Posts by Dr. John

My picks are going with the crowd:

IV/Security - I love the consistent sonic atmosphere (mainly due to his use of the Fairlight), the integration of African drumming rhythms, and some stellar songs. The Family and the Fishing Net is my one song to skip.

III - The album seems so integrated thematically, with every song touching on some aspect of fear and violence. It also has its own unique sound.

So - Catchy and commercial, but still clever and multi-layered. It has something as straightforward as Sledgehammer and something as left field as Milgram's 37 (although the early live versions are more dramatic).

But there are a few other albums that could almost make this list for me.

I find this album OK. The Musical Box is great, but gets better live. Fountain of Salmacis is awesome - also some great bass playing in addition to what others have mentioned. The intro to Hogweed with Steve's tapping harmonized with Tony is great, but the main song doesn't do much for me. I can kinda skip the rest.

I seem to be falling in with the usual top 3. I prefer live performances of Supper's Ready, but I have to pick it. Watcher does have a fantastic intro and that great machine gun rhythm figure. And Can-Utility is one of Genesis's many great album tracks that never made it to top tier prominence.

I forgot to mention that the Gimme Sympathy video is essentially all one take, with the band members changing positions and instruments off camera.

Pip Blorn reminds me a bit of various 90s ear guitar bands, but I also think of X, the LA punk band. Not bad, although not quite what I am most into.

Now Julia Holter is quite interesting - much more experimental. I am reminded of very different artists depending on what track I listen to, from late 60s Beach Boys to Bjork.

Quote from Backdrifter

I watched the Gimme Sympathy video which was OK, then randomly watched Risk which was much more to my taste. That said, I'll be honest and admit I loved ogling the singer's beautiful legs in the Gimme video. Anyway, lovely legs aside, I'll probe Metric a bit more. My jury is still out on Lizzo having watched two videos, R&B isn't a strong point for me but she seems a better quality example of the genre.

I just recently heard a couple of things by Ghostpoet, do you know his stuff at all? It's got elements of electronica and trip-hop, he's certainly a bit Trickyesque in his delivery. I heard one called something like Nowhere To Hide Now (or Nowhere To Run To maybe) which was really interesting with very nice textures, I recommend it.

Gimme Sympathy is more poppy and accessible. Risk is a great song and has a nice sense of urgency.

I've been listening Pixx so far - quite a diversity of stuff, some more minimalist and some richer. Good sense of melody, with a nice alto in the lead singer. Still have to get to the others.

I know not Ghostpoet, so will add that to the list.

I think it makes sense for you to prefer the original mixes, because that is what you have been used to. They sound "right" to you. There are some other artists where I can't get into the remixes because, even though the results are better in some respects, they fundamentally change what sounded "right" to my ears after many years of listening.

I am someone who loved the music of Genesis, but wasn't always a fan of the production and mixes of many of the albums. So it was easier for me to get behind some (but not all) of the remasters and new mixes. The Lamb is one example where I found it hard to perceive some of the instrumentation originally and I like how the new mix opens things up, particularly the drums and Steve's guitar. I found the original mix and production for ATTW3 a bit muddy and unclear, so I like the new mix, which feels clearer and more powerful. Shapes is another example which I feel improved.

I'm definitely one of those who loves box sets and I have a healthy collection of vinyl too. However, I think I and many of those on this forum are in the minority. My understanding is that vinyl sales have levelled off, so it is not a growing market. So any artist/record company has to determine whether putting out a box set will yield sales that they feel are worth it.

My hope is that the new tour, whenever that happens, will provide enough refocused interest in the band so that they do feel it is worth rereleasing box sets and perhaps even unreleased archived material.

Quote from Wayne

I’m sure there would be a market for these, how many fans have the group gained since these box sets were originally released ?. Although no one can ever say a number, i’m guessing adults or young adults who were children or teenagers when these box sets came out would dearly love to own them. Classic rock groups gain many 1,000s of new fans every year - there will definitely be a market for these. I’d take the three sets without thinking if they became available to pre order on re issue. 12 years down the line these deserve a second run, I don’t think it would be a detrimental direction for those who have the rights to take.

My understanding is that the way people listen to music has changed. Sales of CDs have been steadily dropping due to streaming. People are definitely discovering classic rock groups, but I am not sure that will translate to sales of these kinds of sets.

Quote from Backdrifter

I'd recommend Pixx - Funsize, nice bit of electropop; Pip Blom - Daddy Issues, catchy fuzz-toned guitar pop; Julia Holter - Turn The Light On, not sure how to describe it other than teetering on the edge of chaos, one of my favourite tracks of last year.

Thanks for the tips. Will check these out.

Quote from Wayne

If the band took one look at the ridiculous prices people are asking for these sets on eBay maybe then they would re issue them?. £500 for 6 SACDs and dvds. People are just demanding to much and after quick profits?. I don’t know if any of Genesis record company ever come on here to gauge feeling or if any members have contact with people who make the release decisions?. Blu-rays Audio and video of all these with the same content would be excellent . I particularly enjoy the re issue interview sections which surely were filmed in HD?.

The issue is not how much the sets will go for on eBay, but how many will sell at whatever price. There are small numbers of fans that will pay for these sets, even at high prices. However, are there significantly greater numbers that would buy them if re-released that would make it worthwhile to the band/label?

