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Post by snakelady on Jul 1, 2018 6:29:04 GMT
In a new century and with a new drummer a seemingly re-energised Quo recorded an album the band loved so much, they introduced four (!) new songs into the live set in one go. Unheard of and I loved it. At the time I was just returning to seeing them live and I can well remember the positive vibe towards band and album on the old mb. And the gigs of the time were great - they grabbed me instantly, so the second gig I took the kids along already. This was something not to be missed even at their young age (5 and 7). I put them right on the barrier in front of Rick and they were just able to look over it. At the end of the gig Rick tried to through them a plectrum, but some stupid cow (with longer arms, naturally) snatched it. Rick didn't look too happy about it, but there was nothing he could do .. Well they got their plectrum later as from then on they've been to nearly all Quo gigs we went to. So while I consider UTI the return to form album it was the follow up (ignoring FITLC) that really restored my faith in the band, as UTI obviously hadn't been a one off, the way RTYD had proved to be and in consequence saw my return to the live shows. At the time I wasn't aware that there might be different versions and that those living on the continent were cheated out of a song - Money Don't Matter (I've wisened up since .. ). So I can't judge that song - skip it involuntarily so to speak - as I've never heard it. The rest I either love or consider at least average - apart from three tracks which I've skipped right from the start. Which is a good quota for a Quo album for me.
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col
High Flyer
All my Gods are leaving......
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Post by col on Jul 2, 2018 0:21:27 GMT
A very front ended album, but a continuation of things looking up.
I do stop listening after Do It Again, however I do skip Green and I abhor Creepin'.
Not a very nice song at all.
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mortified
Administrator
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Post by mortified on Jul 2, 2018 5:45:52 GMT
The only one I've ever skipped is I Don't Remember Anymore. One of those rock and roll parodies that didn't really come off. I felt the same about Queenie. This album was one of three or four real watershed moments in Quo's career and brought about something of a renaissance for the band. It was easily their best album in a very long time. Two tracks had gone into the set the year before as a sort of 'preview' on what was prophetically called the Never Say Never tour. One was that track which ultimately became All Stand Up and the other was Solid Gold. Both came across brilliantly so there was an element of real anticipation on my part for the new album. The promotion for the album included that Ark Royal trip. I never got tickets for that because by the time the 'flyer' got to me they'd all gone. The internet was in its infancy at the time. Well, it was in our house There are one or two songs that have become all time personal favourites; Heavy Traffic, Solid Gold and Diggin' Burt Bacharach I still play regularly now. The first of these was crying out to be a single. Radio 2 played it endlessly but as downloads weren't around yet, it would have to have been a physical product. Great sleeve featuring ALL members of the band - a last hurrah from David Walker perhaps? Maybe, maybe not. But someone somewhere decided to have them all on the front. They were also all on one of the Jam Side Down singles. At the time I thought this was Quo's best album since Just Supposin'. I still think that so it puts it in my top half dozen of all time. The first five all came in the 70's. High praise indeed. It needs a clean up; a remaster. But that's only a very small observation. A deluxe edition including The Madness and some live tracks from the 2002 tour would do very nicely. P.S. by the way, snakelady, Money Don't Matter is OK, nothing special. And, remember, you got One By One later when we didn't
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Post by snakelady on Jul 2, 2018 6:04:23 GMT
col - absolutely agree about Creepin' made worse by the fact it had to stay in the set forever as they obviously saw no alternatives for Rick. Which in a way is telling .. mortified - The way you feel about IDRA (average track IMO) is how I feel about Do It Again. Now that is cliché and too bad to succeed as a parody. I absolutely love the title song too and I remember the discussions on the mb about the choice of singles .. The main reason I don't listen to the album any longer is the really bad sound, flat and thin. If one album needs remixing this is it ! Song-wise I consider it far better than JS (and a few others from the era), although it's difficult to compare a CD with an LP and its far fewer songs. Is it better because it contains more good songs or worse because it contains more bad songs ? Edit: my version of HT doesn't include OBO either ..
