#chazza gets into prog

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Parasomnia thoughts!!

1. In The Arms of Morpheus: I was sooo tense waiting for the ambience to kick into a riff or something lol! and when it did it was very cool, drums are immediately so Mike Is Back, Petrucci is awesome as always, more melodic than I was expecting but a nice album-focussed way to start :)

2. Night Terror: we already knew this as a single and I’ve loved it since first listen, a true prog-metal banger. loooove the dark vibes and the catchy chorus works weirdly well!

3. A Broken Man: another single, this one was more of a grower but I really like it now! the Deliverance vibes at the start are excellent (the darker atmosphere of this album in general is fairly Opethian which considering my current fixations is fine by me lol). the way it builds is awesome, and I’m a fan of the slower hulking heaviness of the verses. that interlude-y bit at 3:00 is so cool. WHY did it take a few listens to get into this one??? maybe it’s hitting different in the context of the album but damn

4. Dead Asleep: aaah something new… immediate reprise of a tune from ABM is cool! they are SO GOOD at creepy intro -> evil riff. that organ(?) at 2:00?? so dark I love it. niiiice melodic Petrucci solo, gotta love those. more big riffage and crazy instrumental, awesome. piano at the end… do I spy an interlude… ooh closing door okay, and into MM! Niiiiice, loving how it flows as an album so far

5. Midnight Messiah: last single, and another track that I really enjoyed from the get-go <3 Train of Thought vibes are strong on this one which is fantastic bc that’s my fav DT album besides I&W. the thrashy sound is a little different for them which is cool!

6. Are We Dreaming?: ✨ambience✨ & once again I’m very tense for whatever is coming! a well-placed breather after the chaos of MM. also organ babyyyy

7. Bend The Clock: ooh that opening guitar sound?? Mr Petrucci I adore you. Ballad? Acoustic guitar? Pretty! Again this is well-placed after the intensity of the first bunch of tracks. Very much enjoyed the riff at 1:30 and the evolution into a more fully-fledged song. It’s so epic and dramatic but has weight to it which is the perfect way to do a softer song to me!

8. The Shadow Man Incident: last song 😨 but it’s an epic so all is well. Honestly I’m just gonna sit back and take this one in otherwise this will be ten paragraphs long lol. The narration voice though – Neil in The Necromancer vibes much?! And that section at 10:30!! The whole instrumental bit OMG this is freaking awesome. Near the end: what is this last minute for…? Oh back round to the ambience from ITAOM! And ‘wake up’! This is such an ALBUM album and I love them for that

General notes:

James sounds awesome! they clearly paid attention to where the vocals would fit into the songs and what works with his current voice which is great

my new policy of listening to new things on headphones is working well bc the stereo is well-used, especially in all of Mike’s fills! they’re all over the place, as they should be.

the guitar sound is so meaty and EVIL! the atmosphere is so dark which I enjoy. great production too, the sound is just excellent

Conclusion: AAAAHHHH

this was such a difficult one for them to pull off with all the anticipation and they’ve done so well! I love it and am immediately listening again! It’s so DT but also has a fresh vibe to it which is perfect. I’m proud of them 🥹 <3

also: WHEN PARASOMNIA TOUR I NEED TO SEE THEM AGAIN

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I usually try to avoid listening to new (to me) albums whilst working bc I want to focus on them, but doing academic writing like the lab report I was working on today is great bc I listened to my next three Bass Communion albums – new fav studying soundtrack when I don’t want my usual background music 👍

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As promised, here’s my first impressions of The Last Will and Testament!

I’ll note first that decided to listen in headphones and I’m glad I did – there’s a lot of stereo effects to appreciate. General shoutout to the production which is so rich and clear, very three-dimensional and layered.

§1: I was familiar with this since it was the first single, and still really like it; the build is very exciting and I enjoy the heavy/light interplay which is a recurring theme though the rest of the album.

§2: my first thoughts were that it’s kinda all over the place and I’ll need more listens to follow it, but just after a second listen it’s clicking more. cool track.

