Top vs Spiro - 100 Album Challenge

Spirographed · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 10:13 am

Topsummoner wrote:

Cons:
- The lyrical content... just doesn't do anything for me most of the time. And it's the most prominent feature of the album too...
- There's not really interesting going on in the music. I just felt bored
- The Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" reference... ugh. Most covers of this song seem to miss the point of it entirely, and this sample of it is no exception.
- I got really sick of hearing "Jesus" or "God" quite literally every few seconds. The problem with this kind of religious music is the message seems the exact same all the time.

I kind of thought this might happen. I'm not trying to argue with what I say next, I'm just trying to explain. The lyrical content and message of this kind of 'religious music' being the exact same all the time isn't a 'problem'. It has a specific purpose. Just like Sufjan's Seven Swans and Cohen's "Hallelujah" were made with a purpose, so was TtWbGMJ. I did listen to SS yesterday, and will write my review today (Sorry again. Fell asleep. Old man status, here.

), but for right now I'll say this: Folk music is usually made to tell a story or is very personal, and with SS that remains true. The approach is very different, because the purpose is very different. With the "Hallelujah" reference, I think it's the same thing applies. I would even liken Sufjan to a modern day Cohen. Their goal was to write about something personal to them, in a story form, and they did so, and well.

Here's what Ascend the Hill did: They made an album of covers. Those covers being of hymns written more than a hundred years ago.
Here's what Ascend the Hill's purpose for writing the album was: To make an album of corporate worship to The Creator of the universe. I like to define worship as trying to be as aware of God as I possibly can. Many do this through music, because it is emotional. With lyrics, the best way to be more aware of God is by repeating his name, and reminding Him and ourselves of what he has done for us, or will do. That's why it seems repetitive. It's for meditation and reflection for the purpose of awareness, with fellow believers. For a non-believer, it can be a very uncomfortable experience, because with worship comes conviction and humbleness, and the non-believer doesn't have the relationship with The One being worshiped, nor do they feel the love and grace that comes with that relationship.

The catch is that Seven Swans and "Hallelujah" can very well be worshipful in nature...but it's a different kind, a personal, non-corporate kind.

Musically, I have to completely disagree, though. That's just subjective though. The drums, specifically on "The Love of God", "How Great Thou Art" and "I Surrender All" set this music ahead of most "Christian rock bands", but also many secular bands as well. "I Surrender All" is in it's just a baller song all together. Fantastic drums, guitar and soaring harmonies. I expected the reaction to the lyrics, but if anything am disappointed on the lack of any love for the music...those drums, man! They are just very, very innovative....in like a...a jazzy way...or something.

As for Elephant, the song that opened up the whole album for me was "Ball and Biscuit". Jack speaks with that guitar, man. His attitude throughout the song is something that makes me smile.

Topsummoner · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 10:36 am

Thank you for writing. I understand the music better now, but I was rating purely on a personal enjoyment level, and well, I just didn't enjoy it at all. I understand why you like and appreciate it though.

Spirographed · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 2:32 pm

Day 13:
Sufjan Stevens - Seven Swans

Mostly enjoyed the first Sufjan album, and from some stuff Top has said, I think I'll enjoy the lyrical content of this one, so I'm looking foward to this listen.

Pros:
- The [almost] dueling banjo/guitar feel of the first couple songs is really cool. Great playing all around. Great banjo riffs and timings and same for guitar. I was pretty impressed with Sufjan's playing.
- In TAoA, some of the vocals, including Sufjan's at times, really didn't appeal to me. This album is much different. It's generally chiller, and so are the vocals. I enjoyed Sufjan's vocals every step of the way. I also enjoyed the backing female vocals when they were there to harmonize and such.
- Great, great story telling. Sufjan finds a way to tell Biblical stories (that have been told millions of times) in a simple yet appealing way. He doesn't get super theological. He tells it as it is. I think that's missing from a lot of artists with faith.
- There was some really cool organ parts in here, and the first time I heard them on the album ("The Dress Looks Nice On You") I was totally ready to make it a con, but the more the organ was used, the better it got, including a relisten of "TDLNOY".
- Strong start and finish to the album.

