NMC #130 (BIG COUNTRY, THRESHOLD)

[Jon]

by "that's what HE thinks" Jon

Big Country--The Journey (April 2013)

Now featuring Mike Peters from The Alarm on lead vocals this sounds like Big Country mixed with The Alarm. TO be honest, this took a few listens to get used to and it does get better each time I hear it. This also has Derek Forbes, formerly of Simple Minds, on bass.

1. In A Broken Promise Land

2. After The Flood

3. Home Of The Brave

4. Strong (All Through This Land)

5. Another Country

Threshold--March Of Progress (September 2012)

Kind of a shame, these guys have been around for 20+ years. I've heard of them, yet never bothered to pick up any of their albums. Stupid mistake. Really stupid. This album has totally blown me away, and it should blow you away as well. If not, you're mistaken. 

1. Return Of The Thought Police

2. Liberty Complacency Dependency

3. The Hours

4. Don't Look Down

5. Rubicon

[Niels (Mod)]

BIG COUNTRY - 4 out of 6.

This is very interesting, because I was a The Alarm-fan around '84-'90, and I bought a Big Country-album in '86, that I really liked, especially their guitar-sound. The first song sounds exactly like a cross between those two bands. If this was the late '80s, I would definitely had bought this album, but it's not, and I've moved on musically (also). But it's fun to hear this, and it's a good cross between the bands. The second track sounds like 90 or 95% The Alarm, and not much BC. I can't understand, why it took you a few listenings, Jon, because it sounds just fine to me, this first time. Third track, has a kind of The Cult meets the Alarm-sound. Not much Simple Minds over this, though. A little bit, perhaps. It's a bit wrong, that they call themselves Big Country, because I think it would had worked better with a new band-name, now that it actually is a cross between The Alarm(Big Country/Simple Minds with a bit The Cult-sound to it. Fourth track is the weakest so far, and again it sounds like (80%) The Alarm but with a BC-guitar. Mike Peters' voice hasn't really changed a bit since '84. That's impressing! Fifth track follows allmost the same pattern, but the BC-guitars/riffs are upfront now, and this is probably the first track, that sounds more like a BC-track, than Alarm. Nice listening, Jon. I had read, that MP was the new singer in BC, but I had actually forgotten about it, and I didn't really cared, but this was a nice surprise, and it sounded like the good old days.

[Jon]

I wasn't expecting Peters to sound like Adamson, but in a way was. He shouldn't, but when I first listened to the album I felt it was more like The Alarm then Big Country, but after a couple more listens, I heard more Big Country than The Alarm. Adamson had such a distinctive voice that it's good they didn't get someone who sounded like him.

I don't mind that they still call themselves Big Country, the geetarist and drummer are original members so it's ok in my book. Plus it's great that they're keeping the band alive.

[Niels (Mod)]

Yeah well, you're right. It's just fine, that they call themselves Big Country, and I can't really change that anyway. Sounds like you were/are a BC-follower, and I was/am a The Alarm-"fan". I never was a fan of Adamson's voice, but I've always liked Mike Peters, and since I've always have liked the BC-guitarist, because it's a good original sound (you can hear it's him, just like you can hear when it's David Gilmour playing), and the guitars wasn't especially good in The Alarm, this is of course a very good mix imo.

I just might have to check this album out. Have you, as you usually do, picked out every second track or something like that, or are these tracks the best ones on the album iyo?

[Jon]

Yeah, it's even tracks, I think. If not, well, then it's odd!

[Niels (Mod)]

THRESHOLD - 3 out of 6

First thought is, that this band sounds like swedes. Am I right? No, I'm wrong: They are british. Second thought is they sound a bit like Dream Theater or Yngwie Malmsteen-band, just not as proggy (as DT), and not as good at their instruments. The guitars are very much "Heavy Metal-sounding". First track is not bad, but not especially good. The sound is kind of too much "80's Heavy Metal"-sounding to me. I must admit, I'm a bit bored listening to this. It's not bad, but it's just not appealing to me at this moment. I think a few members on this site will looove this band. Third track sounds like something from a Musical, "Phantom of the Opera 3" or something like that. Weakest track so far. Hmmmm, overall it's a nice listening, but too "Old-school" for me. It's kind of "Nerdy-sounding". Sorry about that, because I think this album will be a hit around here 

[RJhog (Admin)]

Big Country - I like that first track a lot.  The guitars are quite cool.  Nice track.  The second one has a very different rhythm.  And here the vocalist is channeling Bono.  Track three has a nice little intro, then it kicks in to full bore rocker.  What I'm really noticing on this album is some killer drumming.  I wish the bass was turned up just a bit more on this song.  If you could hear it I bet it would sound phenomenal.  Now see, they turned up the bass a bit on the fourth track.  I'm still hearing Bono.  And I'm loving this track.  It has a late 80's feel to me.  Oh, that bass is great.  The last track is the weakest to me.

