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OUT NOW: If These Trees Could Talk - The Bones Of A Dying World 2xLP | Metal Blade


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22 hours ago, mrewest said:

Goddammit this is their worst album by far.  I don't understand how people think this album touches anything they've done prior to this.  The flow of the album is terrible, Berlin ends way before it should & is a horrible song to transition into the closer.  The drums sound like absolute ass on this album which has always been my favorite part of the band on previous albums.  Every once in a while I revisit hoping it'll click but I just end up mad by album's end.  

 

Being an ITTCT completist, I'm thrilled they didn't press a million colors.  It was enough of a pain in the ass to track down the two marble greys (which are hardly different).  Not to mention having to order the Euro black simply for the different D-side etching.  

 

Anyways, there are some parts of the album I genuinely enjoy (Swallowing Teeth & Iron Glacier because they actually sound like progression for the band), but overall Bones doesn't touch the first 3. 

 

19 hours ago, batman said:

Idk man, I keep coming back to it.  Red Forest never clicked for me. 

I definitely liked Red Forest. They speak with knives is one of my top 3 tracks by them.  

 

I'm not as hard on Bones as Evan--I don't think it's their worst album by far.  It is an enjoyable album for me--especially after I watched them play some of the tracks live, which was really, really good.  With that said, it wasn't really anything new or interesting.  Kind of good background noise, but not one I find myself getting immersed in.  I think the disappointment is only in that it's just same ol same ol what we've heard before.

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On 7/7/2017 at 11:45 PM, mrewest said:

The drums sound like absolute ass on this album which has always been my favorite part of the band on previous albums.  Every once in a while I revisit hoping it'll click but I just end up mad by album's end.  

^ So much this. The drums sound like butt compared to previous recordings. The snare really falls flat. I still haven't picked this up. The price + the lackluster production = it can wait.

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1 hour ago, throwgncpr said:

^ So much this. The drums sound like butt compared to previous recordings. The snare really falls flat. I still haven't picked this up. The price + the lackluster production = it can wait.

Case in point how subjective everything is! Hah, granted I'm not a drummer, but I'm pretty sure Zack (the drummer) is the guy who has a big hand in all the mixing/mastering of all of their albums.  I didn't notice any real difference in the drums on Bones from any of their other releases.  As far as production goes, I thought this was their most "polished" album of any of them.

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12 hours ago, Gumbo72203 said:

I'm the odd man out here in that ATE/BTS is my least-favorite, I think.  It's very good, but it's the low-water mark for me.  Maybe I need to listen to it more haha.  That'll be on tomorrow's spin. 

 

That debut EP though.... ohhhh man I could listen to that thing for daaaays. 

From Roots to Needles is my favorite track by them hands down.

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1 minute ago, adamha21 said:

From Roots to Needles is my favorite track by them hands down.

That's probably my 2nd favorite piece from the album.  The title track combo I think has to take the top spot.  My all-time favorite song I have to give to "The Giving Tree" i think, followed by "They Speak With Knives".  But really Giving Tree > Berlin > One Sky Above Us is a perfect run of songs, that actually begins back with The Here and Hereafter preceding Iron Glacier.  Perfect flow for me. 

 

5 minutes ago, adamha21 said:

Case in point how subjective everything is! Hah, granted I'm not a drummer, but I'm pretty sure Zack (the drummer) is the guy who has mastered all of their albums.  I didn't notice any real difference in the drums on Bones from any of their other releases.  As far as production goes, I thought this was their most "polished" album of any of them.

Yeah Zack has engineered all their stuff.  I didn't like the drum sound at first on Bones, but I've come to accept and be fine with it.  It's definitely polished, and gives the whole album a muted "gray" sort of vibe which I think fits the music. 

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9 minutes ago, Gumbo72203 said:

That's probably my 2nd favorite piece from the album.  The title track combo I think has to take the top spot.  My all-time favorite song I have to give to "The Giving Tree" i think, followed by "They Speak With Knives".  But really Giving Tree > Berlin > One Sky Above Us is a perfect run of songs, that actually begins back with The Here and Hereafter preceding Iron Glacier.  Perfect flow for me. 

 

Yeah Zack has engineered all their stuff.  I didn't like the drum sound at first on Bones, but I've come to accept and be fine with it.  It's definitely polished, and gives the whole album a muted "gray" sort of vibe which I think fits the music. 

