How to Measure a Planet?

How to Measure a Planet?

Editorial Reviews
Product Description
1999 and fifth album in 10 years from influential Dutch metal outfit featuring the breathtaking vocals of Anneke VanGiersbergen. 14 tracks. Their swirling sound will also appeal to fans of Pink Floyd, Cocteau Twins and Massive Attack! 1999 Century Media release.

Tracks:

Frail (You Might As Well Be Me)
Great Ocean Road
Rescue Me
My Electricity
Liberty Bell
Red Is A Slow Colour
The Big Sleep
Marooned
Travel

Tracks:

South American Ghost Ride
Illuminating
Locked Away
Probably Built In The Fifties
How To Measure A Planet?

Album Description

1999 and fifth album in 10 years from influential Dutch metal outfit featuring the breathtaking vocals of Anneke VanGiersbergen. 14 tracks. Their swirling sound will also appeal to fans of Pink Floyd, Cocteau Twins and Massive Attack! 1999 Century Media release.

Album Details

First Edition Comes with Limited Edition Bonus Disc.

Customer Reviews:

A measure of their genius.......2005-11-30

This is perhaps my favourite Gathering disc, although the crunchy, delicate _Mandylion_ remains a favourite. This the band in full on experimental mode, letting fly with dreamy synths, pseudo-techno beats, personal, insular acoustic tracks and, of course, Anneke's heavenly vocal range.
There is definitely a shift in tone from the _Mandylion_, _Nighttime Birds_ records to this one, a switch mainly manifested in a decrease in overall heaviness and the above mentioned increase in experimentalism. Over the course of two discs the band allow themselevs space to reach out in many directions, and it is surely a measure of their proficiency and the remarkable overall quality of their writing ability that most tracks are winners. 'Frail' and 'Rescue me' see the band run the emotional gammut, with shifting dynamics and heartfelt choruses. As always everything is very tatestfully done: there is very little in the way of excess or cheese and every player contributes well to produce an overall effect of clarity and unity, the songs being loosely linked by ideas of travel, motion and general change.
'Liberty Bell' is more high octane, verging on metal with intensity,'Travel' is epic and GORGEOUS, especially the emotive conclusion (Anneke!). Real delights lie on the second disc, with 'Probably bulit in the fifties' and 'Illuminating' among the best tracks here.
Recommended highly to open-minded listeners, this is probably not the place to start with the band: you cant go wrong with _Mandylion_ to begin. Nevertheless, this is a stunning piece of work that showcases just how much The Gathering are capable of.

layered masterpiece that takes many listens to appreciate .......2005-11-19

I discovered this band late. However after buying their albums after being exposed to this great band through "Souvenirs" I believe this is The Gathering's great work. However it takes many listens to begin to appreciate it.

On a basic level compared to other Gathering albums, the songwriting appears to be simple and the band appears to be holding back in the playing department never quite taking off into full "rock out" mode with raging guitars and double kick drum moments that graced their previous albums....However, the gathering apply the "less is more" approach with stunning results. The songs have space and openess compared to Mandylion and Nighttime Birds. But more importantly, the band finally learned how to make a album sound not based on trying to recreate the "live" feeling in the studio. The band and their producer and engineer succeeded because this thing is one of the best recorded albums I own. The sonics and textures on this thing are a marvel. I hear the band was influenced by Radiohead's "Ok Computer" when they recorded HTMAP (another album, if one remembers that took some time to figure out it was a masterpiece as well)

Sonics alone a great album doesn't make. This thing also has just mind blowing moving music similar to the scope of early 70's Floyd Albums. And on top of that, this album contains what I consider one of the greatest rock songs of all time, "Travel". A Requiem for Mozart of sorts and at nine minutes, a song that never becomes boring after several repeated listens.(quite a feat)

end
kdc

Progressive, Atmospheric, Innovative .......2005-06-17

The evolution of The Gathering since "mandylon" havent stoped amazing us , with every new album this band from Netherlands they improve their sound and concept in a so fascinating way that you can easily become an addict to Annekes voice an the musical structures that sorrounds her beautlfull and angelical voice (presence in live performances are equal).

How to Measure a Planet? is their unique double album to date and you can realize how this double space available is filled with many of their most charming pieces , just check out "Liberty bell", "great ocean road" , "marooned" and the experimental "probably build in the fifthies"

If you want to try one of the most experimental albums from The Gathering get this one, however every album since Annekes joined this band is awesome
HM

And the air - we all dare, to ride it somehow... .......2005-04-15

I am quite simply out of words to describe this. It's simply one of those albums that requires a few good listens, not just words to justify buying it. But I'll try my best to get to the point.

