cygnify

14 hours ago, stoopid said:

Chomping at the bit for a leak. Doubt I'll have the box set arrive by release day.  I've enjoyed the first three released tracks gonna skip listening to Rats just because I want something 'new' to enjoy.

 

I've been searching for a leak too - I'll be travelling for a few weeks and won't be home to receive the box set.  No luck thus far.

Man, the performance on the live discs is FIRE!  I had the chance to properly listen last night - my wife out of town, volume pretty close to the original concert volume (I'm sure my neighbors would attest.)  Liquid refreshments.

 

So cool to pick out the variations from ESL, little details, and of course, the whole set-list:

* hearing Neil's voice on Hemispheres Prelude (a little "hey" during a stop; I suspect this is Neil), the count-in on "The Trees" (4,5,6... def Neil)

* Neil seemed to be pushing the tempos more than on the ESL recording.  I'd have to tap them out to compare, but all the songs tempos were pushing slightly quicker than ESL.

* I believe Neil drops a stick later in "The Trees" (just a bit before the temple blocks part, if I recall); he pulled off a drummer trick that I know well - one-handed covering some crashes while you grab another stick

* Drum solo was very interesting to me (as I've dissected the ESL version as long as I've been a drummer), Neil skipped most of the deep gong bass drum pattern that he does on ESL. Otherwise most of the same sections are there - though, he was a little cleaner on ESL.  Not sure those are things that could have been "fixed" in ESL editing; seems he was just a little more "on"  and precise for that solo - but the Toronto solo seems more raw & energetic

* Ged's comment on "Red Barchetta" - sounded like he said "a story that took place in Rochester" (?)  I wonder what the back story is there??  LOL

* The Camera Eye - Immaculate

* Natural Science - Immaculate

* Love Broon's mix - far superior 

* La Villa - Superior to ESL?  maybe, though they dropped Ged's little vocal improv (if he did one in TO?)

 

Overall, what a treat!

 

When I saw this anniversary earlier this week, I made CA part of my morning routine.  It's been 4-5 years since I listened to it. I loved the album when it came out, flew to New Hampshire for opening night.  Ended up seeing ~6 shows on the tour  - loved it.  After the tour, I kinda moved on to other things.  I recall being less enthralled with the album during the R40 tour; kinda dropped down on my rankings.  Neil's passing made it difficult to listen to most Rush.  Anyway, first listen was so refreshing - it is a really great later-day Rush album.  I did like Snakes quite a bit and Vapor Trails somewhat less; Clockwork is my favorite of those 3.

Oh man, I just bought plane tickets to fly to LA the day after the concert (I'm flying to see Porcupine Tree at the Greek Sept 30.)  Well, it would take alot to change the ticket and everything now; plus, I imagine tickets to this show might be hard to obtain (at least for reasonable $)

Adam Holtzman, acclaimed keyboardist that played with Miles Davis and Steven Wilson's band had a nice statement about Alan:

 

"

Quote

 

And another sad loss: legendary Yes drummer Alan White.

Interesting note: over the years I have worked with students on classic Yes and King Crimson material. The young drummers all try to copy what Bruford played on "Fragile," but it never quite works. (I am a huge fan of BB, but it's a unique headspace.) Then I play them some "Yessongs" and they get it: Alan's more 'rock' approach makes the music really come alive, especially on stage. R.I.P.

 

 

and one more,

 

TOOL

 

5/5

1. Lateralus

2. Ænima

3. Fear Inoculum

4/5

4. 10,000 Days

3/5

5. Undertow

King Crimson

 

5/5

1. In the Court of the Crimson King

2.Red

3. Discipline

4. Larks' Tongues in Aspic

 

4/5

5. Starless and Bible Black

6. Thrak

7. The Power to Believe

 

3/5

8. Three of a Perfect Pair

9. Lizard

10. The Construkction of Light

11. In the Wake of Poseidon

12. Beat

 

2/5

13. Islands

YES

5/5

1. Close To The Edge

2. Going For The One

3. Fragile

4. Relayer 

5. The Yes Album

 

4/5

6. Tales From Topographic Oceans 

7. 90125

 

