Jump to content

What about Seven Cities of Gold...


vital signz
 Share

Recommended Posts

QUOTE (mmm_donuts @ Aug 18 2012, 08:50 PM)
Ok guitarist here so let me tell you why 7COG is medicore on a musical level. First, Geddy's riff in the beginning is pretty much just a standard funky riff in E...something he probably whipped up by warming up. The main riff in the song is slow plodding garage band basic. The solo is feedback noise...heck the solo in Wish Them Well is more creative. The chorus chord progression is A G E, which is heavy metal 101...any kid that's been hanging around a year at Guitar Center can play that. This song is extremely cliche and one of the worst on the album. Even worse it goes on for over 6 minutes.

I was trying to figure out what the chorus reminded me of and it's Spinal Taps Big Bottoms. If you doubt my opinion, put the lyrics to the chorus of Big Bottoms to 7COG and it fits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7qDgCmzh5ao

I hope they leave this one off the tour because it's totally lame. 062802puke_prv.gif

To bring up "Guitar Center" is embarrasing for you - and indictaes that you spend far too much time there yourself, probably overplaying loudly for attention or listening to what the kids are up to so you can try and keep up.

 

Epic fail in any regard.

 

You and Trenken related?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Replies 165
  • Created
  • Last Reply

Top Posters In This Topic

QUOTE (mmm_donuts @ Aug 18 2012, 08:50 PM)
First, Geddy's  riff in the beginning is pretty much just a standard funky riff in E...something he probably whipped up by warming up.

Probably not far from the truth, but there's not anything necessarily wrong with that. Dinking around... that's how MalNar came about, that's how the iconic synth line in Tom Sawyer came about. Some great musical moments can occur when you're just dinking around.

 

And, speaking as a fellow musician, come on man. smile.gif You should know it's not what you play, it's how you play it. Three notes that mean something vs. three hundred soulless notes that do nothing but evoke the music lessons you took that week where you learned a bunch of modes.

 

Seven Cities ain't my favorite track either (the only real trouble I have with it, to be honest, is the vocal melody in the chorus... sounds too sing-songy for my taste) but we'll see how it comes across live.

Edited by Bangster of Goats
Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Bangster of Goats @ Aug 22 2012, 07:45 AM)
And, speaking as a fellow musician, come on man. smile.gif You should know it's not what you play, it's how you play it.

Three notes that mean something vs. three hundred soulless notes

Right on the button. For me, SCOG is just a fresh. new sounding piece of awesomeness. The FEEL is just so funky and cinematic.

 

Gimme simple and good feel in a song any day of the week. 1287.gif

 

2.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (eshine @ Aug 21 2012, 11:45 PM)
To bring up "Guitar Center" is embarrasing for you - and indictaes that you spend far too much time there yourself, probably overplaying loudly for attention or listening to what the kids are up to so you can try and keep up.

Yeah, he might one of those middle-aged guys in Guitar Center on a Saturday afternoon showing off his chops on a Petrucci signature model way loud through a Line 6 amp. weedly-weedly-weedly-weedly-weedly-weedly scared.gif

 

Or one of those teenagers who plugs in and immediately starts in on the tapping section from Eruption. no.gif facepalm.gif tongue.gif

 

Seven Cities is admittedly no wank-fest (thankfully), but it's still a fun tune. It's the first CA song that my drummer friend and I gravitated towards jamming on. The Anarchist is also fun, and of course Headlong Flight. 1022.gif

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (Bangster of Goats @ Aug 22 2012, 08:45 AM)
[And, speaking as a fellow musician, come on man.  smile.gif  You should know it's not what you play, it's how you play it.  Three notes that mean something vs. three hundred soulless notes that do nothing but evoke the music lessons you took that week where you learned a bunch of modes.

goodpost.gif I've played the bass for about 30 years now, although I don't break it out as often these days. One of my favorite players has always been Paul McCartney. He doesn't appear to have Billy Sheehan's or Geddy's or Steve Harris' or Geezer Butler's dexterity, but he always plays something interesting. I've never understood the obsession with speed or complexity some people have. Steve Vai and Yngwie Malmsteen are perfect examples of guys who have all the speed in the world, but zero feel for a song. 7COG is one of my favorite tracks on the album because it sounds good to my ears. Isn't that what music is about? confused13.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (mmm_donuts @ Aug 18 2012, 08:50 PM)
First, Geddy's riff in the beginning is pretty much just a standard funky riff in E...something he probably whipped up by warming up.

