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AMPLIFIER Octopus - 2010 UK 2-CD, Heavy Progressive Rock
Format: CD
Condition: New
Year of Release: 2010
Cat. No.: 1803865
Label: AmpCorp
I think I just found my top album of 2010. 'The Octopus' by Amplifier is an ambitious double album sprawled across two hours of wonderful music.
Now, normally I would decry the whole idea of even making a double album, as I have had a pretty bad track record when it comes to double albums in the past. The vast majority of the time, I'll find myself bored before I even get to the half-way mark of a double album due to lack of variety or interesting music (*cough* 'The Wall').
I was honestly quite a bit worried that the same would apply for 'The Octopus', so color me surprised when I listened to the entirety of the album only to find myself wanting to listen to it again and again.
'The Octopus' shows Amplifier at their very best, and dare I say most progressive. No, I'm not talking about "prog" in the "Look at us, we can create long, bombastic songs with lots of odd time signatures" sense.. but from the beginning of the album all the way to the end, you can hear the band experimenting with different sounds and trying to expand their borders into new territory, to great success.
As far as the actual music is concerned, there are a lot of interesting moments throughout that not only hold the listener's interest throughout the course of the album, but also make the listener want to come back for more. I have a really hard time singling out any individual songs as being weak in any sense of the word. Overall, 'The Octopus' is an absolutely fantastic album that begs one question: Where will Amplifier go next?
Review by Agent Spork
TRACK LISTING:
CD 1:
1. The Runner
2. Minion's Song
3. Interglacial Spell
4. The Wave
5. The Octopus
6. Planet Of Insects
7. White Horses At Sea // Utopian Daydream
8. Trading Dark Matter On The Stock Exchange
CD 2:
1. The Sick Rose
2. Interstellar
3. The Emperor
4. Golden Ratio
5. Fall Of The Empire
6. Bloodtest
7. Oscar Night // Embryo
8. Forever And More
LINE-UP:
- Sel Balamir / guitars, vocals
- Neil Mahony / bass
- Matt Brobin / drums
Guest musicians:
- Charlie Barnes / piano
- Rose Kemp / vocals (1,4 CD2)
- Mike Vennart / backing vocals
- Claire Lemmon / backing vocals
- Denise Johnson / backing vocals
- Kemal L. Freaktide / voice of Satan
- Tom Knott / trumpet | 
