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Post by lucinda on Apr 28, 2014 19:10:53 GMT
I hope I can be forgiven for not having had time to listen. Absolutely!.....congratulations on the new arrival, best wishes to you all!
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Post by lucinda on Apr 28, 2014 19:16:56 GMT
I loved this album immediately....Mr Lenoir was unsure on first hearing but now feels the same.....it's on constant play in the car and so far my faves are I Run, At Once and Protection....he's loving the dramatic bit in Thief!
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Post by retlivdead on Apr 28, 2014 19:18:02 GMT
I hope I can be forgiven for not having had time to listen. WHAT?! You need to get your priorities sorted, Glen.
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Post by Stephen on Apr 28, 2014 19:41:20 GMT
Just after my first listen. All very strong songs for me, but stand-outs have to be Quarters [holy shit!] and thief. I'm sure all the other's will grow on me but those jump out as being instantly knock outs. Just about to watch the Magnetic North DVD now as well!
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Post by Tracy on Apr 28, 2014 19:59:34 GMT
I hope I can be forgiven for not having had time to listen. Call yourself a fan Disgraceful behaviour Glen! Seriously though I think the birth of your first grandchild is most definitely something which takes priority.
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Post by joshwood on Apr 28, 2014 20:23:37 GMT
- I always find it difficult to process albums from which I've already heard songs and, in the case of Refugees and Follow You Home, listened to a hundred some-odd times. Probably because of that, I've had a difficult time feeling it out as a cohesive album. There's the first two songs, then I think, "Oh, here comes Refugees," then I Run, and then, "Oh, here comes Follow You Home," and only then do I really settle in to the rest of the album.
- I'd also heard Protection, In the End, I Run, Quarters, and A Thief on My Island live before, so their impact is muted in some ways I'm sure. Although Protection hits me on record in a much heavier, direct way than it did live. And Thief, well, Thief is a whole 'nother fucking animal, isn't it? I've said somewhere before, I'd pay very good money just to be in a room with the band playing the last three minutes of it just to experience the LOUDNESS of it, the FORCE of it. On record it's different...I literally have to restrain myself from cranking the volume on my headphones all the way up because I know it's going to hurt my ears. But you can actually FEEL the impact through the headphones. It's tremendous. I can't stop listening to it.
- Of the songs I hadn't heard before: At Once, Self Attack Mechanism, and The Devil Looks After His Own. At Once is incredible. I remember Richard saying around the release of Out of Nothing that Gravity had the guitar work he was most proud of on the album, and that made sense - the last chorus has that really beautiful picking going on, and I love watching him go nuts making noise high up on the fretboard leading into it. But the stuff he's doing on At Once is next-level beautiful. Right now that and Thief are the songs I keep going back to. One of the marks of a good song, too, is that feeling of, "It's over?" Every time At Once ends I'm pissed off. They decided not to overdo it even though it's a very strong song, and I think it pays off in terms of the album, cause it's really a breath taken before the listener gets into Self Attack Mechanism. I'm not going to pretend I've got it on repeat, and the guitar sound it starts out with is precisely no one's favorite guitar sound, and it's musically confusing. But the rhythm is arresting, and that synth that comes in is crazy and awesome, and that big pause (fake ending?) before that BIG fucking riff. And then they double the guitar! Ho man. There's a lot going on. I haven't quite got a grasp on TDLAHO. It feels like it might have fitted on OON or TND. Not feel-wise, for one thing it uses rhythm guitar (which you never hear in Embrace's back catalog), but tune-wise. It's done out all the way, gets the full five minute treatment. This feels like one, to me, that's not made to jump out at the listener. It's made for me to be listening to in the car in six months singing along and to realize, "Holy shit, this is fun to sing." Because it is - that chorus is excellent. Some nice soaring backing vocals too.
- Quarters is so strong and well-built and arranged that there's not much more to say about it. I want to dance to it, badly. And I am horrible at dancing. It builds and builds and the drums come in at the perfect times and it beats like a heart.
- I Run feels like a single that the band decided to fuck with, make it dirty and ugly and full of bass. The sound is so HEAVY. For some, the sound of the chorus might be a little too cheesy and I get that. But that verse is an eargasm. The bass, oh, the bass. And the guitar just aching in the back, wanting to step to the front. This song also has one of those little things that make you love an album - that little piano run at the end, just fading out.
