Listening to Haken: Fauna, Side 4

[@christophmozure9413]

I think it’s their best record. The sound quality is astounding and every song has something. For me it’s Fauna, Affinity, The Mountain, Vector, Virus and then I like the EP. They’re all good though.

[@leejlogan]

Same, love everything and in for life 😍

[@thundersnow93]

All excellent, but if I had to rank at this point: Affinity, Visions, Virus, Fauna, EP (for Crystallized!), Mountain, and Vector.

[@argoperdana6823]

But where's Aquarius?

[@christophmozure9413]

@@argoperdana6823 love it. I’ve listened to Aqua medley 100x. But 2nd to last place doesn’t mean bad. For Visions Nocturnal Conspiracy is one of my favorite songs. I’m just not a huge fan of the circus stuff but I tolerate it well enough.

[@tylerbailey9329]

Elephants is fantastic, but Eyes of Ebony is my favorite. The chorus and the outro put a lump in my throat every time, absolutely beautiful stuff.

[@maurobilotti]

Mine too... is gives me goosebumps every time I listen to it. The build up is very organic which is sometimes the only critic that I have to Haken. This songs surfes the wave with a lot of flow.

[@mastrebliw4179]

eyes of ebony is awsome... its floaty, and pretty

[@nathanaelcole8466]

Finally figured it out, near the end of Elephants, there is a section that reminds me of Avenged Sevenfold. Ranking Haken albums is pretty much impossible! They don't miss, they don't have any duds.

[@thundersnow93]

I think that Jim's channel here is about the best reaction channel I have seen. He doesn't resort to expletives and crudeness to make his point about how inspiring the music is to him. I appreciate how intellectual, intelligent, and thoughtful his reaction videos are. Keep up the great work Jim!

[@JimNewstead]

Thank you!

[@MrScary67]

@@JimNewstead this is exemplified in Jim's comments after listening to Messiah Complex. I've listened to these comments a few times. He summed up how crazy it is that some people are content with basic pop and never hear this great music. Keep playing Jim, we'll be listening too.

[@jpwwilson430]

I've never heard of this band before but I really enjoyed this album 🙂

[@JimNewstead]

Never heard of them? Ok… You have a treat in store. Aquarius, Visions, The Mountain, Affinity, Vector, Virus and now Fauna. Lots to listen to!

[@commentathor1997]

@@JimNewstead don't forget the Restoration!

[@jpwwilson430]

@@JimNewstead take it, I'm going to have to take a trip down this rabbit hole 🐇 👍

[@chessbrainiac]

​@@jpwwilson430 You are in for quite a ride, sir!

[@Atlassilver1]

The influences really do show here, and no one does this kind of stuff better than Haken imo! I was really intrigued by the lyrics in Elephants when I first heard it. After some research, I think it's one of their best works of storytelling

[@JimNewstead]

Love it!

[@jamesschultz8260]

After listening to it 4 to 5 times, it’s now my favorite album of theirs. Vector is my 2nd favorite. I’m more into the heavy technical stuff & not as big of a fan of the quirky stuff. But they do it just enough on those 2 albums to where I love it.

[@leejlogan]

Thanks again Jim, a pleasure listening to this with you as always. Couldn't have put it better "They are an incredibly important band and we should cherish them"

[@JimNewstead]

My pleasure! Loved every second of it!

[@Jaymzmiller]

I love this new album, it's phenomenal. So many catchy moments, great breakdowns, cool solos, all with top-notch tones and engineering. It's amazing. My favourite Haken album is usually the most recent one I've listened to, they're just all so great.

[@ryanmcgill5048]

Good Morning (Afternoon) 😊 Haken Time... ladies and non so GENTLE men

[@ottolehto]

Enjoyed your reaction, as always! After 3-4 listens, this album is perhaps my favourite Haken record, or close to it. It has amazing production values and a great range of songs, ideas, and emotions. I was lucky enough to see them live in NYC last week: a stellar double set where they played the entirety of the album and tons of other stuff! As you said: one of the most talented groups around today...

[@skeletankmcgraw7343]

This is one of those albums that takes many listens before deciding which tracks are your favorite and where the album itself stands amongst other Haken albums.

[@vladimirvelikov8115]

Man, I looked forward to seeing your reaction when the quirkiness begin and you delivered...It brought a wide smile seeing your enjoyment.

[@BuPan]

I hear everything you said in Elephants, but i also hear a lot of Dream Theater, specifically around Awake and then a little of SDOIT, of course the bass breakdown is also very Nine Inch Nails, and then the chorus with the sitar just brings me to Chrono Trigger

[@jonathanromankiw692]

Really outstanding album as expected. Definitely one of the best if not the best you will have the pleasure listening to this year in my own humble opinion Jim.🔥🎸🔥👍

[@WooBino.]

Nice to see there is again a market for bands to release on vinyl. I thought for sure that vinyl would be long gone by now. Nothing better than a full jacket to look over.

[@xlerb_again_to_music7908]

I could learn to like this,,, definitely like the melodic passages in last track. I wrote poetry about my father too, when he passed . Also when two beautiful grand nieces visited; the lack of children of my own ached my heart

[@PaulHilburger]

Elephants Never Forget is the best track on the record.

[@BayouMaccabee]

I can't decide if the best track is "Elephants Never Forget" or "Sempiternal Beings".

