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Post by MrWaistcoat on Feb 10, 2019 12:57:24 GMT
I respect and like this fresh sounding album much as I do ISOTFC. Both are honest - Quo lite being Quo lite. And both really quite good. That I prefer the stale sounding HT for me speaks volumes....the one attempt to turn the clock back was more enjoyable for me than anything else the band did after John left.
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Feb 10, 2019 20:28:29 GMT
I think you are being unfair Rhino contributed to two of the 12 songs. He co-wrote Shine On (the best song), and shared a credit for Andy's round and round, a good song. Rhino is technically the best bass player they've had, a professional musician. I don't think anyone could have provided a "a real rhythm section" for Quo post Live Aid. Why? Because hired hands do what they are told. Remember old mates slagging Andy in the late 80's, "wish he'd leave, it'd be a better band without him". But the keyboards weren't his fault, anymore than Jeff was responsible for "fast drumming". Everyone involved in Quo 86 onwards has done what Francis required. Everyone. Back to Mr Edwards...fast forward to "fourth chord"...he wrote the best song (bad news) and co-wrote the next best, beginning of the end. Jump ahead again to Quid Pro Quo....he co-writes what are probably the best two songs, Two way traffic & dust to gold I would go as far to say that he has positively contributed similar amounts of quality to "Quo lite" as Rick and Francis have. You can't reasonably expect that from a man who deserves better than still being little more than a hired hand all these decades later. Reckon most of the fan flak he's had (yes he's human and unwisely bites back) has been unfair.
Not unfair to me. The guy's bass sounds like an elephant farting half the time, instead of the crisp, driving hammer of AL's. I get what you are saying about the bass sound. I prefer Alan's mid and punchy short scale bass sounds. It suited Quo in the 70s especially. Rhino has been caught between a rock and a hard place. He couldn't go creative bonkers and ruin the 70s tracks live on stage that Alan had put his mark on. Rhino did try using a pick at one time to get a sound closer to Alan's, to appease the Quo cognoscenti. Didn't ultimately work for him and went back to fingers. That finger style can then lead to a more mushy sound occasionally and I have seen a few Quo gigs where Rhino's bass sound did resemble an elephant with digestive issues! Apart from Rhino's finger style, other factors seem to come into play to make his bass sound less precise and buried at times, such as poor mix, gear and hellish venues etc. Francis said at one time he preferred Rhino's more rounded bass style and sounds. I think this possibly meant Rhino's studio bass contributions. Swings and roundabouts though, as also witnessed gigs in the old days when Rossi's lead guitar playing had almost been inaudible. These days at least the lead stuff cuts through. Arguably there was something a bit more exciting about hearing a more grungy performance in the 70s and 80s from Rick and Rossi especially and ears ringing for a couple of days afterwards but today hearing a loud and clear show but less destructive is a bit more welcome! With Rhino's sound on stage, it can be a bit of a lottery. Still remember being in the front row at a Quo gig at Wembley Arena in the 90s and loud speakers were located just below the stage I think from memory. At one point Rhino hit the bass strings that hard that the reverberating sound seemed to go in my right ear, shook my brain and then went round my head at 100 revolutions per second before exiting out of my left ear. Decided it was probably time to get seats a bit further back after that.
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Post by americanquo on Feb 12, 2019 16:24:16 GMT
To qualify, I LIKE Quo Lite. I see them as a totally different band than Quo, and Rhino is an okay bass player and song writer. Sometimes very good, never great, sometimes awful. Same with the various replacement drummers. What Quo Lite never had, however, was the driving undercurrent they had with JC and AL, the influence of those two on the music itself.
For those who thinks that's not true answer this: if Rhino is so great, how come the band has never equaled the musical level of even lesser albums like Never Too Late or Whatever You Want? Because they haven't. No Quo Lite song can compare to Whatever You Want, Who Asked You, Living On An Island, Mountain Ladies or a bunch of other later songs from Quo. They have a heavy edge Quo Lite has never approached.
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Post by paradiseflats on Feb 12, 2019 17:00:19 GMT
To qualify, I LIKE Quo Lite. I see them as a totally different band than Quo, and Rhino is an okay bass player and song writer. Sometimes very good, never great, sometimes awful. Same with the various replacement drummers. What Quo Lite never had, however, was the driving undercurrent they had with JC and AL, the influence of those two on the music itself. For those who thinks that's not true answer this: if Rhino is so great, how come the band has never equaled the musical level of even lesser albums like Never Too Late or Whatever You Want? Because they haven't. No Quo Lite song can compare to Whatever You Want, Who Asked You, Living On An Island, Mountain Ladies or a bunch of other later songs from Quo. They have a heavy edge Quo Lite has never approached. I’m no fan of Rhino but it isn’t simples as him not being able to be an album as good as anything as good as before 81. Yes they have missed Alan’s writing but look at the output of Alan,Rick,John and Francis post 81. You wouldn’t be able to make an album from all their output in and out of the band to match their earlier work. Quo lite is the result of one mans vision.
