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Purple Phoenix Games (2266 KP) rated Robin Hood: Hero of the People in Tabletop Games
Jun 13, 2019
“Yer a hero, Travis!” … said no Hagrid to me ever in my life. However, I do enjoy playing heroes in my board games. As Robin Hood you live by few rules: rob from the rich, give to the poor, and save your fellow Merry Men. That dastardly Sheriff of Nottingham is out to foil and jail you and your crew. Can you use your skills to rob enough from the rich, recruit your fellows, and keep your bounty on your head low enough to win the game? Such is your plight in this one-player game from first-time designer, Rodney Owen.
Disclaimer: This review is for a Kickstarter preview. We are not being paid for this preview, but we were sent the game from the designer. Components and rules may be changed before the product and project is finished. -T
As this game is not yet in full production, I will paraphrase the rulebook here for you so you can get an idea of how the game plays. Then I will give my opinions on this little card game.
Robin Hood: Hero of the People is a one-player card game that is played over three phases. To win the game you must have all Merry Men and Maid Marian recruited and active, while the bounty on your head is less than 500. You lose by seeing the bounty at or above 1,000 or by playing through the entire deck of Story Cards without winning. You may set the difficulty level by choosing how much you would like the bounty to start at before you begin play (100, 200, or 300). The rulebook instructs you how to setup the game using several piles of cards to create the play area. Deal yourself three Loot (skill) cards and the game is on!
The first phase of the game is Robbing from the Rich. During this phase you draw three (or more depending on other cards currently in play) Loot cards from the big deck. These cards consist of different skills to use later – like Archery, Strength, Swords, etc. You will also find Gold and Influence cards. These Loot cards are needed to recruit Maid Marian and all the Merry Men, as well as used for negating powerful negative Story Card effects in the third phase of the game. Once you have drawn your Loot cards, you may play up to three of them into your Inventory in front of you (unless a card instructs you otherwise). Only your cards in the Inventory will be used to recruit and rescue Merry Men, or be affected by Story Cards.
You have placed your skills and bargaining cards in the Inventory. It is now time to use them to recruit your Merry Men! The second phase is the Actions phase. You have several options of actions to take on your turn, but you may only take one action. One option is to recruit Merry Men characters. Each character card begins the game face-down in a grid. The card backs show the recruitment costs (paid in skills) for each. They all have different skill cost combinations on each back so you must choose your Inventory cards carefully in the first phase. During the game some characters may become jailed through the Story Cards. Also on the backs of the character cards are the costs to rescue your friends from jail, and the costs are different than the recruitment costs. This throws a wrench into your plans as you are trying to recruit and protect all your Merry Men, just to have them thrown in jail and made unavailable to you. Curse you, Sheriff of Nottingham!
Also during this phase, in addition to recruiting and rescuing your allies, you may purchase King Richard cards, Sherwood Forest cards, or decrease your bounty. King Richard cards are very very costly (requiring up to nine skills to purchase!) but also very powerful and very helpful to your cause. There are three of these in the game and when you have used one you must discard it out of the game. Do you have an abundance of skills and Loot cards to use? Would you like to protect your Merry Men from becoming jailed? Well during this phase you may also purchase Sherwood Forest cards to begin building a hideout. It costs two Strength skills, but once you have acquired all six Sherwood Forest cards, most of the Merry Men are protected from being jailed. Huzzah! The final option you have in this phase is spending any three Loot cards from your Inventory to reduce your bounty by 100.
The third and final phase is the Story Card phase. During setup you are instructed to separate this deck into two piles, shuffle them independently, and place the Story Cards in set one on top of the story cards in set two. Set one cards are annoyances that can bleed you of skill cards or raise the bounty on your head. Annoying! The cards in set two are far worse, as they will jail your unprotected Merry Men and set you back further from victory… also whilst raising your bounty. Super annoying!! Curse you again, Sheriff!!
If no win or lose conditions have been met at this time, you will return to the first phase with this additional rule: switch your active character (you start the game with Robin Hood) with another character you have recruited in the grid. Each character has a different special ability to be used on your next turn as well as a different set of skills printed on the face that you may use as discounts for recruitment, rescues, and purchasing of King Richard and Sherwood Forest cards. Example: Much the Miller shows 1x Sword and 1x Strength. You can use his skills as a discount to purchase a Sherwood Forest card by spending just one Strength card from your Inventory. Time to stick it to the Sheriff!
