2112

RUSH 2112

"Over the last four decades Rush’s fusion of heavy metal and prog has seen them solidify their position as one of the most consistently popular rock bands on the planet. Their self-titled album had been a collection of straight ahead Led Zeppelin influenced rockers, however the departure of drummer John Rutsey and the recruitment of his replacement Neil Peart found follow up albums, Fly by Night and Caress of Steel, and the sound of the band moving in a considerably more complex musical direction. Their rapid evolution didn’t equate to big sales though, and despite touring in support of the likes of KISS, underwhelming sales found their record label begging them to abandon their increasingly complex progressive rock in favour of something considerably more streamlined.

With their backs against the wall, Rush opted to stick to their guns, continue their evolution and release a sci-fi infused rock album that connected with a receptive audience. That album was 2112, and it was the moment that the band themselves confess that they actually sounded like they wanted to sound.

Where previously Rush had been prone to moments of where they lacked direction during their regular extended musical workouts, with the emphasis on how many notes they could play in any given amount of time, rather than the actual song, 2112 saw them become a significantly more focused musical proposition. That’s not to say that they were abandoning the progressive rock epic though. Far from it, as opener “2112″ is a seven part, twenty minute suite that takes up an entire side of vinyl and has subsequently become an undisputed fan favourite. In short, Peart’s sci-fi narrative tells the story of an anonymous protagonist who discovers a long forgotten guitar, and through it discovers the power of music, then presents it to his fascist overlords, who then go all out to suppress the protagonist and destroy the guitar. Okay, so it’s slightly more complex than that, but that’s the general gist of it, and the heavy concept gives guitar player Alex Lifeson the perfect excuse to show off his guitar-hero range in the most favourable light, while Peart wallops more drums than the mind can comfortably cope with and Geddy Lee’s voice hits notes that threatens to shatter crystal. In less talented hands it could have been a stodgy mess, but in Rush’s it’s a triumph of not inconsiderable proportions, regardless of what Lee once described as their “Absurdly prophetic robes”.

The second half of 2112 consists of five songs not linked to the first half’s narrative, but they act as a handy reminder that even outside of extended song structures, Rush were a great little rock band.

Although Peart was the band’s primary lyricist, one of the best songs on the album, “Tears” showed off Lee’s songwriting skills. Musically the song is a mellower counterpoint to the more bombastic hard rock of the rest of the album, and is one of those tunes that’s easy to under estimate the first few times you hear it, before you realise it’s actually one of the high points of the album.

2112 closes with “Something for Nothing”, the album’s most commercial song, which is ironic given that it wasn’t released as a single, while both “The Twilight Zone” and “Passage to Bangkok” were. It’s 2112′s most straight forward rocker and proof that Rush were just as good at writing a concise hit single as they were a side-long concept suites.

2112 is one of those albums that made the most of the vinyl format, with its two halves being distinct entities. That’s lost when you listen to it in other formats, but something that you can now enjoy once again on this stunning sounding reissue, which even has hologram that spins on the runout grooves of the second side if you shine a light across it as it spins on your record deck.

Rush are one of those bands whose fans are famous for their unswerving loyalty and being completionists. It’s those fans that this series of reissues celebrating the band’s 40th anniversary is aimed at. If you happen to be a newcomer to Rush and want to know where to start, 2112 is one of their key studio albums and fully deserves its reputation as one of the definitive progressive rock classics."







source:rym

Vol. 4

                                 Black Sabbath - Vol. 4

“Vol.4” absolutely represents a turning point of Black Sabbath's career: before the release of this record, the band was getting heavier and heavier and reaching the pinnacle that “Master of Reality” was, they had to search for another directions and styles. The result is a very very heavy album (at least as heavy as its predecessor, that's for sure), but featuring clear and innovative progressive elements, since the songs are all very varied, following distinct structures. If you look to the song lenghts you may conclude that the songs CAN'T be that complex, but the truth is that they are short but pretty complex, you see? The band adopted an even more progressive sound later with “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” and then with the absolute proto-prog metal opus “Sabotage”.

The heaviness is still an important characteristic of “Vol.4”, with all the tunes also being quite slow. This is a reason why so many people claim this album to be one of the doomier Sabbath efforts, and I can't help but agree with that. Not only all the tracks are, as I've already said, pretty slow, but also the atmosphere that surrounds you when listening this record is absolutely EVIL. Indeed, Sabbath always produced very obscure music and this opus follows the same path. Only “St. Vitus Dance” is an exception, being a quite “happy”-sounding track, with that catchy main riff and vocals. “Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes” is like the other side of the coin, carrying a very dark vibe, thanks to those awesome riffs, courtesy of the always inspired Tony Iommi.

As “Paranoid” or “Master of Reality”, “Vol.4” is another extremely guitar-driven album, the riffs playin a very important role indeed. It's not easy to produce midpaced/slow music, you got to really have good riffs, solos and songwriting to entertain the listener, and Black Sabbath absolutely nail that. The drumming is very proeminent, much more proeminent on this album than on its predecessor, and that's a good thing at the end of the day, because Bill Ward sounds awesome here, with his aggressive beats and fills (example: “Every Day Comes and Goes”). Geezer's bass is unfortunately a bit low in the mix and Ozzy's performance is pretty competent, all in all.

