Amazon.co.uk allows you to pay for your items in your local currency. Restrictions apply. Learn More. |
Frequently Bought Together
Product details
|
Tags Customers Associate with This Product(What's this?)Click on a tag to find related items, discussions, and people.
|
Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
16 of 16 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Either Prog is getting more metal (Pendragon Pure), or metal is getting more Prog (Opeth)
Either way, this offerring by Riverside sits firmly in the middle of both camps.
This is not an album to draw conclusions from on first listen. For a start the first track is on first listening extremely heavy, and may well set a tone in the listeners ear that will either put them right off or create the wrong expectation for the rest of the album.
However, back to track 1 later.
It is also true to say that if you approach this album expecting a Floyd album, then think again. Floyd influenced yes, but not a floyd album by any means.
If you have not already listened to this album, for a more realistic appraisal I'd recommend starting with track 3, them 4, then 5, then 2, the back to 1.
After listening to the entire album about four times now I feel I can review it with more of a general overview.
To me it is closer to Opeth / Porcupine Tree / Pink Floyd than Dream Theater.
By Floydish I mean "Animals" period floyd. The keyboards are very floydy (organs / piercing synths / trancy sounds)
The guitar work reminds me of floyd influenced Opeth mixed in with Metal (complete with squeaky acoustic).
The drum and bass sound is deep as the deepest ocean and utterly brilliant.
Musically it's tinged with Eastern sounding scales, with very proggy influences, and a LOT of metal sounding riffing, but not exclusively so. Think Careful With That Axe Eugene, but metal style explosions.
Vocally it sounds a bit like Proc Tree, and the singer sounds like he has been getting English elocution lessons from Sophie Ellis Bexter.
In short, don't be put off by that first track. On 4th listening, although metal, it is very prog.
My one criticism is that it feels like track 6 is missing.
Brilliant. More please.
Either way, this offerring by Riverside sits firmly in the middle of both camps.
This is not an album to draw conclusions from on first listen. For a start the first track is on first listening extremely heavy, and may well set a tone in the listeners ear that will either put them right off or create the wrong expectation for the rest of the album.
However, back to track 1 later.
It is also true to say that if you approach this album expecting a Floyd album, then think again. Floyd influenced yes, but not a floyd album by any means.
If you have not already listened to this album, for a more realistic appraisal I'd recommend starting with track 3, them 4, then 5, then 2, the back to 1.
After listening to the entire album about four times now I feel I can review it with more of a general overview.
To me it is closer to Opeth / Porcupine Tree / Pink Floyd than Dream Theater.
By Floydish I mean "Animals" period floyd. The keyboards are very floydy (organs / piercing synths / trancy sounds)
The guitar work reminds me of floyd influenced Opeth mixed in with Metal (complete with squeaky acoustic).
The drum and bass sound is deep as the deepest ocean and utterly brilliant.
Musically it's tinged with Eastern sounding scales, with very proggy influences, and a LOT of metal sounding riffing, but not exclusively so. Think Careful With That Axe Eugene, but metal style explosions.
Vocally it sounds a bit like Proc Tree, and the singer sounds like he has been getting English elocution lessons from Sophie Ellis Bexter.
In short, don't be put off by that first track. On 4th listening, although metal, it is very prog.
My one criticism is that it feels like track 6 is missing.
Brilliant. More please.
12 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
Riverside
Best yet? I love this band. The Polish Progsters tick all the right boxes and everything from King Crimson, ELP, Yes, Pink Floyd etc, etc can be seen as influences here. So the danger is obviously that Riverside may be seen as derivative and offer nothing new. Wrong! Just as the old style prog groups drew on classical influences and brought them up to date, Riverside do the same with old time prog and then some. I know they are likely to get lumped in with Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree but these two groups are just the better known end of this genre and Riverside do many things differently and dare I say it better. I don't know if it's a deliberate ploy but this album's 5 tracks, get successively longer as the album progresses and each track tends to start quietly and finish with everything including the kitchen sink being thrown at it. This is an old trick but is used to great effect here and there is so much going on that the album rewards repeated listens
BTW, this album has been available at a well known record store (think dogs and loudspeakers) for a couple of weeks.