Cons:
- Lack of any real drum presence. In my head, I heard drums on most of the tracks, but they weren't really there. I think the album could have really benefited with some drumming with brushes.
- The middle of the album sort of lost something. It wasn't terrible. It was good. It was chill. It just lost some of the magic the beginning and end had. "Sister" through "A Good Man Is Hard To Find" were just ok. It wasn't bad, but I felt myself losing focus.

Highlight:
"Seven Swans" was just a really, really good song. The Banjo/Vocal opener to build to the piano/drum/backup vocals was just perfect. The drums on this song were the only drums I really enjoyed on the album. This telling of parts out of the book of Revelation really kept the mood/feel of the book.

Overall Score: 7.5/10

I liked this album slightly more than TAoA. It was a very easy listen and the first three and last two tracks were really just fantastic.

Coming up next...
Day 14:
Incubus' Morning View and Sufjan Stevens' Illinois

Topsummoner · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 4:57 pm

Day 14
Incubus - Morning View

Oddly enough my friend in another Discord was just talking about this album literally yesterday. Pretty funny, I'll have to talk to her about it after I'm through.

Pros:
- The sound; it's gone that cohesive Smashing Pumpkins-like sound. I don't even know what the proper term for that is, but all the instruments just blend into the overall sound, and the result is just pleasing.
- I like the vocalist, he's skilled and has a good sound too most of the time.
- Good mix of acoustic/electric bits.
- Many of the tracks have that grunge-like 'subdued verse, heavy chorus' thing going on which works to their benefit.

Cons:
- The vocal style on a handful of tracks like "Warning" and "Echo" kind of grated on me.
- The cohesive sound has the double-edged effect of making nothing about the music really stick out at all. My overall impression after the album was over was like "well that was good" but I couldn't recall a single clear moment besides...

Highlight: Aqueous Transmission - Ho boy, where did THIS come from? I'm reminded of "Mosquito Song" on Songs For The Deaf... just a total curveball final track that still works perfectly.

A pretty pleasant listen overall! I'll probably be revisiting this one.

Overall Score: 8/10

Spirographed · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 5:34 pm

Man. I've seen Incubus live, more than once, and the second time, they played "Aqueous Transmission" as the final encore. At the end of the song, as the instruments drop out, one by one, they all left the stage as their parts ended. It was a great concert moment.

Applequest · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 6:26 pm

Interesting you liked Morning View more than Elephant. I'm not familiar with pretty much all of these 200, but I'm very familiar with both of those. Morning View is my favorite of the 4 Incubus albums I own, but that not saying all that much. De Stijl is my favorite WS album, but Elephant is their greatest in my opinion. There is so much great guitar rock on that album. Elephant was the first WS album I owned, and I credit it for broadening my musical horizons. Before that album, I would say my taste was pretty generic rock. That album really opened my eyes. I was familiar with 7NA before I bought it, but when I got to track 2, Black Math, my mind was blown.

For the record, I have Elephant rated #13 and Morning View #45. And yes Aqueous Transmission is a revelation.

Topsummoner · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 7:34 pm

Applequest wrote:

Interesting you liked Morning View more than Elephant.

Shrug man. Elephant just didn't do anything special for me. Sure there's good guitar on it but I can get good guitar elsewhere that also comes with good everything else :wink:

Spirographed · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 8:06 pm

I'd have to disagree. There are players that play slide better than Jack, and there are people that use a pitch shifter better than Jack, but no man living or dead have mastered them combined like he has.

"Ball and Biscuit".

Also, it's an attitude thing. His attitude vocally sometimes works it's way through his fingers as well. It's somethin'.

Spirographed · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 9:29 pm

Day 14:
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Mostly enjoyed the first and second Sufjan albums. Liked the second I listened to more than the first. Hoping this trend carries on.

