Now on Facebook

After a looooong time of thinking, i finally decided to join facebook and see what the craze is all about. Look me up if you know me.

Just 10 minutes into my profile editing, i tried to change my display name. Lo and behold! Due to Facebook's active filtering system of name changing, it wouldn't accept the name 'KC' because it "has too many capital letters". wow

Album Review: Dream Theater - Black Clouds and Silver Linings

Ok, another Dream Theater album is out. I'll keep this review short:

There is a 3-disc edition of this album which consists of (1) Main album, (2) Covers, and (3) Instrumental Versions of the Main Album. I'll focus this review on the main album and some of the instrumental versions.

Track Listing:

1. A Nightmare to Remember

2. A Rite of Passage

3. Wither

4. The Shattered Fortress

X. Restraint

XI. Receive

XII. Responsible

5. The Best of Times

6. The Count of Tuscany

First of all, congratulations James LaBrie! This is probably his best voice since Scenes From A Memory. His voice is back, and although not as rough as the Awake album, it's definitely better than the past 3 albums. Now before the next part, i would like everyone to know that i am a big fan of Jordan Rudess and he is my main influence. One thing that bothers me especially in this latest DT record is that he relies too much on feedback effects on his solos. I miss the Kurzweil days and the straight forward phat signature JR solo with just enough feedback effects. I find his Korg lead sound too "synthesized" in the sense that it already lacks body and thickness. The Kurzweil lead, although older, is still much superior to me.

On to the review..

The first track, A Nightmare to Remember, is my favorite song in the album. It is also one of the heaviest. Kick ass riff and the realistic goth voices that Rudess demonstrated on the last NAMM show. The melodic middle part is very pleasing to the ears. Also, the instrumental version of this song is the best among the instrumentals.

Next up is the single, A Rite Of Passage. The main riff of this song reminds me of a Razorback tune. The highlight for me is the instrumental part. Great riffs and solos from Petrucci and Rudess. Rudess also plays his iPhone solo in the last part of the keyboard solo. Great shit.

Wither, is on the melodic side. The song is good, nothing outstanding, but good enough.

The Shattered Fortress is the last of Portnoy's AA suite that started in the 6 Degrees album. It was good to hear the memorable riffs of the previous songs again, but the song for me was too structured that way and it lacked transitions between parts. Since they put together different riffs from different songs, i feel it was too rushed just cramming all those great riffs into one song. The song picks up well however when the vocals starts, then some good solos. The soft melodic part going into The Root Of All Evil riff is also my favorite.

The Best Of Times is Portnoy's tribute to his late father. The song is great in a melodic sense. Great string sections from Rudess and a melodic solo from Petrucci.

Lastly, The Count of Tuscany. Great intro! One of their best intros for me. Too bad they didn't go back to it the rest of the song. Now if you would notice i do not have any comments for the rest of the song. Well, the song is great, but i wouldn't consider it a standout.

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All in all, this album is a good one, better than Systematic Chaos and Octavaruim, although these 2 albums have their moments as well. But this is definitely one of their better albums

Album Review: Porcupine Tree - The Incident

Porcupine Tree's latest album, The Incident, is now out!

Their latest offering is an epic concept album with the first half dedicated entirely to the title track. The second half comprises 4 songs. This album is probably PT's heaviest work to date. I also hear influences from Steven Wilson's solo album Insurgentes.

Disc 1: The Incident

I. "Occam's Razor"
II. "The Blind House"
III. "Great Expectations"
IV. "Kneel and Disconnect"
V. "Drawing the Line"
VI. "The Incident"
VII. "Your Unpleasant Family"
VIII. "The Yellow Windows of the Evening Train"
IX. "Time Flies"
X. "Degree Zero of Liberty"
XI. "Octane Twisted"
XII. "The Séance"
XIII. "Circle of Manias"

XIV. "I Drive the Hearse"

Each song on the 14-song title track depicts true-to-life 'incidents' that Steven Wilson found interesting to write about. It starts off hard and brutal with Occam's Razor then fluidly continues to The Blind House with PT's trademark heavy riffs + relaxed stanzas combination. Next is the quick track Great Expectations with a great chorus, and is sort of a crossover for the next track, Kneel And Disconnect. This track continues the acoustic part of the previous track, then continues with atmospheric pads and dark pianos on Drawing The Line. This track doesn't really do much for me. The intro is nice but i find the chorus 'common' and it doesn't seem to fit the song. But this is compensated on one of the biggest tracks, The Incident. The intro reminds me of Sleep Together from Fear Of A Blank Planet. The eerie deep drone-like sequence gives me the goosebumps every time. Then there is the heavy riffs before going into the chorus. This is one of the best tracks in this album.

