Von Hertzen Brothers: In Murmuration, Part 1

[@lactodorum-13]

Thank you Jim. I just love this album. Looking forward to your reaction on part 2 with my favourite tracks. Tissue box will be close by.

[@JimNewstead]

So good! Part two is up now!

[@jounihannula7240]

Seen them live three times. Last time was 23.11.2024. Good set list and two hours with encores.

[@rudolfbecker4313]

The Relapse is a banger, as we know and like them by the Brothers ... my favourite spots are when Jonne's bass kicks in and off course the sax , I can imagine they use it as concert opener for the upcoming tour .. Jim, you have to sing and dance for all of us 😆🤘Isn't it great, that the new member of the band plays keys and sax ? I'm hoping for you to see Peace Patrol ... A Good Life calms us down ... why do I always feel, that every tone is at the right position and you don't want to hear anything different. The strange thing about Starlings is, that it didn't get me from the beginning ... because ..usually a video supports a song, some songs you only want to hear in connection with the video. With Starlings it was the opposite for me : once I heard it without the video, I right away started liking it better. Strange but true 🤘 Ascension Day is a song, you want to sing along right away and if it's only oooh, heeeyy and so on 😂 In Beneath the Silver Stars I realize once more the way how well dosed all the instruments are used ... compared to many of these overproduced songs by any famous producers ... or being forced by record companies, who think more is more. NO, music is best, when you can hear each single instrument 👍 Unfortunately within "my circle" there is one thing, why some of my people are not VHB fans : Mikko's beautiful voice ... I love it so much, but guys who prefer Rock and metal don't like it a lot ... I've given up on them ... sad, but true ☹

[@palantir135]

Hi Rudi, It sounds too mainstream to me. Some are good pop songs but in my opinion, with a bit more effort, they could have made more special songs out of it that really stood out from the swamp of mainstream music. The songs are too easy, too flat if you know what I mean.

[@JimNewstead]

Not everything has to be overly complicated… I love some good straight rock and roll, but it has to be done tastefully. I don’t think there’s anyone better at this than VHB. And when they go prog, they go deep!

[@palantir135]

@ i agree Jim. Listen to Aurora - It all happened quiet (live at the current). Very simple melody but with lyrics ten times deeper as VHB and very beautiful harmonies. To me this song is a better pop song than what I heard here. Abba - Eagle. You can almost feel that you’re flying along with an eagle. There are many songs in the world that I like, more or less but they don’t give me that shiver that the, for me, excellent songs do. That tingling over your back, that warm feeling you get. Songs don’t have to be complicated to do that. Last night the VHB songs were lacking that extra that could give me that feeling. Could be my fault, I was tired. I’ll listen to them again in your next video. I don’t give up yet.

[@JimNewstead]

@@palantir135 there’s no such thing as fault when it comes to enjoying music. You either like it or you don’t!

[@palantir135]

@@JimNewstead that Aurora song that I mentioned is a real beauty. I can highly recommend to see and listen to that song.

[@tdog5035]

Good album, fun react. See you at the Garage. Recent setlist looks exciting.

[@JimNewstead]

Nice one!

[@Krakeloa]

Good stuff! I could happily listen to music exclusively from the Nordics for the rest of my life. I would of course never limit myself like that voluntarily but if I had to pick only one part of the world's music then I would go for the Nordics. In this context I think it's fair to bunch them all together like that, being such small countries.

[@JimNewstead]

Yeah, there’s an infeasibly large volume of quality output from Scandinavia and the Nordic region.

[@threestringsomg]

@@Krakeloa yeah it's pretty phenomenal what's happening over there the last few decades. Theres so many great acts I already love and keep finding more. Maybe it's something in their diet? Also I'm getting into so much German black metal too lately so so maybe the secret sauce has been crossing borders. 🧐

[@tdog5035]

​@@threestringsomgscandi countries fund every student to own and learn an instrument which is likely part of it.

[@kenl2091]

For some reason my original comment didn't post - it wouldn't let me edit it when, at the end, I realised that you were saying exactly the same as me! No reason at all why the VHB shouldn't be as huge as Coldplay or U2 - this is excellent straightforward mainstream rock/pop. As always, I blame the BBC, Glastonbury and those media music journalists who think Beyoncé is the pinnacle of modern music.

