allyp
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 575
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Post by allyp on Jun 4, 2020 22:06:18 GMT
[quote author=" cammythemortonfan" I find it interesting that Invitation is on there when Francis and Bob weren’t talking. This song originates from circa 1978 (rossi still writing with bob until 1980)as there is a demo on the If you can’t stand the heat deluxe cd. Keep me guessing and late last night were also abandoned songs which were picked up later for B sides and solo projects. I imagine when it came round to doing this album it got pulled out of the bag as new material was in the minimum due to the band having to do the album pretty quickly after reforming.
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Post by swisscheese on Jun 5, 2020 10:57:42 GMT
Hi guys.
One would like to give one's thoughts on the Army album.
It is full of fond memories. The moment Richard walked into Smiths studio by mistake when they were recording their album in adjacent room was an amazing rock n roll story that nearly lead to a collaboration of Quo and Smiths. There was talk of combining two songs to create 'How Soon is In the Army Now' which would have been formidable.
Army is a terrific comeback record that not many were thinking possible. The new rhythm section fitted in like a hand in glove with Andy, Richard and Francis still there.
One admires the enthusiasm of the new boys which certainly rubbed off on Francis. He really lets his hair down (so to speak) and loosens up on stage from this time onwards and joins in with Rhino's funky robotic chicken dancing and twirls. He would never have done that before.
Contrary to opinion, Francis plays cool guitar and really different sounds and styles on this album. Pip is there in the background giving him encouragement. Pip does not play the solo on ITAN as anyone who has ever seen the video of the song can see.
One likes the variety of styles on Army. You can bop to things like Rollin Home a s Dreamin or you can have time to reflect with the title track, Save Me and Invitation. Jeff's drumming is amazing on Speechless. Andrew's keys are inventive and capture the zeitgeist of the 80s.
This was the start of a new era and it helped to define that post blues sound of the times. One shouldn't pay overly attention to those who say Quo are one dimensional as Army proves that to be balderdash.
Cheers guys. SWISS
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Jun 5, 2020 11:21:32 GMT
Relief to have the band back, disbelief that Alan had been jettisoned, quite casually or so it seemed.
Quo almost doing a Genesis style 'And Then There Were Three' ie. Rossi, Parfitt, Bown. Jeff and Rhino appeared out of nowhere, or so it seemed and looking like session players initially.
Quite bizarre looking back, we had the title track and their serious faces in the video in B&W and then a complete contrast with the video/song of 'Dreamin'!
Interesting that they brought Dave Edmunds in to produce a couple of tracks. I knew Francis had been a fan of Edmunds. One of Rossi's Top 10 tracks at one time had been his version of 'Girls Talk'. Written by Costello who offered the song to Edmunds but he apparently didn't particularly like Edmunds's finished version! Dave Edmunds had also been on the bill at 'End of The Road' Selhurst Park gig and perhaps they connected. Though it seems Edmunds and Rossi didn't quite see eye to eye with the recordings on In The Army Now, in the end.
As others have said, it was the times man with the keyboards and what have you and Rick's/Pip's stuff sound quite pomp rock. Plenty of bands doing it, Van Halen is another one that jumps to mind!
Always imagined Rick as being set in his ways but actually he had an eye on the then current scene for a time. Think it was Pip who said that Rick had been interested in what U2 (the Edge) had been doing with delay effects etc. This is apparently how 'One For The Money' on Ain't Complaining came about.
Highlights on ITAN album had been the lead solos, especially enjoy the Lead guitar in 'In Your Eyes'. The track 'Lonely' has been mentioned by a few folk on here and agree it is a shame that it didn't make it onto the album.
As Cammy has said, the choice of 'Invitation' was a curious one in the circumstances. We know Francis seemed to like to follow in the footsteps of a few of his 'heroes' with Jeff Lynne styles or Hunter styles but never truly worked for me. Doing the 'out there' vocal on 'Speechless' isn't really Rossi's area of expertise.
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Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Jun 5, 2020 12:34:01 GMT
Bought it, played it and binned it. Didn't buy it, so couldn't play it, so couldn't bin it.
Minimalist recycling
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Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Jun 5, 2020 12:38:47 GMT
It is very much a product of the time. People go on about the synths being over used but most Rock acts had gone this way by the mid 80s. The metallicas and megadeath’s were still part of an underground movement but Quo were never part of that ilk going back anyway. The album was right for the time. Most of the material had to be hurried and released that is why most of the material originates from abandoned solo projects and re discovered tracks theyplayed around with in the late 70s a bit. I like the album showcasing a different side to the band . It was never going to be a classic but produced 4 hit singles and got Quo back into the public eye after the debacle of the split etc. Overdose is a real gem for me shame it wasn’t played live more. Some may criticise the band going for an outside writer like John David but he gave Quo many hits over the years. To be fair, the New Wave of British Heavy Metal was not on the whole guilty of squeaky synths. Best left to bands who were good at it, like Yazoo and Human League.
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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 Jun 5, 2020 13:54:54 GMT
Andrew's keys....capture the zeitgeist of the 80s. That's a very good summation. And the use of the word "zeitgeist" on a Quo message board should be screenshot for posterity
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Jun 5, 2020 16:24:29 GMT
Andrew's keys....capture the zeitgeist of the 80s. That's a very good summation. And the use of the word "zeitgeist" on a Quo message board should be screenshot for posterity ...as should the word 'summation'!
