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Post by I Ain't Complaining on Feb 22, 2020 20:45:04 GMT
perhaps we could see a bit of change starting to happen even with Blue For You just prior? I honestly think that every song on BFY is better than the best song on RAOTW. I'm not saying that RAOTW is a bad album over all, but BFY is brilliant! You can't compare for example Rain with Rockers Rollin' in my world. See I would disagree. Except Rain and Mystery Song which stand out, I think BFY is quite average, and by far the weakest of the classic albums. As Rick was quoted as saying at the time, I feel they were beginning to run out of ideas by this stage. In my opinion, the John Eden remix has elevated RAOTW above BFY. And I think that songs like Dirty Water, Who Am I, and For You do give the album depth, whereas songs like Hard Time, Can't Give You More, Rockers Rollin and Hold You Back are classic Quo.
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Post by MrWaistcoat on Feb 22, 2020 20:55:36 GMT
Could we agree which tracks should be taken off the album? Baby boy isn't popular, other than that reckon we'd struggle. I'd also remove Too Far Gone, in it's own right a really good track, but sounds like a b side to me. I've had the remix in the car for the last few days, it's been very enjoyable Enjoyed all of them apart from BB, even the title track is enjoyable...the definitive version I've put in bold the songs I could listen to (and have done!) many times. An * next to the songs I like occasionally. " Hold You Back" - 5:10 "Baby Boy" - 3:18 " Rockers Rollin'" - 4:41 " Who am I?" - 5:10 "Rockin' All Over the World" - 3:50 * "Dirty Water" - 4:167 - no, but good live with a good crowd "Can't Give You More" - 5:26 * " Let's Ride" - 3:04 "For You" - 3:08 ** love it, can't tell much difference though on the remix "Too Far Gone" - 3:09 * " You Don't Own Me" - 3:29 "Hard Time" - 4:39 "Dirty Water" (1st Demo 1976) - 4:16 "Baby Boy" (1st Demo 1976) - 2:49 " Hard Time" (1st Demo 1976) - 4:47 " Hold You Back" (Studio Demo 1977) - 3:40 I used to enjoy Who Am I, but I had to imagine the oomph it needed. With the remix, it's here. Same with YDOM, LR, RR & HYB. YHB used to be poor compared to the live versions, but this is "fucking tidy" The HYB demo is brilliant (Anorak question - are the demos remixed too?) - there can't be many songs where Francis made a great solo but didn't record it?! CGYM is spoiled a bit for me by the very flawed RTYD version - great oomph with terrible, terrible keys and backing vocals. I find it hard not to imagine them when I'm listening. Love the Hard Time demo, which I prefer to the other two versions. Reckon they added too many bells and whistles to a great riff. Less was more. I can't quite believe the extent to which the remix has lifted the album. Does anyone know if the remaining F3 have been asked about it?
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viza
Rocker Rollin'
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Post by viza on Feb 22, 2020 23:14:32 GMT
I honestly think that every song on BFY is better than the best song on RAOTW. I'm not saying that RAOTW is a bad album over all, but BFY is brilliant! You can't compare for example Rain with Rockers Rollin' in my world. See I would disagree. Except Rain and Mystery Song which stand out, I think BFY is quite average, and by far the weakest of the classic albums. As Rick was quoted as saying at the time, I feel they were beginning to run out of ideas by this stage. In my opinion, the John Eden remix has elevated RAOTW above BFY. And I think that songs like Dirty Water, Who Am I, and For You do give the album depth, whereas songs like Hard Time, Can't Give You More, Rockers Rollin and Hold You Back are classic Quo. I don't require anyone to think like me but the bigest difference between these albums to me is not in the mix (even if there is a big difference of course) but in the songwriting. BFY is much more riff based rock which appeals to me. RAOTW is much more pop songs. The Eden remix made a big difference to the better regarding the sound but the songs are what they are.
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Post by dennis on Feb 22, 2020 23:21:04 GMT
I was just listening to a bit of AC/DC, like you do, & couldn't help thinking that what Quo needed in '77 was perhaps something more akin to what Robert John "Mutt" Lange brought to AC/Dc in '79, helping them to crack America in the process. He seemed to sharpen their sound in a way that made them radio friendly but didn't seem to make them any less AC/DC. Although, I'm not claiming that he would necessarily have been right for Quo, but I don't think Pip Williams was really quite the right man at the right time either.
