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Breakdowns For Breakfast
Each episode we take a different album and do a full track by track breakdown on it. We talk about what we like and what we don't like. We tend to stay to music of the heavier variety but fan requests can throw us off of that sometimes. We talk about it like the two music nerds we are.
We always put the music first, we tend to be goofy second.
Breakdowns For Breakfast
Ghost- Skeletá
On this episode of Breakdowns For Breakfast we kick off our first theme month of 2025 with the Month Of Masks (or MOM for short) with the new Ghost album, Skeletá.
Will Danger be able to wrote an episode description using these track titles: Peacefield, Lachryma, Satanized, Guiding Lights, De Profundis Borealis, Cenotaph, Missilia Amori, Marks of the Evil One, Umbra, and Excelsis?
No he won't. Its a good episode, enjoy.
Hey, this is
SPEAKER_00:Sam from Cheem, and you're listening to... Breakdowns
SPEAKER_01:for Breakfast! Good morning, welcome back to another episode of Breakdowns for Breakfast. I am your host, Danger, and joining me is a fellow that cannot properly break down an album without your other host, Monster. Say hi, Monster.
SPEAKER_02:I hope you appreciate me being here. I had to take a break from the clergy just to come record this. Ah, the
SPEAKER_01:Gothic clergy? Yes, of course. Yes. So on this episode of Breakdowns for Breakfast, we are going to be talking Ghost's newest album, Skeleta, released April 25th of 2025. Now, this does kick off our first theme month of 2025. We are actually going with all masked... Masked? I'm sorry, I have to pronounce that thoroughly. Four episodes in a row, and I hope it lines up for a month. I hope it does, too. You could have
SPEAKER_02:called it Masked Month. I could have. Or the Month of Masks. There we go, so we can get that E.D. out of there.
SPEAKER_01:Yes, the Month of Masks. So anyway, on this episode, we are starting off with Ghost, which was a pick that you wanted to do, Monster. Why did you want to talk about this album?
SPEAKER_02:Well, I think up until the recent explosion of Sleep Token, I think when most people thought of modern bands that were known more theatrically than just musically, I think Ghost was the first one that came to most people's mind. And I have sort of been keeping up with Ghost for a while now. Never a huge fan, but every time they would release something, I'd always check it out, always like the music videos, and... you know please super mega ghost fans don't come at me i don't know the whole papa cardi thing very well so please don't attack us on that so when when you suggested that we do a month of masked bands the first band that jumped to mind was ghost and i was like well hell they just put out a new album let's let's just jump on that one then
SPEAKER_01:Okay. So, I think you were onto something. We were talking about bands that have a theatrical performance about themselves, because Ghost does. And I have to say that we're... I don't know if Ghost was the first one to do it or not. I don't know. Probably not. But I think we're kind of in a place where the theatrical element that bands are putting out is very important to the music, but it's important to the show more than the music, because... the uh the look of ghosts i mean you know the the band is uh nameless ghouls is what they call them and i think that's cool because you know there have been uh reports of well-known musicians that have sat in as a nameless school and nobody knows they're there because they're you know completely covered up it's got to get hot in those but you know absolutely yeah the whole uh you know, Papa, whatever. I mean, that's a neat thing within itself. And it goes fans. I'm going to back up monster. I don't know all of it. I do know that there is an evolution to the characters and there's different characters and all. And I don't know if that's just Tobias forge, who is the behind ghosts. If that's him just kind of getting bored with one and put one to put in another one, or if he has an end game to all of it. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:doing a little research for this album and this band in general i did not have the time to go down the rabbit hole which is the lore of ghost because
SPEAKER_01:we've we've taken on enough lore with sleep token we
SPEAKER_02:can't where's floaty when you need him uh so but i did listen to some interviews with tobias forge who you're right the band is essentially quote-unquote nameless ghouls but the main driving force behind ghost is this guy by the name of tobias forge and I did watch a little video where he was going through the different costume changes and the different character changes and the different personalities of the quote-unquote different clergy slash lead singers. It's all him, but it is him playing different versions and different characters. And one of the biggest turning points for him, he said, was the addition of pants. He said once he got away from the giant robe and the giant hat and he could wear pants and run around on stage, he said he felt like everything got better. And that leads me to the next point I want to say. We've talked about Sleep Token a shit ton on this show. Me
SPEAKER_01:and you are both fans. We've given Sleep Token two separate episodes as well as just talked about them during other episodes.
SPEAKER_02:Yes. And inevitably, Masked Month, they're going to come up. But one of the things that I appreciate so much about Ghost is Tobias Forge's personality, his humility, his sense of humor. Like, I could not in a million years see the dude behind Vessel talking and acting the way Tobias Forge does about Sleep Token versus Ghost. Because Tobias Forge is... he recognizes the camp and the silliness and he has a lot of fun with it. And that makes me like it even more. I feel like it is theatrical to be entertaining. It is not pretentious. And say what you will about Sleep Token, love them or hate them, there is this little bit of pretentiousness that I think they have started to come off as. So, I really, I enjoyed, I'll go ahead and say this. I enjoyed this album. I enjoyed going into sort of the ghost world. And every time I watch something with Tobias talk about the band, I like them a little bit more.
SPEAKER_01:So I do like the personality behind the band. And, you know, we do get some of that in the music. but I feel like we get more of it in the music videos. Oh, absolutely. I do like the music videos because they do have a level of camp, like a B-horror movie kind of thing about them. Okay, so I do like the videos I watched off of this album, but I have always enjoyed their videos. I have always enjoyed the theatrical element to whatever they're doing. And I will say, I have liked Ghost in the past, I've never loved Ghost, but I think they played, yeah, they played Blue Ridge one year when I went and I didn't make a point to go see them because I kind of feel like I've, you know, I'd like to see them, but at the same time there was other bands playing that I'd rather see than Ghost. But, you know, I feel like it'd be a fun show to see, but at the same time, I kind of, I don't know. The thing I had trouble with on this one is at a certain point, I don't want to say it all started to sound the same, but nothing sounded different.
SPEAKER_02:Well, so a couple of things off of what you just said. At the time of recording this, I am currently watching the concert slash movie slash whatever that they did last year called Right Here, Right Now. Are
SPEAKER_01:you watching it while we're recording? That's just rude.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Yes, I actually can't even hear what you're saying because I'm listening to it. Well,
SPEAKER_01:you're doing a really good job lip reading because you're responding to everything.
SPEAKER_02:I'm really good at reading lips, actually. No, it's not true. I actually can't see your mouth at all because of where my notes are. It's kind of nice. Anyway, the point I'm trying to make is... This is such a strong friendship. Yes, you're welcome. The point... The more I watch that concert, the more I want to see them actually live in concert because it looks so much fun. Just like we just got done saying, the personality really shines through. There's one part, and spoiler alert, I'm going to do a second breakfast all about it, so I'll go into more detail. For example, there's one section where the lead guitar player is just going off and the lead singer is like, Telling him to stop and waving his hands at him and stuff. And he kind of keeps going. So at one point, the bass player walks over there and takes his guitar pick from him and throws it into the crowd. And the lead guitar player lifts up his guitar and on the back of it, it says, you suck. And they both give each other the middle finger. And then he keeps on noodling for a little while longer. Could you see Sleep Token doing that? I mean, yes, they do goof off a little bit on stage. There's that whole thing with the Nintendo Switch and all that. But that level of silliness and fun with music that is supposed to be dark and spooky. Like, I love all that mixed together. Well, that's the thing about the music is I don't feel like it's dark and spooky. Okay, so that was the other thing I was going to say. So you said it started to all kind of sound the same.
