|
Post by I Ain't Complaining on Oct 16, 2017 12:33:47 GMT
So, Dog of Two Head won the battle of the early rock/blues albums by 12 votes to 7.
We move on to albums 5 and 6, Piledriver and Hello. It's strange to think that these were Quo's 5th and 6th albums and yet so far they'd not had any success in the album charts. These days that just wouldn't happen....you'd be finished! So these were Quo first 2 albums that charted, and they started, and then very quickly built on the path to stardom. In my opinion, Quo became just that little bit more poppy and commercial with every album, but at this stage it was very much rock and blues. Piledriver is the more varied of the 2 albums, Hello seemed to take the more popular songs and largely stick to that style. Both albums had one top 10 single (Roll Over Lay Down was released as a Live! EP 2 years later), and both albums had many songs that were played live for years and still to this day. I think between the normal live set, the Frantic Four Reunion tours, and the Aquostic tours, there are only 3 songs from the 2 albums that haven't been played live in the last five years......for 2 albums that are over 40 years old, it shows the quality, longevity, love and affection in which they are held by both the band and the fans. This was also the start of the run of the so called 'classic albums' by the classic Quo line-up.
So, as hard a decision as it will be for most, you have to choose one (or neither)....you can't vote for both! Share your thoughts and memories too.
PILEDRIVER Don't Waste My Time (Rossi/Young) Oh Baby (Rossi/Parfitt) A Year (Lancaster/Frost) Unspoken Words (Rossi/Young) Big Fat Mama (Rossi/Parfitt) Paper Plane (Rossi/Young) All The Reasons (Parfitt/Lancaster) Roadhouse Blues (Doors)
HELLO! Roll Over Lay Down (Rossi/Young/Lancaster/Parfitt/Coghlan) Claudie (Rossi/Young) Reason For Living (Rossi/Parfitt) Blue Eyed Lady (Lancaster/Parfitt) Caroline (Rossi/Young) Softer Ride (Lancaster/Parfitt) And It's Better Now (Rossi/Young) Forty-Five Hundred Times (Rossi/Parfitt)
|
|
|
Post by I Ain't Complaining on Oct 16, 2017 12:41:58 GMT
I've started us off with Hello!
Whilst I always loved the 4 obvious songs from Piledriver and All the Reasons, it took me a long time to love the other 3 songs, and thus the album as a whole. But Hello was instant, I just loved it from the start and always have. And as much as I love Roadhouse Blues (especially live); 45 Hundred Times is just the seminal Quo anthem which wins almost every poll ever conducted, played live over the years from 10 minutes to 30 minutes, and re-recorded for the RTYD album. Whist PD set down a marker, created an image, and launched Quo on the path to superstardom, Hello (imo) just cemented all of that and then blew it out of the water. Some of the songs on PD will always be in my top ten (PP & BFM) but as albums go, Hello wins every time.
|
|
mortified
Administrator
This is no' gettin' the bairn a shirt
Posts: 5,559
|
Post by mortified on Oct 16, 2017 13:17:25 GMT
Both are magnificent. Piledriver did a great deal to get me into Quo properly. In fact, I went to see them live on the strength of it. My first ever gig. But Hello! well and truly cemented it. I can still remember the feelings to this day. I bought it on the Friday so I had all weekend to let it sink into my bones. There it remains. There isn't much between them. A baw hair as they say north of the border but Hello!, for me, remains Quo's best album.
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Oct 17, 2017 8:33:54 GMT
Love Piledriver .. but Hello I love even more
|
|
|
Post by I Ain't Complaining on Oct 17, 2017 9:57:47 GMT
It can't be Piledriver vs. Hello. It's just not possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Both are magnificent albums... but it's Hello! that "wins" by a whisker. In my opinion, Hello! is one of the best Quo albums, perhaps even the best Quo album. I love all the songs on the album, although I do love some of them a bit more than the others. Namely ROLD, Caroline and 4500 Times.
