leitmotif

Track Listings

1. symbol song

2. movement I - 45n, 180w

3. lechium

4. movement II - crosswind minuet

5. traversing through the arctic cold we search for the spirit of yuta

6. movement III - lyndon

7. pengiuns in the desert

8. movement IV - RR

9. yatahaze

10. movement V - 90 hour sleep

Editorial Reviews
(theprp.com)
You just can't listen to it as you do with your usual cd's. dredg's music takes you on a musical trip, and once you get back you'll never see art with the same eyes.

Product Description
a journey through music and art

leitmotif,dredg

leitmotif

Average customer rating:

"Take these words, be on your way."
NOT sounding like Tool is a great thing
Excellent
THEY SOUND NOTHING LIKE TOOL!
Must Hear

Leitmotif
Dredg
Manufacturer: Interscope Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Indie Rock | Indie & Lo-Fi | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

Post Grunge | American Alternative | Alternative Rock | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

Pop Rock | Pop | Styles | Music
Similar Items:

El Cielo
Catch Without Arms
Live at the Fillmore
Is This Room Getting Smaller
Deadwing

ASIN: B00005NWLC
Release Date: 2001-09-11

Tracks:

Symbol Song
Movement I: @45 degrees N, 180 degrees W
Lechium
Movement II: Crosswind Minuet
Traversing Through The Artic Cold We Search For The Spirit Of Yuta - Intermission
Movement III: Lyndon
Penguins In The Desert
Movement IV: RR
Yatahaze
Movement V: 90 Hour Sleep

Customer Reviews:

"Take these words, be on your way.".......2007-06-26

Leitmotif, Dredg's first full album is interesting in its contrast from their two subsequent releases; El Cielo and Catch Without Arms. Those two sound very different in some ways, but also have a lot in common, especially the emphasis on tight compositions and vocal-heavy songs. Leitmotif, on the other hand is highly meandering and instrumental. Despite the running time over 50 minutes, there are only five or so real songs. Half of the tracks are continuations of previous songs featuring some extended rocking. The final track is 20 minutes long, including several minutes of silence followed by a very lo-fi jam session accompanied by a lot of electronic beeps and scratches. Despite the relative lack of ideas in a similar time span, it doesn't seem out of place in Dredg's discography. It's definitely different, but you can tell it's the same band and how they went from there to evolve into what they are now seems to make sense. Gavin's voice isn't highlighted as much, and the guitar playing is a little more intricate than it tends to be later. It's also noticeably harder than they've usually been since.

My favorite song is the first. It starts with a nice high-pitched guitar riff combined with a hard backbone, and the chorus is an impressive display of intensity. "Lechium" isn't as hard but still technically pretty nice and fun to listen to. As it goes on, the album gets more experimental with strange, distant vocals and some ambient stuff. It changes back to a more standard sound with the only time I think I've heard the vocalist scream in "Penguins in the Desert" (A song title referenced in lyrics on El Cielo), which has a nice contrast between the shouts and a more melodic singing in the verse. After a nice continuing interlude, it builds to "Yatahaze", the last real song. The whole album is written around a short story by the bassist, which is printed in the jacket, broken up by the track names. It's interesting to read along and see how the music matches the tone of the story, and where lines are repeated in the lyrics. Leitmotif doesn't have the same standout, brilliant songs like Dredg's other work, but it's still a very enjoyable and worthwhile album, especially when taken as a whole.

NOT sounding like Tool is a great thing.......2006-12-16

I'm writing this review a little late and in the hopes that it will help you choose this cd. Not only for the fantastic fact that THEY DO NOT SOUND LIKE TOOL, but also because this cd is so well done. I bought this cd because I liked a guy that had it. I just wanted to have something to talk to him about, I never actually expected to like it SO much. Out of all the people that I make listen to this, at least 85% actually like it. Sounds like a success to me.
I have to agree that some of the riffs are too similar for comfort, but all in all the songs are each their own. The album also has a fluid feel, where each song blends into the next so easily that you wonder where the songs end and begin. Sometimes it's fast, sometimes it's slow, it's usually rhythmic and (I don't think I can stress this enough) not at all like Tool or A Perfect Circle. Did someone really compare them to Bad Religion too? NO. The drums are tuned precisely and the guitar is great. BUY THIS.

Excellent.......2006-10-29

Although it took the public (myself included) a little while to catch up, Leitmotif helped establish Dredg as a distinctive force in the frequently predictable rock genre, setting the stage for the even greater triumph to come down the pike a few years later in the form of El Cielo. It's a wide-ranging, impressively atmospheric album that skirts the lines between metal and progressive rock, with the occasional nu-metal element and some decidedly non-rock instrumentation (piano, violin) thrown in for good measure. The album, as others have noted, is essentially one long piece divided into ten tracks, in keeping with prog rock's treatment of the song as an arbitrary concept. Overall, Leitmotif is a pretty dark and often haunting listen, but with more than enough energy and musicianship, not to mention the stunning power of Gavin Hayes's voice, to elevate it above the dull and dreary. Most striking about this album, aside from the band's obviously considerable talent, is the balance it strikes between the band's disparate aspects, especially for a debut. In contrast to much of the standard nu-metal that was becoming fashionable at the time, the sound is refreshingly raw and wrenching, especially in the album's heavier moments, but it never takes away from the complexity and innovation in the songwriting.

