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Post by Nonfatman on Mar 15, 2014 23:00:57 GMT -5
My mind has just been blowed away. Just heard Doggerland, courtesy of Juan Velardo from Aqualung-My God blog. Awesome piece of music. Loved it, absolutely loved it. First listen was weird, almost awkward. You just need to get you head around that nothing will ever sound like classic Tull, and I listen to nowadays prog music and this has just the correct feeling to it. Reminded me a little of Nemo. Weird to hear that kind of guitar solo in Ian Anderson song, but just in the first listen. Second listen had me hooked. A but of an eastern feel to it, more acoustic almost medieval moments pontuated by darker passages. Very good musicianship, even the drummer sounded a lot better. The band is getting tighter and mote coherent. Absolutely loved it. Can't await for the whole thing! Yeah, I've heard "Doggerland" yesterday and didn't need second listen to like it. It hooked me instantly and it was a comforting plaster over "cdr" wounds. As an opener it's far better than "From A Peble Thrown". It has much resemblance with classic Tull...medieval parts alternating with some "Roots To Branches" flavor. Quite hard rocking, but better just forget about metal (who needs it anyway). Yet, there are some questionable mixing and production choices....surprisingly solid Ian's vocals are here and there dampened by too loud keyboards. Furthermore... Hammond organ intrusion which kicks in at 2:47 instantly destroys the delights of Florian's furious solo (bad choice)! Ofcourse I don't blame John for that ( afteral I watched "creations" video ) But then again we are already well acustomed to the fact that even the best Tull pieces often leave something to be desired, aren't we? And there is just one more thing that annoys me here....the ending, (which is fading out flute... sounds familiar?), but not necessarily because of the ending itself, but more due to whole bunch of late period Tull/IA stuff ending exactly the same way. This just has to be boring, if not plainly distasteful !!! It started with "Farm On The Freeway" (was ok then) and now there's no ending to it. It's beyond me why Ian is not paying atention to those things. I think simple chorus fading out would have been much more effective! But all in all, great track and possibly better than most of the stuff on TAAB2!! So let's just hope for some more pleasant surprises! I agree with you about the similar endings to many of Ian's later songs. Another example of this is Rare and Precious Chain, which Doggerland reminds me of in some ways, and I also hear bits and pieces of El Nino mixed in there. The song has a Dot Com feel to it, like it could have been written as part of those sessions. But I do think it's for the most part pretty good, and there are some parts of it that sound fresh. Cold Day Reckoning on the other hand, well let's just say that I agree with you there as well. Jeff
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Post by Nonfatman on Mar 16, 2014 12:23:27 GMT -5
There is now a video on You Tube of two additional songs, The Engineer and After These Wars, posted by someone who apparently recorded them, or obtained a recording of them, from a Polish radio station whose DJ, Piotr something, pronounces the album Homo Errrrrrrrratee-coooose.
I will not put the video up on our board, in keeping with our decision not to post any advance and/or illicit copies of an album that has not yet been released. It is out there, though.
Jeff
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Zombywoof
Ethnic Piano Accordian-ist
Weird Music Fanatic
Posts: 192
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Post by Zombywoof on Mar 16, 2014 16:36:58 GMT -5
There is now a video on You Tube of two additional songs, The Engineer and After These Wars, posted by someone who apparently recorded them, or obtained a recording of them, from a Polish radio station whose DJ, Piotr something, pronounces the album Homo Errrrrrrrratee-coooose. I will not put the video up on our board, in keeping with our decision not to post any advance and/or illicit copies of an album that has not yet been released. It is out there, though. Jeff Listening now ... what's going on with Ian's voice? It almost sounds pitched up or something. Weird. Thoughts?
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Post by LJG on Mar 16, 2014 17:16:17 GMT -5
There is now a video on You Tube of two additional songs, The Engineer and After These Wars, posted by someone who apparently recorded them, or obtained a recording of them, from a Polish radio station whose DJ, Piotr something, pronounces the album Homo Errrrrrrrratee-coooose. I will not put the video up on our board, in keeping with our decision not to post any advance and/or illicit copies of an album that has not yet been released. It is out there, though. Jeff Listening now ... what's going on with Ian's voice? It almost sounds pitched up or something. Weird. Thoughts? Voice is interesting... but I actually find his voice is sounding better on these two songs than on previous efforts. I like... even if it does sound a bit like a TAAB 2 sequel... which I guess is what it is.
