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  1. Just participate. Check out this weeks album (posted above) and post a review/some thoughts by Sunday. I'll add you to the schedule in the second post and when it's your turn, you can let us know which album you'd like us to hear.

    Updated schedule:
    2016
    Week: February 21-27
    User: Welsh_Edge
    Album: Hammock - Departure songs

    Week: February 28 - March 5
    User: Alvin
    Album: Euzen - Sequel

    Week: March 6-12
    User: thefly108
    Album: Tonic - Lemon Parade

    Week: March 14-20
    User: NeonTiger64
    Album: Rory Gallagher - Calling Card

    Week: March 28 - April 3
    User: iTim
    Album: UNKLE - Never, Never, Land

    Week: April 6-10
    User: LikeASong
    Album:

    Week: April 11-17
    User: patou2
    Album:

    Week: April 18-26
    User: blueeyedboy
    Album:
  2. Rory Gallagher - Calling Card

    It's not unknown name to me, but never gave it a try, just knew he is (was) great guitarist. This album totally confirms it. He has also great voice and sometimes it reminds me of Bruce Springsteen (in a lower harder parts of singing).

    Do You Read Me - great opening song, a little bit reminds me of Rolling Stones
    Country Mile - much faster piece, but also more country, which I'm not big fan of. And the way the piano is played doesn't help either
    Moonchild - first listen shows the potential - need to give it more listens. Maybe too much of guitar, this song would suit more synths or keyboards in Pink Floyd way But like it
    Calling Card - Nice starting bass, but the rest is just not my cup of coffee
    I'll Admit You're Gone - and now even slower country :-) not for me
    Secret Agent - now this is the different story. Finally rock guitar sound again. Not a great, but not bad.
    Jackknife Beat - longer piece, not bad, but kinda repetitive...
    Edged In Blue - not bad, but nothing special
    Barley And Grape Rag - I've heard this before, funny piece
    Where Was I Going To? - The poppiest song here, but not really good to me.

    Summary: After good start album goes the way which doesn't really suit to me. Too country feel in it. But There are good moments and maybe will come back to some tracks - 5,5/10

    top tracks
    Do You Read Me
    Moonchild
  3. I first discovered Rory when I was in high school, let's just say, way back in the day. A mutual friend with respected musical taste was in to him and, well, so was The Edge, so I borrowed my buddy's copy of his "Tattoo" album. Rory was a genius. "Calling Card", is probably my 2nd favorite album of his. Arguably, it's better than "Tattoo", but "Tattoo" has it's sentimental value to me...

    I would recommend you all watch the DVD of "Irish Tour '74" if you can find it. His true brilliance was in his live performance.

    For calling card, Moonchild, Edged In Blue and Do You Read Me are my standout tracks...
  4. UNKLE - Never, Never Land

    This is an interesting one. I first heard of these guys when "Lonely Soul" was played on an episode of Person of Interest and I liked it so much I had to SoundHound it...

    This is a little more ambient/ethereal than I expected. Definitely a mood record. Pleasantly atmospheric, it is definitely something I would listen to winding down the day. If Brian Eno made "Music for Films" today, this is what it would sound like. I will definitely revisit this again, but next time later in the evening, in a recliner, with headphones on and a beer in my hand...

    I love "Inside"
  5. I'll be listening to this in the next couple of days
  6. Finally listening to Rory This is definitely not a new album to me -unlike many of the Albums Of The Week we've had through the years- so it's an interesting change for once.


    Originally posted by Welsh_Edge:I knew that Rory was one of Edge's favourite guitarists and inspired him to pick the guitar up when he was growing up so I had very high expectations of this album. Also, isn't there a replica guitar of his up on a building in Dublin?


    Indeed. A bronze replica of his Stratocaster is hung up on a corner close to Edge&Bono's Clarence Hotel, in the middle of Temple Bar neighbourhood:

  7. Originally posted by LikeASong:Finally listening to Rory This is definitely not a new album to me -unlike many of the Albums Of The Week we've had through the years- so it's an interesting change for once.


    [..]


