Last night's Itchy & Scratchy was, without a doubt, the
worst episode ever. Rest assured I was on the internet
within minutes registering my disgust throughout the
world. As a loyal listener, I feel they owe me.
So what were your highs and lows of the album, the songs, the sleeve notes, the cover.
For me, Waves was a big big big piece of music... like The Sea and Sinbad's ship by Rimsky Korsakov. I always say that but check out the leitmotif in Korsakov and compare it to the intro to Waves... Guthrie's kinda describes the water lapping against a TV 'Miami Vice'-like speedboat in acid-like clarity and colour whereas R-Ks is a creaking sail boat on a noble quest viewed from the angle they always filmed sailing ships in 60s films from a distance against a clear sky.
Eric sounds a bit like the chorus of Pink Floyds See-Saw on Saucerful of Secrets, which I like
Someone elses turn _________________ Fabulous powers were revealed to me the day I held my magic Suhr(d) aloft and said "by the power of great scale!"
I have the power!
Last edited by frankus on Wed Aug 23, 2006 1:43 pm; edited 1 time in total
Listened to it once through and it's obviously incredible beyond words but I'll just say a few anyway...
Waves has developed from what it used to be almost beyond recognition. I say almost because he's left a couple of snippets in there to make us old fans smile (don't know if that was the purpose but I did anyway!). It's the perfect first track.
The guitar sounds are incredible the whole way through. A perfect combination of player and gear I'd say.
Eric is a really beautiful song, sounds different and a little haunting but in a good way. I love the quirky tapping parts.
Hangover somehow captures that horrible feeling of the day after the night before. This is probably my favourite on the album... don't really know why, I guess it just sounds really good (and it was the last one I heard maybe?)
When I heard reports of the technique being disgustingly over the top (in a good way) in places I dismissed it as hype thinking it wasn't really Guthrie's thing. I was wrong! There's some absolutely mind boggling picking, sweeping, eight finger tapping, inverted finger kickback blah blah blah (insert favourite technique here) AND it's all done very tastefully. Bastard.
I think Guthrie's given people good reason to love him for the new music he's put on the table but equally hate the man for being too good. I wish I could hate him, but the fact is that album made me smile more than any instrumental music has in a long long while.
Yeah I was grinning the same grin I did for Flex-Able's Viv Woman, FIABD, Lords of Karma, Big Wave, White Cliffs of Dover, Live in Japan, Choosing to Drown, Treacherous Cretins.
I'm not big on instrumental albums these days excepting jazz.. but these tunes are really strong in impressionistic imagery and I love them for that. _________________ Fabulous powers were revealed to me the day I held my magic Suhr(d) aloft and said "by the power of great scale!"
I am on my second listen right now. Here's some random thoughts.
* Best tracks are Waves and Eric
* In fact Waves has a 'Cliffs of Dover' or 'Surfing with the Alien' vibe to it. I think there will be a lot of guitar teachers teaching it to a lot of kids for a long time to come.
* The snippets of original recordings (Waves and Fives(?)) are well recieved.
* Rhode Island Shred was better with the OTT metal shredding bits found in the original I think.
* The production is superb, with the exception of that silly panning bass solo on Uncle Skunk.
* Big props to Seth - you kick ass on this CD bro.
* For some reason I am reminded of the first John5 CD when listening to this (and not just because of the country track).
* The CD feels more like a 'band' than a 'solo artist' (that's good).
* The guitar tone is to die for.
Joined: 22 Sep 2004 Posts: 122 Location: chair, in front of desk
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:11 pm Post subject:
Oh, wait... I've remembered my login details for this place. So...
Some historical context first. I first heard Guthrie around the same time as I first heard Mike Keneally (92/93). Both made me grin the big daft conspiratorial grin of musical naughtiness. More importantly, both made me think "yeah, I *do* still want to listen to people playing guitar". Many years later, a copy of Erotic Cakes pops through my front door, and I'm feeling a little apprehensive. I so want to love the album, but I've barely listened to any instrumental guitar stuff in years, apart from maybe the Mattias Eklundh albums.