Next up is the short 'Your Unpleasant Family', which a lot of people could probably relate to. Yellow Windows of the Evening Train is Richard Barbieri's synth-time. Next is another strong track, Time Flies, with acoustic guitars and Steven Wilson's favorite 6/8 time signature. The song goes dark in the middle with an eerie guitar solo.

Degree Zero of Liberty goes back to the startling intro, then moves on to Octane Twisted. Soft intro then great heavy 5/4 riff at the middle. Next is a favorite combination of mine, The Seance then going into Circle Of Manias. I like the transition from soft calm to hard pounding riffs and drums. I like the blend that they use on the distorted guitars. Last is I Drive the Hearse. The title of this is song is really cool, and the song is as soft and slow as a hearse as well.

Disc 2

1. "Flicker"
2. "Bonnie The Cat"
3. "Black Dahlia"
4. "Remember Me Lover"

The second disc has 4 separate tracks. It starts with Flicker, which reminds me of Anesthetize. It has a good acoustic riff and great vocals by Steven Wilson. Next track is a personal favorite, Bonnie The Cat. Very catchy drum and bass riff and spoken word blending. Then there's the very heavy second part of the song and probably one of the heaviest riffs they ever made. Black Dahlia is credited to both Wilson and Barbieri which explains the atmospheric feel of the song. The last song is Remember Me Lover starts off slow but will leave you with an ending that will definitely make you remember.

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This album is definitely a masterpiece, and may take some time to grow on you if you're used to the straight forward In Absentia or Deadwing albums. You need to listen to it..now!

welcome to the world Lyle!

i would like to take this opportunity to congratulate Nor and Larla, and welcome my first nephew, Lyle..

congratulations and welcome to the world Lyle!

so, how is your life today?

ok, so i'll be making a recap on a previous post in this blog. Around a year ago, i posted a list of stuff that i wanted and needed. Let's see how i did so far..

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NEED

~> i really need to buy new pc parts. My pc is as slow as ever, and i am having a very hard time trying to keep up with the speed it offers. I need to buy a new motherboard, processor, ram, and power supply. I can't work, record, and surf properly anymore. On top of that, i also want a laptop. Estimated overall cost: 10k ~> i have a new (old) pc, and it's working fine..i guess i can tag this as partially accomplished

~> i need a car. There is a very good offer in my hands, and i don't want to miss it. Yes it is cheaper to commute and most of the time even more practical, but there are times that i just... really...need...a car. Estimated overall cost: 180k ~> i am proud to tag this as accomplished. Never have i imagined i could get this within a year of this post

~> i need a D.I. (direct inject) box. I need this for recording and when playing live. Estimated overall cost: 1k ~> got this as a christmas gift. Accomplished

WANT

~> i want to buy the Korg Triton Studio that is currently on sale at Yupangco. In just a few months, the selling price went down almost 50%. Damn you Yupangco. A Korg workstation would be the perfect addition to my rig (which already consists of Roland and Yamaha boards). I need the workstation power that only Korg can offer. The Triton Studio provides 1500+ programs and combinations. That is what i need especially with the growing complexity of MaHaSa's songs. Estimated overall cost: 63k ~> Pending. Since i had to spend a lot (see above), i couldn't afford this anymore. Maybe sometime in the future, as this isn't really a priority

~> i want to buy an mp3 player with a lot of storage capacity. My ancient player can hold only 1gb worth of songs. That was ok before, since i only used it during travel. Now, i also use it most of the day. So i really need more capacity, and a rechargeable power source (batteries would cost a lot with the frequency of use). I don't like iPods, so im looking at the Creative Zen. First of all, the sound quality is good. Secondly, compared to other brands, it has the largest storage capacity on its price range. Estimated overall cost: 7k ~> this is accomplished. I was able to get an 8GB mp3 player at half the price of an 8GB Creative Zen

~> i want to buy a mixer, so i can record faster and easier. I need it for my 'mini home studio'. Estimated overall cost: 6k ~> this is pending. I will need some moolah for this. For now, i have my D.I. box

~> i'm not really a photography enthusiast, but i would like to buy an SLR camera for cucu, who is interested in the art. Estimated overall cost: 30k ~> Pending. i'm still saving up for this

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wow, this is interesting. i can say i did pretty well so far..hard work pays off after all..