@motie2 - To each his own. Some people just don't "Get" the blues because they only hear one style of the Blues and figure that's it. There are some sub-categories that I like more than others. I enjoy swamp blues, delta or Memphis blues, Texas blues, English Blues, Blues Rock and Blues Gospel more than I do West Coast or East Coast blues. They same with country & western music which I'm beginning to believe is vastly different than just "country." I prefer the country music by the stars of the late 1950s-1970s more than those who came after 1980.
Been enjoying music from both of Steve Hackett's "Genesis Revisited I & II" CDs. Steve Hackett was the guitarist for Genesis during their most progressive era from the albums "Nursery Cryme" up to "Wind And Wuthering" - as well as the Live album "Second's Out". Following Hackett's departure the other members moved in a more pop mainstream area garnering much success and a string of best selling albums - eventually resulting in a place of honor in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Steve Hackett continued making music more in keeping with their early years, while also branching out with experimental, some harder edged, and acoustic guitar albums as well. But unlike the other members of Genesis who tried to distance themselves from their early work and speak only of current and future projects, Hackett embraced those old Genesis classics even while establishing a solo career, making a point to showcase several Genesis tunes in his live performances. The audience response was so overwhelmingly receptive to the early classics that he eventually decided to record what would become a pair of albums showcasing the material during his tenure with the band. He assembled a group of talented musicians to record material for the first in a series of albums and tours called "Genesis Revisited". On that first album Hackett stayed true to the original Genesis arrangements on most tracks while drastic reworking other tunes, taking them in an entirely different direction. As you might expect the results were mixed. So for his follow-up the two-disc collection "Genesis Revisited II" he kept the original Genesis songs pretty much as written with little tinkering. But the advanced recording techniques and moving his extraordinary guitar work more upfront in the mix, where in the original Genesis tracks his guitar work was often buried under layers of Tony Bank's lush keyboard arrangements, these new recordings have made the music even more dynamic and sonically exciting. Genesis never sounded better! If you're a fan of the early Gabriel years Genesis or the two albums the band made after his departure "A Trick Of The Tail" and "Wind And Wuthering"do yourself a favor and listen to these excellent Steve Hackett albums. They'll make you fall in love with Genesis music once again.
@motie2 I find their earliest album "From Genesis To Revelations" to be closer in style to the type of music The Bee Gees were recording during that same period of time. More ballad orientated. Did you follow Genesis through the Gabriel years and beyond? Or was there a gap between "From Genesis To Revelations" to the Phil Collins era?
No, I never cared for Genesis after Lamb. But I have every Peter Gabriel album. Interestingly, one of my favorites of his is the Passion of the Christ soundtrack album.
I used to scare my sons when they were little by playing Intruder late at night.
@motie2 I can see where you'd 'get yer dander up' suggesting similarities to The Bee Gees. But I'm not talking about the later period disco version of the Bee Gees - but the very early band that recorded the excellent concept album "Odessa" in 1969 (I believe it was their third album). It's very similar to "From Genesis To Revelations" in terms of compositions and production. Very ambitious and an early progressive classic. I wish they would have continued in that direction. A lot of debut albums from bands like Genesis, YES, The Moody Blues, and Pink Floyd hardly resembled how the bands sounded in later years. The Moody Blues first hit single was "Go Now" which was more of a blues number - and nothing like the material they recorded once Justin Hayward became 'the voice' of the band (and those beautiful Moodies harmonies). But in the case of all the band I just mentioned you could hear the potential in all of them. And with each successive albums the bands matured as the material got more and more polished.
If you want to hear a really drastic change from the debut album to the second I'd suggest the hard core industrial band Ministry. Probably not a band you'd want to listen to. But their first album "With Sympathy", Ministry was one of those 80s' New Wave synth-pop bands in the style of Ultravox, The Human League, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, or Orchestral Manoeuveres In The Dark. But had you purchased their follow-up album "Twitch" expecting more of the same you would have been horrified. As was I. The band had undergone a radical change becoming an aggressive hardcore industrial band, replacing those sweet romantic vocal styling from ""With Sympathy" with screeching processed vocals. It was a real shocker!
@ghostsofpompeii -- I was kidding, but, yes, not long after the critical rejection of Odessa a lot of their later output was crappola. And your Moodys analysis is dead on. I've enjoyed most of Yes's output over the years. I thought of Ministry as the flavor of the times, and so it proved to be.
You wrote of Ministry <<Probably not a band you'd want to listen to. >> Hey, don't underestimate me and I won't under estimate you. (I won't anyway as I have already judged you as a knowledgeable gentleman.) I am nothing if not eclectic. My favorite artists are Dylan, Neil, NIN, Bowie, CSNY, Knopfler, Wisin y Yandel, Pink Floyd, Kitaro, Roxy Music, Tool, Zevon, and Yusuf Islam/Cat Stevens. My first rock concert was Vanilla Fudge, the group I listened to on my little suitcase record player the first time I ... uh...indulged, back in the day, about a half century ago. I'm also a big fan of JS Bach, shakuhachi & koto music. I also have a secret passion for Agalloch, Atrox, and King Diamond.
