Driving the last spike, lifting and laying the track - Driving The Last Spike
Posts by thewatcher
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Tell me don't you think they'll find out? - Abacab
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it's very easy for fans such as yourself to say that they should have gone on.
Marvelous, except what I actually said was
they could have easily chosen to do so
and also
They could have continued to make albums and tour arenas or theatres.
Should vs could
Could they have continued? This seems inarguable to me unless I'm missing something. They could have. They were able bodied talented musicians working in a world free of the oppressive yoke of a pandemic.
Should they have continued? That's much more of a judgemental question. We'll never know as we can't know what would have happened in this alternate universe. I was very disappointed they chose not to as I've already said. I gather from what I've read that at a minimum they should have resolved the situation with Ray better, although that is a somewhat separate issue.
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To France - Mike Oldfield
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Alec Eiffel - Pixies
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I saw a poll a long time ago where the very many respondents rated the songs on A Trick of the Tail. The bottom two songs were the title track and "Robbery, Assault and Battery." If I remember correctly, RA&B finished last, but those two were well below the other six.
I remember that with RA&B. It has confused me any time I thought of it since. The only way it makes sense to me (along with perceived criticism of the title track) is that it's not a direct judgement on the songs but rather people preferring the other songs. I love them all, I think it's a great album from start to finish. I really love those two songs but would they be in my top 3 out of the 8 on the album? Honestly no but it's a bit random/arbitrary.
some prog fans considered themselves "superior" to people who liked pop music. I'm not sure what basis they used for that assumption, only that I've never read such guff in all my days!
1000%
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You might recall, did I act carefully did I do right? - You Might Recall (full disclosure: I just found out after 30 years that it's "carefully', not 'care-free')
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Please Don't Ask really shoots from the hip whereas Alone Tonight is more "darling, I miss you"; it's a bit soft. "Surprisingly high vote from the keyboard player," Phil once said with regards to Please Don't Ask and it is true that Tony does prefer it to Misunderstanding.
Much, much prefer Please Don't Ask to Alone Tonight for just that reason. I find the latter very mushy. Please Don't Ask has wicked bass and atmosphere too, apart from being more genuine with the emotion.
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Think about it. Genesis were not exactly an overnight success; it took them many years of hard graft to reach the point at which they could play sell-out tours across the world in stadiums. In 1991, just before We Can't Dance was released, they were listed third most popular 'live' band behind a Led Zeppelin and Beatles reunion. Which means that at that time they were the biggest band on the planet.
The next album they release, they can't even get arrested. They have to cancel an entire American tour, the country they'd been playing since 1972 and then play out the European tour with a man who thinks that all he needs to do as a frontman is walk from one end of the stage to the other and frequently sweep his lank, greasy locks out of his eyes - he still does that to this day: get a haircut, man!
How do you think it would feel to be Mike or Tony in 1997? You have no idea. And neither do I.
So, to just dismiss their actions as being those of greedy sell-outs who were only interested in playing massive stadiums and coining in loads of cash is, to be frank, ill-advised and pretty insulting.
What?
I'm aware of Genesis' history. Mike's own words around the time of CAS/tour were (something along the lines of this because I don't have the quote in front of me to copy and paste): "if no one is listening then what's the point?" This was a band that had just had a number 2 album in the UK and an arena tour in Europe. So their definition of "no one" is a million times bigger than most bands. You yourself point out that they built up slowly over time. This to me means they had roots in a smaller scale operation and could easily have continued in that vein if they wanted to. I stand by my statement you quoted, which didn't say anything about greed or being sellouts or coining in loads of cash. They just didn't want to continue if they couldn't be big; the third biggest band in the world - take that how you want, it's the truth, otherwise they would have continued. They could have continued to make albums and tour arenas or theatres.
Look, they aren't the first band to make it very big and then not react well when reality comes crashing in. I was following them avidly at this time though and felt that with the album and b sides they had plenty of creativity and talent to run with. I was very excited to see where they would go. They weren't exactly over the hill either! It was all the more bitter for me subsequently to find that Ray and Tony both had the appetite to go on but MR didn't.
his lank, greasy locks out of his eyes - he still does that to this day: get a haircut, man!
Yeah, this isn't insulting or dismissive at all. Stay classy dude.
Think about it.
I'll get right on that.
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The old man's guide is chance - Seven Stones (inspired by the NC thread!)
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Whipee!!! - Counting Out Time
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I prefer it to Foxtrot. I think it's more interesting, in particular it's more varied with the loudness and aggression of giant hogweed (and musical box) and then the gentle melody of for absent friends and harlequin.
I also find the band has a raw energy at this stage. Steve's playing, and guitar in general, is quite prominent compared to foxtrot which I like. Don't get me wrong, I love the piano and mellotron as well (seven stones and fountain of salmacis are divine) but in general synth predominates in Genesis so it's nice to hear the aggressive edge here.
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Always had a big soft spot for can utility.... It reminds me of seven stones (another song I love) somehow, like the equivalent 'deep cut' from a sister album. I also went for watcher and Supper's Ready. Time table is a sweet song but a little less impactful to me than the first three I chose. And get em out is a bit of an odd epic. I always preferred hogweed, which again I consider a sister piece of sorts.
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Mein Herz Brennt - Rammstein
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Moskau - Rammstein
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Beat and the pulse - Austra
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Love will tear us apart - Joy Division
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To Love Somebody - Billy Corgan (feat. Robert Smith)
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Blue velvet - Bobby Vinton
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Hey, I'm new here as well. I thought this discussion was fascinating. I have my own dream setlists myself, but what we actually know so far about the setlist (spoiler alert) is:
Very interesting hints. Having seen the When in Rome concert online, which I haven't seen in years, I thought it was the best setlist of the series. The guys are older but the concert has so many aural and visual highlights with In the cage, Los endos, carpet crawlers etc. They had a 'suprise' in the full length ripples. It also covered a lot of ground in that I think the only albums not represented were foxtrot and Abacab, excluding the first album and CAS. I also liked how they started with a previous standard closer in TIOA... I think as far as having a static setlist for a whole tour that's a model for the best they can do.
Of course even touching 2h40m there are plenty of songs not there that would be great to hear... providing some rationale for my previous ramblings about playing some different songs on different nights. The spoilers point to some interesting choices which would be great to see. My biggest hope of all is that I get to see them. Not sure I'll be in Europe when the gigs are on. Hope they come stateside.