So how does it all shake down? Overall I say the game is really good. It is unfinished, and has not yet made it to Kickstarter, and I suspect that has something to do with any drawbacks I have experienced. Upon reading the provided rulebook and attempting Game 1, I had several rules questions. Rodney was quick to provide answers and it made the game so much more playable and enjoyable. Since it is a solo game only, every decision you make directly impacts how the game is played (duh, right?). There’s nobody else to mess with your plans, nor help them succeed. There’s no AI or ghost player. Just you versus the game. I have played this many times now on different difficulty levels and have won and lost on each. It would seem balanced, however…
There are a few strategies I attempted to use on my different plays to see how they might add to the complexity and change the results. I noticed that I won more when I completely ignored Sherwood Forest and King Richard’s cards. Yes, one of the King Richard cards reduces the bounty by quite a bit, and that’s just in one turn, but the cost is so mighty that I rarely found them enticing enough to pull the trigger. Same goes for Sherwood Forest. Though the cards cost a paltry two Strength, I found that I needed those Strength cards to recruit or rescue my Men and could not justify spending two per card (and six total cards to build the hideout) for that protection. Your play style may vary, and I am itching to play again to try new things out. Maybe I’m wrong about Sherwood Forest. I think that’s a really great trait for a game – to have its players thinking about different strategies while not playing, and just waiting for when they can play again.
I have to say, I am very excited to see this go to Kickstarter, and to learn what Rodney has in mind for improvements to the components, or rule tweaks, and the almighty stretch goals. I might be backing this one, even though I have a great working version of it now…
Disclaimer: This review is for a Kickstarter preview. We are not being paid for this preview, but we were sent the game from the designer. Components and rules may be changed before the product and project is finished. -T
As this game is not yet in full production, I will paraphrase the rulebook here for you so you can get an idea of how the game plays. Then I will give my opinions on this little card game.
Robin Hood: Hero of the People is a one-player card game that is played over three phases. To win the game you must have all Merry Men and Maid Marian recruited and active, while the bounty on your head is less than 500. You lose by seeing the bounty at or above 1,000 or by playing through the entire deck of Story Cards without winning. You may set the difficulty level by choosing how much you would like the bounty to start at before you begin play (100, 200, or 300). The rulebook instructs you how to setup the game using several piles of cards to create the play area. Deal yourself three Loot (skill) cards and the game is on!
The first phase of the game is Robbing from the Rich. During this phase you draw three (or more depending on other cards currently in play) Loot cards from the big deck. These cards consist of different skills to use later – like Archery, Strength, Swords, etc. You will also find Gold and Influence cards. These Loot cards are needed to recruit Maid Marian and all the Merry Men, as well as used for negating powerful negative Story Card effects in the third phase of the game. Once you have drawn your Loot cards, you may play up to three of them into your Inventory in front of you (unless a card instructs you otherwise). Only your cards in the Inventory will be used to recruit and rescue Merry Men, or be affected by Story Cards.
You have placed your skills and bargaining cards in the Inventory. It is now time to use them to recruit your Merry Men! The second phase is the Actions phase. You have several options of actions to take on your turn, but you may only take one action. One option is to recruit Merry Men characters. Each character card begins the game face-down in a grid. The card backs show the recruitment costs (paid in skills) for each. They all have different skill cost combinations on each back so you must choose your Inventory cards carefully in the first phase. During the game some characters may become jailed through the Story Cards. Also on the backs of the character cards are the costs to rescue your friends from jail, and the costs are different than the recruitment costs. This throws a wrench into your plans as you are trying to recruit and protect all your Merry Men, just to have them thrown in jail and made unavailable to you. Curse you, Sheriff of Nottingham!
Also during this phase, in addition to recruiting and rescuing your allies, you may purchase King Richard cards, Sherwood Forest cards, or decrease your bounty. King Richard cards are very very costly (requiring up to nine skills to purchase!) but also very powerful and very helpful to your cause. There are three of these in the game and when you have used one you must discard it out of the game. Do you have an abundance of skills and Loot cards to use? Would you like to protect your Merry Men from becoming jailed? Well during this phase you may also purchase Sherwood Forest cards to begin building a hideout. It costs two Strength skills, but once you have acquired all six Sherwood Forest cards, most of the Merry Men are protected from being jailed. Huzzah! The final option you have in this phase is spending any three Loot cards from your Inventory to reduce your bounty by 100.