3/5

8. Drama

9. Big Generator 

10. Tormato 

11. Time And A Word

12. Union

 

2/5

13. Talk 

14. Keys to Ascension 1 & 2

15. The Ladder

 

1/5

16. Magnification

17. Yes

 

No

18. Fly From Here 

19. Open Your Eyes

20. The Quest 

21. Heaven & Earth 

 

Pink Floyd

1. Wish You Were Here

2. Dark Side of the Moon

3. Animals

4. The Wall

5. Final cut

6. Meddle

7. Obscured By Clouds

8. Ummagumma

9. Saucerful Of Secrets

10. Division Bell

11. Atom Heart Mother

12. Momentary Lapse of Reason

13. More

14. Piper at the Gates of Dawn

15. Endless River

On 4/28/2022 at 5:25 AM, Mr. Not said:

The Mars Volta

1. Amputecthture 

2. Deloused in the Comatorium

3. The Bedlam in Goliath

4. Frances the Mute

5. Octahedron

6. Noctourniquet 

 and, I can't resist:

 

The Mars Volta

1. Deloused in the Comatorium

2. Frances the Mute

3. The Bedlam in Goliath

4. Amputecthture

5. Octahedron

6. Noctourniquet 

 

 

On 3/24/2022 at 7:17 AM, Mr. Not said:

Another difficult one to rank, a lot of these will switch positions over time like with King's X

 

Porcupine Tree

 

5/5

1. Fear of a Blank Planet

2. The Incident

3. In Absentia

4/5

4. Stupid Dream

5. Lightbulb Sun

6. Deadwing

(i'm guessing Close/Continuation will land around here)

7. Signify

3/5

8. The Sky Moves Sideways

9. Up The Downstair

shit/5

10. On The Shitday of Life

 

Interesting take;  mine would go like this:

 

5/5

1. Fear of a Blank Planet

2. In Absentia

3. Deadwing

(based on what I've heard, first- and second-hand, Closure/Continuation will land around here)

4/5

4. Stupid Dream

5. The Incident

6. Lightbulb Sun

7. Signify

3/5

8. The Sky Moves Sideways

9. Up The Downstair

shit/5

10. On The Shitday of Life

 

and while I'm at it;  Steven Wilson:

 

5/5

1. Hand.Cannot.Erase

2. The Raven That Refused to Sing

4/5

3. Grace for Drowning

3.5 4½

4. Insurgentes

3/5

5. To The Bone

nope/5

6. The Future Bites

Firmly in camp Krim.  Don't get me wrong, I love Genesis.  But for me, Crimson is King.

 

That said, the comparison of ItCotCK vs. 3SL is, at best, a very unbalanced - the iconic 1969 studio debut of a classic prog band vs. a 1982 live album featuring only a hint of the band's original prog mastery (and only the ghosts of two former key members.)  For that reason, in my book, not even close.  To give Court a run for it's money, put it up against Selling England by the Pound or even Foxtrot.  A more apt Crim comparison for 3SL would be Absent Lovers.

18 minutes ago, Rushman14 said:

 

His work on Relayer is brilliant.

 Absolutely!  Not to mention some great work on Tales from Topographic also.  No doubt a great player and ended up fitting well with post-Bruford Yes.

 

Also, have to recognize him for his great work with John Lennon.

 

I had the opportunity to meet him once;  really nice guy to boot.

oh man, sad to hear this.  Classic Yes is one of my all time favorites; I've seen Alan a few different time.   I always liked him - he had tough job to fill Bruford's shoes. Certainly not as technical as Bill, but he did a great job and really took over the drum throne to create some drumming masterpieces with the band (such as "Awaken").  He was also solid as a rock for the 80's version of Yes. 

 

RIP Alan.  :-(  

On 5/23/2022 at 2:33 PM, stoopid said:

So... you WANT the record company to decide for you?  You want variety, just don't want to spend the time to sort through it?  But expect someone else will know what you will like?  And you seem pretty passionate/adamant about it!  The more you reply, the less I understand your 'beef' or even responses to what I'm posting.  I suspect you don't know exactly what you want from this discussion, other than stoopid doesn't share the same opinions about music.  You had a hard stance on people not liking the last Tool album as well [although there were/are still many of us], so at least you're consistently obstinate.

