiple buildings and sculptures whilst wearing large triangular earrings she looks into the camera with robotic style metallic shoulder-wear. The background of the image is blue with it darkening away from her head with the title placed across the top of the cover and her name and the words "Suites II and III" of the bottom left hand side whilst four circles three of which are shaded in are placed on the bottom right hand side.
Janelle Monáe - The ArchAndroid (2010)

We're Here Because We're Here (album cover).jpg
Anathema - We're Here Because We're Here (2010)

Light Chasers Album Cover.jpg
Cloud Cult - Light Chasers (2010)

A painting of a samurai warrior in black, red, and white with the name of the album and artist written around it.
Sufjan Stevens - The Age of Adz (2010)

Warpaint-thefool.jpg
Warpaint - The Fool (2010)

Untitled
Mercies - Three Thousand Days (2011)


Vows by Kimbra.png
Kimbra - Vows (2011)

Odd Soul mutemath cover.jpg
Mutemath - Odd Soul (2011)

3 - The Ghost You Gave to Me.jpg
3 - The Ghost You Gave to Me (2011)

The Apologist
East of the Wall - The Apologist (2011)

Untitled
Gatherer - So Be It (2012)

Brice MtAC cover.jpg
Brice Plays Drums - Man the Animal Cannon (2012)

Untitled
Vuvuzela - The Hollow Choir (2012)

Trincart.jpg
The Red Paintings - The Revolution Is Never Coming (2013)

Untitled
The Reign of Kindo - Play With Fire (2013)

Untitled
Fjokra - Thoughtsteps (2014)

Untitled
Vennart - The Demon Joke (2015)

Untitled
Kaddisfly - Horses Galloping on Sailboats (2015)

What went down cover.jpg
Foals - What Went Down (2015)

The Seeker
Cloud Cult - The Seeker (2016)

Fates Warning - Theories of Flight.jpg
Fates Warning - Theories of Flight (2016)

Marillion - Fuck Everyone and Run.jpg
Marillion - F*** Everyone and Run (2016)

Raven Locks Act 3
Dirt Poor Robins - The Raven Locks Act 3 (2017)

Play Dead
Mutemath - Play Dead (2017)

The War: Act I
The Family Crest - The War: Act I (2018)