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Rod in Toronto

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Everything posted by Rod in Toronto

  1. I am DYING to go to that show...but I need to figure out who can stay with our daughter, because the wife has other commitments. Syrinx, if not at that show, I would love to keep in touch and meet you at one of the upcoming shows in Toronto.
  2. I sent everything to him on Saturday...if he decides not to respond this will be a MAJOR flop.
  3. I saw Jerry Cantrell in Toronto last night. He played at a somewhat new venue called History, which is great. The setlist was a mix of Alice in Chains material with songs from his three solo albums. Really cool set, and it was great to see such a young crowd interested in a type of sound that came up more than ten years before they were even born.
  4. I hear a similarity, but it's hardly the same idea, and both songs are much more than that!
  5. Which one? Are you kidding? It's Carve Away The Stone, clearly. ... I don't hear it Me neither. Can someone elaborate?
  6. Speed of Love Good News First I Think I'm Going Bald Musically I think the first two are ok, while the third one is too juvenile. I think the CONCEPT of all three is just wrong, and maybe that's what rubs fans the wrong way when it comes to Tai Shan, Dog Years etc...
  7. The last arena rock band. I only saw them live once, at the Rock in Rio festival in 2001. The show was on Dave Grohl's birthday, and they had a blast on stage. Beck and R.E.M. also played that same night. Last year I did a pretty good run listening to their latest album, which I enjoyed a lot. I haven't listened to them in a long time, and kind of ignored their recent stuff, but the latest album sounded interesting. Who knows what their next step will be, after Taylor's passing.
  8. Questions sent! Here's how I phrased all the suggestions I received, with a few of my own questions added: 1) Tell me about your formation years, and how did you get to become a producer. What drove you in this career path? Did you ever intend to write and play your own songs? 2) What are your memories of working on Jimi Hendrix’ Axis: Bold as Love? 3) When you worked with Rush, was all the material they brought in usually completed or did you have to help them expand or contract some songs? What was the song they brought that you changed the most? 4) It’s no secret that Neil, along with the other members, could be somewhat stubborn when it came to altering his already conceived drum parts. What was it like sharing your thoughts about those kind of band issues in the studio? 5) When Rush’s “A Farewell to Kings” was being recorded, what was the feeling like, recording in England, free from the pressure of the record company, since 2112 gave some semblance of artistic freedom? 6) Was there ever any discussion at any point after Rush’s “Signals”, about you possibly working again with the band? 7) Have you listened to all of Rush’s post-“Signals” material? What's your favorite album from their career after Signals? 8) How difficult was it for Rush to transition from recording bed tracks "off the floor" as a band, to tracking individual performances? Whose idea was it? Do you feel that what was gained by such an approach overcame any losses? 9) What qualities about Rush made you want to keep working with them after the first album? What did you see or hear in them that made you interested? 10) I would love to know your thoughts about developing artists over a period of several albums as Rush were allowed to back in the 70s before they started really having major success. How do you view your role as producer in terms of having played a part in Rush’s development? 11) Having worked with Lawrence Gowan way back before he became well known, what are your thoughts about Gowan's work with Styx? 12) Can you share some details of producing Cutting Crew's album, The Broadcast? The production was excellent as was the songwriting! 13) Do you see that sort of a relationship among band/producer/label as something that can ever come back in today’s music environment? Or is there some other way that the industry can foster artist development that doesn’t seem to be happening so much anymore? 14) Tell me about working with IQ on their “Are You Sitting Comfortably?” album. Did they contact you because of your work with Rush? How did the sessions go? Did you enjoy the experience and final product? 15) Voivod’s “Angel Rat” is a curious entry in the list of albums you produced. There was a lot of controversy among the band’s fan base when it was released, but through the years its reputation has been somehow redeemed. Was it a difficult album to work on? 16) Next month is the 25th anniversary of Fates Warning’s “A Pleasant Shade of Grey”, so it seems like a nice time to ask you about that masterpiece. What can you tell me about that album – it’s a very dense collection of songs, full of ambition on the band’s part! 17) Do you have any interest to work with Ray Alder or even Jim Matheos again, specifically to write vocal lines? Many fans really love the work you did with Ray on the Fates Warning albums (Parallels, A Pleasant Shade of Gray, Disconnected). 18) Speaking of another famous prog band, apparently the relationship between you and Dream Theater did not end well. Would you like to shed some light into that, and maybe tell us your side of the story? You worked with them on “Metropolis Part II: Scenes From a Memory”, one of the highlights of their career! 19) Metal / hard rock bands like Lizzy Borden and Fifth Angel speak wonders about working with you. How does your approach to production change, depending on the style of band you’re working with? 20) What singers and bands would he like to work with (or hypothetically, would have liked to have worked with), including some bands who may not be active anymore or even from the past? 21) Who are some producers or engineers that you particularly admire? 22) Who are some specific songwriters you particularly admire? Both from the past or more recent. 23) With all of the technology available, how come many albums recorded in the 80’s have a superior sound to an album recorded in the 2020’s? 24) You have worked with so many stellar artists, Jimi Hendrix up to present day bands, the stories should be put down somewhere for history. Would you consider writing a book at some point? 25) Your last production credit is 2021’s “Unfolded Like Staircase”, from Discipline. What are you working on at the moment?
