Posts by martinus

    Alphaville - Summer in Berlin


    Incidentally, this song sounds exactly as I imagined (West-)Berlin would have felt like to my younger self at the time: like a hot summer, with striped clothes, neon colours, excitingly different from the rest of Germany, non-conformist, alternative in "that Goth/New Wave/Punk style". And slightly run down. Still, extremely cool...

    I've voted for White Mountain, the Fountain Of Salmacis in a colder climate, as it were. It would've fit well ln Nursery Cryme except it would've been the only expressly cold climate song on it.


    The Knife is where Genesis spent all the energy they could not spend on all the pastoral other songs. It makes it all the more enjoyable.


    Looking For Someone is actually my favourite Trespass song. This is the song with the most hermetic and obscure lyrics pre-Lamb. Peter's acapella vocals deserve a special mention.

    If was coastliner...then this is on an album, so wouldn't seem to fit what was said 🤔

    Well, Steve's statement "we never did it with the band" does not fit his own statement that "we did it three times in Italy, we only played it live", either, so where does that leave us?

    I think "Ghostliners" is simply a garbled (Can-Utility and the) Coastliners. Across The River is probably really Peter Gabriel's piece.


    Richard's interview with Steve is ... bits of what they talks about transcribed without any editing to sort the thoughts, as it were. That, and Steve, forgive me for saying that, does meander in his replies.

    What about the 1983 album by our favourite band?


    It just says Genesis on the cover, but is it called Genesis and have they left out the band name, or is it just the band's name? Same question for Abba (1975), Big Blue Ball (2008) ... and many other albums where the title is the band's name (or vice versa).


    Enya's Watermark does not have the title on the cover, IIRC. Neither do Neneh Cherry's Raw Like Sushi and the original version of Stiltskin's She.

    Nothing wrong with some well-crafted pop and no need to explain it. That said, I much prefer her post-PWL stuff.

    I agree, but Kylie's debut album was anything but well-crafted pop. It was the musical equivalent of the cheapest variety of industrially produced sweets, nothing but lots of sugar and flavouring chemicals in very loud colours.


    Your bringing up the distinction between the first LP and the first CD gives me an opportunity to atone for my lack of taste. My first CD was Nursery Cryme, bought about a year before I got my first CD player.

    PETER GABRIEL - Red Rain
    Year: 1986
    Album: So [review]
    Working title: unknown
    Credits: Gabriel
    Lyrics: Yes
    Length: 05:40
    Musicians: (tba)
    Played Live: 1986, 1987, 1993, 1994, 1996, 1998, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2009, 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014
    mp3 downloads: iTunes
    Cover versions:
    - Lydia Grey (album? year?)
    - Ill Nino (The undercover sessions, 2007)
    - Queensryche(Take cover, 2007)

    Notes: Red Rain is the opening track of Peter Gabriel's commercially most successful album, So. Its unusual rhythm has become a trademark for the song - and has been the reason why Peter Gabriel screwed it up at various live shows. The song has been played at almost every show since 1986.

    We invite you to share interesting facts and tidbits about this track. Let's look at the track in the context of the band's / the artist's history, at the music, the songwriting and all other aspects that are relevant for this track. Please do stick to the discussion of the track above. Comparisons to other tracks are okay, but remember that the other track you may be keen to talk about has or will have its own Track Of The Week thread. If you spot a mistake or if you can close a gap in the fact sheet above please feel free to contact martinus or Christian about it; we will gladly add and improve!
    PHIL COLLINS - Like China
    Year: 1982
    Album: Hello, I Must Be Going! [review]
    Working title: unknown
    Credits: Phil Collins
    Lyrics: Yes
    Length: 5:05
    Musicians: (tba)
    Played Live: 1982, 1983, 1985
    Cover versions: none

    Notes: Daryl Stuermer's unmistakable guitar intro starts off a song that is quite different from the rest of the album as far as the subject matter is concerned. There is no heartache, no pain of separation, no anger, no sorrow, and the song is not about the People's Republic of China, either. It is a teenager trying to seduce his girl-friend and promising to handle her as gently as china porcelain.
    From Phil's very first solo concert at The Hague, Netherlands, in 1982 to the end of the No Jacket Required tour this song was a fixture in the set. After that, it was shelved for a good reason: A Phil Collins that was nearly 40 at the time of the Serious tour could not really convincingly present these lyrics (not to mention any later tours). How well the song, its music and its subject matter, have aged, is up to you to assess now.