I look at all the pictures of us old guys and marvel at the musical diversity of the group, as well as how many of us are still rock and rollers as we near or pass Social Security age. I seriously believe that music keeps us young ... maybe not in body (I'm falling apart as I type this) - but in spirit and in mind. Were it not for the occasional aches and pains associated with aging I don't mentally feel like I'm approaching 66. And if you happened to be driving past my house when I listening to music you might assume a much younger person is seated in front of the speakers. But no ... it's just little old me rocking out to the classic and not so classic rock.
At any given time it's impossible to say just what type of music I might be cranking out of my stereo ... anything from jazz fusion, psychedelic and Top 40 oldies from the 60s', majestic grand scale orchestral soundtracks, creepy-ass electronic chamber music from the eclectic Belgium instrumental group Univers Zero (their album "Heresis" can make your hair stand on end ... frightening), spacy New Age electronics, and progressive/symphonic rock bands from a variety of countries all singling in the native tongue. My neighbors must think I'm a linguist because I listen to bands singing in every language imaginable. I may not understand a word ... but love the music.
Just as we've discussed the association between pipe smokers and beards - I think a parallel distinction can be drawn between pipe smokers and music. We all seem to have a lasting passion for it ... be it rock & roll, country, blue grass, classical, blues, jazz or some fusion off-shoot. The mere fact that this post is titled 'Music To Smoke Your Pipe To" currently with 7 pages of on-going discussions attached to the topic says it all.
@ghosts ofpompeii -- I hear you, brother. I look in the mirror and marvel, "How in hell dd I get to be 70?" On the other hand, maybe you never get to be "old" because when you're seventy, there's an eighty year old gibbering, "You don't know what life is like until you're eighty." When you're eighty, there's a ninety year old.... etc., etc., etc.
@ghostsofpompeii, @xdutchx, @motie2 -- I'm actually jotting down some of your suggestions. I tend to over-listen to everything I buy, which lately hasn't been anything new. I think you gentlemen may help me get out of my music rut. I started working on new stuff by attending a concert by the Decemberists in New Haven over the weekend. I knew nothing about them until I listened to one of their albums the night before and was shocked to hear a band playing prog in the vein of Kansas and Pink Floyd. The Hammond organist was absolutely incredible. Anyway, thanks for the suggestions and lets keep this post going!!
@jim102864 Here are three exceptional progressive rock bands for you to consider: IQ (This band has been around for several decades now and believe it or not each new album is better than the one before it. Usually by this time in a band's career they are living on their past laurels and in something of a rut but their last album "The Road Of Bones" might just be their best. And as something of a testament to the band's talent I tend to feel that way after each new album is released. Other albums to consider from IQ are "Ever", the double-CD concept album "Subterranea", "The Seventh House", "Dark Matter", and "Frequency". With probably close to three thousand CDs in my collection and hundreds of different bands to choose from, I'd probably say that at this current moment in time IQ is possibly my favorite band. Of course that's always subject to change. LOL). Porcupine Tree (This band led by Steve Wilson changed the face of progressive rock and updated it for a new generation. I believe the band is presently in Limbo as Wilson does assorted solo projects as well as producing and digitally re-mastering and producing old classic albums from prog/rock pioneers like YES, Genesis, King Crimson, and Jethro Tull. The earlier Porcupine Tree album "The Sky Moves Sideways" found the band more along the lines of Pink Floyd where as the albums which immediately followed best represent the change that reshaped the direction of prog/rock for the New Millennium, which would include albums like: "Fear Of The Blank Planet", Deadwing", "Lightbulb Sun", "In Absentia", "Stupid Dream", "Signify", and the two disc concept album "The Incident") RPWL (This is a German band ... but don't fret - they sing in English. RPWL started their career as a Pink Floyd cover band but eventually evolved into their own identity with shades of Floyd still remaining in their musical DNA. Their debut album "God Has Failed" really showcased their Floyd roots but with each subsequent album they evolved creating their own unique identity as the albums got better and better. Start with "Beyond Man And Time" it's an absolute classic, and others to consider are "Stock" and "Kiss The Sun".) I have so many more bands worth mentioning but will stop with these three for the time being.
@jim102864, Sadly most of the new rock I am hearing nowdays, reminds me a lot of 80's European pop, and I rarely hear anything pop country that I like. Thank goodness we have decades of quality material to discover. It is surprising, how some albums can slip under the radar for years before being heard. The great thing about the internet, is that we are not relegated to a DJ's political playlist anymore.
