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Post by TM on Dec 3, 2009 16:21:55 GMT -5
Is a thread dedicated to the topic warranted? I don't know but I stumbled upon this article and needed a place to put it. "what if your favourite dinosaur band, say Jethro Tull, decided to re-create, say, its famous Aqualung album in concert but, because it’s been 38 years and the band members have all gone to seed, can’t pull it off"? ROCK GEAZERS TRY TO RECAPTURE VINYL GLORY DAYS
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Post by Nonfatman on Dec 3, 2009 20:47:39 GMT -5
It's very sad that more and more classic rock artists are re-recording their famous albums note for note in this pseudo-live format. When Ian released the Beacons Bottoms CD as part of the 25th year box set, and then later when he released Aqualung "Live", I thought what is the point of doing this? Why re-record your classic albums in a way where it's only going to turn out worse because you cannot sing it as well as you used to. Mix has pointed this out on the board too, in regard to the numerous live DVD/CDs that Tull have released this past decade.
Most people would prefer if these artists would put out new albums of great new music that they are comfortable doing at this stage of their careers, and that is within their present vocal capacities.
Jeff
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Post by Mix on Dec 6, 2009 18:57:27 GMT -5
I just don't get it. Ian never needed to do it and I think it was a bad career choice. He really let himself down in my opinion. Sure it might of been fun but come on, let's have some standards. Standards I hear you say? Yes the very standards that Ian lived up to throughout most of his career. I am at times too critical of my hero (I don't really like that tag but you get the idea) but how can you not develop high expectations when you follow Ian's body of work?
Ian's vocal issues are taboo. Apart from the under wraps tour I'm not aware of Ian discussing his voice. Let's face it, his voice is wrecked from too much touring. He functions not unlike someone who is manic in that even if standards are less and less the touring must go on. I find this all rather contradictory to the persona Ian Anderson gives us in interviews and such where he is confident and focused.
Personally I think the last 10-15 years have been wasted on too many pointless projects. Ian spends too much time firing on the fumes of his past glories. Had he spent that time working on new material and moving forward I think that would been more fitting to the Ian Anderson we have come to love. Having said all that I still wait in hope that Ian will regain that confidence in himself and his writing and return back to form. Let's hope he does in 2010 and even if he doesn't and gradually fades away he's given us enough I suppose and my god it's still some of the best music I've ever heard!
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Post by Max Quad on Dec 6, 2009 20:07:45 GMT -5
While fatman and mix sufficiently covered Ian, I take issue with the writer of that article lumping Springsteen into the geezer category. On Bruce's just finished tour on separate shows he played in their entirety, Greetings, The Wild, The Innocent..., Born To Run, Darkness, The River and Born in the USA. That's six different LP's. Bruce can still belt it out AND crowd surf. I witnessed the 2 LP The River at MSG and it was a stunning one-time event. How many bands do you know that play obscure requests from the audience and PLAY THEM. In fact, Bruce and the E Streeters play credible versions of those requests.
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Ulla
One of the Youngest of the Family
Posts: 99
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Post by Ulla on Dec 7, 2009 6:54:57 GMT -5
I saw JT in Cologne in summer and the worst thing I ever heard was Ian singing "Skating Away", or let´s better say: he tried to sing it. In German we have the phrase "Fremdschaemen" what means that you feel ashamed for somebody. That´s what I felt. Now he is on tour with his Christmas shows and guess what he tries to sing? The rest of the set list seems to be very good, so why does he do it?
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Post by TM on Dec 7, 2009 16:50:38 GMT -5
I saw JT in Cologne in summer and the worst thing I ever heard was Ian singing "Skating Away", or let´s better say: he tried to sing it. In German we have the phrase "Fremdschaemen" what means that you feel ashamed for somebody. That´s what I felt. Now he is on tour with his Christmas shows and guess what he tries to sing? The rest of the set list seems to be very good, so why does he do it? Bizarre isn't it? When he sang it a couple months ago in Red Bank I thought he did okay with it. But others have stated that he struggled with it as well. Perhaps he should move it to the second set since his vocals seem to get stronger as he goes. It's also a crowd favorite so it would go down well as song for an encore. Well...maybe that's not such a great idea. That would kill an encore if he couldn't sing....
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Post by bobo the monkey on Dec 7, 2009 21:40:00 GMT -5
Sadly, I mean, very sadly, the song during the recent tour, both nights i saw him, that caused the most neck-vein stressing, eye-bulging and open mouth with nothing coming out moments was the potentially beautiful 'tea with a princess'.....I mean, if the new songs are unsingable live...why try? It made perfect sense, after the 84 voice blow-out, that the vocals on COAK were different and do-able. I think Ian could cruise the catalog and find the right songs to sing without so many 'popeye' moments.....and still send away both hardcore and first-timers happy. Too bad he doesn't know from baseball...an analogy of a former 162 game a year catcher now playing first base and taking day games after night games and a few late innings off, would be lost on him!
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Post by Nonfatman on Dec 7, 2009 22:04:28 GMT -5
I agree, Bernie, he always seems to choose the songs that give him the most difficulty. But a song like To Cry You a Song, for example, would be perfect because he could sing it in a lower register that would suit his present vocal capacity. Nothing to Say is another example, in fact most of the stuff from Benefit he could probably sing fairly well.
For some reason though, except for With You There to Help Me, he always totally ignores Benefit in his selection process.
Jeff
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