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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Nov 5, 2020 0:23:14 GMT
Had gone off Quo for several years and didn't buy this till some in the mid 90s as a CD. Well produced and good crunchy guitar sounds. Still not sure what all the covers and re-recordings where about though? They could easily have released it as a 10 track original album with 'Heavy Daze' etc on it. Strange times for Quo! I seem to recall it was always intended to be another covers album but they had enough original material to cobble the album together. Yep, I think that's right about them cobbling an album together and explains the collection of tracks that don't seem to have any real connection to each other. My first encounter with the album had been in the cassette form. Dashed into W H Smiths in St Albans, on my travels. Something to play in the car! Then I acquired the Double VHS of the RTYD Event and more recently the new Deluxe CD version. One of those albums that takes me straight back to a specific moment in time. As soon as I hear the opening to 'Like A Zombie' I'm transported back in time and remember going to Wembley Arena to see them on the last leg of the Rock til You Drop event. I picked up a copy of Guitarist magazine back in 1991 which featured Rossi and Parfitt discussing the album. All seemed quite positive. Francis in particular talking about how the band set up as per the very old days and very much as a band playing together. He mentioned how they used a basic set-up rather than mic'ing up multiple amps/cabs etc. He even said that he wondered how they ever moved away from that more simplistic way of recording. Which makes 'Thirsty Work' even more baffling. Rick had a habit of saying at one time that any new Quo album release was the best they had ever done, though did read later on that he wasn't keen on the RTYD album. Certainly there seems to be a richness to the some of the instrument sounds on the album, especially the guitars. Probably going out on a limb, so strike me down, but 'Fame or Money' is a track that not many seem to enjoy but I think it works pretty well. I notice the re-recording of 4500X has plenty of fans on here. I suppose Rossi especially was trying to prove a point that the new band could do a Quo epic song justice. Though of course it's always easier to copy and embellish than write and record an epic and innovative track from scratch. Another snapshot from a moment of time is remembering seeing the RTYD album cover every day when driving into London, though displayed as a giant illuminated poster, adorning the side of the M4 Flyover at Brentford/Chiswick, near the iconic Lucozade bottle sign as it once stood. Seemed to stay up there for a few weeks. Does anyone else on here remember seeing that giant poster?
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tqontq
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 577
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Post by tqontq on Nov 5, 2020 0:28:40 GMT
I can't get with this album. Granted, it is the best post NTL and pre HT but for me it doesn't feel like an album but more a bunch of tracks thrown together in any order and trying hard to sound like Quo again. The CD cover was naff and it didn't feel like a package. I know I should only be concerned with the music itself but an album for me has to have a 'feel' and has to be carefully put together for it to truly feel 'great'. Anyway, I do like One Man Band and Good Sign. Some of the other stuff is ok but just ok. Mostly average really. In the end its all over the place and that doesn't work for me. Heavy Traffic is where they finally got it all right.
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Nov 5, 2020 0:44:51 GMT
I can't get with this album. Granted, it is the best post NTL and pre HT but for me it doesn't feel like an album but more a bunch of tracks thrown together in any order and trying hard to sound like Quo again. The CD cover was naff and it didn't feel like a package. I know I should only be concerned with the music itself but an album for me has to have a 'feel' and has to be carefully put together for it to truly feel 'great'. Anyway, I do like One Man Band and Good Sign. Some of the other stuff is ok but just ok. Mostly average really. In the end its all over the place and that doesn't work for me. Heavy Traffic is where they finally got it all right. Tend to agree with much of that. If it hadn't been for the RTYD Event that then pulled a few songs together, seemingly with some cohesion, then it would have been disjointed, lacking consistency and atmosphere. As for the RTYD Event itself, well it probably divides fans but on the whole one of David Walker's better and less damaging ideas. An off the wall idea but it suited Quo and they got away with it and raised a bit of money for charity at the same time.
