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Post by murphymurphy on Mar 17, 2009 2:11:46 GMT
So how do we change that? Or can we?
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Post by ryan on Mar 17, 2009 2:54:56 GMT
There's a bit in the FAQ about e-mailing them I believe.
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Post by butler on Mar 17, 2009 9:45:23 GMT
I ripped the album using windows media player, and Apogee is labelled Deus and everything after that is labelled as the song that follows it, so AVO is 'Bonus Track'! Anyone else having this problem and is there a way to fix it? Yeah I had that. I nearly wet myself when I saw a 4 minute secret track listed. |
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Idz
Ambassador
Jump on my pressure pill?
Posts: 21
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Post by Idz on Mar 17, 2009 17:00:47 GMT
I love it. It was strange at first after getting used to the dreamy Dark Third, but I like how they've gone all electro. There are some fucking awesome songs on the album, Deus Ex Machina, VC, and The Gloaming are my faves. However, I think that Disconnect is the worst song I've heard from the band so far. It's just annoying, and sticks out like a sore thumb. Otherwise, top stuff  |
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Post by flyingswordfish on Mar 17, 2009 20:49:30 GMT
After playing the album a few more times, I can safely say that I really like Disconnect. Screw your opinions! ;D (I kid, I kid)
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Post by jemi on Mar 17, 2009 21:04:01 GMT
I like the song... I just can't gel with the vocoder. It'd be fine if it were just at the beginning but...
I'm learning to ignore it though.
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Post by ryan on Mar 17, 2009 21:40:07 GMT
I like it.
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Post by murphymurphy on Mar 18, 2009 20:50:17 GMT
*skips the first minute of the track*
I LOVE DISCONNECT
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Post by the dark fourth on Mar 19, 2009 20:46:45 GMT
Right. Got back from a 24 hour saga plane trip from Mexico, which included lost luggage, missed connections, absolutely no sleep etc etc, stumbled into an HMV, collapsed into a dark room and put the album on loud through my best headphones.
Probably the greatest sonic experience I've ever had. Only remotely contested by the first time I heard Ambassadors.
IT'S SO GOOD!!!
I've never had my high expectations for an album so completely fulfilled.
Les Malheurs is an incredible song, even though I still think Cupid should be track one, I was so excited by hearing it properly, and then when I heard the new Victorious Cupid mix I almost choked! It's so much better than before! And I LOVED it before. I was really worried that it wasn't going to fit the album style, but they completely electo-fied it, and now it has to be one of the best tracks on the record. I love the vocal effects, which they added to Deus too.
The Sane/Insane/Apogee/Requiem sequence is of course sublime, and I really like the big blend of styles with bits and pieces of different feelings etc etc. The accapella bit completetly breaks any boundaries for how beautiful music is capable of sounding.
Deus is its brilliant self. If anything I enjoyed this slightly less than the others cos I know it so well by now, but objectively it is the most fantastic rocker ever created, hands down.
Bloodless and Disconnect have got to be the low-point if you have to choose one, but for this to be called a low point is less a criticism of these songs than a praise of the rest of the album, because these tracks are still real quality. I love the sublime, peaceful sounds of Bloodless and the meeting of the electronic and non-electronic voices on Disconnect.
Gloaming is clearly brilliant, even if it is better live. The continuous shifting of different break-downs and build ups, with repeats and sudden changes works really well.
Then there's AVO...WOW!!! What a finisher! It works even better than Ambassadors Return, and that was one of my favourite finishers ever. It's so so so good!!
I love the way, like they did in TDT, bits of lyrics come up again and again, in particular the Deus chorus bit. The lyrics are just as effective here - they suggest so much and conjure so many really powerful images, even though they don't actually say that much.
The vocals are UNBELIEVABLE. Honestly, no one can sing like PRR in the studio. No one. They might actually be gods. The same was true of TDT, so I shouldn't be shocked, but it's so striking. I think some people said there wasn't enough Chloe, but I didn't notice it. Jon's bits, especially on Deus, work really really well, but mostly it's the harmonies of all three that steal it.
Same general praise for the overall production. It's genuinely mind-blowing.
I guess I have to pick some weak points. I think some of the track changes are really weird. I don't like how the first two tracks stand alone without mixing into the rest of the album. And Apogee into Deus doesn't work at all. But despite this, I feel the album as a whole exudes a really strong sense of completeness - a very functional concept album. It's dark, powerful, energetic, almost sexual in it's romance, a real deep-un which I'm sure I will continue to get lots out of for years to come.
The only other criticism I can muster (apart from the really really, inexcusably aweful artwork) is that it's too short! I just want more. But this is more me being greedy - deep down I appreciate that they were sensible enough not to spoil a masterpiece by taking it too far.
Anyways, now I'm going to read everyone else's opinions and then on Sunday I get to see it up close in rocking Berlin! Is it possible to die of excitement? I hope not...
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Post by blondeambassador on Mar 19, 2009 20:56:34 GMT
Is it possible to die of excitement? I hope not... Nah, if I'm still standing after the last 2 weeks, anyone can make it... |
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Post by murphymurphy on Mar 20, 2009 0:41:45 GMT
dark fourth, even though we may not exactly fall in love with Chloe's artwork, it is definitely appropriate for an album that deals with love (specifically carnal love). While it's not TDT artwork, which was just so, so, so, classy it was stylish, and the abrupt change of artistic styles may not be quite the most appealing thing ever, remember PRR has just undergone a pretty major change in their music stlye as well. Thus, I feel that the album's theme and the rapid change in (sub?)genre from the band pretty well warrants this artwork.
