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Rating:
Shocked, amazed, intrigued, puzzled. These are just some of the adjectives possible to describe the listener the first time they hear "How To Measure A Planet?".
In reality, the artwork of the CD, which abandons the dark images typical of previous albums and features a yellow background with futuristic images, had already hinted at an important change. Moreover, the previous 2 albums already presented psychedelic elements, but no one could have imagined such a turnaround: we're talking about rock: sure, it's a liquid rock contaminated by pop, electronic, and progressive, (references to Pink Floyd and Radiohead are more than evident), dreamy, but it is still rock.
The album aims to celebrate the theme of the Journey with very slow and introspective tracks. We are faced with an album of very difficult assimilation, which includes 14 songs enclosed in 2 CDs. However, if you let yourself be carried away by the music, the tracks gain strength and intensity. Unfortunately, this album was not understood by many, especially by their label, Century Media, which after the success of immortal albums like "Mandylion" and "Nightime Birds" fears losing a golden goose with an album that is absolutely not intended for goths eager for romantic and decadent atmospheres. "Frail (You Might As Well Me)" is tasked with opening the album. It is introduced by particular electronic inserts. It is a cadenced piece but also light like a spring breeze. Anneke sings in a slightly different manner than before, interpreting the songs with unprecedented emphasis and finesse. "Great Ocean Road" is a very experimental piece. Here trip-hop digressions peek through, which will anticipate the path undertaken later with "Souvenirs". Furthermore, there is some metal reminiscence, which belongs to a past never so distant. "Rescue Me" is a very dusky, soft, and dreamlike piece. However, it doesn't represent a feeling like sadness, but something closer to disenchantment.
"My Electricity" is the soundtrack of a dream, an imaginary reality that serves as a bridge between heaven and earth. Excellent Track. "Liberty Bell" is the piece that struck me the most on first listen. In many albums by The Gathering, there is a piece slightly detached from the others on the platter, more dynamic and rhythmic ("Monsters" in Souvenirs, "Third Chance" in Nightime Birds…). "Liberty Bell" is the most electrifying piece of the work, chiseled by Anneke's voice, filtered for the occasion. "Red Is A Slow Color" is a piece that faithfully reflects the title: slow and whispered. The riffs almost seem like those of the Irish band The Cranberries. The final part is interesting, very enigmatic. "The Big Sleep", based entirely on the Dutch Nightingale's singing and breathtaking sound effects, is a very intimate and unpretentious piece. "Maroneed", certainly the least successful piece of the album, represents a soft and atmospheric lullaby. The first CD closes with "Travel", which opens with the typical sounds of an Internet connection. Great performance by the divine. It is the only piece where the atmospheres of “Mandylion” and “Nightime Birds” are revived, dear to many fans.
The second CD opens with the beautiful and hypnotic "South American Ghost Ride", a very experimental, dark, and sidereal track echoing industrial imagery. It is an instrumental piece (aside from a few tiny vocalizations by Anneke). "Illuminating" is an intense semi-ballad, visionary and vibrant, just like the best pieces know how to be. "Locked Away" is a piece full of pathos, conveying sunlight and optimism like never before in the band's history. "Probably Built In The Fifties" is a whimsical piece like an unexpected rainy day, while the monumental "How To Measure A Planet?", an instrumental piece of a full 28 minutes long (what???), is markedly difficult to listen to and closes the CD. A good album, although it leaves a significant feeling of incompleteness: in my opinion, “Souvenirs” (2003) is the ideal continuation of this work after “If-then. else” and is more solid and compact.
But the courage to go against one's label, to surpass the narrow horizons of metal, to open up to new and fascinating horizons, to play the music one loves deserves praise. The courage to be called The Gathering.
Tracklist Lyrics Samples and Videos
03 Rescue Me (06:22)
All I want
is to be where you are
Wisdom
will nurse you
Pass your sense
on to me
Weigh my hands
And help me
I gasp
for air
what is the wear
That shows on my face
Pass your sense
on to me
Weigh my hands
Rescue me
I rinse my face
in water
My breath runs out
in the waves
04 My Electricity (03:32)
I send your name
up into the sky
And the wind blows it back into my face
You see, even nature
reacts on me
And all my electricity
will make it across your sea
With every wave the sea makes
My body gets weaker
and weaker.... and weaker..
You see, even nature
reacts on me
And all my electricity
will make it across your sea
And provides you
with my love
05 Liberty Bell (06:01)
No brainwaves or activity
while the craft is in the air
It's getting dark, it's getting light
we are sitting in a chair
We have fastened every belt
we cannot float out of our seats
It's so enormously frightening
When our tail reaches superheat
Another timezone
a change of season
it is turning dark again
We're getting ready for yet
another orbit around our planet
It is time for the galactic cruise
To come to an end
One last view on the world
and the time we have spend
06 Red Is a Slow Colour (06:25)
The black house in in my street
looks too dark just to go inside
But when I do
I cannot move because of
the mess in the hallway
The picture on the wall is chaotic
I don't want to look at it
But when I do
I cannot speak because of
the confusion in my head
I am unfit and I want to leap away
But when I do
The red colour comes after me
It is fierce and it moves slow
The picture on the wall is chaotic
I don't want to look at it
But when I do
I cannot speak because of
the confusion in my head
I am unfit and I want to leap away
But when I do
The red colour comes after me
It is fierce and it moves slow
07 The Big Sleep (05:01)
Deprivation of my sleep
is so bad
I need to weep
myself into a coma
And drift far far away
from reality
sing me a lullaby
"Summertime"
I'm dreaming
I'm dreaming
Temporary failure to close my eyes
leeds to a final
loss of sanity
I need to slip
into a deep sunken sleep
And drift far, far away
from reality
I'm dreaming
I'm dreaming.....
08 Marooned (05:55)
I know from a lesser tribe
I suppose the range of my intelligence
is way too wide
And you don't see me
'cause I don't have much to say
My emotional outlet
is consuming the better part of me
And apart from the wrong words
a tortured cry is making me see
That you don't see me
'cause I don't have much to say
hours and hours of jealousy
are passing me by
Although hollow silence
is the only wave
going through your brain
And you don't see me
'cause I don't have much to say
09 Travel (09:06)
Melodic stanzas
are symphonizing their way
through your weary head
To feed your distrust
And fill it's mouth with the desire
to soulfully be one with your creation
Not a subject to control
you call upon a higer power
for help and inspiration
The crowd waits
and turns their faces
towards you expectantly
you give them what they need
But their useless criticism
makes you die
a bit more inside
Not a subject to control
you call upon a higer power
for help and inspiration
Oh, I swoon
while loudspeakers play soft music
Leaning
over your fourtieth masterpiece
You must have loved
the colour of these violins
I wish I knew you
Your fit of insanity makes me sad
I wish you knew
your music was to stay forever
And I hope....
I have no clue
if you know how much it matters
And i hope....
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