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Oldghost
Ethnic Piano Accordian-ist
Posts: 114
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Post by Oldghost on Mar 16, 2014 18:10:45 GMT -5
So here we have another two songs from H.E....we're advancing pretty quickly, aren't we? Before the album is officialy out we will know pretty much everything about it, which is killing the excitement a bit for those of us who can't resist the forces of curiosity and temptation, no matter what! So, what to say about those 2 new "teasers" (full length ones)....To start with "The Engineer"...Upbeat folky stuff with lots of squeezy thing (annoying in some places, but at 1:37 plain horrible) ! While it's not a clunker it would still fit perfectly on "Nightcap" (Cd 2). It's sound world and production reminds me incredibly on "Rosa On The Factory Floor". Those 2 songs would be a nice pair if on the same disc. But the very ending of this song has an absolutely clear resemblance of "slob". So, nothing terribly exciting then, although this one might grow on you after a few listens (depends of a preference). I don't know why, but when I'm listening to the Ian's singing, I imagine him drinking and singing together with Dave Pegg in some Scottish pub. Yet, some of the so much desired excitement comes with the next track (at least for me) ! "After These Wars" is a good, old fashioned and straightforward rock balad which at some places brings tears to my eye (no kidding), particulary thanks to Ian's brilliant and soulful interpretation (his ever ageing voice didn't bother me much, but I don't even dare to think how this would have sounded with his past vocals in top form). He is still a prime genius to me when it comes to such delicate moments....I mean, really...hat's off to you Ian ! Florian contributes pretty tasteful guitar solo and some other embelishments. Piano and keyboard arrangements are actualy ok, although perhaps too much straightforward...some intricacy would be much appreciated and I dare to suggest that Ian should have invited someone like Dee Palmer to orchestrate this. But this is still much better (imho) than "Wootton Bassett Town" for example, which is thematicaly similar. So, after 4 full listens I can easily predict this album will be a mixed bag again....but what more could we expect or even demand!?
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Post by Lucas on Mar 16, 2014 19:59:26 GMT -5
Good songs. Did not get to me like Doggerland did, but still good songs. Should grow on me after sometime, and I imagine listening to the album as a whole adds to the songs. Let's see.
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Post by Nonfatman on Mar 16, 2014 23:12:24 GMT -5
There is now a video on You Tube of two additional songs, The Engineer and After These Wars, posted by someone who apparently recorded them, or obtained a recording of them, from a Polish radio station whose DJ, Piotr something, pronounces the album Homo Errrrrrrrratee-coooose. I will not put the video up on our board, in keeping with our decision not to post any advance and/or illicit copies of an album that has not yet been released. It is out there, though. Jeff Listening now ... what's going on with Ian's voice? It almost sounds pitched up or something. Weird. Thoughts? I noticed the same thing, Ian, which is interesting because in recent years he has been doing the opposite, i.e., singing in a lower key. I think that the high-pitched vocals combined with the overly verbose nature of the lyrics to both of these songs, which do not match the meter of the music because they have too many syllables, are going to be difficult to execute in concert. That's probably where Ryan comes in, but curiously no Ryan yet on any of the four album tracks we have heard, at least not on lead vocal. I also wouldn't be surprised if there are mistakes in delivering these lyrics, because it seems like they will be very difficult to memorize. There is the potential for a vocal and lyrical train wreck on any given night. I am beginning to wish that Ian would go back to writing simple love songs, like on SLOB, where in my opinion he really peaked as a songwriter and lyricist. Nothing since then has been nearly as good, with the possible exception of two or three songs on Rupi. Jeff
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Oldghost
Ethnic Piano Accordian-ist
Posts: 114
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Post by Oldghost on Mar 17, 2014 1:24:03 GMT -5
Listening now ... what's going on with Ian's voice? It almost sounds pitched up or something. Weird. Thoughts? I noticed the same thing, Ian, which is interesting because in recent years he has been doing the opposite, i.e., singing in a lower key. I think that the high-pitched vocals combined with the overly verbose nature of the lyrics to both of these songs, which do not match the meter of the music because they have too many syllables, are going to be difficult to execute in concert. That's probably where Ryan comes in, but curiously no Ryan yet on any of the four album tracks we have heard, at least not on lead vocal. I also wouldn't be surprised if there are mistakes in delivering these lyrics, because it seems like they will be very difficult to memorize. There is the potential for a vocal and lyrical train wreck on any given night. I am beginning to wish that Ian would go back to writing simple love songs, like on SLOB, where in my opinion he really peaked as a songwriter and lyricist. Nothing since then has been nearly as good, with the possible exception of two or three songs on Rupi. Jeff About Ryan....I hear him very clearly in Doggerland's chorus! About "SLOB"....I agree completely!
