F O U R T H E Y E

Sounds like you just described nirvana ... And they were also horrible, no?

Nirvana is way overrated but they are way above horrible.

I also fail to see what the big deal with Failure is but I'm glad that a lot of us here like it. Not for me oh well no big deal on to the next topic.

Nirvana? Adult contemporary? No. Nirvana were early Melvins / Pixies / Black Flag / Stooges mixed in a bag and shaken.

Soundgarden became adult contemporary around the time they released Down On The Crapside.

Anyway....who cares. What's important right now is Failure.

Your opinion is Failure and not important.

Calfium Jay wrote: Anyway....who cares. What's important right now is Failure.

Bill Hilly wrote:Your opinion is Failure and not important.

And irrelevant to this thread. Take this as a final warning - if you have nothing positive to add to band specific threads, then feel free to keep those opinions to yourself.

Having listened to this closely up-teen times over the last couple weeks, it's only gotten better ... A bit formulaic in parts, but everything is so well done. The textures and layering of acoustic/electric/electronics are flawless. There are also several sneaky, heavily driven bass lines hidden throughout. And although not a great vocalist, Ken's voice has held up well with a throwback 90's grunge aesthetic working well alongside fantastically imaginative lyricism with quotable lines smeared everywhere. Make no mistake, this guy has melodies for days! I'm also really pleased with the well placed use of segues again. Both the lead in and outro are perfectly placed.

It is a tough task to pick the standout tracks as it seems to flow so well together but I think the middle section consisting of counterfeit sky, petting the carpet and mulholland drive are pretty flawless. *Troy's slide guitar on the latter is a great fit. I'm also particularly invested in I can see houses. It's a song they've reworked that was written early in their career. It's a great album closer and was particular timely for me conceptually when considering all of the plane travel I was doing when I finally got to sit and start soaking this record in a couple weeks ago.

It's quite conceptual in sound and nature much like fantastic planet only with an upgrade in production. Spacey shout outs from Floyd to nirvana then to the Beatles and back to *QOTSA and so on. Quite a bit of it is stylistically similar to APC in tone and delivery and I'd even go so far as to say there are parts reminiscent of Ok Computer era Radiohead. It's really hard not to like this record. I listened the first time and said 'this is respectable'. A second time through and I was certain I'd listen to it again. I couldn't have anticipated I get to the point where I don't even know why I think it's so good, but I'm entirely addicted and want to spin it again as soon as it's over.

9/10

Wow.

Great review, Pete. Very well said. I couldn't agree more with pretty much everything you wrote. The middle section with Counterfeit Sky is also my favorite. I definitely heard the QOTSA resemblance after a couple listens. Not just because of Van Leeuwen on some of the reworked tracks, but specifically because of the record being akin to "Like Clockwork" in sound and flow.

Bill Hilly wrote:Great review, Pete. Very well said. I couldn't agree more with pretty much everything you wrote. The middle section with Counterfeit Sky is also my favorite. I definitely heard the QOTSA resemblance after a couple listens. Not just because of Van Leeuwen on some of the reworked tracks, but specifically because of the record being akin to "Like Clockwork" in sound and flow.

thanx, mang ... I would agree with your statement regarding the pacing being similar to Like Clockwork for sure ... Clockwork, however, took a long time to sink in with me and years removed from the release, I actually like that album quite a bit (except Fairweather Friends; fuck that song). This album was scary for me, because as much as I tried not to, I still had huge expectations being that they're one of my favorite bands and Fantastic Planet, although finally garnering a following and mainstream credibility, has always been in my list of best albums.

I'm not entirely content reviewing something and always pointing it towards other's work, but in this case I think it's warranted as most of the influences I hear in the music are of bands that are generally recognised (mostly positively) by the fourtheye crowd. It's kind of a way for me to point out that you'd have to dislike a lot of really quality bands to not appreciate this album on some level. That said, I don't want anyone to think this album doesn't stand alone as a product of Failure singularly.

Another highlight worth mentioning, I know at least you'll appreciate, is that atmospheric drum breakdown/build up heading into the last minute of Hot Traveler.

Scored a free ticket to the Failure show Friday in Louisville. What an amazing show! One of the best I've been to in a long time. These guys are on fire right now. The setlist was a nice mix of all the classics plus a few new ones. I strongly recommend going if they're close.

Setlist:

What a great show last night in Atlanta!! Failure played at the Wrecking Ball festival which was mostly a punk festival and a 25th Anniversary celebration for the Masquerade in Atlanta. It has been a long time since this old lady was up front for a show and it was fantastic! I had not listened to the new stuff yet so I enjoyed the virgin ears. The lighting engineer did stellar work considering he had big shoes to fill after Jr. Loved hearing the Nurse who Loved me live for the first time since I can remember.

Fantastic 46&badkitty!
Listening to Heart is) now...Enjoying

Failure will be at Soundwave. Don't miss 'em. They sound great live.

