|
Post by MrWaistcoat on Mar 14, 2017 21:15:37 GMT
Great post Mrs Flittersnoop Interesting what you say about the heaviness. I tend to think that the heaviness is part of the Quo sound. I think the heaviness lends some oomph to the sound that takes it to another level. Some "recent" (!) examples. The song TOY - kind of Quo by numbers, pointless but OK. But an outside producer remixed it, and a heavier single went out. It's much, much better - really quite enjoyable with that extra oomph. And Francis didn't think so, and was very negative about the remix. Pure and simple, he's wrong. I would say the same about the whole HT album - most of the key ingredients to the Quo sound are there - but it's not heavy enough. Rhino made the same point when it was released - so it's not like there was nobody there that wanted heavier. But yes, songs like a year ain't heavy! But they are raw. And after the classic Quo period, raw was something we got starved of. Probably why I loved "you let me down", even though it's not really a great song. Just was amazing to hear them being raw again. Thing is ISOTFC is heavier than HT but I think HT is a better album as the songs are better. I played HT yesterday for the first time in ages and really got into it. ISOTFC had heaviness no doubt but I think it's a bit too loud and compressed. QPQ probably has the best sound of the later albums. Yes ISOTFC is heavier, but less trademark Quo than HT. There's very, very little "dadadadada" there (bad news and the chorus of figure of 8) Yes, sound great on QPQ - intro to TWT is stunning - can't imagine it being so powerful on any other "modern" Quo album
|
|
|
Post by Victor on Mar 15, 2017 8:09:30 GMT
Thing is ISOTFC is heavier than HT but I think HT is a better album as the songs are better. I played HT yesterday for the first time in ages and really got into it. ISOTFC had heaviness no doubt but I think it's a bit too loud and compressed. QPQ probably has the best sound of the later albums. Yes ISOTFC is heavier, but less trademark Quo than HT. There's very, very little "dadadadada" there (bad news and the chorus of figure of 8)Yes, sound great on QPQ - intro to TWT is stunning - can't imagine it being so powerful on any other "modern" Quo album Ummmmm .... The "Dadadadada" (lol !) is also in IDWHYA.
|
|
|
Post by MrWaistcoat on Mar 15, 2017 9:00:09 GMT
Yes ISOTFC is heavier, but less trademark Quo than HT. There's very, very little "dadadadada" there (bad news and the chorus of figure of 8)Yes, sound great on QPQ - intro to TWT is stunning - can't imagine it being so powerful on any other "modern" Quo album Ummmmm .... The "Dadadadada" (lol !) is also in IDWHYA. I'm not a musician so may stand corrected....I can only go by my ears.... But for me, IDWHYA is a good example of the difference between the old and new Quo. So many modern Quo songs feature the 12 bar riffing that the public instantly recognise as SQ. I didn't mean it, rolling home....there's loads and loads of them What they don't have is the (trademark?) thumping "dadadadadadada" bass. There's been precious little of it since NTL, and it's that thumping that elevates the Quo sound from easy listening, good time rock n roll to hard rock heroes. They've been "Quoing up" individual band members songs by giving them the 12 bar makeover, but without the "dadadada" thump. Is this actually another milestone? After John left the band, they seemed to forget about it. Yet without it, they would not have built up the most fanatical and dedicated following in rock.
|
|
|
Post by Victor on Mar 15, 2017 9:18:05 GMT
Ummmmm .... The "Dadadadada" (lol !) is also in IDWHYA. I'm not a musician so may stand corrected....I can only go by my ears.... But for me, IDWHYA is a good example of the difference between the old and new Quo. So many modern Quo songs feature the 12 bar riffing that the public instantly recognise as SQ. I didn't mean it, rolling home....there's loads and loads of them What they don't have is the (trademark?) thumping "dadadadadadada" bass. There's been precious little of it since NTL, and it's that thumping that elevates the Quo sound from easy listening, good time rock n roll to hard rock heroes. They've been "Quoing up" individual band members songs by giving them the 12 bar makeover, but without the "dadadada" thump. Is this actually another milestone? After John left the band, they seemed to forget about it. Yet without it, they would not have built up the most fanatical and dedicated following in rock. Ah I see wat you mean now...It's indeed never been the same since NTL.
|
|
|
Post by curiousgirl on Mar 15, 2017 9:37:04 GMT
interesting for me trying to decipher dadadada and IDWHYA.
So dadadada - is the base of ROLD??
To my ears, those later tracks Bad News and Figure of Eight are nothing like those early tracks except for their heaviness. They're skippers for me. And also Two Way Traffic doesn't sound like Quo either. Its a rock sound for sure but not Quo, for me.
For me its the dadada plus the Rossi/Parfitt interplay which defines the Quo sound I prefer.
|
|
|
Post by MrWaistcoat on Mar 15, 2017 18:49:44 GMT
interesting for me trying to decipher dadadada and IDWHYA. So dadadada - is the base of ROLD?? To my ears, those later tracks Bad News and Figure of Eight are nothing like those early tracks except for their heaviness. They're skippers for me. And also Two Way Traffic doesn't sound like Quo either. Its a rock sound for sure but not Quo, for me. For me its the dadada plus the Rossi/Parfitt interplay which defines the Quo sound I prefer. Well, kinda hard to explain this with text! Think of the thumping bass on Railroad, slow train intro.....you know...the ones that you can nod/bang your head to. Listen to live...and most of the set has that thumping bass "dadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadadaadadadadad" all the way through One of the more recent (!) songs with this bass is the instrumental bits in HYB. I mentioned BN and Fo8 because that dadadadadada bass is there in BN (and it's thumping...) and it's on the chorus in Fo8, but it's not thumping. TWT has, I think,a stunning intro - it's an ultra modern Little Lady. Rest of the song can't match the opening minute or come close to LL, but wow, what a minute!
