Monday, November 19, 2012

11/19/12


11/19/12  Today's Albums:

Intro:  What the hell is Carl Palmer doing at the 6 minute mark in Tocatto . . . really, timpani and sirens?  At a glance, I'll guess that the first streak is about to be established, Bring on the Night is a fantastic live CD by Sting and the early favorite for the day.  Sting may be the first to have the winner two days in a row.

The Albums:
  • Brain Salad Surgery - Emerson, Lake and Palmer
  • Brave (Bonus Disc) - Marillion
  • Brave New Hope - Basia
  • Bravo - Gazpacho
  • Break - Enchant
  • Bridge Across Forever - Transatlantic
  • Bring on the Night - Sting
  • Bringing Down the Horse - The Wallflowers
Summary:

What a mediocre day, Sting and Basia were the winners here, Basia was a nice, jazzy / pop thing, very well mixed and bright.

Today's winner, Bring on the Night was the recording of Sting's first concert after leaving The Police.  Here's an interesting side note, I used to have the associated documentary on VHS.  I learned a lot about the man through this documentary, there was a lot of nervousness over this concert, Sting and the band were pretty convinced that the remainder of his career would be determined by this one show.  It's a little strange to see someone as calm and confident as Sting is these days, almost panicking over this show.  Regardless of any fears he may have had, the show and the band absolutely rocked.  Branford Marsalis (sax), Kenny Kirkland (keys) and Omar Hakim (drums) shined in particular.

Bridge Across Forever is my favorite Transatlantic CD, though Transatlantic doesn't click with me quite as much as they should.  To the non progheads here, four of the current 'giants' in the symphonic vein of progressive rock are Marillion, The Flower Kings, Spock's Beard and Dream Theater  (three of these four are in my top ten favorite bands).  Transatlantic is composed of members of those four bands.  Transatlantic is a band that I go bananas over, unfortunately, I mostly don't like bananas and I mostly don't Transatlantic either.  I like the thirty minute epics as much as the next prog head, but the band has three albums and four epics that are close to 30 minutes.  Can I just have a ten minute song, truly, that's epic enough for me.  Still, Bridge Across Forever does have the two best epics by the band.

Brain Salad Surgery . . . I get it, this is another Prog classic . . . no wait, I don't get it.  There is some good stuff but give me Tarkus over Brain Salad any day.

Hey, the good news is that nothing got the ignominious 'bleh' rating.

The Final Tally:
  • Winner
    • Bring on the Night - Sting
  • Growers
    • Brave New Hope - Basia
  • Keepers
    • Bridge Across Forever - Transatlantic
  • Wibblers (no opinion one way or another)
    • Brain Salad Surgery - Emerson, Lake and Palmer
    • Brave (Bonus Disc) - Marillion
    • Bravo - Gazpacho
    • Break - Enchant
  • Moodies (Albums for a certain mood)
    • Bringing Down the Horse - The Wallflowers
  • Bleh

    2 comments:

    Craig said...

    not a sting fan and not a fan of ELP :( absolutely love Bridge though. so good. do you like marillion? i'm trying to get into them, but it hasn't clicked yet.
    c

    Tom said...

    See, I do have the occasional pop side and Sting is pretty much at the top of it. I loves me some Sting.

    Marillion I'm hit and miss with. I mentioned that three of the four Transatlantic bands are among my favorite, well, Marillion is the one that isn't. Like you, I really enjoy 'Bridge' though the rest of the CD leaves me somewhat lacking. Try listening to 'Neverland' off of Marbles, that was one of the first Marillion songs that made me go 'wow'. The album, "Clutching at Straws" is another one that really clicked with me. Beyond those two, I keep listening to them in the hopes that I suddenly love everything that they do.