For me, by far, it's one of the two best songs on the album, both musically and lyrically — the other being Fading Lights.
Posts by Witchwood
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Guitar Noir marks the beginning of what I consider to be Hackett's renaissance — a period of mostly great albums which included Darktown and To Watch The Storms.
At the time of this release, post-80s, I had become accustomed to disappointment with albums like Cured and GTR and wasn't feeling all that enthusiastic about going out and buying the album. I was feeling that way about a few of my musical heroes at the time.
But after a co-worker who was a fellow Genesis fan praised the album and recommended it, I thought I'd pick it up. As it turned out, the opening track "Sierra Quemada" caught me off guard and completely wowed me.
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It's a melodic piece, I like the overall sound, and have always considered it one of my favourite tracks on the album — even despite the fact Chuck Mangione comes to mind whenever I hear it.
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Gordon Lightfoot, Canadian singer songwriter. I never got into him, but I remember my parents going to see him a few times, and after the last one a few years ago they said his voice had faded badly. Reading of his death causes me to reflect on the fact that they are getting older.
I was sorry to read about that last night. I'm a bit of a fan, particularly of his late-60s to mid-70s output. Had the pleasure of seeing him perform at the Orillia Opera House in his hometown in '93. I recall at one point Lightfoot remarking on the fact his mother was in the audience for that show.
He beat the odds, performing for as long as he did. I think many people who attended his shows in recent years went merely for the opportunity of seeing a musical legend on stage, perhaps for one final time.
RIP Gord. I'll be playing some of his music today in homage.
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... Me and Sarah Jane really sticks out, like a misplaced song but what a beautiful one. It would have been a perfect fit on Duke.
To my ears, MASJ has this Caribbean or reggae groove which is totally uncharacteristic of Genesis but fits in perfectly on an album with such diversity as Abacab.
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My first reaction to this album extended from my disappointment with the preceding album, Cured, and my longing for a return of the Spectral Mornings/Defector line-up.
I didn’t hate it, but I was very lukewarm towards it.
It took over a decade before one night while listening to the album in the car on a long drive, something finally clicked.
It may have helped that I hadn’t listened to it in a couple of years and so when I did play it, it was with a fresh set of ears – and some of it seemed new to me again.
Despite any misgivings I still had about the thinness of the overall sound and the fact Steve was now handling all the vocals, I noticed the rawness in the guitar playing and some extended solos that pushed aside the notion I may have had that this was some failed attempt at synth pop.
I recall, by the end of the third track, "Always Somewhere Else," I had to listen to that song over again because I enjoyed it so much and by the time I was more than half-way through, I came to a realization or conclusion that I had completely misjudged this album.
Highly Strung now has a place among my 10 favourite solo albums by Steve Hackett, though somewhere at the tail end of that list.
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My apologies if this has already been discussed or confirmed elsewhere but I'm wondering, in light of these different mixes, if i/o is going to be a double album with different mixes of the same songs on separate discs.
I can think of a number of artists who have done that very same thing.
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Display Morereally? Well it's no secret to be revealed exclusively by someone. It's just fact.
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It was called "o But" on the Encore Series CDs and "Daddy Long Legs" on the Back To Front Concert film. Quite obvious this is the "baby" version of Playing For Time, isn't it?
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Agreed. I think anyone who saw him or picked up one of the Encore CDs from that tour will have recognized it's the same tune.
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It's the chorus that really elevates this song, for me.
It might actually be my favourite of the four tracks I've listened to.
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I like it. I gave it a 13. But I can appreciate, it’s not for everyone. It’s a quirky, character-filled story song with changing tempos. Not every listener wants to go on that musical ride.
I would compare it to The Battle of Epping Forest which, I think has similar qualities and both songs seem to be a source of contention for some fans.
I also agree with those who much prefer the live version of GEOBF. But then I’d also say that about Supper’s Ready and Watcher of the Skies. All three, IMO, are just much more powerful live.
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Interesting.
I didn't realize Phil played on four tracks on that Camel album (I always thought it was two),
Nice insights.
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Forgive my ignorance but what do you mean by 'encore shows'?
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These were authorized live soundboard recordings that were sold by themusic.com, by arrangement with the artist.
There were eight Gabriel tours, from 2003 to 2014 where (I believe) every show was recorded and sold as part of this Encore series.
I bought several of them over that stretch. They were a nice quality-sounding alternative to bootlegs
In addition to Gabriel, there was an Encore series during Genesis 2007 tour.
Other bands that did this in 2000s were The Who and Duran Duran.
I've never seen these recordings commercially available other than through themusic.com, so I would think nugs.net would have to obtain or purchase the rights to these recordings from that third party.
