What's It Called?
Focus - Hocus Pocus
What's The Story?
Focus is one of those too-bizarre 70s prog rock bands, founded by a flautist in Holland in the late 60s. Sampled and bemused by many, Hocus Pocus is the most recognizable of their tunes; an instrumental from their first album Focus Plays Focus.
Who's To Blame?
Once upon a time, someone told me to explain what I meant when calling a person "a character", and I pointed to the guy and said "him over there!"
Why ♥ It?
There are no less than two flute solos, several yodeling bursts, a classic rock guitar riff that your old man would dig, a goddamn whistling solo, and a more-than-catchy main refrain. Name me three other songs you know with those exact traits.
Seriously though; if you find yourself listening to Boston and wish that they replaced blazing vocal/guitar harmonies with outright weirdness, then this song is for you.
...& If not, listen to it anyway. I promise you'll heartily laugh once or twice.
Showing posts with label Prog Rock. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Prog Rock. Show all posts
Tuesday, October 2, 2012
Monday, October 3, 2011
100311
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
Spock's Beard is a neo prog-rock band, a mouthful that says they play music that'll satisfy prog fans as well as fans of radio rock in the 80s. Formerly Neal Morse's band, he departed after the release of their magnum opus, Snow. This is from the bands eponymous 8th album, the third after Neal's departure.
Who's To Blame?
10 to 1 odds that his finger's in a dyke as we speak*.
Why ♥ It?
Ever hear Andy, You're A Star by The Killers? The chorus of this song is nigh-identical to the verse in that one, except the melodramatic vocals and raw guitar sounds are replaced by a polished, full-band sound.
The verse, on the other hand, reeks of determination. Basic & constant percussion backing upbeat, monotonous vocals with repetitive guitar/bass/keys. Not to disparage it, it's excellent; the strength is in the rigid delivery.
They Know We Know is a ride through the country on a sunny day. Bright, peasant, and mostly unchanging--because that's what you want from it.
* = The stone kind.
Sunday, October 2, 2011
100111
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
Porcupine Tree are probably the Radiohead of progressive rock: immaculately constructed tunes that sound like emotional damage. The Creator Has A Mastertape is a lesser known track from a better known album, In Absentia.
Who's To Blame?
A designer from Holland who married a different kind of designer from Hong Kong.
Why ♥ It?
Porcupine Tree tends towards heartbreak rather than happiness. This song is upbeat and frequently sounds industrial (think Ministry), but still keeps to the essential brooding Porcupine Tree style.
Like 40% of the songs I post here (at least), the bass line in this song is one of the prime draws. Nothing complex, just constant & driving. The vocals are delivered without emotion by design, and sound like dystopia. The guitar features odd sounds and dissonant chords in otherwise quiet atmospheres and during thrash-friendly rock out sections.
The dynamic is admirable as well: the verses feature the aforementioned brooding vocals, driving bass and bizarre guitar, and this gets more chaotic in the prechorus before the full on headbanger emerges with no vocals, the same (now overshadowed) bass line, and the Ministry-sound I talked about.
Don't mind the prog rock label; if catharsis rock was a thing, I'd file it there. It's worth hearing, especially if you feel like breaking stuff.
Saturday, October 9, 2010
100710
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
Queensryche's description varies with who you ask; some pigeonhole them as classic rock, others heavy metal, and some as straight progressive rock. Regardless, they're best known for the album this track comes from, Empire.
Who's To Blame?
...Is it normal for a guy who keeps a song blog to get so many recommendations from rhythm-based plastic instrument games?
Why ♥ It?
The chorus in this tune is what it's all about.
The song carries through the verses like any competent power ballad or heavy-hearted metal tune, but without the usual cheese. It's sung honestly like a soliloquy from a musical.
The chorus, however, sets a mood that's emotionally heavy. I keep thinking Ashes or Cribcaged by Pain of Salvation, except radio-ready. Combine those two elements with a any-rock-genre-ready guitar solo and quick climax outro, and the tune is a neat piece that is set like a table; standard decorations around a valuable centerpiece.
tl; dr: I just called this song a table.
Saturday, September 25, 2010
092410
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
Wikipedia describes Big Wreck as "neo-progressive hard rock". Prog rockers and mainstream rockers alike will shudder at Big Wreck being labelled neo-prog, but either group will probably like them. Go figure.
They're from Boston, and this track is from their first (& only successful) release, In Loving Memory Of...
Who's To Blame?
Large gleaming songs the third.
Why ♥ It?
I talked the other day about how Anthrax could write a laid back, muchly unheavy metal tune. Big Wreck writes a song that gets on MuchMusic's annual pop-rock compilation for its general likability & accessibility, but thrashes heavily in a way that Pantera would probably respect. (See, among others, 1:50 & 3:29). It seems especially heavy, since they often pump the noise in after slow, mostly vocal breakdowns. If you've heard Stars by Hum, this song effects in a similar way.
All considered, this song... er... That Song is a solid rock song with a draw for radio types and anti-radio types alike.
Thursday, September 16, 2010
091410
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
Pain of Salvation is a progressive rock/metal outfit from Sweden who have a minor beef with the American way of life. Their vocalist, Daniel Gildenlow, is well known from working with other artists in the field. Cribcaged is from their sixth studio album, Scarsick.
Who's To Blame?
An organic chemist who plays the organ.
Why ♥ It?
