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Post by yearofmondays on May 1, 2017 9:18:40 GMT -5
Bought the CD on release day, Friday. Listened to it today for first time and I quite like it. Goodbye to Beauty and Old Swan are two that stuck out on first listen, but I knew Nocturne and Beehive already. A couple of songs sounded a bit like they could have been on Phantom Radio though. And if you strip back the double tracked vocals on Goodbye To Beauty, it sounds like it could have come off Houston: Publishing Demos 2002 in my opinion. Nocturne is something special as well.
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Post by Psychotropic Snake on May 1, 2017 13:50:51 GMT -5
First listened to it today. As an overall impression I'm still not sure how it compares to Phantom Radio, but damn, does it sound good. Standout tracks: Sister, Goodbye To Beauty, Nocturne. Goodbye To Beauty, although very good, could have been even better if only it had been a little longer, while the chorus to Death's Head Tattoo feels anticlimactic, the song never seems to truly "explode". Drunk On Destruction is definitely the weirdest song in my opinion, not sure I'm crazy about the generic jungle beats.
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Post by frankblack on May 2, 2017 6:36:16 GMT -5
First listened to it today. As an overall impression I'm still not sure how it compares to Phantom Radio, but damn, does it sound good. Standout tracks: Sister, Goodbye To Beauty, Nocturne. Goodbye To Beauty, although very good, could have been even better if only it had been a little longer, while the chorus to Death's Head Tattoo feels anticlimactic, the song never seems to truly "explode". Drunk On Destruction is definitely the weirdest song in my opinion, not sure I'm crazy about the generic jungle beats. I guess you like Goodbye to Beauty, then!
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Post by frankblack on May 2, 2017 7:45:12 GMT -5
I'm giving it my second listen as I write.
I think I hear a touch of The Jesus And Mary Chain influence in Beehive and Sister.
I'm really quite liking this record now.
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Post by nilbymouth on May 2, 2017 16:00:34 GMT -5
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Post by jackdaw on May 3, 2017 2:47:06 GMT -5
Loving Gargoyle. Beehive has (to me) a "summer" vibe to it, not always the case for Mark's songs! Goodbye to Beauty is gorgeous and somehow reminiscent of "Scraps at Midnight". First Day of Winter is spine-tingling.
I still tend to think that Blues Funeral is the best of his recent electronic-leaning output, but Gargoyle is still an album most singer-songwriters would kill to be able to come up with. Congrats are due to Rob Marshall (and the rest of the usual MLB of course).
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Post by Psychotropic Snake on May 3, 2017 4:24:28 GMT -5
Loving Gargoyle. Beehive has (to me) a "summer" vibe to it, not always the case for Mark's songs! Goodbye to Beauty is gorgeous and somehow reminiscent of "Scraps at Midnight". First Day of Winter is spine-tingling. I still tend to think that Blues Funeral is the best of his recent electronic-leaning output, but Gargoyle is still an album most singer-songwriters would kill to be able to come up with. Congrats are due to Rob Marshall (and the rest of the usual MLB of course). I agree with what you said about Beehive. Maybe it's about some sort of apocalyptic summer scenario, what with the references to blood rushing up from fountains, electric storms and firecrackers. I'm also picking up a strange but pleasant "medieval" vibe from some of the lyrics throughout the record, but that might be some free-association on my part. I wonder if Mark's a history buff.
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Post by raeni on May 3, 2017 6:18:59 GMT -5
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Post by silence on May 4, 2017 13:07:32 GMT -5
Some red copies will be available at the night session of the Indie Label Market in Greenwich tomorrow.
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Post by SheBangsTheTrums on May 4, 2017 17:11:41 GMT -5
Some red copies will be available at the night session of the Indie Label Market in Greenwich tomorrow. Hopefully I get the red one i am STILL waiting on that I ordered back in Feb SOON
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Post by Psychotropic Snake on May 5, 2017 19:06:32 GMT -5
AllMusic review by Mark Deming:
Gargoyle, Mark Lanegan's fourth album under the moniker the Mark Lanegan Band, opens with a song called "Death's Head Tattoo," and given the singer's chronically gloomy outlook on the world around him, that title sounds like it could be the height of cliché in Lanegan's hands. But thanks to his intelligence as a songwriter and his gifts as a vocalist, even under the worst circumstances Lanegan would deliver something worth hearing, and "Death's Head Tattoo" turns out to be more perceptive than one might have feared. Similarly, Gargoyle turns out to be a more satisfying listen than the previous Mark Lanegan Band albums. In addition to his usual collaborator, producer and multi-instrumentalist Alain Johannes, most of the tracks also feature guitars, bass, and other instruments from Rob Marshall, guitarist with the band Exit Calm. Having Marshall on board has given most of these tracks a welcome dose of muscle and rock action, and if electronics still dominate the sonic horizons of Gargoyle, the results feel more organic, and Lanegan appears to be more invested in this material. "Beehive" is a testimony to the pleasures and perils of addiction, "Emperor" is a meditation on loneliness that could have been an outtake from Iggy Pop's Post Pop Depression (and features guest vocals from Iggy and Mark's mutual friend Josh Homme), "Drunk on Destruction" is a powerful fusion of six-string howl and drum loops, and "Old Swan" brings the album to a suitably epochal conclusion. Lanegan's vocals are in fine form throughout; quieter numbers such as "Sister" and "First Day of Winter" allow him to deliver more nuanced performances that show how well he makes use of the nooks and crannies of his instrument, and the album's best rockers are full of liberating power. At first glance, Gargoyle doesn't feel like an album full of surprises, but after the second or third spin, the fuller and bolder sound of the arrangements and production becomes clear, and it all serves Lanegan's talents in a way his last few Mark Lanegan Band albums have not.
