Yang's new album, "Rejoice!," is released tomorrow, but Steve pulled the trigger a day early (at least - I just noticed). I'll probably wait for the CD, as it's on its way. The first track (available for all to sample) sounds very good! Actually, it looks like the first 6 tracks are free to sample.
I've had the CD for a little over a week. I've spun it three times, and I hate to say it, but I'm pretty disappointed. I absolutely love Yang's first three albums. Designed for Disaster added vocals on a few tracks, and while I didn't love that, it didn't kill the album for me, and it still felt largely like a Yang record.
This new one is totally different. It sounds more like the two or three post Fear Draws Misfortune Cheer-Accident albums. Much more artsy pop rock that downplays the heaviness and the interlocking guitars in favor of lots of vocal music. Also, in addition to Carla's vocals, several songs have male vocals (I'm not sure whose) but they are very dodgy. The guy is simply not a good singer, and it makes little sense to have used him when Carla was available. On the last spin I gave this record, I had to shut it off. It just sounded very samey, dull, and started to be annoying to my ears.
I really hate to say this about a band I loved and was basically auto-buy, but I fear this one is flat out not for me. I plan to let it sit for a while and try again later, but I'm not optimistic. I'd encourage long time Yang fans to give it a spin before buying. If you like it, great, but it's very different from their previous work, and lacks the elements that drew me to the band.
Bill
I am listening to it now for the first time, halfway through. I am enjoying it so far. The (female) vocal sound good and there is still a lot of great interplay between the two guitars. Sure its different, but for me still very intersting.
I need to put in more listening time to record than the last. I like Carla’s voice, but I loved the singer on Designed for disaster. But, I can do without the male vocals. Overall, the disc will require more attention while listening. I still love the band.Originally Posted by Sputnik
How many tracks have the male vocalist singing lead? Love Carla's singing but not digging his.
Ian
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I can't recall exactly. It's like two or three that he sings alone, and I think he sings one with Carla. He's not all over the album vocally, but it's definitely a presence. BTW, I think it's the guitarist Laurent James who is singing.
Bill
My CD arrived yesterday, and I listened to it last night. It sounded great to me! Several tracks really stood out as pretty cool and exciting. None of the vocals bothered me, but I was paying a lot more attention to the guitars, keys, and excellent rhythm section. It’s pretty Zeuhlish. I’ll give it a second listen today.
This album its growing on me. After a couple of spins I think its excellent. Worthy addition to an excellent run of albums.
Track 3 - Concretion is excellent! It sounds like late-'70s-era Rush playing Chopin's Funeral March (when Geddy takes the lead; the bass on this is massive and sounds like Geddy). This track is all instrumental, BTW. This is a great album, lots of cool stuff - still learning it.
There are sounds that sound like violin and trumpet, but neither of those instruments are listed. Don't know if someone's using a bow on their guitar, or if it's synths, or what.
Carla almost does a bit of Space Whispering! At least it reminds me of Gilli Smyth.
Last edited by JKL2000; 08-14-2024 at 12:27 AM.
Thanks for posting this as it kicked me to actually listen to the sample tracks instead of buying it site unheard.
Based on those six available tracks, I'm definitely leaning your way here. Definitely has the feel of a different band altogether. The guitars, the vocal prominence & 'song' mentality, the general sound & overall vibe, are pretty different (and where applicable inferior) than what Yang has done before. (And I would say what I've heard from L’Epée before, but I'm definitely no expert on his career.) Even the instrumental track is more like competent modern so called capital p prog than what Yang can do. Also, is the drummer the same from the last album? Not super impressed by the rhythmic structure here, but that could definitely be the material more than anything else.
Definitely gives me pause for a purchase. I will probably eventually get it as I have all their others but the rush has ceased.
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I don't really have a problem with it; in fact it sounds pretty good to me. No, it's not shockingly original. Yes, it sounds like quite a few other prog guitar bands - most notably post-Discipline Crimson, also SGM on a couple tracks, plus early Genesis and Gentle Giant in a few passages. But it seems to be more about musical craftsmanship than stone originality, and on that it scores high: The melodies and chord progressions have interesting twists, the structures unfold nicely, the vocals range from excellent (Carla) to acceptably workmanlike (Laurent), and the lyrics are decent for being written in a foreign language. And a lot of the time, it lives up to its inspirations: Ferdinand & Co. have created music as good as the bands they were clearly listening to.
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