Posts by Witchwood

    I like Styx alot. One of those guilty pleasures of mine...

    Mine too. I was a big fan of them in my teens and I still like them, especially their first eight albums.

    The Serpent Is Rising, Equinox, Grand Illusion - all thoroughly enjoyable as far as I'm concerned.


    Having said that, I don't hear anything reminiscent of Styx on ATTW3 or any other album by Genesis.

    ...

    I completely disagree with this idea Abacab resulted from their sitting down and consciously deciding to capitalise on PC's solo success and/or "we'd better sound more modern and new-wavey". Both are silly notions. They didn't want to repeat themselves, simple as that and absolutely right too.

    Genesis wasn’t alone in that respect.


    There seemed to be a widespread movement among prog bands at that point to leave the ‘70s sounds behind and produce music that was leaner and more contemporary sounding.


    Gentle Giant, Camel, Yes, Rush, Jethro Tull — even Steve Hackett — all adopted, in some circumstances, quite radical changes in their sound.


    Genesis, Rush and Yes ended up drawing bigger audiences as a result.


    The others I mentioned did more to alienate their traditional fan base IMO, than to build on it.

    I was a Genesis fanatic by this point but living on the wrong continent to have heard about this concert, let alone attend it.

    I'm envious of those who were there.

    After eagerly purchasing GTR upon its release and sitting down to my first listen, I was immediately reminded of my reaction to Asia.

    High expectations followed by great disappointment.


    Don’t get me wrong. I think there were some decent tunes.


    But to me this was like sitting down at a fancy restaurant, telling the waiter “surprise me,” eagerly awaiting a culinary delight and being served burgers and fries.

    I don’t mind burgers and fries.

    But not when I’m at a place renowned for its brilliant chefs.


    This was stadium pop performed by brilliant musicians, not playing up to their individual talents

    ... It's just one of those things - it was acceptable at that time to do that voice, usually accompanied by a 'limp wrist' gesture, but yes any reasonable person would cringe at it now...

    I never picked up on that before but I can hear it now.

    To be honest, though, if someone had played that line to me before today I would have probably said the voice portrays a toff, or someone of a demure or reserved manner as opposed to a caricature of a gay person.

    I have a lot of casettes too, and having just digitized them (Recommend the Behringer UFO202, or one of it's similar siblings, for the job) I found no issues with this, depends on storage conditions of course, barring EMI tapes which pretty much disintegrate within weeks of buying.


    I also have a large cassette collection, though any albums I really value have since been repurchased in CD format.

    Nonetheless, if I browsed through the collection I could probably find at least a few dozen titles I don't have on CD that I wouldn't mind having digitized.


    Just did a quick check online. Seems like these devices are also quite reasonably priced. I will definitely be looking into getting one.

    For me, It's Gonna Get Better is not only my favourite track on the album, it's among my top 5 - maybe even top 3 tracks of the post-Duke albums.


    Why do I like it so much? I love the sound of the merging bass synth that takes over from the intro; it's the most flowing song on the album; it's uplifting and I really like Phil's vocal performance.


    There are other songs on this album I like a lot as well, and I rate several of them as close but none of them as highly as IGGB.

    I didn't vote for it but the one song that has come the longest way for me after being dismissed for decades as a mere oddity is "Excuse Me."


    For some reason, it was hearing the demo of the song which drew my attention more so to the chorus than the barbershop quartet motif, and I started thinking this is actually a bit of a catchy tune.

    Is there any video from that era of the band? Nursery Cryme or earlier? It’s well known that they were gigging around like crazy during that period 70-71, I would love to see footage. We know there is the Belgium footage, wonder what else is out there.

    There are a couple of short excerpts of them performing in Italy - it may even be Rome, April 18, 1972 - mixed in with an interview for, I think, a news piece.


    And then, of course, there is the silent footage taken from the Atomic Sunrise Festival in 1970 with the Trespass lineup performing. From what I recall, it was less than a minute.


    Beyond that, I'm not aware of any other early footage aside from the Belgium TV performance you mentioned.

    Under present circumstances I'm not averse to the idea, but I'm curious what kind of proof would have to be shown.

    Up in my neck of the woods, we just get a peel-off sticker that says "I've been vaccinated."

    Perhaps in other jurisdictions, they give you something with your name and an official stamp from local health authorities.

    Now, that I have had my second dose, I'm happy to offer an addendum to my previous comment...

    As it turns out, we get a printed receipt with the Ministry of Health logo, my name and all the relevant information. I had them email it to me as well so I can show it on my phone if I have to.

    Because vaccination should not be a need to simply see concerts or anything. Anyway, it is known now that 30 percent of vaccinated are infected by Delta thing. ...

    It's known that one dose is 33 per cent effective against the Delta variant but I have seen no information that would suggest 30 per cent of those who received the vaccine ultimately contracted the Delta variant.


    As for a pre-vaccination policy, I can certainly remember a time when vaccinations were required before travelling abroad - so this type of policy doesn't seem unprecedented.


    Besides the only people who would be negatively impacted by this policy are those who don't intend on being vaccinated.

    Frankly, I'm OK with people's lives being inconvenienced if they decide they don't want to take precautions in protecting other people's lives.

    ...I remember listening to it a lot during an unsettled time in my life however, and it's funny how those connections can carry forward...

    I can appreciate how personal experiences can influence one's feelings towards a song or album.


    PG3 came out when I was 15 turning 16, thinking about my future, assessing friendships, questioning how I fit in, was I a normal person – things that teens dwell on when they’re alone in the dark.


    So at that point an album of songs that touched on social alienation and madness seemed to speak to me on a personal level. The music was like nothing else I had heard from anyone else. I remember even being captivated by the strange lingering endings to some of the songs and thinking that every second had something unique to offer.


    40+ years later I have no doubt my love for this album is partially coloured by my memories of being so enraptured by it in my youth.

    'Melt' is not only my favourite Gabriel album, it's probably my favourite album to come out of the Genesis camp since Wind & Wuthering.


    Family Snapshot and No Self Control are my favourites. After that there's probably a three-way tie for third.

    I picked And Through The Wire knowing not many others would choose it but it was my favourite track on the album when it was a new release, and I still get a sentimental charge out of it whenever I hear it.

    In the US here, Madison Square Garden now has a policy of "no shot, no entry" basically, which means you can't attend any event without proof of a vaccine. This is a very dangerous path as far as I am concerned. This is a path toward segregation of the population which definitely rubs me the wrong way. I hope other venues choose differently.

    Under present circumstances I'm not averse to the idea, but I'm curious what kind of proof would have to be shown.

    Up in my neck of the woods, we just get a peel-off sticker that says "I've been vaccinated."

    Perhaps in other jurisdictions, they give you something with your name and an official stamp from local health authorities.