You Fail Me

You Fail Me

Track Listings

1. First Light

2. Last Light

3. Black Cloud

4. Drop Out

5. Hope Street

6. Heartless

7. You Fail Me

8. In Her Shadow

9. Eagles Become Vultures

10. Death King

11. In Her Blood

12. Hanging Moon

Tracks:

First Light
Last Light
Black Cloud
Drop Out
Hope Street
Heartless
You Fail Me
In Her Shadow
In Her Shadow
Death King
In Her Blood
Hanging Moon

Customer Reviews:

A little death, a little art.......2007-02-07

3 1/2

Brutally heavy band, with just enough artistic merit to warrant distinguishing from the legions of groups that scream their evil upon us in unconvincing manner. Converge still feel like a band beginning to explore new terrain, as the more wickedly unescapeable songs like the sonic prime evil exuded from the title track show. It is in the staggering simplicity that Converge feel the heaviest, churning black riffs on top of a proper death metal vocalist-one of the few that actually seems to justify the overdone approach to screaming with a snarling terror never falling into near-parody. The band seems promising, one of the few in the genre to watch for helping to transcend it's narrow confines.

Not that good.......2006-12-28

I read many opinions on this album and while we all know what opinions are like, I thought I would write my own.

I found this album very disappointing. It sounds very rushed and converge really needs two guitarists. There is a gem or two on this record but they could have done much better. Nobody wants to hear high pitchy whiney guitar chords over and over again. That stopped being artistic when slipknot overdid it. Sorta like when ashton kutcher started wearing his hat crooked on punk'd, but that's another matter. ....anyhow Jane Doe was amazing. When forever comes crashing was amazing. I heard the song plagues from no heros and that sounds much better. More so than 90% of You fail me at least. I really did try to give you fail me a chance since I paid money for it, but it is pretty much crap compared to all of their other records.

Different but still great........2006-09-04

Following up a masterpiece like Jane Doe is not an easy task, and on its follow-up You Fail Me, Converge seem to have realized that they had taken the intense side of their sound pretty much as far as it would go. So they did the wise thing - they shifted the focus of their music. Most immediately noticeable is that the volume level of You Fail Me is lowered significantly from the constant "10" of Jane Doe; in correlation to this Jacob Banner's vocals are much more guttural and human than the screeches he delivered before. Both of these are correlated to the new direction in Converge's music, a direction which focuses more on the compositions, textures and emotions that their sound can deliver, rather than just the pure intensity.

This change makes You Fail Me a hard album to judge. While other bands shifts in sound are generally a linear evolution, with Converge its more like they took one step back, and then another step in a totally different direction. You Fail Me is different enough that comparisons to earlier material are somewhat pointless, but they also have not totally reinvented their sound (see: Ulver). They did not take the intense sections of Jane Doe and juxtapose them with more introspective, emotional sections; the heavy parts on You Fail Me don't come close to the devastation reaped by Jane Doe. Also the hardcore/metalcore/punk (varying levels of all three can be found on the album, much like their previous work) sections still outnumber the more progressive sections; Converge are dabbling in the post-hardcore waters of Neurosis and Isis without fully submerging themselves.

Yet the album is not weak or a disappointment. Stuff like the quiet guitar intro "First Light", the breakdown at the end of "Last Light", the solemn and repetitive crescendo of the title track, and the acoustic song (!) "In Her Shadow" are all chilling in the amount of emotion and sincerity imbued in them. This sincerity is also what sets the heavy sections of You Fail Me above the cookie cutter metalcore bands (hell it even sets them above my other favourite metalcore bands like Mastodon and The Dillinger Escape Plan). While those bands are just going through the motions, Converge's music is truly heartfelt and inspired. In the end You Fail Me is You Fail Me and not another Jane Doe. You can decide for yourself if that is a good or a bad thing (I think its awesome!).

PS. The drumming is still technical as hell and there's still plenty of mathyness... if you were wondering. I'm still wondering how they put so much emotion into songs that change tempos every 30 seconds.

You need this album. Buy it. Now. Bought it yet? Why not. Buy it. Come on. Press 'add to cart'. .......2006-06-14

Without a doubt my favorite album of all time.
Insane, more than complex percussion patterns from a possessed man meet absolutely random and exquisite riffs.
Never had I heard drumming like this.
Tracks 2 through 6 bring me into a state of eternal bliss and joy.
Technical hardcore's finest hour goes by real fast.

