I would be all over that!
There are three of Tony's home demos for the orchestral tracks Spring Tide, Neap Tide and City Of Gold, as well as the previously unreleased instrumental track Poppet. These are on the excellent fourth disc of the set, one of my most listened-to CDs in many years I think!
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 ***
Thanks for the Thread! It encouraged me to buy the set.
Another vote here for his three orchestral CDs by the way. Sterling stuff. The guy is such a capable and intriguing composer...from super pop to classical.
Yeah, those keyboard versions of Spring Tide, Neap Tide, and City of Gold are really great, and a different feel than the orchestral versions. And 'Poppet', though not quite to the level of those 3, was written during the 'Still' sessions, and would have been perfect between 'Another Murder' and 'Final Curtain', replacing the horrid 'Back To Back' which is I think the only track in his entire solo catalog I actually don't like. 'Poppet' may have been enough to tip the scales enough to attract the prog crowd to the album as a whole.
Of his rock albums, I'd rate them in this order:
A Curious Feeling
Strictly Inc
The Fugitive
Still
Bankstatement
Would love for him to do more!
-noisynoise
www.polarizedguru.com - 5-piece jazz fusion group
www.incandescentsky.com - inventive improvisational instrumental ensemble
I opened the Chord Box for the first time. Blade is absolutely gorgeous. Love all the instrumentation, the violin particularly. I jumped ahead to the demo tracks. These are lovely too. Very rich instrumentation and tasteful piano throughout. I can't say how much I'm truly enjoying this - way past my expectations, when I ordered the A Chord Too Far. What a revelation! I'm also motivated to listen again to Strictly Inc., The Fugitive, and Still although I'll listen to everything, even if once for some! Back to Chord - all the demos are truly wonderful. All of the piano is subtle and tasteful. Poppet is another gem, nice interplay between piano, the violin and other instrumentation. I'm going to sync the 4th disc to my Galaxy phone tomorrow.
Thanks for all the suggestions. I'll review them again as I make my way through both boxes. What a great purchase.
Last edited by mozo-pg; 08-14-2019 at 08:45 AM.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
I'm so glad to hear how much you're enjoying it! I agree, that fourth disc is outstanding. You can probably see why both Bill and I would instantly have shelled out for the new set if it had included more of that kind of thing, but this time from Five. I can only imagine how Tony's keyboard demos of fantastic pieces like Prelude To A Million Years, Autumn Sonata and Reveille would be... drool...
The rest of the Chord set is a good listen also, with so many varied pieces of music from all throughout his albums remixed and arranged in a different running order. It presents his catalogue in a different light when you listen that way. I had only ever listened to his albums in their natural running order, so this was a fun way to shake things up and come at it with a fresh approach. It was a very successful boxed set IMO.
BTW I really like Poppet too. In the liner notes he mentions that it sounds as though he was intending it to be a proper song, but I'm glad he left it as an instrumental. He has such a gift of instrumental composition. I have the Walls Of Sound CD single, which I got originally for the b-side track Back To You, a leftover from the Still album, but the real gem on it is the instrumental version of Only Seventeen, which is really cool and a much better track than it is with vocals and lyrics, IMO.
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 ***
Yes, I only explored disc 4 one time but I agree with your assessment of this music. I said it was a revelation because, to be honest, I was never struck by his catalog outside of Curious Feeling. I'm looking forward to repeated listening on disc 4 and indeed the full box. I wish there were more rare tracks on the Vaults Box too but at $51 USD, I jumped on this too even though I was concerned with overlap. It looks pretty/nice! I'm going to give the full Vaults box a new listen (as I have many of the CDs already) to see if the recommendations in this thread on the full catalog leads me to explore certain albums in a new light. Genesis, from my first time seeing them in 1976, are my favourite all time band. Tony is certainly a huge part of this enjoyment. Hopefully, I'll get a high level of enjoyment from exploring all his albums that counters my first impression.
I was already a huge fan of Tony's orchestra albums. I thought it reveal a new level of sophistication with composition. I actually look forward if there is another round of recordings!
Also, in terms of rankings, how do you rate Tony's full catalog?
Last edited by mozo-pg; 08-14-2019 at 09:15 AM.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
Five
A Curious Feeling
Six
Seven
The Fugitive
The Wicked Lady
Strictly Inc.
Bankstatement
Soundtracks
Still
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 ***
This is a link to see a video of my 2017 song "Mr. Sun" sung by Alistair Gordon, who was the main lead singer on "Bankstatement". It also features Neil Taylor (Tears For Fears)on guitar.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=OARYvy3JB8o
Last edited by the winter tree; 08-14-2019 at 08:41 PM.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
Soundcloud page: Richard Hermans, musical meanderings https://soundcloud.com/precipice YouTube: [https://www.youtube.com/@richardhermans4457
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