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Rating: This is the second review of 'El Cielo', and it probably won't be read by many…
Nonetheless, for the first time, I feel compelled to sit down and offer an opinion on an album that enriches me more and more every time the laser touches its tracks. Have you ever experienced the idyllic sensation of "discovering" a band, and consequently the standout album of their discography, to then share it with a close circle of music-loving friends? It happened to me, and from this statement, you can understand that this review will not be a "copy and paste" of judgments and criticisms found online, but a summary of the emotions that 'El Cielo' can give to those who will have the patience to dedicate just over an hour of their time.
Where to start? From the regret of having downloaded this masterpiece from eMule and not yet buying it original, given its value... but I will, and it's certainly not the politically correct statement of someone against piracy! First, listen, and then buy. In the working world, you don't buy blind, and artists need to grasp this concept. Well, hungry for new and stimulating rock, about a year ago I searched Google for reviews on 'A Perfect Circle', and I read the name “Dredg” (unpronounceable, I realize.. but sources assure me it’s pronounced “dreg”, with the “g” as in “giorno”) several times and changed my search topic accordingly. Truly positive judgments on the debut “Leitmotif”, praises, and hosannas for the second work, the aforementioned 'El Cielo'.
How could one resist the temptation to try it through peer2peer? I've downloaded an infinity of albums, of which at least 75% were granted only a single listen. But El Cielo… unlike 'Leitmotif', the songs entered my mind like lightning, making me realize I had finally “discovered” a group optimistically “ignored” by the Italian music scene!
Why? For the quality of the vocals, a voice not strained to the maximum endurance of vocal cords as in nu-metal, with the genre's screams and shouts, and not the hoarse tone of new metal (which, let me say, should be buried to not offend the Masters of Seattle..), for the melancholy transcending from the notes of “Triangle”, “Sorry but it’s over” and from the concluding part of the serene “Same ol’ road”. I would bore you if I mentioned them all.
There is a resemblance to A Perfect Circle, and not just in Maynard James Keenan’s vocal quality. There is Passion, Purity, there is Style, there is Heart, there is a desire to offer clean Rock, not hidden by distortions. But at the same time of such an impact as to open one's eyes, while the sweet and hypnotic rhythm changes into an aggression of scratching riffs, and the relaxation with eyes closed seated in an armchair takes a whole different turn. Pink Floydian influence? Certainly in 'Leitmotif', but less so here..
Reflection doesn’t always have to be labeled this way, there are bands that can make just as good a comparison. Radiohead of “The Bends”, but that doesn't quite fit.. Here the serenity of brit-pop does not pervade the album, even if some sweet ballads might recall it. It’s a rock suspended in mid-air, balanced between sadness and anger, never well defined, and consequently, left to the listener. He has the responsibility to create a suitable sound alcove for his emotional state, and 'El Cielo' is undoubtedly capable of projecting us into all of this. Listening to it on headphones while fingers slide over the keyboard, accompanied by a sip of homemade grappa..
The sensation I’m experiencing cannot be transmitted with written words, and if I were capable, I would have found a paying job as a writer!
A piece of advice? Download it or borrow it, there’s nothing worse than paying 20 euros for an album that will end up in your player only once. But if you ended up on this page out of interest in discovering a truly significant band, trust me.. you’ll shell out the cash without batting an eye.
Tracklist Lyrics and Videos
02 Same Ol' Road (05:14)
Here we go
down that same old road again,
Sympathy unfolds the shell that holds,
All beauty within,
Here we go
down that same old road again,
A memory, a regret, a hope.
Here we go
down that same old road again,
Empathy controls the wind that blows,
And tickles our skin,
A memory, a regret, a hope, a stimulus.
Recent it seems,
we must push on, we must push on,
though we bleed,
we must push on, we must push on.
All you need is a modest house in a modest neighborhood,
In a modest town, where honest people dwell.
Making the cleanest energy,
For the greenest plants to grow,
In the richest soil that is drenched,
With the freshest rain,
Then you should sit in your backyard,
Watch clouds peak over the tallest mountain tops,
Because they unveil honest opinions
about the stars.