One of the Best Heavy Albums Ever Recorded.......2006-05-11

First and foremost: Converge are not an accessible band. I had and hated their previous relase, Jane Doe, for two years before I was once again encouraged to listen to it by a friend. Even for veterans of hardcore/grind/thrash/death/doom/metal, Converge takes more than a few listens to get into. So, if these flowery reviews have inspired you to purchase this album, I would strongly encourage you to be patient, and to listen carefully to what you're hearing.

This album is tremendous. Converge have once again managed to stay ten steps ahead of the current hardcore and metal trends, which were in many ways started by them in the first place. This is my favorite Converge album, and has remained my favorite heavy album of all time since its release. It has the furious pace of all their previous work, as well as the awesome dirge of Doe; so fans of both elements are sure to be pleased. Guitarist Kurt Ballou has traded in the blurring, needly riffs for a chunkier, lower, chord-based heaviness (although the high end riffage is still present and lovely) in the wake of the departure of former Converge guitarist Aaron Dalbec, but you'll never miss them. Bassist Nate Newton carries on in much the same fashion as Doe, accenting the wonderful riffs and rhythms with a low, scratchy, abrasive tone that is one of the best I've heard in years - his work on the title track is absolutely incredible. Vocalist Jacob Bannon continues to deliver his trademark panther shriek, this time with a little less distortion, but still every bit as intense and energetic as Jane Doe and all previous releases. But the member who stands out most this time around is definitely Ben Koller on the drums. In every single song on the entire album, with the exception of In Her Shadow, Ben destroys his entire kit in the most beautiful way you will ever hear.

This entire album is top knotch, but there are a few parts that I think deserve special attention, especially if you aren't all that into Converge in the first place:

The entirety of Blackcloud. The drum progression during the verse parts will drop your jaw, and the many time changes in the breakdown will make you never want to play the drums again. If you think you're good at drums, never listen to this song.

The stampede breakdown of Dropout. One of the best moments on the album, and the coolest, most original breakdown on the cd.

Heartless. This song has several short buildups in it, but you'll want to rewind the final one over and over and over. Seriously incredible.

You Fail Me. This is the best sludge Converge has done. Jake's delivery in the first three words ("YOU FAIL ME") is sure to summon shivers from the deepest part of your spine. Listen carefully to this song. Every few measures something changes: either a new layer is added or an existing part is tweaked, and it just gets better and better. At the end of the song, you can hear Jake whispering "thinking we fail you, you fail yourself" under the yells and screams of Kurt and Nate. Epic.

These are just subtle moments of the cd that I think are often overlooked by listeners; the rest of the cd is brilliant too. All these pretty reviews aren't just bullshit. This album is ridiculous in the best way possible. Go buy it!

Average customer rating:

Fine reissue of a classic set

Purcell: Theatre Music

Manufacturer: Decca
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Symphonies | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Chamber Music | Classical | Styles | Music

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The Decca Records Store | Specialty Stores | Music
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ASIN: B0001Y4JHA
Release Date: 2004-10-12

Customer Reviews:

Fine reissue of a classic set.......2006-05-24

Think about the stupidest, most formulaic Hollywood movies you can think of: cheesy action pictures, fluffy, unfunny comedies, big but stiff epics. Now imagine that one of the greatest living composers was working in Hollywood, turning out astonishing, hauntingly beautiful and stirring musical scores for these throwaway movies. That's what you get with this set: music Henry Purcell composed for some two dozen often utterly forgettable plays (trust me--I've read a number of them!) Occasionally, when he teams up with a playwright worthy of his stature, such as John Dryden, Aphra Behn, or William Congreve, the results are even better, but for the most part you can enjoy the music here without knowing anything about the original plays.

This set originally appeared as separate LPs in the 70s and 80s, and has been long out of print. That's a pity, since Purcell spent a good deal of his short professional life in the theatre, either writing the incidental music contained on these CDs, or the music for his larger works, the semi-operas (King Arthur, The Fairy Queen, and the like). Almost all of these works are enjoyable gems; certainly, they represent a pinnacle of English 17th century music. Purcell had a genius for spinning musical gold out of the most leaden lyrics (check out his Odes and Welcome Songs on Hyperion if you don't believe me), and he does the same with the song texts in these plays.