[@rudolfbecker4313]

Hi Ken, welcome to Jim's "inofficial VHB fan club" 🤘 The radio situation in Germany isn't better , chart music all day long and even when they play the good old 70s, it seems, it's always the same 100 songs. I'm hoping to see the brothers next year on tour or at any festival in Germany, Belgium, Netherlands ... til then I'll watch my Live at Tavastia DVD of this year and of course my collection of live songs on the channel 🤘

[@JimNewstead]

Agreed totally with you Ken. Elsewhere Will is arguing this is too shiny, too mainstream. I think it is thoughtfully produced and accessible. Tastefully done!

[@michaelorridge8018]

Great band that actually backs it up live too. Album after album, this band delivers. I would love to see them and Marillion tour together. What a night that would be

[@rudolfbecker4313]

I'm not sure if that's a perfect fit : after having seen the brothers live I couldn't get real enthusiastic about Riverside who played afterwards. When the brothers rock the stage it's hard for the following bands to keep this level of fun, joy whatever 🤔

[@JimNewstead]

Can’t wait to see them in London in December…. I’m taking my brother along. He has no idea who he’s going to see or what they play. I think he’ll enjoy it!

[@threestringsomg]

Its happy!!!😱😱😱👻 Im not used to happy or uplifting. Its almost counter intuitive that second to last track. Mix of mgmt and coldplay and a tiny bit of something i love in pop - synth - recently got into The Midnight (ok it was via a 'terrifying' horror film soundtrack...but still!) but im also massive Chvurches fan so i like this hint of 80s. The last track with the orchestra....🖤sorrows back!....i will learn to live again very filmic....like the production on that thump of the drums.

[@JimNewstead]

There’s space for happy! Always space for happy…. Isn’t that what we’re all aiming for in life?

[@threestringsomg]

@@JimNewstead oh yes... that's true.... especially recently in my own that's been big thing. But of course not bright and chirpy doesn't necessarily mean darker side of music is devoid of happiness. Grim stuff makes me very happy too most the time! I guess misery loves company lol 😂 ... Wow I really sound like a goth or that funny character in it crowd behind the red door!😎

[@threestringsomg]

Yeah its all your fault Jim😂 seriously though - i agree they should be alot more popular - but you never know what will suddenly be absorbed by the masses in the current zeitgeist...👻👻👻

[@rudolfbecker4313]

I can recommend to anybody who's got the chance to go and see them live. In addition to the great songs and compositions the vibe that comes from the stage will make you go home as a more than happy person. So I did last year when I saw them at Midsummerprog/NL. Can it be better ? Yes, because I met all 3 brothers at the merch and we talked a bit, great guys, can't wait to see them again 😀🤘

[@JimNewstead]

Haha! I’m used to getting blamed for stuff!

[@threestringsomg]

@@rudolfbecker4313 was considering joining Jim at the garage for their gig but unfortunately it's a venue that doesn't have facilities which enable me to be there safely. Besides I'm saving my remaining gig energy for Iron Maiden next year in Stratford!!!! 🤩can't wait🖤

[@palantir135]

Ho Jim, Until now, I only liked a few songs by them so I’m curious if more songs will follow. 1st song. Nice start of the song. Well, it’s a good song but no more than that for me. And what is that saxophone doing there. I don’t like the wild ending. 2nd song. I don’t understand what he’s singing about. Maybe it’s not a problem for a native English speaker. I’m not impressed by this song. Thirteen in a dozen pop song. 3rd song. No, doesn’t work for me. It’s not bad but the song doesn’t give me that tingling feeling over my back. 4th song. Very nice start, this feels better. I like this but it’s still only a good pop song to me, not an excellent one. 5th song. Not impressed again. It could have been a better song but now it’s not fanciful enough. Sorry Jim.

[@JimNewstead]

Doesn’t bother me Will. I’m sorry you didn’t like it!

[@RichardMathews-gv7lb]

@@palantir135 the first VHB album I got was New Day Rising some years back and listened to it once and thought yeah a couple of bangers but then put it away for maybe 6 years and then got an opportunity to see them live a couple of years ago in a small venue… and was thoroughly astounded by them. Suffice to say I went down the rabbit hole and downloaded their last 6 albums and they have been pretty much on a loop ever since. Your response is pretty much verbatim my own at first listening but what I have learnt since is that the adage ‘grower rather than shower’ could be applied to VHB’s musical output without any blushes.