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Post by Lawrie on Mar 9, 2009 18:56:14 GMT
Haha, good good!
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Post by musecubed on Mar 9, 2009 23:24:19 GMT
I love AVO so much more in lossless where the evil audio clipping monster can't get me.
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Post by isador21 on Mar 10, 2009 3:46:00 GMT
Not expecting mine until next month... probably past my birthday, which would be funny... and extremely sad at the same time.
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Post by ryan on Mar 10, 2009 4:05:55 GMT
I love AVO so much more in lossless where the evil audio clipping monster can't get me. Erm, clipping is almost never down to compression. Only if the CDs been ripped badly. I've arrived home to mine, can't put the DVD on cos it's not all plugged in and were out again for two more dates tomorrow. I like that artwork though, not so keen on the typeface/lay out mind. Have we mentioned the thanks to our two (are there more of you I don't know the real names of?) friends? |
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Post by Lawrie on Mar 10, 2009 12:02:02 GMT
Right, got my copy through the post today, and early impressions are: 1) It's ****ing awesome! Absolutely 100% worthy successor to The Dark Third, and probably a better album overall - although I'm still in the honeymoon period at the moment, so that might change, but at the moment AVO sounds better to me. 2) Favourite moments are LM, Apogee, Deus and AVO. AVO in particular is stunning: the 2nd half of the song with the "amor amor vincit omnia"s going on just sounds sublime, and especially at high volume! The former 3 (especially LM) are all massive live favourites of mine and they've managed to record them every bit as brilliantly as I'd hoped. Job 100% done on all of these boys. 3) Disconnect is the low point for me, but that's a relative term - it's still a 6-7/10 song, but it happens to be on an album chock full of 8-10/10's. Got no problem with the vocoder stuff, just wish there was a touch more of a shift in dynamics at some point within the song. 4) Having never been VC's biggest fan when it first got released as a free download on the Myspace, I have to say I'm SO much more impressed with it on AVO. The remix/retouch of it makes it sounds so much more aggressive and makes it that much more of an interesting listen to me: total thumbs up for the change here. 5) They've got Gloaming nearly spot on from my hope that the finished thing would sound much like the live performance of it from the Rockpalast show in Bonn. Would still like to hear a bit heavier/louder/more of Jamie's guitar part, but in every other respect they've utterly nailed it for me. Very good final version of a song that had the potential to underwhelm compared to its live showing. 6) I really like the horn parts in Bloodless, synth or not. I don't care if I'm totally alone in this, they work for me, so you can all have a big  to chew on! ;D 7) DVD stuff from hereon in: was the audience in seats at NEARfest?? I'm sure a fun time was had by all, but I never realised that it was (what looked to be) a neatly seated affair there. Looks a bit strange seeing a nearly totally immobile audience as the band knock out a storming Deus on the DVD! 8) Prefer the Rockpalast performances to the NEARfest ones, albeit I might be in the minority here. The band seemed like they were putting a bit more 'oomph' into the Rockpalast set (which would make sense as they'd had that much more time to grow comfortable with the newbies by the time that Bonn rolled round, compared with NEARfest in 2007) and I liked that. 9) Loved the Apogee montage thing at the end. (Oh, and Jemi, I can see more of both BA and yourself in that vid than I can of me, but that's a good thing IMO!) Can totally understand why the style and quality of that Cargo footage wouldn't have made for a bunch of extended songs, but mixed in with the rehearsal and travelling stuff, and with the deliberate blur/shake effects that kicked in at points, I thought it was a really good little promo video-style jobby - that's the kind of thing I'd like to see them hit the MTV2's and their like with if they were to release any music videos for AVO. 10) Thanks so much to J, C, J & P for my little mention in the sleevenotes: it's made my year! ;D |
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Post by musecubed on Mar 10, 2009 12:27:51 GMT
I love AVO so much more in lossless where the evil audio clipping monster can't get me. Erm, clipping is almost never down to compression. Only if the CDs been ripped badly. I've arrived home to mine, can't put the DVD on cos it's not all plugged in and were out again for two more dates tomorrow. I like that artwork though, not so keen on the typeface/lay out mind. Have we mentioned the thanks to our two (are there more of you I don't know the real names of?) friends? Hmm, I've definitely got some weird crap going on on the Bright Ambassadors I put on my mp3 player. It's worst at the "million Bright Ambassadors" bit with the bass percusson. I think the programme which converted it for my player must've done something weird. It's not the only song where I've got sound constriction issues. |
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Post by ryan on Mar 10, 2009 12:32:22 GMT
If it's not on the cd then it almost certianly won't be down to mastering.