The third and final phase is the Story Card phase. During setup you are instructed to separate this deck into two piles, shuffle them independently, and place the Story Cards in set one on top of the story cards in set two. Set one cards are annoyances that can bleed you of skill cards or raise the bounty on your head. Annoying! The cards in set two are far worse, as they will jail your unprotected Merry Men and set you back further from victory… also whilst raising your bounty. Super annoying!! Curse you again, Sheriff!!
If no win or lose conditions have been met at this time, you will return to the first phase with this additional rule: switch your active character (you start the game with Robin Hood) with another character you have recruited in the grid. Each character has a different special ability to be used on your next turn as well as a different set of skills printed on the face that you may use as discounts for recruitment, rescues, and purchasing of King Richard and Sherwood Forest cards. Example: Much the Miller shows 1x Sword and 1x Strength. You can use his skills as a discount to purchase a Sherwood Forest card by spending just one Strength card from your Inventory. Time to stick it to the Sheriff!
So how does it all shake down? Overall I say the game is really good. It is unfinished, and has not yet made it to Kickstarter, and I suspect that has something to do with any drawbacks I have experienced. Upon reading the provided rulebook and attempting Game 1, I had several rules questions. Rodney was quick to provide answers and it made the game so much more playable and enjoyable. Since it is a solo game only, every decision you make directly impacts how the game is played (duh, right?). There’s nobody else to mess with your plans, nor help them succeed. There’s no AI or ghost player. Just you versus the game. I have played this many times now on different difficulty levels and have won and lost on each. It would seem balanced, however…
There are a few strategies I attempted to use on my different plays to see how they might add to the complexity and change the results. I noticed that I won more when I completely ignored Sherwood Forest and King Richard’s cards. Yes, one of the King Richard cards reduces the bounty by quite a bit, and that’s just in one turn, but the cost is so mighty that I rarely found them enticing enough to pull the trigger. Same goes for Sherwood Forest. Though the cards cost a paltry two Strength, I found that I needed those Strength cards to recruit or rescue my Men and could not justify spending two per card (and six total cards to build the hideout) for that protection. Your play style may vary, and I am itching to play again to try new things out. Maybe I’m wrong about Sherwood Forest. I think that’s a really great trait for a game – to have its players thinking about different strategies while not playing, and just waiting for when they can play again.
I have to say, I am very excited to see this go to Kickstarter, and to learn what Rodney has in mind for improvements to the components, or rule tweaks, and the almighty stretch goals. I might be backing this one, even though I have a great working version of it now…
BankofMarquis (1832 KP) rated Stand by Me (1986) in Movies
Jun 15, 2018
A Modern Classic
Remember the days of your youth, when Summer was just one long vacation - where you and your buddies would take off and let the day unfold as it presents itself - no schedules, no meetings and the only clock was the rising and setting of the sun?
Such, nostalgic, feelings and remembrances is at the heart of the 1986 Rob Reiner film, STAND BY ME, a "coming of age" tale of boys on the cusp of leaving boyhood behind.
Based on a Stephen King novella, STAND BY ME follows the adventures of Gordie LaChance and his pals Vern, Teddy and Chris as they set off to find the body of a young man who has been missing - and presumed dead.
But it is not the destination that is at the heart of this story, it is the journey - and what a journey, filled with heart, it is. We join in with these 4 boys as the walk towards the unknown - both physically and (more importantly) metaphorically, growing and developing in front of our eyes.
Credit for this film has to start with Director Rob Reiner - mainly known before this film as "Meathead" on the classic TV Series ALL IN THE FAMILY. This was Reiner's 5th film as a Director and, I believe, announced his "arrival" as a signature Director. Look at the run Reiner had. In order, he directed THIS IS SPINAL TAP, THE SURE THING, STAND BY ME, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, MISERY and A FEW GOOD MEN. I would also include THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT and GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI in this list, but they come after the misfire NORTH. But, 9 out of 10 good films is quite the track record.
