I hate book to film adaptations. Almost all of them. They leave very little to the imagination, and they pretty much never align with how I imagine them, the characters, the mood the events. They sometimes make big scenes of insignificant bits, leave out crucial parts altogether, and sometimes change bits, or worse, the tone. There are only two that I can stomach, thay haven't completely shat the bed.
Books to musical soundtracks, that's quite different though. Leaves space for imagination, and for me to fill in the gaps myself. Yes it can maybe sway the tone one way or another, but generally, lets me interpret it how I want to see it, and take my own experience from it, rather than digesting and regurgitating it back to me like the birds do.
That's what I love about this album. I once spoke of how with Scott Hutch's lyrics, I feel I can literally See what he is describing, be it a tiny helpless person in the arch of the church between a thumb and a forefinger, a cross section of a suburban home with all-knowing smiling skulls below the patio, or two bodies under a duvet. And this album has the same effect on me, although through the music rather than that words.
After the brief background narrative intro, once that music kicks in, I feel I can actually See the public of Earth, blissfully going about their daily lives. People dropping kids off at school, reading papers on busses, washing last night's dishes, and when that drum and panpipes kick in, large crowds crossing streets, goung to stadia to watch sports competitions, all completely unaware of the long planned upcoming mass of luminous gas soon to be hurtling towards them. All to the rhythm and melody of the track.
I could go through this song by song, but it would be one long read, and I think I've made my point. It is an album that I find not only musically interesting, but visually moving.
Felt like that when I first heard it, felt like that this time round. I can't now for the life of me remember which I heard first Wakeman or this. Both were maybe a decade after they came out, and I partly think Journey to the Centre was my first one. I remember thinking there was too much dialogue in this one in comparison, and the singing was unnecessary, but this time round, it didn't bother me and I think there is less of it than I built. I feel the same with the Gritterman, whish there was a version of the album without the narrative, the songs do enough themselves imo. But it is there, I have learned to accept it, and come ths first of December, I will be sticking it on like I do every year.
Interesting take on the lack of doom by Belfry, I can see that a bit, never seemed to really notice before. I loved the idea that you could just sit down to something, listen to it beginning to end, with no tv, and let yourself imagine it all unfolding. And I also felt that in the type of alien invasion environment communication would be disrupted anyway, with only low tech radio available to sit and listen to updates on, so the type of setting. I remember when the Tom Cruise film came out, I was quite excited about it, and equally disappointed, and reverted back to the album after it. Which was probably the last time I heard it.
There is a bit of nostalgia here, sure. But it still has mostly the same effect on me, I still enjoy it, and my imagination still does leaps listening to it. Which deserves a 9 from me.
Books to musical soundtracks, that's quite different though. Leaves space for imagination, and for me to fill in the gaps myself. Yes it can maybe sway the tone one way or another, but generally, lets me interpret it how I want to see it, and take my own experience from it, rather than digesting and regurgitating it back to me like the birds do.
That's what I love about this album. I once spoke of how with Scott Hutch's lyrics, I feel I can literally See what he is describing, be it a tiny helpless person in the arch of the church between a thumb and a forefinger, a cross section of a suburban home with all-knowing smiling skulls below the patio, or two bodies under a duvet. And this album has the same effect on me, although through the music rather than that words.
After the brief background narrative intro, once that music kicks in, I feel I can actually See the public of Earth, blissfully going about their daily lives. People dropping kids off at school, reading papers on busses, washing last night's dishes, and when that drum and panpipes kick in, large crowds crossing streets, goung to stadia to watch sports competitions, all completely unaware of the long planned upcoming mass of luminous gas soon to be hurtling towards them. All to the rhythm and melody of the track.
I could go through this song by song, but it would be one long read, and I think I've made my point. It is an album that I find not only musically interesting, but visually moving.
Felt like that when I first heard it, felt like that this time round. I can't now for the life of me remember which I heard first Wakeman or this. Both were maybe a decade after they came out, and I partly think Journey to the Centre was my first one. I remember thinking there was too much dialogue in this one in comparison, and the singing was unnecessary, but this time round, it didn't bother me and I think there is less of it than I built. I feel the same with the Gritterman, whish there was a version of the album without the narrative, the songs do enough themselves imo. But it is there, I have learned to accept it, and come ths first of December, I will be sticking it on like I do every year.
Interesting take on the lack of doom by Belfry, I can see that a bit, never seemed to really notice before. I loved the idea that you could just sit down to something, listen to it beginning to end, with no tv, and let yourself imagine it all unfolding. And I also felt that in the type of alien invasion environment communication would be disrupted anyway, with only low tech radio available to sit and listen to updates on, so the type of setting. I remember when the Tom Cruise film came out, I was quite excited about it, and equally disappointed, and reverted back to the album after it. Which was probably the last time I heard it.
There is a bit of nostalgia here, sure. But it still has mostly the same effect on me, I still enjoy it, and my imagination still does leaps listening to it. Which deserves a 9 from me.