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mortified
Administrator
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Post by mortified on Jul 2, 2018 7:31:24 GMT
col - absolutely agree about Creepin' made worse by the fact it had to stay in the set forever as they obviously saw no alternatives for Rick. Which in a way is telling .. mortified - The way you feel about IDRA (average track IMO) is how I feel about Do It Again. Now that is cliché and too bad to succeed as a parody. I absolutely love the title song too and I remember the discussions on the mb about the choice of singles .. The main reason I don't listen to the album any longer is the really bad sound, flat and thin. If one album needs remixing this is it ! Song-wise I consider it far better than JS (and a few others from the era), although it's difficult to compare a CD with an LP and its far fewer songs. Is it better because it contains more good songs or worse because it contains more bad songs ? Edit: m y version of HT doesn't include OBO either .. It wouldn't. Its on the European version of In Search Of The Fourth Chord. I was just really making a point about 'extra' tracks being available in different countries. I have no idea why they do that. I always liked Creepin' as a bouncy twelve bar thumper, although the lyrics ain't the best and pinch some from Jerry Lee Lewis. I suspect deliberately.
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Post by coldwarkid on Jul 2, 2018 9:43:19 GMT
Great album! Restored my faith in the band after the dross of previous albums with the only exception being RTYD. It shows the importance of Bob Young's contributions with the difference to the dreadful Rossi/Frost output being so marked. Also the drum sound was far more Quo, Shirley Temple being completely wrong for the band in playing style and completely ruining the band's live sound, Matt on record and even more live was a breath of fresh air.
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mortified
Administrator
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Post by mortified on Jul 2, 2018 10:29:22 GMT
….It shows the importance of Bob Young's contributions.... Completely with you on that one. Francis and Bernie, when writing together, seemed to want to or ended up writing lightweight pop songs. Bob has always managed to get Francis to lean towards a more country/blues based style. They compliment each other perfectly and seemed to be the basis of the band's meteoric rise to fame in the early 70's. Certainly as far as singles were concerned.
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per
Wild Horse
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Post by per on Jul 2, 2018 14:31:56 GMT
Best album since WYW in my opinion. Both a comeback for Quo and for me as an active fan, couldn't stop playing it ore listen to anything else for months when it was released. No skipper track for me!
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Post by craydarr on Jul 2, 2018 20:12:55 GMT
Only Do It Again and Another Day for, the rest is top notch .
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Dark
High Flyer
Posts: 128
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Post by Dark on Jul 3, 2018 10:45:25 GMT
For me it would have been a great follow up to UTI but unfortunately they succumbed to record company pressure and released Famous ...
To this day I still think they made a huge mistake not releasing the title track as the first single, it was easily commercial enough to get as much airplay as JSD, but it better demonstrated the direction of the album, was self penned, and to my ears was a far superior tune. I honestly think it would have done much better for them, and created a greater interest in the album.
They could have then released JSD as a second single in the hope that the commerciality of that tune would have led to another good performance in the charts. Personally though I would have kept JSD off the album completely and maybe included it as a b-side somewhere. As much as I can tell that there is a nice commercial tune in there that people will like, I find it very grating and it has a 100% skip rating when I play the album.
As for the rest of the material, I think the first 7 tracks are all great, a fantastic run of tunes, with a bit of variety thrown in here and there. The only thing I’d change is have, All Stand Up as the opening song, think it hits a bit harder and would have more of an impact as opener.
After that, JSD is a real let down, while Do it Again, Another Day, & I Don’t Remember Anymore, are a bit too derivative 12 bar tunes for me. Diggin’ Burt Bacharach, I think is a nice quirky tune, decent addition to the back catalogue, but I’m not sure album worthy. The final track, Rhythm of Life I think is an exceptional tune and a great way to finish the album.
