Hora's new album "REIGN"

PureElegance

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Which album would you guys recommend for someone who wants to get into him? XD I've wanted to for a while to see what he was like but I've never decided on which album ::meev::
 

desqui

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^ I'd say either.. Prominence, Icebound or Venom. Hahaha, cuz if you get REIGN you miss out on better, but if you get IU, that's a little far back. I seem to have listened to Prominence the most, but that's probably because Icebound and Venom mysteriously disappeared from my computer when I came abroad because I swear I ripped them onto it. I like Ignition too (3rd track). Someone else might say Icebound, maybe. x:

@ Flowers:
Really? More of the first THREE? I think those are the reason why it took me so long to get into the album.
Here Hora didn't make a normal two-pointer, but he Did make both of his free-throws! So in the end, no hard feelings. ;)

But I haven't listened to it since~ so I can't say anything ::bleh::

Woah, but I just realized I am kind of always bias about the last tracks on his CDs cuz they always seem to be the ones I listen to, but I hate that! Which leaves only... the first half. ::erm:: Doublee thinkingg you did.
 

Iskanderia

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Why is IU too far back? I mean, is it good? That's all that should matter, right?
 

desqui

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haha, i asked myself that after i typed that and my answer is
perhpas IU should be bought And something else. OMG i forgot about the World,
probably because I don't have it.


I mean, artists always have that album that all of their fans liked. and so everyone labels it as the best one yadayada (and hora's is IU or the world?, maybe the world), but its not their only work. I mean, if you want to get into someone, shouldn't you get like.. more than just their best one? hmmm, it seems hora's releases aren't as old as I felt, lol
 

Demanufacturer

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IU is the best
short but THE BEST

anyway

lo-fi synths?
80's feel??

WTF HAPPENED HERE???

...still cant wait to have my copy...although i'm getting a bit scared now :(
 

Moizer

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I don't think IU deserves all the credit it deserves >_____>;
then again, this coming from me who thinks REIGN and VENOM are his without-a-doubt best albums.
 

Demanufacturer

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everybody has his/her own tastes views

anyway
cd came in today ^^
that was pretty quick!
here's a very quick ''review'' (have only skipped through teh album, didnt have much time)

so far i'm pretty dissapointed...
some tracks were nice
but i cant stand the heavily looped tracks.. :\
especially the first track.. by god where has his creativity gone to?

Pulse has the exact same syntsh as used in On Fallen (at least that intro synth thing) and VC SCREAMS for a big fat basskick and some distorted vocals á la Suicide Commando or Hora's own Ignition

This obviously has to grow on me, but so far i'm missing Hora's signature spacey-ness and ambience
hell, even Connected dissapoints me for being so goddamn short ;_;

but yeah
it has to grow on me
(i think i will remix VC myself..)
 

desqui

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Demanufacturer wrote:
especially the first track.. by god where has his creativity gone to?
AMEN!

Nothing absolutely sucks on the album except for the first song.
But DESCENT is good.
 

Elec

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This is leaps and bounds better than Icebound, but Icebound sucked so many donkey dongs that that's really not saying too much.

Might even be better than Venom. Like, Hora has yet to blow me away, but every once in a blue moon he'll sneeze all over his multi-track and as he wipes it down something really brilliant and interesting will remain behind. Hora strikes me as an occasional savant, I dunno.

I think Hora does ambient very well and I'd like to see him smudge the production a little bit. Remember how the 2nd Schwarz Stein album felt a little less crisp than the first one? That 'crispness' only allows us to hear the shortcomings in his compositions. Mud it up, yo! :D
 

flowersofnight

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Elec wrote:
I think Hora does ambient very well and I'd like to see him smudge the production a little bit.
Really? As I alluded to in my review, I thought that the new crisper sound was a significant part of why Reign was better than much of Hora's past work. (That and, you know, the composition being better.)

Remember how the 2nd Schwarz Stein album felt a little less crisp than the first one?
Apropos of nothing, I actually think Mana's production on "New vogue children" was kind of bad. It's artificially crisp because every note was bristling with extra noise.
 

