Eric3

It seems everyone loves this project but only the debut truly blew me away. Definitely agree with you, hopefully this isn't just a polished group of Martensson demos that were lying around.

Eh, this is pretty vanilla to me. I can only handle this project in small doses because Hitchcock over-sings EVERYTHING. Tremendous vocalist obviously but his voice is hit-or-miss with this genre of music.

Also, if I want Survivor, I'll just listen to Survivor.

Oof, that production is not good.

blink-182, definitely.

The nostalgia factor is too great for me to overcome. 

First impression:

Not their best, but not their worst. I normally don't enjoy Lionetti vocal tracks but the last one is pretty cool. I'm sure I'll enjoy this one more as it grows on me, if for no other reason than Safsund singing a mediocre song into a good one (lyrics on "If You Don't Know Me" are pretty awful).

On 8/7/2020 at 3:17 PM, Glen said:

WoA is over so I'll take this very gratefully. 

ummmmmmm WHAT

OK, listened to this album a few times now and I think I prefer the songs on the debut, but the production of this one. Is that fair? I agree with those who say Lions loses some momentum halfway through.

Of course The Defiants is better, that's a pretty high bar 

Kids is my personal favorite. It's a very sad album for me but there's a personal connection there and I don't mind the lack of saxophone. I just love the concept, though the accompanying artwork probably has a lot to do with it as well.

Monsters is great, though. I expected to be put off by all the distorted vocals, but I wasn't. This band really does pull off the "mono no aware" theme unlike anyone else, it's so beautiful!

Seems like they stuck with the same gritty approach to production but it sounds a lot better than the debut. I'm digging this one!

Oh WORD? Where the hell did this come from?! Great stuff!

One of those bands you know EXACTLY what you're getting from, basically every time.

I wasn't expecting the chorus for "I Am Alive" to be that catchy, though.

I liked her "Sleepwalking" album but haven't gotten a chance to listen to this  yet. It's on my list!

This is another good song she was recently featured on:

Stacy not on the setlist 

On 6/30/2020 at 10:45 AM, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Where have you been? 

There are already a couple threads dedicated to him. 

The more the merrier 

So for some reason I had no idea, until today, that there were synthwave/retrowave fans here. I love the genre to bits and wanted to share one of my favorite artists, Timecop1983.

Lovely production. Nice and smooth and chill.

WE HAVE RETROWAVE FANS HERE???

WOW, I feel like a huge dumbass for not discovering this section of the forum earlier...

I fucking love this band. Absolutely cannot get enough of them. They were one of the first synthwave artists I discovered and I love their melancholic take on nostalgia and the "good old days." I am HEAVILY anticipating the new album!

3 hours ago, Glen said:

all their albums are great. This is no exception.

The first 3 or 4 songs are good but from track 5 it is absolutely stellar.

top job. 

First 3 albums are the best imo but they don't have a weak link in their discography. Among modern AOR bands with the same tenure they're certainty up at the top.

Work of Art.

Vega (maybe; still not sold on their newest one)

Who else?

35 minutes ago, Glen said:

better than 90% of stuff this year imo

Low bar, but yes.

Listening to the album now and...yeah, this is pretty dire. The production sucks obviously but the songwriting just isn't good at all. It's a flat-out boring album. When I think "House of Lords" I think huge, epic songs and there are none of them here. Major letdown.

Oh, and that production - how is this still happening in 2020? It's not like this is a new band or an indie release either. I'm flummoxed.

Well, "undeniably vast" is definitely one way to describe his work.

I only really like about a third of the songs they included and that's in their final production. I couldn't be less interested in this release.

Horrible artwork but surprisingly good song! I think I'm looking forward to this one!

I agree, there's something missing.

Keeping this only AOR/melodic rock oriented, otherwise it'd be far too difficult.

1. The Defiants - S/T
2. Issa - Crossfire
3. Vega - Stereo Messiah
4. Treat - Coup de Grace
5. Find Me - Wings of Love
6. Hess - Living In Yesterday
7. Work of Art - In Progress
8. First Signal - S/T
9. Eclipse - Bleed & Scream
10. Toby Hitchcock - Mercury's Down