Assemblage: BTBAM Ranked

Snake. 02.20.18	between the boys are back in town and me
Assemblage 02.20.18	BTBABITAM
SitarHero 02.20.18	"Yeah they could have picked some better songs to cover but it's worth at least one listen." Lol. Ok.
Assemblage 02.20.18	What the guy you quoted said. ^^
bgillesp 02.20.18	1,7,2,9,4,6,5,3,Coma Live,8,Vetical Beta I need to jam other two Lives though
Assemblage 02.20.18	Idk, I've listened to them so much in the past they're still 8th on my last.fm at 5,300 plays total. And between 2012 and 2015 there's a huuge gap with only 27 plays between those years until Coma came out then it spiked up again briefly that year.
Assemblage 02.20.18	Colors live is pretty great, about the only thing off is Tommy's harsh vocals at times. The DVD is pretty damn cool too. I was definitely mindblown when it came out.
Assemblage 02.20.18	Also, it doesn't really matter how often I listen to them if it's how I've always felt about it tbh.
MyShadow 02.20.18	just a bad band really
BlackwaterPork 02.20.18	Not really
ExhaleTheLight 02.20.18	[3]
Doctuses 02.20.18	good to see love for the parallax EP. shit slams. that's my number three. Personally I have TGM > Parallax 2 > over the silent circus. TSC That's their least favorite album. Parallax 2 feels way too campy.
Doctuses 02.20.18	and yeah coma is weak sauce
tellah 02.20.18	id swap 1 and 2 and bump 7 up a few spots
Assemblage 02.20.18	Hm, it truly is interesting seeing all the love for TGM. I'm surprised since I didn't think that album had much substance to it after it settled in and I think Parallax II suffers from much of the same to a degree but at least feels a little more expansive. Absolutely agree on the campy factor to P2 which I admittedly liked at the time, but I think songs like Telos, Melting City and parts of Extremophile really show up TGM. I might also be in the minority with not really liking Swim to the Moon all that much but I did see them perform it live back in the day. I just always thought 6 songs was a pretty weak tracklist and I can't get in love with any of them (closest is when Fossil Genera opens into the middle section) except for certain parts. But I can give it another shot.
Emim 02.20.18	Alaska The Silent Circus The rest
Assemblage 02.20.18	So I hear Automata I is 6 songs and Automata II is only going to be 4, and one is a shorter interlude type track. I'm getting a heavy Parallax II mixed with TGM vibe from the song snippets so far but I think the days of Alaska and Colors are over. Too much predictable songwriting prog and less off the wall improvisation.
Assemblage 02.20.18	I thought I might get slammed for Silent Circus being only midway, and for having a three-song EP above it, but that album still sounds premature to me. It was definitely jams though, I still have that T-shirt but it's all wore out.
tellah 02.20.18	Production of TSC stops me from liking it much
Doctuses 02.20.18	For me TGM is heavier, P II is more complete, but more campy. They equal each other in soundscapes though. And yeah the Colors days have been over since 2011. Automata is, I fear, going to be tepid prog rock-metal and just as bad as Coma
Doctuses 02.20.18	Their concepts for their concept albums are getting weaker and weaker and less cool. I mean fam youve gotta be shittin me with the concept of "condemned to the gallows". I mean when the fuck was the last time that was relevant? Two hundred years ago?
Doctuses 02.20.18	Also 8 is awful
Assemblage 02.20.18	Yeah, 8 is pretty cheese nowadays and spun on my ipod for about week, but I do have it over Coma. And I agree with your sentiments on Automata. I can see it being heavier but I'm very reserved as I wasn't much impressed at all with Condemned to the Gallows.
Assemblage 02.20.18	Maybe if there was somewhat of a cohesive concept to TGM as a whole, as opposed to the "each song being it's own sort of story" thing I'd be a little more gravitated to it, because four actual songs does not hold up to me, especially when I'd take any track off of their previous album, or P1 for that matter, over it.
Doctuses 02.20.18	Agreed. Automata is gonna end up at the bottom of this list.
Assemblage 02.21.18	I could see it falling somewhere between Silent Circus and Anatomy of, on here. There is a review of it already online but it's not very greatly detailed.
Confessed2005 02.21.18	Nice to see Alaska high up the list.
