Can't have a Greenslade thread without slagging Lawson's vocals. Hilarious and so predictable.. it is what it is. I personally find them distinctive.
Can't have a Greenslade thread without slagging Lawson's vocals. Hilarious and so predictable.. it is what it is. I personally find them distinctive.
Hm. Lawson's voice is actually kind of moderate on this particular record, and I think it works neatly on the title track and "Sunkissed". He turned WAY over the top two albums down the line:Originally Posted by Guitarplyrjvb
"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
What are you smoking?
Don't smoke. His voice on back in NYC is awful
One of his best vocal performances, imo.
Well, to be fair, his vocals on this album are...less awful than the other three, approaching tolerable, actually, but still less so than his Web/Samurai days, when he wisely sang in a lower register. I’d mention Spyglass Guest but unfortunately it’s rather done in by the deadly version of “Theme From an Imaginary Western.” Why, Dave, why? Why did you have to slaughter it so badly? Funnily enough, the short-lived Ivory, who were kind of the US answer to Greenslade (based out of L.A., but with roots in the Twin Cities psych/beat group Canoise) did a far superior rendition of the same song with excellent vocals from the Gullickson brothers on their one 1974 album (Playboy Records, don’t confuse it with the female-vocal psych album from 1968 on the Tetragrammaton label).
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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")
"Parece cosa de maligno. Los pianos no estallan por casualidad." --Gabriel Garcia Marquez
N.P.:“7 Pounds Tommy”-Spektakel
LOVE Greenslade!
With Web/Samurai his singing is outright excellent, IMO - proving that the guy knew exactly what he was doing even with those strange vocal experiments in Greenslade. If you listen to SOME of his work with 'slade, such as the fantastic "Doldrums" from T&T, you can hear the very best of him (and the obvious echo of Web/Samurai as well). But I still can't get past the horrors of "[...] I want to go back in leieieieff..." or, as you so eloquently pointed out, "Imaginary Western". Hell, I'd much rather take Chris Farlowe's already over-the-top rendition with Colosseum.
"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
Speaking of which, ever wondered what Greenslade would have sounded like with Farlowe on vocals? Wonder no more:
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MIKE (a.k.a. "Progbear")
"Siento que debemos saber para el sueño de quién brillará esta luz
o consagrar una propia estrella" --Alberto Felici
N.P.:“Terra Incognita”-Niagara/S.U.B.
Imaginary Western was a crap song to start with.
No, I didn't. Why, Mike? Why??????????????????????????????????????????????! !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Lawson's vocals are great with Samurai/Web. With this band it just seemed like at times he was straining and singing above his range. I do like his vocals on this album though. This is probably my favorite Greenslade album. It wasn't recorded very well, but the material still shines on it. They always had great musicianship! None of their records were bad, some were just better than others.
Last edited by YeSFan Reese; 11-17-2013 at 10:27 AM.
Same here
Tony Reeves Bass playing should get more mention.An excellent player with a great feel.
This thread inspired me to dig out my CD copy of this album. Got it from Tower Records many years ago. It's a Warner Bros import. I love Dave Lawson's singing. It is an acquired taste. Did anyone mention the S&M lyrics in Sunkissed You're Not. "I want you, but you want pain". This CD kicks ass!! Very jammy and jazzy.
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