I love the way ROLD begins and moves on from there, the louder parts interchanging with some quieter interludes. I love the rocking sound of the guitars, the bass, the drums. I think it's really heavy and kind of bluesy. I never tire of listening to it. Now 4500 Times... That's another one of my all-time favourites. I just love the song and can't get enough of it. Original version, RTYD version, Live! version, any live version. I just adore the song. Caroline. I might have mentioned it before on here. It was the magic of those guitars, the intro of the song, how first one, then two guitars would go on and on until the drums would kick in - and then that nasal voice coming on. Caroline made me a Quo fan a hundred years ago. I mean, everything was kind of magic during those early rock'n'roll years of mine. The denims, the long hair, the music. Splendid! I love Reason for Living. It's nicely sung, and I like the lyrics and the melody. I love And It's Better Now for the same reasons. Claudie is a bit different for me, but again, I like the lyrics and the melody. Softer Ride. I like the interchanging movements (for lack of more appropriate words...) of the song, how it builds up until the moment when the guitars and drums get together and it really rocks. I liked the way Blue Eyed Lady was played live on the reunion tour a lot better than the studio version. I think the guitar playing is very good here (even better live). I like the drive of the song. Piledriver - DWMT is iconic. Big Fat Mama and Paper Plane are yet another two songs that I never tire of listening to. I just love them so much. Then there's All the Reasons, beautifully sung, and Oh Baby and the masterpiece that is A Year. Roadhouse Blues is a great version of the Doors' song, and I especially like the Live! version of it. I even like Unspoken Words to some extent. So how can I really say this album wins over that one? It's just not fair! It can't be Piledriver vs. Hello. It's just not possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So did you vote for one over the other, or could you not decide? I'm not giving people that option!
Someone has voted for Piledriver.
|
|
|
Post by dai on Oct 17, 2017 18:26:07 GMT
Hello!
|
|
|
Post by craydarr on Oct 21, 2017 17:22:57 GMT
Going back 10 years it would be Hello for me every time,but I'm not so sure now. Dunno I can't decide.
|
|
|
Post by I Ain't Complaining on Oct 23, 2017 12:06:22 GMT
Going back 10 years it would be Hello for me every time,but I'm not so sure now. Dunno I can't decide. Well 3 people have chosen Piledriver now.
Is Hello slightly more commercial/poppy than Piledriver? I always thought it was, but when you compare it song for song, there's probably not a lot in it....possibly very similar albums. It's probably just that I'm not as keen on Oh Baby, A Year & Unspoken Words as I am on Reason for Living, Softer Ride & And It's Better Now. Claudie or All the Reasons, anyone??
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Oct 24, 2017 8:40:51 GMT
Going back 10 years it would be Hello for me every time,but I'm not so sure now. Dunno I can't decide. Well 3 people have chosen Piledriver now.
Is Hello slightly more commercial/poppy than Piledriver? I always thought it was, but when you compare it song for song, there's probably not a lot in it....possibly very similar albums. It's probably just that I'm not as keen on Oh Baby, A Year & Unspoken Words as I am on Reason for Living, Softer Ride & And It's Better Now. Claudie or All the Reasons, anyone??
You're propably right with the more commercial/poppy tag - I'd add melodic - while Piledriver is bluesier and less melodic. So you've got to be in the mood for it, whereas Hello is more kind of 'easy listening'. The melodies simply grab you straight away and the lyrics aren't as sad as some on Piledriver either.
|
|
mortified
Administrator
This is no' gettin' the bairn a shirt
Posts: 5,559
|
Post by mortified on Oct 24, 2017 8:54:33 GMT
Strangely, they are almost entirely different in terms of style. Certainly in terms of production. Hello! could be considered 'lighter' I suppose but I think that's almost entirely down to the production and overall clarity of sound rather than the material.
I actually think Piledriver is quite unique in terms of Quo's output. The sound is duller, the songs are darker and the guitars are heavier but it all fits. There is a distinct absence of keyboards other than a distant piano hear and there. In fact, I often wonder when Caroline was recorded because it wouldn't sound out of place on Piledriver sound-wise.