Assemblage 02.21.18	Saw Roboturner live too. Amazing
Doctuses 02.23.18	I know what your saying about TGM, there's a lack of complete completeness, but for me except for P1 I liked their music way more before they started on their concept album shit, even if that means P2 is more complete sounding than TGM. I saw them play colors live last year tho that was tits
Doctuses 02.23.18	as far as better albums go your prolly right that p2 > TGM tho, even tho for me it was a step in the wrong direction considering the track theyre on with CE, and now Automata
DinosaurJones 02.23.18	I saw them a few years ago on tour with Coheed. I wasn't very into them at the time, but they played Selkies, so I was satisfied. I don't know that I'd specifically go to see them again, but if they were on tour with a band I liked, I wouldn't mind.
Doctuses 02.23.18	I saw them on that Coheed tour, that was cool
Assemblage 03.06.18	Throwing on Automata I now. Hoping it for the best tbh
cold 03.06.18	This is a pretty perfect list tbh
Assemblage 03.06.18	Damn, thanks ha!
pjquinones747 03.06.18	People seem to be digging Automata more than the last couple releases from what I'm seeing. Didn't like the promo single very much though. It was very ok.
Assemblage 03.06.18	That opening riff of Condemned gets better each time and the first verse is what I love to hear coming from Tommy and Blake. The rest of the album seems very mid-tempo and somewhat ordinary, but a step up from Coma. I'm not really a fan of Tommy's weird clean vocals and kinda wish he'd just sing regularly instead of trying to mask it with some odd cadence all the time. The middle of the album is expansive but doesn't really have a shape to me yet. Like a big inkblot that covers a lot of ground but you can't define whether or not it you can actually make something out of it.
Doctuses 03.06.18	Does it suck or naw
Doctuses 03.06.18	And yea condemned is zzzz
pjquinones747 03.06.18	I feel you on the weird cadence. Trying to carve his name in with the other prog weirdbois with his own sound but often times he just has fallen flat with it starting with Parallax II imo. He has a great singing voice and I prefer normybois.
Assemblage 03.06.18	Does it suck? Not really, but on two listens so far I'd have it at a 3.2. With Condemned being my favorite track, probably because of its conciseness. House Organ is different and Blot is second favorite but I don't dig Yellow Eyes even though the riffs are Famine Wolf-esque. There's progression somewhere but it's really what you'd come to expect from them now and plays like an EP instead of a full length. Overall I would say it isn't even really that climactic.
MotokoKusanagi 03.06.18	wow 5 is way too low
Doctuses 03.06.18	If condemned is the best song then this sounds like a snoozefest like coma. Ill give it a begrudging listen though.
Tundra 03.06.18	Stop talkin shiz before you listen to it...
Assemblage 03.06.18	Yeah I definitely don't want to speak for everyone on it but it does carry more as a successor to Coma than anything, for me. There's more of Tommy's growls but musically it's the same pallette, as if Automata is Coma Ecliptic's half-brother that looks similar but isn't as clean shaven and just hangs around at reunions.
Doctuses 03.06.18	Im pretty confident im going to feel exactly the same way as I do now after I listen to this
Doctuses 03.06.18	Fuck off
Tundra 03.06.18	condemned is easily the worst song on the album, now quit typing the same message
Assemblage 03.06.18	"wow 5 is way too low" I feel you, just nowadays I can't help but think it as somewhat amateurish both in terms of the genre and some of the better compositions on other albums.
Doctuses 03.06.18	we’ll see lol. We’ll see. Im sure you liked the heater coma.
Doctuses 03.06.18	you 5d this get real
Doctuses 03.06.18	i would say this is comas harder, but still gay, older brother 2.7
Assemblage 03.07.18	Fuck this is so good https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Iv8LqzU0W8
Doctuses 03.08.18	Oh yeah I remember this its cool
Motiv3 03.08.18	(not including Anatomy) The Silent Circus Parallax II Alaska The Great Misdirect Colors Parallax I Self Titled Coma
Doctuses 03.08.18	Wot
Doctuses 03.08.18	Colors, alaska, parallax 1, parallax 2, TGM, the silent circus, self titled, automata, coma
Doctuses 03.08.18	Never been so sure about anything in my life lol
Assemblage 03.10.18	There's hardly a single clean vocal line I like on the new one, and Tommy's harshes are a little too hit and miss. Can't really interpret the lyrics too much because at this point the lyrics from the last three concepts could all be mixed and matched, but I consider it a missed opportunity Tommy didn't go for something more akin to a World on a Wire-esque existential drama rather than his usual take on lyrics. Band is too much in their comfort zone and it shows, the whole thing feels like The Coma Machine if it was 35 mins long.
Assemblage 03.10.18	@Doctuses Was there a song you liked more than Condemned since you heard the whole thing now?
Doctuses 03.10.18	Probably yellow eyes, its the closest thing to pre coma btbam. Condemned reminds me of boring 4/4 powerchord only metal.
