Posts by Witchwood

Amidst all this darkness, there is a bright side to me being forced to set up in my basement office and work from home.

Admittedly, I tend to be a workaholic, completely immersing myself in my job and spending far too much time away from home where I have family and pets.

Now, I'm here for lunch and dinner with the family, I make sure to spend time outside playing with the dogs which is something I don't think happens a lot when I'm away.

When I am working, as long as I'm not on the phone, I've got music on, tapping into a large collection.

Not to make light of a bad situation - but I think there are some aspects of my current circumstances I'd like to hold on to when things get back to normal.

Bill Rieflin was part of the trio of drummers playing with King Crimson when I saw them in November 2015.

I recall he was more of a multi-instrumentalist of the three, contributing keyboards as well.

I'm sorry to hear of his passing.

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

Steely Dan

Little Feat

Santana

Steve Hackett

Big Big Train

The recordings that elude me are sadly ones that, as far as I know, don't exist - soundboards from the pre-Foxtrot era.

Having said that, I'm not above enjoying a decent audience recording and there are at least a few that aren't too rough from the Nursery Cryme tour - I believe Piper Club may be the best of that bunch.

And, of course, I certainly appreciate the BBC recordings of that period.

Selecting individual tracks was a bit of a challenge for me because I love how certain songs flow into each other.

For example, Fly On A Windshield/Broadway Melody of 1974 and the sequence comprised of Anyway/Supernatural Anaesthetist/The Lamia are among the highlights of the album for me.

Yet, when it came down to weighing the merits of each individual track, I chose only two of the five even though collectively I get more pleasure listening to these series of songs than some of the tracks I ended up voting for.

Quote from StillCan'tDance

Really? You ought to read the quoted post again in that case.

He could as easily have inserted "Wonderful Tonight" or some other popular slow dance request at weddings.

I took it, as FeelItComing evidently did, that he was kidding.

I was never a great fan of Phil's sad and sentimental songs.

And that’s why NJR always appealed to me. It’s comparably upbeat and it includes some of my favourite songs, Take Me Home and Inside Out among them.

While Face Value (my 2nd favourite album of Phil's) hit higher heights for me with tracks like In The Air Tonight and The Roof Is Leaking, the ballad-heavy second half of that debut album always brought me down.

Tough to choose as W&W is one my favourites — a top 3 or 4 album for me.

I like every single track and enjoy it from beginning to end.

BOTR is my No. 1 but then there are at least three tracks tied at No. 2.

I went with One For The Vine and Afterglow but on another day I might have replaced one of those with Eleventh Earl of Mar.

Nice to see some votes for Wot Gorilla? — one of the commonly (and IMO unfairly) maligned tracks on the album.

I love it, it’s among my favourites.

Hogweed matches the power of the Knife and then exceeds it by keeping me captivated right to the end, unlike the Knife which, for me, loses momentum shortly after its intro.

The solos are interesting. Steve produces some unique sounds – I detect Fripp’s influence here. It’s one of Steve’s best showcase moments within the band.

I also really like the interplay between the guitar and keyboards throughout.

Thoroughly enjoyable.

I don't think it's among my Top 10 Genesis tracks but it is almost certainly in my Top 15.

Quote from DecomposingMan

Given how biased and downright dishonest much of the media is, "replaced by CGI characters" isn't as far from reality as you'd think. There's a reason one American political party consistently gets portrayed in popular media in a much better light than the other, and that reason has everything to do with who owns most of the popular media.

...

Well, FOX does claim to be the most watched news channel in the US.

It's clear both CNN and FOX present facts with a political spin, though to my observation FOX is much more blatant in that respect.

If you filter out the talking heads on these news channels, an independent observer can certainly assess Trump's merits on his words alone, his portrayal of events and of his own achievements. not to mention the division within the country he seems to fuel and thrive on.

I became a fan in 78 and by 1980 I regarded PG as some sort of musical deity.

Yet, the first time I saw him live in concert was December 2002.

