mortified
4500 Timer
Posts: 5,861
Favourite Quo Album: Hello!
Favourite other bands.: Talking Heads, Rolling Stones, Sheryl Crow, Gary Numan, Alabama 3, ZZ Top, Paul van Dyk, Jeff Beck, Bowie, Gerry Rafferty, Band of Skulls, UFO, S.A.H.B
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Post by mortified on Jan 9, 2022 10:40:09 GMT
Without being over critical this has always been at odds with what Alan wanted for the band to stay in a heavier direction. His last real heavy song was Over the edge in 1982 unless you class Big man too but that was a bit of a hash job. Ol rag blues is as about as poppy as Quo singles came and maybe he just started writing songs in that style to get his material on the albums. Your kind of love also is also quite a light song so not sure why Marguerita time became a huge fuss. The heaviest song on the album was No contract a Parfitt/Bown track. Yes, true about No Contract. But even that sng for me was beginning to show the too clean production that was to come on albums after that. I think the opinions about B2B are strongly divided and maybe it has to do something also with the time when someone got into Quo, I don't know. For me it was the biggest possible disappointment after WYW, JS and NTL and of course the 70-76 period. I think that's a very valid point. I don't think I'm sticking my neck out too much by suggesting that if you got into Quo from the early or mid-70's, you likely thought Back To Back was a really poor effort. Following it up with a lame - and hideously predictable - cover of The Wanderer tended to cement your view that they'd lost the plot and direction completely. Which, of course, they had. But if you were younger than many fans and thought things like Ol' Rag Blues were terrific, then you probably had/have a different perspective. It's all relative. The band were coming apart at the seams. For me, the album demonstrated that.
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Post by 4th Chord on Jan 9, 2022 11:51:11 GMT
I obviously didn't like the way Alan was heading in terms of writing coz I didn't like this either (see Mountain Lady) thread. And I can feel a similarity in the lightness of touch. When I bought the single (blue vinyl, pic sleeve, all that malarkey) I hadn't actually heard it. To say I was disappointed was putting it mildly. The 12", which came about a week or two later, was slightly better by virtue of the nice (if brief) instrumental break in the middle. The vocals are academic because both deliver the song in precisely the same way. The entire Back To Back album, for me, is a turkey. The poorest they ever made. And yet it spawned 4 hit singles. Which pretty much shows how much I know. Because, ironically, the two tracks I do have time for, neither were singles. "Did you think it was forever? Well, now you know." Quite prophetic really when you think about it. B2B > PR
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Post by fredbloggs on Jan 9, 2022 13:45:24 GMT
Alan’s vocal is superior in my opinion but Rossi always did/does what he wants Cheers I think I read somewhere it was a record company (rather than band) decision to go with the Rossi vocal, so not sure it was a case of Rossi doing what he wanted.
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Post by juansupposin on Jan 9, 2022 14:51:30 GMT
It was my first quo single ( Ol'Rag blues / Stay the night) I liked the songsthen and still like them now.
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Post by freewilly on Jan 9, 2022 19:32:04 GMT
I know nowt anyways. Sorry for posting ?? I don't know why you should be. Your post was perfectly ok Just going through a bad personal experience. Ignore me
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Post by Victor on Jan 9, 2022 20:12:49 GMT
?? I don't know why you should be. Your post was perfectly ok Just going through a bad personal experience. Ignore me Nah mate, that's usually the time not to ignore someone Just know this: I often enjoy your posts, even if I may have a different opinion about things sometimes
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Rossi's septum
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 100
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
Favourite other bands.: Van Halen, ZZ Top, Tom Petty, Motörhead, Warren Zevon, Loudon Wainwright III
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Post by Rossi's septum on Jan 9, 2022 23:51:04 GMT
Alan’s vocal is superior in my opinion but Rossi always did/does what he wants Cheers I don't think Rossi is to blame. The record company had a great deal in letting Francis sing this one. By the beginning of the eighties Francis & Rick were seen by the record company (and a great deal of the public as well) as the faces and voices of Quo. That's why they wanted Rossi to sing it and not Alan, for commercial reasons. And I think they were right.