Comments
Been enjoying music from both of Steve Hackett's "Genesis Revisited I & II" CDs. Steve Hackett was the guitarist for Genesis during their most progressive era from the albums "Nursery Cryme" up to "Wind And Wuthering" - as well as the Live album "Second's Out". Following Hackett's departure the other members moved in a more pop mainstream area garnering much success and a string of best selling albums - eventually resulting in a place of honor in the Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame. Steve Hackett continued making music more in keeping with their early years, while also branching out with experimental, some harder edged, and acoustic guitar albums as well. But unlike the other members of Genesis who tried to distance themselves from their early work and speak only of current and future projects, Hackett embraced those old Genesis classics even while establishing a solo career, making a point to showcase several Genesis tunes in his live performances. The audience response was so overwhelmingly receptive to the early classics that he eventually decided to record what would become a pair of albums showcasing the material during his tenure with the band. He assembled a group of talented musicians to record material for the first in a series of albums and tours called "Genesis Revisited". On that first album Hackett stayed true to the original Genesis arrangements on most tracks while drastic reworking other tunes, taking them in an entirely different direction. As you might expect the results were mixed. So for his follow-up the two-disc collection "Genesis Revisited II" he kept the original Genesis songs pretty much as written with little tinkering. But the advanced recording techniques and moving his extraordinary guitar work more upfront in the mix, where in the original Genesis tracks his guitar work was often buried under layers of Tony Bank's lush keyboard arrangements, these new recordings have made the music even more dynamic and sonically exciting. Genesis never sounded better! If you're a fan of the early Gabriel years Genesis or the two albums the band made after his departure "A Trick Of The Tail" and "Wind And Wuthering" do yourself a favor and listen to these excellent Steve Hackett albums. They'll make you fall in love with Genesis music once again.
Just so happens, The Killer is a pipe smoker......
@motie2 I can see where you'd 'get yer dander up' suggesting similarities to The Bee Gees. But I'm not talking about the later period disco version of the Bee Gees - but the very early band that recorded the excellent concept album "Odessa" in 1969 (I believe it was their third album). It's very similar to "From Genesis To Revelations" in terms of compositions and production. Very ambitious and an early progressive classic. I wish they would have continued in that direction. A lot of debut albums from bands like Genesis, YES, The Moody Blues, and Pink Floyd hardly resembled how the bands sounded in later years. The Moody Blues first hit single was "Go Now" which was more of a blues number - and nothing like the material they recorded once Justin Hayward became 'the voice' of the band (and those beautiful Moodies harmonies). But in the case of all the band I just mentioned you could hear the potential in all of them. And with each successive albums the bands matured as the material got more and more polished.
If you want to hear a really drastic change from the debut album to the second I'd suggest the hard core industrial band Ministry. Probably not a band you'd want to listen to. But their first album "With Sympathy", Ministry was one of those 80s' New Wave synth-pop bands in the style of Ultravox, The Human League, Depeche Mode, Eurythmics, or Orchestral Manoeuveres In The Dark. But had you purchased their follow-up album "Twitch" expecting more of the same you would have been horrified. As was I. The band had undergone a radical change becoming an aggressive hardcore industrial band, replacing those sweet romantic vocal styling from ""With Sympathy" with screeching processed vocals. It was a real shocker!
I look at all the pictures of us old guys and marvel at the musical diversity of the group, as well as how many of us are still rock and rollers as we near or pass Social Security age. I seriously believe that music keeps us young ... maybe not in body (I'm falling apart as I type this) - but in spirit and in mind. Were it not for the occasional aches and pains associated with aging I don't mentally feel like I'm approaching 66. And if you happened to be driving past my house when I listening to music you might assume a much younger person is seated in front of the speakers. But no ... it's just little old me rocking out to the classic and not so classic rock.
At any given time it's impossible to say just what type of music I might be cranking out of my stereo ... anything from jazz fusion, psychedelic and Top 40 oldies from the 60s', majestic grand scale orchestral soundtracks, creepy-ass electronic chamber music from the eclectic Belgium instrumental group Univers Zero (their album "Heresis" can make your hair stand on end ... frightening), spacy New Age electronics, and progressive/symphonic rock bands from a variety of countries all singling in the native tongue. My neighbors must think I'm a linguist because I listen to bands singing in every language imaginable. I may not understand a word ... but love the music.
Just as we've discussed the association between pipe smokers and beards - I think a parallel distinction can be drawn between pipe smokers and music. We all seem to have a lasting passion for it ... be it rock & roll, country, blue grass, classical, blues, jazz or some fusion off-shoot. The mere fact that this post is titled 'Music To Smoke Your Pipe To" currently with 7 pages of on-going discussions attached to the topic says it all.
I've always liked this Audioslave vid, because it is a tribute to the 1971 film Vanishing Point.....
@motie2, here's a cool live version......