The Album Review Club - End of Round #9 Break (page 1904)

Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
An enjoyable first listen to V while wrapping up a Friday at the office with Old Engine Oil, Ghost Talk, and Maelstrom really standing out and grabbing me upon first listen. And those horns - wow! Need a few more spins.
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I think what really defines this album for me, beyond the tracks all being instrumentals, is how well the sax, horns, drums, and guitars all work well together to complement each other. I really like the vibe and feel of this.

Some images and notes that came to mind in hearing each one:

Old Engine Oil - sounds like the backdrop to a car chase through the city, tight turns, high suspense. Grabs you on first listen and enjoyable many later on how well it moves. Still my favorite of the album.

The Enchanter - really enjoyed the organ and pipes in this one to complement the horn section.

Spider Web, Pt. 1 - more synths, and then the horns come in to define this song. It was needing something, so More Cowbell was brought in to help in the beat on this one. The sax later on gets to shine here and I'm guessing the spider is enjoying its web.

Ghost Talk - enjoy the funky sound of this one a lot. The guitars coming in really set the tone on this one.

Arcane Rambler - nice build up to the trumpet highlight with a fast paced beat, guitar highlight later on gives it that "rambling sound" per the title.

Maelstrom - pretty cool eerie opening, strong horns and complementary guitars add a lot to this one.

Valley of the Damned - slow opening, but really builds at the end with the drums, then horns and guitars driving this home.

A very enjoyable introduction to this band. An 8/10 for me, and I'll be listening to more of theirs, especially their latest Frontier's Edge 2023 EP.
 
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Black&White&BlueMoon Town said:
I think what really defines this album for me, beyond the tracks all being instrumentals, is how well the sax, horns, drums, and guitars all work well together to complement each other. I really like the vibe and feel of this.

Some images and notes that came to mind in hearing each one:

Old Engine Oil - sounds like the backdrop to a car chase through the city, tight turns, high suspense. Grabs you on first listen and it enjoyable many later on how well it moves. Still my favorite of the album.

The Enchanter - really enjoyed the organ and pipes in this one to complement the horn section.

Spider Web, Pt. 1 - more synths, and then the horns come in to define this song. It was needing something, so More Cowbell was brought in to help in the beat on this one. The sax later on gets to shine here and I'm guessing the spider enjoying its web.

Ghost Talk - enjoy the funky sound of this one a lot. The guitars coming in really set the tone on this one.

Arcane Rambler - nice build up to the trumpet highlight with a fast paced beat, guitar highlight later on gives it that "rambling sound" per the title.

Maelstrom - pretty cool eerie opening, strong horns and complementary guitars add a lot to this one.

Valley of the Damned - slow opening, but really builds at the end with the drums, then horns and guitars driving this home.

A very enjoyable introduction to this band. An 8/10 for me, and I'll be listening to more of theirs, especially their latest Frontier's Edge 2023 EP.
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You have pretty much picked out what are the favourite songs for me on this one. The enchanter, the last minute or so of it, the pain in it is so full on. Valley of the damned, a real build of doom. The rest, as you say enjoyable just for the rhythm and instrumental overlaps.

I find their subsequent album Long In the Tooth really good too, I think that and this was really their peak, for me. At least in terms of really nailing a mood, rather than level of performance or quality etc.
 
V – The Budos Band

Never heard of these guys but this album has made quite an impression. It’s rare I listen to instrumental-only albums, but on the evidence of this listen, I should do it more often.

“Old Engine Oil” kicks off with a Zeppelinesque riff reminiscent of “Whole Lotta Love”, but they make it their own with a brilliant combination of guitars, big brass and some terrific clattering drums.

After a few similar sounding tracks in which brass is king, on "Ghost Talk", the bass at the start and guitars make a welcome change, giving this track a different feel. Sounds like one of the Rush instrumentals off the Snakes & Arrows album. The mix of all the instruments on this track is better than the previous three.

"Arcane Rambler" reminds me of “Vehicle” by the Ides of March – which is a great complement by the way.

A few weeks ago, we talked about Richie Blackmore’s epic eastern-influenced guitar sound. Well on "Veil of Shadows", we get to hear an epic eastern-influenced trumpet sound. There’s also a nice Hammond break which gives way to more brass.

A minor quibble is that many of the tracks seem to blend into one, and it can be hard to distinguish one from another based on a handful of plays. But we can all recall famous instrumentals, whether they be classical pieces or film and TV themes, and after years of hearing them, can quite easily distinguish one from another. I think for instrumentals, even more than songs, repeat listens are necessary to make these distinctions.

I was considering an 8 for this because it was a bold choice by @Coatigan, but whilst I really enjoyed the tracks I mentioned above, the rest felt a bit average in comparison, so whilst there were no clunkers, 7/10 seems fair.
 
A bold choice and my first listen to an full lp of instrumental songs.
I liked them all but found it hard to listen to them all in one sitting.
Hope that makes sense.
Still going to give this a 7 but would probably listen to a couple at a time and then go on to something else.
Will try further lps though are they all instrumental.
 
As a rule I wouldn't listen to instrumental albums, nothing against them but when it comes to music without words it's usually classical music that I put on. As long as it hasn't got any singing on it, ironically.

