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Nordic Union - Second Coming


Stefan

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I don't get this notion that things have to be original and new to be considered worthy, and where predictably and staying true to a sound is frowned upon. If it's good it's good, even if the sound has been the same on 100 albums. I actually admire artists like Mårtensson and Axel Rudi Pell. They have found their sound and stick with it. 

Erik Mårtensson is a tune penning Boy Wonder. He has his sound and I'm glad he's sticking with it. 

Because of Us is one hell of a song. So what if it's unoriginal.  

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8 hours ago, Mafisen said:

I don't get this notion that things have to be original and new to be considered worthy, and where predictably and staying true to a sound is frowned upon. If it's good it's good, even if the sound has been the same on 100 albums. I actually admire artists like Mårtensson and Axel Rudi Pell. They have found their sound and stick with it. 

Erik Mårtensson is a tune penning Boy Wonder. He has his sound and I'm glad he's sticking with it. 

Because of Us is one hell of a song. So what if it's unoriginal.  

Could not agree more!

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On 10/9/2018 at 2:30 PM, Mafisen said:

I don't get this notion that things have to be original and new to be considered worthy, and where predictably and staying true to a sound is frowned upon. If it's good it's good, even if the sound has been the same on 100 albums. I actually admire artists like Mårtensson and Axel Rudi Pell. They have found their sound and stick with it. 

Erik Mårtensson is a tune penning Boy Wonder. He has his sound and I'm glad he's sticking with it. 

Because of Us is one hell of a song. So what if it's unoriginal.  

I don't disagree but it's a matter of degrees: to stay with your sound is OK, but there has to be some innovation because when your audience notice your songs are predictable means they are very similar, hence people will become tired or bored soon. On the other hand, if your innovation is too much that you leave your original sound completely, your fans will feel alienated and will retire their support to the band. The ideal point is to be near to the middle.

Martenson is in the side of little innovation, and certainly some of his tracks are becoming predictable as Glen said, which is not good. It's not yet a really serious problem but undeniable, IMO. Also the fact that Erik composes for several bands does this more apparent than with other artists.

By the way I qualified the debut of Nordic Union as my favorite album of 2016, so not precisely a hater. I like nearly all Erik does but I think it's time for him to evolve his sound a bit.

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

Got a chance to listen to this....Happy to report it's pretty awesome :)

Picks up where the last album left off.  My initial impression is this one might even be more solid top to bottom but will need more listens to see how it settles.  I just know the debut had a couple songs in the second half that I was a little lukewarm on....But almost feeling like this one gets stronger as it goes along.  I think it feels a little bit more varied this time too.

Really no surprises here though....Just more excellent melodic hard rock.  I freaking love this combination and hearing Ronnie sing these types of songs.  For me the best part of Pretty Maids is the more melodic stuff and this project highlights those types of songs.

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On 10/27/2018 at 6:37 AM, kourosofsteel3 said:

Can't stand the acoustic version of "Because Of Us". 

Safe/predictable/prefabricated is the new stuff.  Far inferior to the previous or any of Eclipse/Pretty Maids albums

Agree it's probably safe and it's predictable.....It's basically just more of the same from the first album IMO.  Martensson has a formula and he's sticking to it.  I for one like his formula and haven't really tired of it.  

I wouldn't say it's far inferior to the first album...pretty similar if you ask me.  Maybe the highlights from this aren't quite as strong as the highlights from the first but still a well put together melodic hard rock album.  Overall, I think I like the first half of the first album better than the first half of this.  But I think I like the second half of this better than the second half of the first.

Not sure it's fair to compare to Eclipse and PM as both of those bands have been around a long time and get much more attention by these guys than this side project.  For me personally though, this isn't far inferior to those at all....I like all of it :headbanger:

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Is Thomas Larsson playing lead guitar/solos on this album?

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Oh man, it's just one of those albums. These ones frustrate me the most, arguably. It's almost good enough that most the songs are keepers... just... but then it's one of those albums that comes on in your 2018 playlist and you sigh and just want it to be over. It's tricky, and not just these guys. I also quite like the Bugzy album (old recordings released this year) but it's just that borderline music. All the songs are good, but I'm just never really in the mood to listen to them all. 

This NU album has all the return playability of a smack to the balls. Technically it's all okay and stuff. As with the debut, I think there's one good tune on it, and it's a ballad. 'New Life Begins,' I think it was. Not as good as that amazing ballad on the debut, but easily the highlight for me. The rest... just so average. A good, solid average... but not appealing for repeated listens. :(

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The debut wasn't perfect imo, but contained several great songs. The best were, in no order -

Hypocrisy, 21 Guns, Go, Wide Awake, Falling and Every Heartbeat.

If there are 6 equally good songs on the new album, I will be pleased and that will be a pretty awesome playlist

 

 

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1 hour ago, Glen said:

The debut wasn't perfect imo, but contained several great songs. The best were, in no order -

Hypocrisy, 21 Guns, Go, Wide Awake, Falling and Every Heartbeat.

If there are 6 equally good songs on the new album, I will be pleased and that will be a pretty awesome playlist

 

 

True love for 'True Love Awaits You' awaits you, mate.

Maybe you'll get 'When Death Is Calling'. ;)

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1 hour ago, Glen said:

The debut wasn't perfect imo, but contained several great songs. The best were, in no order -

Hypocrisy, 21 Guns, Go, Wide Awake, Falling and Every Heartbeat.

If there are 6 equally good songs on the new album, I will be pleased and that will be a pretty awesome playlist

 

 

Those are most of my favs off the first album....