What struck me in this showing of the film (seen on the big screen for the first time by me since 1986) is the contrast between intimacy and enormity. When the boys are on their trek, Reiner shoots a good deal of these scenes from a distance - showing how small these boys are in comparison to the world around them. But, when the scene is an intimate, dialogue, character-driven scene, he tightens his shots right into the faces of the 4 leads, creating an intimacy that draws us into these characters.
The other credit has to go to whomever cast this film - for the 4 unknown boys that were cast in the leads were well cast, indeed.
Start with Wil Wheaton as Gordie. Gordie has spent his whole life in the shadow of his over-achieving "All American" brother, trying to be noticed for who - and what - he is, an author, not an athlete. Wheaton brings the right combination of determination, intelligence and vulnerability to Gordie, giving us a protagonist we can root for. Jerry O'Connell was funnier than I remembered as the "fat kid", Vern, who just wants to play by the rules, but always goes along with his friends, despite his better judgement. Corey Feldman has never been better than he is here as Teddy Duchamp - a young boy with a troubled home life - and a troubled life - that is trying to control, and understand, the rage inside of him.
But it is the work of the late River Phoenix as Chris Chambers, the "leader" of this group that really shines. He is the glue that keeps this foursome together, strong but showing a vulnerability and a "realistic" view of what it is to be a misunderstood youth - the hurt that comes with that and the walls that one puts up to combat that. Phoenix commands the screen in every scene that he is in and when the scene is just Phoenix and Wheaton, you are drawn into a real friendship.
I was surprised, at this viewing, at how serious this film is - and the topics that this film addresses - but those moments are wisely balanced by scenes of action/adventure (like the train tressel scene), comedy (like the the "lard-ass" pie eating scene) and "other" moments (the leaches!).
This is one of those films that is getting better with time - it is aging well - and, rightfully, fits in the category of "Modern Classic".
Letter Grade: A
Such, nostalgic, feelings and remembrances is at the heart of the 1986 Rob Reiner film, STAND BY ME, a "coming of age" tale of boys on the cusp of leaving boyhood behind.
Based on a Stephen King novella, STAND BY ME follows the adventures of Gordie LaChance and his pals Vern, Teddy and Chris as they set off to find the body of a young man who has been missing - and presumed dead.
But it is not the destination that is at the heart of this story, it is the journey - and what a journey, filled with heart, it is. We join in with these 4 boys as the walk towards the unknown - both physically and (more importantly) metaphorically, growing and developing in front of our eyes.
Credit for this film has to start with Director Rob Reiner - mainly known before this film as "Meathead" on the classic TV Series ALL IN THE FAMILY. This was Reiner's 5th film as a Director and, I believe, announced his "arrival" as a signature Director. Look at the run Reiner had. In order, he directed THIS IS SPINAL TAP, THE SURE THING, STAND BY ME, THE PRINCESS BRIDE, WHEN HARRY MET SALLY, MISERY and A FEW GOOD MEN. I would also include THE AMERICAN PRESIDENT and GHOSTS OF MISSISSIPPI in this list, but they come after the misfire NORTH. But, 9 out of 10 good films is quite the track record.
What struck me in this showing of the film (seen on the big screen for the first time by me since 1986) is the contrast between intimacy and enormity. When the boys are on their trek, Reiner shoots a good deal of these scenes from a distance - showing how small these boys are in comparison to the world around them. But, when the scene is an intimate, dialogue, character-driven scene, he tightens his shots right into the faces of the 4 leads, creating an intimacy that draws us into these characters.
The other credit has to go to whomever cast this film - for the 4 unknown boys that were cast in the leads were well cast, indeed.
Start with Wil Wheaton as Gordie. Gordie has spent his whole life in the shadow of his over-achieving "All American" brother, trying to be noticed for who - and what - he is, an author, not an athlete. Wheaton brings the right combination of determination, intelligence and vulnerability to Gordie, giving us a protagonist we can root for. Jerry O'Connell was funnier than I remembered as the "fat kid", Vern, who just wants to play by the rules, but always goes along with his friends, despite his better judgement. Corey Feldman has never been better than he is here as Teddy Duchamp - a young boy with a troubled home life - and a troubled life - that is trying to control, and understand, the rage inside of him.
But it is the work of the late River Phoenix as Chris Chambers, the "leader" of this group that really shines. He is the glue that keeps this foursome together, strong but showing a vulnerability and a "realistic" view of what it is to be a misunderstood youth - the hurt that comes with that and the walls that one puts up to combat that. Phoenix commands the screen in every scene that he is in and when the scene is just Phoenix and Wheaton, you are drawn into a real friendship.