Whatever. I needn't have worried... it's a totally fantastic album.
Waves has always been a particular favourite of mine, so its great to hear both the familiar aspects as well as the way it's developed over the years. More recent favourites include Fives, Sevens and Uncle Skunk. I still haven't quite "clicked" on Eric yet... I only met Eric once or twice, so never really knew him well, and as a result, listening to such an obviously heartfelt tribute feels a little like gatecrashing a stranger's funeral. That'll pass, and I'll be able to appreciate the cool chord progressions in there (which at the moment are reminding me of somewhere between Tchaikovsky and Cole Porter )
But you know what's really great about this album? Although there's clearly a ton of fantastic guitar playing, what I really love is the overall feeling of fun, imagination and creativity. Loads of little arrangement details that make the tunes a whole lot more than two-dimensional Shrapnel guitar albums. So when's the next one coming out, then?
adrian
PS: And yet... the CD is of lesser importance compared to the fact that I've actually seen the cakes. The actual cakes! I've been in the same room as them, but was too shy to ask for an autograph!
Last edited by adrianclark on Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:45 pm; edited 1 time in total
I was expecting it to be gud, but it has truly blow me away. I particularly like waves, the intro is imense, opening th album klassly. Im hoping guthrie will be doin an album tour, as i am not able 2 get to chelmsford 4 his weekly shows with the felowship.
Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 2783 Location: Chino, CA
Posted: Fri Aug 18, 2006 9:57 pm Post subject:
Even after 4 days, I'm still finding new musical information to absorb with each listening. It's just overwhelming stuff. Everything comes together and the whole exceeds the sum of its parts. It's a real album, not a collection of songs.
Also, I was surprised by the impressionistic aspects portrayed by the various tonal textures and shifting melodic ideas and tempos conveying various moods. If you remember, we talked about whether Guthrie is an "absolute" type of a writer or someone who thinks up of a visual theme and writes around it. I think the conclusion was that he's more of an "absolute music" composer. This album throws that observation right out the window. It's very cinematic at times, conjuring up visions of places, things and feelings.
I agree that 'Eric' is a true jewel of this album. It has a haunting beauty to it and that tapping chrous part is eerie in a sublime way. BTW, anyone have an idea what the heck he's doing there? How long has it been since we heard a new guitar album and wondered what the player is doing? I've been listening to 'Eric' over and over again. All the subtle inflections that you discover later are often as addicting as the obvious.
I'll post a lot more thoughts over the weekend as I continue to absorb and digest this monumental album. It's like I don't know where to start. I want to say a million things about it at the same time! It's virtually disorienting. I remember having similar feelings and thoughts when I first heard 'Surfing' and 'P&W' when they came out, but this one takes it up a notch or two higher and I honestly didn't think the album would have such an impact because so many years had gone by and I had become so jaded. I think a lot of us here will agree. It's like we have virtually seen and heard 'em all before and we knew it'd be great, but we were thinking that it'd be an incremental sort of progress, not this great musical leap forward. Well, I need time to organize my thoughts more. Right now, they're all over the place. My mind looks like my two little boys' playroom.
And then the tones... I'm absolutely stunned how great everything sounds - the clean sounds, the dirty rhythm sounds, all the various lead sounds and on and on and on. You know, I just wasn't expecting everything to sound that good. I had always thought that Guthrie's tone was the final missing piece of the puzzle. I always liked his tone, but I thought it was, say, 8 on a scale of 1 to 10 when virtually every other aspect of his playing was 9 or 10. Now, all of a sudden, his tone is like 9.5, comparable to some of the best tonemeisters of all time: EJ, Landau, Robben, Beck, Henderson, Carlton, early-EVH, Jimi at his best, etc. This is the quantum leap that puts Guthrie so far ahead of the pack. Put that kind of playing with tones to die for that are all over this album and it's... over... Game set!
And to think that this is his debut album... _________________ Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.
Got my copy this morning. This album is fantastic! I think Waves is my favorite track so far. Like Adrian, I haven't quite got into Eric yet.
