Harem Scarem - Change The World

[Glen]

today is the first time I've properly sat down and listened to this.

thumbs up from me. 

Harry over sings a bit but that's nothing new

pretty strong throughout and I really liked the 2 ballads 

[Ponen]

4 hours ago, heavyharmonies said:

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.

It's very clear. The fact that it didn't 'grab' you one bit,although just one listen, indicates that the album won't do much for you. You might end up giving this album 'a solid effort' but nothing more. 

[heavyharmonies]

True, for the most part. There have been cases though, where initial "meh" reactions have gone on to wind up in the honorable mentions of my annual "best of" list, and initial "decent" or "pretty good" reactions made it into the top 5.

The initial "grab" is a good indicator of appeal, but not necessarily long-term appeal or replayability.

The danger, especially with artists that have a large discography, is their material becoming "samey" or resulting in fatigue. Nothing is inherently new or "fresh"... but it's a double-edged sword: deviate too far from the norm or expected style, especially to cater to current in-vogue styles and run the risk of alienating longtime fans (see the advent of grunge in the mid-1990s... I still loathe Dokken's Dysfunctional, Warrant's Belly To Belly and Extreme's Waiting for the Punchline, etc.).

Albums tend to fall into four categories for me:

1. Initial strong grab and sustain it through the year. They consistently get play time in my rotation.

2. Initial strong grab but the novelty wears off. Lack of replayability or high fatigue factor.

3. Initial ambivalence or negative reaction but improve over time... "the grower".

4. Initial ambivalence and they stay there or get worse.

Some albums get penalized just due to the calendar. Early-year releases have to maintain their impact for a much longer period of time than late-year releases. A November or December release that falls into category #2 will fare better in annual appraisal than one that was released earlier in the year. It's the nature of the beast.

Sometimes I have to let an album sit unplayed for a few months and come back to it. That's why leading into the end of the year awards I try to go back and re-listen to ALL of the releases from that year (at least those that got a 3/5 or better from me initially; if it's a 0-2.5, it's likely shit and not worth the effort) just to see if it appeals to me differently at that time.

But yes, at it's core you're correct. An album that has some sort of immediate appeal has a better chance of faring well in the long term than an album that has to "earn" its way upwards.

 

[Ponen]

6 hours ago, heavyharmonies said:

Some albums get penalized just due to the calendar. Early-year releases have to maintain their impact for a much longer period of time than late-year releases. A November or December release that falls into category #2 will fare better in annual appraisal than one that was released earlier in the year. It's the nature of the beast.

 

 

This is very true. It does cross my mind sometimes when am making the best of lists. For example - you instantly fall in love with a Nov/Dec release and it makes its way up to your final top 3 or top 5 spot. Then as months go by you realize you don't love the melodies as much as you used to in the beginning and find yourself going back to albums that were released earlier in the year which eventually ended up way below than the Nov Dec release album in the best of list. It happens every year with one or two albums/songs. But as you mentioned, it is what it is. 

To play it fair, we can have our lists out sometime in March but again, don't think no one has time to keep it on hold for that long.

[lecko]

I have mixed response to HS discography. United was my best album of that year, not really liked Thirteen. So expectations were high for this one. Afer first list to Change the world I was very dissapointed, liked just a song or 2. But I still come back to it every second day or so and slowly it is starting to grow on me. I doubt it will reach United status but Top 10 is very likely.

[CureTheSane]

For me Change The World is an absolute killer album and easily in their top few ever.

[Geoff]

1    .    Change the World     -      solid opener, but doesn't do much for me. Simple and repetitive. 
2    .    Aftershock     -   better than the opener but doesn't stack up too well to repeated spins. 
3    .    Searching for Meaning     -     kind of like the opener. A little annoying in it's simplicity and repetitiveness. But okay.
4    .    The Death of Me     -      Song four and the album commences. HS as I know them best - good, catchy stuff.
5    .    Mother of Invention     -       Great ballad and a nice pair of gems. 
6    .    No Man's Land     -       and ouch. Filler territory arrives. I can do without this track and the name is fitting. 
7    .    In the Unknown     -        another cool tune - I like this. 
8    .    Riot in My Head     -      basic, simple and just not really into it. Second filler for me. 
9    .    No Me Without You     -      simple is the order of the day but this is a good one. I dig this tune. 
10    .    Fire & Gasoline     -      sadly, for me a couple of fillers close out the album. Still not a bad tune, but not great at all. 
11    .    Swallowed by the Machine     -      weak closer that I can't get into.