    Indeed. A bronze replica of his Stratocaster is hung up on a corner close to Edge&Bono's Clarence Hotel, in the middle of Temple Bar neighbourhood:

    [image]
    I thought so!

  8. Rory Gallagher - Calling Card

    Definitely not a new artist nor album to me - for a change. Not my fav Rory's work but I know most of the songs already -my dad has a pretty big Rory CD collection and I've listened to all of them quite some times- so this will be like reviewing an album of my own choice

    Do You Read Me? kicks out the album in style. Some great guitar licks to get things going until the true fun starts, with the classical 4/4 time, hammond organ backing up the guitar, and classical blues-rock chord progression. The psychedelic 3/4 bridge at 1:35 and at the end of the song with that weird synth gives the song a different flavour which is much welcomed.
    Country Mile is like a sped-up country song -as the title suggests- so it's not my cup of tea since I don't like country that much. It's an enjoyable track but definitely won't be among my favourites! I somehow prefer Rory's vocals on this one than on Do You Read Me though, and I enjoy the slide solo a lot.
    Moonchild is much more like the kind of song I enjoy - and the kind of songs Rory is mostly famous for. In fact I would say this is one of his bigger hits - no wonder why. Great song, fine lyrics, incredible work, and a riff you can hear in a thousand later songs... This was the first (and one of the only) Rory songs I learnt to play on guitar. I agree with Tim that the fade-out is a lame way to end this brilliant song, but what can we do? When playing it live, the band extended it to over 7 minutes and it (obviously) didn't fade, so they definitely fixed this issue!
    Calling Card is a more relaxed song that doesn't portrait anything we haven't already heard in the previous tracks. Not bad, but not worthy of being the title track in my opinion.
    With I’ll Admit You’re Gone we get the first (pretty much forgettable) folk-ish twist of the album. Rory is not that good of a singer to do this kind of song, which needs a brilliant voice to really shine and hold up against an album full of rockers. I have always felt this was included in the album just for the sake of adding diversity and different flavours to it - which is not a bad thing actually, but just the closer song would have served that purpose better.
    Secret Agent brings back the bluesy vocals and the cranked up amplifiers - which is always good! Another top track, even though it's reminiscent of songs 1 and 3, but what do I care, it is fucking brilliant. There's nothing to comment about besides its overall kickassness.
    Jackknife Beat is somewhat of a filler, never been a favourite of mine.
    The first minute off Edged In Blue features my favourite start of all these songs and one of my favourite Rory guitar delivers ever - if the song had continued with this mood (even as an instrumental) it would have been incredible. But after one minute, it becomes a bluesy country song a la Creedence or Fleetwood Mac (strong ressemblance!)... Somehow, the fade-out actually fits this one, and it's not a bad song by any means, but I wish they had followed the first PinkFloydian minute of it!
    Barley And Grape Rag is another folky number which I'm not fond of, but this one at least features funny lyrics and some harmonica. Overall, a funny album closer... Oh, wait.
    Where Was I Going To? wasn't present on my father's original CD and I wasn't aware of its existence until now, so this was the only surprise here - and what a surprise! You can feel it is/was somewhat of an unfinished demo, but this is just as good as demos get. Lots of piano well interlaced among the vocal melodies help building up a good song, although a criminal lack of guitar action prevents its potential inclusion among top tracks. Definitely a better album closer than Barley!

    Top Tracks (in no particular order)
    Moonchild
    Secret Agent
    Do You Read Me?


    Overall a very good album by a great songwriter and guitar player. Not his best one, not the worst either. Most of these songs are softer than Rory's standard style, and probably more accesible to a general audience - I believe this could be a good introduction for those who didn't know Rory besides his well known name!
  9. And I will review UNKLE tomorrow morning!
  10. DEFINITELY a curve ball - at least to me.



    UNKLE - Never, Never, Land

    Never heard of them and don't recognise any song title so this is 100% fresh and new. No idea what to expect, although "a British electronic duo" doesn't sound very promising for someone who despises most of electronic music...