SPEAKER_01:I wouldn't say it all sounded the same. I just feel like at a certain point, it wasn't sounding different than anything we'd really heard before. I think the track listing on this album is all out of whack. I would have put this in completely different order. But, you know, that's not my call. That was Tobias Forge, which... Go on, go on.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I was just going to say, so musically, I feel like you got... I don't know who those nameless ghouls are, but if you told me it was some combination of the guys from Journey, Iron Maiden, and Brian May on lead guitar, I wouldn't be shocked, because that's what it sounds like to me. It sounds like Iron Maiden, Journey, and Queen. And I think that...
SPEAKER_01:We talk about this all the time. Okay, so before we go any further, to go off of that, so... In my notes, I have that on this album or on this show, we have done Metallica's Ride the Lightning that came out in 84. We did Dio's Holy Diver that came out in 83. And we did Blind Guardians of Battalions of Fear that came out in 88. And this is the most 80s album we have done. This is the most 80s album we've
SPEAKER_02:done. And while I don't disagree, we talk about this all the time, paying homage, using influence, or just ripping off bands. This to me sounds like a band that is wearing their influences on their sleeve, but making it in their own original sound. Yes, I hear the Def Leppard. Yes, I hear the Iron Maiden. But I also hear this own thing called Ghost that nobody else sounds like.
SPEAKER_01:So I'm not going to disagree with you that nobody else sounds like it, but the other things that I heard, and there are certain places where I will point out things that I just can't ignore within this, but there are parts of this album that are almost direct lifts, and some of them are direct lifts from
SPEAKER_02:other things. Well, yeah. I don't know if you heard about this. There's... talk about them possibly getting into a little bit of a copyright thing. I don't know if it has legs or not. I just saw it on a couple social media sites.
SPEAKER_01:But I'll bring it up when we get to it. I don't doubt that one bit. Because there's parts of this album that it's just like, did I put on a different band? And I'll point that out when I get to it. You said you don't know who the Nameless Ghouls are. And no, they are not members of the bands that you... No, I
SPEAKER_02:know
SPEAKER_01:that. Okay, so... First off, I do want to say that the album was produced by Tobias Forge, but under the name Gene Walker. Oh, okay. Yeah. And I think it's interesting that it's just, it was produced by Tobias Forge under the name Gene Walker. It's like he didn't even try to hide that that was him. So I didn't see where Gene Walker came from, so.
SPEAKER_02:It might be a member of the clergy. I have no idea. But doing a little research and watching some of these videos, I get the impression that he is in the studio with other musicians and he kind of almost Michael Jackson style is coming up with the music in his head and then basically explaining it using his mouth to get So...
SPEAKER_01:Some of the other people that were behind us and now these people have producing credits mixing credits writing credits They kind of like it was kind of all share now Tobias Forge's name is on every song on this album And these guys their names are on kind of sporadic ones. I don't have which one they're on But they were as far as I could tell there they were involved in everything. So first we have Salim all fuck here and I don't know who he is, but he's a musician and a songwriter who has worked with Avicii, Axwell, Anne Ingrosso, Madonna, and Lady Gaga. Makes sense. Yep. And then we've got Vincent Ponter, I guess. I don't know. He's Swedish. I
SPEAKER_02:was getting ready to say, Tobias, this whole thing, Ghost, is a Swedish rock band, so I'm sure some of the
SPEAKER_01:names will be tricky.
UNKNOWN:Right.
SPEAKER_01:And he is also a songwriter, producer, who's worked with Avicii, Madonna, and Lady Gaga as well. And they've got other credits, but it's like they share those credits for sure. But I don't know how much of the music he wrote. I don't know if he wrote mostly guitar because he is the guitar player for the Swedish heavy metal band Opeth. I'm going to try it, and if anybody is a diehard Opeth fan and I screw this up, come at me, bro. Yeah, because I guarantee you will, but please try. Frederic Akerson, and it's the A with the circle over the top. So, yeah. So, he has, Tobias got people on this album that are very well, like good guitar player or good musicians. Like, you know, Frederick is, does amazing work with Opeth. I'm not a huge Opeth fan, but yeah, he's a phenomenal guitar player. So the Nameless Ghouls. Now I could not figure out, I tried to figure out if it's the Nameless Ghouls have anything to do with the music in the studio that goes on the album or if they're just on stage and they're just the touring members.
SPEAKER_02:I'm not 100% sure either, but just judging from the confidence in the playing of the live performances I've seen, it makes me think that they are at least to some degree in the studio as well. The confidence to play some of these riffs and solos and stuff, maybe they are just... you know, live musicians. I've been in that boat before, but nothing for this complicated. Right.
SPEAKER_01:And I didn't dive into any of these people individually. I probably should have talking about this album as thoroughly as we do, but you know, based on what I have seen, you know, I've seen, I've watched several videos of them playing live and it seems like a lot of fun, like you were talking about, but all right, let's roll through it. Now, There has been a rotating lineup of the Nameless Ghouls. Now, I did mention that other musicians have sat in. I do know that Dave Grohl has actually sat in with them several times and played guitar and drums and has never said a word about it. And I did see a couple other names, but nobody really stuck out to me. But I feel like it's probably something where other musicians, you know, they're at a festival or whatever. It's like, hey, let me do this one. Impossible,
SPEAKER_02:because again, as someone who has worn costumes on stage and stuff, it is fun to be able to don the mask, and you kind of lose yourself in that, and you feel a little bit more free. You become a character.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, exactly. Exactly. It's fun. All right, so let's roll through the goals. So we've got Per Erickson, and he is on lead guitar, and goes by Fire, a.k.a. Soto. And he's only been with them since 2017. Kos, Sylvan, bassist, and goes by Rain, only since 2018. Now, I'm saying the years to show you, like, Ghost has been around for quite a while. And I
SPEAKER_02:was going to say, in my limited, I don't know, digging through their discography... I feel like their most recent two or three are kind of more my speed. So I think some of these guys you're mentioning are why I like some of their newer stuff so much more than some of their first couple things.
SPEAKER_01:So it seems like these guys have been with Tobias for quite a while. And I feel like this is kind of the, the lineup's going to stick the rest up. Like there was a lot of ghouls that ran through and it didn't seem like anybody stayed as long as these guys have. So are these guys and ladies. So anyway, Hayden Scott on drums goes by mountain and since 2017 and these last three all 2018. So we've got Juddy Taylor on baritone guitarist, percussion and backing vocals and goes by Swiss or multi Laura Scarborough and keyboardist, percussion, backup vocalist, goes by Cirrus, and Mad Gallica on keyboard, percussion, backing vocals, and goes by Cumulus. Fantastic. All right, so we have gone through all the Nameless Ghouls now. We know who the people are, but they really don't matter because I really feel like all the other people that actually wrote this album are probably more important to this 80s album. You ready to jump into it?
SPEAKER_02:And it's funny, you just said we just named all the nameless ghouls. Well, that's not very nameless then, is it? Okay, so
SPEAKER_01:fire, rain, mountain, Swiss malty, cirrus, and cumulus. Exactly, exactly. All right, so track one, Peacefield.
SPEAKER_00:Peacefield.
SPEAKER_02:Go ahead, Monster. Go ahead. So, not being super well-versed in Ghost, but I have listened to some of their records. It did not shock me that it started with, like, a church
SPEAKER_01:choir. Like, that seems pretty... You heard it as a church choir. I heard it as just a child singing over an organ. Like, I didn't even hear it as a choir.