Overall, it's decent but not my favourite HS album or close to it. A couple of great tunes, but a few that are just making up numbers too. I always enjoy HS and this is no exception but I'm not floored by this album. 

[zacharyamelie]

8 hours ago, Geoff said:

1    .    Change the World     -      solid opener, but doesn't do much for me. Simple and repetitive. 
2    .    Aftershock     -   better than the opener but doesn't stack up too well to repeated spins. 
3    .    Searching for Meaning     -     kind of like the opener. A little annoying in it's simplicity and repetitiveness. But okay.
4    .    The Death of Me     -      Song four and the album commences. HS as I know them best - good, catchy stuff.
5    .    Mother of Invention     -       Great ballad and a nice pair of gems. 
6    .    No Man's Land     -       and ouch. Filler territory arrives. I can do without this track and the name is fitting. 
7    .    In the Unknown     -        another cool tune - I like this. 
8    .    Riot in My Head     -      basic, simple and just not really into it. Second filler for me. 
9    .    No Me Without You     -      simple is the order of the day but this is a good one. I dig this tune. 
10    .    Fire & Gasoline     -      sadly, for me a couple of fillers close out the album. Still not a bad tune, but not great at all. 
11    .    Swallowed by the Machine     -      weak closer that I can't get into.

Overall, it's decent but not my favourite HS album or close to it. A couple of great tunes, but a few that are just making up numbers too. I always enjoy HS and this is no exception but I'm not floored by this album. 

Pretty much track by track my opinion. It’s a forgettable release....many better have already been released this year. 

[tts42572]

On 3/17/2020 at 9:26 AM, Geoff said:

1    .    Change the World     -      solid opener, but doesn't do much for me. Simple and repetitive. 
2    .    Aftershock     -   better than the opener but doesn't stack up too well to repeated spins. 
3    .    Searching for Meaning     -     kind of like the opener. A little annoying in it's simplicity and repetitiveness. But okay.
4    .    The Death of Me     -      Song four and the album commences. HS as I know them best - good, catchy stuff.
5    .    Mother of Invention     -       Great ballad and a nice pair of gems. 
6    .    No Man's Land     -       and ouch. Filler territory arrives. I can do without this track and the name is fitting. 
7    .    In the Unknown     -        another cool tune - I like this. 
8    .    Riot in My Head     -      basic, simple and just not really into it. Second filler for me. 
9    .    No Me Without You     -      simple is the order of the day but this is a good one. I dig this tune. 
10    .    Fire & Gasoline     -      sadly, for me a couple of fillers close out the album. Still not a bad tune, but not great at all. 
11    .    Swallowed by the Machine     -      weak closer that I can't get into.

Overall, it's decent but not my favourite HS album or close to it. A couple of great tunes, but a few that are just making up numbers too. I always enjoy HS and this is no exception but I'm not floored by this album. 

I find myself agreeing with you a lot lately....Not sure if that's a good or bad thing 

Agree on this release though.  Gave it a few spins and it just was doing nothing for me for whatever reason.  I gave the last album a lot of play but no desire to even purchase this one.  

There's only 2 or 3 tunes here I'll come back to.  Just kind of a lot of simple, fillerish stuff.

[AlphaMale]

Yeah, my initial buzz for a new HS album has worn off a bit.

Still a solid HS release but just doesn't have that monster songs like on United.

The album as a whole is just kinda boring. It didn't age well and hasn't even been out that long. 

Probably a few will make a compilation but a lot of fillers on this one unfortunately.

I initially rated this 87% but the high has worn off.

My new take:

Change The World            7/10
Aftershock                            8/10    
Searching For Meaning       8/10
The Death Of Me            8.5/10
Mother Of Invention        8.5/10
No Man's Land               7/10   
In The Unknown             7.5/10
Riot In My Head             6.5/10
No Me Without You         7.5/10
Fire & Gasoline            6.5/10
Swallowed By The Machine    6/10

74%

[AlphaMale]

The 2nd half of the album is fillerville. 