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Post by blondeambassador on Mar 10, 2009 13:02:27 GMT
9) Loved the Apogee montage thing at the end. (Oh, and Jemi, I can see more of both BA and yourself in that vid than I can of me, but that's a good thing IMO!) Can totally understand why the style and quality of that Cargo footage wouldn't have made for a bunch of extended songs, but mixed in with the rehearsal and travelling stuff, and with the deliberate blur/shake effects that kicked in at points, I thought it was a really good little promo video-style jobby - that's the kind of thing I'd like to see them hit the MTV2's and their like with if they were to release any music videos for AVO. 10) Thanks so much to J, C, J & P for my little mention in the sleevenotes: it's made my year! ;D Yeah, I love their video montages, they've always been good at it, though I think I need to watch it a bit more closely as I certainly didn't notice any of us! Was reminiscing about the hideously embarassing video of Water Rats that made it as part of the Cedo Simplex video last night, which should not ever be mentioned again really...slightly worrying that it's remembered, Jamie's exclamation being 'Oh yeah, you were absolutely battered at Water Rats!' Good to know I'm remembered for such good reasons...though I believe he's right, I certainly was. Note: don't drink a bottle and a half of wine before a gig that's being filmed. And while you mention it, yes, the sleevenotes are pretty damn amazing...I don't like to harp on about it (wait, thats pretty much a lie, of course I do) but it made for a very emotional me at Manchester when I saw it for the first time! Gotta love those boys and girl, they remain an incredibly appreciative band and have all been coming out to sign things for people after ever single night of the tour, something thats fairly rare. |
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Post by Lawrie on Mar 10, 2009 13:17:02 GMT
slightly worrying that it's remembered, Jamie's exclamation being 'Oh yeah, you were absolutely battered at Water Rats!' Good to know I'm remembered for such good reasons...though I believe he's right, I certainly was. Well, you brought this up again so I think it's now fair game for me to mention it (  ), so: YOU WERE MORE DRUNK AT THE WATER RATS THAN YOU WERE AT CARGO?!  WOW! Haha, that might not actually say anything at all about your state at Cargo , maybe more about mine at the Water Rats (had a shandy or two that night, and can't remember you being especially hammered!)... |
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Post by blondeambassador on Mar 10, 2009 13:19:38 GMT
Haha oh yes, MUCH more more drunk...Cargo I don't remember being all that bad, I know I sort of descended into drunkeness a bit by the end but you'd long gone by then.
I'd like to point out that at both Moho and Fibbers, I've been as sober as a judge...just before anyone goes getting the wrong idea!
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Post by baldyslaphead on Mar 10, 2009 13:34:11 GMT
Can anyone tell me whether the album is a bit less compressed (or at least less clipped) than the leaked version? That's my main concern - I found the leaked version was hard on the ears after a while.
