Degreed - s/t

[zacharyamelie]

The lead singer looks so greasy, with his sweaty hair and chewing gum. Lucky for them image means very little in Melodic Rock.

 

Great song!

[Glen]

This soon will be dead and forgotten...

 

err no it won't.

 

Listening through this morning at least half the album songs are gems.........that proportion works for me

[tts42572]

Just listened to it once through so can't say too much yet....Pretty good.

 

Starts out strong for me with the first 5 tracks....4 of which we've heard already. The only "new" song is Tomorrow which is sort of a mid tempo ballad....pretty solid song. The album dips a bit with the piano ballad as that song kinda drags a little. I wish they would've added in some guitars and drums at some point in the song to give it a little more life.

 

Evil Eye picks it back up pretty well and War seems to rock. I like Lay Me Down a lot...starts slow and builds sorta like Shakedown does....great tune.

 

Nature of The Beast is another heavy song and Silence is decent enough to close the album.

 

Album maybe feels a tiny bit short as I think it's around 39-40 minutes....But probably a better length than their last album which was a bit too long.

 

Again, tough to say too much after one listen but have a feeling I'm going to like this a lot. I'm not sure yet if I'll like it more or less than the last one...Need more listens. These guys are just consistently good though.

[tts42572]

Just wanted to check back on this thread with more detailed thoughts after having been through this album probably 10 times now. It's a shame the album hasn't seemed to have gotten more press and reviews....If I google search for reviews I find like one or two...Anyways....

 

1. Sugar - Like this better than The Scam on the last album...Good opener that's grown on me with more listens (9.0)

 

2. Shakedown - Fantastic song...Really like how it starts slow with keys and continually builds. Probably my favorite song this year (10)

 

3. Save Me - Had been released already; another great tune (9.5)

 

4. Tomorrow - Sort of a mid-tempo ballad, little different for these guys....pretty commercial song that works well (9 - 9.5)

 

5. Animal - Melodic rocker that has quickly grown on me....like it a lot (9.5)

 

6. If Love Is A Game - Piano ballad; appreciate the effort but doesn't do much for me. Great vocal but needed guitar/drums in the middle IMO (7.5)

 

7. Evil Eye - Solid melodic rocker; typical Degreed IMO that gets the album back on track (9)

 

8. War! - One of the heavier songs on the album....Rocks pretty good but not really grabbing me like some of the other songs (8.0-8.5)

 

9. Lay Me Down - Ballad type song that starts slow again with keys but this time picks up nicely. Great song that is highlight of 2nd half IMO (10)

 

10. Nature of The Beast - Another heavy rocker but so far this one isn't doing much for me and has been forgettable (7.5)

 

11. Silence - Pretty good ending song....Sort of a commercial, key-filled mid paced rocker...Lots of Degreed elements going on (8.0-8.5)

 

That comes to right around a 89 for me using this method. Basically for me, the first half of the album is pretty strong, the ballad is a bit of a snoozer and then the second half is a little bit up and down.

 

The album might not be quite as heavy overall as the last album but I do think this album is a bit more varied than the last one which I like. I also like the length of this one better as the last album was just a couple songs too long and it lost my attention by the end.

 

Good stuff though. I feel like I had high expectations for this release and am pretty happy with it. Again, think it's too bad that these guys seem to fly so far under the radar. I saw a recent thread over on MR.com when the album launched and there are like 4 replies on it. I know it's not officially out in the USA until September 1st but don't think the US following is that huge anyways. These guys deserve better.

[Glen]

I'd say your rating variation is about right for individual tracks but a little higher than I'd go....albeit shakedown and Lay Me Down are great and close to 10.

 

Very good album and very consistent band.

[Geoff]

I been through it a few times too, and thoroughly enjoying it. The piano ballad is the weakest song and sounds a little strained at times. It's one of those songs that definitely would have sounded better with the band... but it's a good tune. Overall, it's another very consistently high quality album from these guys. Will rate well.

[Gotthardline]

I'm slightly disappointed in that I feel the best two tracks by far were the songs released early , shakedown and Save me , having said that those two are so good that it would be hard to live up to them

It is a very good album though from a very good band

[Invisible_man]

good MR track!

 

Animal (Official Video)

 

[Mr.AOR]

Lovin' this album.

[Geoff]

Lovin' this album.

 

Yeah, me too. First four songs are absolutely top notch.

[Jez]

Stronger first half, but overall a really great album

[AlphaMale]

Pretty solid release. Picks up where the last left off. Will sit nicely in my year-end Top 10.

[zacharyamelie]

First 5 tracks are excellent as is Lay Me Down. The rest does little for me. A good release but I've heard better this year. Shakedown is still one of the best of 2017.

[Glen]

First 5 tracks are excellent as is Lay Me Down. The rest does little for me. A good release but I've heard better this year. Shakedown is still one of the best of 2017.

Pretty much where I'm at.

[Stefan]

Japanese bonus:

 

 

 

[Glen]

this band is so good. 

[Geoff]

18 hours ago, Stefan said:

Japanese bonus:

 

 

 

This is like someone just came to my doorstep and dropped off a small fistful of cash. 

This has been a pretty strong year for music and I've stated elsewhere my top three, but just outside of that, this album sits there in 4th spot against some excellent competition. But I absolutely love spinning this and it still has potential to leap positions where I re-rate my top releases. Such a great band. 

[Glen]

I like all the full electric songs but will always skip a piano ballad. pointless imo. 

[Jez]

Still loving this album

[AlphaMale]

Me too Jez! Killer!!

[Mr.AOR]

Killer indeed, top 5 for me...

[tts42572]

Yep...really like as well.

Only song I don't care for is the piano ballad...needed to pick up in the middle.  Just a boring tune.

Rest is great though and still feel like Shakedown is my favorite song this year.

[Stefan]

New video for 'Tomorrow'.

 

 

[Invisible_man]

gotta have that 'live video", nice ballad

[kourosofsteel3]

This band is probably my favorite discovery from this forum (still I don't have  a cemented opinion on Destine).

 

But what is this???

 

 

 

We're releasing the first single of our upcoming album on September 7:th through Gain / Sony Music Sweden!! 

 

Follow this link to pre-order your copy now -  https://degreed.lnk.to/FiPSz

There's a preview of the song when you click the link..