- I've been trying to pin down exactly what song the opening guitar reminds me of on In the End, and I dunno if I ever will, but it's gorgeous. The bass, well, everyone notices the bass here because it's gorgeous, not much else to be said about that. It's going to be hard for me to love the chorus here as much as I loved it at the end of the long version of Too Many Times...right now, I still think it was better in its old form, with that kinda generic, squealing but shiny guitar line. I love 80s synths, so I still love what they've done with it here. I just miss the old version, and I do wonder what an Out of Nothing-production version of In the End would sound like. Probably not as good (you wouldn't be able to hear the bass, which is the best part of the song, for one thing), but still. I'm conflicted. Oh, that little synth thing at the end is great too.
- Another thing that's been said and said again by others, but Mike's work on this album is just leaps and bounds above anything he'd done or been asked to do before, and it's so cool to listen to. On pretty much every song, he's got a complex beat to pull off and honestly, you wouldn't think it's the same drummer from previous albums - Refugees' last section is what immediately comes to mind, but there are a bunch of examples. Rhythm section has really stepped up their game. Even the simple stuff...I Run's drums are right up in the front of the mix, and the song doesn't work as well without it. That's obviously down to Richard to a certain degree, but yeah. It's just...what would you Brits say?...class.
- Thief: The echoing guitar to start, the HUGELY dramatic strings on the first chorus, the bass and drums going into the second verse, the doomed death-synths in the second chorus, the minor key about face, "Is everyone bigger than me?" (anyone else think that could be a callback to Blind? Probably not but it'd be kind of funny), little piano run BOOM HUGE NOISE, repeated and repeated and repeated till you're begging for mercy, that powerful fucking guitar riff around a minute left, the noise level's cranked up to 12 for the last four measures...
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Post by jamesstirland on Apr 28, 2014 21:05:42 GMT
I've listened to the album a couple of times now so these remain early thoughts but I have to say (and it genuinely breaks my heart to say this) I think it's a massive disappointment. I want to preface what I say by saying that I was 17 when TGWO arrived, it's head and shoulders the most important album in my life, I would go as far as to say it changed my life - it still changes me when I listen to it. It was all at the same time brave, brash, humble, thrilling, deeply personal, universal and honest. Musically it was wall-to-wall melodies you couldn't ignore, lush orchestration and beautiful vocals. It set a standard that perhaps would be impossible to ever eclipse, but incredibly on DFM and OON I think Embrace came very close. If You've Never Been had some sublime moments (Over, Wonder, Satellites stand out for me) but fell short and the less said about TND the better. When Refugees arrived I wasn't blown away. My brother (also an Embrace fan) texted me immediately on first listen "What's with all the "production"" and it mirrored my own thoughts. It sounded like a song written on a MacBook as much as on a guitar. That said I still think it's a very strong and interesting song with a lovely and surprising last section. Follow You Home was a nice surprise, a real crowd pleaser with a huge sing-along chorus, but again I was slightly concerned about the fact that the vocals were all doubled. Two singles in and we'd barely heard Danny sing amidst reports from live shows that he was struggling. This morning on Chris Evans show they opened with a re-worked version of Ashes; again the vocals were all doubled, again Danny sounded unsure and struggled with pitch. The doubling of the vocals, the over-production and a real absence (in my opinion) of the stirring melodies that really made me love Embrace are the hallmarks of the new album for me so far. It's by no means a disaster. I think Protection, I Run and At Once are beautiful and these are songs that belong in at least the same discussion as songs like Higher Sights, Retread and Fireworks, but (and I appreciate they will grow on me over time) ultimately I think they fall short. Again the comparison between the production of the two albums does the new album no favours in the comparison and it's Danny who is insisting in every interview on making the comparison. I genuinely think he believes that they have made an album to rank alongside if not eclipse TGWO, perhaps some of you do too, but for me it's almost embarrassing to hear him say that as much as it would be embarrassing for Noel Gallagher to compare Be Here Now to Definitely Maybe. Elsewhere I just really don't follow some of the new songs. In The End might be one of the weakest things they've released I think and, though I know others will disagree strongly, I'm not a fan of Self-Attack Mechanism or The Devil Looks After His Own. Again, I'm just not drawn in by the melodies. I think Danny has focussed so much on the lyrics of this album that he hasn't found the melodies to do them justice (this is exactly the way I feel about Nature's Law - a strong lyric let down by a tedious and forgettable melody). I should say that I am no fan of songs like Even Smaller Stones, Near Life and This New Day, which I regard as low points in the band's catalogue. I know a lot of people feel differently and I suspect those people will love this album. But for those of us for whom songs like Higher Sights, Fireworks, Drawn From Memory, Someday and Out Of Nothing are favourites, I just don't hear anything on the new record that will ever capture my affection like those songs have. For me Embrace will always be that big-hearted, innocent band who (as one magazine put it) carried around an orchestra in their back pocket - the Embrace of Live at Abbey Road. All bands of course have the right to evolve and develop - indeed it would be tragic if they didn't - but that doesn't mean that fans will necessarily like where the journey takes them. For this fan of over 16 years, the over-reliance on electronica, the heavy production (in particular the doubling of vocals) and, to my ears at least, the almost total absence of any memorable Embrace melodies from the new album means that in another 16 years time, while TGWO will still undoubtedly be my favourite album ever and on regular repeat, I fear this new album will sit alongside TND, subject only to the odd curious listen and, ultimately, a reminder of the disappointment I feel now. Have to say I agree with a lot of this. Very disapointed after it being talked up so much.