Best yet? I love this band. The Polish Progsters tick all the right boxes and everything from King Crimson, ELP, Yes, Pink Floyd etc, etc can be seen as influences here. So the danger is obviously that Riverside may be seen as derivative and offer nothing new. Wrong! Just as the old style prog groups drew on classical influences and brought them up to date, Riverside do the same with old time prog and then some. I know they are likely to get lumped in with Dream Theater and Porcupine Tree but these two groups are just the better known end of this genre and Riverside do many things differently and dare I say it better. I don't know if it's a deliberate ploy but this album's 5 tracks, get successively longer as the album progresses and each track tends to start quietly and finish with everything including the kitchen sink being thrown at it. This is an old trick but is used to great effect here and there is so much going on that the album rewards repeated listens
BTW, this album has been available at a well known record store (think dogs and loudspeakers) for a couple of weeks.
11 of 12 people found the following review helpful
Format:Audio CD
You can see what I think of it from the title. This is not a great progression from Riverside just a slight one, it is slightly heavier but their music has always had that heavy touch. The keyboards sound great and the guitarist comes up with some wonderful touches but it is the quality of the composition that really does it for me.
All the titles are wonderful but the best is saved for the last two tracks, they are amazing. The more you listen to this album the more you'll want to play it.
What do they sound like, well maybe you could say they are a heavy Pink Floyd with lots of originality. As good as Porcupine Tree if not better but listen with an open mind they are moving forward and like real progressive music, changing. So if your stuck in 1979 you may find this album hard to get into.
All the titles are wonderful but the best is saved for the last two tracks, they are amazing. The more you listen to this album the more you'll want to play it.
What do they sound like, well maybe you could say they are a heavy Pink Floyd with lots of originality. As good as Porcupine Tree if not better but listen with an open mind they are moving forward and like real progressive music, changing. So if your stuck in 1979 you may find this album hard to get into.
Would you like to see more reviews about this item?
Were these reviews helpful?
Let us know
Most Recent Customer Reviews
Excellent album - much more Prog than Metal.
Riverside are probably much more suited for those who come from Progressive Rock background than Metal. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Say No More 67
A must for fans
I just wanna say , This is a must have for all fans of Riverside. The live Dvd is a pure joy to watch and gives a good feeling of the band!!
Published 9 months ago by Kim Sindahl
why?
Why is this album, band, not on everyone's wish list. They need to get out more, as this band are absolutely brilliant, both live and on their latest offering, which is the dogs... Read more
Published 18 months ago by sonofwil
A Slow Grower!!
I only heard about this band about a year back and snapped up all of their albums one after the other. Read more
Published 24 months ago by StevieP
Riverside for Progressive Nation 2010!!!
It saddens me to see all of these 2 star reviews from people who claim to have been Riverside fans from the beginning. Read more
Published 24 months ago by James Murphy
Horrible! Sorry guys...
I should have taken note of the other 2-star reviews! As someone who discovered this fabulous band only last year, and absolutely loved their first three albums, I was really... Read more
Published on 24 April 2010 by Graham Key
Poland's finest
Another excellent offering from Poland's finest. I only discovered this band 12 months ago and have purchased their entire back catelogue. I look forward to the next UK tour. Read more
Published on 10 April 2010 by Glenn G. Brown
another gem of an album!
What does prog music mean? Moving forward with musical ideas within the given style/genre that a band play? Then riverside do this well! Read more
Published on 28 Feb 2010 by timewind
Riverside stops flowing
Riverside are well known in the progressive rock and metal industry for their Floydy textures and crunching arrangements, but most will be surprised by the band's latest album... Read more
Published on 26 Feb 2010 by D. Boyles
over-rated, by whom!
I bought this cd on recommendation from a friend with similar musical taste to myself (or at least he had)! The next big thing! was his enthused comment. Read more
Published on 2 Feb 2010 by K. A. Worthington
Customer Discussions
|
This product's forum
Active discussions in related forums
Search Customer Discussions
|
Related forums
|
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Listmania!
Look for similar items by category
Look for similar items by subject
Feedback
- Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