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Prolific drummer Jim Gordon died on Monday, March 13 at 77. He appears on many recordings that all of us have heard, and was a member of Derek & The Dominoes, followed by Traffic. His is one of the saddest stories in all of rock history. Under the influence of (then undiagnosed) schizophrenia, he brutally murdered his mother. Subsequently he spent the rest of his life in prison.
I mainly know him from Traffic, one of my favorite bands. This now makes 7 former members of Traffic who have passed. (Steve Winwood is now the sole surviving member of the 6-man "Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" lineup from 1971-72.)
Let's not forget co-founding member Dave Mason is still alive, and after leaving after the first three albums, he returned to perform with Jim Gordon and others on the Welcome To The Canteen album.
Aside from murdering his mother, the other ignoble bit of his personal history that comes to mind when I think of Jim Gordon is the piano coda to the song Layla, which he is credited for - for me, it's always been the highlight of that song, though it was later revealed that he stole the melody from a song his ex-girlfriend, Rita Coolidge was writing and had played for him.
Regardless, he did play on a couple of albums that I would rank in the top 10 or 15 of all time.
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Lately I've been listening to a lot of ...
Camel
Caravan
Traffic
Fairport Convention
No-Man
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Someone else can step in and correct me here, but my memory of downloading from that site (it has been a good while), was that I downloaded BitTorrent, set it up, and then just selected the concert I wanted. Someone has to be seeding it of course, otherwise it just hangs in purgatory. If there are several seeders the download is faster.
I'm not an expert by any means, but I believe it's called uTorrent and it's a free download.
I recall being very hesitant at first, having limited knowledge of its use, thinking it might be complicated and too much trouble.
But once I downloaded the program, I would click on whatever recordings I wanted and they would download onto my computer.
I was pleasantly surprised how simple it was to use.
I was like a kid in a candy store for a while.
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The words and the story tie in so well with the music: the heart-pumping build-up of adrenaline, the shot, a return to calm and a reminiscence of a sad childhood, ending with a hint of what was taking root in the mind of a future assassin.
When I listen to this song, it plays like a movie in my head.
For me, this is one of the finest and most impactful songs Peter Gabriel ever recorded.
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We have launched our brand new PHIL COLLINS Recording Compendium last month.
Steffen Gerlach has complied the data for this third Compendium (after Peter Gabriel and Anthony Phillips), with a little help by Ulrich Klemt and myself.
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The next segment will undoubtedly make reference to a Phil’s guest appearance on Camel’s I Can See Your House From Here.
Phil is listed as a guest musician in the album credits, but it doesn’t identify the songs he plays on.
However, if you’re familiar with the album, you can clearly hear a second layer of percussion on two tracks — “Your Love Is Stranger Than Mine” and “Hymn To Her” — which I’ve always attributed to Phil (not only because I know he’s on there but because I think it sounds like his playing).
In light of my own speculations about who plays what on that album, I’m curious, if the compilers of the compendium are entirely dependent on the listed credits in putting this together (which I can appreciate the gathering-of would be a task in itself) or have they been able to tap into other sources that would potentially expand on what is listed in the credits?
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... When was the last time any great new music was created by septuagenarians.
Depends on what you like listening to and what you define as great.
John Lee Hooker was 73 when he released The Healer. That album was universally acclaimed, it was a commercial hit, and as a Hooker fan, I found it thoroughly enjoyable. Carlos Santana subsequently cited it as his inspiration when he recorded Supernatural, which followed the same blueprint (to less effect IMO, though judges for the Grammys would likely disagree with me).
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I can completely understand if the subject of a song is something you're violently opposed to (celebrating pedophiles or white supremacy).
But I've actually always found it strange when people say they don't like a song because of the lyrics or they find a particular turn of phrase pretentious, silly or non-sensical, and that ruins the song for them.
I think back to my teens when one of my older brothers who is a born again Christian would disparage me for listening to Black Sabbath. I told him I didn't care if some of their songs gloried Satan. I just loved the music, and I still do.
Same applies to when I listen to Italian prog. I don't understand the words. It's the sound of the music combined with the quality of the voice that moves me or appeals to me.
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At the time of its release, it was the louder tracks on Duke like "Man Of Our Times" and "Behind The Lines" that immediately appealed to me as a teenaged fan.
It wasn't too long afterwards, though, I found myself more drawn and emotionally moved by the subtle beauty of tracks like "Heathaze" and "Duchess."
Beautiful composition by Tony combined with a wonderful vocal performance from Phil.
IMO, this song would not have sounded out of place on W&W or even ATOTT.
Top score for me.