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Post by I Ain't Complaining on Feb 22, 2020 23:31:21 GMT
I was just listening to a bit of AC/DC, like you do, & couldn't help thinking that what Quo needed in '77 was perhaps something more akin to what Robert John "Mutt" Lange brought to AC/Dc in '79, helping them to crack America in the process. He seemed to sharpen their sound in a way that made them radio friendly but didn't seem to make them any less AC/DC. Although, I'm not claiming that he would necessarily have been right for Quo, but I don't think Pip Williams was really quite the right man at the right time either. Good shout. He also did a great job for Def Leppard and Bryan Adams.
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Post by I Ain't Complaining on Feb 22, 2020 23:40:06 GMT
Could we agree which tracks should be taken off the album? Baby boy isn't popular, other than that reckon we'd struggle. I'd also remove Too Far Gone, in it's own right a really good track, but sounds like a b side to me. I've had the remix in the car for the last few days, it's been very enjoyable Enjoyed all of them apart from BB, even the title track is enjoyable...the definitive version I've put in bold the songs I could listen to (and have done!) many times. An * next to the songs I like occasionally. " Hold You Back" - 5:10 "Baby Boy" - 3:18 " Rockers Rollin'" - 4:41 " Who am I?" - 5:10 "Rockin' All Over the World" - 3:50 * "Dirty Water" - 4:167 - no, but good live with a good crowd "Can't Give You More" - 5:26 * " Let's Ride" - 3:04 "For You" - 3:08 ** love it, can't tell much difference though on the remix "Too Far Gone" - 3:09 * " You Don't Own Me" - 3:29 "Hard Time" - 4:39 "Dirty Water" (1st Demo 1976) - 4:16 "Baby Boy" (1st Demo 1976) - 2:49 " Hard Time" (1st Demo 1976) - 4:47 " Hold You Back" (Studio Demo 1977) - 3:40 I used to enjoy Who Am I, but I had to imagine the oomph it needed. With the remix, it's here. Same with YDOM, LR, RR & HYB. YHB used to be poor compared to the live versions, but this is "fucking tidy" The HYB demo is brilliant (Anorak question - are the demos remixed too?) - there can't be many songs where Francis made a great solo but didn't record it?! CGYM is spoiled a bit for me by the very flawed RTYD version - great oomph with terrible, terrible keys and backing vocals. I find it hard not to imagine them when I'm listening. Love the Hard Time demo, which I prefer to the other two versions. Reckon they added too many bells and whistles to a great riff. Less was more. I can't quite believe the extent to which the remix has lifted the album. Does anyone know if the remaining F3 have been asked about it? If we were removing 2 songs from the album I would also take off Baby Boy, and either Too Far Gone or You Don't Own Me, neither of which are favourites. As for Can't Give You More, I really like the song, but I don't think they've ever recorded a definitive version. The original is good, the RTYD version has more oomph and a better sound (but has the keyboards and whoa whoa whoa's), and the remixed version seems weak to me but has a great extended outro. Combine the best bits of all 3 and you'd have a definitive version imo.
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matt
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 1,020
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Post by matt on Feb 24, 2020 18:43:19 GMT
I know this is heresy but for me the RAOTW album marks a serious decline in Alan’s contribution. His songwriting is weak, bar maybe You don’t own me, his vocals are poor, and his bass playing seems about an octave too high, particularly in Can’t Give you more.
His work on the next two albums were the weak points too. Though he briefly made amends on JS /NTL His songs on 1982 and b2b were terrible
I think this is the first Time they sound like a charicature of themselves, but Francis unfairly gets all the blame. Baby boy makes that case, but everyone else seems to have dropped in quality too.
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viza
Rocker Rollin'
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Post by viza on Feb 25, 2020 21:13:53 GMT
I know this is heresy but for me the RAOTW album marks a serious decline in Alan’s contribution. His songwriting is weak, bar maybe You don’t own me, his vocals are poor, and his bass playing seems about an octave too high, particularly in Can’t Give you more. His work on the next two albums were the weak points too. Though he briefly made amends on JS /NTL His songs on 1982 and b2b were terrible I think this is the first Time they sound like a charicature of themselves, but Francis unfairly gets all the blame. Baby boy makes that case, but everyone else seems to have dropped in quality too. Totaly agree. One of the strengths of early 70's Quo was their ability to work as a team. Even if not everyone was credited to a song they often all contributed some how to the writing process. None of them was a great songwrighter on their own. Alan told in some interview that this was a time when they started to do their own things separate from each other.
