IN FLAMES new album being released on 1st March, 2019

At no point did I think "well, it doesn't sound great but if I listen to it 100 times then I'll probably adapt to it". Even if it's a person's favourite band I find that behaviour a little strange, like "IN FLAMES WE TRUST" with hypnotic circles in the eyes.

Listening to something over and over in order to condition oneself into liking it shouldn't be a thing, and in any case I hardly think that's what's happening here. But there is some music that takes some digestion in order for it to really click, in which case I think repeated listens can help to reveal something that you didn't notice before. It was like that with ASOP for me, and "Fear is the Weakness" (which I didn't like on the first few listens until I started paying attention to Daniel's work). I also remember some guy on the Dark Tranquillity board writing up a huge technical document about We Are the Void and that really helped me to hear that album with fresh ears. You start paying attention to different things.

I remember *hating* Sonata Arctica's Unia back in the day and thought it was an incoherent and jumbled mess after Reckoning Night, which I loved. I kept revisiting it because I was sure I was missing something. On, like, the fifth replay, everything clicked. I fucking understood it and realized that it was a genius album. I think it's one of their best now but I needed to really dissect it to get there.

Not saying the new IF is anything hugely complex or anything, but yeah, it can take a few listens for things to fall into place, or for the initial shock of "wtf this is different/thesame/whatever" to wear off.
 
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btw, this is a great song. Very Tears for Fears in the verses.



That main lead bears a pretty strong resemblance to the one on "The Thrill", which is also pretty sick. I likes.
 
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I don't tend to dissect my music, so I guess it depends what you want out of it. If I like something then I like it, if I don't then I'll move onto something else. It doesn't mean in future I won't come back to that music and find a new appreciation for it - tastes evolve over time so it's possible - but I've never listened repeatedly to an album I didn't like just so that I can become familiar enough with it to have some appreciation for its content.

From recollection the only song I liked from Unia was Under Your Tree, which I thought was a cool little ballad. I wasn't a fan of much else on it, and honestly I haven't listened to anything they output after that point. Ecliptica is still one of my favourite albums of all time, but I loved it from the second Blank File came blasting out of my speakers. Despite being released in 1999 the lyrics to that song are probably more relevant now than they were back then.

 
@DE4life Yeah, and that's totally cool. It's awesome when an album just floors you instantly and you don't have to think twice about it.

I think that, in order for me to sit down and really try to digest an album I didn't like at first, I need to sense that there's something there worth investigating. I definitely got that with Unia so I spent a lot of time trying to find what it was. But I didn't get that at all with one of their later albums, Pariah's Child. Maybe there was something of worth in there, but I couldn't detect it on my first and second listens. I eventually gave up and I've stopped following them.

"Blank File" is a good track for sure.
 
@DE4life Yeah, and that's totally cool. It's awesome when an album just floors you instantly and you don't have to think twice about it.

I think that, in order for me to sit down and really try to digest an album I didn't like at first, I need to sense that there's something there worth investigating. I definitely got that with Unia so I spent a lot of time trying to find what it was. But I didn't get that at all with one of their later albums, Pariah's Child. Maybe there was something of worth in there, but I couldn't detect it on my first and second listens. I eventually gave up and I've stopped following them.

"Blank File" is a good track for sure.

Fair enough, the only albums I can think off the top of my head that I wasn't sure about at first but kept listening to were Character and Fiction by DT. Like you just said I sensed something was there, but I wasn't feeling either of them like I felt Damage Done. I ended up finding some value in those albums although I still rank them below Gallery & Damage Done overall.
 
Listening to something over and over in order to condition oneself into liking it shouldn't be a thing, and in any case I hardly think that's what's happening here. But there is some music that takes some digestion in order for it to really click, in which case I think repeated listens can help to reveal something that you didn't notice before. It was like that with ASOP for me, and "Fear is the Weakness" (which I didn't like on the first few listens until I started paying attention to Daniel's work). I also remember some guy on the Dark Tranquillity board writing up a huge technical document about We Are the Void and that really helped me to hear that album with fresh ears. You start paying attention to different things.

I remember *hating* Sonata Arctica's Unia back in the day and thought it was an incoherent and jumbled mess after Reckoning Night, which I loved. I kept revisiting it because I was sure I was missing something. On, like, the fifth replay, everything clicked. I fucking understood it and realized that it was a genius album. I think it's one of their best now but I needed to really dissect it to get there.