UNKNOWN:And then there's a heart from me
SPEAKER_02:Okay, fair enough, yeah. But that sort of a start did not surprise me. The only thing I wish is that that was an intro and its own track.
SPEAKER_01:Right, there's a couple places where I have that same feeling.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, because on the previous album, that's exactly what they did. There's a minute-long intro that's very similar to this. And then it goes into the first actual song, track two. So I would have preferred that. But as it is, whatever, when the guitar kicks in, I think it's around 54 seconds. Big hair metal vibes, big 80s vibes, like you said. But something we haven't really touched on before, the production, the clarity of this album. It
SPEAKER_01:sounds great. Okay. So there is a few places where the production kind of got to me. And what I will say overall for this, I feel like there was an active mixer, active sound man behind this, because anytime a solo comes up, the guitar shoot up to the front, but I feel like overall the guitars are kind of subdued. And, you know, in the background of things, you know, they could have been bumped up a little bit. That is my overall impression. just generic critique of this album is just the guitar levels I feel like are a bit weaker than they should have been.
SPEAKER_02:Well, they are a very classic rock kind of tone, so they're not super distorted, which doesn't really much matter in this song as much as some of the later songs. I'll bring it up there. But you're exactly right. On this song, because the main guitar is that high lead, more lead stuff than rhythm, it does come in real big. Again, you hear the Queen, you hear the Brian May influence big time on that guitar.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, yeah, and the thing about it is, like, I like this track. I just feel like this track is from the wrong decade. There's so much of this that is Def Leppard in the verses, and then let's not ignore Separate Ways in the Course.
SPEAKER_00:Your love Yeah,
SPEAKER_02:okay. So what I have heard on one or two social media sites is that, you know, there could possibly be a copyright lawsuit coming down the pipe because it's borderline a direct lift. And it wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't like... Clearly, that's the inspiration, you know, like sometimes you hear like a song that's like fully rooted in metalcore or new metal, but then you'll hear this one little lead lick that sounds like something from Cowboys from Hell by Pantera or, you know, Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen. And it's just for a couple measures and it's sort of like just feels like a homage for a minute. This sounds like Separate Ways by Journey, like, to a T.
SPEAKER_01:I mean, you have Journey's Separate Ways. And then you have Ghost Peacefield. It's the same thing. Like, I would not be surprised if they end
SPEAKER_02:up losing that. But what I will say is I don't like Journey, like, at all. And I like this way better than Separate Ways.
SPEAKER_01:Oh, I know you have your feelings about Journey, and a lot of that stems... I feel like stems from you playing in cover bands, but...
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so I'll say... Thankfully, I've never had to play a Journey song in any of the cover bands I've ever been in. I've never had to play a Journey
SPEAKER_01:song. I'm proud of that. That's surprising. That's very surprising. I'm surprised, too. Yeah. So, okay. It is a good track, but honestly, I don't feel like this is the best opener on this album. There's another track I would say should have been the opener. And I'll definitely point it out when we get to it. But, I mean, Peacefield's good, but honestly, nothing really sticks out except for that chorus's separate ways. So,
SPEAKER_02:listen to an interview with Tobias Forge going track by track through this album, just giving a couple little bits of information on each song. I think it was with Metal Hammer, came out... A couple months ago. And what he said about this song was this album sort of zigzags into some darker stuff throughout the album. So he really wanted the album to start off in a bright, positive way. And that's why this song goes first. You know, Peacefield. It's meant to be like a bright, upbeat first song. So that's why this is the first song, at least to Mr. Forge.
SPEAKER_01:No, I get that, but I wouldn't have put this as the first one. I get that he wanted to kind of put that up front, but at the same time, I don't feel like this is the first track. I don't think this is the opener in service of the album.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I had heard two songs off of this before we decided to pick this album to kick off. month of masks. Is that it? Mask? I don't know. Whatever. Maybe we don't know because it's wearing a mask. The identity of the name has been hidden. But I had heard a couple songs before this. It's the month named Vessel. We have to stop. We have to get past this. Please, go on. Anyway, I was very into this though when I put this on for the first time and I was like I like the driving beat because the two songs I heard before this didn't have quite as much of a drive to them but we'll get there but this is I think this is a good opener I don't think it's the best song on the album but I do think it is a solid opener and after hearing him say like The album gets dark as it goes on. I wanted the first song to be more positive and brighter sounding. I can see why that he would go this way.
SPEAKER_01:I'm going to say this album does get darker, but I feel like this album just gets hornier.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, it does. That is true. It's coming. And in a very interesting way, too, that I didn't put together until I heard his little interview, but it's very funny, and we'll get there.
SPEAKER_01:I do want to say, like, I did... like no it like i didn't listen to any interview or anything like i just went pretty much off of me for this one which i don't normally do normally i get to the end of my notes and stuff and then i'll start looking up some other things and all but yeah no all right track two lash mira i'm gone Not even close. Rhyma? I don't know. Lacrima. Okay. I'm trying to go with Swedish-type pronunciations in my head. I don't know. For anybody that is a huge Ghost fan, don't hate me for this. Please enjoy the episode and listen to another one.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. I was telling my dad that we were going to do this album, and I bring up my dad all the time because he's an incredible musician. He's got great taste in music. He's a fine musician.
SPEAKER_01:No, he's a fantastic musician, but go
SPEAKER_02:on. And I told him, I said, all right, dad, I don't want to oversell it, but this might be the best song and the best video of 2025 so far. I... freaking love this everything about this song and this video are just chef's kiss perfection
SPEAKER_01:i this is probably one of the few times that listeners you may want to take note of this moment but i agree this is the best song on the album 100%. I thought the video was so much fun. It was just a campy vampire thing and it was fantastic. I was bothered in the video though how I feel like He didn't put like his mouth didn't match like the volume that was coming out of it. That did bother me a little bit. But, you know, I thought it was a lot of fun. He had the weird like finger glove things on that was just like
SPEAKER_02:the fingers and the wings kind of like getting bigger as the video goes on.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah. And and that goes back to what we were talking about before that. the personality behind all this and what you were saying that Tobias just kind of has fun with this stuff. And that's cool. I mean, you know, a video from one of their previous albums, I think it was the album before this, Dance Macabre... I never get that word right. Dance Macabre. Yeah. That's just a word that I'm always going to struggle with and I have to deal with that.
SPEAKER_02:Which is a Stephen King novel, which I think is why they... Not a novel, but a Stephen King book. Oh, I didn't know that.
SPEAKER_01:But no, that... That was the first video I saw of theirs where I went, oh, I get it. I get it. It's like, it's all a thing. Anyway, back to the song. Not that album. Anyway.
SPEAKER_02:Okay. So here's the thing about this song that really kind of hooked me in is I love the intro. I love the sound of the keys. It's ethereal, it's pretty, but it is spooky, and I was really into it. And then when the guitars come in, the guitars are fairly simple. There's just kind of like a... But they have this tail on them that I love. And it's like something about that little riff is just like, oh, I love it. And did you get this huge pop chorus that is just money in the bank?
UNKNOWN:I'm done crying.
