Godley & Creme "Consequences"

[noisynoise]

Love it or hate it (I love it), Godley & Creme's 1977 triple-album "Consequences" is perhaps one of the most ambitious recording projects ever. It is finally getting a CD rerelease on August 30:

https://burningshed.com/godley-and-c..._category=true

Also of interest is an excellent new podcast series celebrating and dissecting the album:

https://consequences.podbean.com/

[Steve F.]

We have it!
Going up on site tomorrow!

[soundsweird]

Yeah, saw this on the IMWAN ICE forum a few weeks ago. They spread out the 3 LP's on 3 CD's, though the earlier CD release on One Way fit them onto two discs. I wanted to get this for the "music only disc", but that's not ALL the music that doesn't have the spoken-word Peter Cook stuff. So, I'm going to stick with my One Way release, which sounds fine except for some distortion on the Sarah Vaughn vocal track, which I don't care for anyway. I don't like most of the spoken-word stuff, but you can skip over it.

[rcarlberg]

"Love it or hate it" indeed, I find most of it insufferable. I too will stick with my One Way.

I LOVE "L" and "Freeze Frame" and even bought a Hotlegs compilation, but I cannot suffer the "Consequences."

[noisynoise]

I really enjoy the Peter Cook "radio play" portions but I have to be in the mood for them. It will be nice to have the two extra "album edits" discs as part of this box set.

[rcarlberg]

Housed in a clamshell box with expanded artwork and sleeve notes by Mojo’s Daryl Easlea based on conversations with G&C about the making and production of the album.

This is one production where the LP-sized box was a distinct advantage. Hope Burning Shed reproduces all the visual goodies.

[Steve983]

I was a big 10cc fan (still am) as a young teenager, I yearned to get Consequences but it was way too expensive for my pocket money budget. I did get the single of 5 O'clock in the Morning / The Flood which I thought was brilliant though. Years later when I finally heard it I'm glad I didn't get it, pretty awful musically. I did get L too which was a big let down. I just don't understand what they were trying to do.

[spacefreak]

In a way this album is the perfect example of the music business excesses of the times; one certainly has to be in the mood for a full listen nowadays. However, an attentive session will reveal its qualities: it's an album that is ahead of 10cc and more interesting as years went by. The proto-ambient sounds, the proggy twists, the catchy melodies, the subtle details in songwriting, the innovative (for the times) use of the gizmo; they all make this album a rewarding musical experience. Most of it is brilliant art rock from a time when intelligence and "out of step" creativity were still expected in the music industry.

[Trane]

I was a big 10cc fan (still am) as a young teenager, I yearned to get Consequences but it was way too expensive for my pocket money budget. I did get the single of 5 O'clock in the Morning / The Flood which I thought was brilliant though. Years later when I finally heard it I'm glad I didn't get it, pretty awful musically. I did get L too which was a big let down. I just don't understand what they were trying to do.

Yeah, G&C kind of lost me too and that right from the start (and quickly disappeared from my radar), though I did enjoy a couple of videoclips that they made back (for them or others) in the early MTV years.

[Lopez]

I got the 3-LP set shortly after it came out in a used record store for $5. Still have it. I think I listened to it once all the way through, and maybe the Gizmo side a couple more times, then it sunk to the bottom of the pile. Still have it, though.

[Zeuhlmate]

I heard it when it was released but it didn't appeal to me.
No idea why.
Have forgotten about it. maybe I should try again.

Found this review at Amazon:

"Consequences" from 1977 was a record out of step with its time: complicated when simplicity was all the rage, playful when angst was It, demanding when rock was dumbing down. This 2 CD set is a faithful reproduction of the original records and will hopefully finally get the audience it deserves.
What's it about? The record tells the story of a day in April when nature starts fighting back against the abuses of humankind.All manner of disasters are depicted musically and through the voices of Peter Cook. The instrumentals are proggy, using a guitar attachment designed by Godley and Creme, called The Gizmo. The music still sparkles, even though vast leaps in technology have left the gizmo way, way behind. The songs are jazzy, using often 40's harmonies in a fond, oddly moving way.
Details have dated but the broad sweep of the piece is as relevant now as ever, and the "movie for your ears" approach is still refreshingly different.
If you have any interest at all in Prog Rock you absolutely need this CD.

[rcarlberg]

I just don't understand what they were trying to do.

Brilliant production.

[interbellum]

When the album was released the band gave an interview-session, which had to demonstrate the working of the Gizmo amongst others. A Dutch journalist wrote an impression of this - in his view ridiculous - project. Although the Gizmo always intrigued me, I never bothered to buy the LP's or later the CD's, until someone pursuaded me. So I bought a fine Japanese box-set, released in the British Rock Legend Series, which contains two discs and a booklet. Well, all in all I can say it's an interesting failure. Although it's tempting to get this new re-release for its extra's I think I pass (for now anyway).

[interbellum]

Slightly OT: a nice demo of the possibilities of the Gizmo:



And, although not updated yet, a site by G&C on the instrument: http://www.kevin-godley.com/the-gizmotron

[Steve983]

The Gizmo has been redesigned recently, Bill at Chords of Orion has made some videos about it, wouldn't buy one though.

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?lis...FutUQvpbxecRzV

[Baribrotzer]

The Heaven's Gate of pop music: a fascinating mess, but not as much of a failure as rumor would hold.

[interbellum]

The Heaven's Gate of pop music: a fascinating mess, but not as much of a failure as rumor would hold.

You're right, I shouldn't have written "failure".

[Gizmotron]

Slightly OT: a nice demo of the possibilities of the Gizmo:



And, although not updated yet, a site by G&C on the instrument: http://www.kevin-godley.com/the-gizmotron

I need to hear it again...it has been a long time.

By the way, my screen name came not from it but by from a phrase by my old college pal...when a stereo or camera set was especially complex, he called it "Full Gizmotron." I don't know if he was aware of the Gizmo at the time.

[interbellum]

By the way, my screen name came not from it but by from a phrase by my old college pal...when a stereo or camera set was especially complex, he called it "Full Gizmotron." I don't know if he was aware of the Gizmo at the time.

I always thought it came from this: http://www.gizmo.uk.com/

[Fracktured]

I found it to be too long. Some of the music sections were as good as 10CC though. I still have the original album which was nicely done.


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[noisynoise]

From a sound design/engineering perspective, there's nothing quite like it. The songs after Side 1 in isolation, I feel, are as good as just about anything 10cc did with G & C. "Blint's Tune — Movements 1-17" shows much of their Zappa influence. The whole package can definitely be tedious to get through if you're not in the mood for it though, but I find there's always lines from the play that make me laugh...it's quite clever at times.

[mkeneally]

“Do you make a habit of spying on your wife when she’s most vulnerababable?”

[Scrotum Scissor]

In a way this album is the perfect example of the music business excesses of the times; one certainly has to be in the mood for a full listen nowadays. However, an attentive session will reveal its qualities

As with Laurie Anderson's United States Live. Or Zappa's Thing-Fish, for that matter.

I neither love nor hate these projects, I merely perceive them as somewhat overblown and tiring. Some great stuff, some filler - and much halfway in-between there.

[Mister Triscuits]

As with Laurie Anderson's United States Live. Or Zappa's Thing-Fish, for that matter.

Just for the record, Thing-Fish is only about 90 minutes long. Shorter than the Lamb. It only sprawls over three LPs because of Zappa's penchant for cutting everything as hot as possible, necessitating short LP sides. That won't stop many listeners from finding it tedious, of course. I love it, myself.

[Steve F.]

That won't stop many listeners from finding it tedious, of course.

me! me! Pick me!!