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Post by williejohn on May 6, 2017 2:51:22 GMT -5
No tracks from Gargoyle are going to join my "Lanegan Favorites" playlist. That only happened with Imitations before. First Day of Winter almost made it, but then that Beach Boys Wooo-Ooooh-Ooooh part came on.
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Post by revelator on May 6, 2017 4:25:05 GMT -5
First impressions: The (disturbing) trend with more synths and less guitars continues... I want more ´Gum!!
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Post by williejohn on May 6, 2017 16:35:54 GMT -5
I can't understand why someone who was the absolute pinnacle of quality of a distinctive musical style would totally abandon that style for another style far less suited to him.
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Post by svennb on May 7, 2017 2:20:29 GMT -5
Lanegan = Less is more. Just acoustic guitar and his voice is perfect imo. This 'synth suit' he wears doesn't fit. The 'atmosphere' he creates isn't as interesting compared to the 90's & early 2000's stuff. But he can do whatever the fuck he wants of course, still a huge fan till I'm fucking dead.
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Post by cameron4321 on May 7, 2017 8:26:06 GMT -5
Does anyone have any white vinyl versions of Gargoyle they care to sell me? I pre-ordered two copies on Srcvinyl, but I just got the email telling me they didn't get any white vinyl.....after over a week of printing a shipping label and making me think my copies were on the way. PM if you can help me out!
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Post by nilbymouth on May 7, 2017 8:40:18 GMT -5
Does anyone have any white vinyl versions of Gargoyle they care to sell me? I'm sure Bullmoose would...scroll up for the link. They still have copies.
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Post by cameron4321 on May 7, 2017 11:29:41 GMT -5
Nope....Bullmoose is out. Know of any other place?
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Post by nilbymouth on May 7, 2017 12:57:37 GMT -5
Lanegan = Less is more. Just acoustic guitar and his voice is perfect imo. This 'synth suit' he wears doesn't fit. The 'atmosphere' he creates isn't as interesting compared to the 90's & early 2000's stuff. But he can do whatever the fuck he wants of course, still a huge fan till I'm fucking dead. Spot on, sadly. It's almost amusing to see the countless stream of re-tweets from Mark sharing all of the love people seem to have for this album. I am not getting it. At all. With each album of second-rate synths, it just becomes more and more ordinary for me. I've forced myself to listen to Gargoyle for days now, and am really rather bored by it. It's bordering on the banal, with his vocal as the only saving grace. It's a shame to have ever lowering expectations of what a MLB album will bring.
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Post by moorfiend on May 7, 2017 20:47:18 GMT -5
Bullmoose sent me a black when I ordered a white. Still haven't heard back from them yet. Anyway, I like the album a lot and don't mind the synths.
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Post by inthefade on May 8, 2017 5:02:39 GMT -5
Bullmoose sent me a black when I ordered a white. Still haven't heard back from them yet. Anyway, I like the album a lot and don't mind the synths. Damn SRC did that to me, and I ordered a white from Bullmoose. Still waiting on it...
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Post by inthefade on May 8, 2017 17:10:29 GMT -5
Got the white vinyl from Bullmoose. SRC doesn't seem too eager to accept my return for the standard black. I had to open a dispute.
Not crazy about the album so far, but I'm gonna force it on myself and hope it grows on me.
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Post by nilbymouth on May 8, 2017 19:44:34 GMT -5
I'm gonna force it on myself and hope it grows on me. Ditto....never thought the day would come when I would have to groom myself into liking a Lanegan album.
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Post by ♫ ♪ on May 9, 2017 7:51:28 GMT -5
btw I think mine's going up tomorrow afternoon, editor's been on hols Where is it?
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Post by glt on May 9, 2017 11:22:24 GMT -5
I quite like the album as a whole, and I am generally of the school of thought that Lanegan's vocals are best in an acoustic environment.
However, I think the arrangements on most of the songs on Gargoyle play to the strengths of his voice, that most songs sound very good and that generally the electronic element does suit him somewhat.
The only song on there I really can't get into at the moment is 'Beehive', which almost sounds like a forced attempt to fit the change in style.
I do particularly like 'Nocturne', 'Old Swan', 'Sister' and 'Emporer'. I think 'Nocturne' will be great live.
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