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Post by stumoo on Mar 10, 2009 17:34:20 GMT
Damn Amazon/Royal Mail - post arrived today with no AVO waiting for me like a long-lost friend!  Come on tomorrow! Did you pay for delivery? I'm a total cheapskate so apparently mine wont arrive until the 13th  Woo and yay, it arrived today! Can I get more of this post to rhyme? What will tell is time. Obviously not many of the songs are a complete surprise to me, in fact the only ones I hadn't heard before are Keep me Sane/Insane, Requiem for the Lovers and Disconnect. I heard Bloodless while it was being mastered (hush-hush about that though!). First impression, I like it! It immediately hits home that it's not TDT part 2 with Les Malheurs. Aeropause introduces TDT as an album that ebbs and flows. Les Malheurs introduces AVO as an album that does not mess around. After that it's all gravy really, I agree that Disconnect is not that great but with some of those harmonies later in the song it's perfectly listenable. It's just that when it starts I think I'm listening to 'Intergalactic' by the Beasie Boys! |
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Post by butler on Mar 13, 2009 9:21:52 GMT
So the album turned up yesterday, and after a day of driving everybody mad with it, the verdict is: ;D
Being drip fed so much of the album via Myspace, Youtube and concerts, it's a little sad that I'd heard over half of the album before even putting it in the machine, but it speaks to the overall quality of those songs that it all felt so fresh.
It would be difficult for the band to kick the abum off with a better track than Les Malheurs. It's punchy, focussed and totally represents the style the album is going forward with. The rock solid melody which beats its way throughout the song makes it a top live track, and certainly has single potential should they choose to go down that route.
For me Victorious Cupid never really stood out at concerts or as the previously released single, but the fresh mix it's been given here gives it an extra kick which seems to drive it a bit more. The suite of Sane/Insane-Apogee-Requiem, is the closest they come to Dark Third material, and are probably the most interesting tracks musically. I don't think Keep me sane/insane deserved it's own track listing though, as there's really little to it, and taken apart from the rest of the suite, it's pretty much a non-event.
Deus Ex Machina is without question my favourite on the album. For my money, it's the best fusion of the past and present PRR sound, sporting a slick electronic backing, with a pounding bass and guitar line running (mostly) throughout. Love it, and it's destined to be another live favourite. Bloodless follows DEM very nicely, scaling back the guitar again in favour of a beautifully layered electronic sound, and building to a dream like chanting of "Amor, Amor, Love". It's a really beautiful piece of music, but I do agree with people's comments about the synth horns. Real brass and string instruments can bring so much passion to a track, whilst poorly synthesised variants tend to have the opposite effect. They're not used much, so don't detract from everything else the song does so right, but it's the only time on the record I felt the sterile, soulless stereotype of electronic music held any truth.
Disconnect builds into something nice over time, but is certainly the hardest track to appreciate. There's just not enough to hold onto, lacking either the beauty or power of other tracks, it just seems to meander. The Gloaming is another album highlight though, which again perfectly combines the old with new. I love the way the track constantly slips from delicate to heavy sounds, playing delicate keyboard sounds against a thumping chorus. It also has the bonus of being the most hummable song on the album.
Wrapping up with the sublime AVO, I love how they bring back elements from DEM for this track, as it gives the entire album a bit more cohesion. AVO is another favourite track, such a lovely piano line to start with, and the build up to the end is so well done. It's a trick they've used multiple times on the album, but I love these chanting build ups, especially when there's such tremendous music backing them.
There's not as much material here as I'd have liked, but it's clear every track has been laboured on, and then when they got the tracks to a level they were happy with, they polished them until they shone.
Very curious to see where this album will take them, and how it will influence the next album.
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Post by Lawrie on Mar 13, 2009 9:30:40 GMT
I feel very nearly exactly the same as you about that whole post, butler! ;D
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Post by jemi on Mar 13, 2009 10:44:28 GMT
It's just that when it starts I think I'm listening to 'Intergalactic' by the Beasie Boys! Hahahahah! Thank you, I can never take Disconnect seriously again. |
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to chew on! ;D
WOW! Haha, that might not actually say anything at all about your state at Cargo , maybe more about mine at the Water Rats (had a shandy or two that night, and can't remember you being especially hammered!)... 
