Pentagrams

[paranoid]

This is one that's grown on me over the past week. Was disappointed with it at first but now i'm feeling it's a classic. IMO it's the song that comes closest to the marketing plug of this album "pumpkins going back to classic approach but with a modern twist."

-initially put off by the chugging, which i now like, but the guitars are gorgeous on this. Tone and voicing wise a lot of nods to the heavy guitars on stand inside your love.

-both guitar solos are great. First lower note one has a SD vibe to it, like the middle solo of Hummer, and the final grand one is one of the most melodic solos i've heard him play in a long time.

-add to that the guitars are well composed. not as thick as SD or MCIS guitars but I get the sense they want to sound bigger with less overdubs.. and it works here.

-example of a song where billy's recent "goth poet" lyric style actually works. "love never dies" is classic BC. great line. "pay as you go, when your'e young and dead heroes" hits hard as well. he's embracing his age in an honest way here. I also LOVE the synth line that comes in under that. doesn't sound random and pointless.

"on the down, need a hit of iridium, on the town and tedium, ghastly bland chameleons" also really nice.

Vocals also work here. he seems to put a little more emotion into this one. Really hitting the word "Pay" in the bit i mentioned above.

Ending is also nice, not the standard song just ..ending.. for no reason, a trend of late. whole orchestrated thing that closes it off in a way that has some real intention to it.

Also I love Jimmy's drumming here. Not crazy athletic, but like tonight tonight in how it's orchestrated, building the dynamics as the song moves along. I love how he goes into that intense beat right after the last solo, a beat he's played on some recent JCC stuff. He does it in Edin too and I've got no problem with that.

Had to say that. it's a really good song. Show's that they really did put some effort into some of this material. Very classic grand cinematic style SP but obviously SP 2024.

but then who goes there comes on and yeah i'm still upset about it.

[brothahi4L]

Paranoid- i fully agree.

Typical.pumpkin song, that gets stuck in my head to. Melodically, vocals not.too loud, beautiful song, something i can sing along too.

Even the dissonant notes in the intro are cool as fuck.
I like the effect on the guitar.
I just wished bill would use more straaange guitar sounds like this one.

Sadly after the first 2 songs i feel like i am right back into Atum territory until the end.

I would have chosen it as a single, but prolly it is too long.

Only song that i really like on this album

[enthusaroo]

it's the one of 3 decent songs on the album no doubt.. i rank Pentagrams as 5/10

and the other two decent songs as 4/10

[eyeboogers]

I really like the album, but "Pentagrams" and "999" are my least favorite tracks. "Pentagrams" almost veers into Coldplay ballad territory. Maybe there is just a giant divide between what various camps of fans want from this band.

[eviltimeban]

It's ok, but an example of Billy needing to let the music breathe comes at the 3 minute mark, where he sings over a passage that would've been better left instrumental.

You mention Hummer; modern Billy would've been singing all over that long instrumental part at the end of it.

[VoxUpDoc]

Originally Posted by eyeboogers

I really like the album, but "Pentagrams" and "999" are my least favorite tracks. "Pentagrams" almost veers into Coldplay ballad territory. Maybe there is just a giant divide between what various camps of fans want from this band.

Oh God not Coldplay still-massively-popular-headlining-festivals-selling-records ballad territory!

[eyeboogers]

Who cares about whether a band is popular? What does that have to do with the quality of the music. Coldplay have been absolute shit post "A Rush of...".

[VoxUpDoc]

Originally Posted by eyeboogers

Who cares about whether a band is popular? What does that have to do with the quality of the music. Coldplay have been absolute shit post "A Rush of...".

They’ve been a consistent level of inoffensive MOR their whole career.

[paranoid]

Forgot to mention the intro- very zeppelin esque.

The Coldplay comparison is a little too cynical. Yeah you can say that about being beige, but this song? Does Coldplay have big guitar solos? Low tunings? Hints of classic rock (zeppelin, sabbath) that’s not just U2? The only thing here is the constant pounding of 8th notes on the drums in some parts, but Jimmy makes that sound grand in a way only he knows how, and it gives me hint of tonight tonight.

As for hummer comparison, I’m talking about the melodic approach to one of the guitar solos.. and to be fair he’s not singing over either of the two solos in this song.

He also sings a lot during hummer. It’s not word salad obviously but there’s a lot of billy on that one.

