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Post by frozenhero on Apr 17, 2024 9:39:12 GMT
How many times have you bought Quo’s PYE era material? Yet here it is again presented in a nice new box set. Do I want it? Yes, I do but I got made redundant in February so that’s not going to happen. I have all the deluxe editions of this album or that and they would probably pull me in again with whatever format comes out next (but financially, not now). The prices of everything seems extortionate to me, books costing £50-£100 pounds, Mark Knopfler’s new album £50 on vinyl. No thanks I’m done with it all. I love the guys for the music they’ve given us, no-one hit the mark for me like the classic Quo did, but I’ll no longer be a cash cow. Well, I'm someone whose ideas kickstarted that set (though I was out of the loop afterwards), and the main point was to bring the material from the deluxe editions back to the market, specifically the Picturesque deluxe CD which has gone long out of print and costs insane prices on the secondary market. Yes, I know that material is available digitally and on other compilations, but most of the Pye era releases are hodgepodge compilations with not much sense behind them. Francis had nothing to do with that set except, I guess, greenlighting it.
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Post by frozenhero on Apr 6, 2024 10:05:51 GMT
Let's not forget down the dustpipe Spent 17 weeks in the charts and peaked at number 12 I always took "gold" to mean "great" Pictures, Ice in the Sun, Dustpipe, In my Chair and Mean Girl were all missing on 12 Gold Bars because they were on Pye. This highlights why the whole 12 Gold Bars concept was starting to become obsolete once CD compilations came out with much more space on them, and licensing became easier. Rockin' All Over The Years already included the first two Pye hits, and the Whatever You Want - The Very Best Of 2CD, later reissued as Gold, covers almost everything from the first two 12 Gold Bars releases (only the live version of "Caroline" is missing) plus almost all the singles between then and 1998. The appeal of a CD that only includes material from ITAN onward was just not there, I think. At the very least, it would've needed an additional disc of the old classics in live versions to entice buyers (perhaps including the Roadhouse Medley, which covers quite a few hits and would fit the Anniversary Waltz theme). As a 3LP set, it might have some merit. But at the time, vinyl was hardly being considered as even worth doing. Ironic considering its revival since.
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Post by frozenhero on Apr 3, 2024 12:33:49 GMT
Peter Green's 1959 Gibson Les Paul Standard, bought by this guy, and funnily enough, later by Kirk Hammett By the time that video was recorded, Gary had sold it. Here he's playing it:
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Post by frozenhero on Apr 2, 2024 8:17:05 GMT
Would it be remotely plausible to call him a “session musician” after 38-39 years in a band line up? I think intent matters here. I've seen people using the epithet to put him down, with the insinuation that he's not a true rocker. But he came from punk and did see Quo in his formative years. Saying he's a session musician can also simply mean that this is what he cut his teeth on, prior to joining Quo, and it means that you have a certain versatility because session musicians have to be able to play in various genres, and get a part down quickly and satisfactorily. So if he's described as a session musician it doesn't necessarily mean he's not a true Quo member, it can also simply refer to how he learned his trade and how it may inform his approach to playing on a studio recording.
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Post by frozenhero on Apr 2, 2024 8:08:02 GMT
There's a photo Luke posted on the first page of this thread where he and Francis are both pictured with acoustic guitars. It's kinda the standard instrument if you're a writer. (Either that or keys.)
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Post by frozenhero on Apr 2, 2024 8:05:40 GMT
While that's a fair point, wouldn't we have to say that ship sailed when Rick sang Roadhouse Blues and Backwater, and Francis took over Bye Bye Johnny?
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 30, 2024 21:06:52 GMT
This is only my view, but Rick's voice was shot after that suspected throat cancer or whatever it was around 2005 time, was never the same after that, the last 9-10 years of touring, regards Rick's vocal, was very hit and miss You're right that it was never the same, but I don't think it was too shabby most of the time. Well, maybe my view is clouded by me getting into the band at that point so more youthful Rick wasn't what I heard first. But aside from Just Doin' It (which apparently was overdubbed anyway, according to someone here), where you can still clearly hear the issue, I think most recordings of late era Rick I've heard sound fine. Different but still not bad at all. The most notable exceptions are the two Frantic Four reunion DVDs, particularly the Wembley one, where he really sounds done.
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 27, 2024 9:50:20 GMT
The biggest reason for Quo to release another album: This shouldn't be their last studio recording
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 26, 2024 10:33:29 GMT
I think that is what is lacking about Backbone, it lacks the variety of vocals we have been treated to in the past, with Rick and Alan, as well as Francis. But I really liked Rhino's vocals on Bad news, so I think if Quo do one last album, I would welcome Rhino's vocals on a few tracks. Fair point. Richie excels on "Get Out Of My Head" so if they did another album, I would hope his vocal role increases. I don't mind it that Andy only sings a bit - that's still more than he did on any Quo album IIRC ("Calling the Shots" wasn't an album track originally), but Rhino should've also gotten one full song. (Well, I liked Bad News & Run and Hide. Centerfold not so much.) And then there's Leon, who's still a bit of an unknown quantity. Based on the Porcupine Tree cover that mortified posted in this thread, he could offer some interesting softer qualities but I'm not sure how suited his voice would be to anything typically Quo: statusquo.boards.net/thread/16550/which-member-quo-best-singer?page=3Edit: Here's another track with Leon singing.
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 22, 2024 19:25:45 GMT
And as much as Andy has been an integral part of Quo for decades now, I don't think the fate of the band hinges upon him. He already sat out over twenty years ago and Paul Hirsh filled in for him. If Andy decides he's now retired and Francis still wants to go on a bit longer, he will.
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 19, 2024 18:50:32 GMT
I was fully aware of the type of songs that were being put forward for that album (PR) and knew exactly what kind of outcry there would be from the fans. The man's a prophet I have to confess, it's not a song I'm completely wild about but compared to most of Perfect Remedy, it easily stands out along with a couple of others. At the time, I thought it was TOO like John Farnham's You're The Voice in places and Pip has confirmed that they basically pinched the 'shout'. That song was still within pretty recent memory and therefore The Power Of Rock lost some of it's impact for me. I think I read somewhere that they wanted to cover You're The Voice but I'm glad they didn't. I'm not sure anyone else could have sung it as good. I think Chris Thompson - who wrote it after all - did the best version of You're the Voice when he was fronting the Alan Parsons band. But I'd sure like to hear Quo's recording if it exists in any sort of listenable state.
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 19, 2024 18:36:03 GMT
After Backbone, I certainly would welcome another album because I liked Leon's and Richie's songs...
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 19, 2024 18:35:02 GMT
I feel so stupid I only just found out Bernie died in 2019 by accident while doing a Wikipedia search. Why was this never on the news? Probably for the same reason that he doesn't even have a Wikipedia article. I once tried drafting one but felt inadequate.
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 16, 2024 11:07:06 GMT
Second episode is a bit longer, but I haven't watched it yet:
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Post by frozenhero on Mar 9, 2024 23:13:25 GMT
I'd like to hear the actual Quo recording of Jealousy. Alan assumed, and I believe he's correct, they ended up using the Rossi/Frost recording (you can tell by the drum machine) and the band's version wasn't released... Of course there's only so much you can do with a bad song.
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