Must admit though, I do prefer this original version, it’s so well put together.
Top Ten Albums Of 2011
01: Subsignal - Touchstones
After their rather incredible debut (Beautiful & Monstrous) in 2009, Subsignal’s second album solidifies them as one of my favorite bands in the prog scene today.
When istening to Touchstones, I always think of that phrase, ‘you’re only as strong as the weakest link’ and with Subsignal, there’s no obvious weakness. The playing is tight, the vocals are strong, the melodies are hooking, the arrangements veer from the experimental to the traditional and the production is pitch perfect.
The music fits the progressive rock tag perfectly as underneath their progressive structures and arrangements, is ultimately good solid rock music, and is more than worth the time of anyone who likes either genre. The album is good value for money too, sporting 70+ minutes of music.
02: Tragedy Machine - Pacify
http://www.tragedymachines.com/
Probably my one to watch for the future. Their debut EP was a cracking blend of electronic driven rock, which was neatly matched by their dramatic style.
The eventual album, Pacify, was a more polished affair. They’re one of those bands who know how to punch a melody home, and how to drive a song forward off the back of it. The vocals are clear and powerful, and cut swathes through the layers of sound which define the album.
Word is that work on album 2 has already begun, and going off their debut, it’s certainly something to get excited about.
03: Blue Stahli - Blue Stahli
Strap yourself in for a 40 minute blast of electro metal, which screams and kicks it’s way onto the music scene with gusto. I seriously considered giving this the top placement, as it’s just so far out there, and has so much power and energy behind it, that anything less than top place seems almost disrespectful to the creative genius behind this.
There’s a good mix of breakneck tracks which keep the pace up, but it’s also tempered with moments of real beauty, such as Throw Away, which shows that Blue Stahli isn’t a one trick show, but that he knows how to construct an album of character and charm.
Never the less, it’s absolutely the multilayered, uncaged rage of tracks like Anti You and Scrape which stand Blue Stahli apart from every other album released this year, and anyone with even the faintest of interest in hard hitting quality music should certainly give it a listen.
04: Within Temptation - The Unforgiving
http://www.within-temptation.com/
Within Temptation have taken their dramatic sound and polished it into a razor sharp rock album. Tracks like Faster display a crisp sense of rhythm and melody, which are as epic as they are catchy.
05: Dream Theater - A Dramatic Turn Of Events
When Mike Portnoy suggested the band take time off to recharge their batteries, I thought it was a long overdue course of action. Dream Theater have been drifting on autopilot for nearly a decade, and whilst each new album was rarely bad, it was all so desperately uninspired. I couldn’t pick out a single track from anything since Six Degrees and tell you which album it was off.
Here we are though, with Mike Portnoy out of the band, and Mike Mangini now taking the drum stool. Whilst things obviously didn’t go to plan for Mike Portnoy, the result for Dream Theater is what I would arguably consider their best work since 2002’s Six Degrees Of Inner Turbulence. From the driving and majestic opening of On The Backs Of Angels, to the impassioned Outcry, this is DT on top form.
Sure, it’s not what you could necessarily call a break from their typical sound, but things like the subtle use of loops, and the cleaner production really gives the album a more nimble pace and sharper sound than anything since Six Degrees.
06: Darren Hayes - Secret Codes & Battleships
Whilst an untypical choice for a dyed in the wool progite, Darren’s previous album (This Delicate Thing We’ve Made) was a musical tour de force, based around the concepts of time travel, and it caught my attention.
Whilst the concept and indeed, much of the musical ambition may be more muted on this new album, the music is never anything less than well crafted, and the vocals impassioned.
07: Arena - Seventh Degree Of Separation
Arena have crafted a stunning comeback album with The Seventh Degree Of Separation. A concept album which chronicles the moments between life and death, the story is told with dramatic effect, and the music is more direct and a touch harder than you would typically expect from an Arena album.
The album holds a good amount of music, and whilst the foreboding mood of the concept lives throughout every track, the pacing offers a good degree of variation, and gives the album an adventure like feel.
08: Pendragon - Passion
Pendragon are distinguished in that they’ve been going since the neo-prog movement kicked off in the early 80’s, and yet have got increasingly better with each subsequent release. They’ve settled into their groove now, and whilst I don’t think they’re interested in pushing things much beyond their comfort zone, when the music here is this good, they’ve no need to.
Passion features all the hallmarks of Pendragon’s best work, dramatic flare, soaring guitar, considered lyrics and an exciting streak running throughout. I really have to make the effort to catch these guys live.
09: Yes - Fly From Here
If you were a betting man, you wouldn’t have given particularly good odds on a new Yes album ever seeing the light of day, let alone it emerging in 2011 and being rather decent. After a slavish touring schedule which has lasted close to a decade, and with Jon Anderson bowing out mid-way, it really was time for Yes to either produce something new, or resign themselves to the fate of becoming their own cover band.
Thankfully they chose the former option, and with the Drama era lineup of Geoff Downes, Chris Squire, Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes along with new vocalist, Benoît David, they have recorded a genuinely enjoyable record. There’s nothing that’s going to surprise or shock, this is Drama era Yes staying close to what they know, but in light of all they have achieved, there’s nothing at all wrong with that. The highlight is undoubtedly the 15min title track, Fly From Here, which recaptures the grace and poignancy of Yes’s most memorable moments, thanks in no small measure to some truly glorious guitar work from Steve Howe.