Pros:
- I'm not normally a lyrics guy, but the lyrics were really great. I'm from NW Indiana, in a suburb of a suburb of Chicago. Chicago news, radio, sports and culture is what we are steeped in. South of Route 30, and East of County Line Road is...real Indiana, I guess I'll call it. Hahaha. I digress. The lyrics were great. I understood the references. The most random ones in the titles. Example: "Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell" Bushnell is this small farm town that I'm very familiar with. There used to be a music festival there every year around the fourth of July. The first time I went I was 11 years old. Fast forward 10 years later, and I played the festival with my then-band, for the first time. I played it a couple more years, and then sadly the festival packed it up. 28 years of rock and roll. Apparently the people who put it on had a lot of problems. Money problems included. So it goes... I digress again. Point being, nobody knows Bushnell, IL. I got the reference. That was definitely a pro.

Cons:
- Well. I was not engaged for any of it, really. It wasn't worse than the last two. It's just a lot of Sufjan to take in. It seemed very similar stylistically to Seven Swans and was a pretty long album. I found myself honing in on the lyrics and not on the music at all. Folk isn't a genre I've really delved into, and although I'm not disliking Sufjan, it's just a lot to take in at once. My listening patterns are usually a 3 album rotation for a month, and move on. If there's a new artist I'm getting into, I'll stay on their album for a month, and then go further into the discography the next month.

Highlight:
Lyrics/Song Titles.

Overall Score: 6/10

Sort of a weird Pros/Cons, I know. However, I think the first album that I'll go back to of Sufjan's will definitely be Seven Swans. Illinois will most likely be after that...but only when I thoroughly know SS.

Coming up next...
Day 15:
Hillsong United's Empires and Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell

Topsummoner · **Posted:** October 5th, 2016, 11:21 pm

End of Week Two

The story so far...

Hidden:

Topsummoner · **Posted:** October 6th, 2016, 7:54 pm

Day 15
Hillsong United - Empires

Another worship album from what you've told me. Braced for impact.

You'll have to forgive repeated references to Asaph and Hymns, they're the only real frame of reference I have for this album as any other worship-type music I've ever heard has since faded from memory.

Pros:
- Really dug the buildup on the opening track. This is exactly the kind of musical intensity I was searching for in Asaph and Hymns that just never came for me. Great start.
- The multiple vocalists were great, and unlike on Hymns, it was unintrusive. If I really tuned in on the words it was the same type as stuff but I didn't mind it so much because of how nice it sounded.
- The electronica influence was super refreshing, both for the genre but also just for the kind of music I've been listening to lately. It was just a lofty positive sound, I was reminded of Owl City at times, except yknow, not garbage.
- The longer running times on many of the tracks complimented the kind of slow paced atmospheric sound.
- That kick that well, kicks in, in the last third of "Prince of Peace"! Nice. This kind of ties back into the first pro, moments like these are needed to really sell the album to me. There were a few more moments like this too, like the great vocal performance and buildup that closed the final track of the album, "Closer Than You Know."

Cons:
- Again lyrically doesn't do anything for me jajaja. I always have to bring this up because lyrics are a huge factor in what music I end up loving rather than just liking.
- Too long. I remember looking at my media player as Prince of Peace was ending, thinking it would be just right for the album to end there, only to see I had almost half an hour more to go haha. Started getting bored.
- Juuust a tad homogenous.

Highlight: Even When It Hurts (Praise Song). The build up and verse with that kind of funky chugging guitar, and the massive M83-esque "chorus". Dug this track all around.

I'll be frank. I don't like the worship genre. It's definitely a genre by Christians for Christians. But of those I've heard, this was easily the best one.

Overall Score: 7/10

Spirographed · **Posted:** October 6th, 2016, 9:27 pm

Day 15:
Sufjan Stevens - Carrie & Lowell

Am honestly glad that this is the last one. Not that I'm hatin'...I just need to digest the first three, fully. I'm having musical indigestion.

Pros:
- It wasn't as upbeat and whimsical as Illinois...in a good way. Musically, it reminded me even more of SS than Illinois did.

