Posts by BillysNumber

Well, if I go with which ones are PLAYED the most, my list would probably look much different from what I LIKE the most-due to different circumstances, as one could imagine-like the fact that 80% of my listening occurs in the car while I'm driving.

PLAY the most:

1. Abacab (probably just cos it shows up first alphabetically on my iTunes

2. Mama

3. Invisible Touch (cos it's the first one to come on when I listen to that album, and I often don't have time to listen thru)

4. Tonight Tonight Tonight (cos it's my favorite song)

5. Naminanu (cos I love it)

LIKE the most:

1. Tonight Tonight Tonight

2. Dance on a Volcano

3. No Son of Mine

4. Duke's Travels/End

5. Mama

LIKE the most, considering ALL ERAs:

1. Tonight Tonight Tonight

2. Behind The Lines/Duchess/Guide Vocal

3. Dance on a Volcano

4. Robbery Assault and Battery

5. Dancing with the Moonlit Knight

Cinema Show may be #5 instead (couldn't decide).

I finally have been able to sit and give my Bright Side vinyl version a true listen. I had stopped listening to all songs from i/o for about a month before I got the album, in an effort to "keep them fresh." The songs sound even more amazing than I remember! On this vinyl format the songs are much richer, warmer and better balanced from high to low than when I'd listen to my mp3 versions in my car (which is up to this point the only way I've heard them).

Love can Heal is more haunting; Olive Tree has more of a thumping drive to it; And Still sounds so much more balanced and downright beautiful; and Live and Let Live is even more epic sounding than ever!

I have almost all of PG's albums now, on half-speed remastered vinyl. They ALL are amongst the best sounding records I have - and now i/o is no different.

Apart from that, it's just SO nice to finally have the whole album in hand, to experience in full in the comfort of my family room...

Quote from seftonave

Well as long as there is more music coming, I'm happy! I think if there will be touring in 2024 we'll hear about it soon? Maybe later on in the year? Who knows! Now I'm pretty much fully retired I have more flexibility, I'd love to go to South America (s) to see PG play.

Well considering the fact that they usually announce tour legs around 8 months or so in advance, I'm inclined to take this lack of news to mean that there are no shows planned yet for 2024-at least until the fall, otherwise we'd likely have heard about it already. I'd bet we'll know for sure by about March whether there will be any fall/winter shows this year.

Just put in Oasis: Be Here Now...got it on vinyl for Christmas. Quite enjoyable - it's a remastered version, which IMO that album always needed one. Much more depth and punch, without sacrificing clarity! Even the heavy distorted guitars sound great, not just like noise like the CD/mp3s did.

Don't Go Away is one of my favorite songs of all time.

Now that I finally have the album (got the Bright side mix on vinyl for Christmas) and I've been able to sit and give it a full listen, my top three are ever changing! The vinyl version of the release IMO has a richness and warmth that IMO is somewhat lost in mp3 format, which I had been listening to over the course of the year. It sounds amazing!

My top 3 now are:

Panopticom

Road To Joy

Live and Let Live

Four Kinds of Horses and Love Can Heal are close...the vinyl version IMO creates a balance and a fullness with these songs that make them sound amazing compared to what I remember from before!

Red Rain

San Jacinto

Sky Blue

Secret World

Love Can Heal

...Mercy Street and Love to be Loved might sometimes make it in there too...

I would probably not change anything about the tracklist for the PG era albums. Other ones like ATOTT and Wind & Wuthering I'd feel like I'm changing just for the sake of it, but may not be necessary. The three I'd say could benefit from a reorder would be Abacab, Genesis, and WCD.

In this, I also took the liberty of inserting some B-sides that were left out but would've created better pacing for the album, in favor of IMO weaker songs.

Abacab:

1. Abacab

2. No Reply at All

3. Keep it Dark

4. Dodo/Lurker

5. Paperlate

6. Me and Sarah Jane

7. Man on the Corner

8. You Might Recall

9. Like it Or Not

I feel this tracklist creates a little better balance across the album, based on the style of the songs. If there were space, I'd add Naminanu, 1. cos I love it, and 2. cos it would be nice to have an instrumental on there.

Genesis:

1. Mama

2. Illegal Alien

3. Taking it all Too Hard

4. Silver Rainbow

5. Just a Job to Do

6. That's All

7. Home by the Sea

8. 2nd Home by the Sea

9. It's Gonna Get Better (full version)

IMO this tracklist spreads out the 'good ones' a little wider across the album, instead of having them all at the beginning, causing side 2 to be otherwise forgotten.

We Can't Dance:

1. On the Shoreline

2. Jesus He Knows Me

3. Dreaming While you Sleep

4. I Can't Dance

5. Way of the World

6. Living Forever

7. No Son of Mine

8. Never a Time

9. Driving the Last Spike

10. Hold On My Heart

11. Tell Me Why

12. Fading Lights

This one was a bit tougher, but with this tracklist IMO it solves the same issue the Genesis album had; all the popular songs on the first half, leaving the second half unnoticed. This tracklist spreads out the "favorites" more across the album, with each side starting strong. I also replaced Since I Lost You with On the Shoreline, which IMO serves as a great album opener-maybe not as iconic an opening as No Son of Mine, but I like it better personally.

Calling All Stations:

1. Calling All Stations

2. Anything Now

3. Small Talk

4. Congo

5. There Must Be Some Other Way

6. The Dividing Line

7. Not About Us

8. Uncertain Weather

9. Alien Afternoon

10. Shipwrecked

11. Sign Your Life Away

12. One Man's Fool

Again, this one wasn't easy but it again was all about spreading out the good ones...with a couple preferred B-sides added in.

