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Post by railroad007 on Sept 1, 2020 21:12:52 GMT
I generally have a lot to say but this time I'm stumped. Heard it once and that was skipping, the only 3 minute album ever.
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Post by markquo on Sept 1, 2020 22:42:29 GMT
Thirsty Work??More like Hard Work Cheers
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allyp
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 570
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Post by allyp on Sept 2, 2020 7:46:19 GMT
When this album first came out I thought they were doing something a bit different but as above says the balance of the songwriting was shifting things in solo album territory a little. Some of the songs are great but as John Edwards pointed out in a review of it the material was wrong for the band. If it and the singles had sold better they may have got away with it like a Queen circa 1984 type crossover but probably released 5 years too late in the midst of pending britpop and was seen as old hat. If you can enjoy it as a single piece of work and not compare it to past glories then its an hour’s worth of nice pop tunes.
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Sept 2, 2020 7:54:39 GMT
My main memory of the album is hearing some of the album tracks on the tour at the time. Thought the up tempo tracks worked reasonably well.
Though Rossi wasn't a happy chappy really as the album was his baby, perhaps enjoying the freedom without Rick in the studio, but clearly it wasn't a success overall. At one gig at Wembley he asked everybody who bought the album to hold their hands up! Oh dear...
He then mumbled something along the lines of "I thought that was what you lot wanted". I thought that the 'I' in that statement was quite revealing.
Confusing time for him and then next up was the commercial success of 'Don't Stop'.
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mortified
4500 Timer
Posts: 5,833
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 Sept 2, 2020 8:11:42 GMT
It is an oddity among Quo albums. It's so far wide of the mark; whichever mark you want to put down and Definitely Maybe is a very good mark! Nice one, matt ; a very pertinent comparison. How many of us took up listening to Oasis almost as a substitute until Quo got their act in gear? Although, to put it in context, I suppose Quo had already been where Oasis were going in the mid-90's (musically that is). Anyone remember the "Quoasis" t-shirts? Had one of those myself Including the extra tracks with the singles, the writing partnership of Rossi/Frost was responsible for 11 out of 23 songs. They managed to provide both the best and the worst tracks during this period (Jennifer Warnes being the sole exception). But someone had to. Not many others seemed to be writing! This is probably why the album is so unbalanced. But the poorest aspect is probably the overall sound and arrangement of the songs with guitars pushed into the background. If Quo are anything at all, they're a guitar-driven band. Take that away and all you're left with is a bland mish-mash of nothing at all (see what I did there? ) I actually gave the album a listen fairly recently, maybe about a month ago. I think it was because of a thread on the other message board. But my views haven't changed despite the fact that I probably have in terms of musical preferences.
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Post by frozenhero on Sept 2, 2020 8:54:09 GMT
Cannot really say how I feel about this album for fear of being banned by a mod. I'm sure you'd be welcomed with open arms and cupcakes over on Teacups'n'Milkjugs. You may have to pack your Lederhosen though... Ehm...
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Post by frozenhero on Sept 2, 2020 8:59:04 GMT
Since I now have a working CD player again, I'll be taking this album out again. My feeling is that it's unusual but not overall as bad as some are making it out to be. I guess it helps if you look at it from a broad perspective, although I'll definitely concede that there are bad tracks... and I don't really know why exactly Restless and Sherri were deemed worth releasing as singles! Tango? It’s like looking at a croissant with a pencil stuck in it. All in all a bewildering curio. In the same way that finding a dog shit in your cornflakes is. You wonder how it happened. And hope it never does again Well, Quo broke away because Universal weren't interested in their new songs after the success of Don't Stop... and then crawled back when they realized that Under the Influence didn't get anywhere near the promotion it deserved. Bad times indeed.
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Post by paradiseflats on Sept 2, 2020 9:00:05 GMT
I'm sure you'd be welcomed with open arms and cupcakes over on Teacups'n'Milkjugs. You may have to pack your Lederhosen though... Ehm...
