Intro: Ok, so I didn't quite get through Doomsday Afternoon yesterday (I listened to about five minutes of the first song) so we're starting the day off with it. We're going to hit most of the 'Dream' albums today, interestingly enough, I think Dreams is the second most used word to start an album (not including 'the' and other small fries). Black still wins, but there are apparently a lot of people out there that dream in black.
On a related note, both Robert Plant and Robert Miles have an album called Dreamland . . . who knew.
The Albums:
- Doomsday Afternoon - Phideaux
- Dosage - Collective Soul
- The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
- Dramarama - Agents of Mercy
- A Dramatic Turn of Events - Dream Theater
- Drastic Fantastic - KT Tunstall
- The Dream of the Blue Turtles - Sting
- The Dream Sequencer - Ayreon
- Dreamland - Robert Miles
So, it's a catch up kind of day. I've sadly been remiss in updating the blog as of late. Between work and my new duties with The Prog Archives, I'm a little behind. With that being said, there really wasn't a big chance that anyone was going to beat Doomsday Afternoon. Phideaux is a great artist and Doomsday is one of my two favorites by him. If you're looking for melodic, brooding prog, you can't go wrong here, from the gentle, pained warblings of Crumble to the driving angry mood of "Thank You For the Evil" this remains one of my frequent go to albums.
I should probably include "A Dramatic Turn of Events" as a grower as I didn't turn it off once, it's growing on me.
Dramarama is the second release from "Agents of Mercy" an offshoot of one of my favorite bands, The Flower Kings. The unfortunate reality is that they never quite hit their stride on this one. Even with the addition of Lalle Larsson (one of the best keyboard players in prog) doesn't save Dramarama from the general meanderings of the CD. It feels like it should go somewhere . . . it doesn't.
I think I've mentioned this before, I have a soft spot for Sting, I love a lot of his stuff and "The Dream of the Blue Turtles" is no exception. This was his first solo release and he hit the mark on this one. This one produced four solid hits; "Fortress Around Your Heart", "Russians", "If You Love Somebody, Set them Free" and "Love is the Seventh Wave". Yeah, same album. The beauty of it is, is that there are four other songs that are just as good if not better; "We Work the Black Seam" and "Moon Over Bourbon Street" both are on par with the hits. The title track, however, is a one minute jazzy gem that just makes you smile. My favorite track from the album is "Shadows in the Rain". This is a four minute romp through insanity and excess with the formative lyrics:
Woke up in my clothes again this morning. Don't know exactly where I am.
I should heed my doctor's warning, he does the best with me he can
Kenny Kirkland's electric piano solo is worth the price of admission on its own merit. All in all, this CD could have easily been crowned the co-winner of the day. (You know what, it's my blog, I'm doing it)
Also, an honorable mention for the Robert Miles CD, the song Children has such a haunting melody and the overall electronica / trancy feel warrants a keeper rating for this one.
The Final Tally:
- Winner
- Doomsday Afternoon - Phideaux
- The Dream of the Blue Turtles - Sting
- Growers
- The Dream Sequencer - Ayreon
- Keepers
- Dreamland - Robert Miles
- Wibblers (no opinion one way or another)
- A Dramatic Turn of Events - Dream Theater
- Moodies (Albums for a certain mood)
- Drastic Fantastic - KT Tunstall
- Bleh
- Dosage - Collective Soul
- The Downward Spiral - Nine Inch Nails
- Dramarama - Agents of Mercy
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