 

The "genius" of early MTV isn't genius, it was desperation.  The variety of styles was a result of the handful of artists that adopted the music video format, and as a result got some exposure.  It wasn't organic in any way, just shit luck that they chose to make music videos and the channel suited for playing them survived/grew.  Much of that music in those earliest MTV years sucked ass (then and now), it's not genius to have a great song followed by a bad song, or brilliant band like Rush followed by some garbage.  It exposed the listener to as much crud as you're suggesting one would need to wade through on music streaming platforms today, except maybe you'll have better odds an algorithm might hook up with a winner every 10 or so artists that get randomly selected based on similar tastes of other music listeners.

 

To me, it sounds like you're frustrated with something related to this topic but isn't this topic.

 

Seriously, back to the Tool album?  "beef" "obstinate" "frustrated" (ha!) Check the mirror man, you've consistently spouted your disdain for 80's music - in a thread about encapsulating one's favorite 80's music. I merely expressed my disagreement with your opinion; but to bring it back to our pre-pandemic Tool disagreement it quite telling.

 

Granted, I'd agree that the eclectic diversity early MTV was luck - and I admitted above that I probably wouldn't have said I liked a bunch of their playlist at the time.  But I was quite young and finding my way musically (81-82ish); and this eclectic mix had some gems. Now, I do harbor a sense of nostalgia for the era and recognize some of it as "good". MTV was probably the first time I heard the Police, Big Country, Duran Duran, etc, etc. It wasn't my first exposure to Rush, but the channel certainly fostered my early fandom.  I wouldn't call it my ideal "playlist" or anything close to that, but a sort of random sampler of weird things; some of which I liked. I imagine the level of stylistic diversity on (very) early MTV was something akin to the station Neil wrote about in 'The Spirit of Radio" (CHUM?) as he discussed in various interviews at the time.  Of course, that situation was rapidly changing and disappearing. to the echoes of salesmen..

 

If I had an ulterior motive in my post, as it relates to the 80's, it's was to highlight that MTV is usually pigeon-holed for the heaping pile of crap that it became (as you seem to imply was always the case, yet later express your own influence from Head-Bangers Ball and 120 minutes...) Many younger Rush fans might not even be able to comprehend that at one time the channel was actually a prime source of Rush - ESL got regular midnight showings and individual songs all day, all the way through the P/G concert (simulcast) and The Big Money debut, etc. In those early days, that channel exposed the band to a broader public and grouped them with bands other than the typical Zeppelin, Prog, etc. comparisons (maybe that influenced Rush in a way to go more current and synth?)  So, yeah, MTV had a bunch of crap and it only got worse - but there was some really good stuff to take there too. Taken as a whole, MTV probably encapsulates the 80's best (for all the bad & good that came with it).

On 5/18/2022 at 8:09 PM, stoopid said:

 

This thread's premise is rooted entirely in nostalgia.  The point is looking back fondly, not looking back critically.  I don't have a fondness for this era, I'm not going to pretend I ever did.  When metal and grunge took over late 80s onward is when I feel like "music" started to filter into the mainstream.  It was a decade of massive variety on the airwaves, but eventually we came back to cheese and marketing dominating.  I equate the grunge era with the hippy music of the late 60s, neither fit the mold at the time and came out of nowhere... and at some point the movement faded and record company marketing departments took over again.  Much like other things in life, modern music seems to ebb and flow in cycles.

You and I will fundamentally disagree about nostalgia for the 80's vs. 90's.  And I would continue to disagree with you regarding any sort of current "aggregator";  there is just too much shit out there to weed through and everything is firmly siloed. As you mentioned, Bandcamp is a possibility; but even there, who has time to weed through 38,000 struggling prog bands to find an actual original one. So, yeah the whole industry has changed many times since that early 80's era.  My reference to MTV is really relating to the first couple years.  There just weren't that many videos out there (neither the channel nor the musicians really knew how to fully exploit this delivery yet.)  Thus, you had a bunch of really weird artists played right up against each other.  Oingo Boingo followed by Dio followed by Devo followed by Rush...  Things that I would have never listened to in a million years (certainly not on even my favorite radio stations in Albany...) that opened me to a wider reality.  In fact, I would owe no small amount of my Rush fandom to early MTV.  

