The Gathering

I don't know why it took me so long, but I watched the Romanian press conference, and was struck by the brief comments about Almost A Dance.

I had read in the past that the band doesn't like that album, the bio says that they didn't do the album whole-heartedly so to speak, and at the conference they were saying in so many words that they don't understand how people could get into it.

I think it's a passionate and powerful album, and it's very impressive that they recorded it live. So it's very cool that The Gathering gave us a version of "Like Fountains" on Sleepy Buildings, given that Almost A Dance isn't a favorite of theirs, and it's great that they put it out again on Psychonaut. To me the album can be looked at as a bridge between Always... and Mandylion.

Anybody else share my love for Almost A Dance? I'm just curious. Thank you.

well I dont have this particular album in my heart... You can indeed hear some things that will be developed in Mandlyion and also one riff that is so close to the riff in the verse of Confusion on NB.
But the fact the album was recorded live doesn't mean in front of an audience... just means everything was captured at once on tape... bit like what happened with Home actually, it got recorded live and of course so corrections/ adds on came later on in the process...

But For me Almost... is a bit like a History document. It's a necessary step to have the global picture of the band (like the Downfall demo compilation) but it's definitely the least worthy effort of the band by far!

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Maybe i'm paranoid, yeah that's my problem
You almost have to be when you look like me

Almost A Disaster(Dance), is way the most rockin' album tG has ever written, all the guitar riffs are ass kickin', and the fact Mike Patton, or something alike to him, has sang on it make it "A Trve Cvlt Albvm" !

I would love if they decide someday make an "AAD Redux", but I heard they made some kind of a pledge, between the band and Niels-Martine, to never mess with the vocals or lyrics.

There are some demos with Bart singing, few songs, like Heartbeat Amplifier, A Passage to Desire and others with different lyrics.

Hans can you please give us more info about it?

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I like this album
there is interessing songs like "on a wave","blue vessel","the sky people" or "nobody dares" but I admit that the voice get me on the nerve,in the long run.

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You pull me down - I fake a laugh - I sway
You broke my heart – I fell so hard always
Because of you I’m still afraid today
Because of you I’m still afraid today

i really really like this album although it took me sometime to get use to the vocals-very good ideas in it

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...so ironic to leave so soon...

http://www.godflesh.com

http://www.myspace.com/nationalpornografik

http://www.myspace.com/chproject1

I have always thought there's some mistake with the songs;
Nobody Dares & The Sky People, I mean Nobody Dares seems to have more meaning with the lyrics of the sky people and the other way around.

check out the lyrics.

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Proof is a great song. The rest of the album is, well, not bad. Except for the vocals, they are awful. Niels isn't a bad singer per se, but his voice doesn't fit the music. Martine just couldn't sing.

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You know all roses should be white.

True the fact her career wasn't that remarkable. But I'll desagree with your words. Her voice was weak and out of key most of the times, but even though I liked her singing... pity she only tried metal bands; The Gathering, Orphanage, Lords Of The Stone, maybe something more poppish would make her shine as a start. The same goes with Niels he's an excellent composer/musician but not for metal/rock stuff.

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Any bootleg/video update yet?

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Op mijn manier.....

Off topic:
@The Unknown: I know I'm in debt with some ppl, specially you and smart bits
Actually I'm pretty close to end my school (next week), so I'll have plenty time to work on that.

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Hehehe I thought I was the only one who thought of Patton when listening to this album

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Playoffs? Don't talk about -- playoffs? You kidding me? Playoffs??

I also think this album its a masterpiece. As has been said in this topic, you can cleary notice to direction TG was taking around that time.

And about the vocals, I also think are pretty good. I still dont understand why ppl dont like em. Mmmmmm, maybe 'cos -like me- most got into this album after listening TG with Anneke... who knows

I must say that for some moment I dont like some of the vocal lines, but nothing to dont listen to this album

-->Gerardo

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A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.

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That would not explain why Always is truly considered (with good reasons) as a masterpiece, and AAD not.

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Maybe i'm paranoid, yeah that's my problem
You almost have to be when you look like me

I guess I just think that the two early albums aren't sufficiently well known for some people (like me) to make up their minds. I have a very distant recollection of hearing some of the early stuff - probably from Always - long before I really connected with TG. Therefore, Always may have acquired a kind of mystical status through being thought of as a rare "underground" album, while Mandylion became legendary because of the arrival of Anneke, and Almost a Dance just got lost down the middle. To this day, I've still never heard the album properly.

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Hmmm the thing is when Always... got released, it created a buzz around the band's name... which is something Almost A Dance never did for several reasons (change of musical direction, not best choice of new singers, etc)
sure most people discovered those albums after Mandylion, but still those people took time to dig into the Gathering's past and I guess those who could handle the grunts found in Always something you cant find in any other album... you can also say that for AAD but unfortunately I think this is not for the same reasons...

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Maybe i'm paranoid, yeah that's my problem
You almost have to be when you look like me

I remember reading in the liner notes for Accessories that that "Adrenaline" (and maybe "Third Chance"?) was written in the Almost A Dance period, if memory serves. When you look at it that way, you can totally hear Nils could be singing that song. That tune kicks serious butt either way, and I'm glad the band played it on the new DVD. As I was saying before, how cool is it that The Gathering has given its fans some old school material in the past, like when they used to play "Stonegarden" full-on in the late 90s and later, and bringing "Adrenaline" back on the DVD.

As they've hinted that the new album will be in some sort of a heavier direction, I hope they dust off "Stonegarden" again too, and "The Mirror Waters", for live. The first time I saw The Gathering live in the US, they played one or two songs of the first album and I couldn't fuckin' believe it. I was blown away - they sounded great with Anneke singing. Now all we need is something from Almost A Dance and we'll be set, ha ha!

Indeed, but growling is way more common (Even in those days) in metal,that the way Niel sings on AAD... I think that explains it... maybe jajaja

-->Gerardo

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A celibate clergy is an especially good idea, because it tends to suppress any hereditary propensity toward fanaticism.