Posts by seven-eight

    I have to say that the thought of using this song for a political rally is kind of stomach churning, regardless of which side is using it. Throwing this song into that messy political world is a shame. That probably goes for any song I like. However I did see ITAT used once as a boxer's entrance music and thought that was pretty dramatic and kind of neat.

    This was very surprising and sad news yesterday. I had heard he wasn't well but I didn't realize he was as bad off as he was. DLR had mentioned a tour a year or two ago that never materialized and I suppose health was perhaps the reason rather than conflict.


    He was obviously an incredible musician, but I really got the sense that he loved music, not just someone out there showing off but that he genuinely lived for it.


    I remember reading in Mike Rutherford's book that he had jammed with Eddie a couple of real late nights in the early 80s and couldn't take the late hours. Seemed like an odd paring, I wonder what they would have come up with...

    I would consider myself a fan of the era between Crime and FLW. I had a listen to these albums for the first time in a long time recently and found that I liked Crisis a lot more than I initially had. The Meaning is such a good song.


    My favorite album of theirs is Even In The Quietest Moments, just song after song of good stuff. It's odd how they got real big with Breakfast and then fell apart on the next album. I guess the Hodgson/Davies solo songs formula could only go on so long though. I never listened to anything after that period but did hear a bit of Roger's stuff which was hit or miss for me.

    Willow Farm is great. You have the beginning section of the song which takes a downturn in HDIBSB when WF lifts it with a jolly tune to get us ready for the drama to come. SR may have separate sections but it makes a tremendous whole with the sum of the parts being even greater . I read Tony Iommi's autobiography and he deliberately puts in the lighter stuff to make the heavier stuff heavier and WF fits on with this philosophy. All Great stories have light and shade and Willow Farm provides that balance . I've read that Suppers Ready is a hard listen but to me it's an easy listen. Like all their stuff there is nothing that goes on too long , no time to get boring.

    Much of SR lyrics create an imagery , oftem without specifics . This gives the listener room to put their own interpretations on it which is great. I've read that WF is just some silliness. I've read it's about a retreat or fat farm .I've read it has nothing to do with the rest of the song . Maybe it's right . But I see it in this way. There's a battle and people die. WF is the after life. They're dead. Like it or not, like what you got your under the soil, literally buried maybe awaiting rebirth bodies melting, .... all change...Theegg was bird... oh no I'm gonna change into a human being, ..... you name them all we've had them here ... And then life goes on to fit our places... mum washing and dad officing.The fox on the rocks is the devil.( PG said the fox is the devil. Spelt focks?) Everything is there. The sheer surface silliness of WF creates a slightly chilling atmosphere and gets us ready for the final battle between good and evil. Well that's how I see it and I like it that way. It fits perfectly.

    I can certainly appreciate how it gets the song from point a to point b, like a middle reprieve from the rest, and I enjoy your enthusiasm for this section! I think my problem with it is perhaps how far out of the rest of the song it is. Maybe it's just too much of a contrast.


    That said, I like Harrold the Barrel and Who Dunnit (to some degree) so perhaps it's just the contrast between what is otherwise going on within Suppers Ready, and this silly section which does also have all of the other positive qualities you have mentioned.

    I have never been fortunate enough to see them play this song live, so I'm enjoying your reminiscence of the shows here.


    To me Suppers Ready is a song that contains some of their best material ever written along with some other stuff that I could take or leave. Everything through the Eternal Sanctuary Man section is brilliant in my opinion. Then Apocalypse onward is even moreso. Phil's drums against Tony's solo, the build up, down, then back up again is something other bands just don't do the same way. The big finish completes the piece so well, I can't imagine anything working better than that.


    On the other hand I could definitely do without the Willow Farm section. It may be necessary in order to get to what happens after, but it just doesn't do it for me. The other sections I haven't mentioned are fine, but not up to par with the best portions of the song.


    Definitely a unique piece, but given the choice I would probably like to see the end of the song live in exchange for something else for the other 10-15 minutes.

    I still hold out hope that someday the live soundboard tapes that are supposedly sitting at the Farm will be released. I can't remember where I saw it but there is a list online of what is sitting there. It was quite a list of shows. I'm not a big fan of re-releases or outtakes (other than to listen once) but when it comes to live shows I'm all for it.


    If the tapes do exist then they could dust them off, clean them up a little, and release online even. King Crimson does this with audience recordings, not even soundboards or something of a higher quality. I would think there would be enough interest to justify it from Genesis fans.

    Great question. I don't want to set the next question though, so please give it to one of the others! I think there were four in the horns but didn't Bill Bruford join them for part of a gig?

    Looks like you have put the rest of the answer together with Backdrifter and Simon1967. The 5 touring members, PG, Hackett, the 4 Phenix Horns, and Bill Bruford briefly joined them for an encore in Los Angeles.


    Since Thelawnmower doesn't want the next question, Backdrifter you answered the rest of the question first. Your turn?

    I had no idea! Great question. I'm going to take a complete guess - obviously the usual 5-man touring line-up plus Gabriel and Hackett = 7. The other 5 though, could it be the Phenix Horns? (I've no idea how many of them there were!)

    You are very close, just missing one musician

    That's it! Well done. Yes, it's only really the framing "story" of Supper's Ready that's in the first person (one of the only things I don't like about SR - it starts off as if it's going to tell a story but then it just... doesn't)


    You're up next

    That was a good question!


    Here is my question: Genesis rarely had special guests or one-off line up changes. However, 1982 was an odd year that featured a total of 12 musicians on a Genesis stage at one point or another. Who were these 12 musicians?

    Another that comes to mind...

    A King Crimson "Project" entitled A Scarcity of Miracles and released in 2011 featured, among others, Mel Collins, who was a member of King Crimson from 1970 to 72, and Tony Levin, who joined King Crimson in 81.

    Since 2015, the two have been part of the latest incarnation of KC but this lineup has yet to record a studio album under the name King Crimson.

    The 21st Century Schizoid Band is another one with former and future Crimson members who didn't play in Crimson together (yet). Mel Collins hadn't been in Crimson with Giles or MacDonald, and Jakszyk hadn't been in the band with any of them, until as you said 2015. Funny how that band's alumni always seem to get together.


    Another one is Bill Bruford and Patrick Moraz, both of Yes but not from the same era. They made 2 jazz oriented albums together in the 80s.

    I've always thought they were done in the same solo manner as the rest of the album, just based on the keyboard sounds and the bass which is similar to the other songs. The horns could have also been done on a keyboard, but I don't know anything for certain. I haven't listened to them in a while, but they are great songs!