If Emerson, Lake, and Palmer were around today with a serious case of megalomania...

For the first actual music post of this blog, I'm writing about a truly amazing band upon which I recently stumbled: Ayreon. It's not so much a band as a large-scale project, led by the brilliant mind of Dutch multi-instrumentalist Arjen Lucassen. When not working on other projects, he'll compose epic-scale sci-fi rock operas and hire a team of vocalists and instrumentalists to bring them to life. The result is gloriously epic, gloriously nerdy progressive metal.

So far I've only had opportunity to hear one of their albums--their latest, 01011001 (the binary code for the letter 'Y' in ASCII). But that one album was enough to blow me away like nothing has for many months. It combines authentic analog synthesizers, crunching guitars, a cast of dozens, and an epic tale of the death of a planet and quest of a species to survive through life on earth into almost two hours of some of the grandest music you will ever hear. The beautiful lyrics deserve many listens and the prog metal musicianship is top-notch. Additionally, it apparently ties into large-scale story arc that spans nearly all of Ayreon's albums for an even bigger scale. Some are content with small music, but for those seeking big music, definitely give Ayreon a listen.

Also of note, I really enjoy the artist who illustrated most of Ayreon's albums, including this one. His website is certainly worth a quick look.

Hello, and Why this Blog Exists

Hello, blagonet! This blog is a side project to my main blog designed to hold my posts on music; that is, specific artists, albums, or songs. If you want something new to listen to, visit this blog! Well, Pandora is also great for that. As is asking your friends. Or last.fm. Or randomly browsing Wikipedia. Anyway, this blog is also meant to be a source of music listening inspiration! More to come soon, I'm sure.

On Lightbulb Sun

Music review time! This time I tackle my favorite album by one of my favorite progressive artists: Porcupine Tree, with their 6th album Lightbulb Sun. Porcupine Tree's career is roughly divided into three phases: their early psychedelic/spacey/ambient phase, their acoustic/pop-tinged middle period, and their prog metal-influenced present. Of these, Lightbulb Sun falls squarely into the middle phase. Let's go!

Lightbulb Sun is a melancholy progressive masterpiece, more influenced in its sound by mainstream pop and rock than Porcupine Tree's other albums, but unmistakably brilliant. Each song is a musical journey that gives you a different reason to love it; no two sound the same, and consequently the album is an exciting listening experience that I enjoy more every time I go through it.

Lightbulb Sun: The title track is a poetic tale of being stuck in bed due to illness. The simplistic lyrics start the album off on the lighter side, but this is far from a boring song. It starts off with quiet acoustic guitars but is interspersed with electric ones, particularly in the rocking chorus. Meanwhile, band leader Steven Wilson's beautiful, mellow vocals tie it all together and add to the mood established by the guitar at the moment.

How Is Your Life Today: This is one of the more unusual songs on the album, containing only a minimum of guitar or drums and supported mainly by a simple piano melody, interspersed by Wilson's spacey singing of loneliness. It's an interesting contrast with the higher-energy songs on either side of it.

4 Chords That Made a Million: This song seems to break with the theme set by much of the rest of the album; as far as I can tell it's a jab at the lack of creativity of the popular music industry (compared to Porcupine Tree, at least). Wilson is excellent as usual, and the drums and cleverly distorted guitar give the song a hard-rocking tone. There are occasional hints of a sitar or similarly foreign instrument to accentuate shifts in the song.

Shesmovedon: Another quieter, more laid-back song; the biggest thing in Shesmovedon is Wilson's singing, particularly the harmonies in the chorus. There is also an excellent, distortion-heavy guitar solo occupying the last two or so minutes of the song. Warning: very catchy.

Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth Before it Is Recycled: This song is divided into two parts. The first is a soft, acoustic piece that starts off, amazingly enough, with a banjo. Rather head-scratchingly, the second part contains samples from a video made by the leader of the Heaven's Gate cult shortly before their mass suicide. How this fits with the simplistic reminiscing of the first half, I'm not sure. I like music that makes me think.

The Rest Will Flow: This song takes the laid-back melodies and harmonies of Shesmovedon and combines them with strings to beautiful effect. Highly recommended.

Hatesong: The 8-minute Hatesong starts with a distinctive bass riff that continues for the next several minutes of the song. After the lyrical section ends, we embark into an extended instrumental jam built largely around a guitar riff, with other melodies and rhythms forming and dissolving around it.

Where We Would Be: Another more mainstream-sounding, laid-back acoustic song. It seamlessly incorporates a more melodic, less distorted guitar solo.

Russia on Ice: At 13 minutes, this song is long even for Porcupine Tree. It starts from virtually nothing and unfolds into ambient rock reminiscent of PT's early days before fading to allow room for Wilson's quiet vocals. The first part is fairly ambient, featuring the strings from The Rest Will Flow; after several verses, an instrumental sections restarts with only a bass riff, but grows into the most intense part of the album. Definitely one of the strongest tracks.