§3: the other single, so one I’m already familiar with, and a track I really like. The heavy instrumental with the clean vocals is great and I love the progginess.

§4: SO FREAKING COOL. I love the vocal interplay and again, great contrast between heavy/soft sections.

§5: I got some Sorceress vibes here which is great bc I love that album; very cool rhythms and more enjoyable clean/harsh vocal interplay. The eastern section in the middle is a unique and well-used touch. Amazing guitar work! Fade-out at the end…?

§6: …which immediately makes sense with the keyboards at the start of this, awesome drums too. Immediately sounds epic, lovely clean vocals reminiscent of Sorceress/ICV, then some great chugging and an awesome keyboard-turned-guitar solo! I loved the groove of this one.

§7: Nice keyboards and an epic feel again. I enjoyed the choral part and slowed pace afterwards, shivers!

A Story Never Told: This is a lovely denouement to a crazy musical journey, beautiful all round!

A few notes from multiple songs: there’s a doubled(?) vocal thing at several points that reminds me of the ‘familiar friendship’ line in Moon Above, Sun Below, which is very cool. I also liked Ian Anderson’s narration, which worked surprisingly well with the music rather than being thrown in as interludes/distracting from the songs. Everyone’s playing is fantastic – a few highlights are Mendez’s bass on §1 and §3, Waltteri’s drums on §1 and §6, Joakim’s keyboards on §6 and §7, Fredrik’s guitar on §5 and §6, and of course Mikael’s vocals across everything. I wasn’t convinced on the different style of growls when I first heard §1, but I think they work with the dark atmosphere of the album – which itself is a cool throwback to the vibes of albums like Blackwater Park and Deliverance. I always love his clean vocals, too, and the balance was used well throughout the album imo. Overall it’s a cool synthesis of all the sounds they’ve had before, and yet so fresh, which is exciting! I look forward to listening more and getting to know the tracks better :)

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I did, indeed, listen to all three (and a half!) hours and. well. it’s not quite active listening music in the same way as rock/metal but not quite ambient either, it stays engaging but the repetitive nature got me into the feeling of the music so it didn’t feel like it was dragging on. I don’t know if it’s the sort of thing I’d listen to often but I did quite enjoy it; it made a good soundtrack to reading those prog magazines I posted the other day and generally chilling :)

evening cancelled I wanna listen to all three hours of this

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making prog rock tumblr proud by properly starting to listen to yes today 😌

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I’ve made my way through some more Camel albums today (the debut which recently appeared on Apple Music, then Breathless through Stationary Traveller — I’d already heard Mirage through Rain Dances) and I’m enjoying them! One more classic prog band under the belt :)

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just listened to Lazarus by Porcupine Tree for the first time and it’s beautiful omg

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I’m finishing off the Camel discography by listening to Dust and Dreams & Harbour of Tears (just a couple to go after) and I’m falling in love with Andrew Latimer’s guitar, it’s so gorgeous… very Gilmour-ish and that is a high compliment

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Just listened to The Snow Goose too and it’s lovely, will need another spin for it to sink in but very nice on first listen :)

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I decided to listen to this whole thing over my lunch break and duuuude it’s so cool! gives me early Opeth vibes (their first album is one of my faves) but is very atmospheric and folky and sometimes heavy in a unique way. will definitely be checking out the rest of their discography :)

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discovered this song recently and I love it! need to finish with camel and vdgg but I think caravan are next on my list :)

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update on my getting-into-prog journey: listened to both u.k. albums (& the couple of live-only tracks) yesterday and they’re good :)

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I’m finishing listening to the King Crimson studio albums today and Happy With What You Have To Be Happy With from The Power to Believe… what a banger

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*listening to the hamburger concerto album by focus* wow I’m such a well-adjusted 21st century teenage girl

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continuing my descent into prog rock fandom with genesis and liking it so far (currently on a trick of the tail) 👍

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I’ve always listened to dad music but listening to Yes in particular feels like I’m morphing into a 60/70 year old man lol