I was surprised, at this viewing, at how serious this film is - and the topics that this film addresses - but those moments are wisely balanced by scenes of action/adventure (like the train tressel scene), comedy (like the the "lard-ass" pie eating scene) and "other" moments (the leaches!).
This is one of those films that is getting better with time - it is aging well - and, rightfully, fits in the category of "Modern Classic".
Letter Grade: A
Gareth von Kallenbach (971 KP) rated Paul Blart: Mall Cop (2009) in Movies
Aug 14, 2019
Paul Blart (Kevin James) is a man with a dream. Paul dreams of being an officer with the New Jersey police, but thanks to his hypoglycemia, and weight, he has had a difficult time passing his requirements.
After his latest failure which concluded with him passing out inches from an obstacle course finish line, Paul has hit rock bottom. His daughter and mother encourage him to get on with his life, and look for a woman who will make him happy, (It is learned that his ex-wife only wanted him in her life so she could gain citizenship), and that new opportunities will arise.
The fact that the holidays are coming up is of little consolation, as Paul focuses on his career as a security guard at a local mall where he has worked from the past ten years, With the Black Friday shopping day upcoming, Paul attempts to get closer to the lovely Amy (Jayma Mays), who works at one of the mall’s boutiques.
The fact that Paul is shy and awkward does not help his cause, but in time, he is able to form a friendship with Amy that survives some real obstacles such as a very out of character wild night out which ends in disaster for Paul as his intolerance of alcohol leads to some truly outrageous behavior which embarrasses Amy.
As Paul attempts to recover from his fiasco at the workplace party, he returns to patrol at the mall astride his ever present Segway while a group of thieves secretly plot to take over the mall and rob the various stores.
When the bad guys make their move, Paul is indisposed and is easily overlooked, which in turn keeps him in the dark about what is really happening. When Paul eventually learns what is going on and that Amy is amongst the hostages, he must muster up the courage and abilities he never knew he had in order to save the day and rescue Amy.
What follows is a madcap though slight romp which while not big on over the top laughs has more than enough smiles to keep you amused along the way.
Kevin James is entertaining as the hapless Blart, but he is not given much to work with in his first starring role as the story is very formulaic and restrained which does not allow him to fully display his comedic skills as he did in The King of Queens.
The film was produced by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison company and was co written by James and Nick Bakay. While it is not a bad film, I had hoped for more as the premise is rife with possibilities and the film comes across as playing it safe rather than taking chances. There is very little offensive in the film so it is appropriate for most families, which despite the flaws, makes the film a pleasant if not memorable diversion.
After his latest failure which concluded with him passing out inches from an obstacle course finish line, Paul has hit rock bottom. His daughter and mother encourage him to get on with his life, and look for a woman who will make him happy, (It is learned that his ex-wife only wanted him in her life so she could gain citizenship), and that new opportunities will arise.
The fact that the holidays are coming up is of little consolation, as Paul focuses on his career as a security guard at a local mall where he has worked from the past ten years, With the Black Friday shopping day upcoming, Paul attempts to get closer to the lovely Amy (Jayma Mays), who works at one of the mall’s boutiques.
The fact that Paul is shy and awkward does not help his cause, but in time, he is able to form a friendship with Amy that survives some real obstacles such as a very out of character wild night out which ends in disaster for Paul as his intolerance of alcohol leads to some truly outrageous behavior which embarrasses Amy.
As Paul attempts to recover from his fiasco at the workplace party, he returns to patrol at the mall astride his ever present Segway while a group of thieves secretly plot to take over the mall and rob the various stores.
When the bad guys make their move, Paul is indisposed and is easily overlooked, which in turn keeps him in the dark about what is really happening. When Paul eventually learns what is going on and that Amy is amongst the hostages, he must muster up the courage and abilities he never knew he had in order to save the day and rescue Amy.
What follows is a madcap though slight romp which while not big on over the top laughs has more than enough smiles to keep you amused along the way.
Kevin James is entertaining as the hapless Blart, but he is not given much to work with in his first starring role as the story is very formulaic and restrained which does not allow him to fully display his comedic skills as he did in The King of Queens.