    We invite you to share interesting facts and tidbits about this track. Let's look at the track in the context of the band's / the artist's history, at the music, the songwriting and all other aspects that are relevant for this track. Please do stick to the discussion of the track above. Comparisons to other tracks are okay, but remember that the other track you may be keen to talk about has or will have its own Track Of The Week thread. If you spot a mistake or if you can close a gap in the fact sheet above please feel free to contact martinus or Christian about it; we will gladly add and improve!
    GENESIS - Your Own Special Way
    Year: 1976
    Album: Wind & Wuthering [review]
    Working title: unknown
    Credits: Rutherford
    Lyrics: Yes
    Length: 06:18
    Musicians: Banks, Collins, Hackett, Rutherford
    Played Live: 1977, 1986
    Cover versions: Steve Hackett, John Wetton

    Notes: Rutherford created the band's first real love song. But of course they could not do it in four minutes, and the verses had to have an odd time signature. Interestingly, Wind & Wuthering also has a love song penned by Tony Banks, Afterglow. His song has an end of the world feel as opposed to Rutherford's romantic declaration of love.


    We invite you to share interesting facts and tidbits about this track. Let's look at the track in the context of the band's / the artist's history, at the music, the songwriting and all other aspects that are relevant for this track. Please do stick to the discussion of the track above. Comparisons to other tracks are okay, but remember that the other track you may be keen to talk about has or will have its own Track Of The Week thread. If you spot a mistake or if you can close a gap in the fact sheet above please feel free to contact martinus or Christian about it; we will gladly add and improve!

    My first LP was Kylie Minogue's debut album. What can I say? I was young, and I lacked the taste.


    First CD was the grey-frame version of Nursery Cryme. About half a year before I got my first CD player. I'd ask a friend to copy the CD to cassette tapes. With C90 cassettes that meant I did not get to hear the final song of TLLDOB until I had my own CD player... ah, those memories.

    STEVE HACKETT - The Steppes
    Year: 1980
    Album: Defector
    Working title: unknown
    Credits: Hackett
    Lyrics: None
    Length: 6:47 (Tokyo Tapes)
    Musicians: (tba)
    Played Live: (tba)
    Cover versions: none

    Notes: The bass guitar sticks under the notes of this piece like heavy clay, while the keyboards and the guitar imitate the endlessly waving hills of The Steppes. The track is so popular that Hackett keeps publishing it on live albums. Our Track Of The Week takes you into The Steppes.


    We invite you to share interesting facts and tidbits about this track. Let's look at the track in the context of the band's / the artist's history, at the music, the songwriting and all other aspects that are relevant for this track. Please do stick to the discussion of the track above. Comparisons to other tracks are okay, but remember that the other track you may be keen to talk about has or will have its own Track Of The Week thread. If you spot a mistake or if you can close a gap in the fact sheet above please feel free to contact martinus or Christian about it; we will gladly add and improve!
    GENESIS - Silver Rainbow
    Year: 1983
    Album: Genesis [album review]
    Working title: Adam Ant
    Credits: Banks, Collins, Rutherford
    Lyrics: Yes
    Length: 04:31
    Musicians: Tony Banks, Phil Collins, Mike Rutherford
    Played Live: never
    Cover versions: none

    Notes
    : Most songs from the second side of Genesis' 1983 album have rather been neglected. The band themselves never rated that side very high. Silver Rainbow does have a number of fans, some even consider it a secret hit. Is it?


    We invite you to share interesting facts and tidbits about this track. Let's look at the track in the context of the band's / the artist's history, at the music, the songwriting and all other aspects that are relevant for this track. Please do stick to the discussion of the track above. Comparisons to other tracks are okay, but remember that the other track you may be keen to talk about has or will have its own Track Of The Week thread. If you spot a mistake or if you can close a gap in the fact sheet above please feel free to contact martinus or Christian about it; we will gladly add and improve!

    But regarding the reader being able to vicariously experience the Lamb show through the recollections of those who were on "the fringe", I don't think that you can get better than the many bootlegs out there, most of which seem to paint a much more generous picture of how well the album was received than the members of the band would have us believe.

    ... than all members of the band would have us believe... those sodding five detractors of their own work.


    Anyway, you may be right if you are only after the sound. For the sound and the stage show you would better turn to re-stagings of The Lamb by The Musical Box. And where would you go to hear about the roadie's experience or the memories of the album art designers...?

    The book is worth having, though perhaps not quite for the amount I paid. It does not do the trick all on its own, but neither does Holm-Hudson's book.


    As I realize that this is a debate I'm having with my own review once removed, as it were, I begin to doubt the point of the debate.