New Album Reviews - Summer 2023
Well, summer's gone already, but I'm not ready to let it go. I've been wanting to go through some of the new albums I have been really enjoying all this summer, but haven't gotten to it until now. But at least that has given me more time to listen and appreciate these albums, and they are the ones I have enjoyed most this summer. Anyway, these are all 2023 albums that were released in June, July, or August, and some really fine ones they are. Here are my own personal views of them.
Ben Folds - What Matters Most
American singer-songwriter Ben Folds returns for his 6th album outside of the Ben Folds Five, and his 1st album in nearly 8 years (So There-2015). Not that he hasn't been busy, as he has been touring and playing with symphony orchestras around the world, he is the first artistic advisor to the National Symphony Orchestra at The Kennedy Center, he wrote his memoir (A Dream About Lightning Bugs: A Life of Music and Cheap Lessons), and conducted a podcast series with a wide range of guests, as well as a regular series of home performance videos during the pandemic. But here we have his latest pop-oriented album, and Ben has done it again, producing an album full of songs with bright and catchy melodies, sometimes with a classical twist, resulting in a great album. Once again, Ben shows his songwriting, arranging, and performing skills as he constructs intelligent, insightful, and moving depictions of modern life, sometimes humorous, sometimes serious and heartfelt, and always engaging. He takes events from his own life and turns them into clever stories or lessons, and not being afraid to depict himself in a negative light. Whether humorously describing a bad one night stand, an unfortunate break-up, some disturbing texts from a childhood friend, or other musings and introspectives on life, Ben's songs have an honesty and refreshing relevance, and just great melodies and arrangements. Best tracks: Clouds with Ellipses, Kristine from the Seventh Grade, Back to Anonymous, What Matters Most, Winslow Gardens, Moments. Rating: 4ó
Comedy of Errors - Threnody for a Dead Queen
Comedy of Errors are a Scottish progressive rock band, originally formed in 1984, but having little success disbanded in 1990, but then re-formed in 2010, and feature a melodic symphonic style of Prog. This is their 6th album since re-forming, and follows their very strong 2022 release,
The Time Machine, but takes a very different approach, with wonderful results.
Threnody For a Dead Queen is a much more gentle, mostly instrumental, enveloping soundscape of an album, taking its time to let ambient recurrent sounds and themes slowly develop and build into richly textured musical events. They are in no hurry to get anywhere here, as the journey is the whole point, and the songs all fit together as a conceptual whole. Three long pieces (12-15 minutes each) provide the bulk of the album, with other shorter interludes and connecting pieces between. A very soothing and relaxing album, but one that is never dull, always interesting, with slow dramatic builds and beautiful soundscapes. Vocals are used sparingly, but quite effectively, such as in the final 3 minutes of title track. This is the type of album that you just need to immerse yourself in and just let it flow all around you for a richly rewarding experience.
Best Tracks: Threnody for a Dead Queen, Summer Lies Beyond, The Seventh Seal, Jane.
Rating: 4óThe Guess Who - Plein D'Amour
The Guess Who? in 2023? Are you kidding? No, this is not the the same
Burton Cummings-led band from the '70's, this is a totally different band with a totally different sound, albeit with one original member, drummer Garry Peterson (who for some reason has retained rights to the name). But this album may be the surprise of the year, because this is actually a great album! As readers of this blog probably know, I am a big fan of the original Guess Who with Burton Cummings (1968-1975). However, since the demise of that original band, bassist Jim Kale acquired the rights to the name and continued to tour with makeshift lineups (often also including Garry Peterson) in what has constituted basically a Guess Who tribute band, playing all the old hits at county fairs and small venues over the years. When Kale retired, Peterson took over, and now this latest incarnation of the band, with exciting new blood, has been tryng to re-establish themselves as a viable original rock band, with a new sound and new original songs. This latest version features Derek Sharp as lead vocalist and primary songwriter, Michael Staertow (guitars, vocals) formerly with Lou Gramm and Slaughter), Michael Devin (Whitesnake) on bass and vocals, Leonard Shaw (keys, sax, flute, vocals), and drummer Garry Peterson. This new version of the band has put together a well-crafted set of great melodies, great vocals, and engaging arrangements for one of the best melodic rock albums of the year. Now, first of all, they sound nothing like the old Guess Who, although they still work in a 70's-insptred style, but it is more in line with the power pop of bands like
Badfinger or
Cheap Trick, and especially the '90's style power pop of
Jellyfish (a couple tracks here sound like they could almost be lost
Jellyfish songs). But the band also works through several different styles ranging from the
Crosby Stills & Nash-style harmony vocals of Headlines to the hard rock anthem of Plein D'Amour, and songs filled with sweet pop melodies and vocals, crunchy guitars and rockin' fills. For example, the album closer Plein D'Amour opens with
Queen-like acapella vocals, then moves into a French-Canadian acoustic romp before transforming that theme into a hard rock bop. An immensely enjoyable album that gets better with each listen.
Best Tracks: The King, Across The Lines, People Around Me, Headlines, Free, Plein D'Amour.
Rating: 4óMotorpsycho - Yay!