Neovirtu

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I didn't enjoy this album - I did enjoy ICEBOUND though....


And the production on the S.S albums are pretty good, I think the second album sounded a lot better IMO.

*shurgs*
 

Jae

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I've had this album for awhile now, so I thought I'd drop in and give my two cents.

Overall this album is MUCH better than ICEBOUND, in my opinion. Every track on REIGN is great and rather catchy, but I personally think that INNER UNIVERSE is his best album.

Hopefully Hora stays on this track and won't release any more ICEBOUND-esque, 'put you to sleep' albums. ICEBOUND is a great album if you're looking for music that will lull you into a coma.

I will admit, though. EUPHORIA ~HYPNOTIZE~ is a gorgeous song and reminds me of the music from a music box
 

I_wish_I_was_Japanese

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'REIGN' was very yummy to my ears. I was very pleased with what HORA did with this album.

I've also come to a self-decision that the best time for listening to HORA is on my long bus rides to/from work. For some reason it just works :grin:
 

faith

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...have you listened to the other albums?
I'm not disagreeing with you or anything, I'm really seriously wondering if you know who he is, or if you're just posting intentionally vague comments in random places. Sorry dude.


SO - a small review.

First, did anyone else note the similarity in the melody line for Predict and Transient (SS times)?

I think the last half of the album was better than the first, definitely.
I'd also love to learn how to use these programs better and get my hands into Haze.
That song has the potential for some serious messed-uppedness.
 

Demanufacturer

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i cant believe all teh positiveness here :\

i mean
when you compare it to all his other work.. this is all rehashing
and some tracks are like..
2 times the same part, only the second part has one extra sound
cut a song in half and you've heard the entire track
there's also no feeling it
no emotion
some tracks fit better on a Madonna or other pop artist album than in his discography (in fact, ''the answer'' sounds a LOT like on of Madonna's recent top 40 tracks)


Genuine: 80's electro crap, too much loops
Descent: cut it in half, first half is exactly the same as the second half. Not even the ''epic sounds'' can save it
Reflect: what the fuck??? more80/90's electro emotionless crap
Pulse: finally some darkness, some atmosphere and a good flow. Too bad you can also cut it in half and still have two identical halves, making it boring after a while
VC: Like i said earlier, this whould be some much more awesome with a pounding basskick, a distorted snare and some vocals á la suicide commando or Hora's own Ignition. Best track on the album, mosly because there's an actual variation in the melodie. More like this please.
Witness: boring piece of loops, no variation
Predict: aaaah that intro melody... so lovely, so nice, this is what i love about Hora, this sorta things. I like how that synthesizer after the intro (@ 0:41) acts like a vocal line, kinda makes up for missing vocals, but it's a very cool sound so i forgive him. Sadly...again.. there's no variation in the melodies, same loops over an dover again. And why IS there a variation in the organ... AT THE END OF THE TRACK?? ONE FRIGGIN NOTE, WHY DIDNT HE USE IT MOAR??
Haze: holyshit keychange, other than that, gets dull after a while
The Answer: give this to madonna she'll love it
Connected: why the hell is this teh only ambient track? Why is it so short?? Damnit Hora... :(



as you can see i'm not too happy about this album and i'm sad it's my first actual cd i bought from him... i wish i had bought all his other stuff when i had the chance (damn you hora for using paypal only now...)

i'm probably gonna get flamed or totally ignored for this, but i dun care
just stating my opinion
 

flowersofnight

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Demanufacturer wrote:
cut a song in half and you've heard the entire track
Well let's be fair, a lot of his solo stuff is like that XD

Anyway I do kind of agree with what you said about variations, but it seems to me that this album has MORE variation than past albums.
 

otterley

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faith wrote:
...have you listened to the other albums?
I'm not disagreeing with you or anything, I'm really seriously wondering if you know who he is, or if you're just posting intentionally vague comments in random places. Sorry dude.

no, I dont know who is he. and I never listened to his songs :)
 
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