Doctuses 03.10.18	And yeah I totally agree that they’re way too in their comfort zone. This ep is a heavier coma ecliptic, not a retrogression towards the parallax and TGM era
Doctuses 03.10.18	It will be interesting to read the reviews to automata, they will all be 3.5 and up guaranteed.
Assemblage 03.10.18	I agree, usually the prerelease reviews which are the worst written all were extremely positive, but generally the reception doesn't change much just the quality of writing.
Assemblage 03.10.18	Hm, nothing really clicked for me with Yellow Eyes and many are saying that's a standout but I don't hear it unfortunately.
Assemblage 03.10.18	I guess it's kinda cool that the dude seems to wake up at the end of Blot. Maybe Automata II has the good stuff.
Doctuses 03.10.18	doubt it very much.
Doctuses 03.13.18	Damn you really think automata is better than TGM?
DoofusWainwright 03.13.18	Automatic 1 is my number 1 And also a 1.0
Henderson 03.13.18	(Not including The Anatomy Of) Colors > Alaska > Parallax II > The Great Misdirect > Automata I > Silent Circus > Parallax I > Coma Ecliptic > Self titled Yeah, I think I liked Coma better than most; far from their best work but still really good IMO. The self titled is the only one I don't find myself listening to very often except for a couple tracks (it's still a great album though). Everything else is golden, still one of my top bands since the Alaska days.
Assemblage 03.13.18	@Doctuses. Yeah I gave it a listen on the way home from work yesterday and I honestly thought the entire album was just cringey from top to bottom. I wasn't the biggest fan and it didn't seem to age well at all I'm surprised by the love for it on here, as I think it has every weakness the band is known for, and unabashedly to boot.By the time Disease was coming back in for the second half I wanted to turn it off as it was actively aggravating me.
Doctuses 03.13.18	Yeah disease injury madness is brilliant from a composition standpoint. The whole aong js buolt off that beginning triplet motif. The only fault I find with the album is the solos get too long. Especially at the end of swim to the moon. But otherise its actually metal unlike coma and automata.
Assemblage 03.13.18	Yeah I just added a little blurb about my adjustment in the ranking for TGM and even if I don't like it I'd still take it any day over Coma. Automata is weird because it's so obviously "staying in the middle" in terms of quality of their work, and that's what's most bothersome. No one can say the same about Silent Circus, Alaska or Colors and yet the easier, marketable BTBAM is the good BTBAM.
Doctuses 03.13.18	Well, still better than automata imo
Assemblage 03.13.18	It's all good, there's a handful of bands for me where for some reason my ranking for one album is just not in line with others and that's ok with me. Trying to get better with delivering my opinions on this site without causing too much of a shitstorm lol.
Assemblage 03.13.18	I bumped Parallax 2 up to 5th. For the enthusiast however, I would recommend checking out this sweet video I saw the other day of a medley the band did in 2011 with their older songs. It's fucking good. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTH1v_xkzyw
Doctuses 03.13.18	Yeah I def have p2 above TSC. That album is too raw.
Assemblage 03.13.18	Honestly, I'm more thinking Automata II is going to influence my opinion of I more than anything, so we'll see. I do find it more mature than say TGM, but at the same time it just doesn't advance anything for me. Ehhhggh maybe TGM is better.
Doctuses 03.13.18	it is lol. automata 1 is a heavier coma ecliptic. it's not a retrogression towards the parallax days at all, people think that just because it's heavier. the coma sound is their new sound. heavy emphasis on non traditional band instruments, rock opera in style, and boring.
Doctuses 03.13.18	I know someone was gonna say that.
Doctuses 03.13.18	they reached full metal opera with parallax 2, now it's tepid rock opera like the trans siberian orchestra or something. and yes, theyve always used non traditional elements, but they had always remained a metal band. now its less metal band and more wack-a-doo weirdo stuff. it was cool on colors, it sucks now
Doctuses 03.13.18	TGM was a bigger sound than colors, but it wasn't rock opera status.
Doctuses 03.14.18	Theyre still a band in that they have a guitarist vocalist drummer and bassist. Yes
Doctuses 03.14.18	But I barely call what they do metal at this point
Doctuses 03.14.18	Nah
Doctuses 03.14.18	my taste in metal (and music) was divined from the gods themselves
Doctuses 03.14.18	lol
Doctuses 03.14.18	then it can't be divined
Assemblage 03.14.18	When Coma came out I could tell that if they were to add actual riffs back into their songs the result would be exactly like Automata 1 is, and not in the stylings of Colors etc, etc. You can see every time signature, any 5 second transition at the end of a measure, every heavy or clean part coming a mile away.
