The Gathering

I actually agree with Magnoodles on some points (the "everything TG/Anneke did is fantastic"). First time I've heard alone, was actually the warm up show in Nijmegen before the DVD recording in Paradiso.
I indeed loved that very lyrical part at the end of the song but I couldnt stop thinking the song was incomplete back then... Like it should have carried on and go even more powerful/lyrical. I told the band after that gig and well, they knew what I meant.
Alone on Home was first a bit of a disappointment but the song grew on me... And now my fave version is the live version

@Magnoodles : if you havent heard that one, you can grab A Noise Severe (and BTW some recording of Home you'll hear in the documentary on DVD2, that's no demo but that's also not the finished songs )

Now the AdA version of Alone, I already said, misses (for me) the bloody groovy bass line and the full samples lot...

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

In other words, I think you're saying that AdA is perhaps too stripped down. You see, in most musical comparisons, this wouldn't matter. Compare a mainstream rock (or "post-rock"?) band to TG. Most of these bands are going to sound stripped down by comparison. This is where we've all become a little spoilt - we expect all that colour and texture. In the meantime, someone comes along and writes a truly stripped down song - just acoustic guitar, voice and the odd sound effect - and we think it's great, because in that new circumstance we're not making comparisons.

What I'm saying here is that making comparisons, while perfectly understandable, isn't necessarily a good thing to do. But things get even more complicated when an artist takes a song from one band environment to another.

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@ Geoff:

off topic
I assume "post" word from "post rock" has no meaning ("post rock" or "after rock") or no sense.
and that these bands are numerous but this is still a very rich style and more creative than millions female voice bands (Nightwish, & Co) you still like and for which CDs available in every shops (after so many years they existed)... these are the ones to be mainstream currently and the poorest from inspiration and creativity.

otherwise i recommend you post rock bands like APSE, Lis Er Stille, Magyar Posse, Laura...
listen to all their albums and maybe you would change your mind. i don't think you did it already..

@geoff
actually I think Anneke solo was better than AdA... maybe indeed because the songs were totally raw: one voice one guitar/piano and that was it...

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

I really agree with that. It depends on what you really expect from AdA, even as a TG fan.

basically and personally, i didn't try to make any comparison between AdA and TG before Air was released. The challenge was like ridiculous.
it's like comparing TG with another music band in general. that's ridiculous... vocals are not everything.

as far as i'm concerned, I saw and still see AdA as a different band... not a TG competitor (not like disappointed fans in here) ... then there come some different conclusions for everyone.

I don't like AdA music because of the instrumental... like you were asking my opinion about any new instrumental and music bands i would have heard for the first time... i mean the melodies and the atmosphere...
i'm not looking for layers and so on I mean....
I mean you can perform great music without layers...

well, Air is not good as music album (it's not that bad too for a first try) but I still expect better things from AdA in the future.

I'm waiting for a while before listening to it in the days/weeks/months.
tastes still evolve and our mind can change any time.

on topic: I don't care about listening to TG songs from AdA. i still don't feel sentitive to this decision from Anneke. i mean if the music sounds good, that 's cool.. if not so, nevermind. basically, what makes me being a TG fan is the music only and the respect toward the artist...some passion i can have with anybody in here.
From my own experience, what annoys me in some typical fans, especially in a topic like this, is they always want to get right, to prove they are fans, to voice others and so on... yeah like they are the voice of reason... but who do they think they are anyway? there's no loyalty if there's no respect. Criticizing Anneke decision is a total lack of respect to me. then that's my own feeling. that's it.

One can criticize Anneke for leaving (abandoning, according to some) the band. Fact is, that's her choice. You can feel sad about the end of TG as we knew it for so long, but you can never blame her for a personal choice she made. Those are personal attacks and say more about the "fan" than about Anneke. Without her input, you wouldn't have the music you have now. Be glad about what you have. For the other band members I can imagine things being different, but that is something between the band and Anneke, and we as fans have absolutely nothing to do with that.

And you may or may not like ADA for various reasons, but butchering them because Anneke "betrayed" everyone is rather childish.

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You know all roses should be white.

Anneke can do whatever she wants. If she felt that it is time to move on maybe it was.
Ada is a young band. Give them a time to mature. Lets wait few years and see if something
nice will come out of it if they stay together that long. At least one good thing, they don’t
have “Cookie Monster” vocals.

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Without music, life would be a mistake.
Friedrich Nietzsche

Air is, IMO, overall, a better album than Home. There are one or two songs on Home (Waking Hour comes to mind) that are slightly better than anything on Air, but Air is an album I can (and have) listen to over and over without skipping any songs, whereas Home had some dull spots. Sorry, I love TG but AdA's Air is what Home SHOULD have been.

My thoughts exactly, but this topic is about Anneke's loyalty, not about the album Air

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You know all roses should be white.