We must push on, recent it seems,
We must push on, we must push on,
Though we bleed, we must push on, we must push on
All you need is a modest house in a modest neighborhood.
03 Sanzen (04:34)
I can't even concentrate on this,
It's over thought, anticipated,
The pen ink is running dry,
It's been thrown to paper and wasted,
Creativity has been blocked and over tasted,
Maybe in time, I'll appreciate it
Hold on, hold on, we'll be with you soon
These papers are stuck in this book,
'till they're torn out and pasted,
to inside of my memory,
where I can later look and see them in a new gallery,
where they can later be viewed and appreciated.
Hold on, hold on, we'll be with you soon,
We'll be with you soon
Longing for what has been lost,
And longing for what hasn't been obtained,
It's a small cost, forgot the past, lost the future,
Only now remains
Hold on, hold on, we'll be with you soon,
We'll be with you soon
06 Sorry but It's Over (04:08)
Distorted and complicated
I'm sorry but it's over
Essential to awaken...
how moving
Here we are
That's what it's all about
I'm sorry but it's over
To love here and to love this...
I'm finally breathing
Before you go,
there is something more to say
Persistent resentment
I'm sorry but it's over
Seduction for destruction
I'm finally breathing
To love this, all this
It's what it's all about all the way
Before you go,
there is something more to say
07 Convalescent (03:32)
This lonely old man had heart, resting
Gray hairs on wrinkled arms
with nothing but a stool to hold up his back
Skinny legs with Japanese mileage
Crossed at the ankles
He's unaware
Maybe you've never seen it
Maybe you've never been through it
It's the only way to understand it
Unaware of his surroundings
Youth, it passed
Swarming like wolves to a fresh kill,
the scent attracts
He's just scared about dying
Maybe you've never seen it
Maybe you've never been through it
It's the only way to understand him
Save your clever statements
Brave your severed view of it
It's the only way to understand it
To believe that...
to think back...
to realize that
no sad days have come to an end
where all...
where all has been lost
Maybe you've never seen it
Maybe you've never been through it
It's the only way to understand it
Save your clever statements
Brave yourself if you want in
It's the only way to understand it
12 Of the Room (03:44)
White cloth
Black napkins
Wood chairs surround me
Wood tables
Foggy side
in front with no light
Night falls beneath candle light
Cast shadows
Incense fragrance
from the corner of the room
Cloudy senses
Stale light
below, beneath
Night falls beneath candle light
White squalls beneath winter sky
Night falls beneath wintered sky
White squalls beneath winter skies
Faceless crowd
of elderly beings
Roses sprouting
Yellow glow
The sub-conscience into the
night beneath
Night falls beneath candle light
White squalls beneath winter skies
14 It Only Took a Day (03:16)
Think we know,
oblivious though
Unified clones
sit like stones
up on thrones
of fools gold
Looking bold
but all alone
Restore our needed shelter
Sitting sideways
Something deep
Wading water
Pants at my knees
Fading with growth
Lie awake
Buried stones
All alone
Restore our needed shelter
Our flawless endeavor...
to be alone
Sitting sideways
Something deep
Wading water
Pants at my knees
Sitting sideways
Something deep
Fading with growth
Lie awake
16 The Canyon Behind Her (06:39)
Does anybody feel this way?
Does anybody feel like I do?
I built a wall,
It's stretched 1000 miles, set it off,
A massacre, it's holding up the roof,
Breast feed your hearts.
It set it off
I saw a distant port,
with no water to support,
burning
the bridge between
Does anybody feel this way?
Does anybody feel like I do?
Does anybody feel this way?
Does anybody feel like I do?
Never content nor satisfied,
Intentions of self,
Massacre change and history,
Borderline paranoia,
Yelling out their own right
Does anybody feel this way?
Does anybody feel like I do?
Does anybody feel this way?
Does anybody feel like I do?
Half of me is gone,
The lonesome part is left,
I cannot find the other half,
I cannot find the other half,
I cannot find the other half,
I cannot find the other half.
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