SPEAKER_02:Such a good chorus. The harmonies are incredible. Yeah, and dude, I can't even talk about that guitar solo without getting chills. That is... Okay,
SPEAKER_01:so after the second verse, and this is something I noticed in this one, and I can't say I've ever sat down and listened to an entire Ghost album, especially not like we do on this one, but it's almost like they set up... the like where they're going into the solo because you could start like it's you could always pick up like when it's about to happen and you just feel it build it right but then it's like after he you know tobias gets done singing you know in this case it's after the second chorus it's like there's this like i don't know like five second pause of like the music doing something a little bit different and then it goes into the solo that starts at 255. And then we get a solo, and then it changes into a different solo at 312. And it's so good. It was just a lot of fun. I mean, overall, I thought this was great. I mean, just the 80s synth lines, and then it just had a fantastic bass line all throughout it. I wouldn't say this should be the opening, or the opener, but I think this is, again, one of the best tracks, or the best track on the album. Now, this is... Well, okay, go ahead. I was going to say, the only thing about this song that bothered me was the ending. It just ends rather abruptly, and it's like, what happened there? I was kind of expecting it to not fade out, but kind of peter out.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, especially with all the 80s influence you hear on this album, the classic rock. I mean, you fade it out all the time on a classic rock album, and it fades out on some of these other songs. So yeah, I'm not against you on that one. But I was just going to say, in addition to, like you were saying, with the guitar solos, first of all, the guitar harmony, I like that first section of the solo the best. because it has more of that Brian May Queen thing happening. That
SPEAKER_01:255 to 312. Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And then 312, it's much more of like a rock and roll kind of guitar solo. But what I like... Both parts are really good. Oh, and they fit together very, very well. But then after that, instead of just going back to the chorus, you get a key change and it goes up another register.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:and i thought that's a cool way to really like just you went so big on that guitar solo if you just drop back into the chorus it's going to lose a little bit of the that steam so instead they just bring it up another notch by doing a key change on that last chorus and i thought that was that was great i i i have no complaints on this song i've i remember watching the video and being like replay show it to me
SPEAKER_01:again i don't think i replayed it but i do know i watched it uh probably twice and now watching the videos i feel like watching the videos is not cheating you know because you're still listening to the song and all and you're just kind of getting a different feel
SPEAKER_02:yeah and for a band like this honestly this whole month Every one of these bands and artists, theatricality is part of their thing. So I feel like to really get the full package, you need to watch some of the videos. You need to see some of the live performances just to get a feel for the whole thing. I
SPEAKER_01:will say that as far as Ghost goes, I feel like their videos are more in line with their sound than their live performances. performances, because I feel like their live performance should be more of a Lorna Shore type sound than
SPEAKER_02:this. That's a common trope with a lot of these kind of bands, especially no spoilers, but one of the ones we're going to get to this month, when you see them versus what they sound like, you're like, what the hell is happening? And at least Ghost, they're not quite as... Monstrous. Let's say that. Right,
SPEAKER_01:right. All right. So track three, Satanized.
SPEAKER_02:So, you know, I've mentioned this on the show before. I am a Christian and, you know, I take that seriously. But at the same time, This is silly. And if you take this too seriously, and whatever, that's on you. I'm not going to say, hey, if you don't want to listen to a song called Satanized, that there's something wrong, sure, that's your prerogative. But for me, this is so silly. The music sounds like Castlevania Nintendo music, and the lyrics are goofy as hell. This is great. I have so much fun with this. It's a song about... I feel like it's a song about
SPEAKER_01:demonic possession.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so Tobias Forge said that this song is actually more of a love song. It's about being so in love that you feel like you're possessed. Okay. And so that's where it's coming from. Now, for me, before hearing that and just listening to the words... I kept thinking, I'm Satanized. He was saying, like, I'm sanitized by Satan. And it was like, that's the dumbest thing I've ever heard. It's hilarious.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so the whole, like, demonic possession thing was kind of solidified by that Latin prayer at 124? Yeah. But honestly... i don't feel it it just didn't feel like something like that i did notice the riffs picked up during that the the prayer part but then they kind of went back down because this one does slow it down a bit especially from where we just came from which is fine but okay so i mentioned the beginning that there are parts of this that are direct lifts and yes we did talk about separate ways there in track one but there is something from this that is a direct lift So the riff during the song, except outside of that Latin prayer, it's intriguing. It's enough to make me go, okay, that's fine. But the bass line is the bass line from Tears for Fears, Everybody Wants to Rule the World.
UNKNOWN:Everybody wants to rule the world.
SPEAKER_01:There's a room where the light will... And also Fleetwood Mac's Don't Stop.
UNKNOWN:Don't stop thinking about tomorrow. Don't stop...
SPEAKER_02:Okay, and while I don't disagree with you, by the way, if nobody knows this, Everybody Wants to Rule the World by Tears for Fears is my absolute favorite song of all time. So, if anybody wanted to know that, there you go. I mean, we have a show about music, and I didn't even know that
SPEAKER_01:about you.
UNKNOWN:Yep.
SPEAKER_02:And on a later episode, I'll reveal my second favorite. So... i won't disagree with you but the difference between this and the whole journey thing on the first song is that bass line has that feel to it but the stuff around it is so different oh yeah that it's not as egregious you know i'll give you that yeah but i i don't necessarily disagree because i i was gonna say you know i've been bragging on these guitar players the bass on this album is not usually very flashy but man it sounds good and it fits that it it fills that frequency perfectly to where when those guitars go high and they're harmonizing together it still feels like thick in the in the low end because of just the bass tone
SPEAKER_01:okay so the guitars let's talk about the guitars for a second because at 228 is just a weird solo
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, for me, my personal taste, that solo, that first solo in Lacrima is like, Jeff's Kiss, no notes. And when they go into that sound, I'm very into it. When they do these kind of solos where it's a little bit more bendy and rock and roll, it's like, I get why. It just doesn't have the same, like, attention grabbing. Yeah, it doesn't quite stick with me as much. For me, even as a guitar player, the vocals are what does it for me on this song. I really like the way he sings some stuff. I don't know why, but that line where he says, save me from the monster that is eating me.
SPEAKER_01:Every time I smile. That's fine. All right. But at three or nine, everything stops. And we get this weird harpsichord speed bump.
SPEAKER_04:I should have known not to give in. I should have known not to give
SPEAKER_01:in. And I feel like, based on the fact that there at track one, we got that child singing, you say choir singing, but the angelic singing with an organ, I feel like... This 309 harpsichord speed bump should have just been put at the front of this. Should have either... Should have either been put at the front of this track, at the very end, not in the middle while energy is still going, or just as a separate thing. You know, give us a... I don't know. Like I said before, there's going to be quite a few points of this where... I say this thing that happens in the song should either just be put off by itself or taken out. I was actually okay with the song. Not in love with it, but I was okay with it up until that harpsichord part. It just kind of ruined it for me.
SPEAKER_02:You know, there's so little song left after that. I get what you're saying about maybe not putting it right there. Well,
SPEAKER_01:that's a... Okay, that's the thing. It's at 3.09 and it lasts for maybe, I don't know, eight seconds, but the song is 3.56. So it's like there's not much left, but it's not like so little that we can just kind of ignore it, move past it. There's enough after it to where if you had just taken it out and if you listen to it, what's happening before that and what happened after that could have just been sandwiched together and it would have been perfectly fine. I don't
SPEAKER_02:like starting the song with it, though, because I do like how it just jumps right in with the guitar and that grooving bass line. I like that a lot. But I wouldn't be mad about that sort of being the outro of
SPEAKER_01:the song. No, that would have been fine. I know that... you know, coming up with an ending to your song is harder than coming up with the beginning to your song. And so to throw something like that on it would have made it, you know, when it stops, it stops and it wouldn't be an awkward thing.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. I'm good with it where it is, but I can see somebody, like you said, because this is a very, I know you like it. It's a very jaunty kind of song that having that sort of like stop essentially right there, you know, I get that being a little bit of a hiccup.
