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Stop and stutter! Three songs with perplexing staccato riffs! Which do you choose, young Gabble Ratchet?


Battle of the English speaking nations via prog songs!  

10 members have voted

  1. 1. but what about Australia?

    • Rush - Jacob's Ladder (1980)
    • Kansas - Song For America (1975)
    • Genesis - Watcher Of The Skies (1972)


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These three songs are built upon intriguing and difficult to follow staccato riffs, but which do you prefer?
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What the hell are staccato riffs?

 

If something is played staccato, it's played short and sharp. All three of these songs are built upon riffs that are built upon repeated short and sharp notes. Sorry, musicians terms. If you just compare the riffs and how they sound I think you'll get it. They're all quite similar regardless of the terminology.

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If I rate the riffs alone...

 

1. Genesis - Watcher of the Skies

2. RUSH - Jacobs Ladder

3. Kansas - Song for America

 

Genesis wins as the up-tempo playing seems a bit more complex and interesting than Jacob's Ladder.

 

But, if I rate the songs...

 

1. RUSH - Jacob's Ladder

2. Genesis - Watcher of the Skies

3. Kansas - Song for America

 

As with most Gabriel-era Genesis, the product as a whole seems disjointed and a less enjoyable listening experience. RUSH just comes together better.

 

That Kansas track doesn't seem to be in the league of the other two.

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If I rate the riffs alone...

 

1. Genesis - Watcher of the Skies

2. RUSH - Jacobs Ladder

3. Kansas - Song for America

 

Genesis wins as the up-tempo playing seems a bit more complex and interesting than Jacob's Ladder.

 

But, if I rate the songs...

 

1. RUSH - Jacob's Ladder

2. Genesis - Watcher of the Skies

3. Kansas - Song for America

 

As with most Gabriel-era Genesis, the product as a whole seems disjointed and a less enjoyable listening experience. RUSH just comes together better.

 

That Kansas track doesn't seem to be in the league of the other two.

 

I disagree about Gabriel era Genesis, but I can't really argue with your rankings.

 

I'm having a hard time choosing between Watcher and Ladder myself.

 

Song For America I don't know well enough all the way through, need more listens, but that riff always gets stuck in my head.

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Not too many songs in the history of songs will top Jacob's Ladder in my book .. nothing for Kansas or Genesis to hold their head about

 

Another great staccato riff, this time the guitar doing it all on its own

 

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Not too many songs in the history of songs will top Jacob's Ladder in my book .. nothing for Kansas or Genesis to hold their head about

 

Another great staccato riff, this time the guitar doing it all on its own

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qtwBFz6lfrY

 

I think that's my favorite VH riff. Check this out:

 

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Genesis but...

 

Both Steve Howe and Chris Squire(RIP) on Sound Chaser and include Patrick Moraz too ... great tune

Edited by custom55
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The beginning of YYZ is much more difficult to perfect than JL.

 

JL is just a arpeggiated chords.

Edited by HemiBeers
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The beginning of YYZ is much more difficult to perfect than JL.

 

JL is just a arpeggiated chords.

I think EP's point in "difficult to follow" may have been from a listener's perspective.
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The beginning of YYZ is much more difficult to perfect than JL.

 

JL is just a arpeggiated chords.

I think EP's point in "difficult to follow" may have been from a listener's perspective.

 

Oh definitely from a listeners perspective, I've never tried playing any of these myself, though I have tie playing the opening of YYZ and feel like JL would be a little more difficult.. Also I'm not hearing any arpeggiation in JL, but maybe we're thinking of different parts of the song or something. I'm talking about that opening, monotonous bass riff.

 

maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the theory at all, lol.

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The beginning of YYZ is much more difficult to perfect than JL.

 

JL is just a arpeggiated chords.

I think EP's point in "difficult to follow" may have been from a listener's perspective.

 

Oh definitely from a listeners perspective, I've never tried playing any of these myself, though I have tie playing the opening of YYZ and feel like JL would be a little more difficult.. Also I'm not hearing any arpeggiation in JL, but maybe we're thinking of different parts of the song or something. I'm talking about that opening, monotonous bass riff.

 

maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the theory at all, lol.

further explanation...the arpeggiation is Al's part in the beginning. But YYZ and JL are typical Rush in terms of learning....just listen over and over until it sinks into the gray matter.

 

As shown here, the chord shapes are nearly identical in the beginning....beginner level barre chords. Sorry to burst the magic bubble.

 

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The beginning of YYZ is much more difficult to perfect than JL.

 

JL is just a arpeggiated chords.

I think EP's point in "difficult to follow" may have been from a listener's perspective.

 

Oh definitely from a listeners perspective, I've never tried playing any of these myself, though I have tie playing the opening of YYZ and feel like JL would be a little more difficult.. Also I'm not hearing any arpeggiation in JL, but maybe we're thinking of different parts of the song or something. I'm talking about that opening, monotonous bass riff.

 

maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the theory at all, lol.

further explanation...the arpeggiation is Al's part in the beginning. But YYZ and JL are typical Rush in terms of learning....just listen over and over until it sinks into the gray matter.

 

As shown here, the chord shapes are nearly identical in the beginning....beginner level barre chords. Sorry to burst the magic bubble.

 

 

Oh, I totally forgot about what Al was playing there, lol. Yeah now I see where the miscommunication was. And when I mentioned JL being harder, I meant the rhythm of the bass riff is a bit trickier to wrap my head around than the opening riff to YYZ, but that could all be because I've listened to YYZ more than JL over the years.

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The beginning of YYZ is much more difficult to perfect than JL.

 

JL is just a arpeggiated chords.

I think EP's point in "difficult to follow" may have been from a listener's perspective.

 

Oh definitely from a listeners perspective, I've never tried playing any of these myself, though I have tie playing the opening of YYZ and feel like JL would be a little more difficult.. Also I'm not hearing any arpeggiation in JL, but maybe we're thinking of different parts of the song or something. I'm talking about that opening, monotonous bass riff.

 

maybe I shouldn't have mentioned the theory at all, lol.

further explanation...the arpeggiation is Al's part in the beginning. But YYZ and JL are typical Rush in terms of learning....just listen over and over until it sinks into the gray matter.

 

As shown here, the chord shapes are nearly identical in the beginning....beginner level barre chords. Sorry to burst the magic bubble.

 

It only gets hard if you try to count it out rather than simply duplicate it by feel.
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