I must say that I'm surprised here in the US at how-despite the successes this album has reportedly had so far-I can't seem to actually find it anywhere when I go to stores that have an actual selection of vinyl! Target, Wal Mart, Best Buy...I have been unable to locate the record in any of these places. Maybe there's a copy at some hole in the wall record store but those are few and far between here in the Denver area.

As well as this record is doing-and with as much critical acclaim as it's recieving-I'd have thought I could see it at least SOMEWHERE around town in some "New Releases" section.

Inconsequential to me, cos I strongly suspect my wife got it for me for Christmas-and I believe it currently sits wrapped up under my tree But still...

Just listened thru all of A Trick of the Tail on vinyl last night, while making dinner. Squonk is a good song to cook to!

Quote from rjhatcher

It was interesting to know that Path Of Fortune was actually the working title for Live And Let Live 😊

Yeah I would've thought that was the working title for Road To Joy-for obvious reasons!

Quote from Christian

It doesn't make much sense, basically you have the "mixdown" already - the Stereo Mixes. The Inside Mixes offer the largest possible freedom to mix the track. Stereo limits that dramatically. If you ever get the chance to hear that, even if iit's only a 5.1 system, do it!

I do have a decent 5.1 system. It's regular surround-Dolby and DTS capable, not Atmos. But I'm sure it'll still play. I have enjoyed listening to the Genesis albums this way, though it has been many months.

I've been acknowledging more and more that I may actually need to get the CD version as well after all.

I wonder if there will ever be a way to listen to the inside mixes without using that blu ray disc-perhaps if they might release them as a stereo mixdown version on iTunes or something similar...?

To this day I've never heard them (are they really all that different?)...and likely won't, since I'm getting i/o on vinyl (technically already got it, but my wife is giving it to me as a Christmas present LOL).

I suppose maybe someday I'll get the CD version as well...

My wife got the vinyl Bright-Side version for me, but as a Christmas present! So I have to wait two more weeks until I can finally listen to the album as a whole...But that's ok-I'll be that much more excited!

I really want to hear the Inside Mixes...I may end up getting the CD version at some point too I guess.

Quote from ShroudedMan

Steve must have recorded a lot more guitar parts than we actually hear. At least that's what he said in interviews a while ago. But, as stated elsewhere, it was more a Trevor Horn project. And looking back, it probably wasn't a bad idea. I know fans are rather critical here, but for a one-off, it was okay.

I personally really liked the new version. Even though only about half of it was influenced by the band themselves, it gave me a glimpse into what they could've sounded like if they had done another album (something I was badly wanting at the time of the early 2000's)

Quote from Phil Morris

No, my comments do not relate to the current situation and certainly not to i/o specifically. I was just making more general points in reply to the similarly non-specific ones concerning historical vinyl ordering in the comment I quoted.

Me too.

They released Carpet Crawlers '99 on the Turn It On Again: the Hits compilation. I remember I went and got it when it was first released during the year I graduated high school. I don't recall if it was early or late 1999, but I remember it was very cold out when I walked to the store to get it (I was in Wisconsin at that time). By then the 1970-1975 Archive boxset had already come out, as I got that for Christmas in 1998.

As for when CC99 was actually recorded, all I remember reading at the time is that it was put together remotely with each band member doing their own contributions separately and then emailing it to another-and it was a couple years in the making, before the hits collection was released. I don't know anything further regarding what their original intentions were for the song - but there was nothing that said it was already worked on as early as 1995...

I do know on vinyl they used to arrange the tracks based on which ones they think will be the most successful and that would affect much of their decision:

Side 1 would open with a great track, and then finish with a great one-therefore compelling the listener to want to turn it over instead of stop listening and ignore side 2. Then side 2 would open strong as well, making the listener want to keep going.

Not sure if that's what's happening here, but that was how they used to determine tracklist order, at least for LPs.

Quote from rkive

Maybe the only I/O song with political lyrics (but not too much).

Agreed-and yes, not too much. It's actually right in keeping with PG's usual political message across any of his catalogue that touches on such things, like Biko-mostly about human rights and equality.

...I'd say Four Kinds of Horses comes close to being political-what with its talk of terrorist actions and motivations-but kind of...stopping just short of it.

The verdict is in!

For me the ranking has again changed:

1. Live and Let Live

2. Road To Joy

3. Love Can Heal

Same as SkyWatcher!

This is a beautiful song! Perhaps not YET my favorite on the album...but with every additional listen I give it, it creeps upward. I feel that it definitely could potentially knock Love Can Heal and Road To Joy down from the top and take the #1 spot for me!

The message in this song is wonderful. A theme of forgiveness, there are some great lyrics in there. I could reference specific ones, but that would take too much time (while I'm at work) and, ya'll know what I'm referring to anyway! The african feel of this song is a fantastic and anthemic way to end off his album with a true showstopper-and it's also a nice return to the feel of some of his previous songs like In Your Eyes and Shaking the Tree, where that kind of sound is blended with his own style in a wonderful way, allowing even for some solo freestyling towards the end, just like what we hear in In Your Eyes!

Regarding the mixes, I prefer the bright-side mix, simply cos it sounds a bit fuller and richer-the sounds are simply blended better, and I enjoy that PG's voice is more prominent in the first half. IMO a song like this one shouldn't sound edgy and 'experimental,' but rather full, bright and 'universal.'

Honestly this song hits a lot of the right marks for me; the rich and anthemic sound, the instrumentation and choirs, the energy and of course the lyrics all make for a memorable finale to a year of being introduced monthly to PG's new album! What a great one to end on...

That's SOME gushing right there...maybe this one already IS my favorite???