The film was produced by Adam Sandler’s Happy Madison company and was co written by James and Nick Bakay. While it is not a bad film, I had hoped for more as the premise is rife with possibilities and the film comes across as playing it safe rather than taking chances. There is very little offensive in the film so it is appropriate for most families, which despite the flaws, makes the film a pleasant if not memorable diversion.
Steven Fell (41 KP) rated Nothing is True & Everything is Possible by Enter Shikari in Music
Apr 21, 2020 (Updated Apr 21, 2020)
Mix of old and new styles of Shikari (3 more)
Songs that are going to be incredible live
Satellites message
Overall a solid set of songs
Will divide fans (2 more)
Pace is up and down
May be hard to sell for new listeners of the band
The definitive album?
Nothing is true and everything is possible is the 5th studio album by Enter Shikari was released on Friday 17th April 2020 containing 15 'songs'. While speaking about the album before release Rou the lead singer and only producer of the album described the album as the definitive Enter Shikari album. This statement is very important and for me changed how I listened to the album. For the most part I agree with Rou. It's an album full of songs that could fit into any of Shikari's previous albums or even their side project Shikari sound system. It also gives us clues into a new direction they may want to take.
This is also the problem NITEIP may face with dividing fans. Shikari's last album The Spark was met with some hesitation from the band's most devoted fans from being very different from say their earlier work like take to the skies and common dreads. Taking a more 'softer' approach and really letting Rou's voice carry the songs. The Spark happens to be my favourite Shikari album and I think Rou has one of the greatest lead singer voices in recent times and doesn't always get the recognition he deserves.
Two songs that I beileve may take diehard fans out of the album are crossing the Rubicon and The pressures on. Both are very 'poppy' and could easily be slotted onto a more main stream bands album. Although crossing the Rubicon has a little Easter egg back to labyrinth and a catchy chorus which will get stuck in your head. Crossing the Rubicon does feels weirdly out of place though, sandwhiched between the quite frankly phenomenal opening track the great unknown and the lead single the dreamers hotel which also deserves credit for being a tune that will surely make people 'pop' live, it is also rightly in my eyes the lead single.
Shikari gifted us with five songs just before release the great unknown, the dreamers hotel, the king, T.I.N.A and satellites. All of these songs are brilliant and really got me excited for the album but compared to the other tracks may leave people disappointed that this isn't the style throughout the album. However I found myself loving the slower pace to both parts of waltzing of the face of the earth. Marionettes is another two parter which is also slower to begin with in part one but builds brilliantly into Marionettes part 2s chorus which is an absolute blast and I find my self bellowing it out. It showcases both rou's incredible writing and beautiful voice with the line "our minds are firewood and now we spark the match, we set ourselves alight" being my favourite lyrics on the entire album.
Satellites the second single off the album released the day before the album dropped is a very passionate piece that was wrote by Rou and in his own words was to show his compassion towards the LGBTQ community. "So we don't hold hands in daylight" a line from the song in which rou's friend told him he was scared to do brings you instantly into one of Shikari's most meaningful and deeply involving songs throughout their discography. Another song that is surely going to be a hit and already been given great feedback online which also manages to show that Rou's writing is both on top form and evolving album to album.
T.I.N.A was my least favourite of the songs released before the album but is cleverly placed after Reprise 3 which is an Easter egg fans will crave and really makes T.I.N.A one of the standout tracks. The king my personal favourite from the album is a song that feels both familiar and fresh which I wish was placed last to close out the album but I also understand finishing with waltzing of the face of the earth part 2 as a come down song but this may again take people away from the album wanting to finish on a banger.
Modern living is one of the songs that really caught my ear on my first play through and even made me instantly replay it. It has a very nineties vibe which you could imagine a band like blur releasing. It is followed by apocholics anonymous which for me is a skipable track that although feeds from modern living doesn't add to it like reprise 3 does for T.I.N.A.
Elegcy for extinction is a completely different beast compared to anything Enter Shikari have released before. It's a orchestral piece with no lyrics that would easily fit on a film score and even sounds Disney esque to begin with before possibly finishing in a battle. Well that's how I saw it in my head. This is another song that may divide people but it's a compelling piece that makes me believe the band could easily venture into movie scores into the future which is something I didn't know I needed.