Overall, this is a very nice listen.  It's now on my radar.  I may pick it up.  It sounds very cohesive (other than the bass needing to be turned up in places).  Thumbs up for sure.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Threshold - Not familiar with this band at all.  The geetaring is cool.  I even like the keyboard work.  But as a whole, it just seems like a bunch of long songs to me.  These 5 songs run in excess of 40 minutes.  I can only imagine how long the whole album is.  I can't do any better than a thumbs even for this one.

[Scott]

BIG COUNTRY ... Two Thumbs visiting a Confused Country 

In a Big Country dreams wait for you, In a Broken Promise Land things get a bit murkier...  Admittedly I was not an Alarm fan in the 80's.  Of the 1 (The Stand?  or something like that) maybe 2 songs I can recall, none of them really worked for me.  And with Big Country it was just OK.  MTV played their debut stuff a lot and it was OK when it came on.  But Jon was actually the first person I knew that owned anything from them.  First track was in the OK zone, second track kind of bored me, then came #3, what a strange opening, middle section, and as the William Shatner once said, "I liked the end" you know, the part when it was over.  Into track 4 and I think they should have named the band "Big Alarm", this really doesn't bring any BC back to my mind at all.  Another Country isn't too bad, its the best track here, but 1 of 4 does not a good rating make!  passing on this one...

THRESHOLD ... Two Thumbs  enjoying being right about this one!!!  

I'm typically not a Power/Nu-Metal fan, but this is some pretty golly-gosh-darn good stuff!  The first track doesn't really get me going though (though it kicks in nicely around 3:40).  Track 2 is again something of a similar structure, where it kicks in really nicely around the 2:33 mark.  Starting to get a little proggy (and I mean a little) around here with all these time changes.  The Hours is a cool tune - little bit of a Saga feel in the middle there (don't question me you know I'm right!)...  Rubicon, was kind of hoping this would be a cover of the Journey "Frontiers" offering of the same name, but I ended up being glad it wasn't...  This is officially on my wish list.

And here's a little bonus info for you all since Rubicon comes up in Styx and Journey music, I wonder what it was.. 

The Rubicon (Latin: Rubico, Italian: Rubicone) is a shallow river in northeastern Italy, about 80 kilometres long, running from the Apennine Mountains to the Adriatic Sea through the southern Emilia-Romagna region, between the towns of Rimini and Cesena. The Latin word rubico comes from the adjective "rubeus", meaning "red". The river was so named because its waters are colored red by mud deposits. It was key to protecting Rome from civil war.

The idiom "Crossing the Rubicon" means to pass a point of no return, and refers to Julius Caesar's army's crossing of the river in 49 BC, which was considered an act of insurrection. Because the course of the river has changed much since then, it is impossible to confirm exactly where the Rubicon flowed when Caesar and his legions crossed it, even though most evidence links it to the river officially so named. The river is perhaps most known as the place where Julius Caesar uttered the famous phrase "alea iacta est" – the die is cast.

PS:  I think you and RJ need to start adding the album covers to your playlists

[Jon]

Sounds like work?

[Gordon Williams]

Definitely hear the "Bono" vocal sound like RJHog does on this Big Country. It's pretty good, though. More rocking than U2. I like the "spacey sounding" guitar effect on some of the guitar playing during track 4.

Track 5, "Another Country", has a guitar part that the sound reminds me of a bagpipe, strangely enough. Overall, a good listen...but not quite purchase material for me. I'll be back to listen again sometime, though.

Now this Threshold? I don't consider myself that much of a prog fan, but after the first 2 tracks, I'm diggin' it! Great guitar tone on this...both rhythm and lead! "Liberty Complacency Dependency" is a killer track.

Some really good lead guitar throughout these tracks. And the production sounds top notch...even on these crappy little computer speakers. I'll definitely listen to this fine post again...might even purchase the Threshold.

Thanks Jon!

[Jon]

Glad you like Threshold. There was another band you would have liked that I posted earlier this year called Headspace. If you like Threshold, you will like Headspace. Sad thing, I deleted the damn thing to free up space in Podsnack. Total pisser.  

[RJhog (Admin)]

I've been adding them for a while...Maybe Scott isn't really listening to my posts...Does he realize that's what he gets paid for?