Listening to March of Progress

To be honest, band members who've read this thread, I know it hurts/sucks when people talk like that, but I think the band (members) should stay out of petty discussions. It's very easy for anyone to create an account and just start flaming everywhere, so there's no need to reply (but you can do whatever you want of course, just my take on it :) ).

And hey, if you're complaining about gaps in releases, Dead Can Dance (whom I saw last week, brilliant, let me know if you want the bootleg) hadn't released anything since 1996. That's sixteen years since their last album. Testament hadn't released anything for eight years before TFoD; and here I'm talking about bands that are much more popular than Threshold. The band can do whatever they please and will release an album when they want to, so please, stop such a paltry 'discussion' and concentrate on actually doing something productive with your lives or actually talk about the ALBUM itself!
 
Defiance said:
To be honest, band members who've read this thread, I know it hurts/sucks when people talk like that, but I think the band (members) should stay out of petty discussions. It's very easy for anyone to create an account and just start flaming everywhere, so there's no need to reply (but you can do whatever you want of course, just my take on it :) ).

And hey, if you're complaining about gaps in releases, Dead Can Dance (whom I saw last week, brilliant, let me know if you want the bootleg) hadn't released anything since 1996. That's sixteen years since their last album. Testament hadn't released anything for eight years before TFoD; and here I'm talking about bands that are much more popular than Threshold. The band can do whatever they please and will release an album when they want to, so please, stop such a paltry 'discussion' and concentrate on actually doing something productive with your lives or actually talk about the ALBUM itself!
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Ok back to the album. Having listened to it solidly for four days now I have to say that it is a very different album to Dead Reckoning. That classic Threshold sound is still there and the heavy riffs but it is a much more symphonic, even classical, sounding album. I wonder if that was done purposely to suit Damian's more operatic style of singing. However, it works wonderfully and just keeps growing on me each time I listen to it. Without a doubt this album contains the best vocal melodies that the band have written.
 
another 2 cents: I found absolutely useful to find the songs from an album on youtube: the quality is low, it's annoying to listen to the full album, but sharing sigle songs on facebook to friends who may appreciate it is absolutely priceless :)

(just recommended the hours to a couple of gothic metal fans, I'm curious about the reaction)
 
Let's go back to the topic, a question for Karl and Pete, who seem to check this forum regularly.
I noticed that most of the vocal parts are sung by Damian, as it used to be with Mac. But I remember reading on the liner notes of Extinct Instinct SE that on part of the chaos they needed not only Rich, Jon and Karl, but even Nick (Nick!) to sing backing vocals so to make the chorus big enough, since Damian's voice was too "thin". I wonder how did you manage to make the choirs big enough this time.
 
Now, I would ignore this stupid discussion. Let's focus on the album.

I've now listened to it, and I cannot praise it enough. It's much more a grower than Dead Reckoning because it's much more prog. I think it's brilliant, and I cannot praise enough Damian's voice; his vocals give the band a lot of fresh air and he sounds great, covering a wide array of tones. The guitar work is excellent, and it's well balanced with the keyboards.

My current favourite track: Coda.

OMG I LOVE THIS SONG. So many emotions come to me when I listen to it!
 
Listening to the new album gave me a bit of creative inspiration :D


H.


ThresholdBW.jpg
 
karl groom said:
Along with Subsurface, I think this is our finest release and remain satisfied with how we spent our time.
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Thanks, Karl. It is this type of posts by band members I appreciate the most. Usually when a band releases a new album, they'll claim their latest work is also their best, but once the years go by and they put out other albums, they'll start talking about the shortcomings of their work since they're no longer actively promoting it. Therefore, it's great to see you hold Subsurface in such high regard. Personally, I consider Subsurface my least favourite Threshold album with Mac. It was the least "progressive" sounding to me. I kind of feel the same way with the new Threshold. I've been playing it a lot lately, but it is nowhere near as immediate as Dead Reckoning, which, despite being seemingly simplistic, is perhaps your finest Mac-era album along with Hypothetical. I find March of Progress a lot harder to digest: some of the vocal parts seem like they were written for Mac and Damian is trying to deliver them like Mac would have, which is unlikely, I suppose. Damian's vocal parts on the Headscape disc are a lot more complex yet catchy at the same time.

That noted, I've only had the new Threshold disc for a week and need to give it more listens. I thank you, Richard West and everyone else in the band for creating and preserving the Threshold sound.
 