SPEAKER_01:I'm going to have a jaunty jar where every time you say jaunty, you put a dollar in it. The new metal monster with his jaunty personality. I quit. I quit. I can't do this anymore.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I'll do this whole episode by myself. No problem. All right. Track four, Guiding
SPEAKER_01:Lights.
SPEAKER_00:I would have told you the truth. It could have found its way. and
SPEAKER_01:we have this intro that just starts out with some just quite you know beautiful piano and just this great bass line before in you know before adding in some just wonderful acoustic guitar playing which is quite different from the electric stadium level solos and things that we've heard before this and quite honestly that last the drums don't kick in until 110. and i was really enjoying that and then the drums start
SPEAKER_00:And
SPEAKER_01:I'm still enjoying it, but I kind of was enjoying where we were to where I wanted us to kind of stay there. I knew we weren't going to stay there forever because this is a ghost album and everything is big and theatrical and has to get bigger, but fine. I don't have an issue with this one overall. I do like the vocal choices that he made on this track.
SPEAKER_02:This is another one where I think the vocals are the most standout part. of, of the song. I think, um, a lot of the melodies are really good. Here's, here's what he had to say about this one. He said that he basically had that chorus. He kind of had this four chord progression and he even admitted he was like the most, you know, generic four chord progression that's used in a thousand rock songs. He said, but then I also had this almost like creepy eighties, Italian horror, uh, piece that i was playing with too and kind of just put the two together and that's why the verses kind of have this uh i don't want to say dour feel but almost have a little bit of a creepiness factor and then the chorus is just this huge you know power ballad borderline praise and worship sounding
SPEAKER_00:is
SPEAKER_01:so what i actually uh was saying like it's fine like i i don't dislike it i i mean i i like this song but it's not like oh i gotta listen to guiding lights again up until 210. at 210 at 210 everything changes at 210 we get what i call a stadium beater solo It is a solo that is meant to cave in the roof of whatever stadium they're playing in. It's a huge solo. I would say that this is not a single, but this one is probably fantastic live because I feel like the beginning is an emotional beginning. Kind of slow it down. Let the band take a minute break or so. Just give them a pause. And then it slowly builds up to this 210. And you're right, it is more of a, you know, adult contemporary praise and worship song up until 210. And then it gets real big. And that's where I feel like it would be great live. Because I wasn't, I mean, like I said, I was enjoying it, but it wasn't like, I have to hear this again. But I feel like it would be great live. Now with that, because of the way that this one goes... I feel like it would have been better to swap it with the next track.
SPEAKER_02:Especially since you have a 10-track album. I mean, obviously, 4, 5, 6 are all kind of like the quote-unquote middle of your album. But yeah, I sort of agreed that, like, me personally, I wasn't ready to slow down yet. I think that's one of my struggles
SPEAKER_01:with this song. That's why I say put it back, because I don't feel like the slowdown needed to happen just yet. And I mean, the song before this was a bit of a slowdown, because it did slow that tempo down. But, you know, it slowed the pace down. And then we go into this, what I feel like, again, just a beautiful piano piece, some, you know, nice acoustic guitar came in. It was great. If this was the
SPEAKER_02:80s, you would see 20,000 lighters in the stadium. And now it's
SPEAKER_01:20,000 cell phone lights. Not at a ghost concert! That's true, that's true. They do confiscate all the cell phones, which caused a bit of a... of a fiasco there in birmingham and
SPEAKER_02:you know i'll be honest with you as someone who goes to a lot of concerts i am i'm very much i'm more on the side of ghost than i'm not on the side of ghost
SPEAKER_01:because me personally the same yeah
SPEAKER_02:yeah film some songs take some pictures. Absolutely. You know, I remember when I, you sure do remember this too, back when we first started going to concerts in the nineties and early two thousands, they were like, no cameras, no photography, no. And if they caught you taking pictures or videos, they throw you out. And now it's like expected, you're supposed to take pictures and videos. And so I'm, I'm cool with it. But like, if you're going to hold your phone up the entire concert, you're, Yeah, yeah. Anyway. I
SPEAKER_01:am, yes. All right. Because I'm not ready to pronounce it. So, track five. You want me to pronounce it? De Profundis Borealis. Bravo, sir. Bravo. All right. All right. So, Profundis Borealis. Okay, cool. I don't feel like that opening piano is needed here, unless it's just to blend us from track four. But I feel like they could have cut that piano, and like I said, swapped four and five, and I think it would have been good, because the way this one comes in, I mean, we get... I don't know. To me, this is not... I don't know. Maybe it's like my third favorite track on the album because this one just was an adrenaline-pumping song. This was a Windows-down, drive-fast song to me. Except for that beginning.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, so I'll tell you what Tobias Harris said. He's a basketball player. Tobias Forge said, the title actually translates to From the Northern Abyss. He was... he was trying to go for a black metal kind of inspiration. And it was really funny when he was talking about it. So he said, he was like, look, I know this doesn't sound black metal. Okay. So you black metal fans don't come at me. Okay. I'm just saying that driving force. He said, I really wanted it to feel like you were driving in the snow and we're just like being pelted with that, like cold, icy feeling. So that's where the whole black metal thing from the northern abyss, you know, Norway, where a lot of black metal comes from. So anyway, to your point about that piano intro, having kids that like Disney movies, my girls kind of went through a phase where they were obsessed with the Descendants movies. All three
SPEAKER_01:of the girls dressed up as Descendants for Halloween.
SPEAKER_02:There you go. So Descendants 3, I believe that's Rise of Red. I should know. It's been on my house 700 times. There's a song called Queen of Mean. And the first couple chords of that song are very similar to the first couple chords of this song.
UNKNOWN:...
SPEAKER_03:I'm so tired of pretending.
SPEAKER_02:And it always took me a minute to be like, do I skip this one? And then that... And I was like, okay, no, I don't skip this one. I like this one. Right.
SPEAKER_01:That's the thing. After that piano part, this is a fun, fast song. This isn't one that I could say I went back and played it on repeat each time, but you know, kind of similar to you. I had a pause every time it came on and then it started. I was like, okay, yeah, we're good here. And I really think it's just that piano part in the beginning hurts the rest of the song because you don't want to go past that piano part. You don't want to listen to it to get to the rest of it. I don't know. Yeah. Sorry. Side note about the descendants. So I, every time the girls would have on one of the movies, I would say you're what I'd ask them if they're watching ancestors again. And they're like, no, it's Descendants. I'm like, right, but what are you Descendants from? Real funny, Dad. Everything they watch, I say the wrong name for. One of the girls was watching the new Dogman movie the other night. I was calling it Catboy, and she was very angry.
SPEAKER_02:Yes, yes, this is why our kids don't like us. So, this one, you know, when he said the thing about black metal, obviously it doesn't sound black metal, but before I heard him say that, I was thinking more in the vein of, like, power metal, fantasy metal. It's not nearly as fast and technical as a Dragonforce, but some of the melodies and stuff, you know, especially the way he sings that, like, when he sings the line in the chorus and then that high pitch, like little guitar lick is in there with it, kind of gave me that kind of feel. The only thing about this song that keeps it from being one of my favorites is I feel like the song is sort of over and then it just kind of keeps going. Like, I feel like they kind of keep doing that last bit
SPEAKER_01:a little bit too long. It's almost like they were having so much fun playing it, they didn't want it to end. Yeah. But it needed to end before that. I mean, the song is 4 minutes 32 seconds, so not a super long song. One of the longer songs on this album, but, you know, I think that piano part in the beginning, and then them just... I don't know if they were having so much fun playing it, they were having trouble finding the end, or if they were just having trouble finding the end. You know what I mean?