For the record...Malignant Narcissism was "whipped" up while Geddy was killing time while laying down vocals. So what.

 

The majority of bass players couldn't play what Geddy plays in his warm ups in their dreams.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hmm I give my opinion to a question that was asked and I get a response similar to the angry crowd from the beginning of Witch Hunt (He said "Guitar Center"! Burn him at the stake!). I'm just providing my opinion based on the musical structure of the song...a little more precise than 'it rawks!' Each to his own, but lots of other people in the forum are not fond of the song either.

 

Bangster, I hear what you say. It's definately not about 'note flash'. Heck one of my favorite Alex solos is Bravado, which is simple but very moving and powerful. But I'm not hearing anything special about this song. Compared to Caravan, CA and Headlong Flight, this song doesn't come close. I actually like Halo Effect (an even simpler song to play) better than Seven Cities of Mold. Perhaps the attraction to this song for some people is that it is simpler to listen to than the other CA songs. If you like cheeseburgers over filet mignon, so be it.

 

My reference to Guitar Center was that a beginning guitar student could play most of this song. I guess that reference was lost on some people. The last time I was in Guitar Center was a year ago to buy a PA for our business. Seems like other people know a lot more about Guitar Center than I do, so I wonder who the real GC trolls are.

 

People, show a little class to other people on here who have different opinions than your own. I was hoping that Rush fans were more intelligent and open minded but instead, the forum is turning into high school cafeteria all over again.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (ILSnwdog @ Aug 23 2012, 04:28 PM)
QUOTE (mmm_donuts @ Aug 18 2012, 08:50 PM)
First, Geddy's  riff in the beginning is pretty much just a standard funky riff in E...something he probably whipped up by warming up.

For the record...Malignant Narcissism was "whipped" up while Geddy was killing time while laying down vocals. So what.

 

The majority of bass players couldn't play what Geddy plays in his warm ups in their dreams.

You hear that trenken---oh wait he is in hiding rofl3.gif

Link to comment
Share on other sites

QUOTE (mmm_donuts @ Aug 23 2012, 08:25 PM)
Hmm I give my opinion to a question that was asked and I get a response similar to the angry crowd from the beginning of Witch Hunt (He said "Guitar Center"! Burn him at the stake!). I'm just providing my opinion based on the musical structure of the song...a little more precise than 'it rawks!' Each to his own, but lots of other people in the forum are not fond of the song either.

Bangster, I hear what you say. It's definately not about 'note flash'. Heck one of my favorite Alex solos is Bravado, which is simple but very moving and powerful. But I'm not hearing anything special about this song. Compared to Caravan, CA and Headlong Flight, this song doesn't come close. I actually like Halo Effect (an even simpler song to play) better than Seven Cities of Mold. Perhaps the attraction to this song for some people is that it is simpler to listen to than the other CA songs. If you like cheeseburgers over filet mignon, so be it.

My reference to Guitar Center was that a beginning guitar student could play most of this song. I guess that reference was lost on some people. The last time I was in Guitar Center was a year ago to buy a PA for our business. Seems like other people know a lot more about Guitar Center than I do, so I wonder who the real GC trolls are.

People, show a little class to other people on here who have different opinions than your own. I was hoping that Rush fans were more intelligent and open minded but instead, the forum is turning into high school cafeteria all over again.

Well, your first post was to bash The Garden, immediately followed by posts bashing Seven Cities and Countdown.

 

And you seemed to be trying to "prove" that Seven Cities sucks, based on your guitar playing experience. Followed by your observation that it's "totally lame." eh.gif

 

So I wouldn't be surprised that you're not exactly greated with hugs and high fives. confused13.gif

 

Like you say, we're all just giving our opinions.

Edited by They Bow Defeated
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
 Share

  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...