Not saying the new IF is anything hugely complex or anything, but yeah, it can take a few listens for things to fall into place, or for the initial shock of "wtf this is different/thesame/whatever" to wear off.

For this to happen there must be a positive balance in the music. It there are elements that you cannot stand, or hate, and those elements have a stronger presence than those that you might like then no matter how many times you listen to it. You will still dislike the album.
 
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I also remember some guy on the Dark Tranquillity board writing up a huge technical document about We Are the Void and that really helped me to hear that album with fresh ears.
Can you link that post by any chance if you still remember where it was?

I'm with you on this one btw. Even though Colony or R2R for example are significantly better albums in my opinion, I, The Mask is kinda growing on me after all. I think I already listened to this song more than to most of Battles songs.
 
Agree you shouldn’t need a million listens to “get it”. For me I burn out anyway and will start to not want to listen to it even if it’s decent. Most IF singles and title tracks are like that to me. I’ve listened enough to it, don’t need to listen any more. I don’t even listen to a lot of my favorite music that often because it’s already a part of me, no need to overdose and burn out.

Two albums that did take me many years and multiple tries to “get” were At the Gates “Red in the Sky is Ours” and “With Fear I Kiss the Burninf Darkness”. Listened once maybe 10-15 years ago, wrote it all off as lo fi demo junk. Listened maybe 5 years ago and wrote it off as weird and way inferior to their later material. Listened to both again maybe 6 months ago and picked out a few songs that had some cool riffs. Listened a few more times and realized almost every song was awesome.

Anyway, new IF isn’t that complex and ain’t going to require that kind of listening. I’ll spin it for a few days/weeks till I get tired of it and then I guess I’ll keep talking about it for 2 years heh.
 
New in flames... When I see the pictures, listen to the music and read their tour setlists I wonder what's left of In Flames. Neiher Anders nor Bjorn keep the spirit of the band. They sound like the remnants that habe started a new band while they keep on playing some classic songs from their previous one because they know that some people attending their gigs will still like to listen to them.

Yes. They can keep the label. But they have lost the feeling.

Anders told that while Jesper was in the band the music, the making of the music, was about compromising. Maybe it means that he was restrained because he knew that the band was something different from them as persons and musicians. At least we know that there are some things that he couldn't do during that time.
 
I actually wonder if them reusing old solos in new songs is a pretty genius marketing idea. It’s a way for IF to release and play new songs while letting old fans still hear some old classics. Kind of like medley songs. New fans hear it then they stream/buy the old album. $$$ all around.
 
I don't think many people are analysing these songs to the extent we are, so I doubt new fans would even know IF are ripping themselves off :D
 
For this to happen there must be a positive balance in the music. It there are elements that you cannot stand, or hate, and those elements have a stronger presence than those that you might like then no matter how many times you listen to it. You will still dislike the album.

100% agreed. If your initial reaction is dislike and that overpowers everything else, then there's really no point.

Can you link that post by any chance if you still remember where it was?

I'm with you on this one btw. Even though Colony or R2R for example are significantly better albums in my opinion, I, The Mask is kinda growing on me after all. I think I already listened to this song more than to most of Battles songs.

Here you go: http://www.ultimatemetal.com/forum/threads/the-void-and-you-a-technical-reference.570365/

It's a long read, but it really helped me to appreciate DT's technical prowess in terms of their songwriting. I enjoyed WATV much more after I realized just how much was happening beneath the surface.



Best Tears for Fears song :cool:


A better Beatles song than most Beatles songs. :cool:

The verses in that Soilwork song remind me of "Shout" a little.
 
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I don't think many people are analysing these songs to the extent we are, so I doubt new fans would even know IF are ripping themselves off :D
Ok so how about this then. Old IF fans are happy with the “new” solos because they sound classic. Any remaining haters are trolled by IF who can say “you’re idiots, you hate just to hate. not only are these classic style riffs and solos, they are literally exactly the ones you know and love.” Haters will immediately put foot in mouth and all will kneel before Anders and Bjorn.
 
Old IF fans now that solos are a photocopy of older ones and they really do not care about the solos as much as about Anders being a pussy.
 
I buy every In Flames album because I can't get off this wild ride. I have faith in my boys...

...is what I said before Spotify existed.