EDIT: And about the lack of Chloe, I think most people (or at least I was) were referring to the lack of Chloe's lead parts. Sure, we heard her in the songs, but she was always backing vocals. In TDT, the songs where she leading were so amazing it was divine! Not minimize ANY of the other male vocalists, and in fact, I really enjoyed Jon's performance in DEM, and he is an amazing singer, I just feel that PRR has always had extraordinary amounts of variety, from instruments and vocals. I felt that Jon was dominating a little in AVO, whereas they all had an even balance in TDT.
I hope that explains it better.
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Post by flyingswordfish on Mar 20, 2009 2:37:42 GMT
One thing I like about this album, similar to The Dark Third, is how subtle little musical connections exist between the songs, and I love catching those things after a few listens. The one that jumps out to me is toward the end of AVO (about when Jon starts saying "Stand as you know") when you hear the little part from the breakdown at the end of Deus. I think stuff like that is really cool. On the artwork, I think it's good enough. I'm glad that Chloe did it, because I know the band got just what they wanted. Maybe it could have been better, I don't know, but I think it fits very well. I think all the artwork in the booklet is very cool, and the cover is okay. I think my favorite moment on the album is the build up in Apogee ("You raise hell in me, my love. . .") and the crazy rock out part. Even when I heard that on the sampler last summer, I was blown away. And the whole song turned out to be amazing. And the whole album, too.  I am a little curious about the several references to guns in the lyrics. I'm interested to know how Jon connects that to the whole love thing. |
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Post by shed unit on Mar 20, 2009 10:53:15 GMT
Nice review THD, makes me want to go have another listen!
I think the link between Apogee and DEM is awesome! Even though their two different songs completely, it gave me the same feeling as in 'Ambassadors' where it goes from nice and flowly into the all out ROCK bit.. (Smiley face)...(Haven't figured out how to do them yet)...
I wasn't a fan of 'Bloodless' when it came out, but now it's my favourite. Nearly made me cry! It's so different from any other song they've done, I'd say they're only proper ballad. (Sad face) followed by (Happy face)....
Does anyone know the dude who keeps shouting out 'Bullets!' at PRR gigs? That dude gets everywhere! Sure I heard him at Nottingham and every London gig I've been to!
(Smiley face) (Need to get some breakfast face).....
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Post by butler on Mar 20, 2009 11:12:53 GMT
Stands the test of time doesn't it. Tracks like Deus and VC I've been listening to in one form of another for over a year now, and yet I still listen to the album between 1 - 3 times per day, and if anything it's getting better. I advise everybody to listen to it through head phones at some point. I ended up skipping a 20 minute bus journey yesterday evening, as I had AVO on my iPod and was enjoying it so much, I thought I'd walk it. Great experience, phenomenal album.... hurry up album 3 |
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Post by AlExMachina on Mar 20, 2009 15:03:41 GMT
Right, I'm sure this will be rambly and gushing, what with it being my first post, so apologies in advance.
The thing I found really interesting about this album when reading reviews of it was how divisive it had been. Malheurs, Cupid, Deus Ex Machina, Disconnect, Gloaming and AVO have all been called the best or worst tracks by different reviewers. Anyway, to get the minor gripes out of the way with first: Bloodless and Disconnect. I alternate between finding them sleek or boring, depending on my mood. What I do definitely feel is that the album suffers from placing them together. They bleed into each other and while there are obviously much longer songs on TDT, those commanded your attention by progressing and advancing. These shimmy about beautifully together for almost 11 minutes, but doing very little. The vocoder doesn’t even bother me that much on Disconnect (any more) – I think it at least helps to define where those two songs separate!
Anyway, that’s the only really whinge going on here. Malheurs, Apogee, Gloaming and AVO are all brilliant. I’m immune to Cupid and Deus now, but I remember adoring them once so I’ll give them the same thumbs up as the others! I think I did catch some people saying they preferred the album mix of Cupid – not sure myself but I do think that the same phasering-in(?) is used, to much greater effect, on the “Amor, Amor, Vincit…” bit in AVO and to use it twice reduces its coolness/power.
I am still unsure about the lyrics. At first I instantly preferred them to TDT because there are a few really cool (grammatically correct) phrases that jump out, particularly in Malheurs and Apogee. They aren’t particularly deep but just, well, cool. Jon had managed to be more direct without giving up the interpretive imagery aspect too much. As a result, I then returned to TDT’s lyrics and remembered how beautiful they were. So, not sure which is better but I do love the first half of “AVO” lyrically. Apart from Requiem – I remember thinking “A slow and painful death or a very peaceful rest” was extremely weak the first time I heard it. The singing’s lovely but the line has not grown on me.
The last band I was this into was The Cooper Temple Clause, and Make This Your Own was a long wait and made me very excited/impatient (like AVO). It was also pretty average. This is not - It’s also a very successful change in style (love the electro sound). Gloaming should be marketed as Phantom Pt. III.
Now for the completely arbitrary mark: 4/5
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