Cons:
- Well. I was not engaged for any of it, really. It wasn't worse than the last three. It's just a lot of Sufjan to take in. It seemed very similar stylistically to Seven Swans. Folk isn't a genre I've really delved into, and although I'm not disliking Sufjan, it's just a lot to take in at once. My listening patterns are usually a 3 album rotation for a month, and move on. If there's a new artist I'm getting into, I'll stay on their album for a month, and then go further into the discography the next month.
- The lyrics seemed like personal stuff with references I wouldn't ever be able to understand.

Overall Score: 5.5/10

Sort of a weird Pros/Cons, I know. However, I think the first album that I'll go back to of Sufjan's will definitely be Seven Swans. This one will most likely be after that (then Illinois)...but only when I thoroughly know SS.

Coming up next...
Day 16:
Project 86's Project 86 and Neutral Milk Hotel's On Avery Island

Applequest · **Posted:** October 6th, 2016, 9:29 pm

Spirographed wrote:

Day 14:
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Mostly enjoyed the first and second Sufjan albums. Liked the second I listened to more than the first. Hoping this trend carries on.

Pros:
- I'm not normally a lyrics guy, but the lyrics were really great. I'm from NW Indiana, in a suburb of a suburb of Chicago. Chicago news, radio, sports and culture is what we are steeped in. South of Route 30, and East of County Line Road is...real Indiana, I guess I'll call it. Hahaha. I digress. The lyrics were great. I understood the references. The most random ones in the titles. Example: "Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell" Bushnell is this small farm town that I'm very familiar with. There used to be a music festival there every year around the fourth of July. The first time I went I was 11 years old. Fast forward 10 years later, and I played the festival with my then-band, for the first time. I played it a couple more years, and then sadly the festival packed it up. 28 years of rock and roll. Apparently the people who put it on had a lot of problems. Money problems included. So it goes... I digress again. Point being, nobody knows Bushnell, IL. I got the reference. That was definitely a pro.

Cons:
- Well. I was not engaged for any of it, really. It wasn't worse than the last two. It's just a lot of Sufjan to take in. It seemed very similar stylistically to Seven Swans and was a pretty long album. I found myself honing in on the lyrics and not on the music at all. Folk isn't a genre I've really delved into, and although I'm not disliking Sufjan, it's just a lot to take in at once. My listening patterns are usually a 3 album rotation for a month, and move on. If there's a new artist I'm getting into, I'll stay on their album for a month, and then go further into the discography the next month.

Highlight:
Lyrics/Song Titles.

Overall Score: 6/10

Sort of a weird Pros/Cons, I know. However, I think the first album that I'll go back to of Sufjan's will definitely be Seven Swans. Illinois will most likely be after that...but only when I thoroughly know SS.

Coming up next...
Day 15:
Hillsong United's Empires and Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell

So I've been obsessing over this album since Sufjan came up awhile back. Such an interesting listen, a lot of different tracks have grabbed me already. Casimir Pulaski Day is definitely the highlight though, definitely one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. But yeah, big fan of this one. You should revisit it when you get done with the challenge.

Topsummoner · **Posted:** October 6th, 2016, 9:43 pm

Casimir Pulaski Day Fuzzy Bunny

destroys me Apple. One of the saddest things I've ever heard.

You should definitely check out his other work. I recommend backtracking to Michigan and going chronologically from there (Seven Swans, The Age of Adz, Carrie & Lowell).

Really glad you found something you like though!

Spirographed · **Posted:** October 6th, 2016, 9:56 pm

Applequest wrote:

Spirographed wrote:

Day 14:
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Mostly enjoyed the first and second Sufjan albums. Liked the second I listened to more than the first. Hoping this trend carries on.

Pros:
- I'm not normally a lyrics guy, but the lyrics were really great. I'm from NW Indiana, in a suburb of a suburb of Chicago. Chicago news, radio, sports and culture is what we are steeped in. South of Route 30, and East of County Line Road is...real Indiana, I guess I'll call it. Hahaha. I digress. The lyrics were great. I understood the references. The most random ones in the titles. Example: "Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell" Bushnell is this small farm town that I'm very familiar with. There used to be a music festival there every year around the fourth of July. The first time I went I was 11 years old. Fast forward 10 years later, and I played the festival with my then-band, for the first time. I played it a couple more years, and then sadly the festival packed it up. 28 years of rock and roll. Apparently the people who put it on had a lot of problems. Money problems included. So it goes... I digress again. Point being, nobody knows Bushnell, IL. I got the reference. That was definitely a pro.