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Post by frozenhero on Sept 2, 2020 9:06:03 GMT
I still don't see what that has to do with the other board. Just because two of the current moderating team happen to be German? I don't even have a Lederhose...
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mortified
4500 Timer
Posts: 5,833
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 Sept 2, 2020 9:14:26 GMT
I still don't see what that has to do with the other board. Just because two of the current moderating team happen to be German? I don't even have a Lederhose... Is Lederhose the singular of Lederhosen then? Half a Lederhosen. Might look a bit silly that. Mind you depends if it's the top half, the bottom half or split down the middle vertically I always think there's a UK equivalent with those breeches that Morris dancers wear. Make that an English equivalent. At least 2 of the other nations wear skirts for their folklore discos
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Sept 2, 2020 9:18:15 GMT
Ehm... Sales of marijuana skyrocket in Bavaria.
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Post by railroad007 on Sept 2, 2020 9:39:53 GMT
I still don't see what that has to do with the other board. Just because two of the current moderating team happen to be German? I don't even have a Lederhose... Yes you do, we've seen your photo spread in Beer festival Boyo's.
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gav
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,149
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
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Post by gav on Sept 2, 2020 9:57:33 GMT
At one gig at Wembley he asked everybody who bought the album to hold their hands up! Oh dear... He then mumbled something along the lines of " I thought that was what you lot wanted". I thought that the 'I' in that statement was quite revealing. Confusing time for him and then next up was the commercial success of 'Don't Stop'. I don't get why he thought that? Did he think TW was a really 'Quo-sounding' album? Was it because RTYD didn't do as well as expected so he changed tack a little with TW? Or did he honestly think TW carried on where RTYD left off?
Guessing he just thought it was a good Quo album after all the late-80's experimentation.
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gav
Veteran Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 2,149
Favourite Quo Album: On The Level
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Post by gav on Sept 2, 2020 10:03:34 GMT
Who exactly did they think would like this music? How would you even describe it. What is the genre? The best word to describe it is weird. Spot on.
Always thought this about the Rossi/Frost writing partnership, and to an extent his compositions with Rhino and Andy.
Strange little songs. They're weird and awkward. No flow. Trying to emulate something possibly, but what? I CAN'T really describe it!
The Rossi/Young thing seemed to create authentic music which worked and made sense, and yeah, flowed maaaaaan.
Even the beginnings of the Rossi/Frost thing was weird - I'm Giving Up My Worryin' from Heat. Just a strange thing full of bizarre repetitiveness and a sort of naive, nursery rhyme flavour. Things improved a bit for WYW up until 1+9+8+2 when they went weird again with stuff like Jealousy. IMO.
I've never delved into ELO or Jeff Lynne's music so don't know if it was an infatuation with that kind of thing - maybe?
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mortified
4500 Timer
Posts: 5,833
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 Sept 2, 2020 12:53:25 GMT
My main memory of the album is hearing some of the album tracks on the tour at the time. Thought the up tempo tracks worked reasonably well. Though Rossi wasn't a happy chappy really as the album was his baby, perhaps enjoying the freedom without Rick in the studio, but clearly it wasn't a success overall. At one gig at Wembley he asked everybody who bought the album to hold their hands up! Oh dear... He then mumbled something along the lines of " I thought that was what you lot wanted". I thought that the 'I' in that statement was quite revealing. Confusing time for him and then next up was the commercial success of 'Don't Stop'. I remember an interview with him at the time, although only vaguely, in which he told the interviewer that he was confused about what Quo fans wanted. He thought Thirsty Work was it. And maybe that's part of the problem. Trying to give what he (or they) think fans want. Don't do that. Just make music. For yourself. Don't try to predict taste at the same time. There has been almost a concerted effort for decades by Quo trying to achieve this or achieve that in terms of popularity (i.e. sales). Even the last album, Backbone, Francis said was full of instantly catchy tunes that you might hear the milkman whistle. Why? Has that become THE most important thing in his reason for making music? Has it always been maybe? He can be brilliant at creating a hook and a melody. I think if you try to pre-empt what you think people want, you're pretty much doomed to fail.
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