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, it really does feel like, you know, this is one that fades out. You know, this is one that obviously they were having. I think you're probably right. I think they were having a good time with this one. And they were just sort of like they played the riff. They kept going. The guys in the studio are listening along. And again, just like at a live concert, you don't feel like it's dragging when you're watching it. But then when you're, you know, just sitting there listening to it, it's sort of like. okay, well, we've heard this part. How long is it going to go?
SPEAKER_01:Right. And, you know, they just kind of recycled that, you know, that bit there for the bit, or for the end. Yeah. So, all right. Track six, Cetotef.
UNKNOWN:Cetotef.
SPEAKER_01:I'm just going with phonetics now, not the Swedish pronunciation of things. And it seems to be working for me. No, I'm pretty sure that is correct. All right. So I like the fact that this one comes after track five, which messes with my swapping four and five, because I feel like this is another high-energy rocker of a song. And I think it works well with it. So maybe swap... Maybe, I don't know, push 5 and 6 up a bit and push 4 back. I don't know. Like I said, I feel like the track listing is all out of whack on this album.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, see, I don't have a problem with the track listing other than what you said. I feel like Guiding Lights was such a slowdown that maybe pushed it a little deeper into the record. But that's the only thing I have a problem with. This is probably my second favorite song on the album. I have so much fun with this song.
SPEAKER_01:Because it starts with that spooky 80s keyboard that sounds like it should be in an 80s horror movie.
SPEAKER_02:John Carpenter vibes. It has very John Carpenter vibes when it first starts. But then with that... It's like, there's that jauntiness again.
SPEAKER_01:You mean when the riff from Black Sabbath's Children of the Grave started?
UNKNOWN:Revolution in the night.
SPEAKER_01:are you shocked that ghost takes influence from black sabbath oh no no actually uh something i thought was interesting is that uh i was looking up before we started recording i was looking up uh what other people would you know uh you know if two bands were to have a baby yeah what would it be and uh i saw someone call this one black uh sabbath but the a bba was capitalized like Oh, that's cute. I like that. Yeah. But it was if ABBA and Black Sabbath had a baby and then it went to clergy or went to school to be or went to seminary to become part of the clergy, whatever, but then dropped out and started slitting its wrists.
SPEAKER_02:I'm all about Iron Queen. I think this is Iron Maiden and Queen. And this is a perfect example of it because after that guitar, you know, it's going... it happens at 128 to 133 and it happens again at 239 to 245 where it plays crazy little thing called love by queen Because it's just a D chord where you add that extra note to it. But it is that exact chord played at the exact same rhythm.
SPEAKER_01:But you see, it's funny. I think it's funny you just said the 328 or 329 because I have just before the solo and it starts at 238. Sorry, I'm mixing up my notes here. At 238, it becomes a Van Halen song.
SPEAKER_02:okay so i was gonna say my my two favorite parts of this song are at 147 the vocal harmony on the word moment which is a great moment on this album and then the solo that starts at 246 freaking rules this is one of the absolute best guitar solos and then kind of like kind of like on lachryma it has like a two-part solo so you've got the first part at 246 and then at 310 it sort of does that half time and he goes into that like that like double tap solo so It's not super long, but it's just long enough. Oh man, this is a good song. It is such a good song.
SPEAKER_01:This one is a good song. And I feel like, and this is, I don't know. I feel like I've contradicted myself where I said, you know, swap four or whatever. I feel like this should have been the opener to this album. I feel like this would have been a much better opener.
SPEAKER_02:You know, because if you had to pick another song off this album that has a similar vibe to this, it would be Peacefield, because it does have that faster thing. It's not as minor key as Peacefield. It's brighter, even. So, yeah, I think lyrically, this one is a little bit of a darker subject matter, I guess. I'm
SPEAKER_01:sorry, I missed what this one was, subject matter was.
SPEAKER_02:So what Tobias was saying that a cenotaph is a stone structure posing as a grave but doesn't have a body inside of it. It just serves as a memorial. And I think lyrically what he was going for was kind of like talking about being that way in life. Just being sort of an empty vessel without a soul. So again, a little bit metaphoric, a little bit whatever, but Whereas Peacefield, I mean, you just hear it in the name, you know, this one is a little bit deeper than
SPEAKER_01:that. Okay, that's fine. Let's move on to talk about track seven, Masila Amori.
SPEAKER_00:Eight. Before my love, it is too late.
SPEAKER_01:This is where it gets horny. Yeah, yeah. This is a horny song. I said that this is a Def Leppard stripper pole anthem.
SPEAKER_02:Okay, let me tell you the quote. I don't have the exact quote, but here's what I can tell you. In that interview, he says, I was thinking about songs in the 80s that got a little bit more exposure because they were really good to strip to. And I wanted to make a song like that. He said, so I was really thinking of songs like pour some sugar on me and those kind of stripper anthem kind of songs. And he even mentioned that this song has this like physical like where you can like actually feel your body being like kind of pushed around.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:And he said that's exactly what he had in his head when he wrote the song.
SPEAKER_01:Okay. And so as far as those bonbons, you know, they're fun. Yeah. But I feel like the guitars were mixed too far back in this. I feel like for those parts, they should have been bigger and more impactful. I think they should have had a punch, especially considering I feel like it's supposed to have a stomping riff to go along with Love Rockets shot right between your eyes.
UNKNOWN:Love
SPEAKER_00:Yeah,
SPEAKER_02:but what
SPEAKER_01:exactly are love rockets? I don't know, but on first listen, and now I've told you that I usually put an album on the background at first, and the first time I listened to this one, I was in the car, and I remember I just wasn't really listening to it intently. I was just kind of, you know, whatever. Yeah. I had to rewind or go back in the song because I swear I heard butt rockets and nut rockets, not love rockets.
SPEAKER_02:Well, I mean, I don't think nut rockets is
SPEAKER_01:too terribly off. No, I don't think so either. But yeah, I heard, I definitely
SPEAKER_02:heard butt rockets. I love that guitar lick after he says love rocket. Oh yeah. That is, that's, uh, God, so much Brian May. Like, that's the tone I hear. But I love that little lick. The only thing for me, I really do like this song, too. I think it's fun. Oh, no, it's a fun song. I just feel like the bridge is kind of weak.
UNKNOWN:Wherever you may be.
SPEAKER_02:This would have been a good song to have. It does have a good guitar solo that starts off at around 243. But it's just, compared to some of the other just huge arena rock solos, I just... I don't know. Like, I feel like with this, like you said, like as sexy as this song is supposed to be, I feel like they could have done something more there.
SPEAKER_01:So I feel like the bridge is where like it's slowly fades out and that stripper gets off the stage. Like her act is done because I feel the same way. I kind of feel like it was, I was having a lot of fun up until that bridge hit. And I was kind of like, I'm just kind of done here now. I like the love rocket shot off. I don't need any more between my eyes. Ah, you had post-rocket clarity. Yes, yes, post-rocket clarity. Anyway, let's move on to talk about track eight, Marks of the Evil One.
SPEAKER_00:I
SPEAKER_01:think that this one would have been a better closer than we got on this album.