Hogwood and the AAM offer clean, listenable performances, and the sound on these old analog discs has been cleaned up and brightened--although they were pretty good, even in the late 70s. As with most Hogwood, emotional extremes are kept to a minimum, so the "otherworldly" nature of late 17th century music, so often emphasised in more recent Baroque performances, doesn't come across here. It would be interesting to see what a group like The King's Consort would do with this music, but this set fills the major gap in the Purcell canon quite nicely.

My only beef with the reissue, as with many reissues, is that the liner notes are rather thin for a 6-cd set--the lyrics to the songs, for example, are especially missed. Still, it's a worthwhile set, and a must for fans of Purcell, English Baroque music, or anyone who just wants to experience a taste of the last days of the Restoration stage.

Average customer rating:

Fantastic!!!!!!

Sweet Seraphic Fire

Manufacturer: New World Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000AA4L8W
Release Date: 2005-08-02

Tracks:

New Canaan (Oliver Holden, 1793)
Maryland (William Billings, 1778)
Bethlehem (William Billings, 1778)
Lynn (Oliver Holden, 1793)
Funeral Hymn (Oliver Holden, 1792)
An Anthem for Easter (William Billings, 1787/1795)
Walpole (Abraham Wood, 1786)
Beauty (Jacob French, 1789)
Happiness (Jacob French, 1793)
Woburn (Jacob Kimball, 1793)
Montague (Timothy Swan, 1801)
Newport (Daniel Read, 1785)
Hatfield (Thomas Baird, 1800)
Attention (Asahel Benham [?], 1790)
Crucifixion (M. Kyes, 1798)
Mechias (James Lyon, 1774)
St. Paul's (Supply Belcher, 1794)
Transition (Supply Belcher, 1794)
Jubilant (Supply Belcher, 1794)
The Lilly (Supply Belcher, 1794)
Buckfield (Abraham Maxim, 1802)
Pennsylvania (Nehemiah Shumway, 1793)
Sounding Joy (J. P. Storm, 1795 )
Redemption (Jeremiah Ingalls, 1805)
Consolation (Lucius Chapin, c. 1812)
Liberty-Hall (Lucius Chapin, 1813)
Babe of Bethlehem (Southern Harmony, 1835)
Convoy (M. L. Swan, 1867)
Hallelujah New (Roland Hutchinson, 1996)
Nativity (Bruce Randall, 1990)
Cortona (M. R. Truelsen, 1996)
Great Divide (Stephen Marini, 1998)
Arinello (Dennis O'Brien, 1997)
Ev'ry String Awake (Glen Wright, 1996)
Ten Thousand Charms (Hal Kunkel, 1996)

Product Description

Sweet Seraphic Fire brings together two unique bodies of American sacred song: choral compositions from the New England singing-school tradition and the most popular Evangelical Protestant hymn texts in historic American use. In the late eighteenth century the New England singing-school movement produced America's first great sacred-music style, employing several genres of unaccompanied four-part choral compositions with the melody in the lead (tenor) part. The enormous popularity of singing-school music also promoted a canon of hymn texts shared across America's competing Evangelical Protestant denominations. This recording contains neglected masterworks from the New England singing school that also helped to create the American hymn canon. Marking a more recent turn in this process, we have also included some new settings of traditional Evangelical lyrics written by leaders in the revival of singing-school music that has blossomed in the Northeast since 1976. ! Selection of pieces for this recording was determined by correlating "The Norumbega Harmony"--our collection of one hundred six historic New England singing-school compositions and thirty contemporary works in traditional style--with a list of the three hundred most frequently printed hymn texts in America from 1737 to 1960. --Stephen Marini

Customer Reviews:

Fantastic!!!!!!.......2006-03-15

This is a REALLY cool album of shape-note singings, I particurlarly like EVERY STRING AWAKE and ANTHEM FOR EASTER.
Some of the songs are kind of dreary, (Hatfield) but all in all this is COOL!!!