  9. Good one! I'm planning to compile all the questions tomorrow, and send him the list this weekend.
  10. I will definitely ask about a potential book and about the Hendrix connection!
  11. I was trying to think of a question to ask him about Rush, but I could see where perhaps he would get tired of that stuff. I would be curious to know if he saw any trouble between James LaBrie and Mike Portnoy in Dream Theater. Did their troubles show up after he was done working with them or did he see problems even back then? Not sure I would ask him about DT, I think he screwed them over pretty bad around Scenes. Ditto. I don't know the facts, but have heard that it ended badly - whatever it was. I want to draft the question in a way that compels him to understand. I know DT's side of things, but I never heard him address it or tell his side of the story.
  12. Here's the interview I did with Andy Curran, the bass player of Envy of None. Hope you enjoy it - the editing was a little off on this one:
  13. Both great questions, but any albums after Signals is a burning question for me! I'll go one further and ask: "Did you ever ask the guys/Ray if you could produce another album after Signals?" I interviewed Terry in a similar fashion to you (written answers via email) for a University assignment I was doing about 10 years ago. You'll get some GREAT answers that's for sure! :) Terry was originally going to come over TO MY HOUSE to do the interview (he was obviously in England at the time) but unfortunately schedules changed at the last minute, so we had to do written answers :( :( I thought about asking him these questions then, but I didn't know how he'd take the questions (especially if we had done the interview in person). It was a shame, but it would have been nerve wacking IN THE LEAST to be literally feet away from my main production inspiration!! Oh well, what might have been... Good luck with the interview, and please keep us updated :) That's a cool story, man!!! Terry was very generous when I met him in person outside of the movie theater after Cinema Strangiato in 2019. That was the first time I asked him for an interview, and he didn't get back to me. I decided to follow up AGAIN recently, and he finally agreed to it. I hope I get some cool responses, but I'm mindful of making it too much about Rush. I'll massage the questions I received, and see what kind of replies I get from him. Will keep you posted for sure!
  14. Hey everyone, I got a response from Terry Brown about my request to interview him. It won't be a recorded interview, but he will write his replies to my questions. I was wondering if you guys had any questions for him? It can be related to anything - Rush, Fates Warning, Voivod...let me know your questions, and I will add them to my list!
  15. No, the days of doing impromptu covers like that were finished as soon as Portnoy left.
  16. And here I thought they were doing extremely well as a band with a pretty large following. Well......I can only hope they go out on a limb next time around and really give us 2 full set’s again like the DOT tour which was an amazing evening. That set spoiled me. DT’s music is simply not compact enough for the most part to do one set these days. The catalog is vast now. Did they have to cancel shows because of the pandemic? If they did and lost money, perhaps having an opener this time was the better financial decision instead of taking on all the costs themselves. Yes, the Distance Over Time tour was cut short because of covid. And they are financially stable, but not rich enough to go on the road with a risk of cancelling shows...there's the crew to be paid, and other costs that incur if a whole tour is scrapped. Also...the Astonishing tour didn't sell enough tickets, so the "Images, Words and Beyond Tour", which originally was going to be only ONE show, turned into a whole tour, just to cover the losses of the Astonishing dates. Again, they're a profitable unit, but they run a tight ship. Did someone tell you about the how the last several tours were constructed or did you read it somewhere? I heard it from sources who have direct access to the band.
  17. I think MP would only come back for a one-off event or one last tour, but Mangini would be there as well.
  18. And here I thought they were doing extremely well as a band with a pretty large following. Well......I can only hope they go out on a limb next time around and really give us 2 full set’s again like the DOT tour which was an amazing evening. That set spoiled me. DT’s music is simply not compact enough for the most part to do one set these days. The catalog is vast now. Did they have to cancel shows because of the pandemic? If they did and lost money, perhaps having an opener this time was the better financial decision instead of taking on all the costs themselves. Yes, the Distance Over Time tour was cut short because of covid. And they are financially stable, but not rich enough to go on the road with a risk of cancelling shows...there's the crew to be paid, and other costs that incur if a whole tour is scrapped. Also...the Astonishing tour didn't sell enough tickets, so the "Images, Words and Beyond Tour", which originally was going to be only ONE show, turned into a whole tour, just to cover the losses of the Astonishing dates. Again, they're a profitable unit, but they run a tight ship.
  19. then the video wasn’t aimed at you… just my opinion. No need to get defensive. I agree with Rushman here, Rick could give a little more detail and analysis of what's going on in the song.
  20. Not having an Evening With show this time has to do with the financials of the tour. Opening bands pay a sum to be on the same bill as giants like DT, and this tour saves every penny they could in order to make it viable and low risk.
  21. I had no idea who this Tiffany was until this topic came along.
  22. He should, but that's not a given. I was let go from a job I loved in 2015 because oil and gas all of a sudden just wasn't profitable anymore, and even though they gave me a substantial severance package and I had great jobs since then, it still hurts. So I can relate to Dave.
  23. I kinda drifted away from watching Rick's videos. The last one I watched was the interview with Sting, which was really great. This one was good too, but as pointed out already, his videos are getting longer and longer, and I just don't have the time or patience to watch them all.
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