Feel So Low: Probably my favorite Porcupine Tree song of all time, the album closer is a beautifully quiet, string-and-acoustic-driven lament mourning a dead friendship or relationship. The rest of the album is relatively cerebral, which makes Wilson's more direct singing and the emotional nature of this song hit all the harder. I cannot imagine a more perfect way to conclude this album and establish Lightbulb Sun as one of the best listening experiences I've ever had.

Overall, much of Lightbulb Sun seems to revolve around a theme of separation, and reaction to that separation. Separation from the world in the title track, from an old friend in Last Chance to Evacuate Planet Earth and Where We Would Be, or from a lover in How Is Your Life Today?, Shesmovedon, and Hatesong. reactions range from passive indifference (Lightbulb Sun) to reaching out to bridge the gap (Where We Would Be) to moving on to look for happiness elsewhere (The Rest Will Flow) to anger (Hatesong, Russia on Ice) to despair (Feel So Low). I'd recommend Lightbulb Sun to everyone, particularly as an introduction to Porcupine Tree or modern progressive rock.

On Eluvium

My roommate from last year has gotten me into quite a bit of excellent and interesting music that would normally be outside my realm of interest. One of my favorite such artists is Eluvium, a one-man act playing ambient music. I've especially been enjoying his latest album, Copia, recently.

Copia is a highly enjoyable listening experience: quiet, soothing, and contemplative. As ambient music, its simplicity and the slow pace of its songs let it fade into the background, but its majestic beauty can hold your attention just as well as more active music. This is great music for thinking, doing homework, or getting a filling.

The synthesizers used in Copia are reminiscent of an orchestra, but trade the complexity of classical music for simple, gently rolling melodies. Amreik is dominated by the sound of brass, emphasizing the dignity of the orchestral sounds used. Indoor Swimming at the Space Station lays quiet piano over string and woodwind sounds, and Seeing You Off the Edges focuses on densely layered strings that interweave in exceedingly pleasing ways.

Prelude for Time Feelers (don't you love these names?) keeps the background strings but has more a focus on a simple piano melody. Requiem on Frankfort Ave. is a quieter interlude before the amazingness of Radio Ballet, which eschews the synth sounds altogether and is simply three minutes of beautiful piano playing. Then come two interludes; (Intermission) is largely ambient sound effects, and After Nature is a more classical-sounding song with a focus on strings.

Reciting the Airships again contrasts beautiful piano with thickly layered synthesizers in the background, to amazing effect. Ostinato has always sounded, to me, like the first 40 or so seconds of Where the Streets Have No Name by U2, played by an organ and extended to 6 minutes. After one more rainy interlude, Repose in Blue ends the album in epic fashion, starting small but building to a tremendous, fireworks-driven conclusion.

If you're looking for exciting, dynamic music to jam to, this is not it. Copia is slow-moving, wordless music to be enjoyed quietly, in the background of something else or (even better) on its own. My descriptions don't really do it justice; though simple and highly repetitive (songs sound pretty similar all the way through), this is amazing music that really has to be heard to be believed. Highly recommended.

On My Favorite Album Ever

I may have been jumping the gun a bit in my first music post. I skipped to writing about an album by my second favorite band while bypassing my favorite artist, and album, of all time: Building 429 and Space in Between Us.

Building 429 is a Christian soft rock band named after Ephesians 4:29: "Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen." Fittingly, the main (and virtually only) attraction of Building 429 is their lyrics. Musically, most of their work is pretty uninteresting and I wouldn't give them a second look if they weren't a Christian band. B429 doesn't care to mix words or write poetry; their lyrics are simple, to-the-point, and amazingly honest explorations of our relationship with God. In addition, their vocalist Jason Roy is probably the best vocalist I've ever heard, delivering these lyrics beautifully and with heartfelt sincerity. Building 429 doesn't (usually) play rousing worship songs or feel-good tunes about how wonderful God is (not about just that, anyway), which is why you probably haven't heard them on KTIS or from a worship band. This is music that deals with the reality of the Christian life, the hard and the easy.

Because of the power of the words in these songs, pretty much the entire album is made of awesome to the point where it's hard to tell which songs stand out.