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Post by sqcollector on Nov 5, 2020 0:49:51 GMT
I can't get with this album. Granted, it is the best post NTL and pre HT but for me it doesn't feel like an album but more a bunch of tracks thrown together in any order and trying hard to sound like Quo again. The CD cover was naff and it didn't feel like a package. I know I should only be concerned with the music itself but an album for me has to have a 'feel' and has to be carefully put together for it to truly feel 'great'. Anyway, I do like One Man Band and Good Sign. Some of the other stuff is ok but just ok. Mostly average really. In the end its all over the place and that doesn't work for me. Heavy Traffic is where they finally got it all right. The only song I feel clashes with the rest of them is Fame Or Money. The mix seems slightly different. In between the other RTYD tracks and the Anniversary Waltz mix. Even the four B-Sides sound like the album's. Heavy Traffic, on the other hand, seems the one that has everything all over the place. The songs seem to come in group from different places. Same feeling I have with In The Army Now. I'm not saying this like if it was a bad thing. It isn't to me, in these cases. Just stating how it feels to me. The first and second tracks of Heavy Traffic are sonically different. Then we have some more tracks like the first. Even in song writing, we have songs like Green, which is just so different from the rest. Also Diggin' Burt Bacharach. Anyway, both great albums! But I'd say Rock 'Til You Drop seems the most cohesive one to me, between those two.
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Post by fretbuzzzzz on Nov 5, 2020 1:18:22 GMT
I can't get with this album. Granted, it is the best post NTL and pre HT but for me it doesn't feel like an album but more a bunch of tracks thrown together in any order and trying hard to sound like Quo again. The CD cover was naff and it didn't feel like a package. I know I should only be concerned with the music itself but an album for me has to have a 'feel' and has to be carefully put together for it to truly feel 'great'. Anyway, I do like One Man Band and Good Sign. Some of the other stuff is ok but just ok. Mostly average really. In the end its all over the place and that doesn't work for me. Heavy Traffic is where they finally got it all right. The only song I feel clashes with the rest of them is Fame Or Money. The mix seems slightly different. In between the other RTYD tracks and the Anniversary Waltz mix. Even the four B-Sides sound like the album's. Heavy Traffic, on the other hand, seems the one that has everything all over the place. The songs seem to come in group from different places. Same feeling I have with In The Army Now. I'm not saying this like if it was a bad thing. It isn't to me, in these cases. Just stating how it feels to me. The first and second tracks of Heavy Traffic are sonically different. Then we have some more tracks like the first. Even in song writing, we have songs like Green, which is just so different from the rest. Also Diggin' Burt Bacharach. Anyway, both great albums! But I'd say Rock 'Til You Drop seems the most cohesive one to me, between those two. There could be some mix or other sonic differences etc as some of the album had been finished at Rossi's Arsis studio. Though presumably the bulk of the tracks had been recorded at Bray. Like a Zombie All We Really Wanna Do Fakin' the Blues One Man Band Rock 'til You Drop Warning Shot Good Sign No Problem Fame or Money Nothing Comes Easy ...and we have an album that has some originality and cohesion. Sometimes less can be more....it's true, honest! I know plenty of fans enjoy the revamped 4500X and not wanting to be a kill-joy but I could live without it on the album.
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Post by americanquo on Nov 5, 2020 4:01:14 GMT
Kinda suspect Rick had his feathers ruffled a bit here, and that may be the reason he's not so keen on the album. Think about it, it's the most prolific he'd been for years, if not the best he'd been for years, and he'd never be that good again (maybe due to a knock in confidence). If you take the album to be the vinyl version, for Rick, some of his best stuff was left off there, leaving the album pretty Francis-heavy. You could argue that's nothing new, but when you consider the covers, lighter songs, and one re-recording that made the vinyl album, maybe the ROCK in the title just wasn't prevalent enough for Rick's taste. One of his relegated to the CD version, one of his best 4500 Times likewise, a very good co-write/vocal put on a B-side, and another of his classic Parfitt rockers not even released at the time. Just speculation, but maybe a power struggle going on with Francis at the time which Rick maybe lost, and from thereon in, he lost the will and his way a bit?I was under the impression that explained "One Man Band." I mean, the lyrics couldn't be more clear that he was pissed off at Rossi.
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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 Nov 5, 2020 12:05:20 GMT
He did get three out of 7 on the vinyl. That’s more than average isn’t it probably? I really like Good sign, One Man Band, 4500 times, No problem.... Like you say his writing here was quite prolific and good by his latter day standards When you look at it like that, it was maybe not so much of an issue as i was suggesting. Just supposin' an' all that...
