I have a copy of the extra tracks from the 2005 remaster from Johns44, is it worth seeking the deluxe edition on top of this? I assume yes but haven't got it yet.
Wow, I've never seen that before! "Recently they've become addicts..."! I've only just watched the first couple of minutes. I'll watch it all later. Great find. Every time I hear Mystery Song I just think 'bloody hell this is great!'
1976 for me was the absolute peak of their powers. That's not to say what came later wasn't as good as I have love for the band well into the 21st century but this was their highest point. Not to rush things along but assuming both Live at Glasgow and Tokyo Quo will be covered before we get to Rocking All Over The World? Mystery Song is superb. Talking myself into buying the Deluxe Edition now. Not available on amazon, my wallet is safe
'Blue For You' was their last gasp IMO. After that they were 'Rocking All Over the World' just not my world.
Yet another Quo classic, though not as good as On The Level. 1. Is There a Better Way (Lancaster/Rossi)3:30 L One of Mr Lancaster's best this one. This is what being Fast and Furious is all about 2. Mad About the Boy (Rossi/Young) 3:34 L Kind of country-ish but none the worse for it. Great little song 3. Ring of a Change (Rossi/Young) 4:17 (L) Always loved this one and for me could have been a single 4. Blue for You (Lancaster) 4:07 Not a huge fan of this on, but it give the listener a bit of a breather 5. Rain (Parfitt) 4:37 L Classic pure and simple 6. Rolling Home (Lancaster/Rossi) 3:04 7. That’s a Fact (Rossi/Young) 4:22 A Brilliant and just shows what Alan and Francis could have done together 8. Ease Your Mind (Lancaster) 3:14 Very poppy to my ears but still pretty good. 9. Mystery Song (Parfitt/Young) 6:43 L As with Rain this is a classic and the bit at the end shows just what quality musicians Quo were/are.
The most underrated aspect of Quo is what excellent musicians they were. The quality of what all of them were playing throughout the 'Frantic Four' years is consistently high, without them ever falling into being 'showy' or 'muso'. That it all sounds so natural to them and there are no histrionics or boring long solos contributes towards them being underrated. Any member of the Quo could have easily stopped the live show to play a long solo like so many other 70s rock bands. It would certainly have drawn attention to their abilities. But thank goodness none of them did. Those kind of solos are always disgustingly tedious, but also very laughable.
Yes, I noticed that when I first saw the cover! But had forgotten about it! Thanks! I think the only songs attributed to that partnership are ITABW, Rollin' Home and All Through the Night - all from the BFY era. Though "Name of the Game" was supposedly co-written by Alan, Francis and Andy, and stuff like ROLD has input from both as well (plus Rick and Bob).
The deluxe edition is mastered better than the 2005 remaster, though the difference isn't as big as in some other cases. The live tracks are in the "take it or leave it" category, the Osaka recordings aren't bad, the 2 Stoke-on-Trent tracks do seem a bit superfluous to me. Honky Tonk Angel seems identical to the WSOL demo. I wish they'd put Getting Better on there for completeness' sake, since it was left off the RAOTW deluxe and was recorded in 1976...
Yes, I hope I can post the live stuff in a few hours - otherwise the gap will be long again, and since BFY and Live are sort of the same era, you can still talk all you want about BFY even after I've already posted Live/Tokyo Quo. RAOTW marks a new era, so I'll save that for later.
They did waffle on a bit then, but they weren't successful yet and they were getting a new sound together without much new material. They still sound very tight. Songs soon replaced the long jams, though Forty Five Hundred Times often was drawn out. When Quo are doing this kind of thing they were playing as a band and hit a groove, not the band stopping for ages and then the guitarist alone on an ego trip with a spotlight on him playing a load of tuneless noise wearing a silly costume or the drummer playing a drum solo with his hands.
Definitely their peak here, especially with "Mystery Song" and "Rain" (two of my favourite Quo tracks). A pity they went soft afterwards and made decades of poor albums.
Blue For You is the last Quo album, I think, where the drums sounded right. After that came the rather desperate attempts to appeal to American radio. I find that thumping kick-drum on The Wild Side Of Life absolutely horrible to listen to. But Coghlan's playing is bang on the money on songs like Is There A Better Way and That's A Fact.
I was going to mention the change in style and sound of the drums when RAOTW comes along! But you're right about the Wild Side of Life 45 being where it happens. I think that single is the first sign things are about to change and not for the better.
I thought that too. 5.5 suggests mediocre rather than solid. I would never consider Blue For You mediocre.
Ah Blue for You. Probably my favourite Quo album on the days when Quo doesn't occupy that slot. The song-writing and the playing is all top-notch, but this to my ears has the best production. Everything about it is pretty perfect - Spud's cymbals are all present and correct, the guitars are chunky and Big Al's bass is really fat. Plus the little additions of tambourine and maracas is a nice touch. Wonder who plays them though - Spud said he didn't play that stuff on later albums because though he was a drummer, he couldn't play the tambourine! There's not much I'd change about it, though Ease Your Mind is to me just filler - nice, but Quo by numbers. Would've preferred You Lost the Love in it's place. The fade out of Is There a Better Way sounds a bit polite compared to the brutal live version, but that's with hindsight. Rain has one of my all time favourite solos - you can just feel the speed driving Rossi's fingers! Mad About the Boy is probably my favourite. There's no reason I can think of as to why Spud decided to spend about half the song just thrashing his cymbals. Obviously I love it (and probably the last time I get to hear him play in that style), but the song itself pretty much foretells the direction they'd take on RAOTW - only it has loads of soloing, fat guitars, and yes Spud's cymbals. Just something ridiculous about taking a fairly straight pop-rock song and just deciding to rock out as much as you can. Genius.
