Album Rating: 3.0

it's just so one dimensional [2]



Really, tried this again last night and it bored me to death for 65% of the time. It revolves around the same structures for most of it's run time (+ 1 hour), but won't lie here it has some good climaxes. The first one um We Flood is actually much more impactful than the final one, and Illuminate is the best song here. But Dash and Blast is a dull opener for a post rock album, it takes a lot of time to actually get somewhere and when it does (towards the midst of the end section) you get these cheesy group vocals that lack hard in the impact and emotion departments. And Song for Starly Beaches is the epithome of boredom and predictability here for me, it doesn't reach any pinnacle or climax, it doesn't go anywhere

Nice rating

Album Rating: 5.0

'predictability'



As it doesn't build much? I'm not really sure what you're getting at there

@MadGrinder
your problem is listen to a post rock album 10 times in one week

i dont like some of the production, and some of the drumming. but in terms of overall song progression and composition, it's pretty excellent.

Album Rating: 3.0

I don't see that excellence in the progression of their songs. I mean, their compositions are pretty great, especially in the last track Illuminate, they actually follow the standard post-rock formula introduced to the genre by Godspeed and Mogwai, but I mostly don't get a sense of epic buildings or well-achieved climaxes. With "predictability", I'm making reference to the times when you know they're going to raise the bar higher and they do. Bands like Godspeed build tension perfectly with dense and unpredictable climaxes, and when they come they hit you from out of nowhere only to fade out after 30 seconds or something. In Enjoy Eternal Bliss I feel like Yndi Halda don't have that notion of tension-building or atmosphere construction, they just raise the bar higher and higher in a predictable and formulaic way, then they hit their songs' climaxes and most of them don't hit me, they just drag because YH don't let them die, opposed to Godspeed's music, that always leaves me begging for more, and that makes for the tension building few bands put perfectly into practice.



I feel like it sort of is becoming clichê to compare other post-rock acts to bands like Godspeed, Mogwai or Sigur Rós, but they're kingpins of the genre for some reason and that reason is because they capture the genre's attributes and apply them perfeectly into their music, Mogwai being more heavy and hard-hitting, Sigur Rós being more slow, atmospheric and dense, as for Godspeed, they make such a mix out of both that it is impossible to achieve Godspeed's trademark sound.



Getting to the point here, the build-ups here sound pretty bland for me, the climaxes mostly drag (Dash and Blast's climax with the group vocals is cringe-worthy for me), and I just don't feel this album is that huge. It has it's pros, it's evident that the band manages their instruments pretty well, they certainly know how to play them and the ideas are here, also the main formula for post rock is pretty much here, it's just that it's applied in a predictable and harmless way.

Album Rating: 3.0

And @Pheromone, nice one, but I listened to this 5 times, I guess it's enough for me, I don't think I'm coming back to it, but one's gotta listen to an album a few times before having an accurate opinion about it, ain't that right mate?

"Totally with Avon. Won't rate this on my first listen, but I easily see this as a 4 or a 4.5... I dunno about 5 but yeah..."

lol

@Mad not especially. Post rock just isn't a genre for listening to the same album 5 times in a week and the fact that you complain about the ineffective crescendos despite praising them a few days back just seems silly.

Album Rating: 5.0

Fair enough Mad, but it's a shame you don't like this because it truly is one of the best post rock albums around, and that 4.3 average agrees with me. Maybe give it a rest and try again someday

Album Rating: 3.0

@Phero , I mean, I did quite enjoy this on first listen but I wasn't paying full attention to it on the first time. On latter listens I payed all my attention to it and noticed several flaws. It's an album that really looks well on the flesh but it's bones don't back up the body, you know? I totally see the misconception here, but yeah it's just what I said. But maybe I'll enjoy this someday and get past the predictability of this and maybe get thrilled at it, idk, for now I just don't get a lot from this.



@JS19 , I'll definately give it a rest and perhaps I'll try it again some time, who knows if my opinion will change at all.

you cant rate a postrock album based on the most recent listening experience you had. too varied depending on mood and situation. if I rated evpatoria reports album after listening to it on a morning drive, it'd be a 1.5, then if I listened to it on the train in the middle of the night that same day, i'd wind up changing it to a 4.5. this isn't music for every mood and if you listen to it with your critics hat on every time then you're missing the point. you should be getting lost in music like this... forgetting time as it passes and drifting off into daydreams etc., not sitting there with a pen and paper and grading every movement of the song. that's where ratings and discussions like on here can be a detriment to experience. your first 10 experiences of this album should have been spent in an intimate way with the music, not documenting your judgements at every turn. the fact your opinion changed so quicky is a testament to what im saying.

"I mean, I did quite enjoy this on first listen but I wasn't paying full attention to it on the first time. On latter listens I payed all my attention to it and noticed several flaws"

"But maybe I'll enjoy this someday and get past the predictability "

youre doing it wrong. stop trying to predict where the song is going and just let it go where it wants. if you enjoyed it the first time then listen to it in that same context again. because you feel like you HAVE to give it a rating on sputnik, you're consciously and deliberately degrading your experience with this album to meet an end-goal of giving it a score, by listening to it in a too focused and unnatural way.

Album Rating: 4.5

"maybe I'll enjoy this someday and get past the predictability"



just wondering that if you constantly listen to this, the climaxes will eventually sound predictable. you always know what's there to come. give it a listen when you feel like it, don't force yourself to listen to it so that the album will feel fresh again

albums are at their best when you haven't yet mapped out where it's all going so every time you listen to it you always get a little bit lost and forget what track you're on. at least for me.

Album Rating: 4.5

agreed 100% with minty

Album Rating: 3.0

Minty, tbh you nailed it perfectly and you're 110% right. I should listen to this when I feel like it, that's what music is all about; emotional perception of things, not just critical perception. Thank you, thank you so much, man.

Album Rating: 2.0

how to listen to music 101

Album Rating: 2.0

me too, i had no idea before

sarcasm not necessary, post wasnt intended for you