Posts by Witchwood

Latest acquisition...

Mark Knopfler - Tracker

In the last month or two I've been listening to a lot of...

Mark Knopfler

Led Zeppelin

Santana

Frank Zappa

Big Big Train

Quote from bromleybruce

Happy the man is a total favourite of mine.

Late at night I regularly listen to the Italy tour from early 1972 when they started with it and then Stagnation.

I love those recordings, warts and all, though Piper Club is by far the one I listen to the most.

Quote from FeelItComing

I saw him play Our Shangri-La. It isn't often I can say that! My favourite track from that album is The Trawlerman's Song.

It seems mellower than the others I have with not as many of those winding guitar solos that I love, but it makes up for that with some very beautiful melodies.

Just picked up Santana's latest, Africa Speaks.

Quote from FeelItComing

There is some great stuff on Shangri-La, make sure you tell us what you think.

Of the four I now have, I would say this one is my second favourite.

Love the opening track, "5:15 a.m." and "Our Shangri-La."

Quote from Tonywashere

...And of course will he ever make another rock album!?

That would be my No. 1 question as well — and if the answer is yes, is he in the midst of writing or recording material for it, does he have a sense of when it might be released.

Quote from Progatron

It was the Molson Amphitheatre (now called the Budweiser Stage) at Ontario Place actually, you may be confusing it with Kingswood which is at Canada's Wonderland. ...

That makes sense, because I remember being out in the cool air, walking and chatting with the friend I was with afterwards and heading to get onto the TTC, whereas if it was at the Kingswood, I would have driven there.

Quote from Progatron

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The last time I saw them live was in 2002. An absolutely amazing, transcendent concert where they played Awaken, Revealing Science, etc. - and that wasn't even their golden age...

I don't begrudge the guys for going out there and earning their living. More power to them, and if people go and enjoy the show - great! I just can't do it anymore personally. ... In the end, it's only a band name, it's not the end of the world and I am not one of those people who thinks they are "ruining a legacy" or any such nonsense. It's just that, to me, some bands have members that are irreplaceable.

That was the last time I saw them as well (perhaps you were at the same show, Kingswood in Toronto). I recall Chris milking every bit of that bass solo in the middle of Heart of the Sunrise, and I loved it. Every thing Rick Wakeman added seemed magical. I have very fond memories of that show.

I also totally agree with your latter point.

Whenever I've read comments suggesting certain bands or musicians shouldn't tour or record anymore because it's ruining their legacy, I think, what a load of baloney.

Great albums like Close To The Edge don't depreciate or rest on a band's legacy, they are valued on their own merits.

A couple of items I recently ordered and just awaiting their arrival...

Mark Knopfler - Shangri-La

Big Big Train - Grand Tour

Quote from genesis1964

Mark Knopfler - Toulouse 2019 (Official Live Release)

I was looking at these the other day. I'm just slowly starting to acquire his studio albums (I just ordered another one the other day) and to me it makes more sense that I pick up his studio albums first - though this certainly piqued my interest.

I was thinking of seeing him on this tour but the nearest show to me (a 7-hour drive away) is sold out of decent tickets so I might get a recording from that show instead.

Would Undertow have been improved if it opened with the first 40 seconds or the first two minutes of FTU?

Perhaps.

I'd have to hear how it blends together.

But I love the song as it is, all 4½ minutes of it, and I've never felt it was missing anything.

Quote from Nanunami

I have always wondered if there really was a real Tony Banks solo album besides Fugitive. I tend to see the other albums as projects with different people (with the classical music albums being the exception, his is a completely different world).

I quite like Still, but what would Still be without Kershaw and Fish?

On that basis, I would be inclined to consider ACF as much a "real" solo album, if not more so, because this is the only album where Tony plays every instrument except for drums.

I had to look this up but Stepp is the brand name of a particular make of guitar synthesizer.

Quote from Schrottrocker

I wish I could have a recording of the show in Stuttgart I went. Is there any chance to get recordings of complete live shows like Genesis did in 2007?

Normally I would say check out the Movement torrent site and invariably there will be a recording, but it seems there has been a steady decline in the number of shows taped in recent years.

Of the 77 Hackett shows performed in 2017, for example, only 25% were recorded or shared.

(Mind you, I would never begrudge anyone who decides to leave the recorder at home and enjoy a show, rather than take on all the risks and distractions associated with taping a concert).

Excellent news!

I have just three of these seven albums.

I'll be happy to purchase a second copy of those three albums if it means I can get the four albums I've been missing all this time, plus these videos which I don't have either.

There is a small number of artists I like who have used recorded backing vocals on stage in a limited way, merely to reproduce a vocal harmony or a layered vocal effect.

I don’t have a great problem with that.

But I think I would draw the line at an artist miming the lead vocal.

My feeling is if you can’t do it live, then don’t do it all.

Play something else - in Steve's case, he could play to his strength and tap into some of those great instrumental tracks he's recorded over the years.

After the release of Cured, Highly Strung and then GTR, I was almost ready to give up on Steve. But then Bay of Kings pulled me back in.

As I get older, some of the harshly dismissive views I held in my youth haven’t stood the test of time.

Fifteen years after its release, I was playing Highly Strung in the car during a long late night drive. It might have been two years since I had previously listened to it. Something clicked and I thought, ‘Wow, listen to that guitar. This is a great album.”

I concluded my long-held initial views of the album were wrong.

While I can’t claim to have that same illuminating experience with Cured, I do have a much greater appreciation for the album now than when I was 17 or later on into my 20s.

I still don’t care for the cheap-sounding production values and weak vocals, but they also don’t seem to bother me as much as they once did.

Quote from Backdrifter

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Just out of curiosity what female artists and female-fronted/voiced bands do we like? I ask also as I find I Iike quite a few and am always up for hearing of ones I don't know.

...

The one I am most fanatical about is Sandy Denny.

I like virtually everything she’s been involved with.

The Fairport Convention albums featuring both Sandy Denny and Richard Thompson in the lineup are nothing short of iconic IMO.

I thought Fotheringay and her initial solo releases were great, and even the early Strawbs album she was on was enjoyable.

Janis Joplin would probably be my second favourite, but there are at least a dozen more artists or female-fronted bands I have albums of and enjoy listening to.

Those include Etta James, Joni Mitchell, Nina Simone, Jefferson Airplane, Magenta, The Cranberries, Sarah McLachlan and the first couple of albums by the Eurythmics.

My first concert was Max Webster in 1979.

I was a fan since their debut and when I finally saw them in concert, they were touring their fourth album, A Million Vacations which, of the five they put out, this one ended up being their biggest selling release in Canada.

Prior to that, I think they tended to play clubs and licensed establishments where young teens like myself wouldn't have been allowed entry.

To this day Max Webster remains one of my favourite bands from Canada. They never gained the popularity outside of this country I thought they deserved.

When I have encountered non-Canadians who have heard of MW it is usually because of the song “Battlescar” (Rush guested on that track – and in exchange, MW’s lyricist Pye Dubois provided the words to "Tom Sawyer").

Quote from Christian

I have put on that record for the first time in years. I still think Hideaway is a nice ballad, and some tracks are quite unqique - and also a bit cool. Sometimes it sounds a bit like The Police, then, as you said, awful. But it's a different album and part of Mike's carreer.

That strained singing voice of his works on Hideaway - he comes across actually quite convincingly.

Unfortunately, it's the only track on the album I like.

Other than my feelings for Hideaway, I agree with Ned. I just don't think the other songs are any good and combined with his poor vocals - it's like handing a drowning man an anchor.