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Post by Victor on Jun 8, 2020 19:00:54 GMT
After the for me very big disappointment of Back to Back and hearing Red Sky and Rollin Home I was hoping for more like those two and bought the album blind without listening first...it was also the last time I ever did that with a Quo album ! A lot of the album was another disappointment for me. All too polshed and over produced which was a problem for a lot of bands in those times. One of the reasons why I mostly kept to bands like Motörhead and such in those times. On reflection at this point in life I do enjoy the album a bit more then Back to Back. I like Rollin Home, In your Eyes, Red Sky, End of the line and Overdose. Calling and Dreamin could have been better without the stupid synth brass sounds especially on Dreamin. Never liked Save me, In the Army now, and really hate Invitation and Speechless. Favorite tracks are Red Sky and Overdose.
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viza
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 412
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Post by viza on Jun 10, 2020 20:47:29 GMT
Listening to it now it's better than I remember. There's a couple of good songs on the album actually but the problem is that none of them sounds like what I expect from Quo or want Quo to sound.
The production is of course of its time with all the synthesizers and such. Dreamin' was one of the first songs Francis wrote with Bernie and it was written in the early 70's. Wonder how it would have sounded if they recorded it then without synths. Maybe it was refused by the rest of the band at the time or never meant to be recorded by Quo.
In the Army Now is a great track but not a Quo song.
End of the Line and Overdose is both great, but even those is not really Quo sounding to me.
Red Sky could have been recorded by ZZ Top instead. They would do it better anyway.
The more I think about it, the more I realize that they should continue under a different name. This could be a great debut album for a new band.
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Post by paradiseflats on Jun 15, 2020 13:10:28 GMT
I don’t remember when I first heard this album.
I know I didn’t buy it.
I can’t think of any other album where none of the band wrote the first three singles released off an album. Unless Dreaming was a single to interrupt that sequence.
I don’t like it. I don’t listen to it.
Strangely I think there are better songs on Back to back they are just badly recorded and arranged.
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gav
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,152
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
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Post by gav on Jun 15, 2020 13:37:15 GMT
Some time in between 1983 and 1986, in between Back to Back and Army, recording techniques must have become much more slick and polished, or studios and technological advancements made this possible.
1986/87 were terrible years for chart music, i remember. But a lot of the fun and innovation of the earlier 80's had gone by then. It all went a bit serious and competitive.
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Post by 4th Chord on Jun 15, 2020 14:11:15 GMT
Hmmm.
Rollin' Home. Quo's back. Sounds OK. 'Wacky' video. Who the f**k are those 2 other blokes? Where the f**k is Al? Red Sky. Cool. A new ZZ Top track. Oh, wait. In the Army Now. Polished. The band always did like a good polish. Dreamin. Oh good, another 'wacky' video. Lyrically though, very deep.
What were the other tracks on this again? Overdose? Decent track let down by an uninspired chorus.
Still, this was Led Zep IV compared to the next two albums.
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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 Jun 15, 2020 14:23:09 GMT
Some time in between 1983 and 1986, in between Back to Back and Army, recording techniques must have become much more slick and polished, or studios and technological advancements made this possible. 1986/87 were terrible years for chart music, i remember. But a lot of the fun and innovation of the earlier 80's had gone by then. It all went a bit serious and competitive. It's interesting that Pip was brought in, because he would not have come cheap. And the band were more or less broke by then. So the record company obviously had high hopes regarding what was possibly an enforced 'comeback'. It certainly was in terms of having to come up with a contracted album. All conjecture on my part of course. I wasn't there. I just played the thing. A lot The last time I played it, though, I thought ' hmm, of it's day'. As they say. Most mid to late 80's rock albums I bought are. Even Judas Priest and Michael Schenker had gone a bit naff. I couldn't stick the way rock music was going (I disliked Bon Jovi and Guns 'n' Roses intensely - still do) so, looking back, it seems I tended to listen to music that suited the era more. Rock 'til You Drop brought me back in the fold but it was a long wait after that till it picked up again.
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Post by paradiseflats on Jun 15, 2020 14:31:20 GMT
Some time in between 1983 and 1986, in between Back to Back and Army, recording techniques must have become much more slick and polished, or studios and technological advancements made this possible. 1986/87 were terrible years for chart music, i remember. But a lot of the fun and innovation of the earlier 80's had gone by then. It all went a bit serious and competitive. It's interesting that Pip was brought in, because he would not have come cheap. And the band were more or less broke by then. So the record company obviously had high hopes regarding what was possibly an enforced 'comeback'. It certainly was in terms of having to come up with a contracted album. All conjecture on my part of course. I wasn't there. I just played the thing. A lot The last time I played it, though, I thought ' hmm, of it's day'. As they say. Most mid to late 80's rock albums I bought are. Even Judas Priest and Michael Schenker had gone a bit naff. I couldn't stick the way rock music was going (I disliked Bon Jovi and Guns 'n' Roses intensely - still do) so, looking back, it seems I tended to listen to music that suited the era more. Rock 'til You Drop brought me back in the fold but it was a long wait after that till it picked up again. It’s funny really and it’s at least in part my age as I’m much younger than others on here, but older than others. I look now at bands I liked at the time and simply put for me, musically they didn’t do what I wanted. I loved a lot of American rock and as the 80s progressed I went into much heavier and darker music. The thing is with Quo’s albums from 83 to the late 90s. On record they tried to be something they weren’t that good at. It’s no accident that since 1999 their records improved when Francis was willing to record more songs in line with what they are good at. Interestingly or not. I notice that ITAN made the top 20 albums of 1986 in Classic Rock. But let’s be thankful Turbo is even worse.
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viza
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 412
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Post by viza on Jun 15, 2020 19:07:44 GMT
One interesting thing is that Rhino and Rich officially joined in Mars 1986.The recordings were done September 1985 to February 1986. The band on this recording were just Rossi, Parfitt and Bown. The others were just session musicians. On the cover all were listed as band members though.
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