| | Full Review | Ratings (63) |
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| 4.0 excellent | Alabaster Jones | June 22nd 16 |
It's not quite a tale of two halves for Fire! Orchestra, but it is certainly an organized and nuanced effort by the ensemble that is pretty evenly split, right down the middle of the album. What I mean by that is, during the first half of the album, that is, the first two and a half tracks, the album flows much like a free jazz album should: all over. There's even some noisy experimentation with electronics on "Part 3". Of course, this is enriched and enjoyable free jazz as per usual from the group, but the second half really shows a different side of them. The last half of "Part 3" is heavily reminiscent of Fire!'s She Sleeps, She Sleeps, and the last two tracks are arguably the most conventional, structured pieces the group has ever penned, really taking less of a free jazz approach and more of an experimental big band approach. Needless to say, this goes over well enough, with the sound nonetheless being fraught with intricacies and beauty. In all, it's another worthwhile outing from the ensemble.
2 Bumps | Bump |
| 3.8 excellent | Erwann S. STAFF | March 6th 20 |
Now that's some nice experimental big band stuff, with gorgeous female voices and tha free jazz approach. It's just so full. I'd say this works less well overall than Arrival, mainly because the obtuse moments are not as engaging, and also because the album is more conventional in its structure. The tracks are very distinctive (there the bombastic one fusing vocal jazz with free jazz, the more conventional jazz fusion piece, the one slowly rising, the big band one, etc.) and are not as free-flowing as on their subsequent record. However, the chaos displayed here is tightly controlled: it results an album that's both appealing and daunting, dissonant yet harmonic. An insane band, both in terms of jazz and avant-garde, two genres closely intertwined. Jazz has always been known as a genre that always pushes the boundaries, and Fire! Orchestra are not afraid of carrying the torch.
Bump |
| 5.0 classic | pabcel | January 9th 24 |
| 4.0 excellent | Oobaloo | April 24th 23 |
| 3.5 great | Zakusz | November 17th 21 |
| 3.5 great | gilly | April 1st 18 |
| 3.0 good | Pon EMERITUS | April 22nd 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | colo | February 10th 17 |
| 4.0 excellent | tyler | December 15th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Prole | October 31st 16 |
| 4.0 excellent | TwigTW | October 28th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Rail | July 9th 16 |
| 3.0 good | p4p | June 11th 16 |
| 3.5 great | Wolfe | June 4th 16 |
| 3.0 good | Jots EMERITUS | May 28th 16 |
| 4.5 superb | greg84 EMERITUS | May 14th 16 |
| 5.0 classic | loulou | May 11th 16 |
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