Had I been in charge I’d have made it an 8 track album, tracks 1-7 plus Rhythm of Life. Then I’d have had Diggin’ Burt Bacharach as a b-side, and the rest could be included years later on an anthology box set as previously unreleased bonus tunes ...
Wasn’t keen on the cartoony versions of the band on the album cover, I’d have just gone with the Elephants charging down the street and not had the band there.
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Post by rosi on Jul 3, 2018 22:28:44 GMT
The Oriental: never liked it, heard it way too much at concerts.
Green.... can't remember that song, sorry
Also I went for Creepin' up on you: overused in their setlist.... sorry
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mortified
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Post by mortified on Jul 4, 2018 4:50:46 GMT
….It's a good album with some interesting songs on it. I did listen to it for a while, but eventually got bored....I missed the heavier, more bluesy, dunkta-dunkta sound of 70s Quo. But I accepted that this was a different band now and still fantastic live. It was the same with the Party album a couple of years later. I quite like(d) it, but couldn't listen to it for hours or even days on end. The same goes for the 4th Chord album. Or Quid Pro Quo. I only really love a couple of songs but not the complete album(s)….
I find that with a lot of music now. I just can't listen to something repeatedly even when I love it. I put it down to me as much as I do the music. A change in my ability to listen to music constantly like I used to. I will almost never listen to an album (sometimes even a single track!) all the way through these days. I switch off in my head quite quickly. And I cannot stand putting music on in the background. Never have. I either listen intently or I don't listen at all. Its why I don't listen to the radio. Its an irritation. The four albums you mention ( Traffic, Party, Fourth Chord and Quid Pro Quo) I think are all very good Quo albums. All of them too long of course but that's the world now. It's what we're given. Its us that have to filter them, which is easy enough. I can only imagine what its like having to play the same songs every night!
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Post by snakelady on Jul 4, 2018 7:44:04 GMT
….It's a good album with some interesting songs on it. I did listen to it for a while, but eventually got bored....I missed the heavier, more bluesy, dunkta-dunkta sound of 70s Quo. But I accepted that this was a different band now and still fantastic live. It was the same with the Party album a couple of years later. I quite like(d) it, but couldn't listen to it for hours or even days on end. The same goes for the 4th Chord album. Or Quid Pro Quo. I only really love a couple of songs but not the complete album(s)….
I find that with a lot of music now. I just can't listen to something repeatedly even when I love it. I put it down to me as much as I do the music. A change in my ability to listen to music constantly like I used to. I will almost never listen to an album (sometimes even a single track!) all the way through these days. I switch off in my head quite quickly. And I cannot stand putting music on in the background. Never have. I either listen intently or I don't listen at all. Its why I don't listen to the radio. Its an irritation. The four albums you mention ( Traffic, Party, Fourth Chord and Quid Pro Quo) I think are all very good Quo albums. All of them too long of course but that's the world now. It's what we're given. Its us that have to filter them, which is easy enough. I can only imagine what its like having to play the same songs every night! That's how I see it as well. I don't blame it on the albums as I know how drastically my habits of listening to music have changed. As a teenager I'd start playing music as soon as I was back from school and I'd only stop when I had to leave the room or went to bed. Our music was our way of life, through the music we listened to we defined ourselves to a degree. The radio was much more important too - I knew all the formates of interest from the various broadcasters .. I can see this importance of music with my boys now, but for me other things have long since taken over. It did happen gradually though, probably with first no longer listening to the radio, when I found more and more of the new songs played there did nothing for me. So for a while I relied on my trusted cassettes and albums. Then I accidentally damaged the cassette player .. These days it's a conscious effort to listen to music and 'new' music rarely stands a chance to fit my taste. I don't know why that is, but most of the time, when son #1 sends me something saying it sounds like 70s music and I should like it, I just can't. Which