To be honest, outside of the aforementioned track, there’s not a lot to get excited about, but Fly From Here is worth the price of entry, and whether you’re a fan of classic Yes, or just a fan of prog, it’s more than worth your time..
10: Evergrey - Glorious Collision
Evergrey barely survived a recent split, which saw Tom S. Englund (singer, writer) and Rikard Zander (keyboardist) as the only members to remain, but if Glorious Collision was meant as a statement of intent, that the band are still a force to be reckoned with, then mission accomplished.
What - for me - distinguishes Evergrey amongst so many other prog metallers, is Tom’s really impassioned vocals, and how effortlessly they can weave softer more melodic sections into their hardest of songs. They have a terrific sense of melody, and of any band I follow, they know how to kick an album off right.
Top Ten Games Of 2011
01 - Resistance 3
A refreshingly well paced game, with a great focus on experimental weapons and set pieces which feel both fresh and well built into the levels. Resistance 3 has a real identity to it, and by eschewing the well worn conventions of modern FPS games (such as regenerating health), Insomniac have created a game which plays to their strengths, namely, kick ass weapons and stand out set pieces. The game never gets stuck in a rut, and the action has a freshness throughout. Comfortably the best FPS of the year, and it just beats out Bulletstorm as my game of the year.
02 - Bulletstorm
Gives the genre a welcome twist. The focus on skill attacks helps to keep the otherwise standard gunplay constantly fresh. Clearly pushes the UE3 engine hard, with some truly spectacular moments thrown amidst the carnage.
03 - Uncharted 3
It may lack the impact of it’s predecessor, but Uncharted 3 is still the one to beat when it comes to action adventure games. With a welcome return of most of the cast, along with Naughty Dog’s unmatched tech, Uncharted 3 keeps the action tight and the set pieces jaw dropping.
04 - Deus Ex: Human Revolution
They did the impossible with this, and successfully built upon the foundation of the original Deus Ex, whilst giving the game an identity of its own. The opulence of choice and distinctive art direction, distinguishes the game as an experience like no other released this year. Only the ill-judged boss fights keep this from the top spot.
05 - Rayman: Origins
With it’s visually lush art direction, and a style and character design which stands it apart from anything else out there, Rayman’s return has done more to re-ignite my love of good old fashioned 2D platforming since the Wii re-release of Klonoa. The designers at Ubisoft have certainly been playing Donkey Kong Returns in preparation for this, but the platforming is far more accessible and less punishing than Retro’s effort, and the sense of fun which runs throughout the game never lets up. The quick re-tries and sensible checkpoint spacing makes it a joy to return to, and the co-op play works wonderfully, with the camera transparently zooming in and out to give all players the best view of the level.
06 - Killzone 3
Guerrilla Games bring the epic. Learning lessons from the fierce but rather glum Killzone 2, KZ3 sees the fight taken to a far broader setting, whilst the Helghast remain the same unrelenting and cunning enemy they ever were. The fights are more intense than ever, with a level during the games final act being a wash of exploding computer terminals and glass, with armies pursuing you. Certainly the biggest adrenaline rush of any game I’ve played this year.
07 - Motorstorm: Apocalypse
Poor Evolution, with the original release hobbled by the tragic events of Japan, and it’s US launch coinciding with the PSN outage, Motorstorm: Apocalypse will have slipped by most people, which is a shame, as once you skip the ill-considered story, the races put every other arcade racer in the shade.
From racing down crumbling skyscrapers to careening around fractured highways and avoiding tornadoes, the speed and sense of danger is unrelenting.
A smart online mode, which includes a nice betting structure rounds things off. I hope that now it’s hit the budget price, more people discover what a blast this game is.
08 - Infamous 2
A remarkable sequel to the original game, which adds more of everything. The engine in-particular is a clear step up from the first outing, and despite the daft toing and froing regards the updated Cole, the characters and story drive the action forward nicely. Mixing up your moves in both the combat and navigation is far more refined this time out, with Cole’s actions having a far better flow to them.
The addition of UGC provides a welcome bonus, and rounds out the package nicely.
09 - Batman: Arkham City
A stunning adventure, which builds on everything which made Arkham Asylum a one of a kind superhero game. Rocksteady could have taken the easy route with this one, and simply tweaked the graphics, improved the brawling and let everyone who enjoyed Arkham Asylum lap it up. Whilst they did all that, what they also did was to build upon the adventure side of it, and make Batman’s detective skills an integral part of the action.
The sandbox may be smaller than we’re typically used to with open world games this gen, but it’s rammed full of side quests and investigative threads, which beg to be explored to their fullest. For me, it was everything I could have hoped for from a sequel, but for all the improvements made, it’s certainly the rhythm based combat which hooks me in the most
10 - Rage
Id’s latest starts slow, stutters a bit, and then gets into it’s stride. As a showcase for Id’s tech 5 it may ultimately prove to be a mixed blessing, as whilst nobody could deny the welcome smoothness of 60fps to the FPS genre, it’s clear compromises have been made with the lack of dynamic lighting and copious amounts of pop-in. All of that falls by the wayside however, as when the game puts it’s eye back on the prize, in the form of the actual gunplay, Rage proved to be one of the most satisfying games going.
Even the buggy races were frequently fun to participate in, with the 60fps giving them a good, fast paced feel, and the vehicular combat also worked well, and gave the races a good bit of variation and excitement.
12 Days of Christmas - progressive rock style by Somewhere (by teaflax)
Happy Christmas from Darren Hayes (by darrenhayes)
