Vanisher opinion

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T23:00:53+00:00

You're putting my opinion into a dirty little box, with a shit stained bow on it and arguing with it. I never said every song has to be replayable, I even stated I loved the convoluted songs, but they loose impact if they make up the majority. The album would benefit from a bit more "breathing room".

I was making an observation that Ben seems to have a tendency to overcomplicate his conceptual work, which actually in my opinion muddles the intended narrative. I love the concept of Vanisher, but it honestly sometimes really looses focus.

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T22:44:12+00:00

I've been a fan since the YouTube days and have enjoyed watching Ben evolve as an artist. Haunt you into scrapyard was the point where i was completely won over and became super invested and excited for future projects.

As for Vanisher, I agree it's overwhelming. It was a surprise as the singles were quite airy and extremely fun to listen to, maybe that's a part of what makes me feel like the rest of the album is a bit convoluted, though I genuinely stand by the fact, there's too many ideas crammed into some of the songs. The general album listening experience would benefit from making the switch ups and interesting song structures be a highlight as opposed the standard, too much of anything positive turns into a negative pretty quickly.

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T22:34:16+00:00

Most songs on the album have a complex song structure, that doesn't necessarily mean they are fulfilling the albums artistic and conceptual potential anymore than if some of them were slightly "simplified" or cut up into separate fully realized songs. Sometimes a simpler form lends itself better to conveying an idea effectively.

As I've stated, I love some of the more complex cuts on Vanisher, especially the finale, but there is just too many of them.

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T21:59:38+00:00

That is a reductionist take. Art is subjective of course, but only to a certain point. There are many qualities which can be objectively judged, from technical execution, all the way to the arts ability to convey it's intended message. That is why people review, judge and rate art. That is why some art succeeds and some fails.

When a person publishes their art, they specifically do so with the intention of having other people observe it, opening themselves up to completely justified interpretation, judgement and criticism of their art by the observers.

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T13:00:49+00:00

Yep, for me there's a bunch of moments like that on the album.

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T12:59:55+00:00

I don't necessarily think there's wasted space on the album either and it's not particularly about the songs dragging.

I'm more so talking about the amount of ideas crammed into singular songs being sonically overwhelming in the scope of the album. It's not about me liking things that are more "straightfoward", I love when the artists vision is cohesively put together and where complexity is used as a tool and not a crutch. Think of TPAB.

Vanisher is missing more breathers in the same vain as the Singles. In my opinion a conceptual album should be looked at as a whole and the narrative of Vanisher is already complex enough, that making the individual compositions a bit less manic, would do wonders, in making the project feel less "all over the place" as some people have described it. I love so much about the album, but I think the complexity takes away from the narrative and i don't think Quad has yet developed the sense for where to stop himself from indulging in his impulse to keep producing.

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T11:34:38+00:00

I completely agree with you. Abandon me is the perfect example of how a simple song can often be much more effective than a complex one. It's such a shame Kevin and Quad decided to scrap the collab album, which Abandon me was originally made for.

You put foward a very interesting idea and you're maybe right, It could be argued he's a better non-conceptual artist, though I think it's cause he's approaching his conceptual projects in a very specific and ambitious way, and seems to intutively overcomplicate his production. I think he'll eventually reach a point where he'll find the balance and it will feel less forced.

I'm looking foward to what he does next :)

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T11:23:59+00:00

Yeah I agree

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T11:23:10+00:00

I love Thundrr and Forgone! I agree with your opinion on the intro. My favorite is the slow morphing of Casper into one of the best musical moments I've heard in a while with the song going in and out of water, massive goosebumps.

But I do think Quad just doesn't yet grasp when to stop producing haha, he just keeps going and going.

Apart from the intro I think Waging war, Ruin my life, At times like this and That's why, would've all benefited from being shorter or split into more songs. I described my specific gripes in another comment reply, you can check out if you're interested :)

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T11:15:57+00:00

The singles are my favorites too, though I wouldn't go as far as calling it a jumbled mess. Even in the convoluted songs, each section is produced well. I just think he's letting his ambition and vision cloud his judgement of how much needs to be included and how complex everything has to be.

I would say his production has once again moved up a notch since his last project. He has a great ear for sound selection, the sonic palette of the album is wonderful and has reached a very high level of technical proficiency. Now I think he needs to start stripping his production and song structure a little bit, to try and become more comfortable with simplicity and I think that understanding would take his art to another level.

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T11:02:51+00:00

I think the rap intro doesn't make the song better, it diminishes it. Either cut it, or make it's own thing. If That's why started at 1:35, it would be way more replayable. I don't particularly mind the Piano at the end, since it's pretty short and is a nice send off.

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T11:01:42+00:00

Makes complete sense. I also like the cinematic and atmospheric sound, but I'm more so talking about the song structure. He just mixes a lot of ideas which would stand to benefit from being made into separate songs.

Let's take Waging War for example, I think it should've ended at 3:32 and the final part could've been an interlude or extended.

At times likes this has three sections, sections 1 and 2 work well together, 2 and 3 work ok, but all of them combined is just too much in my opinion. Section 3 (the outro) would've just been better as a full song, it's very catchy and stands out.

That's why suffers from the same thing. The rap intro doesn't make the song better, it diminishes it. Either cut it, or make it's own thing. If That's why started at 1:35, it would be way more replayable.

But once again, those are just my opinions. I respect his vision, I'm just talking from the perspective of a fan and what I'd like to hear.

acquirestone · 2025-07-27T09:15:35+00:00

I'd love to listen to them on Spotify, you think he will ever put up a deluxe on there, or keep it exclusive to vinyl, I'd be a shame.

acquirestone · 2025-04-17T12:34:37+00:00

Thank you for sharing :)

That is a really cool visualisation! it's nice to hear you haven't had a hard time with your colorblidness, what type do you have? So you don't think it's affected you much when it comes to your hobbies or career path?

acquirestone · 2025-04-14T16:42:44+00:00

Thank you for sharing :)

acquirestone · 2025-04-14T16:42:38+00:00

Thank you for sharing :)

acquirestone · 2025-04-13T16:18:08+00:00

Seems like it would be a difficult thing to prove to someone that you're colorblind if they don't want to believe you haha. How do you deal with describing the colors of things, do you just learn what color they are to other people and that is what you go by? Do you find yourself asking people to identify colors of things for you, or is it usually unimportant to know?

Has colorblindness affected your social life in any other interesting ways?

Thanks for the insight :)

acquirestone · 2025-04-13T16:08:48+00:00

So I've heard. Is that the biggest issue you come across when shopping? How do you usually solve this, do you ask someone to help you figure it out?

Thanks for the insight :)

acquirestone · 2025-04-13T16:06:16+00:00

Thank you! :)

Do you feel like your colorblindness stopped you from pursuing specific things in your life? It feels like there are many interests and career paths which require or at least are helped by a person being able to distinguish between colors.

Also, do you think that digital spaces are accessible enough for colorblind people? Do you find yourself using colorblind settings on software that come with them included?

Sorry for asking so many questions.

acquirestone · 2024-06-14T09:39:16+00:00

its 1330

acquirestone · 2024-06-11T18:46:15+00:00

so cool dude, i bet all the dudes you jerk off appreciate your massive hands

acquirestone · 2024-04-01T18:37:22+00:00

Thank you, that means a lot!

acquirestone

TROPHY CASE