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homoDUNC78
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 71
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Post by homoDUNC78 on Mar 17, 2014 7:02:07 GMT -5
I really like both of these songs. I've had to stop myself at two listens (on a naff ipod docking speaker), so that I can appreciate them when listening to whole album for first time in one sitting.
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homoDUNC78
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 71
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Post by homoDUNC78 on Mar 17, 2014 7:04:40 GMT -5
After these wars, could possibly do with a little orchestration as mentioned, but I recon in the greater scheme of things, will probably better more effective as it is. ......Not long now :-)
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Post by Willie on Mar 17, 2014 11:33:46 GMT -5
The same uploader has also put up "Pax Britanica." These 3 songs are the first I've heard (I missed all the other audio glimpses) ..."Pax" on first listen sounds like a TAAB 2 outtake, so... meh. The other 2 songs though, wow! I'm actually a bit excited. The playing is starting to sound a little bit more like a "band" (Just a little bit mind... Ian's extended the leash from 1 foot to three feet so that's good news. Also the vocals are compelling... more so than I'd hoped for. Live, I think he'll need Ryan to help him out, and/or sing in a lower key when things get tough going. The DJ plays the album cut off "Cheerio" at the end, and the vocals on the new songs stand up well to the singing on that recording. Cool! I'm no fan of TAAB2, but I'm glad it came out. In other words I'm glad Ian is still writing and recording... but this new project sounds much more interesting to the likes of my ears.
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Oldghost
Ethnic Piano Accordian-ist
Posts: 114
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Post by Oldghost on Mar 17, 2014 12:57:03 GMT -5
The same uploader has also put up "Pax Britanica." These 3 songs are the first I've heard (I missed all the other audio glimpses) ..."Pax" on first listen sounds like a TAAB 2 outtake, so... meh. The other 2 songs though, wow! I'm actually a bit excited. The playing is starting to sound a little bit more like a "band" (Just a little bit mind... Ian's extended the leash from 1 foot to three feet so that's good news. Also the vocals are compelling... more so than I'd hoped for. Live, I think he'll need Ryan to help him out, and/or sing in a lower key when things get tough going. The DJ plays the album cut off "Cheerio" at the end, and the vocals on the new songs stand up well to the singing on that recording. Cool! I'm no fan of TAAB2, but I'm glad it came out. In other words I'm glad Ian is still writing and recording... but this new project sounds much more interesting to the likes of my ears. When the first samples have been temporarily released in some polish internet cd store I was too late to catch them, but most of the guys who were lucky to hear them were mentioning sample #8 ("The Pax Britannica) as one of their favourites, and after Lukas Was who heard it in it's entirety, praised it enormously and even said that it contains one of the most beautiful Ian's flute solos EVER, I was really expecting something very special....but now it's high time for me to learn once for all that I should not listen to other people too much, even though I'm well aware that tastes among Tull fans are pretty different. "The Pax Britannica" is not a bad song though, but we've already heard "Mayhem Maybe", so I found it utterly booooring.......and furthermore Lukas's statement (forgive me Lukas) about "one of the most beautiful flute solos ever" is frankly laughable ! I 'm really curious what Lukas thinks about Ian's flute solo which forms the outro on "Sanctuary" ........?
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Post by TM on Mar 17, 2014 14:19:38 GMT -5
Yes, Tull fans have such a varied taste in Tull music which is pretty interesting actually.
This song, Pax Britamica, sounds like a combination of Last Man At The Party and Mayhem Maybe.
The Engineer has grown on me and so has CDR, while After These Wars sounds rather mundane to my ears. As Jeff mentioned, perhaps that song has too many syllables - especially for a ballad.
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Oldghost
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Posts: 114
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Post by Oldghost on Mar 17, 2014 15:58:41 GMT -5
Yes, Tull fans have such a varied taste in Tull music which is pretty interesting actually. This song, Pax Britamica, sounds like a combination of Last Man At The Party and Mayhem Maybe. The Engineer has grown on me and so has CDR, while After These Wars sounds rather mundane to my ears. As Jeff mentioned, perhaps that song has too many syllables - especially for a ballad. I think I've already mentioned...."After These Wars" needs someone like David (Dee) Palmer to give it the touch of excellence!