SPEAKER_02:This one... I've kind of... This one's grown on me. I didn't like it all that much at first, but subsequent listens, I've gotten more into it because I kind of felt like the first time I heard it, that guitar line, that kind of lead line that starts at the beginning of the song......kind of sets you up for something that the verse is not... Happening because like the verse it's like the vocal melody is like And it felt like I don't know like it felt like they were at odds with one another
SPEAKER_00:But
SPEAKER_02:the more I listened to it the more I kind of fell into it and I
SPEAKER_01:I like this song a lot. Okay. So I feel like this one also grew on me, but something I, I do feel like, you know, whereas, uh, you know, track seven was the deaf leopard stripper song. This is more of the, like, I don't darker band stripper song. Like this is like for like, the girl that gets up on stage that listens to nothing but goth music. I feel like this is another stripper song, another sexy, sensual song, but not as party rock, let's put it that way.
SPEAKER_02:Well, so... Knowing the lyrical content... Oh, yeah, yeah, the lyrical content completely goes against any of that. The way he actually described it, though, I thought was kind of funny, because he said it is a very dumbified, which I don't believe is a word, interpretation of biblical writings, because he's talking about, like, the horsemen of the apocalypse, and he said... He basically wanted to simplify this thing just to make it sound quote-unquote cool.
SPEAKER_01:Actually, I do like that the first two verses were basically listing off what the riders are. In verse one, we have,"...one rider has a bow, rides a steed." white and wears a crown conquering
SPEAKER_00:a
SPEAKER_01:second rider joins on a steed red swinging his sword mongering verse 2 goes on to say the third rider looks cool on his steed Now, Right. Right.
SPEAKER_02:it probably has my favorite line of the whole album where it's in the bridge at 204 and he says and when the sun eclipses it's just abracadabra hocus pocus shit and it's like that's the kind of like poking fun at themselves stuff that I admire because they've built this huge thing and it's like when you just see the logo and you see the pictures of the band you get this impression and then he sings it's just abracadabra hocus pocus shit like it's just I don't know it's magic ta-da right
SPEAKER_01:so okay you know there are things about different songs that drive me nuts like a tambourine or a false ending uh-huh sure sure I'm okay with it, but I don't love it, but I hate the fade-out that we got on this one. Oh, really? I hate the fade-out here. There's something that happens, actually, in the fade-out. He drops an F-bomb in the fade-out, but he doesn't drop an F-bomb anywhere else in the album that I could find, I kind of felt like it was a cowardly move to put the F-bomb in the fade-out like he's afraid to put it somewhere else and say it louder. I don't know.
SPEAKER_02:I don't think he's afraid to say it. I've heard him say it plenty of times.
SPEAKER_01:I don't think he's afraid to say it. I mean, he's obviously not afraid to go after the church, but... It's, you know, or the Catholic Church put it that way. But I don't know. It just kind of felt like it's like it just barely audible in the fade out. And I just didn't like it. Didn't sit well.
SPEAKER_02:I like it. It reminded me of this Incubus song. Oh, I think it was off of Crow Left of the Murder because he's saying it like fades out. He's like. uh, be gone, be gone, be gone, be gone, like over and over as it fades out and then just throws in one F off in the middle of it. That's like, if you're, if you're not listening for it, you like don't even notice. And, and also thought about the who, where, you know, that when they fade out that song, who
SPEAKER_00:are you?
SPEAKER_02:And then if, you know, if you listen to the whole thing, there's a, Who the eff are you? Like snuck in there near the very end of it. So I think it was just kind of channeling that again where it's just, you know, kind of a homage to some more 80s stuff. But I don't know. I thought it was kind of fun. I thought you might be talking about the... I was calling it a Friday the 13th reference. I don't know if that's true or not. But I kept hearing like a... Like at different parts throughout the song? Yeah, I didn't catch that at all. Like it's mixed in throughout, but I feel like at 2.42, like a lot of the music drops out and it's a little bit like more up front in the mix.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_02:Again, I don't think it's actually a Friday the 13th reference, but it's what it made me think of every time I heard it. That's fine. All right, so track nine, Umbra.
SPEAKER_01:I don't like the title of that. It just doesn't feel good in my mouth. What does feel good in your mouth? Love Rockets. nailed
SPEAKER_02:it nailed
SPEAKER_01:it i'm proud of you thank you proud of you all right so cut the first minute uh-huh and make it an interlude it's a 10 track album so it's not a long album but that that that first i don't know i think it's right at like a minute it yep it's like the 80s sounds that we got on like those stranger things soundtracks so I want that song because I love that sound. I love that feeling. It just feels cold, but also like, I don't know, like I want to put a hoodie on and I don't know. I like it.
SPEAKER_02:Nope. Nope. Nope. That first sound is not from the eighties. It is from the nineties. That is the sound of a PlayStation being booted up. No, it just has that feeling, that sound and all. I don't know if it is actually, but that's what I hear
SPEAKER_01:every
SPEAKER_02:single time.
SPEAKER_01:I don't think it is a PlayStation being booted up. We heard that on the Frank Ocean Channel Orange. Oh,
SPEAKER_02:we did. We did, for sure.
SPEAKER_01:No, but I don't know. I love that sound. I love that feeling. I want more of that, but you start a song off with a full minute of that and then the guitar comes in big yeah and the thing about it is if you had just given me a song where that's the start it would have definitely caught my attention instead of like oh i i like this i like this oh We're into something completely different now. It's got a shit ton of cowbell.
SPEAKER_02:Oh, I love the cowbell. I really do. It was giving me just another band that does not shock me at all that they would be influenced by Blue Oyster Cult. Yep. And I hear a lot of that on this one. And this is another one. I agree with you. You know, Ghost is the kind of band that is very theatrical. Having a couple one minute long interludes on your album is not weird for a band like this. That makes perfect sense.
SPEAKER_01:I think it's weird for your band like this to put out 10 track albums.
SPEAKER_02:some of them are longer, some of them are longer, but they also have EPS out too. So, you know, I think it's really, you know, whatever Tobias is feeling as far as, you know, it's his, it's his world. It's his universe. He's created. But, um, I, I really like, I don't love that intro. This is another one where it's like for the first 45 seconds or so. I'm like, I don't, do I like this one? And then when it kicks in, I'm like, Oh yeah, this one's cool. Um, I like how driving it is. And then at 323, you get these big organs come in. But my favorite part is around 338, when the guitars and the organ are all starting to play... with each other and against each other. And it was giving me almost like 70s prog yes kind of vibes where you've got the keys and the guitars and they're all kind of like doing their own little solos and stuff.
SPEAKER_01:Okay, so what I said is that 324... it becomes a song where prog is picking on Van Halen.
SPEAKER_02:There you go. Exactly. It's, it's got the keys. It's got the, uh, it's got the noodley guitar stuff. I think it's fun.
SPEAKER_01:No, this is a fun song, but I feel like I, and I don't hate cowbell, but I feel like that cowbell is just mixed too far up. Cause it's just like, okay. I did not listen to this full one through headphones, but I did listen to this one headphones up until that cowbell, uh, just started belling my head and i okay it's funny that you said blue is your cult and i think everybody thinks blue is your cult with a cowbell thanks to will ferrell ferrell and actually put the note i don't need more or have a fever for more cowbell
SPEAKER_03:guess what I got a fever and the only prescription is more cowbell.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah. Now, and I'm not exactly sure what the lyrics are in this one.