Special mention needs to go for creating an album where it feels every type type of instrument was used and to full effect. I also believe this is the album where Rob Rolfe really gets to shine on drums. To me it feels like you can hear his confidence come through in some of the most intense songs.
To summarise this does feel like a collection of Shikari styles which will both please and annoy fans. For me I found it a pleasant surprise and came at a time where we all needed a pick up. Shikari have always managed to blend genres of music and this is an album showcasing their talent to do just that, even managing to tackle classical. As for it being the definitive album I would have to agree with Rou with it being an album that manages to make me reminisce and look forward to the future.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the album. Stay safe.
Steve
This is also the problem NITEIP may face with dividing fans. Shikari's last album The Spark was met with some hesitation from the band's most devoted fans from being very different from say their earlier work like take to the skies and common dreads. Taking a more 'softer' approach and really letting Rou's voice carry the songs. The Spark happens to be my favourite Shikari album and I think Rou has one of the greatest lead singer voices in recent times and doesn't always get the recognition he deserves.
Two songs that I beileve may take diehard fans out of the album are crossing the Rubicon and The pressures on. Both are very 'poppy' and could easily be slotted onto a more main stream bands album. Although crossing the Rubicon has a little Easter egg back to labyrinth and a catchy chorus which will get stuck in your head. Crossing the Rubicon does feels weirdly out of place though, sandwhiched between the quite frankly phenomenal opening track the great unknown and the lead single the dreamers hotel which also deserves credit for being a tune that will surely make people 'pop' live, it is also rightly in my eyes the lead single.
Shikari gifted us with five songs just before release the great unknown, the dreamers hotel, the king, T.I.N.A and satellites. All of these songs are brilliant and really got me excited for the album but compared to the other tracks may leave people disappointed that this isn't the style throughout the album. However I found myself loving the slower pace to both parts of waltzing of the face of the earth. Marionettes is another two parter which is also slower to begin with in part one but builds brilliantly into Marionettes part 2s chorus which is an absolute blast and I find my self bellowing it out. It showcases both rou's incredible writing and beautiful voice with the line "our minds are firewood and now we spark the match, we set ourselves alight" being my favourite lyrics on the entire album.
Satellites the second single off the album released the day before the album dropped is a very passionate piece that was wrote by Rou and in his own words was to show his compassion towards the LGBTQ community. "So we don't hold hands in daylight" a line from the song in which rou's friend told him he was scared to do brings you instantly into one of Shikari's most meaningful and deeply involving songs throughout their discography. Another song that is surely going to be a hit and already been given great feedback online which also manages to show that Rou's writing is both on top form and evolving album to album.
T.I.N.A was my least favourite of the songs released before the album but is cleverly placed after Reprise 3 which is an Easter egg fans will crave and really makes T.I.N.A one of the standout tracks. The king my personal favourite from the album is a song that feels both familiar and fresh which I wish was placed last to close out the album but I also understand finishing with waltzing of the face of the earth part 2 as a come down song but this may again take people away from the album wanting to finish on a banger.
Modern living is one of the songs that really caught my ear on my first play through and even made me instantly replay it. It has a very nineties vibe which you could imagine a band like blur releasing. It is followed by apocholics anonymous which for me is a skipable track that although feeds from modern living doesn't add to it like reprise 3 does for T.I.N.A.
Elegcy for extinction is a completely different beast compared to anything Enter Shikari have released before. It's a orchestral piece with no lyrics that would easily fit on a film score and even sounds Disney esque to begin with before possibly finishing in a battle. Well that's how I saw it in my head. This is another song that may divide people but it's a compelling piece that makes me believe the band could easily venture into movie scores into the future which is something I didn't know I needed.
Special mention needs to go for creating an album where it feels every type type of instrument was used and to full effect. I also believe this is the album where Rob Rolfe really gets to shine on drums. To me it feels like you can hear his confidence come through in some of the most intense songs.
To summarise this does feel like a collection of Shikari styles which will both please and annoy fans. For me I found it a pleasant surprise and came at a time where we all needed a pick up. Shikari have always managed to blend genres of music and this is an album showcasing their talent to do just that, even managing to tackle classical. As for it being the definitive album I would have to agree with Rou with it being an album that manages to make me reminisce and look forward to the future.
Thanks for reading and I hope you enjoy the album. Stay safe.
Steve
