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Song Of The Day - 26th August 2008: The Sixth Extinction
26 VIII 2008, 19:16
Ayreon / "The Sixth Extinction" / 01011001 (Disc 2, Track 7) / Jan 2008
Artist: Ayreon
Original Album: 01011001
Track:
The Sixth Extinction
I've been holding off on picking an Ayreon track despite nattering on about the project for a while. The reason being that there are too many Ayreon tracks that are worthy of a mention, and so many of them have their own unique reason for their choice, but in the end it has to be this one for the jaw-dropping ad-libs at the end. The first ten or so times I listened to it I was close to shedding tears of joy at the end it was that good. I think it was either the second or third time I heard it I actually did notice a small tear descending a little way. I can't think of any other time music has had that effect on me. Sadly I can't quite parallel the same level of excitement any more having listened to it an average of once a day for the last several weeks. Instead it's become more of a sing along kind of affair unless I'm on the train, then it's more of a challenge to keep my mouth shut. ...Urk.
So there's been this proverbial cloud over my head for a while. When am I going to drop an Ayreon track into Song of the Day, and which one? I think it had to be this one all along, even despite flirting with the idea of picking another. But not having it set in stone was becoming too much to bear, so I've relented, and am hoping this will get Arjen out of my system for a couple of days.
Artist: Ayreon
Original Album: 01011001
Track:
The Sixth ExtinctionI've been holding off on picking an Ayreon track despite nattering on about the project for a while. The reason being that there are too many Ayreon tracks that are worthy of a mention, and so many of them have their own unique reason for their choice, but in the end it has to be this one for the jaw-dropping ad-libs at the end. The first ten or so times I listened to it I was close to shedding tears of joy at the end it was that good. I think it was either the second or third time I heard it I actually did notice a small tear descending a little way. I can't think of any other time music has had that effect on me. Sadly I can't quite parallel the same level of excitement any more having listened to it an average of once a day for the last several weeks. Instead it's become more of a sing along kind of affair unless I'm on the train, then it's more of a challenge to keep my mouth shut. ...Urk.
So there's been this proverbial cloud over my head for a while. When am I going to drop an Ayreon track into Song of the Day, and which one? I think it had to be this one all along, even despite flirting with the idea of picking another. But not having it set in stone was becoming too much to bear, so I've relented, and am hoping this will get Arjen out of my system for a couple of days.
Komentarze
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GrantRS napisał(a):
You don't buy CDs anymore? *Gasp* I hope you're paying for legal downloads then because otherwise it's stealing. The sleeve notes are essential for this one, and all Ayreon releases really. Actually, make that all concept albums.
I don't think there's anything filthy about the 'spread our seeds' part inNewborn Race and Ride The Comet, the Forever clearly aren't supposed to be human, and there's no real details given about the seeds that merit any claim that it's filthy. For all we know, the 'seeds' could be readymade mini-clones that will mature on their own or in Egyptian style pyramids or actually like plant seeds as in a horror movie or something. Really nothing filthy about that.
Over the course of my first listen I went from not knowing Jorn's name to having to move him into a very high slot on my mental hierarchy of top singers. In fact, on first listen the only vocalist on the album I already had in my collection was Tom from Evergrey. Of course, I knew of a lot of the others. I'd heard Bob, Steve, Daniel, Hansi, Ty and Floor before, but none of them were in my collection. Oh, and I had heard Jorn, but only once or twice and didn't realise that I had until later making the connections to the bands I had heard before.
Anyway, I was really really impressed by all participants, with the possible exception of Ty who practically had a spoken part. Particularly though, I was impressed with Jorn like I just mentioned, and surprised by Hansi as I had previously decided I didn't like his vocals, but he has redeemed himself.
Oh, and working on the assumption that the ad libs were written by the performers and not Arjen, the one thing I've found to criticise is how cliche Steve's ad lib is: "I know we'll make it in the end!" Real original! ...but it just sounds awesome, I can't deny that!
I know what you mean about Gotthard being 'radio-friendly', what I've heard has mostly been on youtube, but I have to keep in mind that anything on youtube is likely to have been selected as a single and to have a vmusic video because it is the most 'radio-friendly' song on the album. However, I don't hold out a lot of hope for the album tracks to really counter-balance the accessibility. Still, it's tempting to see the list of Ayreon collaborators as a checklist of bands to own "at least 1" cd by. -
GrantRS napisał(a):
But wouldn't it be funny if I'd actually been listening to Japanese karaoke versions of these tunes for all this time?? LOL... ;D
LOL. Yes, that would be pretty funny. I would've thought you'd be able to tell the difference though. They're probably just your ordinary pirate copies.
Hmm, does that mean you'll be giving Blind Guardian another try then? I really like 'em. I find a little power metal goes a long way so I'm pretty particular about the music I acquire in that genre. I've been burned before-- only like one or two songs by Stratovarius... find HammerFall to be sorta boring, etc.
Again, lol. I honestly can't remember where my huge HammerFall playcount came from. I have a couple of their cds, but I haven't been listening to them at all for months, must be coming up for a year now. I think it was just because they were one of the first power metal bands I heard that I liked, so I just kind of dove in headfirst listening over and over again.
I will be periodically listening to Blind Guardian on sites like youtube and similar, but I'm finding a lot of their material on that site is much slower than I remember it being. Plus, a whole concept album about Lord of the Rings? I'm sorry, but I shudder at that thought. I like concept albums, but I'm not a fan of Lord of the Rings. You would have thought that I would be, but I'm not.
I think the problem is though that anything that can be easily categorised like HammerFall and Stratovarius is not going to maintain interest for too long. That's the appeal of prog, and perhaps more so bands that have elements of prog but can't easily be chucked into that category with much certainty.
These days I mainly get CDs when sound quality is the most important; for example, I want to hear every ting and spray of Mike Portnoy's cymbals and every gasp that comes from Matt Bellamy's precious throat!
For me that is just about everything. I'd struggle to name any one of my top 50 where I wouldn't want to have the cd to hear everything crystal clear...well, maybe HammerFall since I really don't listen to them at all anymore. Besides that though, I do generally find that I won't listen to music I haven't paid for more than four or five times even if I have downloaded, and there's a whole new appreciation for having the tracks in order, being able to hold the packaging in your hands and think "Yes, I own a cd by [whoever]", psychologically it really adds to my enjoyment of the music. I've never used paid downloads though because, basically, I don't trust myself or my computer not to accidentally wipe them. That, and I don't think it actually saves any money anyway.
