Posts by Schrottrocker

Quote from Duke of Earl of Mar

Em(Maj7) chord, second inversion, above middle C : B / D# / E / G.

D# and E are one semitone apart, creating the friction.

Since it's played with a strange sound (apparently from the CP-70, at least live in 1983-1984, but maybe they used the pure acoustic sound of the strings ringing in the studio version, with the CP a bit out of tune to enhance the dissonant effect, I don't really know how they achieved this sound).

Interesting, I always heard it as D# / F# / G. That would take the semitone between the F# and the G, leaving the D# as an outside note without context.

Mike: "In the 80s, we would just sit in awe and listen to every new Marillion album before we even attempted writing our own songs. We learned so much from them, they were one of our main influences, and they still are for what I currently do with the Mechanics. I wished they knew of us, sadly they don't even seem to have heard of us."

I'll send the neighbours whose fire alarm has been beeping for hours.

I could mention again the erroneous credits on some of my dad's vinyl copies he got back in the 70's:

Foxtrot credits all songs as Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Hackett/MacPhail/Rutherford.

Seconds Out credits all Gabriel era songs as Banks/Collins/Rutherford; Volcano is credited as Banks/Rutherford/Hackett.

Also, the BBC box credits Pacidy as Banks/Collins/Gabriel/Phillips/Rutherford.

bigaluk: What a fantastic story, a dream come true for any Genesis fan!

Backdrifter: In the old forum we had a topic about Genesis related dreams and someone described a dream that matches pretty much what you said. Only it was Tony, not Mike, who in that dream acted extremely pissy.

I have to admit I was tempted to make a mock bah humbug comment - I was thinking of something like I'd complain how overrated Steve Hackett concerts are, based on my recent experience when I went to see a show but stayed in the parking lot outside of the venue to save money. It was cold and rainy and I couldn't hear a thing, I really don't get the hype...

I couldn't see this solar eclipse, however I remember the 1999 eclipse and it was once-in-a-lifetime experience, worth any hours of traffic jam. Total eclipses are a mind blower. Partial eclipses suck.

Out of the countless examples I could think of I'll pick out Dancing With The Moonlit Knight, particularly the synth/guitar double solo following the second chorus. That section was written by Hackett and it was one of the few times Steve's wild side made it into a Genesis song. Within this passage, the synth makes it very first appearance on the album, and compared to Tony's other Pro Soloist solos this one has a markedly different sound. He used a preset which was supposed to be an acoustic guitar sound, of course it sounds nothing like that but nonetheless it is quite surprising and unique. I wonder if it was Steve's suggestion to employ this sound as he was always keen on dueting his guitar with a keyboard instrument and he audibly tries to achieve a similar guitar sound. The synth lines are dominating though, Steve's guitar phrases appear rather improvised, Tony's synth lines are composed by every little note. (Actually, Mike's bass playing deserves to be mentioned too, he does some far out complicated stuff in this section.)

In the background, the hammond plays some really unusual chords, even for Tony's standards. The hammond used to be his main keyboard up until Foxtrot; with the ARP Pro Soloist having become his new toy on Selling England, the role of the hammond has changed to the instrument serving for the basic background. Its swirling sound (put through the Echoplex) is nevertheless unique, different from his own previous hammond sound as well as from any other hammond player, to the point it turned into a Tony Banks trademark too, at least at the time. At the ending climax of this instrumental section, as synth and guitar go down to join the bass with just one note, the hammond comes back to the forefront with these strange two chords going back and forth. I'm not sure if it's just the hammond, it might be doubled with the Hohner pianet. Imo this is the part when Tony comes closest to resemble Keith Emerson.

Overall this is one of the strongest examples of Tony surpassing himself because of his competitiveness to Steve and Peter. He felt he needed to prove himself and that made him give 200%.

Quote from Backdrifter

This was answered earlier, but made me wonder if he ever used the mellotron on flute setting. I can't think of any instances, I could be missing them but I'm assuming that with a flautist in the band there wasn't any need. But I also can't think of any post-PG either.

He did. There's a nice short passage in the acoustic opening part of Can-Utility ("but the rising tide absorbs them, effortlessly claiming"); the intro of Battle of Epping Forest is Peter's flute plus the mellotron flute register together in thirds; and I think you can hear it in Get 'em out by Friday too in the Mrs Barrow verse, though I'm not sure if this isn't the Hammond. And if I'm not wrong it appears one more time in the little interlude between Lilywhite Lilith and The Waiting Room.

Anti-Genesis definitely, along with the entire album. It is very rough, brittle, harsh, in a "deal with it" way. Still one of the catchiest songs on the album. And yes, I have to agree to previous comments, the instrumental second half is mostly uninspired and boring, and right when we finally get a guitar solo the song fades out. I also agree the 3SL live version is miles ahead of the studio version. Which is why giving a vote wasn't too easy, I would have voted the album version lower and the live version higher. No matter what, the song is not really my cup of tea.

The short answer is there is so many great Tony Banks keyboard moments it is easier to point out the ones I dislike.

Thank you!

Interesting topic, and yes I am interested too to know more about the keyboards he used - afaik mainly a Korg OW-01 on WCD - then again, funny to see one more time how much perception differs. Speaking for myself, I really like his sounds on Living Forever but I was never too happy with the keyboard solo sound he picked for Fading Lights. Dreaming While You Sleep I find very convincing, the keyboards really make the foundation for the dark atmosphere of that song. That's also the one that comes closest to what was to follow on CAS imho.

The worst keyboard sounds Tony would use were the brass sounds on CAS (prime example Small Talk) and some of his solo records.

Thanks for the interesting insights. I always wonderer what became of Mick Barnard after Genesis, are there any information? Also his band The Farm would be nice to know more about.

That Peter Gabriel letter to Kim Shaheen is curious too. Talking about the band working on "your" (Kim's) songs? A U.S. tour that was postponed to late in 1971? Looks like Peter was making things up to make Genesis appear more interesting?

Could we please stick to discussing Genesis in this Genesis forum? There are lots of fan forums out there for all the artists mentioned in this thread, anyone is welcome to join an Ed Sheeran forum and tell people there how relevant or irrelevant their idol is. For perspective, I'd suggest to tell people in Metallica/Slayer/Iron Maiden forums something about the relevance of Phil Collins or Genesis. See how they will react.

I wonder what exactly Mike's and Phil's issues were with this song. It is one of their best in this period.

I was really interested to hear a new side of Tony Banks but I found myself a little too unaffected. It is nice, it has these Tony Banks chord progressions we all love, it would make for really nice background music, still it failed to wow me. I respect it but it hasn't conquered my heart.

Steely Dan "Aja". Just can't go wrong with this one, one of the most perfectest albums of all time.

Finally a new album! Can't wait

I guess this one will feature the 2008 mixes? I have the original 1999 version, it still featured the original digital remasters. Quite noticeable in Follow You Follow Me, the end of the synth solo continues into the final chorus instead of being cut off as in the new mix.

I like it but it is by any means the weakest track on the Tarka album. The real orchestra works are much more interesting.