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Post by juansupposin on Jan 10, 2022 8:54:17 GMT
I agree with Victor , it also depends on when you got to Quo. I started buying Quo records in Sept 83 and when B2B was launched in Spain (March 84) I already had 12 Gold Bars, QUO, JS, NTL, HELLO, WYW, BFY I remember thinking B2B that was good but not as good as the others I owned..But back then everything about QUO was magic...not only Quo but all other bands I was into (AC DC, Maiden, Judas, Purple or American Heavy metal Bands b like Motley Crue, Quiet Riot, Ratt, WASP...) The same happened to my brther I guess with KISS; Destroyer, Dressed to Kill, Rock and ROll Over was much better than 80s albums like Animalize, Lick it up etc but we liked all of them..We were 12, 13years old .. I was surprised when my borther, he is more open minded that me in terms of music and he keeps listening to 50s, 60s,70,80s new groups etc) some years ago while listening to QUO albums again told me that B2B was a very good album and still liked a lot . I told him it was ranked among the worst for the QUO fans. So, sometimes I wonder if we show an Average ROCK Fan different QUO albums what they would think...Maybe we would be a bit surprised, not saying that B2B is in the same league as the 70s Albums or that I agree with FR about what are the best QUO songs, Marguerita Time
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col
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 641
Favourite Quo Album: Dog Of Two Head, Piledriver, Hello, Quo, Live
Favourite other bands.: Ramones, Warrior Soul, Soundgarden, King Buffalo, Small Faces, Motorhead, UFO, Screaming Trees, Kyuss, Clutch
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Post by col on Jan 10, 2022 10:51:29 GMT
Yes, true about No Contract. But even that sng for me was beginning to show the too clean production that was to come on albums after that. I think the opinions about B2B are strongly divided and maybe it has to do something also with the time when someone got into Quo, I don't know. For me it was the biggest possible disappointment after WYW, JS and NTL and of course the 70-76 period. I think that's a very valid point. I don't think I'm sticking my neck out too much by suggesting that if you got into Quo from the early or mid-70's, you likely thought Back To Back was a really poor effort. Following it up with a lame - and hideously predictable - cover of The Wanderer tended to cement your view that they'd lost the plot and direction completely. Which, of course, they had. But if you were younger than many fans and thought things like Ol' Rag Blues were terrific, then you probably had/have a different perspective. It's all relative. The band were coming apart at the seams. For me, the album demonstrated that. I agree that that is a very valid point from Victor. Maybe some of us with our 10 year service medals had closed our minds a little. However I do think that Back To Back was Quo's nadir, although they did have a few attempts to surpass (underpass?) that level. For me, even the better tracks sounded false, lazy or like leftovers. Mess Of Blues - Lazy Can't Be Done - Never Too Late outtake No Contract - Forced, Cod Heavy Metal Too Close To The Ground - Hollow Blues, no soul And that's the good stuff. I must admit I wasn't overly upset when they announced the retirement, their race was run. EOTR did have some great gigs though.
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Post by markquo on Jan 10, 2022 11:03:15 GMT
Alan’s vocal is superior in my opinion but Rossi always did/does what he wants Cheers I don't think Rossi is to blame. The record company had a great deal in letting Francis sing this one. By the beginning of the eighties Francis & Rick were seen by the record company (and a great deal of the public as well) as the faces and voices of Quo. That's why they wanted Rossi to sing it and not Alan, for commercial reasons. And I think they were right. He could have gone to Alan and said “ look the record company want me to sing it,just wanted to give you the heads up” instead of just going in and re-recording it behind Alan’s back . Cheers
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Post by dennis on Jan 10, 2022 21:25:11 GMT
I don't think Rossi is to blame. The record company had a great deal in letting Francis sing this one. By the beginning of the eighties Francis & Rick were seen by the record company (and a great deal of the public as well) as the faces and voices of Quo. That's why they wanted Rossi to sing it and not Alan, for commercial reasons. And I think they were right. He could have gone to Alan and said “ look the record company want me to sing it,just wanted to give you the heads up” instead of just going in and re-recording it behind Alan’s back . Cheers I can't help thinking that the record co. would only have had that choice because Rossi had already recorded his own vocals for the track
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Post by iamcomplaining88 on Jan 12, 2022 15:36:16 GMT
I totally agree with freewilly about that mix of Going Down Town Tonight but I do love the album, 1+9+8+2 on the other hand I've always liked but never loved, She Don't Fool Me is a fantastic song in my opinion.
I played the album last night for the first time in a while and enjoyed it more than I thought I would.
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Post by iamcomplaining88 on Jan 12, 2022 15:38:23 GMT
Alan’s vocal is superior in my opinion but Rossi always did/does what he wants Cheers I can't agree with that, even though Alan wrote it, his vocals just don't suit the melody of the song.
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gav
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,156
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
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Post by gav on Jan 12, 2022 21:16:29 GMT
Alan’s vocal is superior in my opinion but Rossi always did/does what he wants Cheers I can't agree with that, even though Alan wrote it, his vocals just don't suit the melody of the song. Or is it just that the backing music is so clean, polished, and polite that Alan's rougher voice is at odds with it?
There's something about Rossi's lead guitar tone - even on A Mess of Blues, there's a little bite to it, but in this song, there's none at all which is very unusual, it's been totally smoothed away. It could have used a little as the music is weirdly soft, even by Quo's standard at this point - massive space where there would have been more biting guitars, a bit more crunch overall, and sonic layers, but this is just tame!
Makes 1+9+8+2 sound like a rock behemoth, and i don't even know what that means...
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allyp
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 578
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Post by allyp on Jan 12, 2022 21:23:36 GMT
I am not sure what the truth over the recording of this track was regarding the vocals heard different stories from all involved. What is pretty clear though if Francis had not done a vocal for this it would probably have remained an album track. Francis was the main commercial voice of the band and after 15 years of singing on the majority of the singles ( barring ricks 76-79 purple patch on some) then it is understandable the record company would go with that. I like Alan’s version but think it suits Francis voice better.
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