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Post by wootoo on Apr 28, 2014 21:17:18 GMT
- I always find it difficult to process albums from which I've already heard songs and, in the case of Refugees and Follow You Home, listened to a hundred some-odd times. Probably because of that, I've had a difficult time feeling it out as a cohesive album. There's the first two songs, then I think, "Oh, here comes Refugees," then I Run, and then, "Oh, here comes Follow You Home," and only then do I really settle in to the rest of the album. - I'd also heard Protection, In the End, I Run, Quarters, and A Thief on My Island live before, so their impact is muted in some ways I'm sure. Although Protection hits me on record in a much heavier, direct way than it did live. And Thief, well, Thief is a whole 'nother fucking animal, isn't it? I've said somewhere before, I'd pay very good money just to be in a room with the band playing the last three minutes of it just to experience the LOUDNESS of it, the FORCE of it. On record it's different...I literally have to restrain myself from cranking the volume on my headphones all the way up because I know it's going to hurt my ears. But you can actually FEEL the impact through the headphones. It's tremendous. I can't stop listening to it. - Of the songs I hadn't heard before: At Once, Self Attack Mechanism, and The Devil Looks After His Own. At Once is incredible. I remember Richard saying around the release of Out of Nothing that Gravity had the guitar work he was most proud of on the album, and that made sense - the last chorus has that really beautiful picking going on, and I love watching him go nuts making noise high up on the fretboard leading into it. But the stuff he's doing on At Once is next-level beautiful. Right now that and Thief are the songs I keep going back to. One of the marks of a good song, too, is that feeling of, "It's over?" Every time At Once ends I'm pissed off. They decided not to overdo it even though it's a very strong song, and I think it pays off in terms of the album, cause it's really a breath taken before the listener gets into Self Attack Mechanism. I'm not going to pretend I've got it on repeat, and the guitar sound it starts out with is precisely no one's favorite guitar sound, and it's musically confusing. But the rhythm is arresting, and that synth that comes in is crazy and awesome, and that big pause (fake ending?) before that BIG fucking riff. And then they double the guitar! Ho man. There's a lot going on. I haven't quite got a grasp on TDLAHO. It feels like it might have fitted on OON or TND. Not feel-wise, for one thing it uses rhythm guitar (which you never hear in Embrace's back catalog), but tune-wise. It's done out all the way, gets the full five minute treatment. This feels like one, to me, that's not made to jump out at the listener. It's made for me to be listening to in the car in six months singing along and to realize, "Holy shit, this is fun to sing." Because it is - that chorus is excellent. Some nice soaring backing vocals too. - Quarters is so strong and well-built and arranged that there's not much more to say about it. I want to dance to it, badly. And I am horrible at dancing. It builds and builds and the drums come in at the perfect times and it beats like a heart. - I Run feels like a single that the band decided to fuck with, make it dirty and ugly and full of bass. The sound is so HEAVY. For some, the sound of the chorus might be a little too cheesy and I get that. But that verse is an eargasm. The bass, oh, the bass. And the guitar just aching in the back, wanting to step to the front. This song also has one of those little things that make you love an album - that little piano run at the end, just fading out. - I've been trying to pin down exactly what song the opening guitar reminds me of on In the End, and I dunno if I ever will, but it's gorgeous. The bass, well, everyone notices the bass here because it's gorgeous, not much else to be said about that. It's going to be hard for me to love the chorus here as much as I loved it at the end of the long version of Too Many Times...right now, I still think it was better in its old form, with that kinda generic, squealing but shiny guitar line. I love 80s synths, so I still love what they've done with it here. I just miss the old version, and I do wonder what an Out of Nothing-production