Pete Morten said:
Well surely we ALL NEED MUSIC TOO!. the world would be a dull place without it, and often people are heard saying.. "music is my life" or "I couldn't live without music" Well to those people who steal it, start bloody paying for it and show the artists some respect. It ain't rocket science!.
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This is among the biggest reasons I pay for music. Music that I like enough to spend my money on, I like because I know that having this music in my life will positively impact it in a way money cannot buy. I struggle with persistence and perseverance daily, and various Threshold songs including most of Dead Reckoning and Critical Mass are deeply inspirational as such; hearing that March of Progress was based around these themes and no doubt handled by one of my all-time favorite lyricists (Rich) made this album a mandatory pre-order for me. Ashes, Staring At The Sun, The Hours, and Don't Look Down are among the March of Progress songs I already know will stay close to me, and more results will only surface with time. If any band member is listening, this is my thanks.
 
MoP is spinning on my car stereo, at work and when I'm home now. I guess I listen to it at least 4-5 hours every day...call me addicted! It's still growing on me.

I've been enjoying the band's releases since the days of Wounded Land and have always felt that the new(est) album was great, and better than the previous ones. I actually never thought that the next album could get any better than the current latest release at any time, but somehow Karl, Rich and the other guys have proved me wrong time and time again! So, while I thought Dead Reckoning was a really great album I was still feeling a tiny tiny bit of disappointment when it came. In the beginning I couldn't quite put the finger on it - it wasn't really the Swanö growls so what was it then? After a while I realized that my feelings was that DR had a few very, and I mean very good songs, with PITSOD as the shining diamond, while the overall quality of it as an album was not as good as Subsurface. Still, it's very good and I listen to it a lot, just as the rest of the Threshold albums.

But, I have to agree with Karl. MoP is, together with Subsurface, my favourite band's best releases ever! I can listen to many types of music, but I only buy records with metal/hardrock bands (including a lot of subgenres of course) and I only go to such concerts. At first I thought the album to be a bit lightweight and popish, but then again it wasn't. Then I thought that with so many extremely beautiful and catchy choruses on the album it was too commercial, but then again it wasn't. Since my 30th or so spin of it I've really come to appreciate that this album must be the one with the most varied songs on it. Not only does many of the songs vary in style, but within each and every one of them there are several changes in rhythm and tempo. It may start off with something sounding like verse and chorus, then verse and chorus plus solo, etc, but every song evolves into something else! I like to "count beats" and at times it's taken me a while to figure out what's going on. I suspect I will find new things in all the songs after even the 250th spin and that's what I really appreciate with this album!

On the other hand, despite being so varied it's all still very very much Threshold. You can hear from the very first minute of every song that this is a Threshold song in a Threshold album. And we, the loyal fans since when it all began, tend to love that with the band! Always improving, but still sounding similar to what got us caught in the first place! The addition of songwriting from Pete, Damian and Steve has blended perfectly with the rest and with the vibe that is Threshold for me, even giving it a new vigor. (I think the poll threads should exclude Divinity as not everyone will have heard it. I think it's just as good as the rest of the songs on the album!)

I guess I could go on with my praises quite a while longer, but I'll save some for later...

Thank you guys! It's been worth the wait! (But don't let it take 5 years for the next one, please!) Whenever you post some more tour dates I will plan on bringing my Thresh buddies with me on a plane, make a hotel reservation and get us some tickets. Cause I guess you won't be coming to Sweden this tour either? :Smug:


/SE

PS. Don't waste more time with the painfully stupid folks who just try to annoy you in the forum. They aren't worth it!

PPS. My only problem with MoP is that my old eyes are having problems reading the booklet. Especially the text where the songwriters comment on each track. Maybe a looking glass will help, or could you post those comments on the web somewhere? :lol:







Edit: Can't even keep track of the song names...
 
Been reading the thread and I think the criticism that has been leveled is rather silly. These guys do what they do for the love of the music, a love that I believe most of their fans share. I can say without reservation that Threshold are my favorite band because of how they write their music and play it, with an emphasis on the melodic and atmospheric. I know of no other band that sound like them. I especially love a lot of the keyboard work, particularly on some of the older albums when they went more for an organ sound (Clone being my favorite overall Thresh album).

That's not to say I don't have my own criticisms at times (I'm not a big fan of the "Uhh... Ahh!" part in Fragmentation and much prefer the acoustic version from Wireless), but I keep them to myself because I can't do anything about it and the guys have given me far more to love than to complain about.

I don't listen to Threshold because of any popularity or aspirations for it; I don't listen to ANY of the music I like for that. I became a prog fan due to the depth of the music at a time when the popular/commercial stuff I had been listening to just began to fall flat. It had no soul to it. Why would we want Threshold to end up like that?

Focusing on March of Progress specifically, its totally worth the 5-year wait. A brilliant and beautiful piece of work from beginning to end with some real high points. I appreciate the time and work the band put in over the last few years to bring it to us. Patience is most certainly rewarded. :)
 
MoP is an outstanding album. If I ever finish my top 20 of 2012 list, it will definitely make the top 5, possibly top 3. I hope to get a chance to see Threshold at PP USA sometime soon!
 
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