1. Glory Defined is a testament to the hope God has given us that goes beyond this life and carries us through it.
2. Above It All is a song for anyone going through a rough spot in life that's helped me to trust in God when I've needed Him most.
3. The Space In Between Us displays Psalm 63-like longing to know God more.
4. One Time Too Many is an encouragement to be open with God and give up sins that we cling to, causing us to stumble.
5. Back To Me is in a similar vein to Above It All, a stirring song of hope for when you feel like God has hidden His face from you. (Hint: Not for long He hasn't!)
6. Shadow of Angels is a powerful tale of seeking and finding ourselves in Christ. It starts off with calming ocean sounds and acoustic guitars, but ends up one of the more intense songs on the album.
7. I'm not even sure how to describe No One Else Knows. I will just say that it was instrumental in getting me through more than one episode of depression in the past and is probably the most honest, powerful, Spirit-filled song I've ever heard. Besides the lyrics, which speak directly to those who have lost sight of God in the midst of despair, Jason Roy displays his talent for accenting words with the careful use of falsetto.
8. Never Look Away is about trusting God, told via the example of Peter walking with Jesus on the water.
9. After so many songs that sound like powerful confessions to God, Angeline takes a step back and tells a story of the dangers of fame and show business. Quite a beautiful and enjoyable song; musically, it's one of the better ones by B429.
10. Show Me Love is another honest song about struggling to live the Christian life, and our dependence on God's patience and grace.
11. The title of You Are Loved sums it up; it speaks about God's love for His children.
12. All of Building 429's songs have at least as much emotional impact as the average power ballad, so a power ballad by Building 429 has to be amazing, right? Correct. The Spirit Lives On is a truly hope-giving song about the hope for life in God after tragedy and death, specifically the events of September 11 and the crucifixion.

If you're a Christian, I cannot recommend Space In Between Us enough. This album has given me tremendous hope through the storms of life and I know it can do the same for you. If you're not a Christian, I still recommend checking it out for some truly heartfelt music (and to see what you're missing). Their three other albums are also excellent; Rise is more guitar-focused, Iris to Iris is more ethereal and keyboard-focused, and their new self-titled album just has everything and is consistently amazing.

On living Awake

Firstly, a public service announcement: seeing as my blog is to be a mishmash of writings on different things, I've begun categorizing my posts by topic to make for easier navigation. To see all the posts on a certain topic (i.e. math), click on it in the sidebar. On to the meat of my post:

I could probably devote an entire blog to writing about music, but for the sake of balance and not boring people with ramblings about music they've never heard of, I'm trying to restrain myself to one or so post a week. Anyway, I happen to be listening to one of the finest albums by one of my favorite bands, Dream Theater, so I figured it was a good a place to start as any. For those who don't feel like reading their (admittedly fairly exhaustive) Wikipedia page, Dream Theater is a progressive metal band from New York. They have written a 42-minute metal suite on mental illness and a 57-minute one on the twelve steps of Alcoholics Anonymous. Their instrumentalists are all some of the best in the world on their respective instruments and greatly enjoy showing off during their trademark incredibly long instrumental breaks.

Awake (1994) is Dream Theater's third album. They were under a lot of pressure to make a good one after Pull Me Under from their previous album somehow become a hit on MTV and established them as standard-bearers of progressive metal, and luckily Awake does not disappoint. In my opinion it's Dream Theater's most interesting album; dark (in a pensive and brooding way, not as angry as Train of Thought), intricately constructed, and heavier than anything they'd previously made. The lyrics are poetic and much more layered and cryptic than on their newer albums, able to keep me thinking even after dozens of listens.

6:00, Caught in a Web, and Innocence Faded are all classic Dream Theater songs, setting the dense, heavy, yet thoughtful tone of the album. Through all its whimsicality, 6:00 has an angry tone to it, having been written by keyboardist Kevin Moore about his frustration with the band (this being his last album with them). Innocence Faded is a beautifully melodic ballad, and Caught in a Web falls somewhere between. After this the next three songs form the mini-suite "A Mind Beside Itself", starting with the instrumental Erotomania. Voices is the standout song of the album, a near-10-minute prog epic that goes from quiet and melancholy to aggressive metal and back (repeatedly), with the short and acoustic The Silent Man to unwind with afterward.

The Mirror and Lie are the two heaviest songs of the album, which makes the keyboard break at the end of The Mirror all the more beautiful. Lifting Shadows Off a Dream is another quieter, melodic ballad focusing on LeBrie's voice. The longest and most impressive track on the album, Scarred, is another epic showcasing Dream Theater's love of packing as much into their songs as will possibly fit. Finally, after all this is is Space-Dye Vest, a heart-wrenching keyboard-driven song packed with vocal samples and as close to emo as Dream Theater has ever gotten. (Don't worry, it's awesome) The rest of the band slowly comes in to join Moore and LeBrie as the song builds to a satisfying conclusion for a very satisfying album.

All told, Awake is a masterpiece. Perhaps more intellectually dense than any of Dream Theater's other albums, it just keeps getting better with repeated listens as you unpack more and more of the songs' complexity. Dream Theater--particularly pre-Train of Thought Dream Theater--is thinking man's metal, and nothing showcases this better than Awake. (And maybe its predecessor Images and Words) Join me next week as I talk about whatever music I feel like!