For me, an 80's teenager, the "ideal representation" of 80's music is not what I would have said I liked at the time (I was a Rush freak by 83; then catching up with Zeppelin, Floyd, etc. and all things classic and progressive rock).  I also wouldn't point to thrash metal as my ideal representation - even though I was deep into that by the time the "big 4" exploded around 85-86 or the new wave of British metal I also adored (Maiden!)  So, I suppose it must be nostalgia that feed from my early memories of MTV - Duran Duran "Rio", Simple Minds "Don't You Forget About Me", Van Halen "Jump", "Big Country" (good choice above!), probably some Pat Benatar, Berlin, Madness, etc.  Those are ones I liked (or could stomach at the time); also nostalgic but much less interested in the Hair metal (as an aspiring musician, I recognized it for the cheese it was!)

21 minutes ago, stoopid said:

The internet would have eroded MTV's relevance regardless of the poor decisions they've made.  Now we get direct access to most any music/music videos we want, much of it for free.   No reason to pine for what isn't, what we have is IMO better.  And if looking for a personality to deliver music to you plus ads, there's always the endless number of Youtubers doing music reviews and commentary.

Well, sure.  HOWEVER, for a 12 year old kid whose parents adopted cable television in the winter of 1982, MTV fed his impressionable mind with all sorts of curated stuff that he would have never found himself - pop, metal, 80's alternative, and rock including the midnight showings of "Exit Stage Left" and frequent single songs from that video album (and soon after, Subdivisions and Countdown videos) that bloomed a passion in music that led to drum lessons, deeper investigations into many types of music (certainly fostered by "Headbangers Ball" in it's early format) - a spirit that persists to this day.   Sure, it got progressively shittier by the end of the 80's; but in the beginning, there was a certain magic.  Yes, there are plenty of youtube-reviewers today - posting a million shitty opinions for a million shitty bands that I would never be interested in. Within this sea of crappola, there may be a select few with interesting and somewhat diverse tastes that could potentially curate an interesting blend the way early-MTV did. But honestly, how many kids today spend the time to find that something?  (mine don't! lol) I definitely have not found anything that compares to that.  I feel the same way about my radio station growing up (You know it, PYX106!) - they served as my formal education in classic rock; not the constantly re-gurgitated limited selection corporate version we have today, but a playlist that would hit the classics and deep cuts with a quirky twist here and there. There was something to be said for these early 80's curators - so, no, I would not say it's better now.

 

/old bastard curmudgeon mode   

On 5/6/2022 at 8:02 PM, treeduck said:

"We would like to welcome Randy McStine and Nate Navarro to the Porcupine Tree touring line up. Both are incredibly talented musicians and we have already had the pleasure of rehearsing the new material with them. It’s sounding fantastic and we’re looking forward to the tours later this year."

 

 

 

 

Absolutely fantastic news!!  I was especially excited for Randy when I heard this - he and Marco Minnemann produced two of my favorite albums in 2020/21.  Great player, excellent all around musician (he plays the bass and drums as well). and a great singer.  He knows Wes (John Wesley) pretty well also - there is not a better fit for this job on the planet.

I saw Eric open for Rush on one of the shows I saw on the Roll The Bones tour (in Pittsburgh). I was really into Ah Via Musicom and Tones. Brilliant guitarist and a great band with him. However, after that, I didn't really care for Venus Isle(?) or whatever it was called; too "adult contemporary" for my tastes. I missed the jamming and rocking of the earlier efforts. He never really caught my ear after that. Surely still a brilliant player - but I really need a band effort and strong material.

Currently I'm not planning on buying a copy. I just have not liked what I have heard. At all. It's not that I'm a curmudgeon or was disillusioned to think it would sound anything like Rush or even Victor - but I just don't like what I've heard. It's definitely not my jam. Sorry Alex. Good for those that do enjoy it; I won't judge. But it's a "no thanks" for me.

Touring Europe again in September, ticket purchased :)

 

I expect that they will release the new album before the tour. Interviews with the band have stated that it is basically done. Mixed and Mastered. Just waiting for the right time to release; likely to coincide with a tour....

