Harem Scarem - Change The World

[AlphaMale]

Interested in hearing what Geoff, Glen and Karpetass think of this.

[whiplash1972]

This one was waiting on me when I got home... just got done spinning it for the first time, and I gotta say I quite like it.

Probably on par with United, but not as good as Thirteen; we'll see if my opinion changes after repeat spins.

As of right now though, a big thumbs up! 

[KarpetRydOFunk]

1 hour ago, whiplash1972 said:

This one was waiting on me when I got home... just got done spinning it for the first time, and I gotta say I quite like it.

Probably on par with United, but not as good as Thirteen; we'll see if my opinion changes after repeat spins.

As of right now though, a big thumbs up! 

Qué?

You think Thirteen is better than United??

[KarpetRydOFunk]

On 3/5/2020 at 5:28 PM, AlphaMale said:

Change The World            8/10
Aftershock                 9.5/10    
Searching For Meaning       8/10
The Death Of Me            9.5/10
Mother Of Invention        9.5/10
No Man's Land               9/10   
In The Unknown             8.5/10
Riot In My Head             8/10
No Me Without You          9.5/10
Fire & Gasoline            8.5/10
Swallowed By The Machine    8/10

87%

What did you rate United?

[Crazysam]

I gave this a spin last night.  Initially I think it is a step down from United.  While the typical HS hooks are there, they didn't seem as instant.  I would compare it style wise to Thirteen, but I believe this one is more consistent from start to finish.  In the end I think it is a good release, just not as many stand out tracks as my favorite albums from the guys.          

Edited March 7, 2020 by Crazysam

[AlphaMale]

13 hours ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

What did you rate United?

AWESOME:

 

My first spin ratings:

 

United 8.5/10
Here Today Gone Tomorrow 9.25/10
Gravity 8.5/10
Sinking Ship 9/10
One Of Life's Mysteries 9.5/10
No Regrets 8/10
Bite The Bullet 9.5/10
Things I Know 9/10
The Sky Is Falling 8.75/10
Heaven And Earth 8.5/10
Indestructible 8.25/10

 

TOTAL: 88%

[AlphaMale]

My scores for Thirteen:

Garden Of Eden          8/10

Live It                 7/10

Early Warning Signs   8.5/10

The Midnight Hours    9.5/10

Whatever It Takes     9.5/10

Saints And Sinners    9.5/10

All I Need              9/10

Troubled Times        8.5/10

Never Say Never       8.5/10

Stardust              9.5/10

 

Score: 87.5%

[AlphaMale]

So if you're keeping score:

Thirteen rated 87.5%

United rated 88% (which seems low to me considering how good it is)

Change The World rated 87%

Damn consistent band!

Edited March 7, 2020 by AlphaMale

[AlphaMale]

I tell ya, listening to Thirteen again and I just love Troubled Times And Never Say Never. I mean they are hidden at the back end of the album. Whatever It Takes is probably my favorite track. Stardust would be my second favorite. I initially really loved The Midnight Hours and Early Warning Signs the most. Still great songs but that back end of Thirteen as awesome.

[AlphaMale]

I have been spinning the last 3 discs constantly.

I surely love these guys!!!

[CureTheSane]

Ok. so I've listened to it once.
Expectations were low because of the HEAT let down, as well as a bit of criticism here.
So overall, I loved it.
For me it shits all over HEAT in most ways. Changes of tempo, production, hooks, melody, song order, etc.
Harry's vocals can be a bit samey in that he doesn't vary his sound much, which is ok, if the music fits, and here it does.
Also less heavy than some of their recent stuff, which I think addsa lot to the songs each being a little more differentsounding and varied.

Not going to compare to otehr albums more than that but on first listen I REALLY enjoyed pretty much every song, which is pretty rare for me.

Either all or most of them will be keepers, or repeated listens will make some songs a bit boring and mundane.
Time will tell, but so far so good.

[Geoff]

Gave this a quick spin tonight and it sounds solid. Sadly I still struggle with the HS production/mix and it seems an eternal struggle. The overall mix, especially the drums, just doesn't sound great to me. 

As Dave said above, it's HS by the numbers, but as he noted that's much better than most bands. Sounds very samey this time around, but I'm sure that'll change when I get familiar with it all. Looking forward to repeated listens but sounds solid. 

[CureTheSane]

2 hours ago, Geoff said:

Gave this a quick spin tonight and it sounds solid. Sadly I still struggle with the HS production/mix and it seems an eternal struggle. The overall mix, especially the drums, just doesn't sound great to me. 

As Dave said above, it's HS by the numbers, but as he noted that's much better than most bands. Sounds very samey this time around, but I'm sure that'll change when I get familiar with it all. Looking forward to repeated listens but sounds solid. 