As far as the production goes - I was getting annoyed that it was taking so long. Now I've listened to it however, its obvious that a huge amount of effort has gone into it. It was worth the wait!
Joined: 10 Sep 2004 Posts: 2783 Location: Chino, CA
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 1:47 am Post subject:
adrianclark wrote:
Although there's clearly a ton of fantastic guitar playing, what I really love is the overall feeling of fun, imagination and creativity.
Exactly...
Another note about the tones... A player's guitar tone is his voice - the tone is the musician's "face". And it takes a while to develop a unique sound that one can call his own. I do think tone and style go hand in hand, but the quality of that individual voice is so important to draw the listener in to what the artist is performing.
It's like listening to a singer. If you don't like a particular singer's voice, you're most likely not going to like the songs or the performance, no matter how well executed. But singers can improve their voice. And if you love a singer's voice, then everything else sounds that much better.
Guthrie now has a fully developed tone and sounds that are uniquely his. He throws so many at you that he can seem like a chameleon at times, but his sonic thumbprint is now easily recognizable along with his phrasing, vibrato, and techniques. The great quality of the guitar tones seems to enhance everything. Personally, I believe Guthrie making this leap with the stunning quality of the guitar tones is what takes this album over the top and it makes him a major force in the guitar community. It was really about the only area that I thought Guthrie had room to improve on. Now I can't really think of anything that he could be doing any better although I know he'll be quick to disagree with that statement. _________________ Ed Yoon
Certified Guthrie Fan-atic
BOING Music LLC - Managing Partner
.strandberg* Guitars USA
Ed Yoon Consulting & Management
Guitar Center Inc.
BTW, anyone have an idea what the heck he's doing there? How long has it been since we heard a new guitar album and wondered what the player is doing? I've been listening to 'Eric' over and over again. All the subtle inflections that you discover later are often as addicting as the obvious.
I think he's tapping onto the same note that he is hammering on to. So it would be like.
Joined: 16 Aug 2005 Posts: 21 Location: Sheffield, UK
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:36 pm Post subject:
Uncle Skunk continues to remind me of Vai-especially the use of Whammy pedal which reminds me a little of Touching Tongues-sort of! I love this track the most so far. Also the weird tapping thing at the end of 'Eric' is very cool. I think 'Rhode Island Shred' is my least favourite-country is not my thing-even done at this break-neck speed, but I suspect it'll grow on me!
Has anyone noticed that 'Erotic Cakes' is different to the 'Introducing.....' version. I have to say I prefer the latter version as the first solo break is just that bit sweeter as GG bends, holds and vibs in a few places that really make your knees go! Also 'Wonderful Slippery Thing' is different-opening and closing low pass filter at the beginning and and extra clean rhythm part at the end (if memory serves!). _________________ Open the door of Kukundoo and let the wisdom flood in!
Joined: 13 Apr 2005 Posts: 173 Location: Manchester, England
Posted: Sat Aug 19, 2006 10:52 pm Post subject:
Big Bad Bill wrote:
Uncle Skunk continues to remind me of Vai-especially the use of Whammy pedal which reminds me a little of Touching Tongues-sort of! I love this track the most so far. Also the weird tapping thing at the end of 'Eric' is very cool. I think 'Rhode Island Shred' is my least favourite-country is not my thing-even done at this break-neck speed, but I suspect it'll grow on me!
Has anyone noticed that 'Erotic Cakes' is different to the 'Introducing.....' version. I have to say I prefer the latter version as the first solo break is just that bit sweeter as GG bends, holds and vibs in a few places that really make your knees go! Also 'Wonderful Slippery Thing' is different-opening and closing low pass filter at the beginning and and extra clean rhythm part at the end (if memory serves!).
Yeah Uncle Skunk does seem to be a nod to Vai. As for the country I'm used to rock guitarists doing country, Eric Johnson, Steve Morse, Andy Timmons, John 5 and I'm a fan of Albert Lee and Danny Gatton so it's food and drink to me. I'm starting to prefer the album version of Wonderful slippery Thing now it just seems to be so perfectly realised, definitely destined to be a classic...
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