Not really feeling like my favorite songs off the new one are quite as strong as those songs.  I'd probably say New Life Begins, Because Of Us, Breathtaking and Outrun You are my early favorites.

I get where Geoff is coming from here though.  It is a little bit like everything is pretty good and listenable but nothing really stands out and overly grabs you.  By the same token though, nothing here I find myself disliking either.  It's still an enjoyable listen but not overly wowing me.     

I do think some of it has to do with the over-saturation of Martensson's style.  I mean, 5 years ago I probably would've thought this album was beyond awesome.  But now as we've had a couple new Eclipse albums, a Nordic Union album, a couple Pretty Maids albums, a recent W.e.t album....It sorta just becomes a bit safe/predictable.  Still good stuff though and I happen to dig Martensson's song crafting style so not a big deal to me.

At this point probably feeling like it'll fall in the 6-8 range on my top 10 for this year.    

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4 hours ago, tts42572 said:

Those are most of my favs off the first album....

Not really feeling like my favorite songs off the new one are quite as strong as those songs.  I'd probably say New Life Begins, Because Of Us, Breathtaking and Outrun You are my early favorites.

I get where Geoff is coming from here though.  It is a little bit like everything is pretty good and listenable but nothing really stands out and overly grabs you.  By the same token though, nothing here I find myself disliking either.  It's still an enjoyable listen but not overly wowing me.     

I do think some of it has to do with the over-saturation of Martensson's style.  I mean, 5 years ago I probably would've thought this album was beyond awesome.  But now as we've had a couple new Eclipse albums, a Nordic Union album, a couple Pretty Maids albums, a recent W.e.t album....It sorta just becomes a bit safe/predictable.  Still good stuff though and I happen to dig Martensson's song crafting style so not a big deal to me.

At this point probably feeling like it'll fall in the 6-8 range on my top 10 for this year.    

Falling is a GREAT song, and a top 3 song of that year. Go is my 2nd favorite off of the album, and the rest you listed are good.

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21 hours ago, mrbandwidth said:

True love for 'True Love Awaits You' awaits you, mate.

Maybe you'll get 'When Death Is Calling'. ;)

I honestly don't understand how this song wasn't everyone's favourite off the debut. If you put aside 'oh, but it's a whussy ballad' feelings, it's the only song that isn't just a generic by-the-numbers Martensson number. The only song with a bit of heart and soul and genuinely great melodies. Hooks to die for. And a different (and great) music track too. Oh well, obviously just me. ;)

Anyway, maybe not as many keepers on the new album as I first thought. I don't know what it is about this project. I was SO excited when I first heard the concept. Diehard fan of PM and in recent years Martensson too. What could go wrong?! In fact, the sky was the limit with how good this was going to be. 

But it's two albums now that just do nothing for me at all. There's just no life in these songs. For me it's arguably the weakest output from both of these guys, and it's a disaster that it's happening when they meet for this project. Just way too safe and uninspired for me. :(

 

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6 minutes ago, Glen said:

it's an ok ballad. I prefer every heartbeat tho. 

One of the few other good songs on the debut. ;)

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I honestly can't see how anyone can't  love Falling and Go ?

just 're listened. 2 killer melodic hard rock tracks. easily up there with the last 2 eclipse albums.

There are 3 or 4 songs on the debut which bore me tho. 

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'Falling' - intro is dime-a-dozen from Martensson. Verses nice. Chorus sounds like it was the first song Martensson ever wrote. Really, really basic hook and melody. Sorry doods, genuinely does nothing for me come chorus time. I'll pay the verses, though. They're nice, but the chorus is pretty stupid. IMO.

'Go' - probably as generic as Martensson ever sounds. Verses almost painful to listen to for their obviousness and lack of appeal, and the chorus is only okay at best. 

Would you honestly say these two songs compare favourably to any Eclipse or WET songs? For me, definitely not. Neither of these songs would make it onto albums from either of those two bands, hence it feels like all the leftovers end up on NU. :( Sorry hombre, I just think they're weak songs. 

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5 minutes ago, Y&TForever said:

I haven't seen a release date for this yet?  Anybody have any inside info?

it's leaked hence why people are discussing it.

I haven't heard it.

it's due out 9th Nov I think ??

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2 hours ago, Glen said:

I honestly can't see how anyone can't  love Falling and Go ?

just 're listened. 2 killer melodic hard rock tracks. easily up there with the last 2 eclipse albums.

There are 3 or 4 songs on the debut which bore me tho. 

I'm with you here :)

Falling was my favorite tune off the album....Followed by Every Heartbeat, Go, Wide Awake, Hypocrisy.  Every Heartbeat is pretty awesome and a great ballad.  I do think New Life Begins on the new album follows along with the same vibe.

I'd probably say True Love Awaits is my least favorite song on the album lol.  Just bores me and one I normally skip past.  Didn't really care much for the Other Side either.  Basically, I got a little lukewarm on the second half of the debut outside of Falling and Go.

With the new album, I'm not sure I'm feeling any stand out tracks like I did with say Falling from the first album.  As I said above, New Life Begins is a solid ballad.  Breathtaking is a pretty good mid-tempo number.  Outrun You has an interesting arrangement that I like.  Final War sounds like a heavy PM tune.  Rocks Still Rolling I find myself kinda liking as it has a little different vibe.   

I can understand the safe and formulatic comments on the new one though as it pretty much is.  Not sure much really stands out but it's still pretty good and listenable and nothing I'm really getting the urge to skip.  By the same token though, not sure I'd take more than 3-4 songs to my "best of" USB playlist that I have in my car.  By comparison, I just put 10 songs from the new Midnite City on that playlist.

Still some decent melodic hard rock though.

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