There are a couple of album sin my collections that are mostly instrumental, maybe three out of ten tracks with vocals but those handful of tracks seem to make the difference to me for reasons I can't really explain.

So, I would probably never have heard this if I hadn't been directed to it by this thread. The beauty of it, this thread (you may not be thanking me in this way when my next pick comes up in a few days).

I thoroughly enjoyed listening to this album and as has been said it would make a great sound track although I'm not quite sure what to. I didn't find a great deal of variety but there were some great hooks and tunes, favourite being the Enchanter.

The thing is though, would I listen to it again? I'm not sure, there's still this feeling of "what is this album for" and maybe it's an unfair question, after all what is any album for apart from what you personally get from it. The classical music I listen to is often but not always of a slower tempo, this is more robust, fr want of a better word but even so if I want robust then I'm turning to Beethoven's ninth or seventh.

Quibbles aside and even knowing I'm unlikely to explore further this was a refreshingly different pick and gets a 7.
 
RobMCFC said:
V – The Budos Band

Never heard of these guys but this album has made quite an impression. It’s rare I listen to instrumental-only albums, but on the evidence of this listen, I should do it more often.

“Old Engine Oil” kicks off with a Zeppelinesque riff reminiscent of “Whole Lotta Love”, but they make it their own with a brilliant combination of guitars, big brass and some terrific clattering drums.

After a few similar sounding tracks in which brass is king, on "Ghost Talk", the bass at the start and guitars make a welcome change, giving this track a different feel. Sounds like one of the Rush instrumentals off the Snakes & Arrows album. The mix of all the instruments on this track is better than the previous three.

"Arcane Rambler" reminds me of “Vehicle” by the Ides of March – which is a great complement by the way.

A few weeks ago, we talked about Richie Blackmore’s epic eastern-influenced guitar sound. Well on "Veil of Shadows", we get to hear an epic eastern-influenced trumpet sound. There’s also a nice Hammond break which gives way to more brass.

A minor quibble is that many of the tracks seem to blend into one, and it can be hard to distinguish one from another based on a handful of plays. But we can all recall famous instrumentals, whether they be classical pieces or film and TV themes, and after years of hearing them, can quite easily distinguish one from another. I think for instrumentals, even more than songs, repeat listens are necessary to make these distinctions.

I was considering an 8 for this because it was a bold choice by @Coatigan, but whilst I really enjoyed the tracks I mentioned above, the rest felt a bit average in comparison, so whilst there were no clunkers, 7/10 seems fair.
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This review probably saved me a lot of effort. Certainly your description of “Old engine Oil” matches by views. Reminds me of CCS.

You mentioned a 60’s soundtrack vibe earlier and there’s definitely a lovely retro 60’s / 70’s soundtrack vibe. John Barry came to mind at times.

A nice surprise this album as I’d never heard of them before. I’m going 7/10.
 
Have to say this is probably the first album nomination I find myself agreeing with pretty much every single thing said about it so far, including the weaknesses. Wonder if the lack of vocals and lyrics removes a layer of potential variety of opinion there. Or whether it is just a simpler album all round.
 
So gave this a couple of listens over the weekend and then had a couple of hours quiet at work last night so was able to put it on in the office. So a couple of work colleagues were subjected to the album review club. They like me were quirte positive and complimentary about the tracks and actually said thay they may seek out some of their other stuff.
Old Engine Oil
Exactly like @RobMCFC said, I heard "Whole Lotta Love" in there, an urgency a car chase. great start to the album and perhaps my fave on there
The Enchanter
Another great track to keepo the album going. A bit mean n moody and I had the idea that it could almost have been by Artic Monkeys as it almost felt ripe for Alex to be putting some vocals over the tracks. In fact I had that feel on a few of the tracks here.
Spider Web
LOL, did pick up that cowbell and loved the sax on this one
Peak Of Eternal Night
A sense of doom and a bit of hammond in there. Not the best on the album
Ghost Talk
Lovely cowbell again and bass and picking it up after the last one
Arcane Rambler
Builds on the last track again, getting better as the track goes on. I got a feeling of happiness or joy from their playing it. The horns certainly make this album.
Maelstrom
Ok but actually left me a bit disappointed from the title. It built from the start but expected it to really kick off and so left me a little disappointed...none the lkess still good track
Veil Of Shadows
Slower start but again building and with the organ a "Doors" feel to it
Rumble From The Void
Not sure what the point of that little interlude was
Valley Of The Damned
Another grower and a slight eastern feel.
Another brand new one for me and I am glad to have been enlightened. Little snippet or sounds of other bands or albums but also a sound of their own. As I read from somewhere else online... a Tarantino soundtrack waiting to be used.
Will certainly get more listens and its a 7.5 from the Derry jury
 
The reviews above are are fair representation of my thoughts. Never heard of these guys before, but more than happy to check out some of their other stuff. The only negative were some of the brass sections which were a bit over the top at times. On the positive side I loved the ‘heavy’ feel of the whole album it seems ‘doom rock Afro-soul big band with a '70s touch’ is for me!
Happy to give this 8/10 - if the singer would sing a bit louder so we could hear then it may have been a 9 :)
 
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