I had never heard this album before, so I searched it out on 'net and listened to it. Twice. I think it's a pretty interesting album overall.Originally Posted by Scrotum Scissor
I might even hunt down a copy to purchase.
I had never heard this album before, so I searched it out on 'net and listened to it. Twice. I think it's a pretty interesting album overall.
I might even hunt down a copy to purchase.
Let's start from the beginning ...
"Searching" is such a gem, IMO. It's a really unique combination of ideas and influence. I'd be curious not so much about whether people "like" the opening number or not, but how they'd describe it in terms of its stylistic ingredients.
And yeah, I know most people don't give a fuck, but I have to reiterate what a hack-job Fonit was doing when they issued their catalog on CD. LP 1 of this set is such an amazing production on vinyl, and on CD it was reduced to this tinny, lifeless sound just because they bought into the notion that they should reduce tape hiss on everything when issued on CD. Shame. I absolutely think stuff like has negatively impacted they way some people perceive the Fonit catalog, and probably even prevents some folks from becoming "involved" in the music.
Oh man, I LOVE Percival...one of my favorite tracks ever. Pure magic. In fact, Jeff, I think I remember talking with you about this one on the Steve Hoffman forums a few years back.
I actually enjoy the 2nd LP of "Searching..." too, believe it or not. But of course it's a VERY different animal.
The first LP is absolutely magical. Love it to death.
^ That track always reminded me of the vibe from Master's Apprentices' Panama Red, another album seldom "understood" by "prog" fans.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Good call.
I think "Searching" combines a bunch of stuff that is not commonly juxtaposed: Vanilla Fudge, Cream (ala the Bruce/Brown "As You Said"), The Byrds ... and it's all wrapped up in a sort of swing jazz shuffle! In the end it sounds like nothing else from Italy.
Yeah, "Percival" is something else. I could definitely see why some would find the vocal "over the top," but that's part of its charm, IMO. I don't think there is a single track like it in all of prog, and yet this thread seems to have people almost dismissing this stuff as undefined?
Also, let's talk "St. Peter's Day." Now that string synthesizer on the album mix has to be one of the loudest, most overwhelming attempts to use such an instrument for orchestration. And I absolutely love it. But I also love the actual strings used on what I presume was the single mix?
Which mix is better?
Interesting! I think I might like the vocals better on the single/alternate version. But I do enjoy the bold use of the string synth on the original. It adds a bit of mystery & atmosphere to the tune, IMO.
heh... I immediately thought of Ramble On (minus the heavy part) with 21stCSM vocal effect
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
I think I prefer the album version. It's a little slower and has an almost melancholy feel that suits the song better for me . The "single" version is too sweet and lilting for my tastes.
Just a quick comment - I don't have the OP release but have AS - an uneven release but when the band is "on" they are supremely enjoyable. I'll check out more about the release under discussion. Saint Peter's Day sounds decent.
This track is another high point for me. LOVE those keyboard sounds!! And that ascending vocal & chord sequence-- fantastic.
Yeah, the keyboards with the delay on them are fantastic.
What I'd like to see is more recommendations on albums "seldom "understood" by "prog" fans"
There are a few here who are so much fucking smarter than the rest of us, it would be really helpful IMO
That's a truly fucking fantastic and wonderful fucking initiative, son. Perhaps you should fucking start by simply fucking reading one or fucking two of the general fucking inputs on this forum other than those immediately fucking appealing to whom you already are and want confirmation about being (i.e those concerning the exact stuff you know about from before) , and then just fucking go from fucking there. And finally, gradually, you might even get a tad less overtly fucking sensitive about other fucking folks' unpretentious observations and assessments on things.
Other than that, thanks for adding a whole lot of value to the insights on this specific musical product.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
"smarter" no
'more informed' perhaps
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
Only "perhaps", though - I'm sure that'll potentially take a load off the trauma. Sometimes it's even better to ask what side of the quotation mark one doesn't "fucking" understand. But after all we're all luckily prone to "interpretation" by those who "know" where it's "at".
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
oh... now I went back and can see he was taking a shot at you personally SS. I actually couldn't tell at first that he was trolling you
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
A thread about New Trolls seems the right place for someone trolling.
Oh, that's perfectly fine. He just wants for people to have their fun in peace and needed to set me straight by activating a point of irony when trolling me absolutely nuts, y'know.
Next there'll be trolling in threads about Latin 60s and 70s rock, Benelux underground music, Eastern bloc progressive from the mid-80s, Afrobeat during late 70s dictatorships, early 70s post-psych from the San Diego area, Scandinavian jr/f, New Weird America, GDR Krautrock, Italian progressive post-75, Chilean exiled artists under Pinochet or Argentinian at the time of the dirty war, folk-rock from Bretagne in the realm of Malicorne, non-British Canterbury, the Zeuhl wave in Japan, 70s progressive in Iceland, applications of mother tongue with non-Angloamerican progressive artists (oh, the alien horror!), the 80s NY Downtown sound and Zorn's 'New Rock Complexity' concept of the Tonic Club in Brooklyn in the 2000s, the Colours label and early 90s Nordic resurgence, the merger of freak-folk and industrial aesthetics in Northern England during recent years, the role of progressive rock in the development of the Charta-77, the stature of flamenco rock and how it differs in Catalonia and Andalucia, how refined pop antics tackled the challenges of pub culture in 70s rock Down Under, parallels and similarities in cultural contexts of formative idiosyncracies in Basque and Quebecois 70s progressive... And so on.
The only area deemed to remain untouchable by sinister troller mock is the effervescent topic of Jon A.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
now *that* will be a barn-burner!
I predict it'll go to 20 pages in the first day alone
Why is it whenever someone mentions an artist that was clearly progressive (yet not the Symph weenie definition of Prog) do certain people feel compelled to snort "thats not Prog" like a whiny 5th grader?
Aw fuck...That's where I've been making my living...
Those of us who know you on this forum, SS, know you well enough to understand that you meant no disrespect in your earlier post.
And personally, I'm grateful there are folks here more informed than I, because it helps me to learn about all kinds of music I might never have known about before.
Well, that's what my teenage sister used to say back in the day when pouring sugar into my cheap lambstew after being forced by our parents to babysit me.Those of us who know you on this forum, SS, know you well enough to understand that you meant no disrespect in your earlier post.
"Improvisation is not an excuse for musical laziness" - Fred Frith
"[...] things that we never dreamed of doing in Crimson or in any band that I've been in," - Tony Levin speaking of SGM
Well, that's what my teenage sister used to say back in the day when pouring sugar into my cheap lambstew after being forced by our parents to babysit me.Nice.
Siblings, eh?
I prefer Sun Supreme and the Atomic System albums by far to any of the New Trolls I’ve heard. UT baits you, leading you into thinking it’s going to be some Italian prog classic, then the wheels fall off with that awful Black Sabbath knockoff song and the rest of the album. I think these guys are better fractured then together.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
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