frustrates him, but it's just how it is. Quo is different though. Somehow they've remained a part of me, even through the nearly two decades when I rarely or not at all saw them live - that warmth I've always felt for them inside is still there. With other favourite bands from the 70s it's more that nostalgia thing. I listen to their old music but new albums are of no interest for me and I don't even give them a chance. Again Quo is different - I look forward to new albums of theirs, listen to them with anticipation and there's always songs I like. Yep, there are skip tracks too, but there always have been tracks I didn't like on Quo albums even in the 70s (usually Alan's songs, although there are exceptions that I love like A Year). Are albums too long now ? Usually the weaker tracks for me tend to be among the last songs on an album, but there are exceptions. As I mainly listen to them on my computer I simply leave out the ones I don't like. So the albums are shorter in the end but I had more to choose from, which isn't a bad thing surely. And compare your taste and mine - a lot of the time we like completely different songs. So better we can put together an album of our personal favourites than a shorter one that's of lesser appeal for at least one of us. Take HT above. I absolutely love I Don't Remember Anymore, but it seems I'm in a minority with that one. I wouldn't have wanted it left out ! And Concerning One By One - I had wizened up by then and ordered the ISOTFC UK version, so never got that tune ..
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Deleted
Deleted Member
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Post by Deleted on Jul 4, 2018 8:10:24 GMT
Just 'Rhythm of Life' for me, I find it very drab.
Surprised to see 'I don't remember any more' getting so many votes. I think it's a great little rocker, Rick's vocals suit it perfectly and I love the lyrics:
i wanna rock and roll, wanna sell my soul
sail the tv round the swimming pool
i want my name in lights a la johnny b. goode
be an all night loon like a ronnie wood
Have always said that the gig at Preston Guild Hall on this tour stands as my favourite Quo gig of all time, just edging the FF gigs at Hammersmith in 13/14. Can't even put my finger on why, it just lives long in the memory as an absolute cracker.
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mortified
Administrator
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Post by mortified on Jul 4, 2018 10:05:24 GMT
Have always said that the gig at Preston Guild Hall on this tour stands as my favourite Quo gig of all time, just edging the FF gigs at Hammersmith in 13/14. Can't even put my finger on why, it just lives long in the memory as an absolute cracker. The gigs between 2002 and around 2005 were superb. I think that's what I meant by a renaissance for the band. For some reason that live period was outstanding. Maybe its because we were all younger. I was still in my 40's. Just a baby I actually think age plays a part with the gigs as well. It seems to play a part in everything as I get older. That energy and enthusiasm that I had right up to my mid 50's is dissipating fast. Maybe I give in to it too easily. But tell that to my muscles! After 2008 the rot set in a bit as the set became even more static than ever with only brief nods to Quid Pro Quo and Bula Quo!. I never liked I Don't Remember Anymore. Just one of these things.
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Post by Quoincidence on Jul 4, 2018 18:38:39 GMT
Can't stand the Oriental or Creepin'...
The overall album suffers from crap production
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Post by snakelady on Jul 5, 2018 19:29:29 GMT
Andy was here :
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Isaac Ryan
Special Forces
Loz' Deputy
Posts: 1,036
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Post by Isaac Ryan on Jul 7, 2018 17:55:06 GMT
Skip Green from time to time and Rhythm of life also.
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Post by snakelady on Jul 20, 2018 8:40:52 GMT
I've just noticed I've forgotten to add the none vote, sorry. Hope it doesn't keep you from voting. In case you'd have gone for it, just mention it in your post.
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Post by snakelady on Jul 30, 2018 6:22:43 GMT
Come on guys, please add your votes for the album ! I don't quite get why I Don't Remember Anymore is so unpopular - I love the tune and I love the lyrics . And Rhythm Of Life is a nice Slow Song IMO.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Aug 4, 2018 19:32:55 GMT
I like this album very much and regret only finding it in around 2011 when getting back into Quo after a 30 year absence.
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