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Post by Lucas on Mar 17, 2014 17:20:51 GMT -5
The Engineer is very good, I cannot stop happily singing "Pax Britannica, Pax Britannica!" In my head, After This Wars is just ok, and Doggerland remains incredible to me. All in all, it seems the old man really came back to the years of writing great music. Enough of best of tours. The band sounds much better as I said before, they have grown incredibly as a band since TaaB2, much more easy flowing music, the drummer is playing a lot better, and the aggressive fast playing style of Florian sits really well in this songs. Got a feeling this one will be the first really great album since Roots. Also, I really do not want to start any silly argument so hold your horses, but this songs says Tull to me much more than TaaB2, that was more like Ian's previous solo albuns than Tull works. Looking foward to it!
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Post by Dan on Mar 17, 2014 17:53:32 GMT -5
The Engineer is very good, I cannot stop happily singing "Pax Britannica, Pax Britannica!" In my head, After This Wars is just ok, and Doggerland remains incredible to me. All in all, it seems the old man really came back to the years of writing great music. Enough of best of tours. The band sounds much better as I said before, they have grown incredibly as a band since TaaB2, much more easy flowing music, the drummer is playing a lot better, and the aggressive fast playing style of Florian sits really well in this songs. Got a feeling this one will be the first really great album since Roots. Also, I really do not want to start any silly argument so hold your horses, but this songs says Tull to me much more than TaaB2, that was more like Ian's previous solo albuns than Tull works. Looking foward to it! To repeat some earlier sentiments by others... everyone has a difference of opinion on some songs. For me the chorus of "Pax Britannica " makes me already want to skip over it. The beginning sounds like the end of TAAB2 song, Kismet, and right before the last song and is just too similar to Last Man At The Party and Mayhem, Maybe. The accordion in The Engineer makes me think about skipping over that one also. I like Ian's voice on After These Wars and it probably ranks 3rd on the 5 I have heard so far. I was one of the few that seems to like Cold Dead Reckoning. I like listening to the lyrics and they only add to the music. Dan
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Post by Lucas on Mar 17, 2014 18:31:07 GMT -5
Didn't find Cold Dead Reckoning. Is it on youtube? It is funny how many of you guys dislike the squeezy thing. I like it.
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Post by Willie on Mar 17, 2014 19:37:05 GMT -5
Yeah, to me the squeezy thing can be bad or good, it all depends. I quite like it on The Engineer. I mean, do you guys like the Pogues? They're wall to wall squeezy thing.
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Oldghost
Ethnic Piano Accordian-ist
Posts: 114
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Post by Oldghost on Mar 17, 2014 21:42:49 GMT -5
Yeah, to me the squeezy thing can be bad or good, it all depends. I quite like it on The Engineer. I mean, do you guys like the Pogues? They're wall to wall squeezy thing. My brother is a big fan of The Pogues....their squeezy thing sounds much more spectacular than John's. I'm pretty neutral about squeezy thing...I don't love it and I don't hate it. It's not the main question whether to use it or not in some of the Ian's songs, but HOW to use it and how to give it proper level in the mix. I think in most cases Ian is not much successful in that respect. Just listen to the accordion at 1:37 in "The Engineer" ! If this is not annoying to you, then you're very lucky listener....and that's absolutely nice.
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Post by Willie on Mar 17, 2014 22:07:39 GMT -5
Heh, heh, I guess I'm a lucky guy. It works for me, but I could see how it might drive you nuts. A lot of accordion on Rupi's Dance I really didn't like... The Engineer works for me because, I like the driving pace of the song and verses... Squeezy thing in ballads=Bad, squeezy thing in driving songs = good (like "Skating Away") Please note the above theory may be complete tosh! Also... It works with the lyrics. He's singing about early steam trains, a time when many a rocking squeezy thing was heard in taverns, small byways, and labor camps. I also like the mix of it. That moment (a few seconds after you noted) with a few bars of LOUD SQUEEZY is I think, where your lunging for the skip button, but I wish there were more moments where other muscians spring to the fore and get in your face. I'm sure you agree, just not Mr Squeezy!
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Oldghost
Ethnic Piano Accordian-ist
Posts: 114
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Post by Oldghost on Mar 17, 2014 22:28:25 GMT -5
Heh, heh, I guess I'm a lucky guy. It works for me, but I could see how it might drive you nuts. A lot of accordion on Rupi's Dance I really didn't like... The Engineer works for me because, I like the driving pace of the song and verses... Squeezy thing in ballads=Bad, squeezy thing in driving songs = good (like "Skating Away") Please note the above theory may be complete tosh!