The album opens with the awesome, polyrhythmic pummelling of Symbol Song, with Gavin's histrionic (but not at all whiny) vocal outpourings backed by some tricky drumwork and sheets of noisy guitar tension that give way to an utterly devastating main riff in the chorus. Lechium is somewhat quieter and more contemplative, but no less compelling, with a steady build to a cavernous, sweeping chorus (quickly to become a band trademark). The angry, confrontational Penguins in the Desert is a bit nu-metalish for my tastes, but it does make yet another nice showcase for Gavin's vocal range; check out that effortless segue from throat-ripping screams to impassioned wailing in the chorus. Gluing everything together are such disarmingly pretty tracks as the piano-driven instrumental Crosswind Minuet and the acoustic guitar-heavy Traversing Through the Arctic Cold We Search for the Spirit of Yuta, a rather anomalous near-jam piece that sounds sort of like something the Dave Matthews Band might do, except, well, it's interesting. The band saved the best for (next to) last, though, as the storm and stress effect of Yahatze, highlighted by some searing guitar work and epic dynamics that take the song all the way through the emotional spectrum, is a nice setup for its concluding disintegration into screaming catharsis.

In a mere ten tracks, Leitmotif manages to include something for just about everybody, although this it's still not quite the best intro to the band. Those unfamiliar with Dredg should probably check out their flagship work El Cielo first, then move on to this one and last year's intermittently excellent Catch Without Arms. But whatever the case, Dredg are one of the few truly compelling modern rock bands out there, so you owe it to yourself to hear them.

THEY SOUND NOTHING LIKE TOOL!.......2006-09-04

I have no idea why people say that Dredg sound like Tool. They sound NOTHING like Tool. Sure Dredg makes somewhat progressive music with esoteric lyrics and mystical meanings, but most of the songs of Leitmotif sound under-developed and repeat riffs over and over. I personally feel that this album is way over-rated, like Catch without arms. Their best album was El Cielo, a concept album about sleep paralysis. I purchased El Cielo on the premise that they did sound like Tool, and they DO NOT! They have a decent style all their own, but it borders on EMO, too much sappy sound and not enough musical mastery. Some of their tempo changes are neat, but they are not as technically articulate as everyone makes them out to be...All in all Leitmotif is still a decent release, but DON'T compare it to Tool, because they sound NOTHING like them. No band sounds like Tool.
Sorry, that's just my opinion....

Must Hear.......2006-01-03

Dredg celebrates music like few other bands. This band from my little California town has been making great music from the time they were in high school. Leitmotif is hands down one of the best albums ever. Though they have made some amazing music before and after this album, Leitmotif personifies this bands capabilities. No song sounds alike and the experimental musical style pays off in a sound that is unforgetable. Simpily put, buy this album and share it with your friends.

Average customer rating:

WOW
Tell your friends
genuine piece of artwork
A gem among gems.
Five Stars Is Not Enough

leitmotif

ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Rock | Styles | Music

Alternative Metal | Hard Rock & Metal | Styles | Music

General | Rock | Indie Music | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000050FBM
Release Date: 1999-05-30

Tracks:

symbol song
movement I - 45n, 180w
lechium
movement II - crosswind minuet
traversing through the arctic cold we search for the spirit of yuta
movement III - lyndon
pengiuns in the desert
movement IV - RR
yatahaze
movement V - 90 hour sleep

Album Description

a journey through music and art

Customer Reviews:

WOW.......2002-08-13

Wow, there's nothing that explains this kind of music. It is so very good that we have to make a new category for it. It is not just metal, or alternative music--it is beautiful metal and it is art, real music not noise. I can not think of another music artist that i would rather listen to. Dredg takes you on a musical trip and once you are back you will never listen to music the same.

Tell your friends.......2002-02-03

I am writing this review because I believe that Dredg fully deserves and is destined to achieve great things. This is an album that is hard to describe, but easy to advocate. You may have heard music described as art before and if anything fits that comparison, it's Leitmotif. It's style is truly unique. The only thing I can say for sure is if you are a rock fan in any way shape or form, you will like this album. The music flows together and creates a story that will beg to be retold through your cd player again and again.

It is a shame that this unbelievable talent may have a little trouble finding success because their music is not focused on producing hit singles like so many of the bands of today. But that said, I truly hope they never decide to go that route. Each song does stand on it's own as an incredible effort, but together, they truly transcend the traditional ideas of music and walk in directions never before seen.

My one reservation upon first hearing Dredg's music was that they didn't sound like they would be very good live, but a few months ago I had the chance to see them and I was blown away. The music is as infusing and infectious live as it ever could be in a recording. So if you are even a passing fan of music, you owe it to yourself to check out this album. Tell your friends, tell your neighbors. Get this band the support it deserves.

genuine piece of artwork.......2001-12-05

i've been a dredg fan for quite a while now, and i have to say that i've not found another band yet that has even come close to producing music as beautiful and heart-wrenching as these guys have.
this definitely has to be one of my favorite cd's. and although some tracks, such as "symbol song," "yatahaze," and "crosswind minuet," do stand out, leitmotif is just one of those rare cd's that you just HAVE to play the whole way through...over and over and over....

A gem among gems........2001-11-07

The "story" concept of Leitmotif has been covered in reviews previous to mine, so I will omit any tedious exposition and jump to the point of my review:

Dredg's Leitmotif is the most inspired album I have ever heard.

If you don't have this CD, you're missing out on a magnificent piece of musical artistry. The songs on Leitmotif aren't about loathing or hate or sex or any of the "popular" musical categories that infest our radios. Not by a longshot. Leitmotif is the epic tale of an everyman's uplifting journey to find himself.

Leitmotif is a journey that no one should miss.

Five Stars Is Not Enough.......2001-07-02

Only future releases by Dredg themselves could top this. Hearing this album once was enough to make a decision; it's the best music I have ever heard. There are no adjectives, no hyperbole to correctly describe the magic that is "Leitmotif". Nothing more can be said; you have to hear it for yourself.

Music:

Music

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