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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Pure Beauty..., April 11, 2007
Abigail's Ghost hits home with their first album "Selling Insincerity" with intricate beautiful music. There is obvious Porcupine Tree influence throughout the whole album, and naturally I loved it seeing as Porcupine Tree is one of my favorite bands. Anyways, going right into it, the instrumental prowess each musician presents is brilliant.
Guitar playing is definitely cutting edge, proving to be both speedy and turbulent at times when it is needed, but then immediately switching to heart-felt emotional guitar parts; especially at solos, very mellow and cool! The heavy riffing, ambient clean guitar and entrancing accoustic guitar all compliment each other perfectly throughout the album. Great examples of this are in songs like "Close," "Dead Peoples Review," and "Seeping" just to name a few. It's obvious that guitarist, Josh Theriot knows a lot about the instrument and how to get exactly what he wants out of it, simply great.
The vocals and lyrical content are very free-flowing, great melodies and the harmonization is just fantastic. I also really like the voice the lead singer has, comparable to Steven Wilson, which is in no way a bad thing. Overall Theriot delivers again with bass player Kenneth Wilson and keyboardist Brett Guillory adding to their list of talents with this tremendous and emotional display vocals.
The drumming is absolutely magnificent, one of the first things I noticed about the song "Close" was how addictive and smooth the drum beats were. Another great song with really technical and perfectly controlled drumming is "Sellout." Great control on the snare and extremely powerful drum fills using the double kick. The whole album has great drumming, very talented guy here!
I was also a really big fan of the bass in this album. In most bands, the bass simply follows the guitar, not adding its own layer to the music. Thankfully this is not the case with Abigail's Ghost. The bass always adds its own element to the song as well as carries the song throughout the whole album. I find myself humming these addictive and catchy rhythms all the time, really good stuff.
Finally, although in some songs not as impactive, the keyboard adds another facet to Abigail's Ghost melodic songwriting. It is great because it doesn't go over the top. Exactly the opposite in fact, the lovely piano parts give many songs such as "Sellout" and "Monochrome" the perfect accent of ambience that send the listener to another place. In a word, beautiful.
Overall, the band is awesome and right now I bet you're wondering "if they're so great, what's with the four star rating?" I really enjoy their music, but at some points I often felt like they sounded very similar to Porcupine Tree. This is not exactly a bad thing, and since it is their first album, it's understandable that they may not have found their sound yet, but the vocalist seems to be nearly parallel with Steven Wilson with his approach on vocals. This doesn't kill the band though, and there is no doubt in my mind that Abigail's Ghost will eventually find their sound. I am anxious to see how great this band could get, they are already so awesome!
If Amazon allowed me, I would give this album a 4.5 it is a GREAT album and I would reccomend it to any fan of Porcupine Tree or just great music in general!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A mindblowing debut, September 15, 2007
Selling Insincerity is the debut album of Abigail's Ghost, a young American band formed around the nucleus of guitarist and vocalist Joshua Theriot and bassist Kenneth Wilson. Though the band avoids categorization, their style of music mostly falls into progressive rock that emphasizes a blend of groove, spacey atmospheres, and excellent vocal harmonies.
This is a self-released effort, drawing from a vast library of influences including Porcupine Tree, A Perfect Circle, Tool, Massive Attack, and Rush. The low bass drones of the album opener "Mazurka" lead into the rhythmically aware "Close", which immediately stands out for its Porcupine Tree-like vocal arrangement, sparse drum beats, and bleak synth lines. The chorus of the song is incredibly memorable, and helps thicken the already dense soundscape. You can hear lots of weird sound collections in the background if you listen with a good set of headphones. The song breaks down into a creepy middle section filled with cold acoustic guitars capped by powerful bass strokes and distant keyboards.
Joshua Theriot employs a similar vocal recording technique to Steven Wilson; he utilises the same processed vocal style and laidback singing whilst continuously exerting a melodious delivery. His vocal melodies on songs like "Waiting Room" and "Seeping" are amazing. Though most will be reminded of Steven Wilson when hearing him sing, Theriot cites Chris Corner of IAMX and Sneaker Pimps as his main influence. He is also an excellent guitar player, adding varied guitar sounds to the compositions. He can go from elegiac lead playing on "Monochrome" to atonal expressions on "Love Sounds" and "Cerulean Blue", both of which boast a Belew-like tone and articulation.
Kenneth Wilson's backing vocals and bass are equally important to the success of these songs. Not only is he a gifted songwriter, he is also an excellent producer given the duo's limited resources when recording this album. If it weren't for the amazing production, there is no way these songs would sound as good as they do. Wilson's bass playing is particularly central on "Cerulean Blue", complete with industrial-like beats, eerie sounds, and manipulated vocal parts. The mix on this song is phenomenal, blowing the listener away with killer right-left speaker panning.
The other members' performance is awesome as well. The studio drummer did a great job, as he exerts both classic 4/4 beats and complex polyrhythms depending on the flow of the song (he is now replaced by permanent member John Patrick Rodrigue). They have also enlisted a second guitar player since they cut the record: Randy Paul. However, Joshua Theriot's guitar work is solid through and through with crunchy rhythms and excellent leads. Theriot has also recorded some synths along with keyboardist Brett Guillory who brings in Barbieri-like synth textures in order to reach necessary atmospheres.
The lyrics are thought-provoking and match the incredible artwork perfectly. The image on the front cover gives a sense of separation while the baby doll lying on the ground in the foreground has ties to themes of abandonment, which is explored on the album. Also, "Sellout" could be read as a nod to Porcupine Tree's "The Sound of Muzak", but it is also about compromising oneself. The band isn't that keen on talking about their lyrics as they believe it might defeat the purpose of extrapolating one's own meaning.
Fans who enjoy progressive music that marries the hallmarks of Porcupine Tree's modern-sounding material with the harmonies of Cure and A Perfect Circle should check this disc out. Selling Insincerity is one of the best debuts of the year along with Thought Chamber's Angular Perceptions and John Macaluso & Union Radio's The Radio Waves Goodbye.
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14 of 18 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good, but imitated., April 10, 2007
Let me say that I agree that these musicians are definitely a talented bunch and create some great music ambience. However, I also must say that this is the most blatant imitation/copy of Porcupine Tree I've ever heard(In Absentia, Deadwing anyways, hence the 3 star review). As one reviewer said his g/f thought it was a S.W. project. That's because it sounds exactly like PT from the vocal style/timing to the bass & guitar interaction. If you dont believe me listen to Mother May I on A.G'g album then listen to So Called Friend by PT and try to tell me I don't have a point. After all that, we can hope these guys will be able to find their own voice on their next effort. If you just can't get enough PT buy this album and pretend it's them, =P
Peace
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