One point I will agree with you:

 

Giving Tree --> Berlin --> One Sky Above Us

 

is a terrific sequence and a terrific D side on the LP.  I've read a ton of people complain about the production of Bones and think it sounds like ass and especially on vinyl...  Always throws me for a loop, and I think it has to be the quality of the system involved.  I have a higher end "mid-fi" system, but Bones sounds the "best" on vinyl without a doubt, followed closely by S/T.  Red Forest and ATE/BTS are a step below and not terrific vinyl pressings in general on my system. I have to crank them louder than most albums, particularly ATE/BTS.

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It's the bass drum & toms that ruin the drums for me here.  They just sound so flaccid imo.  They have this weird dull sound to them that isn't present on their other albums.

 

Kind of surprised at the lack of love for Red Forest.  I love that album all the way until the closer.  Not a fan of that song.  

 

For me it's Above the Earth > Red Forest > S/T >>>>> Bones.

 

Had Bones come out in place of Red Forest, I might like it more but it just overall feels lazy to me.  Just a bunch of rehashed sounds with no real progression, except for Teeth & Glacier.

 

I also can't fathom how you guys think Berlin into One Sky is a smooth transition.  It's so awkward to me.  It feels like they wrote Berlin without ever knowing how to finish the song.  It's like they had a deadline to meet & just said "Screw it, the song ends here".

 

I also saw them for their album release show for Bones & it was probably the least impressed I'd been at one of their shows.  None of them looked all that into it.  Granted they've never been super amped up on stage, but they seemed less into it than normal.  I just see all these other post-rock bands improving their live shows each time I see them (Russian Circles, Caspian, even End of the Ocean) & don't get that with ITTCT.

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1 hour ago, mrewest said:

It's the bass drum & toms that ruin the drums for me here.  They just sound so flaccid imo.  They have this weird dull sound to them that isn't present on their other albums.

 

Kind of surprised at the lack of love for Red Forest.  I love that album all the way until the closer.  Not a fan of that song.  

 

For me it's Above the Earth > Red Forest > S/T >>>>> Bones.

 

Had Bones come out in place of Red Forest, I might like it more but it just overall feels lazy to me.  Just a bunch of rehashed sounds with no real progression, except for Teeth & Glacier.

 

I also can't fathom how you guys think Berlin into One Sky is a smooth transition.  It's so awkward to me.  It feels like they wrote Berlin without ever knowing how to finish the song.  It's like they had a deadline to meet & just said "Screw it, the song ends here".

 

I also saw them for their album release show for Bones & it was probably the least impressed I'd been at one of their shows.  None of them looked all that into it.  Granted they've never been super amped up on stage, but they seemed less into it than normal.  I just see all these other post-rock bands improving their live shows each time I see them (Russian Circles, Caspian, even End of the Ocean) & don't get that with ITTCT.

Did you see them at the beginning or the end of the tour?  I caught them live too and it was everything I was hoping for.

 

I definitely love Red Forest, don't get me wrong. I just think the first two are better.

 

Above the Earth --> S/T --> Red Forest --------> Bones

 

Now for a band that looked like they didn't give a shit on stage...that's TWDY the last time I saw them. 

Edited by adamha21
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Also, Evan, I can see where you are coming from on the drums. Two examples that come to my mind..

 

There are some moments on the album with some killer drum fills that always sound flat and leave me thinking ...man I wish they snapped more.  Could just be the mix.  Berlin is the best example, but there is another clear one, Earth Crawler maybe?

 

Berlin was awesome live and didn't suffer from a flat drum fill, but it definitely exists on the album so I totally get what you are saying.

Edited by adamha21
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It was the very first Bones show they played.  Figured they'd come out with crazy energy but it just wasn't there.

 

The biggest drum offender for me is One Sky.  Especially the quieter parts.  Ruins the song for me.

 

I hate to say it but I'm contemplating breaking up the collection.  Not all of it, but might unload some for extra cash.  Looking to buy some kayaks lol.

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2 hours ago, mrewest said:

It's the bass drum & toms that ruin the drums for me here.  They just sound so flaccid imo.  They have this weird dull sound to them that isn't present on their other albums.

 

Kind of surprised at the lack of love for Red Forest.  I love that album all the way until the closer.  Not a fan of that song.  

 

For me it's Above the Earth > Red Forest > S/T >>>>> Bones.

 

Had Bones come out in place of Red Forest, I might like it more but it just overall feels lazy to me.  Just a bunch of rehashed sounds with no real progression, except for Teeth & Glacier.

 

I also can't fathom how you guys think Berlin into One Sky is a smooth transition.  It's so awkward to me.  It feels like they wrote Berlin without ever knowing how to finish the song.  It's like they had a deadline to meet & just said "Screw it, the song ends here".