SPEAKER_01:I don't know what they are because I don't like Tobias's vocal choices on this one. I don't like this song. Let's put
SPEAKER_02:that. Yeah. This isn't one of my favorites. I do like how driving it is. And I do like sort of all the noodle action at the end, but no, I agree. It's not one of my favorites, but he said he called this a very coital song and, He said, this is... He kind of was a little tongue-in-cheek. He was like, there was another British band from the 60s who had a song that really summed up the lyrical content of what I wanted to go for, which is All You Need Is Love. And it was funny. He was like, we could all be sitting around having the most deep philosophical conversation in the world. Somebody brings in a tray of shots, we all do a couple, and all of a sudden... Let's talk about something else. And your brain goes straight to something a lot more primitive and primal. And so he was kind of trying to channel that. Again, without really reading the lyrics beforehand, I'm not exactly sure if it gets that aggressive, but that's what it was supposed to be.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, completely missed me on this one. I That cowbell just kind of took me out of it. I did enjoy around 324 when it turns into that proggy Van Halen thing. I thought that was a fun part, but just, I don't know, to get to that point was a little much for me. I get you. All right, let's round it out and talk about track 10, Excelsius.
UNKNOWN:Everybody leaves one day
SPEAKER_00:So
SPEAKER_02:before you talk about the actual song, here's what I want to say Tobias had to say about this. He said he kind of considered Umbra as the final song. Excelsius is more like the encore to the album or like the song that plays during the credits. It's almost like Sort of. It's almost like Umbra is the exclamation point, the finale of the event. And now that you're on your way out, this is the cool-off song that ends it.
SPEAKER_01:That doesn't make me like it all that much more, but it makes more sense. No, I get it. It does feel more like that. So actually, their album from 2018 and I don't ever feel like I pronounce it right. Uh, prequel P R E Q U E L L E. Good. We'll go with that. Yeah. Prequel. Um, there was a song on that one that I really liked called life eternal. And this one feels like the continuation of life eternal. It feels bigger than life eternal. Now, Probably
SPEAKER_02:longer.
SPEAKER_01:Yeah, it's six minutes, one second. And that's something that I actually think hurt this one more. But I get it now that you tell me what Tobias Ford said about it, that it's supposed to be this extra thing, this encore. I get it. That makes sense. But at the same time, I don't need a six-minute track to close out your album when there's another song I feel like would have been a better closer. I didn't love this one. This isn't one that I have a lot on, honestly. It's a nice song. It's a little pruggy at times.
SPEAKER_02:I like my favorite part of the song. The part that stands out to me is the vocal melody on You Will Too. I will too. You
SPEAKER_00:will too. I will
SPEAKER_02:too. Like, I like the way he sings that every time. But just like Guiding Light's We talk about this on all kinds of albums. Bands that have four, five, six albums. They have a large discography to choose from. You have different eras. You have different sounds. This is not the flavor of Ghost I prefer. I prefer stuff like Lacryma. I prefer stuff like Cinetaph. The more driving, upbeat, a little bit spooky stuff. These kind of songs just don't do it for me. So I get why it's the last track. The lyrics are about, you know, we all die. But while we're here, you live life to the fullest. I can respect that. But it's just the execution of it's just not for me. Yeah. All right, Monster. What's new with you? There's really not much, honestly. I'm just going to say Lacrima because how much I love that song. And there's at least a twinge of it in that kind of riff. Like if you were to put a little bit of a different kind of beat behind it, I don't know. You could make a case maybe, but no, there's, I mean, there's so much eighties here that there's really nothing bouncy or groovy happening. And if it does, you get more into the jaunty feel and it's, it's not as bouncy
SPEAKER_01:danger. What's cooking. And for the second time on the show, we're actually going to have the same song in this segment.
UNKNOWN:Yeah.
SPEAKER_01:And I actually think that it just goes to, I think lacrimal is probably the best song off this album. And so I do want to hear it at least twice.
SPEAKER_02:That is, that is just such like to me, whenever you have a band that is this theatrical, the, the conversation is always what's more important. Are they, are they more about the visual and the story or are they more about making really good music that stands the test of time? And they just have this, visual component. And to me, Lacrima, that's a world beater. That is a great rock song that I don't care if you like Ghost. If you like rock music at all, you gotta respect that kind of a song.
SPEAKER_01:Oh yeah. This was your pick, the first pick for Masked Month. Masked Month.
SPEAKER_02:Yeah, see,
SPEAKER_01:it's the ED that I don't like. Month of Masks. There you go. Better, better. Acronym, mom. Perfect. All right. So with that, would you like to give
SPEAKER_02:us your closing statement first? Ghost is one of those bands that some people seem to obsess over and others can't stand. I had heard a few songs here or there and liked the majority of what I heard, but I guess I didn't really get it. But after listening to this album, Skeleta, from start to finish multiple times, and watching some live performances and music videos, I think I'm starting to get it. I don't think this is a perfect album, but there are a couple songs on here that I think are damn near perfect songs. And that's the thing about a lot of their music. I don't love all their stuff, but the stuff I do love, I love a lot. Musically, I hear all the influences, the heavy metal, the arena rock, the pop, the classical, but it sounds wholly unique to them. I like the imagery, but also the sense of humor they have about it. This is the kind of band that a full album of, all at once, could turn into a bit of a slog if you're not in the mood for it. But in 20-30 minute chunks, it's phenomenal. And live, from what I've seen, it's even better. Overall, I find Skeleta to be a little bit of a mixed bag. Some songs I probably won't revisit. Some songs I'm ready to listen to again right now. So even though my overall ranking of the band Ghost, in general, would be pretty damn high, speaking specifically to this album, 1 to 10, I said 6.25. Endanger, would you like to unmask your closing statement?
SPEAKER_01:I like this one. I want to like it more though. I want it to be more. Ghost is obviously a powerhouse of a band and they are shooting for greatness. Each album has given us a further step into the cheesy sci-fi soundtracks of 80s movies. And it has been a fun ride, but never anything that has truly grabbed me. And then we have their most recent venture. Ghost has given us an album that smashes the power pop synth of 1986 and the hair metal of that same year. but the thing that hurt this album the most was this very same thing. Instead of giving us a ghost album, they gave us a Tears for Death Sabbath album. This album feels like it wants to be bigger than it is, and by all means, it needs to be played loud. That may be the best way that you're going to hear the guitars that are just mixed a little too low outside of the solo. And for that reason, I gave this album a 6.42. Wow, pretty close. Yep. So, Monster gave Ghost Skeleta a 6.25, and I gave it a 6.42, which gives it an overall average of 6.335, putting it into the 47th position just below Dead Sarah and just above Stabbing Westward.
SPEAKER_02:Uh, I feel like Ghost and Stabbing Westward could maybe... tore together a little bit, but I don't think that three doesn't work well.
SPEAKER_01:No, I don't feel like that three would. I do feel like Stabbing Westward, Darkest Days specifically, would probably work best with Ghost, but overall, I don't know. It's just a little too industrial for the 80s pop flair of Ghost.
SPEAKER_02:Like they both have synth and like a lot of like piano and organ, but they just use it in very different ways.
SPEAKER_01:Yes. Yes. So with that, if you disagree with the score that we have given this album, then please shoot us an email at breakdowns, breakfast at gmail.com or head on over to one of our social media platforms, X, Instagram, or Facebook and check us out there. Breakdowns for breakfast across all of those. And if you have a suggestion, please let us know. We love getting suggestions. Barring
SPEAKER_02:a scheduling snafu, this coming up second breakfast will be related to this album. It'll be a little bit of a mini movie review on Right Here, Right Now, the ghost concert film, whatever. I thought it would be a good companion piece with this. But if you have any suggestions for second breakfast, any topics you want us to take a look at, send them on. Love to hear it. Danger! What's a ghost's favorite thing to order at a Mexican restaurant? What's that? A burrito.
