Recent albums by classic artists (short reviews)

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Basslint
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Recent albums by classic artists (short reviews)

Post by Basslint »

Hello everybody.

In the last year, I started questioning myself: why do I consider myself a fan of certain artists but then ignore their new releases, only focusing on the "classic" era? It's fair to dislike the new stuff but only if you actually listen to it, otherwise it's prejudice.

So I've started listening to new (< 10 years) albums and tracks by classic (let's say 25+ years of career) artists and there is indeed some good stuff. This thread is to give it proper respect to those works by sharing short reviews.

I will start with Magnetized (2013) by Johnny Hates Jazz. Clark Datchler is really a good songwriter and he showed it plenty in the 80s; he had nothing to prove but if someone had doubts, he did it again with very catchy songs with deep (and often spiritual) lyrics. The production by Nike Nocito (original member whom also co-produced their 1989 classic album "Turn back the clock") is a well-balanced "update" to the 80s sound that does not sound like they are trying too hard to be "modern" like it sometimes happens with older bands trying to appeal to a younger public. Absolutely recommended to all fans of good British music!
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Re: Recent albums by classic artists (short reviews)

Post by tavasti »

Accept, German metal band who had their most famous releases in 80s.

Their new album 'Too Mean to Die' is solid stuff, still doing great songs and performing fine. Sure, only one member is original, but 3 of the members are born 50s or 60s. Second half of the members are much younger.

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Re: Recent albums by classic artists (short reviews)

Post by Impostor »

My Dying Bride:
I lost interest in the late 90's with their (solid, but rather bland i.m.o.) "Like gods of the sun" and "The light at the end of the world". Only in 2012 I started listening to their newer stuff, and it turned out I had missed some phenomenal work of them (most notably "The dreadful hours" and "For lies I sire").

So naturally I started to follow their releases more closely, and I think their best recent work is "Feel the misery", from 2015. As dark as their earliest works. Second track, "To shiver in empty halls", from 06:00 onwards brings me shivers without fail..Gorgeous!

But still, entire albums regarded, nothing beats their 1993 album "Turn loose the swans".
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Re: Recent albums by classic artists (short reviews)

Post by sunrat »

Steely Dan! I have listened to their last 2 albums several times recently and while the production is excellent, the songs don't have the emotion of pre-Gaucho releases. I never got into Gaucho either although it has a couple of nice-enough tracks like Hey Nineteen.
Audiophiles being audiophiles though, I often read reviews of what I call "hifi porn". A number of articles start with "so I put on Gaslighting Abbie from Two Against Nature" - it sounds wonderful but bland.
On the other hand, Duran Duran's new album "Future Past" is way better than I expected it to be. 8)
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Re: Recent albums by classic artists (short reviews)

Post by Nachei »

Funny synchronicity, Recently I made a similar reasoning about Guided By Voices and I've been exploring their discography from 2022 backwards. Its leader, Bob Pollard, is a leviathan of composition who sometimes publishes 4 albums a year (and some of them double albums!), and his production is always consistent, so this has been a treasure trove of great new music for me.

Ah, and I forgot to recommend a title because they are all still a bit mixed up in my mind. Their latest as I write, "Tremblers And Gogglers By Rank" is great, very energetic and they take an unexpected, very well done stab at strings in certain songs.
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Re: Recent albums by classic artists (short reviews)

Post by Impostor »

Voivod - Synchro Anarchy

No new album of Voivod will probably ever match one of the classic quartet {Dimension Hatross, Nothingface, Angel Rat, Outer Limits} but both musically and vocally Synchro Anarchy does come close!

I like the sound of the vocalist much much better than on the previous couple of Voivod albums, and musically it reminds me very much of Dimension Hatross and Nothingface, with its tempo/signature changes.

Recommended! This is in my opinion their best album of this millennium.

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