Cons:
- Well. I was not engaged for any of it, really. It wasn't worse than the last two. It's just a lot of Sufjan to take in. It seemed very similar stylistically to Seven Swans and was a pretty long album. I found myself honing in on the lyrics and not on the music at all. Folk isn't a genre I've really delved into, and although I'm not disliking Sufjan, it's just a lot to take in at once. My listening patterns are usually a 3 album rotation for a month, and move on. If there's a new artist I'm getting into, I'll stay on their album for a month, and then go further into the discography the next month.

Highlight:
Lyrics/Song Titles.

Overall Score: 6/10

Sort of a weird Pros/Cons, I know. However, I think the first album that I'll go back to of Sufjan's will definitely be Seven Swans. Illinois will most likely be after that...but only when I thoroughly know SS.

Coming up next...
Day 15:
Hillsong United's Empires and Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell

So I've been obsessing over this album since Sufjan came up awhile back. Such an interesting listen, a lot of different tracks have grabbed me already. Casimir Pulaski Day is definitely the highlight though, definitely one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. But yeah, big fan of this one. You should revisit it when you get done with the challenge.

Yeah, I definitely will listen to it again.

Saten Ruiko · **Posted:** October 6th, 2016, 10:08 pm

Spirographed wrote:

Applequest wrote:

Spirographed wrote:

Day 14:
Sufjan Stevens - Illinois

Mostly enjoyed the first and second Sufjan albums. Liked the second I listened to more than the first. Hoping this trend carries on.

Pros:
- I'm not normally a lyrics guy, but the lyrics were really great. I'm from NW Indiana, in a suburb of a suburb of Chicago. Chicago news, radio, sports and culture is what we are steeped in. South of Route 30, and East of County Line Road is...real Indiana, I guess I'll call it. Hahaha. I digress. The lyrics were great. I understood the references. The most random ones in the titles. Example: "Let's Hear That String Part Again, Because I Don't Think They Heard It All the Way Out in Bushnell" Bushnell is this small farm town that I'm very familiar with. There used to be a music festival there every year around the fourth of July. The first time I went I was 11 years old. Fast forward 10 years later, and I played the festival with my then-band, for the first time. I played it a couple more years, and then sadly the festival packed it up. 28 years of rock and roll. Apparently the people who put it on had a lot of problems. Money problems included. So it goes... I digress again. Point being, nobody knows Bushnell, IL. I got the reference. That was definitely a pro.

Cons:
- Well. I was not engaged for any of it, really. It wasn't worse than the last two. It's just a lot of Sufjan to take in. It seemed very similar stylistically to Seven Swans and was a pretty long album. I found myself honing in on the lyrics and not on the music at all. Folk isn't a genre I've really delved into, and although I'm not disliking Sufjan, it's just a lot to take in at once. My listening patterns are usually a 3 album rotation for a month, and move on. If there's a new artist I'm getting into, I'll stay on their album for a month, and then go further into the discography the next month.

Highlight:
Lyrics/Song Titles.

Overall Score: 6/10

Sort of a weird Pros/Cons, I know. However, I think the first album that I'll go back to of Sufjan's will definitely be Seven Swans. Illinois will most likely be after that...but only when I thoroughly know SS.

Coming up next...
Day 15:
Hillsong United's Empires and Sufjan Stevens' Carrie & Lowell

So I've been obsessing over this album since Sufjan came up awhile back. Such an interesting listen, a lot of different tracks have grabbed me already. Casimir Pulaski Day is definitely the highlight though, definitely one of the most beautiful songs I've ever heard. But yeah, big fan of this one. You should revisit it when you get done with the challenge.

Yeah, I definitely will listen to it again.

Having grown up in Illinois for over a quarter-century, I really enjoyed the track list. I got the references for everything from Superman to Robert Wadlow to Casimir Pulaski Day being a thing you got off school for to Mary Todd Lincoln to the Great Godfrey Maze, which is like 20 minutes from my house and we went there every year and it's not even THAT big a deal so I was really surprised it got a mention?