[Ihaguitar]

Originally Posted by enthusaroo

it's the one of 3 decent songs on the album no doubt.. i rank Pentagrams as 5/10

and the other two decent songs as 4/10

😁

[houseofglass11]

For me the dissonance with those “wrong” notes makes this song a no go for me.

[paranoid]

Originally Posted by houseofglass11

For me the dissonance with those “wrong” notes makes this song a no go for me.

Why’s that? I like the weirdness of that part. Reminds me of that Jimmy page solo soundtrack stuff he did (can’t remember name of the film)

[phang]

I largely agree, this one has grown on me a little. The "Love never dies" and "Pay as you go, when you're young and dead heroes" parts have stuck with me over the past week, that much I will say. And I did enjoy those solos.

[FoolofaTook]

the end when jimmy starts galloping all over the place ...

ngl billy's awkward croons are kinda endearing.

[run2pee]

Originally Posted by houseofglass11

For me the dissonance with those “wrong” notes makes this song a no go for me.

It’s called pentagrams it has to be a little spooky and fucked up

[run2pee]

Also, great song. I was grinning so hard at the end of this one and that’s when I knew I was going to like this record. This song represents a truly miraculous feat at this stage, if u ask me. Lower vocals, big thick sexy guitar tone, a very interesting and unique song structure, James Iha probably, and no Katie Cole. It’s like everything this board has been begging for for a quarter century

[ninsp]

find it very odd to see that everyone's opinions of the album are improving

[houseofglass11]

The people that don’t like it still don’t like it, and the people that like it still like it. Nothing has changed.

[djzap]

I'm not crazy about this song. I'd rank it towards the bottom with War Dreams of Itself and Murnau. It is a bit stadium rock and bland but I do really dig that dissonant note in the arpeggiated clean riff, and the instrumental break at 3:38. I'm warming up to the rest of the song though with repeated album listens.

[run2pee]

Originally Posted by houseofglass11

The people that don’t like it still don’t like it, and the people that like it still like it. Nothing has changed.

The very first post and whole point of this thread appears to be to announce that one of our members has changed their opinion from disappointed to feeling like the song is a classic

JFC we get it u don’t like the album. But maybe read the fucken thread before saying shit that is demonstrably untrue

[djzap]

Originally Posted by ninsp

find it very odd to see that everyone's opinions of the album are improving

crazy how music can grow on you after a few listens huh
absolutely unheard of

[houseofglass11]

Originally Posted by run2pee

The very first post and whole point of this thread appears to be to announce that one of our members has changed their opinion from disappointed to feeling like the song is a classic

JFC we get it u don’t like the album. But maybe read the fucken thread before saying shit that is demonstrably untrue

I’ll be glad when you and rbg go back to Gen board when you get bored of this album. Paranoid always comes out hating stuff and then flip flops as time goes on so it’s not surprising.

[VoxUpDoc]

Edin has grown on me a lot, tbf.

[redbreegull]

Originally Posted by houseofglass11

I’ll be glad when you and rbg go back to Gen board when you get bored of this album. Paranoid always comes out hating stuff and then flip flops as time goes on so it’s not surprising.

so you're the guy. the guy that drives billy nuts because you exist to hate new material even when it's kind of good

[redbreegull]

also I post consistently on the SP board

[redbreegull]

but if you want me gone, vote in my gen chat poll

[paranoid]

Originally Posted by houseofglass11

I’ll be glad when you and rbg go back to Gen board when you get bored of this album. Paranoid always comes out hating stuff and then flip flops as time goes on so it’s not surprising.

I still think more than half of it is shit.

[ninsp]

Originally Posted by houseofglass11

The people that don’t like it still don’t like it, and the people that like it still like it. Nothing has changed.

reeeeeeeeee

[killtrocity]

I agree that Pentagrams is the shit. I've listened to it several times now and it's legit good. Definitely top tier SP2, but that's doing it a bit of a disservice - it's on par with the worst of SP1 (sounds better that way right?)

I hope that they continue to lean into their Sabbath roots because at some level that's Billy's core identity is a Sabbath fanboy and that's what he does best

[paranoid]

Originally Posted by killtrocity

I agree that Pentagrams is the shit. I've listened to it several times now and it's legit good. Definitely top tier SP2, but that's doing it a bit of a disservice - it's on par with the worst of SP1 (sounds better that way right?)

I hope that they continue to lean into their Sabbath roots because at some level that's Billy's core identity is a Sabbath fanboy and that's what he does best

That's why a song like Who Goes There is infuriating.