Doctuses 03.14.18	exactly. and it's not really progressive then anymore. what they do now should be called operatic metal.
Doctuses 03.14.18	or maybe even the more bland "melodic metal"
Doctuses 03.14.18	prog rock even kind of works.
Assemblage 04.15.18	Goddamn, Augment of Rebirth and Lunar Wilderness go so hard I almost want to change this ranking...
Doctuses 04.15.18	You should lol 4>3 big time lol
Doctuses 04.15.18	Still cant believe u have automata above TGM
Doctuses 04.15.18	I needa re listen to the self titled at some point tho
Assemblage 04.15.18	Lol pretty much the only thing here that's 'out of the norm' is TGM and Coma being so low, and Coma is on a case by case basis with people here. S/T jams and The Silent Circus is put fairly in the middle, as it's really not that exceptional.
Assemblage 04.15.18	Besides I thought you were placeholding that 5 for Automata I when II came out, now yours is almost at my rating. In time your ranking will be too.
Doctuses 04.15.18	Colors, alaska, parallax 1, parallax 2, TGM, the silent circus, self titled, automata, coma
Doctuses 04.15.18	The only thing that may get switched arohnd is ST and TSC. Automata II will be bottom 3 without a doubt
Assemblage 04.15.18	I personally am holding Automata I over TGM now because no matter how bullshit I think it is that it's actually split up in two parts, I believe at least the second half will raise the album as a whole with the last three tracks, as I'm hopefully expecting II to be more in the realm of Parallax I with that runtime between 3 main tracks.
Assemblage 04.15.18	That's actually not bad Doctus, but I thought TGM was your actual favorite though? I mean I've been thinking of dropping Alaska down cause I never listen to it anymore but I know how good it is/was. My top three listened albums are easily Colors, S/T and P1.
Doctuses 04.15.18	What makes you think because they are long tracks that they will be like P1, because it won’t be.
Doctuses 04.15.18	No darius said that
Doctuses 04.15.18	I enjoy TGM over P2 but P2 is a better album
Assemblage 04.15.18	Yeah, I mean I know it won't be in terms of heaviness at all which doesn't really matter, but just hearing how somewhat expansive Blot is I can only assume that the last three will similarly follow suit. It's what I felt Coma Ecliptic was missing and why it was so detrimental to my enjoyability of it.
Assemblage 04.15.18	Ah shit, my bad lol. Yeah I like your ranking, I'd just switch S/T with Silent. Def give it a spin.
Assemblage 04.15.18	Sorry Darius, but I just can't see how TGM isn't just an impersonation of themselves after Colors. All style, little if any substance. Colors wasn't great because it had three 10 minute songs, it's because they were all detrimental to the album as a whole. TGM just goes and goes and goes without ending.
Assemblage 04.15.18	Ugh, this is why Automata kinda pisses me off because really it's just the metal version of Coma and while it's better for being as little as it is, it doesn't have the bite that TGM does have, yet I dislike the structuring of all the songs on TGM so to me it's like which is the better version of the band because they both have their respective pitfalls.
Doctuses 04.15.18	I totally disagree. I'm positive A2 won't be 1/10th anything like P1. Everything they've done since P1 has gone further and further away from that sound. Perhaps some of the riffs will have a P1 charm, but where P1 was sonically tight, A2 will be at loose ends, and where P1 was metal, A2 will be rock-opera. They're leagues apart. A2 will sound EXACTLY like A1. Furthermore, and this should really be the nail in the coffin, I'm absolutely positive the guys have no interest in returning to a sound they've already used. They admit it too. Their idea of creativity, and it's a noble one, is to evolve, which logically means not to devolve, hence the sound change from album to album.
Doctuses 04.15.18	wtf
Get Low 04.16.18	You forgot their best work, Vertical Beta 461.
Assemblage 04.16.18	^^ I'd probably put it between 5 and 6.
Get Low 04.16.18	Respectable.
Doctuses 04.16.18	That stupid song was so hastily written. It sounds like Paul was just dicking around in his bedroom (which is fine by me). But, it was only ever re-recorded to support their Queen cover which by itself would not have been enough to warrant an EP. Let's be real, there's a glaring reason it wasn't included on P1/2 or TGM. It's not deserving of an official release and belongs below Coma Ecliptic. This is coming from a BTBAM enthusiast.
Doctuses 04.16.18	love u dar
Hawks 04.16.18	Band blows agreed everyone.
Hawks 04.16.18	Hahahahahahaha
Doctuses 04.16.18	Pretty much tbh