version of In the End would sound like. Probably not as good (you wouldn't be able to hear the bass, which is the best part of the song, for one thing), but still. I'm conflicted. Oh, that little synth thing at the end is great too. - Another thing that's been said and said again by others, but Mike's work on this album is just leaps and bounds above anything he'd done or been asked to do before, and it's so cool to listen to. On pretty much every song, he's got a complex beat to pull off and honestly, you wouldn't think it's the same drummer from previous albums - Refugees' last section is what immediately comes to mind, but there are a bunch of examples. Rhythm section has really stepped up their game. Even the simple stuff...I Run's drums are right up in the front of the mix, and the song doesn't work as well without it. That's obviously down to Richard to a certain degree, but yeah. It's just...what would you Brits say?...class. - Thief: The echoing guitar to start, the HUGELY dramatic strings on the first chorus, the bass and drums going into the second verse, the doomed death-synths in the second chorus, the minor key about face, "Is everyone bigger than me?" (anyone else think that could be a callback to Blind? Probably not but it'd be kind of funny), little piano run BOOM HUGE NOISE, repeated and repeated and repeated till you're begging for mercy, that powerful fucking guitar riff around a minute left, the noise level's cranked up to 12 for the last four measures... Josh Wood, Sir Nuchliai of Southall likes you
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Post by wootoo on Apr 28, 2014 21:18:28 GMT
And you might be onna sum'in about Blindy Thief
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Post by DC on Apr 28, 2014 21:26:50 GMT
Josh Wood, Sir Nuchliai of Southall likes you He does and wrote this: "Someone tell that Josh Wood guy on the other board that I like him and he's probably right about Thief and Blind." But he's too bloody lazy to register on this board to tell you himself.
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Post by chrisj on Apr 28, 2014 21:59:48 GMT
Reading this thread I am seeing two types of views of fans -
- Those that want to hear a replication of something similar to TGWO
- Those that are excited and taken in by the progressive steps taken forward by the band in developing good music with new sounds, but recognisenthat this is not TGWO
I think the band have caused some confusion with some fans by stating that this is their best album yet.......a lot of fans have read this as 'weve produced an album better than the TGWO, which also sounds like TGWO'. This album is not TGWO, and if people can see beyond this, or if time allows them to do so, then opinions will change. This is a belter of an album, but this is not TGWO
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Post by Stephen on Apr 28, 2014 22:55:40 GMT
I thought Danny said that they wanted to equal TGWO and he felt and thought that they had. That's just his opinion, only time will tell of course but I think it's heartening that the band are immensely proud of this album; they should be.
I guess it depends when Embrace first grabbed your attention or the first album you heard. For me it was OON, and I really like TGWO but OON will always be the gold standard for me as I have such an emotional attachment to the album and what was happening in my life at the time.
Maybe somebody younger, some new fan discovering the band for the first time will have the same feeling about this album, it will be their TGWO or OON and will be able to be more subjective and listen to the other albums in the light of the new one. Would certainly be interesting for someone who's lucky enough to be able to hear the old stuff after hearing the latest album.
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Post by pollyanna on Apr 29, 2014 3:27:56 GMT
It's growing on me. I really like Quarters and all of the electronica on the album. I don't love it yet but I've only had a few listens.
(Edited to say that the fact I can't be bothered to write more about it pretty much sums up what I think about it at the minute).
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Post by hywelwj on Apr 29, 2014 8:41:39 GMT
I'd imagine if this was a debut album, music journalist would be fapping themselves about it. At some of the songs anyway.
