Yosif

DeRank ™: 1,70

DeAge™ : 6421 days • Here since 10 november 2008

Love Contact

The Bird and the Bee The Bird and the Bee

18 jan 10

Voto:

yes yes, all true... very beautiful.

Ayreon Actual Fantasy

18 jan 10

Voto:

great avatar! I hadn't seen it. that's my measuring stick anyway, but there are cases where the lyrical part is inseparable from the musical one.. and that album is an example.

Well.. good review but too bad it's not a rap album, but grime, which is the British London genre that comes from the old UK garage / 2step, often very close to the early dubstep in sounds (the latter, despite being presented as a great innovation, takes quite a bit from this genre, in fact it's a sort of derivative and they are also connected, with dubsteppers remixing grime artists and vice versa; many dubstep tracks from now sound the same as the grime beats from 6 or 7 years ago, for example the works of Distance) [and I want to clarify that I like both genres, especially all the old UK garage stuff]. So I still believe you should compare it to other proposals in the genre (like the RD Crew, first Rascal, etc.), and not to the usual 50 Cent, Ne-Yo, etc.! What do they have to do with it? One does pseudorap, the other is extremely sweet R&B for teenage girls. Personally, I don't find it original at all; actually, in this genre, it's among the worst for me. "Far from what you hear on the radio"? Not really, since -even here- in 2007 it had considerable commercial-radio-worldwide success and some things in this genre even made it to Italy, while 2step was doing really well here around 2000 too! Tracks like SUNSHOVERS, PULL UP THE PEOPLE, BINGO, etc., are absurd nonsense, not that far from the stuff you mention. If you want to hear them, I’ll suggest two nice 2001 tracks among my favorites (without having to mention all the great grime things that have come out in recent years) that served as a connection between UK garage-4x4-2step-grime-dubstep, since they didn't precisely fit into any of those genres but were kind of a mix.. where you could start to hear the typical rapping of grime with the rhythms typical of 2step and sounds from underground garage, there are quite a few but these knocked it out:D for me, there’s no comparison with M.I.A. who is indeed superior to many commercial things but not revolutionary or original as you say (I won’t comment on the lyrics as I don't know them), in fact, she is quite a bit behind the times! ---

Ayreon Actual Fantasy

18 jan 10

Voto:

Yes.. I can also consider lyrics, stories, concepts, etc. "secondary" in some cases, that is, if we talk about nonsense like the little English loser with intimate lyrics like "don't leave me alooooooooone", or if we talk about heavy metal clowns with macho satanistic fantasy bullshit, etc. If we talk about "yeahh boyyy" repeated 50 times in an electronic track, and so on. But in this case, the lyrics are FUNDAMENTAL, since we are dealing with a concept album that is particularly captivating (and also somewhat connected to the other albums by lucasseen) where each singer doesn’t just play a simple guest role, but takes on a central and protagonist role, also with parts perfectly suited to their personalities. Just think of the singer from Saviour Machine, who fits perfectly into his role with an Oscar-worthy performance. For example, take the song "school"; maybe it won't be the most beautiful musically on the album, but if you see the interaction of all the protagonists in their respective roles and read the lyrics, it’s something incredible. The guy from Opeth seems made for his role related to fear… but especially Clayton when he interprets reason (spectacular) and the dialogue with pride, you truly grasp the greatness of that album. It’s not like other albums such as Into the Electric Castle (which I found musically beautiful but tacky in terms of concept and lyrics); here the idea of coma + interaction with the mind + surprise ending + performance and the roles of the chosen guests was really strong!

Elton John Rare Masters

18 jan 10

Voto:

Well done, beautiful review.. better a record of b-sides and rarities than the dozens of greatest hits by Vasco, etc.

Ayreon Actual Fantasy

18 jan 10

Voto:

Well, blasphemy and all that, but everything Lucassen has done is excellent. However, The Human Equation was an absolute masterpiece, and beyond personal tastes (which I won't discuss), it's hard to prefer Actual Fantasy! Have you listened to it while reading the lyrics/story/concept/roles of the guests/protagonists, Fedezan? If you haven't, I recommend you do so; that's the only way to truly understand it. [There are also translations in Italian circulating]. ;)