 

Can't wait to hear it!!

Saw The Who farewell tour in 1980.

 

I saw The Who farewell tour in 1989. It was great (Tommy and Simon Phillips killing it on the drums) but I refused to see any of the farewell tours after that... lol

Here's how I would rank the bands you listed (and ones you missed):

 

Bands I Love (my top tier)

Rush

King Crimson

Led Zeppelin

Pink Floyd (& DG / RW solo)

Yes

Porcupine Tree (& Steven Wilson)

 

Bands you MISSED in my top tier:

Frank Zappa

Tool

King's X

Opeth

 

-------------------------------------------------------------

 

Bands I Really Like (my second tier)

 

The Beatles (& assoc, solo)

Genesis

 

The Who

Van Halen

The Doors

Kansas

Jethro Tull

Alice in Chains

Queen

Steely Dan

The Rolling Stones

Boston

Soundgarden

 

Bands you MISSED in my second tier:

Red Hot Chili Peppers

Peter Gabriel

The Grateful Dead

Mahavishnu Orchestra

Jimi Hendrix

McStine & Minnemann

The Pineapple Thief

Dixie Dregs

The Aristocrats

Smashing Pumpkins

System of a Down

Sting

Bruford

Living Colour

the Mars Volta

Stevie Ray Vaughn

Anathema

Stone Temple Pilots

Return to Forever

Primus

Queensryche

Radiohead

 

Bands I somewhat Love/Like but don't care for part of their discography:

Marillion (Fish only please!)

Dream Theater (earliest albums my fav; hasn't sat well with Mangini)

Metallica (up to Black album!)

Iron Maiden (high school! got repetitive and uninteresting to me after Somewhere in Time)

Heart (early stuff rocked. then cheese.)

Def Leppard (high school. Early stuff great; later stuff not so much to bleh...)

Megadeth (high school. early stuff for sure. later, nope.)

----------------------------------------------

 

Bands I like (my third tier)

Triumph

Black Sabbath

Aerosmith

Deep Purple

Journey

The Police

Foo Fighters

Supertramp

Styx

AC/DC

ZZ Top

U2

Lynyrd Skynyrd

Nirvana

R.E.M.

 

Bands you MISSED in my third tier:

Santana

Allman Brothers Band

Pearl Jam

Anthrax

Cream

Dave Matthews Band

Phish

Eagles

311

Extreme

Janes Addiction

Liquid Tension Experiment

Incubus

Radiohead

 

-------------------------------------------

 

Bands are OK/Good but I never really got into them:

Toto (love Jeff Porcaro - masterful drummer, and Luthaker shreds. a few great tunes - under-rated Jake to the Bone; but too much mid stuff.)

UFO (sad to say because I actually had the chance to jam several times with Paul Chapman, RIP.)

Judas Priest (some good songs, some, meh.)

Blue Oyster Cult (really like their two most famous songs, but after that, nothing took.)

Thin Lizzy (like their two most famous songs, but after that, nothing took.)

Uriah Heep (potential is there, but never took.)

 

-----------------------------------------

 

Bands I've only heard a few times, but haven't really followed up and don't feel compelled to

Mastodon (don't dig the vocals; mind you I do like Opeth.)

Ghost (early stuff had a potential, did not like new stuff I heard.)

 

 

Other than those, I probably missed a bunch that you missed. lol.

I'm in for LA!

 

Which feels very strange for me because I'm from the Northeast - but my friend that introduced me to PT is dead set on LA (and for a good reason... more on that later ;-) )

 

I think I would recognize you from the FB posts, I'll keep an eye out. I'd offer to meetup but that honestly adds too much complication on what is already going to have some variables trip. Did you go VIP or just standard seating? I was tempted to get 5th row when they were still available, but when it came out to almost $1000 for two tickets and dragging a non-PT fan along it just seemed wasteful.

 

Standard seating all the way; VIP prices were ridiculous and there's an outside chance that we might get an "upgrade" related to my friend's insistence on the LA show... I don't want to jinx anything, so I won't say more. Either way, there's not a bad seat at the Greek and we'll enjoy it anyway!