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Post by blagult on Nov 5, 2020 12:58:52 GMT
That’s a good amount of credits on an album. I think it’s pure speculation on a few fans parts. If he was really that pissed if he surely wouldn’t have hung in to Francis shirt tails for the next billion years. Anyway he is no longer around to kill the speculation unfortunately so over and done.
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Post by MrWaistcoat on Nov 5, 2020 13:08:07 GMT
Broken my own rule by posting on album of the month before I'd listened to it again !
So listened today.
Forgotten how good this 4500x is. It has to be up there with the best things that they recorded in the studio. Yes it's a remake ,but wow it's great
All we really wanna do is a great chorus but the verses are lumbering and dull. Had remembered NP and GS as being great but they're not. I think I was delighted by the mid section to NP as we'd been starved of that for so long
Other than 4500x the highlight for me was bring it on home,which is a fantastic cover. Really enjoyed mysteries of the ball and heavy daze. So difficult to understand why they weren't used.
The album is an oasis in the desert. Many barren yeas either side of it.
I originally had this on cassette,so from fast forwarding I know the outro for Tommy really well. And it's great. Francis put his heart into that solo but doesnt on most of the album. And that's it really...a "heavy" album at the behest of the RC...but his heart wasn't in it. And for me that's why HT beats this album...because it was an album francis wanted and was ready to make.
Btw I downloaded the deluxe version and bloody hell,it's 3 hours long !!!
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Post by twentytwenty on Nov 5, 2020 13:26:10 GMT
I like some of the album, the covers could've been left out. Don't really know why they did that, though - bring it on home is fantastic, but it could have been included as a b-side or something like that.
I've done a different track listing for this album when I listen to it and that is:
1. Dead In The Water 2. Better Times 3. Fakin' The Blues 4. No Problems 5. All We Really Wanna Do 6. Rock 'til You Drop 7. Like A Zombie 8. Mysteries From The Ball 9. One Man Band 10. Heavy Daze
In my opinon, this above is a great cohesive album.
I also think it's pretty funny at how Francis answered a question on if he only could play one more song in his life he answered All We Really Wanna Do - saying he thought that song would change everything for the band, but nothing happened. lmao 😅 Love that song though, especially on Rossis live album
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2020 14:13:40 GMT
That’s a good amount of credits on an album. I think it’s pure speculation on a few fans parts. If he was really that pissed if he surely wouldn’t have hung in to Francis shirt tails for the next billion years. Anyway he is no longer around to kill the speculation unfortunately so over and done. It didn't matter how annoyed Rick was with Francis/the direction the band was taking, he simply went where the money was, that was the reason he continued with Francis and not Alan. Rick loved living up to the rock star image and had been over spending since the70s , it was Francis who kept the cash rolling in. Certainly when Rick was out partying in Munich his lavish spending was legendary, he was about the only guy who could out spend Freddie but he didn't have the same income, certainly in the last twenty or so years of his life with divorces and spending excess he was on the brink of bankruptcy a few times and Francis always pulled him back.
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Dark
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 336
Favourite Quo Album: Quo
Favourite other bands.: Iron Maiden, Deep Purple, Huey Lewis,
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Post by Dark on Nov 5, 2020 15:08:12 GMT
RTYD was the first time I bought a Quo album at time of release. I remember seeing them perform Can’t Give You More on Wogan and then the album advertised on, I assume, ITV, if not then, obviously it would have been channel 4. The advert included clips from several songs, one being, Let’s Work Together. I assumed from this that the album included The Anniversary Waltz Part 2. When I picked up the album I was surprised to find that this wasn’t the case.
Bought the album on cassette, so got the full 16 tracks. At this point my collection consisted of, Back to Back, 12 Gold Bars and Rocking All Over the Years, and a few singles. Thus I was unaware three of the tracks were re-recordings. As such to this day I think the RTYD versions of Can’t Give You More & 4500 Times are the best studio recordings of those tracks. Tommy I never really cared for, and that didn’t change when I heard the original version.
On the whole at the time I thought it was a really good album. Like a Zombie, One Man Band, Can’t Give You More, No Problems, Good Sign, & Fame or Money were all really good tracks. While with 4500 Times, I had never come across a song of that length before, wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. But I grew to love it, but it did take a few years.