“Vol. 4” also has a notorious melodic edge, mainly with the presence of the ballad “Changes”. It's a very different and distinctive ballad, if you compare it to the first two ones Sabbath ever composed: “Solitude”, on “Master of Reality”, and “Planet Caravan”, on “Paranoid”. While the first one is very focused on the gentle vocals and on the mellow guitar work and the second on its dreamy vibe, “Changes” differs, with the piano assuming the main role. Unfortunately, and despite carrying a otherwise strong chorus, the track is very repetitive (when I say repetitive, I really mean repetitive... think “St. Anger”), with the vocal and piano lines being far too similar to work. The sublime “Snowblind” is another example of the melodic elements “Vol. 4” contains, the song slowly building up in the middle section, leading us to a fantastic and heartfelt solo, one of the best Tony Iommi ever played. One of the highlights of the album, no doubts about it.

On other hand, the melody is also present on some of the other heavier tracks of the album: the last segment of “Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes” is an example, and so is the beginning and ending of the opener “Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener”. The two songs are also two of the most complex tracks of the album, and you can easily recognize that, since both are divided in separate movements. “Wheels of Confusion/The Straightener” is the longest track of the album, and it sounds like the mixture of three separate and distinct tracks. All the movements are very different, but the transitions are excellent, mind you. It begins with a very bluesy and emotional solo, then going through varied heavy sections, and ending with a marvelous outro, filled with excellent guitar solos, all of them extremely melodic. “Under the Sun/Every Day Comes and Goes” is also pretty exquisite and uncommon on a songwriting level, the song being pretty heavy all the way through, but containing at least three different segments, each one highlighted with a different riff. The best part of it is, again, the last part, with that beautiful riff, God, Tony Iommi is amazing at creating riffs.

“Supernaut” is another example of why Tony Iommi is so good, its main riff is so awesome. Its middle section is pretty good too, with those strange guitar, piano (?) lines and drum lines. “Tomorrow's Dream” is a catchy tune, with some more amazing riffs, even though it is actually weaker than the ones I've already mentioned. “Cornucopia” is a bit on the forgettable side though, and so is “Laguna Sunrise”, the obligatory acoustic number that, unfortunately, doesn't go anywhere, even though it contains some really beautiful lines. At least it's shorter than the boring “Fluff”, of the “Sabbath Bloody Sabbath” album, so that's something.

So, another Sabbath classic. despite its doomy vibe, mainly represented by the heaviness and slowness of the songs, this album also shows the Sabs exploring and using constantly more and more progressive elements which would lead the band, later, to release, the extremely complex and ambitious “Sabotage”. There are some killer songs here, worth listening at the end of the day, though, especially if you like the three predecessors of “Vol.4” and also, why not, its two sucessors.

Best Moments of the album:

-the beginning of “Wheels of Confusion”.

-the melodic last segment on “Every Day Comes and Goes”.

-the first time the main riff of “Supernaut” is played.

source:rym

Master of Reality

Black Sabbath - Master of Reality

"This is the album most associate with the birth of doom metal, and rightfully so. The sheer heaviness of this thing is quite impressive especially for its time, because simply there was nothing else like this in 1971. This happened because of an accident in which tips of Tony Iommi's fingers were chopped off (a job accident) he downtuned the guitar to reduce stress on his fingers. Unlike the clowns in the mid to late 90's who did because they wanted to sound heavy without taking the time to write riffs, Iommi did it out of necessity and behold, created Sabbath's early signature sound. 

This one is a little more conventional when it comes to structure, and its primary purpose seems to be heaviness. For instance, "Sweet Leaf" is basically doom metal with some interesting middle work. Its a drug sound, about marijuana, which is historically not dangerous to one's health like harder drugs though in excess it has its negative consequences. 

"Children of the Grave" is possibly the most famous song here, maybe an early ode to speed metal since I know a few bands of that genre who used this riff, only slightly varied. Lots of riffs in there to have your mouth watering to, plus the lyrics are youth oriented, but in a positive way. None of this "drop acid and have unprotected sex... to change the world!" its a generalized concept about changing the world in a constructive manner that makes as much sense today as it did then. Take note you modern fuckwits in the music scene, who write political/social albums so fucking specific that it will be obsolete in ten years. Music that is meant to last has a message that caters to central themes, intelligently written to the point that they are as valid twenty years from now as they are the day you wrote them. Punk rock has a horrible time nailing this concept down, though to be fair the world only has a few dozen punk songs that are timeless, the rest just sort of float out there into obscurity. "Lord of this World" and "Into the Void" are more doom metal, heavy as fuck, and classic destroyer of worlds. 

Doom metal takes most of its nods to this album, which makes sense. Its classic doom metal before the genre even existed. When people say "this band sounds like Sabbath" they're probably refering to this album. They're also probably referring to the fact that the band they're talking about plays fuzzy, bluesy riffs, in which every fucking doom band sounds like Sabbath. That point aside, this is essential. Yes, it is one of Sabbath's best. It focused on something as simple as heaviness, yet created something rather timeless in the process."

One the heavier albums for sure.

source: rym

First Daze

Welcome folks to this blog, we will be sharing some stoner/doom/sludge/heavypsych/ records and much more mind-blowing music. Enjoy



Roll that shit, smoke that shit, pass that shit.