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The Gathering - How To Measure A Planet?



8.5 | 320 votes |
Release date: 9 November 1998
Style: Experimental rock

Owners:

337 have it
29 want it


Disc I
01. Frail (You Might As Well Be Me)
02. Great Ocean Road
03. Rescue Me
04. My Electricity
05. Liberty Bell
06. Red Is A Slow Colour
07. The Big Sleep
08. Marooned
09. Travel

Disc II
01. South American Ghost Ride
02. Illuminating
03. Locked Away
04. Probably Built In The Fifties
05. How To Measure A Planet?

Additional info
Produced, engineered and mixed by Attie Bauw.
Recorded at Bauwhaus, Amsterdam and Wisseloord, Hilversum between July and October 1998.
Mixed on ProTools at Bauwhaus, Amsterdam.
Mastered at Abbey Road, London by Chris Blair.
Vinyl mastering by Joona Lukala, Noise for Fiction.

Original layout and design by Cartsen Drescher.
Vinyl layout and design by Krister Dalhem.

On Svart Records vinyl release Travel and South American Ghost Ride traded places in the track list.

Guest review by
Joey Jo Jo
Rating:
10
Bands can sometimes make painful sounds akin to nails on a black board when transitioning between styles. Especially if the band members aren't sure in which direction they want to go. However, for The Gathering, they make it seem as easy as breathing with their seamless transition and seemingly effortless excursion into some pretty experimental territory on "How To Measure a Planet?". It isn't such a far fetched idea that all the members of the Gathering have been blessed with ESP since an album of this magnitude must've taken perfect chemistry between all members to make.

Read more ››
published 03.10.2007 | Comments (5)

Found in 6 lists
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Comments

Comments: 12   Visited by: 620 users
20.02.2010 - 04:39
Rating: 10
Vonpire
My Fav album... EVER!

Masterpiece, Travel best song ever!
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Beware the Shadows of Dusk
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08.07.2011 - 22:13
Rating: 10
tirim4
This album is kinda funny for me... I started out rating it as a six and though it was my least favorite The Gathering album. I Suppose I hadn't listened enough to it as during the last few months I have gradually improved the rating which is now a 10 for me. It's just a masterpiece! Heavy yet soothing and melodic. There are just some parts of this album I just can sit and listen to over and over again, like the second part of "Probably Build In The Fifties" or the title track's awesome riff, not to mention "Travel", one of the greatest masterpieces I've ever heard. The Gathering is successfully experimenting and creating a unnameable genre. It's the perfect middle station in between the heavier sound of Nighttime Birds and Mandylion and their later softer style.
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20.08.2011 - 21:57
Kenos
Account deleted
"All I want is to be where you are..."
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22.10.2012 - 01:09
Rating: 9
musicalkaratekid
Never have I been so enchanted by an album of 'How to measure a Planet?'s grandiose quality. It is, truly and honestly for me, a flawless piece of work. I remember being shocked when the only album I had heard by the band was the Gothic Metal/Death-Doom Debut 'Always...', and then listening to this out of sheer curiosity-But that's exactly why it has to be listened to more than once to get to grips with its overall sound. At a monstrously large 103 minutes you could say that it is too long, but this isn't too long at all-It's long enough, yet it feels like a lifetime-But this lifetime is one that can be fully enjoyed. The title track and 'Travel' alone are worthy buying.
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14.11.2013 - 17:06
Rating: 8
NocturnalStalker
Metal Addict
Beautiful album...
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"And we are not who we think we are
We are who we're afraid to be"
- Lux Occulta "The Opening of Eleventh Sephirah"
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16.04.2014 - 22:13
Rating: 8
buff
Good album with a few great songs, but nowhere near as good as the previous two albums. And the last track is a complete waste of space IMO. It seems that a top notch producer would have cut the chaff and reduced it to a very solid single disc.

It's truly sad that TG will never go back to their mandylion/nighttime birds sound.
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22.04.2015 - 11:22
Rating: 8
M C Vice
ex-polydactyl
A lot of this album reminds me of Ambeon's Fate Of A Dreamer.
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"I'm here to nunchuck and not wear helmets. And I'm all out of helmets."
"I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples."
" 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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17.04.2016 - 10:13
Tomas Piller
Is that a seismograph on the cover? That would go well with the name of the album, though I can't find anything online, except it should be from Carsten Drescher.
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17.04.2016 - 11:10
slim pickings
Account deleted
Written by M C Vice on 22.04.2015 at 11:22

A lot of this album reminds me of Ambeon's Fate Of A Dreamer.

without the Gathering, a band like Ambeon wouldn't have existed
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17.04.2016 - 12:43
Rating: 8
M C Vice
ex-polydactyl
Written by [user id=17278] on 17.04.2016 at 11:10

Written by M C Vice on 22.04.2015 at 11:22

A lot of this album reminds me of Ambeon's Fate Of A Dreamer.

without the Gathering, a band like Ambeon would have existed

I assume you mean wouldn't have existed?
----
"I'm here to nunchuck and not wear helmets. And I'm all out of helmets."
"I'll fight you on one condition. That you lower your nipples."
" 'Tis a lie! Thy backside is whole and ungobbled, thou ungrateful whelp!"
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17.04.2016 - 12:48
slim pickings
Account deleted
Written by M C Vice on 17.04.2016 at 12:43

Written by [user id=17278] on 17.04.2016 at 11:10

Written by M C Vice on 22.04.2015 at 11:22

A lot of this album reminds me of Ambeon's Fate Of A Dreamer.

without the Gathering, a band like Ambeon would have existed

I assume you mean wouldn't have existed?

yes, sorry about that, I'll edit my post.
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06.07.2021 - 10:56
Rating: 8
Redel
Moderator
Yeah well, if this album is one thing for sure, that is absolutely too long for its own good.
And that is just too unfortunate I think because there are several excellent songs to find here: Probably built in the fifties, Red is a slow color, Rescue me, My electricity, Marooned all stand out for me here. Then there are a handful of decent songs like Travel, Illuminating, Locked away.
Had they made an album out of these songs alone it would be a solid 9 for me and rivaling Mandylion for best Gathering album.
Well, as it is the album is my 3rd fav. by the band, Nighttime birds slightly preferred (mostly because it is shorter).
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