Was pretty disappointed in the song, Rock ‘til You Drop, was expecting something that rocked. I don’t mind it if I hear it now, but isn’t a track that I would chose to play. I know it is a favourite of Francis, but I’ve never really got, All We Really Wanna Do, the melody he is hearing, I just haven’t caught. On occasion I enjoy Warning Shot or Fakin’ the Blues, but most times I just skip.
For me the production is the best post 1986, though it is maybe a bit clinical and lacking in warmth. While material wise, I also think it is the strongest thing they have done with Rhino.
I got the 12” single at the time and thought both b-sides were brilliant. Made me think that is what Quo did, wrote really good albums and had really good b-sides. Which did set me up for a fall when I excitedly got my hands on Thirsty Work …
The other two b-sides which emerged later were pretty good tracks as well. While I was also happy to have the Brits Medley on the b-side of the RTYD single, to be honest I thought the Medley would have been a better and more successful a-side.
Album cover wasn’t the best, very unimaginative, though I liked that they used the same photo for the two singles, with different coloured sleeves, made it seem like a collection – same with the Anniversary Waltz and greatest hits album the previous year. Least though the RTYD photo was a decent photo, the Live Alive Quo one was awful.
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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 Nov 5, 2020 15:22:29 GMT
Most of Rick's songs are about women. In fact, pretty much all of them! I suspect One Man Band isn't any different. It's cleverer than just a Francis slag-off. Interesting that Pip Williams gets a co-credit. Given he didn't produce the album I assume the song itself started life some years before.
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cooliquo
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 137
Favourite Quo Album: Quo
Favourite other bands.: Ramones, Social Distortion, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Rolling Stones..
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Post by cooliquo on Nov 5, 2020 15:31:37 GMT
Kinda suspect Rick had his feathers ruffled a bit here, and that may be the reason he's not so keen on the album. Think about it, it's the most prolific he'd been for years, if not the best he'd been for years, and he'd never be that good again (maybe due to a knock in confidence). If you take the album to be the vinyl version, for Rick, some of his best stuff was left off there, leaving the album pretty Francis-heavy. You could argue that's nothing new, but when you consider the covers, lighter songs, and one re-recording that made the vinyl album, maybe the ROCK in the title just wasn't prevalent enough for Rick's taste. One of his relegated to the CD version, one of his best 4500 Times likewise, a very good co-write/vocal put on a B-side, and another of his classic Parfitt rockers not even released at the time. Just speculation, but maybe a power struggle going on with Francis at the time which Rick maybe lost, and from thereon in, he lost the will and his way a bit?I was under the impression that explained "One Man Band." I mean, the lyrics couldn't be more clear that he was pissed off at Rossi. Pip referenced this song on the old board and stated that he wrote the lyrics. So that answers that, I suppose. What's more interesting is what Patty Parfitt claims in her book... That 90/91 was when Rick had an affair with Pip's wife!
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Post by MrWaistcoat on Nov 5, 2020 18:28:17 GMT
I like some of the album, the covers could've been left out. Don't really know why they did that, though - bring it on home is fantastic, but it could have been included as a b-side or something like that. I've done a different track listing for this album when I listen to it and that is: 1. Dead In The Water 2. Better Times 3. Fakin' The Blues 4. No Problems 5. All We Really Wanna Do 6. Rock 'til You Drop 7. Like A Zombie 8. Mysteries From The Ball 9. One Man Band 10. Heavy Daze In my opinon, this above is a great cohesive album. I also think it's pretty funny at how Francis answered a question on if he only could play one more song in his life he answered All We Really Wanna Do - saying he thought that song would change everything for the band, but nothing happened. lmao 😅 Love that song though, especially on Rossis live album I wonder if we could get agreement on what tracks to include ? There's something special about the chorus to Dead in the water ,but imo the rest of the song is weak so I wouldn't include it. Better Times is too derivative of Rollin Home but would have been a welcome b side. Id go with Zombie One man band Mysteries from the ball Warning shot Nothing comes easy Heavy daze Fakin the blues Bring it on home All we wanna do or NP or GS 4500x
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