Salem Hill

[moses]

On a whim I picked up Salem Hill's "Not Everyone's Gold" a few weeks ago. I think it's quite good and so therefore maybe other AM listeners would like it also.

Check out http://www.salemhill.com for more info on them. The sound clips from the new album ("Be") also sound quite good, but I haven't heard the whole thing to really make a judgement.

Does anyone know if the other cds are also worth getting? I'm definitely going to pick up "Be" ASAP.

[progdirjim(Admin)]

Not Everyone's Gold is quite good. I'll be adding it to the station shortly. I've listened to "Catatonia" once (it's an earlier album), and it's nowhere near as good. Not bad, but a step below NEG. I also just received "The Robbery Of Murder", but haven't had a chance to listen to it yet. I haven't heard "Be" yet but it's supposed to good. Let me know what you think of it. I'll post again after I listen to the older ones a few more times.

[moses]

OK I got Be the other day and so far I've listened to it twice. (Take that as "I haven't fully absorbed it and reserve the right to change my opinion.") I don't think I get it yet. They talk in the liner notes about a "story," so I guess this is a concept album. I'm not sure what that story is, but I think it's pretty dark.

The music is well played and more guitar-oriented than Not Everyone's Gold. The keyboards are still there, just less dominant. So as a result Be is heavier than NEG. There are some nice vocal harmonies and things like that, but they've moved a little towards harsher vocals too. That's ok by me - it fits in with the heavier sound.

I do like it, but not as much as NEG. It feels like it going to be the type of cd that grows on you the more you listen to it. There's no epic on it like the Sweet Hope Suite, but the songs that are there are respectable in length and certainly feel proggy.

So... waffle waffle... to add it or not? I don't know if it NEEDs to be on the Moon or not, but it's certainly worth hearing. Give me a month with it, I'll have a better opinion.

[progdirjim(Admin)]

I've added Salem Hill to the playlist - all 3 CDs seemed worthy. There was some glitch with "The Robbery Of Murder", so I think only one song of it was added - I'll remedy that with the next update.

[moses]

Cool! Thanks, you da man! I'll be checking those out. I see some more cd shopping in the near future...

By the way, "Be" is definitely shaping up as my mind starts to understand the story. There's some fantastic music on there.