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Alle Bewertungen (71)
- 64memories (1284)- Bewertung vom Käufer.Vor über einem JahrBestätigter KaufGreat communication. A pleasure to do business with.
Rezensionen (5)
06. Jun 2008
OK, but no as good throughout as at a few points.
This group's self-titled first album is extraordinary, and there are only a few songs on it that are just "good", and not extremely well-crafted prog-rock. This album barely qualifies as progressive, and is an album of basically safe, pleasant music. In this album there are a few songs that are experimental - and they're well worth the price of the album; but they're not representative of the whole album.
28. Sep 2016
You won't need more, but I did.
My title doesn't make sense because it's meant to "pull" you in. Recently I decided to upgrade my personal den/home office stereo system. After going through various iterations, I suddenly realized that one of my existing stereo systems (stereo essentially means "multi-channel", not 2 channel) might be right for the room in question. My office is 11.5' wide by 15.5' long - but because of an HDTV in one corner (of the short wall) and a built-in bookshelf in the other corner - my speakers could only be 4.5' apart. I went to one of my home theaters set-ups, which is a 6.1 speaker system, and took two of the six Omnisats into the office and set them up. The spread of these speakers is superb. The entire end of the room became a solid "wall of sound". Thus, true to the title of my review. despite having six of these babies I needed two more for a completely different room's system. Mixed with a stupendous subwoofer (if I can get away with it I'll put in a plug for the Orb Sub), these speakers sound very similar in effect to my Magnepan system in my living room. If anyone has ever heard of "Maggies", then you know what a compliment this is. These speakers were originally $180 each (years ago). In the process of establishing my system I listened (in-house) to four other pairs/brands of speakers, ranging in prices from $250 to $650 per pair. These Mirage's are the winners, and they were under my nose all along. When they are bought used, these speakers are even a more fantastic deal. While shopping around for my new system I spoke with close to a dozen audio sales folks to explain what I liked in terms of sound. I should have noticed that literally every sales person with whom I spoke had heard of, and spoke well of, my preferred stereo speakers - especially Mirage Omnisats. Like Tony the tiger would say, these speakers are GREAT!
02. Apr 2008
I Like Yes, and Jon Anderson, But...
Yes is thought of by many as being Jon Anderson's group whereas it was (and is), at its core, made up by Anderson (on vocals) and Chris Squire (bassist and harmonizing vocals). While I count Yes as perhaps my favorite "rock" group there I times when, as their albums developed, I found some of their compositions a bit too pompous and tedious and frothy (e.g., "Tales of Topographic Oceans").
However, there have been times when Yes was somewhat "Anderson"-less. Specifically, the "Drama" album (with Trevor Horn on vocals) which was followed up by the wildly successful "90210" and "Big Generator" albums (essentially penned by Trevor Rabin) . These three albums had lyrics mostly NOT written by Jon Anderson and yet both the lyrics, and the melodies, went back to a sound that involved shorter songs and punchier melodies.
In short, the songs still had Yes-like multi-layering of instruments, but were more to-the-point, as early Yes songs were written. Jon Anderson left the group and "Anderson, Bruford, Wakeman and Howe" was released (because Squire had retained rights to the "Yes" name) . The trend of accessible songs started to come to an end with the "Reunion" album, putting Anderson and Squire back together but eventually squeezing out Rabin. In the middle of these times both Jon Anderson and Chris Squire put out solo albums, the former in quantity. Incidentally, anyone who remotely likes tasteful prog-rock should definitely check out Squire's incredible "Fish Out Of Water" album.
So, the point of all this is that THIS album is made by Squire relations and, as such and as suggested by other reviewers, has a sound vaguely reminiscent of Yes - but of the punchier, gutsier, variety of writing. The songs are replete with multi-layered and complex harmonies, both instrumentally and vocally, as befitting Chris Squire's family. His (ex-)wife has a tendency to be a "shouter", rather than a crooner, as her singing style. This facet and her alto vocal range makes her sound like a Grace Slick
knock-off, in a good way.
Basically there isn't much that isn't VERY good about this album (if we're talking to people who like art rock, here). This goes down to and includes the fact that at least eight of the songs can all be considered tour-de-forces. I would reserve a 5-star rating for a few albums, but if I could be allowed a 4.5 rating for this album I would easily rate it as such