Yeah, but... this is how normal, "real life" conversation evolves, no? I mean, one idea leading to the next. It'd suck if you were driving along in a car with your buddies, and the one dude in the back seat kept yelling "HEY, STAY ON TOPIC!!!", lol... People offer opinions on here, which leads to the branching off of new thoughts and ideas. As long as we don't get to the point where we're arguing about global warming or foreign policy, I'd say it's all good.

Yeah, you're right of course. But there already is a topic about ADA's Air, and this was a comment that didn't really reply to anything in this particular topic.

Nevermind, there's nothing wrong with a healthy off-topic discussion. You have my blessing

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You know all roses should be white.

this thread is about Home v/s Air now.

no, seriously i don't understand why you guys likes this kind of discussions so much, what's done is done, and yeah, personal choices are always respectables, Anneke can do whatever she wants and she don't have to be loyal to nobody here (I mean the fans...). period.

So you're saying... we're not allowed to even talk about it?! If you don't care to participate, that's fine. But don't shit on other people for having thoughtful discussion. That's just... pompous? Reading other peoples' ideas on this board sometimes helps me to see things from different angles. I like that. You know, the whole idea of... thinking?!

I'll never understand folks who get pissy at other people on discussion boards for... *gasp* ...discussing things, lol? But then again, maybe sometimes it's just a case of Anneke's Army of Blind & Loyal-to-the-Death followers getting a bit too sensitive & uppity; and having to remind us all that NO MATTER WHAT, Anneke Can Do No Wrong.

So I hereby revoke any and all of my previous comments, which may have contained any critique, or critical thinking... From now on, I promise to be a robotic ass-kisser, and only heap mountain upon mountain of praise, upon on everything Anneke does; whether it be related to music, or simply life in general.

*puts blinders on*

No matter if she does boring pink music since now and on... she always will be beloved for me, it's something about what she is, and how important she was for the band. I "think" she deserves some respect. This doesn't mean I am an Anneke's ass kisser, I can also bash her music, if I'm in the mood, as a matter of fact anyone can do after all this will be opinions and this is right the proper place to post them, this shit is not a freaking war, so you don't have to choose any side at all, you can enjoy both bands or stick around only with The Gathering because If we want to praise Ada, we go to that forum, right?, there's no guilty one, and there's no enemy. Of course we can discuss about music, but no talking shit about people in personal attacks.

And for the record; I hate Home as much I hate Air. LOL

ave all mighty The Gathering give us a new album sooooooon please.

Ps: f*ck the beer I'm passing out-

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This is the way I've felt since the beginning of this topic, well spoken mr usual suspect.
And Home is leagues above Air!!

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It's a fight, it's a fight

Back in June 2003, my daughter and I went to the Bradford Rio to see one of TG's very few performances in the UK. Neither of us had seen the band live before. Because we weren't sure where we had to go, we allowed plenty of time, and we parked our car just outside the club, about an hour before the gig was due to start. From the outside, the Rio looked like a derelict small factory; inside, TG were warming up and doing sound checks.

As we sat in the car, Anneke began to sing - unaccompanied as far as we could tell. The beautiful voice that drifted out of the untidy shell of that building was mesmerising. Absolutely mesmerising.

Inside the club, we found that we were amongst about 200 people who had bothered to turn up, in a room that would take about 1000. That meant that we were able to stand at the front, get a clear view and spend the next two hours being just as mesmerised. The experience was unforgettable.

Later that year, in Manchester, we got a chance to meet Anneke and talk to her. We all found her to be a charming, friendly, accessible person - but of course our dealings with her are inevitably coloured by that voice, and perhaps by the impact that she's had on TG's songwriting, although we may not have a clear view of how much she's contributed.

There's a lot of emotion tied up in our dealings with Anneke over the years. It colours everything - every thought, every opinion. But, of course, Anneke has the right to do anything she likes, without reference to us. In fact, if she wanted to take part in a Christmas TV special, and sing "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" with a choir of children who were dressed up as elves, there would be absolutely nothing that we could do about it.

Some years ago, rock god David Bowie wiped off his theatrical make-up, abandoned his Ziggy Stardust persona and put on a conventional shirt and tie to join Bing Crosby in a televised rendition of "White Christmas". I'm sure many Bowie fans winced painfully at the time, and I remember thinking that it all looked somehow out of place, but then the guy had a perfect right to do what he did - and who were we to stand in judgement?

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so let's see, it is all about how much you're against christmas tv specials right?

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Actually, yes. You could be right there.

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Geoff, you should write a book (lol i'm kidding)

I have another example about how it's good not to care (i don't personally) about singer's choice or music taste.

I saw a documentary about Hole band on french TV (which i taped) a few years ago. I still see Courtney Love insulting loudly with her mic someone in the audience during the gig who was wearing a Pearl Jam shirt (no it wasn't me lol) and asking him to leave the place only because he was wearing this shirt.

of course, it is ridiculous, but I took this situation only as a provocation (the usual Courtney attitude), so not seriously because i love both Hole and PJ music anyway. I mean even if it was serious, then it would be the same.

Oh! I remember this, but like you I don't care because I love Hole and Pearl Jam...

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