Werird, my opinion was pretty much the opposite of that (samey and production)
Sometimes it really just depends on the mood you're in on first listen.
Even subsequent listens - I was listening to Alchemy today earlier on, and was really digging everything. Listened again tonight and it was all a bit meh. (although I had already moved the best songs to a save folder, so it was only 'the rest' I was listening to)

[Glen]

2 hours ago, Geoff said:

Gave this a quick spin tonight and it sounds solid. Sadly I still struggle with the HS production/mix and it seems an eternal struggle. The overall mix, especially the drums, just doesn't sound great to me. 

As Dave said above, it's HS by the numbers, but as he noted that's much better than most bands. Sounds very samey this time around, but I'm sure that'll change when I get familiar with it all. Looking forward to repeated listens but sounds solid. 

and yet the Confess sounds great PMSL  

[Geoff]

44 minutes ago, Glen said:

and yet the Confess sounds great PMSL  

Yeah, much prefer Confess, sound-wise. Of course I like Hess, but at times I wouldn't mind him a bit deeper in this mix.

[Glen]

7 minutes ago, Geoff said:

Yeah, much prefer Confess, sound-wise. Of course I like Hess, but at times I wouldn't mind him a bit deeper in this mix.

the mind boggles

[Eric3]

First time listening to this and I'm a wee bit disappointed. This is middle of the road modern Harem Scarem to me. Hope it grows.

[AlphaMale]

On 3/6/2020 at 9:29 PM, zacharyamelie said:

I may be in the minority but this release isn’t doing anything for me. Love “Death Of Me” and “Aftershock” is solid. I’m a huge HS fan and Unity was easily their best in 15 years....but this release won’t change my world. 

When did they release an album called "Unity"? 

Edited March 10, 2020 by AlphaMale

[KarpetRydOFunk]

2 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

When did they release an album called "Unity"? 

Hey, don't mock my francophone friend. English is hard. ;}

[Stefan]

9 minutes ago, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Hey, don't mock my francophone friend. English is hard. ;}

 

No shit...

[zacharyamelie]

On 3/10/2020 at 3:46 PM, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Hey, don't mock my francophone friend. English is hard. ;}

I have a BA in English Litt...blame my phone for autocorrecting it wrong. But my opinion still hasn’t changed....”United” was miles better. 

[KarpetRydOFunk]

1 hour ago, zacharyamelie said:

I have a BA in English Litt...blame my phone for autocorrecting it wrong. But my opinion still hasn’t changed....”United” was miles better. 

I think it's akin to Voice of Reason following Mood Swings. United was a modern Mood Swings. I didn't actually expect Change the World to be as good, but I was hopeful. It's still a great album, though. 

[whiplash1972]

On 3/7/2020 at 12:55 AM, KarpetRydOFunk said:

Qué?

You think Thirteen is better than United??

Yes, not a huge difference between the two, I just like Thirteen (my album of the year in 2014) a bit better than United (my number 5 for 2017). Both are GREAT releases though.

[CureTheSane]

OK, so I've heard this probably 8 - 10 times now and have a pretty good feel for it.|

Here is my track by track.
I will be including the whole album from start to finish in my Best Of folder, and that is VERY rare.
I knew it from the start with this one, could instantly tell that every song was quality.
This is a huge effort from the band, and in time will for sure be looked back on as one of their best albums.
I already see it that way, and will be hard to top this year.

I often wonder if albums suffer a bit when they don't have a few crappy songs to make the rest really stand out and smack you in the face.
I think the reason so many here aren't massive fans of this album is because all of the songs are great, and their greatness blends into each other. Took me about 4 listens to start to detect the stand outs, and even then, the others didn't really lessen at all.

Anyway, I don't do the ratings system popular here, so here is what I think...

Change The World - great opener. Something about this song says 'welcome' A bit repetative with the chorus, but in a good way.

Aftershock - initially the first track that stood out to me. As happens sometimes, upon more listens, otehrs overtook it, but it's still an excellent song. The vocals here sometimes remind me a lot of Lou Gramm

Searching For Meaning - this is the first real monster for me. Love it.

The Death Of Me - A bit icky, but I'm never a fan of the way bands do what they do in this song, with the line 'Death of Me' without music as a bridge back into the verse. Problem is the rest of the song more than makes up for that.

Mother Of Invention - first ballad. I'm a firm believer in the need for ballads to break up the tempo of an album. Regardless of the quality, they create a more complete package. This is also a great song.

No Man's Land - if I was to bypass one song off this album, this would be the one. ie: it's the weakest on the album, but surrounded by lesser songs would be a clear stand out, so that's not saying much

In The Unknown - amother monster.

Riot In My Head - this song remonds me of Bad City a fair bit. Naturally I love it also.

No Me Without You - second ballad. it's hard to write a really crappy ballad for me. I like most of them. Can't really do I STill Love You by Kiss for some reason, but overall they are pretty easy to listen to and I enjoy them.

Fire & Gasoline - another monster. Definately one of my favorites

Swallowed By The Machine - Another excellent song, great closer

[heavyharmonies]

I've only given the album one listen thus far, but nothing really "grabbed" me. I need to give it several listens to see if any of the songs grow on me.