 

I also saw them for their album release show for Bones & it was probably the least impressed I'd been at one of their shows.  None of them looked all that into it.  Granted they've never been super amped up on stage, but they seemed less into it than normal.  I just see all these other post-rock bands improving their live shows each time I see them (Russian Circles, Caspian, even End of the Ocean) & don't get that with ITTCT.

I hated the drums at first, but now I kind of like them.  They have a unique sound for sure, almost like they were triggered and not regular-mic'd.  Red Forest is of course great, I think it's pretty universally liked haha. 

 

Your point about the end of Berlin is totally valid though, and I share the sentiment that the song feels unfinished in a way.  The rest of it is so good, and I love the general vibe of that whole sequence, so I had actually totally forgotten that I hated how the song didn't end with another big peak until you just mentioned it haha.  Kinda funny. 

 

When I saw them, I don't recall them seeming uninterested.  The one instance of this kind of thing is when I saw Rosetta in Boston for the QE show....  man, before and after they looked SO unhappy to be playing.  The show itself was fine, but I tried congratulating them after and none of the band members wanted anything to do with anybody.  Could be that they only had maybe 25-30 people there, which was surprising...  but it was also late on a Sunday so that's to be expected I guess.  Nothing like the St. Vitus gig which is up on Youtube. 

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I can see how maybe they were lackluster at first, live/release. Before this year they were strictly Ohio gigs or within a 75 mile radius I'm sure; right? Playing those same venues and hearing the same 'wooooooo' probably irks them with no ill intent on looking bored on stage. After years, I saw them here and they showed a pulse and I enjoyed it mainly because I had waited so long. 

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3 hours ago, mrewest said:

It was the very first Bones show they played.  Figured they'd come out with crazy energy but it just wasn't there.

 

The biggest drum offender for me is One Sky.  Especially the quieter parts.  Ruins the song for me.

 

I hate to say it but I'm contemplating breaking up the collection.  Not all of it, but might unload some for extra cash.  Looking to buy some kayaks lol.

Call me

 

Barack-Obama-Call-Me-Hand-Sign-Picture.j

Edited by shamrocks
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On 7/11/2017 at 4:08 PM, mrewest said:

Ugh, I promise I'll shut the hell up soon, but I'm listening to Bones again right now lol.  The bass drum on "After the Smoke Clears" sounds like me playing drums on my stomach (gut).  I hate it so much.  Otherwise it's a fine song.

Like during the intro?  When he's playing the tom pattern?  They've got this kinda odd "wet" sound almost, but I like it for some reason.  It works for me. 

 

Listened to ATE/BTS today....  really good record.  I forgot how much I loved Terra Incognita haha

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On 7/14/2017 at 4:49 PM, Gumbo72203 said:

Like during the intro?  When he's playing the tom pattern?  They've got this kinda odd "wet" sound almost, but I like it for some reason.  It works for me. 

 

Listened to ATE/BTS today....  really good record.  I forgot how much I loved Terra Incognita haha

That's a good way to put it actually lol.  "Wet" drumming.  I hate it.

 

You always like the weird non-songs on albums.  The sub-one minute Terra Incognita?  You also said the title track on Sleepmakeswaves newest was a highlight.  (???)

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2 minutes ago, mrewest said:

That's a good way to put it actually lol.  "Wet" drumming.  I hate it.

 

You always like the weird non-songs on albums.  The sub-one minute Terra Incognita?  You also said the title track on Sleepmakeswaves newest was a highlight.  (???)

Ah i was definitely mistaking it then for Above The Earth...  i'm nowhere near as familiar with this album as the others.  I looked at the vinyl grooves and saw a short one and figured it was Terra Incognita before the 1-2 punch of the title tracks.  I definitely meant Above The Earth haha.  i love this track. 

 

Also...  i haven't listened to the newest SMW since it came out.  I don't recall that haha

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On 7/18/2017 at 0:50 PM, mrewest said:

I still think you mean Below the Sky.  AtE is basically the intro to that song.

 

And if that's the case, that song is one of my fav ITTCT songs.

Yeah no i def mean Above The Earth.... it's only 3 mins long, but I love it.  I've been spinning the album in my car the past couple days and i realllllllly like Flames of Herostratus too.  I think my problem with the album is that it's a bit long and the songs get a little samey after a while.  It's all very good, but there isn't much variety in their writing.  Like it's too much of a good thing or something.  Because it's all fantastic, but it's hard for me to see my way through the album I guess? 

Edited by Gumbo72203
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