    Back And Forth is just a spoken prelude over a strings & sound interference. There's some truth in what the guy says... "Your whole life is changes".
    Eye for an Eye starts spoken again but soon evolves to something which sounds like a demo of The Beatles in their Hindi psychedelic era plus some interesting vocals. But WHAT THE FUCK, this voice at 1:30... Is this darkness in you too? Have you passed through this night? These are the same The Thin Red Line' movie lines featured on Explosions In The Sky's Have You Passed Through This Night? !!! I got immediately excited. And well, this definitely didn't feel like it was 6 minutes long, felt like half of it actually, which is always a great signal.
    Some dark piano sets the mood for In A State, which is something atmospheric yet interesting. The descending strings around 4:30 followed by the final bridge helped keeping the interest up. I seriously think this song must have influenced Muse's Matt Bellamy when writing Isolated System, it sounds very similar to this one.
    Safe in Mind (Please Get This Gun From Out My Face) sounds more like what I expected from this album in the first place. That means I'm not fond of it haha. It was interesting due to some changes in pace and instrumentation, but overall I could have done without it.
    I Need Something Stronger starts slowly... Although I'm 2 minutes into it and it still hasn't taken off, lol. It's not a slow start - it's like the song never starts! This could have been a 50 seconds interlude and it would have been much welcomed. Otherwise it is a little dull - sounds good but there's not enough interesting elements to be a proper song. Knowing this was the song featuring Brian Eno explained it all though.
    What Are You To Me? sounds very different though, some melodic guitar and vocals finally! An electronic background rhythm appears after 2 minutes and it fits perfectly. I know some South songs and Joel Cadbury is a good singer, so it was a very pleasant collaboration.
    Panic Attack goes back to the more electronic route, but this one is a little more interesting than Safe In Mind - or maybe I'm more in the mood after over half album! Nothing remarkable, but a good track anyway.
    Invasion shows a good mix of electronic elements with standard guitar and drums. It's also a very dark sounding song, I like it pretty much.
    Reign starts with some strings and electronic then explodes into a burst of trip hop
    Joel Cadbury glows shines again with his vocal contribution in Glow, which could have been really brilliant if it had grown a little heavier. Some subtle drums or a crescendo would have been perfect.
    Inside is a good song, no doubt about it. The longest one in this album, featuring a bit of everything we've heard so far (some piano, some atmospheric stuff, some ethereal vocals, a nice crescendo). It would be a fantastic album "closer" if there wasn't another one.
    Awake The Unkind is included on my Spotify copy of the album although it wasn't part of Tim's original tracklist - exactly the opposite situation as with last night's Rory Gallagher album! Wikipedia says it's a Japanese bonus track even though I'm supposedly listening to the UK Version of the album! But well, what a bonus track... Straight to favorites, where it takes Reign's spot as the final top track!



    Top tracks (no particular order)
    In A State
    What Are You To Me?
    Awake The Unkind

    Overall this album has been a big surprise. Not that I adore it on first listen -not even close- but I expected something much worse I might dig deeper into their catalogue and, even though I'm sure I will find many stuff that I don't like at all, that is always a good thing.
  12. UNKLE - Never, Never Land

    This wasn't an introduction to UNKLE for me, I had listened to them before. My favourite songs of theirs are The Piano Echoes and Heaven ft. Gavin Clark on their later album, End Titles...Stories For Film.

    My favourites are below.

    I Need Something Stronger - Wow I love this track! It's very Boards Of Canada-esque, with the voices and the music in general. You can definitely hear the Brian Eno influences in this song, he is a genius afterall.

    The voices in this song also reminds me of Zooropa.

    "What's wrong? Help is on the way."

    This is my favourite track off the album. I love it.

    Back And Forth - Pretty cool intro to the album, really like it. Nice editing of the spoken words to include the title of the album at the very end.

    What Are You To Me? - Enjoyed this one, it's poles apart from the previous track, I Need Something Stronger but it's great to see that UNKLE incorporated some elements of a previous song into this one. The same phrase "What's wrong?" being repeated near the end of the song.



    Quite enjoyed this one. I'd rate it a 7/10. Nice one Tim.