bjorn

8 hours ago, mrewest said:

Has Ohms made anyone reevaluate any of their other albums?   I swear to God it made me love SNW more...but KNY less haha.  

I listening to the whole thing on vinyl yesterday after streaming it a bunch of times. It sounded even better on my speakers vs. headphones. That listening experience basically erased every quibble I had and probably cemented Ohms as my second favorite Deftones album. I threw on Gore right afterwards and realized how disjointed and awkward that album is, not to mention the production, which was fatiguing and made it even tougher to get through. I revisited KNY in the past week as well and still love it, but I think Ohms edges it out just a bit. I need to tackle SNW again, that's the one I overlook the most.

Wow, interesting. I can relate strongly to lots of these comments. SP is also still my favorite band... somehow. I think the magic they've been able to create has nothing to do with how heavy they were or how many guitars you could hear, but everything to do with this idea of endless creativity they were able to evoke. The heavy songs were amazing partly because they could be bookended with something completely different and the whole thing just worked in this beautifully weird way. The dynamic between this maniacal vocalist/guitarist and this titan of a drummer is just the most fascinating single ingredient they had at their disposal, and that seems to be nonexistent now. But, I think that feeling of experiencing such a spectrum of ideas from a band, and Mellon Collie is of course the ultimate example of this, is what I miss the most. No band since has offered anything close, partly because no one has had the gall to try to throw so many ideas together. Instead we've really only had bands obsessed with finding a niche or developing a formula. And now SP just sounds more like one of them.

I'm actually happy that this is clearly not going to be a throwback record, and I'm also quite fond of theFutureEmbrace. I think I'm mostly just puzzled by the choices being made in the tracks I've heard so far. I was hoping the synthier songs would be placed on the album as a counterpoint to something showcasing the drumming and multiple guitarists in the band, but based on what's been released that probably won't be the case. I don't hate any of the songs, they just seem to be much more fitting for another BC solo album. Either way I'm looking forward to hearing the whole thing.

So what do people think of the new singles? They're not terrible, but it seems we're definitely getting a double dose of the Future Embrace pt. II. Not what I was expecting considering they have one of the best drummers on the planet back in the band, and this all sounds like it could be programmed drumming.

I'm really enjoying this record, listened about three times today and and now waiting for the mail person to drop off the LP.

https://sumerianmerch.co.uk/collections/the-smashing-pumpkins

https://www.jpc.de/jpcng/poprock/detail/-/art/the-smashing-pumpkins-cyr/hnum/10308287

https://www.hhv.de/shop/de/artikel/smashing-pumpkins-the-cyr-765295?p=UEWYI6

Some EU options... no mention of color on the latter two, but considering I'd get free shipping from them it's a much more palatable option. I think I'll wait. The boxset is an easy pass... a photo-book from a music video? Why?

Warps don't bother me unless they create audible disruptions to the music, which I've only encountered a couple times out of the thousands of record I've played. I find the off-center spindle holes way more irritating. Also, aside from the grittiness and higher noise floor of some of their color pressings, I don't mind GZ so much. I have plenty of perfectly enjoyable records from them, and I think they may have actually improved in recent years, unlike URP which has seriously dampened my enthusiasm for any labels that use them.

1 hour ago, se7enstitches said:

 

.....highly debatable

Are you saying that running and independent record store or label is not a tough gig? Maybe you have experience that I don't, but I wouldn't assume it's a cake walk.

9 minutes ago, OU818 said:

Soon I will be able to say I collected CDs before, after, and before they were cool

I've slowly started moving back in that direction. They're not half bad.

The color contamination argument is of course asinine, but it's definitely true that quality control is well below what it should be for the majority of current pressings. Unfortunately the only way to improve it is to raise hell until those in charge of production get the message. I also think for those of us who err on the perfectionist/OCD side of the spectrum this issue can get blown out of proportion. You have to expect imperfections from this format. But when it comes to issues like non-fill, physical damage on new records, off-center spindle holes, or poor mastering we have to call that nonsense out, it's all preventable. I do feel bad for record stores and labels who have to deal with returns due to screw ups beyond their control, it's a tough gig as is.

For Shiny to be so short to begin with, and include a track as infuriatingly tepid as Travels, is tough to swallow. Monuments is pretty good and quite refreshing in its directness. But with it being so compact it really needed to be loaded front to back with bangers, which sadly wasn't quite achieved.

13 hours ago, dfresh said:

Been a fan since Gish and have liked much of their out put right up to the last album but Jimmy Chamberlain's talent is wasted on these tracks imo.

That thought crossed my mind as well. I'm hoping the full album lets him shine more. Also, the fact that there are now three guitarists in this band doesn't seem relevant in these tracks either.

