Yes indeed. Gary is crazy impressive. Amazing chops, and. Great sense of what works.Originally Posted by interbellum
Gary’s resume is full of the best bands on the planet, including Steely Dan.
As Rick said, Frank would have been his first choice but without him, Gary was the man.
Some cool promo attention:
https://www.loudersound.com/news/hap...ngle-only-love
Not a bad song; reminds me of late Beatles and Collins-era Genesis. Unlike almost all other HtM in being a song, with lyrics - which are a bit "George" or "Paul", but Stan clearly means them.
Last edited by Baribrotzer; 01-15-2024 at 12:00 PM.
I quite like the song but doesn't sound at all like what I would expect from Happy The Man ... haven't made my mind up yet wether that is a good or bad thing.
not a fan of it myself, reminds me of modern day Steve Hackett stuff, but will stay tuned for whatever comes next
My first impression was that it reminded me of the new Peter Gabriel stuff. I kind of like it, but would hope we'd get a lot more traditional sounding HtM tunes on an album.
Still, it's 2024 and we've got a new Happy the Man release, which is pretty awesome.
Stan says in the PR that he wondered what Lennon would have said about the current state of affairs.
Yeah, it doesn’t “sound” like classic HTM, but I like the tune. Stan ‘s guitar work is outstanding in a more straightforward rock context. I am looking forward to the album.
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The right song on the right moment.
I don't even mind it doesn't sound like my heroes. I do like the Beatles-"quotes", b.t.w. and yes, the guitar-playing is outstanding again!
Great comment!
What i love about it (besides the important message) is the quality of the vocals, the driving drums and bass, and that guitar work!
The vocals alone are impressive. The lead vocals are of course, killer. Stan’s voice was always good, and expressive. But it is as if he spent a large amount of time in the woodshed improving them. The way the backing vocals interact with the leads is extremely effective. (Rick Kennell had a lot to do with choosing how they were done.) That a capella section is a favorite moment for me. It is Stan’s vocals that say to me, “This is HTM.” That is because we have heard his vocals there and especially, with PGA and Oblivion Sun. To me, any song with Stan vocals “is” HTM.
And the guitars? WOWSERS! Stan is a fiend.
Rick’s bass work is always amazing, of course. And he spent months and months on the mixing.
I see this song as another in the long line of mostly instrumental bands releasing killer vocal tunes when there is something sufficiently important to sing about.
And choosing love is perhaps the most important thing to sing about. Just take a look around for the need for this message.
It’s like a very bad Matthew Sweet outtake with stilted and awkward messaging thrown in.
"It was a cruel song, but fair."-Roger Waters
Oh thank goodness! I was worried that you might be softening and becoming a wee bit more accepting, but fortunately, there is no need to worry! Phew!
I’m just giving you a gentle poking, Frum…
Just on the topic of HtM, I've been enjoying the following selection of tracks from Oblivion Sun & Pedal Giant Animals as a makeshift sequel to The Muse Awakens:
Fanfare
Noodlepoint
Catwalk
Tales of Young Whales
Golden Feast
Flowers
The Leaf Clings, Quivers
Turning My Head
Pedal Giant Animals
It just so happened that right before I listened to the new HTM song I had been listening to an album with Roger Dean artwork that had “Heaven And Earth” on it, but it wasn’t a Yes record. It was Matthew Sweet’s Blue Sky On Mars from 1995.
So to go from Matthew Sweet’s excellent post Beatles power pop to that…
"It was a cruel song, but fair."-Roger Waters
For those Stan fans who missed it;
This is a nice selections of covers featuring just guitar and vocals. Quite beautiful, IMHO.
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Like I feel about so much new music, this needs a producer to clean things up and pare things back. There's a reason George Martin was the 5th Beatle! I like a lot about this song, even though it has no relation to the HTM I loved as a teenager. But what happened to the bass drum? For my ears it got lost, making the feel of the song really awkward.
I can’t really trace any HtM DNA here. Kinda weird to release it as a HtM song.
I agree. It reminds me of late Steve Walsh era Kansas (the vocals at least). Not super great but not bad. Still better than the last Beatles track though.
Very nice song, but doesn't remotely sound like Happy the Man.
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