by Truthseeker » Wed Sep 21, 2011 10:30 am
Bought a couple lately...
Dream Theater: A Dramatic Turn of Events. Mike Portnoy leaving the band and the title might make you think this is going to be a step in a new direction for DT, but it's really not. The only real change is that the album doesn't try quite so hard to be heavy as the last two albums. It's a return to what they've been doing for most of their career, with all that entails. To be honest, I think their schtick has gotten stale. In my opinion, they are hands down the most impressive group of instrumentalists in the rock genre. Each individual might not be the best at their instrument ever (though they are close), but in terms of average skill across the members and their ability to play together as a band, I've really never heard anything like them. That said, they have not used their talent to do anything new in ten years. If this is your first DT album, some of the crazy stuff they do might blow your mind. But if you've listened to each of their albums repeatedly like I have, this one is a boringly generic effort for them. 4/10.
Opeth: Heritage. Now this is a band that knows how to avoid becoming stale. Literally every one of their albums have sounded very different from all of the others. For the most part, they are vaguely a death metal band, but they've let themselves freely drift out of that category whenever a song calls for it. With this album, they've completely abandoned metal, let alone death metal. Some of these songs are barely rock and roll, and are more like meandering sequences of unrelated musical moments. These guys keep it interesting, for sure. 9/10.
St. Vincent: Strange Mercy. I have only listened to this album once, but so far I really like it.
Brokan MokO Divine Master, grant that I may not so much seek . . . to be understood, as to understand.