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Post by thedn on Apr 29, 2014 11:10:58 GMT
sonic I hadn't actually read your post when I posted my "review" but having done so it was interesting that we both highlighted the absence of the sorts of melodies we associate with the band. I can tell we both desperately want them to be there but I'm on my third full listen now and I still don't hear them. Perhaps once I've heard them live I will connect more, I certainly hope so. nowimnobody thanks for the considered response and I agree with much of what you said. I suppose for me two examples come to mind: The Bends is one of my favourite albums ever and OK Computer wasn't far behind but as much as I wanted to like Kid A I never have and I never will. The melodies of Fake Plastic Trees, High and Dry, Street Spirit were nowhere to be found and I couldn't connect. Of course one of the reasons Radiohead are so admired is their evolution but they pretty much lost me from Kid A and a part of me will always regret what might have been had their evolution been less extreme. You also mentioned that the band shouldn't try and make another TGWO and I agree. But that doesn't mean they need to ditch many of the qualities that make them special. For example, what I've heard from the new Coldplay album I've really loved - it sounds very reminiscent of Parachutes but at the same time feels like an evolution and progression. What's more its low fi acoustic sound is a beautiful contrast to the enormous fluorescent soundscapes of Mylo Xyloto. I just wish this new Embrace album could have married the evolution the band so clearly crave with the melodies and feeling of TGWO, DFM and OON. Just to clarify, are you comparing the directional shift between the The Bends and Kid A to TGWO and "Embrace"? Cos thats a bit bonkers mate. Completely agree with losing Radiohead after Kid A after loving The Bends and OK Computer. But this is nowhere near as much of a musical shift as that was. No obviously the shift in Embrace's case is much smaller - I was just using Radiohead as an example of what happens when you sacrifice melodies for experimentation, electronics, production etc. which is what I think Embrace have done to a much lesser degree. The more I listen to the album the more I realise that the evolution has been less dramatic than I feared on first listening. What's bugging me at the moment I'm sorry to say is that on I Run (which is my favourite song on the album) I think Danny's vocal is not his best - there are times when he's audibly struggling with pitch - and while this may be expected in live performances to have problems on the album version is rather worrying. Listen to Retread and then I Run and compare the quality of the vocal - it's really concerning and rather puzzling. In fact it's worrying me so much that last night I had a dream that I was seeing them live (as I will be in a few weeks) and Steve was on lead vocals!!
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Post by northernmonkey on Apr 29, 2014 11:11:34 GMT
I'd imagine if this was a debut album, music journalist would be fapping themselves about it. At some of the songs anyway. Agreed, If this was a new band with a debut as fresh sounding they would gave given it more credit. Average sort of reviews up to now in general and I think they deserve some respect at least not to release an album that sounds like they are going through the motions or trying to replicate a sound that has served them well in the past, sick of hearing comparisons to Snow Patrol and Coldplay, I think they do have their own sound and always have, Coldplay supported Embrace, not the other way round and if Embrace do appear to be following Coldplay with the big production anthem sound, I have said the same for them on their third album onwards but my comparison was aimed at trying to copy U2's sound (not the early stuff). My thoughts on the songs, Protection - Great introduction to the album, dark and moody, like the electronic tones to it, soaring anthem chorus, perfect way to start and can see this staying a live favourite. In the End - I think this sounds like something that could have been Out of Nothing or This New Day, not that I think this is a good thing, sounds a little throw away, although my main issue is with the verses rather than the chorus. Very safe but a little boring. Refugees - After repeated listens since January I still think this is a good effort, the switch to Richard for the majority of the vocals on this was a good move, upbeat song, edgy and moody. I Run - Love this song, great vocals, guitars, drums etc. Classic dark Embrace brooding epic, takes a formula they have used before but sounds very fresh. Follow You Home - Fun little song I guess, but the chorus spoils it, despite me defending Embraces sound above, it does sound like they are trying to be Coldplay or U2. Quarters - Love this song despite the high pitched stuff (which I do like), like the electronic sound and the middle chorus point. On first listen I thought to myself they have either committed commercial suicide or its genius, after many listens I am now thinking it is heading more towards genius. At Once - Back in to Ballad territory again, but one of the highlights of the album for me, beautiful and looking forward to seeing this live in May. Self Attack Mechanism - Good change of pace on the album, no classic but a much needed fast song to the Embrace collection. TDLAHO - Another good song with a more upbeat change of pace, like the guitars on this. A Thief on My Island - Not sure about this, like it but feels a little forced as to make a long closing song, maybe need a few more listens. I was disappointed at first but it is a grower and would give it maybe a 7/10, and would sit in third place for their albums behind TGWO and Out of Nothing, strong songs and great production too.
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Post by wootoo on Apr 29, 2014 11:47:40 GMT
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oli
New
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Post by oli on Apr 29, 2014 13:41:46 GMT
Sales of the album from Monday's sales only are as follows (not sure whether this includes pre-orders):
Albums
1 Palo Nutini (11.3k) 2 Damon Albarn (10.4k) * 3 Embrace (6.6k) * 4 Imelda May (6.2k) * 5 Pixies (5.1k) *
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Post by willow on Apr 29, 2014 13:47:48 GMT
Sales of the album from Monday's sales only are as follows (not sure whether this includes pre-orders): Albums 1 Palo Nutini (11.3k) 2 Damon Albarn (10.4k) * 3 Embrace (6.6k) * 4 Imelda May (6.2k) * 5 Pixies (5.1k) * Do you work in the industry or something or can you get that information online?
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Apr 29, 2014 14:25:16 GMT
That does include pre-orders.
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