Topsummoner · **Posted:** October 6th, 2016, 10:11 pm

Yeah, Illinois is crammed full with references to both things about the state and its history/culture/people in general, but also with references to his personal experiences spending a lot of time there growing up and throughout his life. He's a Michigan native, but Illinois is probably the state second closest to his heart.

Spirographed · **Posted:** October 8th, 2016, 9:18 pm

Day 16:
Neutral Milk Hotel - On Avery Island

Dug In the Aeroplane Over the Sea. Looking forward to the deserved break from Sufjan. XD I will say this, though...Meshuggah's newest album came out yesterday, and I will be listening to that before I listen to this. Hopefully it doesn't blow my mind too much and affect this listen...

Pros:
- Pretty much all pros from AOtS apply here, except this was a bit more rock and roll and a bit less Irish sounding, which I also enjoyed.
- Yet again, they have great lyrics throughout. I really respected the musings in the 1st song, "Song Against Sex", particularly "...it's just too far away from anything we could call loving, any love worth living for" and "And it's a lie that you've been given, that just hurts you every day". I've got a friend dealing with porn addiction right now, and I think I'll recommend that song for him. It's hard to find songs so wise on the subject.
- There are some trippy zone-out weird moments that I REALLY dug. "Someone Is Waiting" had a shorter one at the end of it, and "Marching Theme" was an entire 2 minute 58 second song worth, but the cream of the crop was "Pree-Sisters Swallowing a Donkey's Eye".
Cons:
- Not a whole lot of drums on the album. There were a couple spots that I thought needed them.
- There were a couple spots where the guitar was intentional clipped, and usually I'm an advocate for occasional clipping, but I think it works better with drums. Guitar clipping has to be done just right, and this wasn't that good.
Overall Score: 8/10

Highlight: I zoned out a couple times during"Pree-Sisters Swallowing a Donkey's Eye" and when I came to, I was glad that the track was still going. It was my kind of weird, man.

I liked this album better than AOtS. I could see this becoming a favorite of mine at some point. It had all the aspects of what I like in a great album. Cohesiveness, weirdness, rock and roll.

Topsummoner · **Posted:** October 8th, 2016, 9:37 pm

Day 16
Project 86 - Project 86

Had some difficulty getting the files you sent me to work, but we cool now.

Pros:
- To me this sounds almost exactly like Rage Against The Machine, so it's a kind of familiar sound already.
- Got a real Spiderland vibe from the first third of "When Darkness Reigns"
- Cohesive sound, some dynamic range, and just lots of aggression at an unusually low BPM for such aggression.
- It was like... good POWERWALKING music for some reason. I went for a walk on my third listen and felt like a total punk lmao

Cons:
- Continuing the RATM comparison though, the guitar work wasn't as interesting and I felt it would have benefitted from a little more in this department.
- I felt it wasn't melodic enough to really register in my mind strongly.

Highlight: When Darkness Reigns

It was good but it just lacked any real interesting defining features for me. I couldn't help but compare it some similar things and think about how I'd rather be listening to any of them.

Overall Score: 6/10

Coming up next...
Day 17
Primus's Sailing The Seas of Cheese and Closure In Moscow's First Temple

Topsummoner · **Posted:** October 9th, 2016, 10:56 pm

Day 17
Primus - Sailing The Seas Of Cheese

That name though...

Pros
- Feels rather unhinged. The vocals feel like rambling much of the time... I was made uneasy in a good way.
- Found myself zeroing in on the basslines a lot. Funkalicious nom sayn
- Certainly unique haha

Cons
- THAT NAME THOUGH
- Found myself wishing it was LOUDER or MORE ABRASIVE. It felt like it was just halfway towards being truly interesting.

Highlight: Sathington Waltz. Dug the strange interplay between the bass and banjo. Wish it was longer.

Fun listen but probably not something I'll go back to.

Overall Score: 6.5/10

Top vs Spiro - 100 Album Challenge

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