Motorpsycho is a very prolific, eclectic Prog band from Norway. They've been around since 1991, when they started out as more of a punkish grunge band, but then started showing more progressive rock elements by the mid-nineties, while also maintaining aspects of psychedelic and indie rock. They've released a total of 26 albums over the years (and 14 in the last 15 years, with one almost every year!). They continue to feature a wide variety of different styles, genres, and influences, with their music ranging from ambient, minimalist, atmospheric space-rock to gentle acoustic pop to punkish rock all the way to full-on metal, sometimes all on the same album, sometimes separate sounds and feel for each album. So, you never quite know what you're gonna get from
Motorpsycho. For this newest album, the band surprises once again with a whole album of mostly acoustic pop and indie folk-rock. songs, and it is fantastic from start to finish! Great melodies, arrangements, and stylish flourishes throughout. And although it has been called an acoustic album, that is not really true, as although most songs do have at least some acoustic guitar in them, many of the songs build throughout to reveal much more lush and symphonic arrangements by the end. The album starts off with the breezy indie pop of Cold & Bored, followed by the ballad Sentinels, which has a
Simon & Garfunkel-esque feel to it. Next is Patterns, which is dreamy, richly textured pop that builds to a rousing conclusion. But the album really takes off with the fabulous Dank State, a bouncy acoustic ditty dealing with Norwegian politics, followed by W.C.A, which is a soaring, infectious pop song. However, the highlight of the album for me (and song of the summer, if not the entire year) is the magnificent Hotel Daedelus, the one song on the album that gets the full Prog treatment, a melding of mellotron-drenched orchestration of film soundtrack bombast coupled with a beautiful laid-back 60's-styled pop melody, highlighted by a soaring, scorching guitar solo. The album then finishes on a high note with The Rapture. What a delightful album, a real surprise, and one of my very favorite of the year. Just wonderful, and such a breath of fresh air amidst all the heaviness around.
Best tracks: Hotel Daedelus, Dank State, W.C.A., Loch Meaningless & the Mull of Dull, Real Again.
Rating: 4.5óDream the Electric Sleep - American Mystic
This is the 5th album from this progressive rock trio from Lexington, KY, although the first that I've heard. This is powerhouse indie rock-fueled progressive rock. I was immediately impressed with their sound and style; big, strong, but melodic, with classic vocals and harmonies. They feature a variety of influences and have a modern sound, but still, most of all, to me, this feels more like a return to classic melodic hard rock. It most reminds me of the mid-70's to early 80's melodic rock bands like
Styx, Boston, REO Speedwagon, and
Journey, but with more of a hard rock edge. There are several other classic bands that I get some glimpses of in different songs, including
Aerosmith, Wishbone Ash, and
Rush, as well as various more modern Neo-Prog bands. They have a massive wall of guitar sound and soaring solos, but also catchy songs with great hooks and melodies. What I really appreciate about this album is that they can go relatively heavy without losing that pop catchiness and melodic sensibilities, and also without resorting to a 'metal' sound and all its cliches (as that seems to be 'the thing' these days in Prog), and also can pull back for lighter moments. Great to hear rock music that is heavy, but not all dark. ominous, and bludgeoning, and that is still catchy, melodic, and bright. A really strong album of melodic hard rock with just enough proggy overtones.
Best tracks: The Lessons They Bring, Lay Down the Cross, Beyond Repair, American Mystic, Steal the Love.
Rating: 4ó I am the Manic Whale - Bumper Book of Mystery Stories
I am the Manic Whale is a project led by Michael Whiteman (bass, guitars, lead vocals, songwriter) and the band name is an anagram of 'A Michael Whiteman' and this is their 4th album. Michael worked with
Ryo Okumoto (
Spock's Beard) in writing and creating Ryo's wonderful 2022 solo album
The Myth of the Mostrophus, and this album has a lot of those same elements. It is a concept album based on an old compilation storybook of various mystery and adventure stories written for teens and pre-teens. Thus, the album features 8 story songs ranging in length from 4 to 15 minutes each, covering various actual events, published stories, or just imaginative creations. This is a really fun album of melodic progressive rock, somewhat reminiscent of bands such as
Spock's Beard and
Big Big Train. The album kinks off with Ghost Train, which serves as the introduction to the story concept, inviting the listener to climb aboard on this thrilling and chilling journey, using the hyperbole and bluster of a carnival barker exaggerating the scares to be had. A curious number about a medical curiosity is next, but the album really kicks to another level starting with the next song, Dream Fortune, a lovely pop song with a great melody and harmony vocals, and a nice warm feeling. Secret Passages is another highlight, demonstrating that
Big Big Train feeling with this Goonie-style kids adventure story with great melodic themes and instrumental passages. But the centerpiece of the album is the 14-minute Nautilus, based on the old Jules Verne story of Capt Nemo and featuring numerous styles and majestic themes and extended instrumental sections, somewhat reminiscent of
Kansas, culminating in dueling solos between keyboards and guitar, and with guest artist
Ryo Okumoto and his dazzling display of swirling keyboard sounds. After that comes a fun, energetic rocker touting the creation and wonders of the Rubik's cube, in Erno's Magic Cube, The album finishes with We Interrupt this Broadcast, a tale based on an actual hijacked broadcast claiming to be from Aliens warning the human race to do better, which then leads to a reprise of Ghost Train to complete the voyage and end the album. Overall, an immensely entertaining hour of music.
Best Tracks: Nautilus, Secret Passages, Fortune Dream, Erno's Magic Cube.
Rating: 4ó BB’s Rating scale:
1ó – Terrible, torturous to have to listen to
1.5ó - Poor, not worth your time
2 ó – Fair, maybe a couple half-way decent songs, but
sub-par overall
2.5ó – Average, OK, meh, not bad but not that good either
3ó – Good, solid album, several good songs, but not
spectacular. Certainly worthy, but may not be something you come back to very
often
3.5ó – Very good album. Some stellar tracks, very
enjoyable overall
4ó – Great album, filled with great songs, one that you
will want to come back to over and over again
4.5ó – Excellent album, beyond great, superb in every
way, just short of a masterpiece
5ó – A Masterpiece, among the greatest albums of its
type, and has stood the test of time
So, those were my favorites over the summer, but there were lots of other good albums. What were some of your favorites that I might have missed? Let me know what you thought were the best albums released this summer!
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