Quote from Backdrifter

Imogen Heap is appearing in the Royal Albert Hall home concert streaming series, Friday 29th at 7.30, check out the RAH website.

... except that is BST, which is 1:30 PM in Toronto. Might be hard to skip off work to watch. Darn!

Quote from Backdrifter

St Vincent! Yes of course, she'd certainly be in my top 10 on a different day. I see that like me you lean toward the female voice. I hadn't thought about it until I was putting together a miscellaneous compilation and realised it was mainly female voices. I thought, what the hell and did all-female.

I thought there was good stuff on Lorde's debut album but I'm very much less keen on the follow-up. I'm undecided about Eilish so far. She and Lorde are beautiful, I love that unusual sort of look. Good call on Grimes. I don't know Metric and Lizzo, I'll investigate.

Pixx and Pip Blom are recent favourites of mine, I also recommend Julia Holter from my list if you don't already know/like.

Imogen Heap is appearing in the Royal Albert Hall home concert streaming series, Friday 29th at 7.30, check out the RAH website.

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I really like some stuff by St. Vincent and her live performances are arresting. But I think I need more time to really into her albums.

Agree that Lorde's first album is much better than the follow-up. I hope it is not the same for Billie Eillish. Metric is a great Toronto band, mixing retro synth pop sounds and indie guitar band sounds. Check out the song Gimme Sympathy for a taste. Lizzo is fun R&B-ish stuff (and she's a classically-trained flautist).

I know not Pixx, Pip BLorn, and Julia Holter so I will check them out, especially if you have specific recommendations.

Thanks for the tip on Imogen's concert. That's my birthday, so it will be a nice birthday activity. I saw her last year in Toronto and she was amazing. I then got to meet her backstage, over which am still pinching myself.

Imogen Heap

The Who - their new album is actually great

The New Pornographers

Metric

Adele

Janelle Monae

Lorde

After that it gets a bit uncertain. I like stuff by St. Vincent, Lizzo, Billie Eilish, Grimes. Not sure they fit into my top ten.

I got into REM with Lifes Rich Pageant, which remains one of my favourite albums. I then went backwards through to Chronic Town and forward from there. My first tour was the Green tour, which was fabulous and including a good mix of new (at the time) and old, plus a few left field covers. I did see the Monster tour and I did find them standoffish compared to earlier shows.

For me, the albums Murmur through Automatic for the People are all great. Stylistically there are quite different, with some very jangly, some indie rock, some more pop. After that, I liked some songs but not full albums and thus lost interest after Reveal.

If I were to pick a representative playlist of some of my favourite songs, it might be:

Sitting Still - great jangly stuff, with indecipherable lyrics

Perfect Circle - melancholic, with a lovely piano arrangement

Can't Get There From Here - idiosyncratic and quirky indie rock

Begin the Begin - muscular and pre-grungy grunge

Finest Worksong - confident and melodic rock

Near Wild Heaven - a great example of the Beach Boys influence on REM

Sweetness Follows - a tender, poignant, and meditative song

At My Most Beautiful - one of their only straightforward love songs and another obvious Beach Boys nod

Like several others, PG is number one for me. I have enjoyed all his main releases and the Passion soundtrack. 3 through So rank with my favourite albums period.

Next is PC, primarily the first 3. After that, my interest wanes as I found his work increasingly bland (although the big band stuff was cool).

The remainder I have listened to various solo albums and even seen SH live. I have liked some of what I have heard, but not enough to commit to purchasing albums. The ones that I liked most were SH's first 3, TB's ACF, and MR's SD.

Little Richard, age 87. He was classic early rock and roll, screaming, hollering, whooping. Intense, manic, and a little unhinged. Amazing the songs he released in just a couple of years on Specialty.

Well they could just focus on the next line ""It's been a long, long time, hasn't it?"

I agree that ship has sailed. The improvement I would hope for are more in the realm of including songs that were left on the cutting room floor. I so want the drum duet in the Mama video to go into Los Endos. I don't know if they filmed the other medley on that tour, but I would love to see something beyond the single camera stuff they have released from rehearsals.

Although I love artists that rework their songs live periodically, Genesis historically has not done this. They may change the tempo, drop a verse, change the keyboard sound, change the key. But the song remains much the same as the recorded version. The exception is the acoustic versions on the Genesis Songbook DVD.

As we have discussed many times, when Genesis plays larger shows, a significant portion of the audience mainly knows the radio hits and is unfamiliar with what many of us on the forum feel are the more interesting songs. I think that the band views those familiar with the hits just as legitimately part of the audience as those who nod knowingly when they quote Stagnation in I Know What I Like. So I think they will still try to please both. They will play many of the well known ones that many of us are a bit tired of. They will also pull out a few old chestnuts, I hope with a few surprises. Post hoc we will quibble about the balance between these two choices, as we always do.

As for changing up the setlist throughout the tour, as people have noted above, they tend not to do this. The most common practice is to try out some songs early in the tour and drop the ones that aren't working. They seem to be comfortable playing the same setlist night after night, so I can't imagine they would want to do differently.

I think they just wanted to do something quick and easy, hence no work on improving the quality. Or they might not want to compete with the versions on the Movie Box. Or (wishful thinking), they are planning to release new versions with fully restored songs and want to just whet our appetites.