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equo
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 76
Favourite Quo Album: Quo
Favourite other bands.: Pink Floyd
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Post by equo on Feb 12, 2019 21:31:20 GMT
For me it was THE album that gave me some hope back at the time for what direction Quo would go (sadly enough it all would become even worse later). After AC, PR, TW and DS I felt this was at least bringing back some of the Quo that I liked. I like the album quite a bit. It may not be perfect production wise but it's miles and miles better in my eyes then everything they had done from 85 to 97 (except rtyd). Favorites on the album for me are Twenty wild horses, Round and round, Shine which is the best song on the album for me, Blessed are the meek and The way it goes. What I also noticed on this album is that Francis is singing in a lower register then he normally does and I thought it sounded very good. I also prefer the album a lot over HT (i am in the minority with that I know) cos HT sounded too sterile and cold for me. But that I will get back to in another album thread. For me UTI is one of their best albums from the newer period. Yes.The album that revived my interest in the band. They lost me after Aint complaining. I love making waves, round and round, shine (really love this one) and the way it goes. It stayed for weeks in my cd player at that time. I remember they were invited to play a few songs live on a popular radioshow in the Netherlands. They played well. I also remember the DJ said he never had a band who brought more equipment into his little studio than Quo! I believe they played Caroline, Twenty wild horses and The way it goes. They rocked, I was happy!
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Post by charles on Feb 12, 2019 21:52:58 GMT
At last I found the time to listen to UTI in its entirety, and here is my review: firstly I have to point out that after the Back To Back debacle, I forgot about Quo and didn't want to listen to any of their new offerings, I wasn't even aware they were still producing new music until my brother made a compilation of Heavy Traffic's best bits. A couple of years later I stumbled on UTI and as it was cheap (5 euros?) I bought it. I was pleasantly surprised by the album, although the feel never was the same as with the real Quo. It starts off rather well with Twenty Wild Horses: the song has a lot of variation, catchy melody and bounce, a perfect opener. UTI has a great rhythm, I have a softspot for harmonica and I perticularly like Francis urging the rest on. Next is Round & Round. Still good, but this one sounds a bit light to me. Shine On is by far the best song on this album, it could easily have been created in the classic era. Little White Lies is far too poppy, should have been on a Francis Rossi solo album. Keep 'em Coming 's got a nice bridge and two good solos, not bad. Little Me and You is too much Dave Edmunds, and I never liked it when Quo went too much DE. I know it's typical Rick, but it's not for me. Then it's Making Waves. It's a good song with a great break, but unfortunately they drop the ball at the 2'10'' mark of turning this one into a monster. Instead they went for a safe and rather dull outro, such a shame. Blessed Are the Meek has some great melodies, but again would fit better on a FR album. Roll the Dice is boring two seconds in; lazy and uninspired. The nice solo is wasted on this one.
Not Fade Away is a good song, but Lite Quo hardly do anything with it. Unnecessary cover. The Way it Goes is another filler, why didn't they bin it?
All in all a decent half album that could have done with a better production. The drums especially sound god awful, but that too might have been FR's fault as I do feel he had the reins firmly in hand with this one.
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quoman
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 142
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Post by quoman on Feb 12, 2019 22:59:03 GMT
First heard the first few songs from this album at quo's show at Glasgow SECC when T'Pau didn't play due to illness? And they played the album (unreleased at the time over the PA). Must admit that I quite like it. A few duff songs but a definate step in the right direction.
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Post by dontthinkitmatters on Feb 21, 2019 17:48:00 GMT
Gave it another go, but no growers I am afraid. Not for me. A bit worried if as some have said, that this was a step in the right direction , as to what some of these 'later Quo lite albums may sound like.
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Post by Victor on Feb 21, 2019 17:58:03 GMT
Gave it another go, but no growers I am afraid. Not for me. A bit worried if as some have said, that this was a step in the right direction , as to what some of these 'later Quo lite albums may sound like. For me it was a step in the right direction yes. Those later albums ? Much worse except for QPQ which had some very good songs on it.
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Post by dontthinkitmatters on Feb 21, 2019 18:19:16 GMT
I'll give them all a fair go as and when they come up. I didn't listen to any new stuff after 1982. UTI was the first one I have really given a bit of air time since but that was only really because of this thread.
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Post by Victor on Feb 21, 2019 20:27:20 GMT
I'll give them all a fair go as and when they come up. I didn't listen to any new stuff after 1982. UTI was the first one I have really given a bit of air time since but that was only really because of this thread. If "that's all" this thread has given you then I am feeling very happy with how the thread is going along I think it's great to bring out albums like that, it can bring lot of interesting viewpoints and surprising things
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Post by Railroad17 on Feb 21, 2019 21:43:46 GMT
This was one of the album's I played when I was on nights as a "I never listened too this one" exercise...what a rubbish record!! It was hard to believe that two of blokes on this rubbish played and sung on Piledriver.
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viza
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 412
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Post by viza on Feb 22, 2019 9:23:43 GMT
Shine On is a good song. There are some other tracks that's listenable. Maybe their second best album of the Jeff Rich era (after RTYD) but that ain't say much. 4/10.
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Post by kursaal75 on Feb 22, 2019 9:38:05 GMT
I'm going to receive this album for my birthday next week and to think in the 70s I would get the newly released albums on the day of release. Under The Influence has took me 20 years to buy!!! Obviously, I wasn't under the influence
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gerh
Grizzled Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,953
Favourite Quo Album: 'Hello' [and 'Quo Live']
Favourite other bands.: Zappa, Kansas, Rush, Deep Purple, Yes, Richard Thompson, Horslips, Rory Gallagher, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest etc etc. [ANYONE but Kiss!]
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Post by gerh on Feb 22, 2019 13:29:57 GMT
I'm going to receive this album for my birthday next week and to think in the 70s I would get the newly released albums on the day of release. Under The Influence has took me 20 years to buy!!! Obviously, I wasn't under the influence Huh - it would've helped, fersure!
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