YMMV. Black Dog is LZ's masterpiece to me, Rock And Roll nowhere near as magic a composition. YMMV. (Yellow Men Masticate Vegetables)
YMMV. Black Dog is LZ's masterpiece to me, Rock And Roll nowhere near as magic a composition. YMMV. (Yellow Men Masticate Vegetables)
^^^^^ What arabicadabra said!
Termendous 1-2 punch to start with ... Doesn't matter the order... Side 1 is amazing...Originally Posted by Jubal
the flipside pales so much in comparison that it almosts sucks.
my music collection increased tenfolds when I switched from drug-addicts to complete nutcases.
I respectfully disagree with you on this point.
"please do not understand me too quickly"-andre gide
Yep.
"Four Sticks", "Going to California" and "Levee" were three of their very best recordings. "The Battle of..." was splendid too, and not just for Sandy D. The remaining tracks on side 1 I didn't care for even back when I was an ardent Lez fan.
"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
Black Dog is the perfect opener for that album, I couldn't imagine it any other way.
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The Rolling Stones' Their Satanic Majesties Request in a bit under-rated in my book but the opening track, "Sing This All Together" is a stinker.
I don't like country music, but I don't mean to denigrate those who do. And for the people who like country music, denigrate means 'put down.'- Bob Newhart
I get this one. My least favorite track on one of my favorite albums by Yes. Howe trying to do "rock n roll".......just never quite worked to my ears.
It's not the only one- its similarly named counterpart '...See What Happens' and 'Gomper' are the worst recordings in their entire catalogue. I agree that the other 3/4 or so of the album is fine.
Kevin Gilbert's opening track on "Thud" is "When You Give Your Love To Me", which is a great tune, but I've always wondered why he didn't go with "Goodness Gracious" as the kickass opener and put WYGYLTM somewhere in the middle....
www.canvasproductions.net
Critics Choice on Chicago VI
Whisky Train - Home
Take me back - Town and Country
The former works well, imo, the latter not so much.
Hell, they ain't even old-timey ! - Homer Stokes
Revisiting an old thread... Frampton's "Take Me Back", another very obvious one that I should have remembered!
You say Mega Ultra Deluxe Special Limited Edition Extended Autographed 5-LP, 3-CD, 4-DVD, 2-BlueRay, 4-Cassette, five 8-Track, MP4 Download plus Demos, Outtakes, Booklet, T-Shirt and Guitar Pick Gold-Leafed Box Set Version like it's a bad thing...
This may be blasphemy but I think Heart of the Sunrise would have been the better choice and would have put Roundabout as the last song. But then what the hell do I know.
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Many disagree, but I felt strongly that Big Big Train erred when they added "Make Some Noise" as the new opening track to the compiled "English Electric Full Power."
The original opener, "The First Rebreather," beautifully prologued the themes (both musical and textual) of the overall work, delving into English history and culture in a decidedly third-person, observational manner. It set out motifs that would be referred to repeatedly throughout the two-plus hours of the work. It was of a piece with the concept, in every way. It seemed written specifically to be the beginning of this album. And for newcomers, it was a proper introduction to the band, dramatic, lyrically rich and mysterious, musically complex, and a good, long, true prog epic. Its only shortcoming is the lack of brass.
"Make Some Noise" is a great song to kick off a concert, and would be a fine opener to a different album. Just not this one. It's music about music (which the rest of EE is not). It's written in the collective first person, a song about themselves (which EE is not). It's musically relatively simple, uptempo, and its musical references are to other rock and roll songs of the 20th Century. There is nothing else on the album remotely like it.
In my mind, that's the definition of "bad choice for an opening album track." Fine song, though.
"Laser" on Terje Rypdal's "Eos" has evoked complaints from fans over the years.
I think Metronomic Underground on Stereolab's Emperor Tomato Ketchup overshadows the rest of the album.
Second Hand News is the weakest track on Fleetwood Mac's Rumours.
At least they got its place right on Yessongs/Progeny!
Wow. This just goes to show how the same thing affects people differently. To me, the atmospherics of "Formantera Lady" said to me: This is going to be another King Crimson album that's remarkably different than the one that came before. Rather than the darker complexions that defined previous albums, this was more beautiful; even the chorus was in a major key - at this point in Crimson's career, a rarity, to be sure.
In other words, I loved it, still love it, and return to the album often, along with my other fave, Lizard.
Not suggesting you should change your opinion, just remarking on how two people can hear such different things in the same piece of music. I remember first hearing Islands on a local FM radio station, which was previewing the entire album, and from the first notes of Harry Miller's arco bass, man, was I IN!
John Kelman
Senior Contributor, All About Jazz since 2004
Freelance writer/photographer
Not only is critics choice the wrong song to start the album but I would have never even put it on the album
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This is kind of funny: I always thought Couldn't Love You More (great song!) was a bit odd for opening Side A of One World by John Martyn.
The LP-cover mentioned it though as the first track.
However, pulling out the LP back in 1979 I saw Side A started with Dealer!
All CD-versions begin with Dealer and because of that Small Hours is the closing track.
There's a whole chapter on Discogs on this issue: https://www.discogs.com/John-Martyn-...d/master/60345
Not sure if it was a bad choice because I really like the song but Boston opening Third Stage with, a ballad, Amanda, was a bold move.
That's interesting.
I've only ever had the version of English Electric with the two albums and CD in one package. It has never occurred to me to check what belonged where on the original releases. I love the album (or compilation!) in the version I have it but I'll check what belongs to the EP and listen to it again, removing those songs and see if it makes any difference to my experience!
I think that you have a very strong point there, as I am of the view that after great opening tracks on their first two albums, they really dropped the ball on "Third Stage". On their debut, Boston appropriately chose "More Than A Feeling" as the opener and it began things quite well for the segue into "Peace Of Mind" and Foreplay/Long Time". It's as if those cuts belonged with each other in that order on one of the best Side One offerings of 70's Rock. They were smart again for starting the "Don't Look Back" LP with the title cut, although the follow up cuts didn't hit you in the face like on the debut.
However, they arrive at "Third Stage" with an opener that should have been moved back to later on Side One or perhaps opening Side Two (or in the mid- section of the CD). It was too soft an opening cut and the album would have been better served with "We're Ready", which was a harder rocking song that many critics thought was the best cut on the album. They then could have transitioned into "The Launch" and, oh man, the third stage would have blasted off in excellent style. "Amanda" was a huge hit for them anyway and the album was believed to be the first album certified Gold in both the CD and Vinyl LP formats. However, as far as album selection and formatting, I think they misplaced "Amanda".
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