|
|
col
Rocker Rollin'
Posts: 637
Favourite Quo Album: Dog Of Two Head, Piledriver, Hello, Quo, Live
Favourite other bands.: Ramones, Warrior Soul, Soundgarden, King Buffalo, Small Faces, Motorhead, UFO, Screaming Trees, Kyuss, Clutch
|
Post by col on Mar 15, 2017 23:01:47 GMT
The Price Of Love (Single, must of made a few die-hards (1969 style) stare in disbelief) Umleitung (That climb in to the shuffle at the end of the song was the sound of a band arriving at greatness) Carol (That last time the guitars lock-in slightly in front of the drums, only JC has been able to do that)
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Mar 17, 2017 18:04:01 GMT
To be honest I don't remember Quo sounding much like other bands back in the late 60s/early 70s, but maybe I was listening to the wrong bands ... (I mean, except when they were actually covering/nicking ideas from other bands. Then they sounded very like them.) For me, as a listener, the milestone in the development of the Quo sound as I understand it (remembering that a milestone is a single object that sticks up like a sore thumb) was Down the Dustpipe. Everything between that and ROATW you could tell was related. (I didn't know the albums, but now that I do, that doesn't change it.) There was another shift with Accident Prone, which I later found was related to a downhill shift with IYCSTH. Then ITAN - the album which should have been good, but did not have the Quo sound. I was perplexed. Very perplexed. (I don't count B2B, that was just a Band in a Mess.) Heavy Traffic was the next step up, but the Quo sound remains intermittent in all albums since, being mainly totally absent. It got left behind when they stopped recording and writing as a band. The Quo Sound for me has little to do with being heavy, and all to do with the interplay between the musicians, partic the two guitarists. And frankly with not sounding much like anyone else, once they got going. This possibly isn't as analytic as Gates was hoping for - other people who were closer to the metal can do that, this is a view from a common or garden radio listener who had a Quo fan concealed inside her just waiting for the opportunity to get out. All I hope for is people to share their views: from catlady's blow-by-blow analysis all the way up to wolfman's lupine erucations. So thank you for a very good post MrsF. One thing this has taught me is that Down The Dustpipe is a very special song! Thanks!... I think..
|
|
|
Post by Mrs Flittersnoop on Mar 17, 2017 19:16:44 GMT
interesting for me trying to decipher dadadada and IDWHYA. So dadadada - is the base of ROLD?? To my ears, those later tracks Bad News and Figure of Eight are nothing like those early tracks except for their heaviness. They're skippers for me. And also Two Way Traffic doesn't sound like Quo either. Its a rock sound for sure but not Quo, for me. For me its the dadada plus the Rossi/Parfitt interplay which defines the Quo sound I prefer. I admit I think of it more as tumpty tumpty tumpty.
|
|
|
Post by frozenhero on Mar 22, 2017 16:26:33 GMT
Great post Mrs Flittersnoop Interesting what you say about the heaviness. I tend to think that the heaviness is part of the Quo sound. I think the heaviness lends some oomph to the sound that takes it to another level. Some "recent" (!) examples. The song TOY - kind of Quo by numbers, pointless but OK. But an outside producer remixed it, and a heavier single went out. It's much, much better - really quite enjoyable with that extra oomph. And Francis didn't think so, and was very negative about the remix. Pure and simple, he's wrong. I would say the same about the whole HT album - most of the key ingredients to the Quo sound are there - but it's not heavy enough. Rhino made the same point when it was released - so it's not like there was nobody there that wanted heavier. But yes, songs like a year ain't heavy! But they are raw. And after the classic Quo period, raw was something we got starved of. Probably why I loved "you let me down", even though it's not really a great song. Just was amazing to hear them being raw again. Thing is ISOTFC is heavier than HT but I think HT is a better album as the songs are better. I played HT yesterday for the first time in ages and really got into it. ISOTFC had heaviness no doubt but I think it's a bit too loud and compressed. QPQ probably has the best sound of the later albums. I find the exaggerated compression on ISOTFC (the CD only, apparently the vinyl sounds a lot better) easier to take than the weird EQ on QPQ. Particularly when cymbals are concerned. It's not as bad as earlier Paxman efforts but sounds kinda pale compared to the fullness of ISOTFC.
|
|
|
Post by frozenhero on Mar 22, 2017 16:33:26 GMT
interesting for me trying to decipher dadadada and IDWHYA. So dadadada - is the base of ROLD?? To my ears, those later tracks Bad News and Figure of Eight are nothing like those early tracks except for their heaviness. They're skippers for me. And also Two Way Traffic doesn't sound like Quo either. Its a rock sound for sure but not Quo, for me. For me its the dadada plus the Rossi/Parfitt interplay which defines the Quo sound I prefer. I've always felt Bad News mimicks ROLD, perhaps to its detriment but the key parts are all there: Starting on a heavy riff (with the dundudundudun, or dadadada or thumpy thumpy or however we call it), including two verse/chorus parts followed by a calmer part that leads into a buildup before a reprise of the vocal part and finally an outro based on the intro. Plus the chorus adds harmony vocals to the one-voice verses. That's a lot of parallels. The main structural difference is the placement of the guitar solos (between the first two verses and after the buildup in BN, after the second chorus and at the end in ROLD). Figure of Eight has a similar groove to WYW, I think. But I agree that TWT isn't all that Quoish. I very much like it but it has a harsher edge to it than classic Quo. I do see where the comparison to Little Lady comes from though. Ah...
|
|