Although most modern-day prog metallists list such bands as Led Zeppelin, Yes, and Rush as prime influences, most only focus on the hard-rocking side of the aforementioned acts.
As a result, they overlook an important bit -- all three had their "acoustic moments" (side two of Led Zeppelin III; the intro to Yes' "I've Seen All Good People," the intro to Rush's "The Trees," etc.).
Norway's Green Carnation is one of the few bands not afraid to pick up their acoustic axes and bring the intensity down a notch, as evidenced by 2006's The Acoustic Verses.
The sextet's prog roots bubble to the surface here and there (such as during the three-part epic, "9-29-045"), but it's the more straightforward compositions that prove to be the standouts ("The Burden Is Mine...Alone," "High Tide Waves," etc.).
And you have to give the lads credit for exercising restraint throughout -- even when a splash of distortion could have easily been used in the slow buildup of "Maybe?," they stick to the game plan throughout.
The bottom line is that you don't have to be a prog rock aficionado to enjoy Acoustic Verses -- you just have to appreciate finely played and penned acoustic music.
And it sure beats the hell out of all those foolers on the radio, that are on their eighth re-write of Alice in Chains' Jar of Flies.
| Title/Composers | Performer | Listen | Time | Size | Size | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Sweet LeafTchort | Green Carnation | Play | 04:38 | 10 MB | 30 MB |
| 2 | The Burden Is Mine... AloneStein Roger Sordal | Green Carnation | Play | 03:15 | 7 MB | 16 MB |
| 3 | AloneEdgar Allan Poe, Tchort | Green Carnation | Play | 03:44 | 8 MB | 25 MB |
| 4 | High Tide Waves | Green Carnation | Play | 07:49 | 17 MB | 46 MB |
| 5 | Maybe | Green Carnation | Play | 05:02 | 11 MB | 31 MB |
| 6 | 9-29-045 | Green Carnation | Play | 15:29 | 35 MB | 84 MB |
| 7 | Childs Play Part 3 | Green Carnation | Play | 03:32 | 8 MB | 16 MB |
| 43 mins | 99 MB | |||||
| 43 mins | 252 MB | |||||
| Artist | Job | |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Hans K. Eidskard | Engineer, Mixing |
| 2 | Green Carnation | Primary Artist |
| 3 | Bjorn Harstad | Fender Rhodes, Guitar, Guitar (Tremolo), Mastering, Mellotron, Member of Attributed Artist, Piano, Slide Guitar, Strings |
| 4 | Tommy Jackson | Drums, Member of Attributed Artist, Percussion |
| 5 | Endre Kirkesola | Drum Engineering, Engineer |
| 6 | Michael Krumins | Guitar (Acoustic), Member of Attributed Artist |
| 7 | Kjetil Nordhus | Composer, Member of Attributed Artist, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 8 | Edgar Allan Poe | Composer |
| 9 | Stein Roger Sordal | Bass, Composer, E-Bow, Engineer, Guitar, Member of Attributed Artist, Mixing, Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 10 | Tchort | Composer, Guitar (Acoustic), Member of Attributed Artist |
| 11 | Jon Tønnessen | Cover Photo, Design |
| Quality | Format | Encoding | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
| Standard | MP3 | 320kps 44.1kHz | MP3 is an audio coding format which uses a form of lossy data compression. The highest bitrate of this format is 320kbps (kbit/s). MP3 Digital audio takes less amount of space (up to 90% reduction in size) and the quality is not as good as the original one. |
| CD Quality | FLAC | 16bit 44.1kHz | FLAC is an audio coding format which uses lossless compression. Digital audio in FLAC format has a smaller size and retains the same quality of the original Compact Disc (CD). |