I always have mixed feelings with new SP stuff... I go in open-minded but with low expectations, and I can usually find some positives, but then things just don't stick for very long. I think the biggest disappointment for me as a life-long fan is that everything they've done since they started declining commercially is clearly marked by an effort to get back to their original relevance, instead of just making whatever the hell they wanted, which is what made them great to begin with. Although, I gave Oceania another listen recently and I have to say it's holding up really well. As a sequence of songs I think it's actually stronger than Machina. All it's really lacking is that unhinged side of the SP spectrum that we will likely never hear again (think XYU, etc.), and there are a few unfortunate lyrical choices, but all in all it's a beautiful record that really should have made a bigger splash.

Anyhow, these new singles are sneakily catchy and I'm enjoying them; it definitely feels like a more upbeat continuation of The Future Embrace.

I read today that this was originally intended to be a Jonas Renkse solo album. That explains a lot. Maybe skip to the last third of the album, Neon Epitaph is killer.

It's good. It doesn't quite hit the mark in light of what they accomplished with Fall of Hearts.  While I like the vocals, I just don't think they are dynamic enough to be the focal point, which they seem to be for most of this record. To me, Renkse is at his most potent when his  voice slithers in and out of their heavier compositions. Which is why I still think the Great Cold Distance is their best record as a whole, it's relentlessly heavy, and the vocals balance and contrast that heaviness in a uniquely effective way. Fall of Hearts expanded their boundaries, and the proggier compositions felt invigorating and adventurous. I think the Night Subscriber is easily the best song they ever made. It's like they created a world within one track. There's nothing like that on City Burials unfortunately. It sounds like they tried to make something more concise and direct, but the ideas weren't quite strong enough to take it to that masterful level. There aren't any bad songs though, and even with it sounding overly polished for my tastes it has lots of strong moments. I would love to hear it recorded a little more raw and noisy, something that gives me a more convincing sense of what the band actually sounds like, and just let the whole band explore each song more fully vs. limiting the instrumentation to make more room for the vocals. So, I think my quibbles mostly boil down to production choices. I'd love to experience this album in a live setting, hopefully that's possible again sometime soon.

I'm still absorbing the music, but I love most of what I'm hearing, and the pressing sounds really good. Anyone else have theirs yet?

I would suggest focusing on getting the best speakers you can get, then add a suitable sub down the line. Just see what's available used in your area, if you can listen before buying all the better. You can also research individual makes and models of speakers once you have an idea of what's available. And in general I would say the most important thing to look for in speakers is solid cabinet construction and high quality speaker and crossover components. It matters much less how many drivers the speaker has, or how big it is. It's easy to think bigger woofers and multiple drivers will sound bigger and better, but that's often not the case. Also, since you're using a receiver and won't have a ton of power I'd also look for speakers with higher efficiency, those will be easier to drive and will sound better. 

I'm excited for this! Fall of Hearts would be hard to top, curious to see where they go with this one.

Sounds to me like a proper Blood and Fire pressing might be in the works. The existing one has some serious technical issues.

I went with mint green for 24 euro shipped from emp.de, can't really complain about that price. The cover art is a head-scratcher, but I'll reserve judgement until I see it in person.

7 hours ago, drds89 said:

Got mine 8 days after ordering (!), no  seam splits or vinyl quality issues - sounds great. There was some glitter-like stuff on both albums, about a dozen flecks, easily removed with antistatic brush before cleaning.

Glad to hear that. My black copy sounds great, except the last track on the B side in unplayable and skips in multiple spots... there’s debris of some kind embedded in the grooves. My gold copy is noisier but at least it plays through. I will say that this album in particular is still enjoyable with a little extra vinyl noise, it fits right in with the overall aesthetic. I also like listening to it divided into four sides, it somehow gives the tracks a little breathing room. 

On 11/15/2019 at 1:30 PM, easteracrobat said:

Seems you're one of the lucky ones. There have been a lot of reported problems with this pressing.

Yep, I saw that on Discogs. I'm definitely grateful, especially with the amount of quite passages on this album. My copies of Laughing Stock and Spirit of Eden are pretty disappointing in that regard.

It's been a bit apocalyptic on the SF59 FB page. I'm having relatives hold mine so I won't be able to check for a few months... the glue issue seems to have been the most consistent problem, but also the usual URP nonsense, surface noise, scuffed records, along with messy labels and center holes.

Got my copy from Norman this morning... it sounds great, very dynamic and very little surface noise, and the music is of course gorgeous.

48 minutes ago, daniele said:

Received the vinyl yesterday... 

How does it sound? I’m tempted to pick it up but I‘m not completely sold on the album yet. There are lots of things I love about it though (did you catch those double kick drums here and there?).

I have a feeling some of you might dig this: https://wearetimelost.bandcamp.com/album/dont-remember-me-for-this

On the grungier side which I think is cool.