I am struggling with this album tbh. The quality of the music and production is not in question. These guys are highly talented musicians. It is the style that I am struggling with. Parts of the album I love and then parts of it fall back into this almost 80s synth/alt pop sound that I hate. Hell it happens sometimes within the same song. They start off in one direction that I dig a lot and then move into this sort of alt-pop/dream-pop realm. Sometimes I feel like I am listening to Porcupine Tree lite while other times I think I am listening to Weezer, a band that I fucking despise with every fiber of my being.

I am glad I bought the album but I don't think I will listen to it often. It is a little too direct/mainstream/alt-pop for my tastes at times. A shame as the album could be fucking brilliant if they pulled out the catchy pop shit and stuck with the more artistic and technical aspects. Then again, if they did that, then they wouldn't be Failure. I can definitely understand now why MJK calls them a big influence, particularly when thinking about APC's music.

Bottom line, it is a really good album. Despite the fact that there are elements style wise that don't work for me I would give it an 8 / 10.

THE1TRUEMOG wrote:Bottom line, it is a really good album. Despite the fact that there are elements style wise that don't work for me I would give it an 8 / 10.

I think we're in a similar boat on this one. I don't think it's a wildly diverse compilation of songs, but there are times I find myself enjoying the more straightforward ones (Snow Angel, Counterfeit Sky, Come Crashing, and The Focus) and at others what I'd refer to as the discordant ones (Atom City Queen, Petting the Carpet, Fair Light Era, Otherwhere). I think there's an acknowledgement of who they used to be and a bit of who they are now, 19 years on (which is a fairly large gap to bridge).

I saw a short in-store performance a couple months back and their live show far exceeded my expectations. A bit of nostalgia with hearing Fantastic Planet songs live for the first time as well as really enjoying how only three guys can make such cool sounds seem so effortless. There was nothing flashy or truly engaging about their stage show, it was just the music, and it rocked. I'd go and see them again in a heartbeat, and I think I even rated the album lower than you.

nxrm wrote:I think there's an acknowledgement of who they used to be and a bit of who they are now, 19 years on (which is a fairly large gap to bridge).

^ Well said

I would like to see them live. Even with there being elements that are not necessarily my cup of tea there is obvious quality to the music. These guys are professional musicians. Nothing feels half ass or out of place. They are a band that clearly has a vision as to the kind of music they want to make and they are all very much in sync with each other and what they are trying to achieve artistically.

I suspect the album will grow on me little bits at a time, as the elements that I really enjoy are more prevalent than the ones that I find annoying. There are some really good songs on the album. As I said I don't imagine it being an album that will ever be on heavy rotation for me but it is one that was certainly worth the purchase.

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"I wanted to personally invite you to our upcoming October 2015 U.S. Tour. This is a very special tour to me for a couple reasons. One reason is the fact that we have some very cool bands joining us, Hum, Torche, Local H, And You Will Know Us by the Trail of Dead. Different line ups for different dates so check your city to see what's happening there.

The second reason this tour is so special to me is that we have managed to secure our dear friend and former band mate, Troy Van Leeuwen (Queens of the Stone Age) as the fourth member of Failure for this tour. I'm personally excited by this as it's going to allow us to expand our live sound and repertoire. Think Snow Angel, and I Can See Houses from the new album, as well as a few gems from the past, like our cover of Enjoy the Silence.

As you may or may not know, Troy joined us for the touring of Fantastic Planet in 1997, and then went on to join A Perfect Circle, and Queens of the Stoneage, amongst several other cool projects. More recently Troy joined us on our new album, playing guitar on 4 of the songs from 'The Heart is a Monster.'
As schedules can be a tricky thing, all I can say at this point is that Troy will be joining us for this special October tour.
See you out there!
-Ken Andrews"

October 9 Jacksonville, FL Freebird Live *
October 10 Ft. Lauderdale, FL Revolution *
October 11 Orlando, FL House of Blues *
October 13 Norfolk, VA Norva **
October 14 New York, NY FLOODfest (CMJ) @ Brooklyn Bowl
October 15 Pittsburgh, PA Mr. Smalls Theatre **
October 17 St. Louis, MO The Firebird ***
October 20 Tucson, AZ The Rock ***
October 21 Phoenix, AZ Crescent Ballroom ***
October 22 Las Vegas, NV Fremont Country Club ***
October 25 Sacramento, CA Aftershock Festival
October 27 Los Angeles, CA The Regent ****
October 28 TBA
October 29 San Diego, CA The Music Box ****

* - w/Hum and Torche
** - w/Torche
*** - w/Local H
**** - w/Trail of the Dead and Local H

^Sweet! I wonder if the 28th will be a second LA show or elsewhere...

They are available on Halloween... Possibly one of the TBA's?

Dreamers can dream.

That's pretty good news - I wonder if Troy will be down for the Soundwave Failure shows as well?

Got my ticket for the 27th! I'll be seeing Chelsea Wolfe and Wovenhand in the next few weeks at the same venue, and then Low at The Troubadour in November. The new music and shows just keep lining up.

Cool, enjoy your shows Norm!

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My good buddy is seeing them with Torche and they'll be hanging out with all of them. I could be in on that but can't afford to take off work or go to the show. Grrrrrrrrrr goddamnit. Enjoy, all of you that are going!