Given my complete gap in coverage last year, I'll quickly catch up a few music releases from the last year that I wanted to comment on.
Dream Theater - Dream Theater - **** 4 Stars
Released last September, this newest album by Dream Theater was named for the band. I always find this a strange approach for an established artist, but I see that it's rather common when changing labels.
I'm a relatively new fan of Dream Theater, having gotten onboard the bandwagon with the release of A Dramatic Turn of Events. Since then, I've also purchased their original 1992 Images and Words, as well as Octavarium (2005).
The engineer on this album has a long history working with Rush, and I was quite surprised to find John Myung's bass sounding amazingly like Geddy Lee in a few tracks. The tone was great, and relatively uncommon, but it kind of threw me.
This new album carries on the tradition of the Dream Theater music without any dramatic changes of approach. The songs are solid, and reminiscent particulary of Images and Words, I think. The singing is solid, and of course the rest of the musicianship is really great. In my view, this album is of similar quality to the others... the only one I have liked any better than this is A Dramatic Turn of Events, which I think is a completely amazing album (the rare "5 Stars" from me).
Rush - Clockwork Angels - **** 4 Stars
This album was actually released in 2012, and I had repeatedly seen references suggesting it's a great album... one of their best. So I finally caught up with it last Christmas.
I liked the whole package quite a lot. It's consistent and interesting. The singing and playing is very good across the board. I found that there were a few quite memorable tunes, particularly including Caravan and Halo Effect. The title track is memorable, but I'm not convinced I really enjoy it that much.
I haven't nearly owned all the Rush catalog, but have been a longtime fan, and saw them live a number of times in the early 80s. I have enjoyed a number of their albums, but always felt 2112 was the masterpiece. I have seen comments suggesting this album rivals 2112, but I don't think it's quite that rich. I do see the similarities, particularly in terms of it being a concept album (such a rare thing these days).
Overall, I think it's nearly a 4-star album in my rating system.
Ed Sheeran - + - **** 4 Stars
I'm sure I wasn't the last to actually listent to Ed Sheeran, but I took my time looking into his music. I'd heard of him for awhile, and was seeing on guitar magazines, etc. In the end, it was pressure from my 13-year-old daughter that got me to buy the album, though the disk is from 2011. And yeah, disk... bought it on CD. Go ahead and tell me I should buy vinyl instead.
I was surprised by this "Plus" album (I see it referred to occasionally as "The A Team", which is the first song on the album). I didn't really have any pre-conception about what his music would be like, as I'm sure I never heard him on the radio (I don't listen often). It's mostly quite subtle... delicate and moving. Ed's voice is high and he sings with a lovely tone and quite strong English accent in places. It's captivating, and my daughter agreed.
I don't generally buy much in the way of singer-songwriter stuff, but I'd say that's what this is, for the most part. It occasionally builds a decent groove, but most of the songs are downbeat. I particularly like the songs Grade 8, Wake Me Up, and the beautiful song of fatherhood: Small Bump.
Regardless of what sort of music you like, have a listen to "Plus" if you haven't heard it. I'm glad I did.
Imagine Dragons - Night Visions (Deluxe) - *** 3 Stars
This is another album I bought at the suggestion of my daughter, and it was equally surprising to me, though not quite as inspiring as Ed Sheeran's. At least I'm reviewing a recording released this year!
I had heard one or two singles when I bought this, but hadn't listened much to the band. I was quite surprised at the solid level of the songs, throughout the album. The ubiquitous Radioactive is a pretty great song, and in fact I think it identifies the key aspect of the production across the entire album: the heavy drums. Nearly all the tracks are dominated by really solid and heavy/echo-y drumming. This brings the music a compelling drive that it might not otherwise manage, but I also found the drums a bit overwhelming.
Good songs, solid playing, and the singing is quite good. If I had seen the performance on the Grammy Awardsbefore buying, I probably wouldn't have bought the album, but in fact the singing is great and the songs are really enjoyable. Pop isn't my genre in general, but this album comes with my recommendation anyway. Will I still be playing it 10 years from now? Maybe not, but I'll get back to you.
Hopefully that's enough of a "catch-up" and I'll start looking forward to finding some new music to entertain me. In a subsequent post, I'll try to catch up on musical instruments that have come into my life over the past year as well.
Groove onwards...