The Gathering really outdid theirselves with this 1998 release, their fifth studio album, and third with singer Anneke van Giersbergen (who contributed to Ayreon's Into the Electric Castle that same year). Not even their 2000 follow-up, If_Then_Else could compare. With this masterpiece, they took the sound they had, stretched it out a bit, used a more layered style of songwriting, and experimented with their instruments to make each piece stand out. The concept behind this 2-disc journey encompasses the theme of travel. Meaning we get songs about roads, maps, planets, planes and voyages through space.

Lyrically, the Gathering are at their peak, crafting atmospheric stanzas to create a relaxing mood. This album is a tad more uptempo than previous works, but the results are more than satisfying. Anneke sounds at her best, listen to her calm, low singing on "Frail", or her psychedelic wailing (if you can call it that) on the catchy-as-hell "Liberty Bell". The guitars sound great, and complement each song (especially the slower ones) quite well. Bass is not lost throughout production, and the drumming fits perfectly. One of the things I respect about the Gathering is that, although they are a symphonic band, they never let the keyboards dominate the music like so many others have.

Disc 1 kicks off with the appropriate opener, "Frail (You Might As Well Be Me)", a slow-tempo, moody track that can easily define the songwriting of HtMaP?. Next is the more relaxed-sounding "Great Ocean Road", a personal favorite - Anneke sounds so beautiful on this one ("It is all there - the earth and the ocean - they contain the power of our lives"). She even plays backing guitars on two songs, "My Electricity" and "Locked Away". The former is a comfortable ballad, a song that will stick with you from the moment you hear it and never wear out. The single "Liberty Bell" - damn! Another song to be imprinted in your memory for all eternity. I can never seem to forget the lyric "we are sitting in a chair" - this song refers to a rocket ride into space. "Marooned" is absolutely hypnotizing, and "Travel" does a good job of closing Disc 1. This is by far my favorite of the 2 discs, no weak tracks.

Opening disc 2 is the instrumental "South American Ghost Ride", which I don't listen to all that much but is still good. Then comes "Illuminating", by far my favorite track off of both discs. Again, Anneke really shines on this one ("I will feel great without my weight holding me down"). "Probably Built in the Fifties" is my 2nd favorite ("I trust the speed until I have no need to run anymore"). Definitely not to be overlooked. The only track that isn't all to interesting is the closing instrumental self-titled track. Anneke does some wailing on this, but there are no lyrics. It drags on for a half hour but most of it is filler. It doesn't really ruin anything though. I hear they had originally planned to scrap this disc, but I am most certainly glad they did not.

What more is there to say? How to Measure a Planet is one of the best records I own, it is my favorite album of the Gathering and probably the 2nd or 3rd favorite of my entire CD shelf. A definite must for those seeking a musical journey.

10/10

Complex, Ethereal, Amazing Music.......2005-01-18

I got this after If_Then_Else the album released after that one.. If_then_else was amazing for its moody music and amazing vocals. This album preceeds it with much more complex songs, AMAZING vocals and even more moody ethereal music. Songs like Marooned, Frail, The Big Sleep among others provide the ethereal sense. While other songs like Great Ocean Road and Libert Bell are a bit heavy (NOT AT ALL LIKE NIGHTTIME BIRDS OR MANDYLION.. MUCH MUCH SOFTER). Anyway, even the title song, which is overly long i must admit is amazing, if you think of it as an experience rather than a song.

Here's my song-by-song review:

CD1:
Frail - Great mood setter. Very Ethereal.
Great Ocean Road - AMAZING song in all aspects. Rock lovers will like this one very much. One of my favourites.
Rescue Me - Very soft. Not really that amazing
My Electricity - The guitar combined with the voice combined with synths is all we need.
Liberty Bell - The hardest song on the cd. I got bored of it quickly.
Red is a slow colour - I can't decide how i feel about this song. but it's great i know that.
The Big Sleep - For me, this is the moodiest most ethereal spacey song on the cd. I love that kind of stuff.
Marooned - Great in all aspects. The lyrics are great. Everything.
Travel - A bit long but still very good.

CD2:
SA Ghost Ride - AMAZING instrumental
Illuminating - good song. Lacks a bit tho. plus its a bit redundant.
Locked Away - Amazing guitar opener. Anneke being vengeful. JUST GREAT
Probably built in the fifties - Great song. Changes alot in the middle.
HTMAP - A great audio experience that should not be missed. As mentioned before, close the lights and lay flat and listen to this. GREAT

My absolute favourites off the CD:
Great Ocean Road, Red is a slow colour, The big sleep, Marooned and Locked away

My advice is to go get If_Then_Else first, it offers a bigger variety. If u have it and u liked songs like Amity, Saturnine, and Analog Park.. Get this CD, it offers much much more..