Also... It works with the lyrics. He's singing about early steam trains, a time when many a rocking squeezy thing was heard in taverns, small byways, and labor camps. I also like the mix of it. That moment (a few seconds after you noted) with a few bars of LOUD SQUEEZY is I think, where your lunging for the skip button, but I wish there were more moments where other muscians spring to the fore and get in your face. I'm sure you agree, just not Mr Squeezy! Oh, yes....I completely agree, in fact complete section from 1:37 to 1:50, which features alternating instrumental inserts of accordion first, then guitar, and flute as last, is the most annoying part of this song, but the rest of it is at least acceptable, but I'm glad you enjoy the song and I respect your preferences.
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homoDUNC78
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 71
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Post by homoDUNC78 on Mar 18, 2014 6:54:40 GMT -5
The Engineer is very good, I cannot stop happily singing "Pax Britannica, Pax Britannica!" In my head, After This Wars is just ok, and Doggerland remains incredible to me. All in all, it seems the old man really came back to the years of writing great music. Enough of best of tours. The band sounds much better as I said before, they have grown incredibly as a band since TaaB2, much more easy flowing music, the drummer is playing a lot better, and the aggressive fast playing style of Florian sits really well in this songs. Got a feeling this one will be the first really great album since Roots. Also, I really do not want to start any silly argument so hold your horses, but this songs says Tull to me much more than TaaB2, that was more like Ian's previous solo albuns than Tull works. Looking foward to it! I've always thought the band were solid on Taab2; with the exception of Scott, they've been playing together for years and years. I think perhaps it's lighter, clinical sound could have been deliberate because it was labeled Jethro Tull's Ian Anderson. If it had of been heavier and juicier, there may have been more talk and speculation that this line-up is the new Tull. As it is, it was clearly IA saying, I'm from JT, I wrote Taab1, this is my Taab2, my IA work, my new band line-up...but not JT. Now labelled IA, he can move on and clearly flourish with Homo. Scott is a grand drummer and his efforts on Taab1 live were truely amazing! He really paid homage to Barry's part whilst adding his own fine interpretation of it. Taab2 doesn't show off his capabilities, but hoping that this will be remedied in some of the tracks from Homo. FO sounds great, especially his solo at end of After These Wars. Trying really hard not to listen to these tracks too often so that I can appreciate them as part of one whole piece. It most certainly IS going to be corker!:-)
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Post by Mix on Mar 18, 2014 10:07:48 GMT -5
Just had a listen to The Engineer. Me Like! Most importantly Ian's voice had strong elements and tones of his 70's vocal. Something I would never expected to hear ever again. Most recent thing he's done that reminds me of his old style singing was Lost In Crowds from Rupi. Looking forward to this.
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Post by Nonfatman on Mar 18, 2014 10:18:17 GMT -5
The Engineer is very good, I cannot stop happily singing "Pax Britannica, Pax Britannica!" In my head, After This Wars is just ok, and Doggerland remains incredible to me. All in all, it seems the old man really came back to the years of writing great music. Enough of best of tours. The band sounds much better as I said before, they have grown incredibly as a band since TaaB2, much more easy flowing music, the drummer is playing a lot better, and the aggressive fast playing style of Florian sits really well in this songs. Got a feeling this one will be the first really great album since Roots. Also, I really do not want to start any silly argument so hold your horses, but this songs says Tull to me much more than TaaB2, that was more like Ian's previous solo albuns than Tull works.Looking foward to it! I agree with you Lucas, that so far the four or five songs I've heard sound more like Tull songs, sans Martin, than IA solo pieces. Aside from the beginning to Pax Brittanica, I don't see that much of a resemblance to Brick 2, except that you can tell it's the same band. However, to me these songs sound like 90's Tull, around the time of RTB and Dot Com, rather than a return to the 70's-era Tull that I was expecting based upon Ian's description of H.E. being a "prog-folk-metal" album. I don't think that you can call these songs "prog" by any stretch of the imagination. They seem like standard rock songs. Perhaps in saying that the album was going to be prog-rock, Ian was referring simply to the fact that it is a concept album. Jeff
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Post by TM on Mar 18, 2014 13:41:21 GMT -5
Just had a listen to The Engineer. Me Like! Most importantly Ian's voice had strong elements and tones of his 70's vocal. Something I would never expected to hear ever again. Most recent thing he's done that reminds me of his old style singing was Lost In Crowds from Rupi. Looking forward to this. The higher-pitched aggressive vocal style is great to hear on record again, but of course it becomes a concern when thinking about the live shows. My guess is Ryan will eventually sing those parts in the upper registers.
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