Average customer rating:

Could be so much better
It's about time that this was put on CD
Don't waste the money
At last a complete recording of a Friml favorite

Rudolf Friml: The Vagabond King

Manufacturer: Albany Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Operettas | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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ASIN: B000777I6K
Release Date: 2005-01-25

Tracks:

The Vagabond King

Album Description

The 15th century poet Francois Villon, between scrapes with the law in Paris, wrote lyrics both poignant and bawdy. At the end of the 19th century, novelist R.H. Russell sentimentalized his career in a plot that borrowed the king-for-a-day motif, thus allowing Villon to defeat France's enemies and win the hand of an aristocratic lady, all in under 24 hours. Adapted as a play in 1901, by New York writer Justin McCarthy, If I Were King served as a star vehicle for E.H. Southern in a Broadway stage production. In 1923, Richard Rogers and Lorenz Hart were at the very start of their careers. They devised a musical version of the McCarthy play for a Manhattan girl's school and then looked for a more prestigious venue for their collaboration. Broadway backers turned down the young artists, but liked their idea, "borrowed" it from Rodgers and Hart and commissioned the more established Rudolf Friml to fashion a professional musical from the plot. Friml's Rose Marie was then enjoying great success in New York. Born in what is today the Czech Republic in 1897, Friml enrolled at age 14 in the Prague Conservatory (which was headed by Dvorak) and completed the six-year course in three years. He toured Europe and the United States as accompanist for violinist Jan Kubelik and made a piano debut in this country onstage at Carnegie Hall in 1904. Walter Damrosch and the New York Symphony premiered his Piano Concerto two seasons later, with the composer at the piano. Friml's true calling was as a composer of songs. In 1912, he was called in by Arthur Hammerstein to complete the music for a new work which Victor Herbert had abandoned, owing to a run-in with a temperamental soprano. The resulting operetta, The Firefly, was his first Broadway success, and would be followed by many others. Friml continued to live in America for much of the 20th century long after his sentimental musical style was considered old fashioned. As late as 1969, he was celebrated by Ogden Nash on the occasion of his 90th birthday in a couplet which ended: "I trust your conclusion and mine are similar: 'Twould be a happier world if it were Frimler."

Customer Reviews:

Could be so much better.......2007-07-04

I love "The Vagabond King", but not this versiom. The problem is the sound level ... I had to keep adjusting it and kept having trouble understanding the words.Is the problem the singers or the technicians? I'm not enough of an expert to say.

It's about time that this was put on CD.......2005-06-13

Of all the famous operettas produced in the 1920's, the one most neglected in recordings has been Rudolf Friml's "The Vagabond King", first produced in 1925. Only now is the complete work, dialogue and all, appearing on CD. For those unfamiliar with the music, the best known songs are "Only a Rose" and the stirring "Song of the Vagabonds", perhaps the most rousing "battle song" ever written for an operetta. The story is almost exactly the same as that of "If I Were King", the fondly remembered 1938 non-musical film which starred Ronald Colman as poet-adventurer-thief Francois Villon, who lived during the fifteenth century. Both film and operetta were based on the 1901 play "If I Were King", by Justin McCarthy.

We get the entire "Vagabond King" on this 2 CD set, which is a real bonus for anyone who wants to hear what a 1920's operetta actually sounded like in its original, unaltered version. But this brings me to the problem. I don't know why the Ohio Light Opera decided to do this on "The Vagabond King", when all of their other recordings (and I have three others) are so sonically excellent, but the volume on this CD has to be really cranked up for the listener to catch everything. The recording equipment for this live performance was apparently placed in such a way that there isn't enough treble, except at certain moments. At other times,as happens in some live recordings, the singers are too far away for the listener to catch all of their dialogue, and this operetta has a better story than most, being a faithful adaptation of a good non-musical play. Fortunately, a booklet with a libretto is included, but it is one thing to read the words and quite another to hear them performed.

The singing, though, is quite good, and excellent for what is supposed to be a semi-professional group. I have no idea if the orchestrations and vocal arrangements used are those that were used in the original 1925 production, but if the Ohio Light Opera followed their usual practice, those are most certainly the original arrangements.

It is a true pity that the company saw fit to revise their recording techniques for this operetta, and that is why I am subtracting one star, when I would have otherwise given it a 5-star rating. Operetta fans have long waited for a complete recording of "The Vagabond King", and since this one is not without merit, I am suggesting that you buy it. But be prepared to be fidgeting with the volume control on your CD player.

