GMYSP - Like? Dislike? Please discuss! :)

[zorrow]

GMYSP seems to have both fans and detractors. I do like the music, specially the guitar solos. The story however isn't scary enough. The overall idea looks good, including the judges who wrongly comdemn the boy and even the end, when the girl goes for the listener's soul. However, it's much more caricaturesque than terrifying, IMHO.

What's your opinion about it?

[SatanKing]

It does seem like GMYSP gets more criticism that any other album. I know for me it was the first time ever that I had a hard time getting into a new album by King. Usually when a new King Diamond/Mercyful Fate album is out I cannot get enough of it and we would play it to death at a college radio station I was at because we liked them and because fans always requested KD/MF . But it just did not seem the same with GMYSP and to a much lesser extent with House of god. .  Maybe because the Puppet Master was so good and we had such high hopes for the next one and it just seemed disappointing.   Now that said it has grown on me over the years to where I actually enjoy listening to it now.

[bolivarmaxi]

there are great songs, like Never ending Hill and Mirror Mirror, but for me there are not enough falsettos vocal in it.

[DevilEeeyes]

I really like it, especially The Floating Head.  I don't think the vocals are as strong as on previous albums though, it sounded to me like King's voice wasn't as powerful (although the more recent live videos I've seen suggest that he still has it).  I think the story is good, I reckon that the backstory of the father butchering his children is messed-up enough for a King Diamond album!  Overall it doesn't hit the heights of some of the previous albums and I suppose that it is perhaps a little bit "by numbers", but I listen to it fairly frequently and enjoy it just as much as some of the other records.

[GGGOOODD]

I do like the music, specially the guitar solos.

I agree... I think Mike Wead has been getting a little better with every album, going back to 9 and Dead Again as well. And Andy has always been amazing of course.

[DirtbikeDave917]

I like it. The guitar work in it is really good. Everything paints a cool picture in my head. This album is a special one to me. As someone who finds himself investigating ghosts from time to time things like the dark,  noises, footsteps, cold spots, voices and shadows make you think about what awaits us.
The first time I listened to it the end freaked me out a bit...goosebumps.

[cls]

This album, along with most of his post-Conspiracy output, suffers from the usual fatal flaw: writing with a drum machine and trying to construct albums by collaborating via e-mail with band members that live 1000 miles away.  ProTools giveth and ProTools taketh away, I guess.   

If Matt Thompson indeed actually plays drums on any of these tracks, he's just mindlessly parroting the drum tracks that have been written for him.  I challenge anyone to listen to this album and tell me that a professional drummer actually concocted these boring beats.   They're mind-numbing.  Mikkey Dee would take a bullet before he put his name on an album with these drum tracks.

All this is ironic, because, unlike every other member of his band, his current drummer actually lives in Texas.   Is it just laziness....or hubris...???  Beats me. 

If you like chunky riffs, relatively mundane strong structures, nice solos, and scary stories, by all means, buy the album.  If you're looking for the cutting edge, dynamic, avant-garde, and unpredictable leanings of Abigail, save your money.  Voodoo is the only post-Conspiracy album that truly has the tiger by the tail. 

KD only has so many albums left in him.  I wish he'd truly let the mischief back in the mix. 

[zorrow]

This album, along with most of his post-Conspiracy output, suffers from the usual fatal flaw: writing with a drum machine and trying to construct albums by collaborating via e-mail with band members that live 1000 miles away.  ProTools giveth and ProTools taketh away, I guess.   

If Matt Thompson indeed actually plays drums on any of these tracks, he's just mindlessly parroting the drum tracks that have been written for him.  I challenge anyone to listen to this album and tell me that a professional drummer actually concocted these boring beats.   They're mind-numbing.  Mikkey Dee would take a bullet before he put his name on an album with these drum tracks.

All this is ironic, because, unlike every other member of his band, his current drummer actually lives in Texas.   Is it just laziness....or hubris...???  Beats me. 

If you like chunky riffs, relatively mundane strong structures, nice solos, and scary stories, by all means, buy the album.  If you're looking for the cutting edge, dynamic, avant-garde, and unpredictable leanings of Abigail, save your money.  Voodoo is the only post-Conspiracy album that truly has the tiger by the tail. 

KD only has so many albums left in him.  I wish he'd truly let the mischief back in the mix.

That's an interesting way to put it.

My side, I'm very guitar-oriented, so both KD and MF have always delivered for me. However, we agree on the fact that a new album very probably won't bring anything new or groundbreaking to the scene, unless they hired a new producer and would be willing to take some serious risks. So, live packages and collections of rarities is where things would be more interesting for me at this point.

[vitalsign0]

This album, along with most of his post-Conspiracy output, suffers from the usual fatal flaw: writing with a drum machine and trying to construct albums by collaborating via e-mail with band members that live 1000 miles away.  ProTools giveth and ProTools taketh away, I guess.   

If Matt Thompson indeed actually plays drums on any of these tracks, he's just mindlessly parroting the drum tracks that have been written for him.  I challenge anyone to listen to this album and tell me that a professional drummer actually concocted these boring beats.   They're mind-numbing.  Mikkey Dee would take a bullet before he put his name on an album with these drum tracks.

All this is ironic, because, unlike every other member of his band, his current drummer actually lives in Texas.   Is it just laziness....or hubris...???  Beats me. 