This song is liquid catharsis. The piano throughout (especially until the 3 minute mark) is heartwrenching, and the mood is dark and brooding. I like how the band doesn't achieve the mass release of frustration through screaming and drop-D chords; they spend 3 minutes building the mood and then kick in the metal, and it's still subtle then by metal standards. Teenagers would love this song if they had the attention span to wait 3 minutes to hear a vocalist sing the word fuck.
Sunday, September 12, 2010
090810
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
The Mars Volta are the weirdest band you know. Formed in 2001 from the ashes of At The Drive In, the band has many guest and session players, including John Frusciante & Flea of the better-known Red Hot Chili Peppers. L'Via L'Viaquez is from their most popular album, Frances The Mute.
Who's To Blame?
A guy who, at one point, claimed membership in 7 bands that play downtown regularly.
Why ♥ It?
The main verse has an appealing punky hook and funky bass line, and then transitions into a breakdown that does Black Magic Woman proud. Somehow, these work together.
090610
Due to falling almost a week behind, I will STFU and just post the tunes this week with one sentence or less, like many other song a day blogs do. Let's see if this format is more or less fun. Feel free to comment with any thoughts on this maybe-temporary paradigm shift.
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
Liquid Tension Experiment are an instrumental prog rock supergroup formed mostly of current and former members of Dream Theater. This tune is from their first self titled album.
Who's To Blame?
One of the more irritating people on Earth.
Why ♥ It?
Phenomenal and catchy instrumentation if you want to invest attention, great hooks and progressions if you want background music.
Monday, August 23, 2010
082310
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
Marillion are an 80's British rock band. That should conjure a pretty good idea of what to expect from one of their tracks from that description alone. This tune is the closing song from their concept album Clutching At Straws.
Who's To Blame?
Dick Raleigh. Pseudonyms are objective descriptions, right?
Why ♥ It?
Context important, so I repeat that this track is the final track on a concept album. Armed with that knowledge, I'm going to throw out that this song makes for a perfect finale. The intro riff and vocals seem like the topic sentence of a conclusion in an academic paper; energetically rehashing what's been said already. It's a great hook into the rest of the song, which drags pensively for a few bars after before picking up speed again.
The song really gets good from the guitar solo (3:27) out; the energy and pensive sections have finished, and the song kicks into the final movement that I'd compare to the last few minutes of Dream Theater's Finally Free. However, instead of a drum solo, there's a standout vocal performance, and instead of the same guitar riff over and over, it's the same intense piano chordage. From 5:05 until the end in particular is goosebumpworthy thanks to the female vocal, and an ideal end to the album.
What I do like and can't really quantify, however, is that this song is my favorite on the album, and I frequently find myself listening to it separate of the whole shebang. Along with the highlights itemized above, that makes this track worthy on its own merits.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
081410
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
The Black Mages are a sort of progressive metal group from Japan dedicated entirely to covering tracks from the Final Fantasy series of video games. Added spice: the composer of the music, Nobuo Uematsu, plays keyboards. Battle With The Four Fiends is from their second compilation album, and originally appeared in Final Fantasy IV.
Who's To Blame?
Certainly not a white mage.
Why ♥ It?
I promise, I have an answer that isn't just campy nostalgia.
I feel context will help though; this music plays during the game when fighting major villains at plot apexes. Knowing that, consider the song sort of like a story.
The organ riff that plays 0:13-0:30 feels like an oppressive tyranny. The section that answers post transition (0:35-1:09) feels like a new hope; a heroic tale of saving the day. The next slow transition (1:11-1:20) feels like the calm before the storm, and the organ riff following conveys a sinister plot of Snidely Whiplash (1:23-1:52). THEN the transition there with the quick chords and energetic drums (1:53-2:04) feels like a back-and-forth battle between these heroic and sinister movements that bridge the gap and tell both sides of the story. Once the process is started, every section expands upon these themes somehow; I could detail the whole song like this, but I'll hold it here. Just know that this track is wonderful mood music and conjures a battle of good and evil without any visual required.
And hey, if that doesn't work for you, go for the campy nostalgia, that probably works better anyways.
Sunday, August 8, 2010
080710
What's It Called?
What's The Story?
Transatlantic are a prog-rock supergroup composed of members and former members of Dream Theater, Spock's Beard, The Flower Kings and Marillion. If you've heard of any of those, I'd be amazed if you hadn't heard this band. Out of The Night is from the first Transatlantic album after an 8 year hiatus, The Whirlwind.
Who's To Blame?
Holland.
Why ♥ It?
This track manages to catch many of the more accessible caveats of progressive rock, while eschewing some of the more stigmatized elements.
It starts like an anthem; that steady 1-2-3-4 is a great hook that works most effectively to make the tune memorable.
Trewavas' bass is impeccable for many segments of the track. The bass in the first part (0:16-0:32) and the part immediately after (0:32-0:48) threaten to steal the show by walking all over the excellent vibe that the band sets up.
The track does a neat job of toggling from upbeat and driving to slow and heartfelt. It does this a couple of times, which sort of kills the inspirational mood of the main part, but allows the song to work on a subdermal level: it's not just a quick pick-me-up, but a song that tries to have serious lyrical impact and merit.
Also, anti prog-rock fans would hang me for this, but the way that the four members sing various parts and come together for harmonies during chorus sections reminds of The Beatles. There should probably be a Godwin's Law for comparing any non-Beatles tune to a Beatles tune, but I think that's what they go for, and I think that they pull it off pretty well.
And hey, at least their drummer is better than Ringo.
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