Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
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Funny thing is, I have on two seperate occassions, heard both Phil Collins and whatever member of Toto state that Hot Fun In The Summertime was indeed the inspiration for both those songs. Can't remember the radio show... one of those weekly top-40 shows but it wasn't Casey Kasem, Rick Dees or Dick Clark.Originally Posted by Progatron
Compact Disk brought high fidelity to the masses and audiophiles will never forgive it for that
One thing I always keep forgetting to mention about this album is it contains what I consider the most sublime chord change Tony's come up with... in "Duke's Travels/Duke's End":
Start at 5:34. That chord change at 5:42 is quintessentially THE Tony Banks chord, something I don't think I've ever heard anyone else do, although Jem Godfrey came close on "Milliontown." It's a well-done and gorgeously lush transition between the prior ascending instrumental buildup and the reprise of the "Guide Vocal" motif, and, to me, is indicative of Banks' composer brilliance. (It helps that Collins and Rutherford are propelling the rhythm forward with relentless energy.) It would be hard for anything after that to match, so it's probably just as well they went pop afterwards.
A Major 7th? It's been done *lol* OK, I'll be brutally honest- I really love the album as a whole but I find Duke's Travels to be a real slog. I don't like Tony's sound choices (the synth clarinet- gah) and melodically it just seems basic and uninspired. Even the Guide Vocal reprise, while effective, isn't as effective as it could be. But I listen to the whole thing because it's so worth it to get to that little calliope break aaaaaaaand- BOOM! When it kicks into Duke's End all is forgiven, they are just rocking. And I do love the reprise of Turn It On Again, I think that has a lovely tension.
I consider this one their last prog album. I fully agree with the first post, it's their transition album. For what it's worth, I like it a lot for it's adventurous yet catchy and accessible sound. Many people believe that this album and the two before it set the standard for neo-prog, and I can see why.
Not in that way, in that place, in that kind of a transition. I thought it MIGHT be just a Maj7 chord, but Tony doesn't use it the way, say, Paul McCartney or Tears for Fears uses it.
To each their own. To me, "Duke's Travels" is the best part. I love the buildup from a happy, fun jig to a train-chugging monster. In comparison, all the reprises in "Duke's End" are just "okay."
Well, I think what everyone is responding to is that they are willing to take quite a long time in that minor key, and that chord is the transition that leads back into the major key. It's a major release of tension and it's very effective. It's far from a groundbreaking way of doing it in terms of musical history in general but that doesn't take away from Tony at all in employing it effectively. I don't think he does it from any sort of music theory wonk place either, I think he just feels it.
I revisited this yesterday for the first time in a good while under optimum conditions and enjoyed it a lot
A very palatable compromise of prog and accessibility IMO
By the time this came out Genesis had become my favorite band over the Anderson-less affirmatives, and I have great memories of getting into the album and seeing the tour multiple times
Good shit
BG
"When Yes appeared on stage, it was like, the gods appearing from the heavens, deigning to play in front of the people."
Funny, even when bands are said to sound like 1976 Genesis, I find they sound nothing like it. Well, Twin Age can sound like the instrumental climax of 'Robbery, Assault & Battery', but nothing like the rest of either 1976 album. The Watch sounds more Gabe-era to me. Unifaun... A bit of a mix there. Who else is there? Well, I admit we have a song that sounds a bit like 'One For The Vine', but then we're not really neo...
what's up with the version on the video? the transition between duke travel's / duke's end is messed up (or at least different from the original vinyl). is this a remix or something?
anyway its a great album and unique in terms of sound and blending the prog style with pop while still making a cohesive record, which goes in a number of directions, is quite tuneful, and still delivers on the prog/instrumental/compositional front. I'm not crazy about all of Tony's sound choices, but at least he was doing something new & interesting at the time. Most of is works quite well for me... Phil had developed a grittier vocal style on this album - i think in some ways it's his vocal peak, just before he started oversinging and (imo) spoiling things by hamming it up.
Ever notice Tony is playing something very similar to Hearkess Heart at one point in Dukes travels? It's really deep in the background but its there. I think it's around the "I am the one..." part.
Just listened to it. Hairless Heart trills most pronounced right after Phil sings "all you feel"
Interviewer of reprobate ne'er-do-well musicians of the long-haired rock n' roll persuasion at: www.velvetthunder.co.uk and former scribe at Classic Rock Society. Only vaguely aware of anything other than music.
*** Join me in the Garden of Delights for 3 hours of tune-spinning... every Saturday at 5pm EST on Deep Nuggets radio! www.deepnuggets.com ***
I think the reason it "sounds similar" is because he's playing arpeggios like he did on Hairless Heart. I'm not sure it's actually the same chords. Maybe it's a deliberately allusion to the earlier track, who knows? I wonder if on Duke's Travels, he's actually using the arpeggiator on the Quadra for that, or if he's actually playing those fast arpeggios by hand.
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