I don't know if life just got in the way or I didn't hear about the shows in time to get tickets...

Regardless, I've seen him in concert twice.

My favourite was the last time I saw him which was September 2012 on the Back To Front tour.

There were things to like about both setlists

The major difference about the second show is that I had great seats, just a few rows from the front, whereas the first time I saw him, I was in an upper deck looking down. The other difference is I preferred the composition of his band in 2012 compared to the 2002 lineup, though I did enjoy the Blind Boys of Alabama coming on for Sky Blue during that first show.

I recall reading an interview in which one of the founding members spoke about Supertramp initially modeling themselves after Traffic.

It was intriguing to me because I am a huge Traffic fan and I always felt Indelibly Stamped hinted towards the sound of Traffic – not only due to the addition of a sax/flute player but also the folk/rock quality of several tracks.

It's also notable when Hodgson responded to Rick's ad in Melody Maker and auditioned to join the band, the song they asked him to play was Dear Mr. Fantasy.

Quote from foxfeeder

Also a big fan, I think the first album, Supertramp, from 1970, is their best...

You certainly topped me there.

I thought the mere fact I prefer the first two albums over Breakfast was a bit radical.

Nothing controversial about my three favourites, though ... Crime, Crisis and EITQM in that order.

But then I like the debut and Indelibly Stamped.

Never understood the complete dismissal of those early albums by the band and most fans.

I always felt those two were virtually as good or as enjoyable as the albums that followed.

I agree. That yin/yang, light/dark contrast between Hodgson and Davies is part of what made those albums so great.

Having said that, I don’t mind the first post-Hodgson release, Brother Where You Bound — in fact I prefer it to the band’s previous release Famous Last Words.

I’ve heard some decent tour rehearsal recordings of bands doing a run-through of a proposed set.

Those are OK.

I wouldn’t be too interested, though, in more jam sessions or studio outtakes where songs are being developed.

As unique as they are, they’re a bit like a novel brand of candy – very enticing, but not very fulfilling.

I find once I’ve satisfied my curiosity, I rarely search through my collection to hear them again.

Long-standing Leafs fan here, stemming back to the early 70s,

Like a spouse spiritually devoted and resigned to an unfulfilling marriage, I endured many years of mediocrity throughout those decades, but the current lineup is certainly providing me with some hope.

ACF is not only my favourite Banks album but among my favourites (not necessarily Top 5 but easily in the Top 10) of any of the G men solo albums.

For me Still is the only other one that comes close to that realm.

I like both The Fugitive and Strictly Inc. very much. I've never had an issue with Tony's voice on The Fugitive. I thought he did a fine job.

I've warmed up to Bankstatement over the years. Initially, I felt it only had a handful of good songs on it.

I still find Soundtracks uneven. It's probably my least favourite of the rock albums.

I actually prefer the keyboard tracks on Wicked Lady above anything from Soundtracks.

And the symphony albums just don't appeal to me at all.

To be honest I only bought the first one. I know some people would say, "Oh, you should get the second or third, they're better."

But symphony music is just not my thing, and for me a Tony Banks album without keyboards interests me about as much as a Steve Hackett album without guitar.

For me it would be the second time I saw them which was Aug. 28, 1982.

I had heard or read they were doing Supper on that tour, but the Watcher excerpt during the encore was a very nice surprise - one of the great advantages of the pre-internet, pre-spoilers era for concert goers back then.

Nothing set yet, but Big Big Train announced last year they would be touring Canada and US for the first time.

I'm wondering if we're looking at a spring tour because they've got one date in the US already booked, that's in May, and then a bunch of dates booked in Europe beginning in July.

I'll have to keep my ear to the ground so I don't miss out.

Haven’t done a snail mail trade in years but I do still collect live music and download the odd show from time to time. And live recordings still represent a fair portion of what I listen to – probably 15 to 20% of the time.

I think what keeps it desirable for me is the fact I was never stuck on collecting live recordings of just one band.

So occasionally I will see something new or something old that piques my interest, but rarely these days is it Genesis or related.