And as far as I can tell, the complete score of the show is included here. The previous reviewer may be confusing the additional songs written for the 1930 and the 1956 film versions of "The Vagabond King" with the songs used in the stage version. (The film versions used little of the original music.) Only the songs written for the stage version are used here.

But where are the usual Amazon audio clips?

Don't waste the money.......2005-04-15

This one is only for completists. The recording level is strangely low, so that only a strong audio system or listening indoors with headphones can give you a strong sound. This is especially problematic since the chorus is incomprehensible. The performers are conservatory types most of whom can't act, which makes it too bad that the producers for some reason record the dialogue along with the score. And -- that dialogue is what makes this a 2-CD set; this is by no means a full rendition of the score. There is clearly a lot of missing dance music and reprises; there is about half as much music as you get in, say, JAY's STUDENT PRINCE double-CD, and much less than on Encores' NEW MOON recording. This recording gives no notion of why THE VAGABOND KING was such a hit in its day, and most buyers will be better off waiting for someone else to really do the score proud.

At last a complete recording of a Friml favorite.......2005-02-26

May the Muse of Operetta shower blessings on the Ohio Light Opera for its seemingly endless stream of recordings of complete operettas, dialogue included (not always a Good Thing), as performed at the College of Wooster. Having enjoyed, some more than others, such rarely heard complete performances of Victor Herbert's "The Red Mill" and "Elaine," Gilbert and Sullivan's "Princess Ida" and "Utopia Ltd.," some Kalaman, some Messager, and so on, I am delighted to report that their latest, Rudolf Friml's "The Vagabond King," is among the best of the lot. It is on a double-CD set from Albany Records (TROY 738-39) and well worth the hearing.

For one thing, the tunes range from truly memorable to at least quite good: "Only a Rose," "Love for Sale," "Sons of Toil and Danger," "Love Me Tonight." The story is actually a pretty good one for an operetta, with just enough seriousness to make you care for these characters. The cast is game, with a virile sounding Francois Villon in Ted Christopher, who can handle both music and dialogue with an Alfred Drake dash.

If Brian Woods' King Louis sounds too much the stock stage villain (an older voice would have helped) without any real menace and if there is no real depth to the female roles, Julie Wright (Katherine) and Sandra Ross (Huguette), the music helps you forget that fact. Conductor Steven Byess does a good job with a small orchestra.

I begin to wonder if a chorus can be trained to sing so that we can actually understand the words without following the full text that is thoughtfully provided in all of these OLO sets. The same goes for sopranos at the higher registers. Granted these are taken from stage performances and not from a recording studio, but a little more attention to consonants within and at the end of words would help immensely.

Nevertheless, a complete recording of this Friml work is certainly a MUST for anyone who loves musical theatre. Ironic footnote: Rodgers & Hart had already adapted a play about Villon and wanted to create a Broadway version. The backers agreed and gave the job to Friml! Such is showbiz.

Average customer rating:

You Fail Me
Converge
Manufacturer: Sony
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

Hardcore | Hardcore & Punk | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

General | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Hard Rock & Metal | Imports | Stores | Music
ASIN: B0002J5482
Release Date: 2004-09-27

Tracks:

First Light
Last Light
Black Cloud
Drop Out
Hope Street
Heartless
You Fail Me
In Her Shadow
Eagles Become Vultures
Wolves At My Door
Death King
In Her Blood
Hanging Moon

Album Description

Japanese pressing of the punk-metal act's 2004 album includes one bonus track 'Wolves At My Door'.

Album Details

Japanese Release featuring a Bonus Track

"Limited Edition CD & DVD" Gutter Phenomenon [Explicit Content] + 30 minutes with Every Time I Die cut from the upcoming "Shit Happens" full length DVD release shot in 2005 / 2006

Average customer rating:

"Limited Edition CD & DVD" Gutter Phenomenon [Explicit Content] + 30 minutes with Every Time I Die cut from the upcoming "Shit Happens" full length DVD release shot in 2005 / 2006
Every Time I Die
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD
ASIN: B000JN7T3Y

Product Description

Track Listings 1. Apocalypse Now And Then 2. Kill The Music 3. Bored Stiff 4. Easy Tiger 5. Tusk And Temper 6. The New Black 7. Champing At The Bit 8. Gloom And How it Gets That Way 9. Guitared And Feathered 10. L'astronaut 11. Pretty Dirty

Music Info:

Music Info

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