[CureTheSane]

Green  = Great or killer song
Blue = Good song
Orange = Average song
Red = Very average song or crappy song

 

[Glen]

harsh comments here. I'm liking it a lot. 

how is aftershock not classic scarem? you guys are listening to another album or what

[Ponen]

14 hours ago, AlphaMale said:

 

 

My new take:

Change The World            7/10
Aftershock                            8/10    
Searching For Meaning       8/10
The Death Of Me            8.5/10
Mother Of Invention        8.5/10
No Man's Land               7/10   
In The Unknown             7.5/10
Riot In My Head             6.5/10
No Me Without You         7.5/10
Fire & Gasoline            6.5/10
Swallowed By The Machine    6/10

74%

Yup that makes more sense.

[Glen]

30 minutes ago, Ponen said:

Yup that makes more sense.

does it??

imo 6-7.5 for those last 5 songs is absolute bollocks.....but hey to each their own

imo there have been 3 stand out albums this year so far and this is one of them 

[The Rocker]

2 hours ago, Glen said:

harsh comments here. I'm liking it a lot. 

how is aftershock not classic scarem? you guys are listening to another album or what

Aftershock is a great song! Classic HS

[Ponen]

16 minutes ago, Glen said:

does it??

imo 6-7.5 for those last 5 songs is absolute bollocks.....but hey to each their own

imo there have been 3 stand out albums this year so far and this is one of them 

Here's my take on the last 5.

In the unknown - 9

Riot in my head - 6

No me without you - 7.5

Fire & Gasoline - 7.5

Swallowed by the machine - 8

So yeah, I don't entirely agree with the above ratings for a couple of songs. Totally love 'In The Unknown'.

Yes I do agree with you that it's one of the best releases but considering only one two good ones have come out so far this year.

And I don't really like the drum sound. Can't really point out what it is but the snare just kinda sound loose. I prefer the snare sound on the new H.E.A.T album. And so glad that Vega has got it right this time. Their new single sounds awesome.

[Nightrain]

Spinning this twice and loved it a lot, definitely top 5 contenders

and I loved the second half, not sure why people not digging it but maybe it needs just one more spin to appreciate more

I think 'Change The World', 'No Man's Land', and 'No Me Without You' might be the weakest part here but I still rate them around 8 to 8.5 and the rest are enjoyable

[Geoff]

On 3/21/2020 at 3:02 AM, Ponen said:

Here's my take on the last 5.

In the unknown - 9

Riot in my head - 6

No me without you - 7.5

Fire & Gasoline - 7.5

Swallowed by the machine - 8

So yeah, I don't entirely agree with the above ratings for a couple of songs. Totally love 'In The Unknown'.

Yes I do agree with you that it's one of the best releases but considering only one two good ones have come out so far this year.

And I don't really like the drum sound. Can't really point out what it is but the snare just kinda sound loose. I prefer the snare sound on the new H.E.A.T album. And so glad that Vega has got it right this time. Their new single sounds awesome.

Yep, I've been saying that about HS drums on most albums since the 'Big Bang Theory' albums. Completely agree with you on that. Anyway, I rate the album pretty much smack on 75%. Stand by my thoughts above - some good stuff but a few misses too. 

 

[Glen]

only one filler for me.

no man's land.

 

[CureTheSane]

1 hour ago, Glen said:

only one filler for me.

no man's land.

 

Agree with that, but only in comparison to the songs around it.
Still made my best of folder with every other song.

[Ponen]

Ok

[Ponen]

Solid album.

[Grey]

On 3/9/2020 at 5:37 AM, 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. 

I have to agree. I think I spent as much time playing with the EQ as I did previewing the tracks.

The songs are good but audio quality sucks.

[Glen]

16 hours ago, Grey said:

I have to agree. I think I spent as much time playing with the EQ as I did previewing the tracks.

The songs are good but audio quality sucks.

depends what you're playing it on. I listen to nearly everything on my phone on Spotify and to be honest with melodic rock there is very little difference between releases.

now melodic rock vs chart is a different story.....that stuff walks all over our genre but then millions are probably pumped in