Not As Good As The Book

The Tangent | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Audio CD (March 4, 2008)
• Original Release Date: 2008
• Number of Discs: 2
• Label: Inside Out Music
• ASIN: B0010WZTLW
• In-Print Editions: Audio CD  |  MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #191,566 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

Disc: 1

1. A Crisis In Mid Life

2. Lost In London (25 Years Later)

3. The Ethernet

4. Celebrity Purée

5. (The Future Was) Not As Good as The Book

6. A Sale Of Two Souls

7. Bat Out Of Basildon

Disc: 2

1. Ours

2. Theirs

3. His

4. Mine

5. The D599

6. Goteborg

7. Last Tango

8. Studio Tan

9. Not A Drill

10. Southend

See all 13 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

"Not As Good As The Book", The Tangent's fourth studio album, is the band's most ambitious project to date, with the Special Edition including a full short novel by band leader and keyboard player Andy Tillison Diskdrive. The album itself is a double CD package featuring shorter songs on the first disc and two epic tracks on the second. Although most of the Tangent's usual hallmarks are existent, there are some deviations into new areas, including the main theme of the problems facing many of us in midlife. Not As good As The Book also seeks to redress the imbalance created by the fact that most rock songs are about young peoples ideals and problems; the future that we dreamed of when we were young is here... and it's Not as Good as the Book!

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars PROG MARVEL, March 14, 2008

By 

Victor Manuel Garcia Fojaco "VIC" (Méxic DF) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Not As Good As The Book (Audio CD)

Great, great, great!!! If you liked their past work "A place in the Queue", expect something more conceptual, more progressive, more inmmersive job. The masterpiece is divided in 2 Cd's, the first one is less conceptual segmented in small songs but linked together to make a cohesive work, maybe the last one form CD1 "Bat of Basildon" the less progressive work; but the the 2nd CD is a progressive, fusion, jazzy extravaganza, two great epics for about 20 mins each., a great job from Tillison and Co. Recommended if you're a prog. fan. 5 stars

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Novel Concept, March 23, 2008

By 

Kurt Harding "bon vivant" (Boerne TX) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Not As Good As The Book (Special Ed.) (Audio CD)

While there may have been other bands that released an album package which included a novel written by one of its principals, I can't think of one. With the special edition of Tangent's new album Not As Good As The Book, that's exactly what happens. And while songwriter/musician/novelist Nick Cave has no reason to look over his shoulder, The Tangent has come up with a novel concept that could well be emulated by the literate polymath Cave in the future.
I've liked The Tangent's other work and so I pre-ordered this here and received it shortly after its release. Overall, I'm not as impressed as I was with the last one, but there is still a lot of "red meat" for the prog lover. Some prog lovers are into it only for the intricacies of the music. But with The Tangent, the lyrics are as important as the music. So, if you are going to enjoy the music as it is meant to be enjoyed, you should also pay attention to the lyrics. This is made easy by the inclusion of the lyrics in the handsome informational booklet that accompanies this set.
Though I pretty much enjoy the entire package, I reserve special admiration for the second disc. This is prog at its best. The two discs together give the listener ninety something minutes of music. The novelette, written by bandleader Andy Tillison, bears the same title as the album and is best enjoyed while listening to the album because of its frequent progressive rock references. You'll even catch a few allusions to earlier Tangent songs.
The uninitiated listener probably will not really understand what this music is about, but fans of The Tangent and other modern prog groups should eat it up.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars So very special..., July 9, 2008

By 

Judge ADGG "Adgg" (R´lyeh) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Not As Good As The Book (Audio CD)

I admit I am a Tangent fan. I got the special edition with the short story booklet and I can say this is a very very special project, recently i had a discussion with a friend regarding the stagnation and impossibility of evolution of prog, as its cemented in nostalgia. This is a concept album, but its not the usual prog concept with epic storyline or topics. For fans of Prog music with a certain knowledge of the genres history this will be a treat, the sci/fi short story/novel and the concept album feature many many references to prog music and the whole idea of nostalgia (the common glue binding the genre together) is handled in a very interesting and at times humorous way.
The main character (alter ego of tangent leader Andy Tillson) goes through a sort of midlife crisis as he recognizes that life is not the promised marvelous, colorful and bright future, but just grim, hence not as good as the book.