And I might add, probably an outlier around here, but I like UK way better than any of the bands these guys were in prior or since.
I love both discs equally. 2 different versions of a great band. Plus Danger Money was my introduction to Bozzio. My music teacher played me "The Only Thing She Needs" and I couldn't comprehend what I was hearing, coming from a pop/hard rock background up to that point. One of my prog turning points.
"I want to be someone, who someone would want to be." Marillion
Danger Money for me. Rendezvous 6.02 is a classic - especially as I worked near Waterloo for many years!
To me it was like two different bands. I preferred the trio over the first album & definitely liked Jobson playing the Holdsworth parts with keyboards & violin live.
For me, these albums seem from totally different bands. The best of the two is by far the U.K. debut album; it has a super star band with Jobson, Wetton, Bruford and Holdsworth. I do consider Terry Bozzio a fantastic drummer but he is no Bruford who also brought compositions that were left from the Bruford Wetton & Wakeman sessions and his unique drum style. Not to mention the absence of the amazing Allan Holdsworth who joined Bruford in his band.
For instance, "In the Dead of Night" and "Alaska" are show stoppers and classics that "The only thing she needs" and "Carrying no cross" come close but come short musically.
Sadly these are the only two UK studio albums we can analyze as fans.
S/T is pure prog and vastly superior. Danger Money veers towards Asia territory and is more prog pop oriented.
Last edited by mozo-pg; 10-30-2020 at 10:44 AM.
What can this strange device be? When I touch it, it brings forth a sound (2112)
I have an irrational prejudice in favor of the trio because I saw them live (opening for Jethro Tull, no less - the following year Jobson would _in_ Tull, which was my favorite Tull show that I've seen) and they were pretty magical. There is a nagging feeling that I "should" like the s/t album better, and I would certainly say that the night/day sequence on it is better writing than anything on Danger Money... still, I just prefer the latter. I think there was more competition for attention among the musicians in the first one, more sense of a band playing together instead of at each other on the second.
Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.
Exactly my experience. I'm always going to reach for Danger Money first, even if it has some elements of Asia, who I never liked. Objectively I can see that s/t is a fantastic album and I enjoy it when I have it on, but if I can only own one of the two, it's Danger Money...
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...
Pretty much where I'm at. The debut is a stone cold Prog classic in my book. Danger Money is a different beast. Definitely some fantastic stuff there, but far less quirky, experimental, not as challenging harmonically, and lacks the stellar instrumental fireworks of the debut. Carrying No Cross, to me, is a bit of a mess. Some cool playing, but it just doesn't add up to much in the end to my ears. And being this is such a pivotal track on Danger Money, that's always contributed to my feeling that this is the lesser of the two records.
I think they should have found a guitarist to replace (I use that term loosely) Holdsworth. I feel a lot of the material would have come off better (Ceaser's Palace Blues, for example), and the extra voice could have contributed a lot. As it is, I guess I've made my peace with the album and do actually really like some songs (Rendezvous 6:02 in particular). But for me, the debut shines like a beacon, while Danger Money is sort of an "also ran." Obviously, mileage varies.
Bill
Agree with many of the comments above and would add:
The self titled debut is indeed an outstanding classic that has stood the test of time. One of my Top 50 albums of all time and probably more like Top 25. It is truly "Mental Medication" for me, from start to finish. With those 4 musicians on board, it was bound to be a stone cold classic.
"Danger Money" is a very good album, in my view a B+. "Carrying No Cross" is a classic cut by itself and truly the highlight of the album. Also like the title cut and "The Only Thing She Needs". The two shorter cuts on side 2 are not up to par with the rest of the album.
Agree that it's a shame that these four musical geniuses didn't record more as a quartet:
UK_Polydor_1978.jpg
Great point - Even "Nothing To Lose" with its violin solo is left field enough - not to mention in my humble opinion better than most Asia (specially from the 2nd album on - and on par with the best of the first). Someone mentioned that they were doing better music that ELP at the time - that's easy, so not a great compliment. I still resist the idea that any keyboard trio will sound like ELP - sure at times it might look like way, same as any heavy guitar group would sound the same to non-fans. I agree Danger Money-era UK might remind you of ELP -but that is somewhat superficial - Eddie Jobson made sure of that - not only by adding the violin but by letting his different influences come thru.
Let me add a... hrm.. not sure I am using the word properly... a corollary...
"John Wetton was a better songwriter than Greg Lake"
(hides)
v
Last edited by vmartell; 10-30-2020 at 01:36 PM.
Oh indeed - I mean that's the other point of my post - I don't think anyone would dare to say that "Danger Money" was as significant and/or better than the S/T - indeed, had it come out in 1975 or damn it, even 1976 impact would have been even greater... I also wish that quartet would have recorded more... all I said, even with all that, when I think, "OK, let's put some U.K. on the 'table", I reach for "Danger Money" way, way, way more often than the S/T.
v
Many of the comments add up to "the second album is good/fine/great, but it can't scratch the ass of the first"!
I don't need a caveat to enjoy Danger Money. It's a five-star album in my book! It doesn't matter if Holdsy and Broof aren't on it. And Bozzio is an awesome drummer.
P.S. There are no "elements of Asia" in Danger Money. Asia didn't exist. Think of Asia as an extremely watered-down, much less exciting version of U.K.
Last edited by Progbear; 10-30-2020 at 04:27 PM.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
That was a great show! My drummer, along with Vic Salazar, pulled an all-nighter setting up Bozzio's kit.
I guess the wording is debatable, but I don't think there's any argument that Nothing to Lose was a sign of things to come.
2012-05-01_21-10-58_756.jpg
Agreed. “Nothing to Lose” is first-rate prog-pop. Asia is a second-hand portmanteau of Journey, Foreigner and The Babys with some half-hearted proggy fanfares grafted onto some of the songs. And even the slight prog flavoring was completely gone by the time of the execrable Alpha.
Confirmed Bachelors: the dramedy hit of 1883...
I don't hear much Pop in Danger Money. And listen to the fiery interplay between instruments on some of these tracks. Fairly jaw dropping, and reminds you just how good players these guys were.
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