If you like chunky riffs, relatively mundane strong structures, nice solos, and scary stories, by all means, buy the album.  If you're looking for the cutting edge, dynamic, avant-garde, and unpredictable leanings of Abigail, save your money.  Voodoo is the only post-Conspiracy album that truly has the tiger by the tail. 

KD only has so many albums left in him.  I wish he'd truly let the mischief back in the mix.

I couldn't agree more, although The Eye is my favorite album by King, I understand the lackluster drums via drum machine. I also agree about Voodoo. It's one of his best albums. The solos on Loa House rival anything on any other album.

GMYSP was a pretty forgettable album for me. The story was stale - almost cheesy. Floating Head, Cold As Ice, Black As Night were decent as were others but as a whole I never listen to the album.

I wish King Diamond would go back to being a group effort as in Them. Then I realize that was almost 30 years ago and there might be financial and legal reasons King wants to keep the song writing credits to himself.

At leash let Matt do what he wants on the next album. The drums on The Graveyard make that album almost unlistenable to me.

[Shadowswhisper]

I really thought Gmysp was an album that had allot of potential with some interesting guitar and vocal arrangements .....drums ok many people have commented on that subject.  There is no doubt Matt can play heavy fast technical intricate rudimentary...etc .  Yet with the album I felt the drums simply fit the riffs and vocals to a good degree to keep time though not flashy or over stated which tends to give them a processed sound.

There could have been many beats accents crash hits rides what have you but would it have sounded any better perhaps a bit more energetic though King tends to do what he feels is right with drums and that's not a bad thing if it works well with everything else.

Guitar work was I have to say incredible at this point I don't look at the concept as much as the musical achievements and merits of the album so if you ask me Gmysp was a good album with some fresh ideas and sounds. 


Stay Heavy 

[SatanKing]

I am sort of surprised at all the comments here and other places about the post Conspiracy albums.  Spider Lullabye had some great songs and I think the best Guitar riffs of any album he has ever done. And The Graveyard and Voodoo are incredible albums.  House of god was a little weak but still very good.  Abigail two  is good but it was unnecessary to continue the Abigail story. I know King said fans kept saying for years to do another album like Abigail but that is what they meant. An Album like Abigail not the actual story.

The Puppet Master was brilliant which is why GMYSP was then such a disappointment

[Shadowswhisper]

Gmysp was an incredible album from being a concept piece to all the musicianship in my opinion....all arguments aside the musicianship was quite amazing and to a degree I think that's where certain fans and people see the album as different from what is expected.    In some aspects I can not argue that King and the band just need to get fucking heavy again  and not worry about technical perfection. 

That has a time and a place and I really feel that Gmysp was a hell of an effort at bringing us fans a album that was good and heavy  but perhaps failed to meet certain expectations of some fans.  Personally I feel it was a good album but I do understand how it is viewed in negative ways.

To that I say music is art and we all view it with different ears so let us embrace the next KD album as being a work of art.

Stay Heay 

[TheUnborn]

Love the record. So many good melodies and harmonies throughout. I really don't understand what's not to like.
The only thing I can put my finger on, is the production, which should have been more dynamic. I want more air and feeling in the sound.

[Stubs]

I thought GMYSP was great. I will agree that the overall production was not as dynamic as that of the Puppet Master, but the guitar playing, especially the lead work, was as good as anything KD has put out. I have posted elsewhere what I think about the drumming on more recent KD releases, so I won't regurgitate.

I also agree with this statement, even if I had to paraphrase it a hair:

...King and the band just need to get fucking heavy again and not worry about technical perfection. 

If I have any criticism of GMYSP, it would be the slightly-canned feeling of the tempi. I'll take feel, atmosphere, and groove over metronomes every day of the week. It may be what everyone's doing now... Hell, for King it may seem like the "only" way to make a record, what with his bandmates spread out all over the globe... But I, for one, am hoping for some heavy surprises on the new album that we didn't get with its predecessors. Deviations, you might say.

[Mad Mod]

GMYSP was actually my first KD album and my gateway into discovering KD just a few years ago. I got GMYSP first because a google search brought up the music video which also advertised it as the most recent release. I absolutely loved it and I still do. It has stayed in my top 3 KD albums since then.
Also I must say that Voodoo, since it was mentioned earlier, was actually one of the hardest KD albums for me to get into, can't exactly say why honestly! That and Spiders Lullaby are my least listened to albums.
I also really like Graveyard but I agree with you all about the drumming.

[Felicia]

Oddly enough,  I barely remember this album. I own it and have it upstairs on a shelf, but rarely listen to it. There were a few songs I liked but it didn't fit in with the main story. It was almost like they were written for some other album and put in there instead. Can't put my finger on it really...just not really sure what was going on in that album.
Anyways I often wonder if the love of albums pre voodoo had to do with the digitalizing of music.. Correct me if I am wrong but isn't conspiracy recorded on analog, and I think it gives a better well rounded sound. It's that little extra creepy that chilled the person listening and well imo digital lacks that in recordings.
I do like alot of later albums, like House of God..solid good story there..I think Abigail 2 was where my ears went awry, that sounded more like a certain video game than horror story ;)
Hey what do I know anyway..lol!

[Vlad Tepes]

I like it, but it's definitely the one with the least amount of play time.

[Satans KINGdom]

I thought it was a really good album. I liked it better than Abigail II, and thought it was right up there with puppet master.

[The Family Ghost]

I really liked it at first, but it hasn't held up well for me.  I rarely ever reach for it when I play King Diamond stuff.  It's got some cool tunes, but I don't think the concept is all that great.  I'm also not a fan of the production.