At the end of the day, both are masterpieces and because there wasn't a conscious effort to be fashionable, they stand the test of time very well. It's the fashion conscious, heavily produced albums that tend to sound more dated.
|
|
|
Post by viking55 on Oct 24, 2017 22:41:38 GMT
Not so tough a choice for me. Hello was an album I fell in love with. Full of melody and great great songs ! Piledriver rocked but too many slowies for my liking ! Mind you I love’A Year !! Still like the album though.
|
|
|
Post by smokie on Oct 25, 2017 8:26:10 GMT
A difficult decision to make but I eventually voted for Hello.
I can easily listen to either album, there's outstanding songs on both but I think, overall, there's more of my favourites on Hello as opposed to Piledriver.
Little Blue Eyed Lady, Reason For Living, Caroline, Softer Ride, the sublime Claudie and the opus that is Forty-Five Hundred Times.
A very tough call but it's Hello for me.
|
|
Deleted
Deleted Member
Posts: 0
|
Post by Deleted on Oct 25, 2017 9:52:23 GMT
Hello for me.
Despite my aforementioned dislike of ROLD, the rest of the album is very, very good indeed. Caroline, BEL and 4500x, wow wow wow. All the others are also cracking tracks.
Seems cruel on Piledriver, voting against an album with Paper Plane and BFM on feels wrong to me but ultimately it would be more wrong to vote against the classic that is Hello.
|
|
frozenhero
Administrator
Drop-D beautiful
Posts: 1,420
|
Post by frozenhero on Oct 26, 2017 20:26:24 GMT
Both albums mark the top of Quo's catalog for me, but since I come from a blues background I find Piledriver a somwhat more 'honest' and raw album, whereas Hello! is a bit polished (and I'm not sure tracks like Claudie or AIBN benefitted from that, plus I've never understood the hype about BEL). It's got saxophones on two tracks after all!
So Piledriver for me, but they're both superb.
|
|
|
Post by gogs on Oct 27, 2017 16:09:19 GMT
I'm with @inna on this one; probably the hardest choice we'll have. I've given the nod to Piledriver and to be honest, I'm not sure why. Come back tomorrow and I'll probably change my mind. D'Oh.
|
|
|
Post by I Ain't Complaining on Oct 30, 2017 12:43:44 GMT
I'm with @inna on this one; probably the hardest choice we'll have. I've given the nod to Piledriver and to be honest, I'm not sure why. Come back tomorrow and I'll probably change my mind. D'Oh. I find that sometimes when choosing favourite albums, you just have to go with a gut feeling. Sometimes I will prefer one album over another, yet when I analyse it I could like more songs from the lesser album! Go figure!
|
|
|
Post by I Ain't Complaining on Oct 30, 2017 12:57:35 GMT
This poll has been open for a couple of weeks now, so although I'm not going to lock it (I think these things should be fluid, and open to voting) I will summarise and start the next one.
So after 2 weeks of voting Hello! is on 10 votes and Piledriver on 5 votes.
Whilst I voted for Hello, I'm glad that Piledriver got as many votes as it did. It was the album that 'broke' Quo into the big time. It was their first album that charted, it burst onto the chart at number 5, and it has such live staples as Don't Waste my Time, Big Fat Mama, Roadhouse Blues, and the awesome Paper Plane. So it massively deserves an accolades that come it's way. Hello though, is slightly less bluesy, slightly more poppy, and therefore slightly more commercial and easy listening (although it's never been poppy or easy listening in it's life)!! And Hello boasts Quo legends such as Caroline, ROLD, Softer Ride (which had ironically appeared on the b-side of Paper Plane), Blue Eyed Lady, and the (absolutely love it or hate it) 45 Hundred Times which wins virtually every Quo poll ever except 'best ballad'!
So there we have it, thanks for your votes and your discussion.
If you find yourself late to the party, feel free to still vote and comment.
|
|
|
Post by I Ain't Complaining on Oct 30, 2017 13:01:18 GMT
Next up....Quo vs On the Level. Another easy one
|
|
|
Post by snakelady on Oct 31, 2017 8:26:58 GMT
Next up....Quo vs On the Level. Another easy one Indeed - that one is easy
|
|