[@Arrow2theACL]

Great great album. The one thing I miss the most from this album is the reoccurring musical motifs that Haken likes to do. What usually blows my mind from this band is how they can be in a new tune, have it sound like it's own thing then have a reoccurring musical concept from earlier in the album return, but have it fit the current track. I do however, think that was intentional to have all the tracks stand alone on this album.

[@Beardfish.]

Again, I agree with you! I bet you're a big fan of TDH

[@Arrow2theACL]

@@Beardfish. Yes!! Love The Dear Hunter!!

[@jamesbligh6607]

Thanks for that Jim. love seeing your reactions. Roll on march 26th @ hammersmith!

[@ShawarmaEnjoyer534]

I've been waiting for this video for so long. Thoroughly enjoyed watching the other ones as well, of course (especially with Sempiternal Beings being my favourite song), but I absolutely wanted to see your take on Elephants, which is definitely one of the most technical songs on this album. Hope to see more Haken soon. Cheerio :)

[@the_shadow_realm5110]

What a legend. He loves it!!! This is my favourite track on the album.

[@MaraxisArcanist]

The quirkiness is the part I can't get behind. 🤣 A good album, regardless. Thanks Jim!

[@JimNewstead]

Awww, sorry to hear that. For me it is the bit that makes them stand out from the crowd!

[@MaraxisArcanist]

@@JimNewstead I think they still stand out based on their prog metal compositions, but the quirkiness is certainly their brand.

[@chessbrainiac]

​@@JimNewstead I agree wholeheartedly. It gives their music a playful nature like no other contemporary progressive band. Not caring about expectations and boundaries.

[@milton1448]

The Haken circus is back in town!!

[@jotarokujo7955]

I can´t really do a ranking of Haken album the fact is I love them all but Affinity has a special place in my heart

[@JimNewstead]

I know what you mean…. The Mountain is the special one for me!

[@palantir135]

First song: At last, this is what I want to hear from Haken. I mentioned yesterday that I love complicated music like Gentle Giant’s and the older Haken. You named it missing quirkiness and indeed, that’s what we’ve missed. This is excellent stuff. Second song: nice and quiet start. Moving. My father died 25 years ago 😢. Still miss him. Will I buy this album. Probably not because I only really like this one side of the record. But things may change after hearing the record a second time. Mountain is also my favorite album. And I like Vision and Virus. Don’t know every album by them.

[@kenl2091]

Nice to see Brian May working again (on Elephants Never Forget) ... and how did they get the tape of Freddy Mercury singing with Gentle Giant??? ;) Seriously though, this album is 95% successful with just a couple of ho-hum predictable moments. In your comments I suggested that the new Riverside album sounded like a number 12 in my year end list. This is definitely top 5, probably no.3. (Which means that there are two better to come! How good is that!)

[@JozoTm]

Elephants Never Forget is definitely their proggiest song, though for me personally that can make the song less good because it loses coherence and melody. But I knew it would grow on me the more I listened to it. Still it's not my favorite of the album. My initial list after listening to the album was: 1. Beneath the White Rainbow 2. Nightingale 3. Eyes of Ebony 4. Sempiternal Beings 5. Elephants Never Forget 6. Taurus 7. Island in the Clouds 8. The Alphabet of Me 9. Lovebite But now I'm so lost on where to put the songs 3-7. Rainbow immediately got a spot in my top100 of all time and wil remain my number 1; Alphabet and Lovebite have grown on me a lot but I can't seem to be able to move them up because of how good all the other songs are. This album is just amazing quality through and through! YET, I don'th think I can place it much higher than second last if I rank the albums. Because it lacks the Haken WOW factor that usually is applied to their Epics. My current album rank would be: 1. Aquarius 98/100 2. Visions 96/100 3. Virus 95/100 4/5. Vector 94/100 4/5. The Mountain 94/100 6. Fauna 92/100 7. Affinity 89/100 Vector and The Mountain similarly lacks Epics so Fauna could come closer to them eventually. Though I think my personal taste resonate more with the music in those two albums. :)

[@davidlane2737]

Did not like the Gentle Giant sound, but the rest of it was just fine.

[@JimNewstead]

It takes some getting used to!

[@PaulHilburger]

boooo

[@davidlane2737]

@@JimNewstead I have tried listening to Gentle Giant quite a few times but I just don't get it.

[@RemnantsOfBeauty]

I might be in the minority but I really hate the "circus" sounding elements of Haken's songs. I much prefer the prog metal stuff.

[@Arrow2theACL]

"Hate?" Come on now, but I get it. I'm not a fan of the heavy down tuned guitars that were all over Vector and Virus, but still enjoyed the album. This album definitely has a combination of them all. Great vocal melodies, quirkiness, heavy guitar and some new stuff their experimenting on. Brilliant record.

[@alihijazi4451]

I'm with you! I prefer the prog metal elements too. But, I would never go as far as to say that I hate the quirky and playful stuff. After a couple of listens to Elephants Never Forget, it really started to grow on me, and I now appreciate the creativity and diversity of sounds the band can produce. Give it some time to digest, maybe come back to it later with an open mind and ear, and you'll enjoy it more!

[@Arrow2theACL]

@@alihijazi4451 It probably depends on your introduction to a band. Of course you are going to like what hooked you initially in the first place. My introduction to Haken was Celestial Elixir, so Elephants is a track I have been waiting for them to get back to since then.

[@JimNewstead]

Never mind…. I love it but as we all know, music is subjective!

[@Beardfish.]

@@Arrow2theACL Hard agree. But I also discovered them with Aquarius. To my ears, Elephants Never Forget is the best track they have put out in quite some time.