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Post by Victor on Feb 27, 2020 18:34:15 GMT
For me this album has a special place in my heart. Of course it is a lesser album compared to the row of albums that came before, but it's also the album for me that got me into Quo for real together with IYCSTH...I still remember being totally swept away when I heard Hold you back on the radio in 1977 . I got this album and IYCSTH on casette from a school mate in 78. So for that reason the album has a special place in my heart. I also don't think it's a bad album, but something definitely lacked in the production which was partly bettered by John Eden's remix version of the album. Going track by track I really love Hard time, Can't give you more, Let's ride, Rocker's Rollin, Dirty Water and Hold you back most of all. I never cared for You don't own me and For You and still don't. I didn't like Too far gone at first either but learnt t appreciate that later. Who am I I didn't like at all but I do like the remix version by John Eden quite a lot. Rockin all over the world I used to like but has become boring to me ços I simply heard it way too many times.
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matt
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 1,020
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Post by matt on Feb 27, 2020 20:39:44 GMT
Actually just to contradict myself Who asked You in a great track off WYW
I know what you mean about albums having a special place in your heart. I like Ain’t complaining. Why? I was 11 when it came out and it was the first album I bought with my own pocket money. I bought it from Morrison’s in Wickersley, Rotherham. I was disappointed I seem to remember with how it sounded - not rockin enough but I played it over and over. I like it not necessarily for the music, but because it reminds me being a young kid with a life ahead of him.
I have a similar thing with the b-side She Knew Too much. I was 18 on holiday in magaluf, Majorca! I had one cassette in my Walkman and I didn’t mean it had just come out the week before. I played it over and over.
Funny how things stick with you.
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Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Feb 28, 2020 11:04:40 GMT
... At the time I do remember thinking it was very much a Francis driven album, hence the much lighter tone and back then it was certainly Francis who was irked most by Quo's failure to make any big impact on the American music scene. As many have already said this album and especially single were very radio friendly and the US music industry was very heavily driven by radio stations back then. With only radio and tv, bands were dependent on getting their single A listed if they wanted to break through. I also though it was a clever ploy to issue a song, albeit not a massively well known one, written by a musical legend in America. Presumably thinking that the John Fogerty connection would garner them more publicity. ...
Just tiptoeing throughthe tulips on this thread before we run out of February, I picked up on what Blue Highway said about Francis being irked by Quo's failure in the US. I don't remember him saying anything (I wasn't attentive at that time) but "irked" must have it exactly the right way round, as Francis was also, as time passed, the most resistant to actually doing anything about it - didn't want to spend time and money touring there, he just stuck with being irked, while Alan had pushed for more USA action, which however never happened. (I have sometimes wondered if this was one of the bones of contention between Alan and Francis.)
I note that Rockin' didn't chart for Quo in the US. (Even for Fogerty it only made 27 apparently, but that's not bad on the US market and it had a longish run). Most people aren't going to choose Quo's version over the Fogerty one in the US, John has a twang that even Francis can't get to. John's version was already long out, so really it was an odd decision by Quo. But it has worked well for them on this side of the pond.
And for all of us, as, if they HAD got big in the USA, we wouldn't have seen much of them in the intervening years, instead of having them on our doorstep. Thank you, fate!
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Post by markquo on Feb 28, 2020 14:11:23 GMT
What’s album of the month for March then ? I’m bursting with anticipation 😉 Cheers
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Post by railroad007 on Feb 28, 2020 21:34:36 GMT
What’s album of the month for March then ? I’m bursting with anticipation 😉 Cheers Sadly it'll be something we've all heard before.I would much prefer a discussion about "Gladys Mills Live and Unleashed at the Budokan".
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Feb 29, 2020 1:40:21 GMT
What’s album of the month for March then ? I’m bursting with anticipation 😉 Cheers If it's Bula Quo I think it will be more withering like a perished balloon than bursting with anticipation for many of us.
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Post by kursaal75 on Feb 29, 2020 15:37:18 GMT
I bought the album on the day of release and went straight back to the record shop the next day due to, what I thought a duff copy, but the replacement album was no different. At the time I thought Rockin' All Over The World was a brilliant single, but as been mentioned previously, after over 40 years, I've had enough of it. I'm sure most of these radio stations think Quo have only released 4 singles. I thought Rockers Rollin'(not released in the UK) & Hold You Back would of made good follow up singles, but I prefer the live versions of Hold You Back. Other tracks I like, Dirty Water, Hard Time and Can't Give You More. I don't play the original album now, since the John Eden 2015 Remix. (6/10)
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