Yeah, I may have exaggerated its importance a little bit but it was like an oasis of sorts. You can hear it faintly during literally the first second and a half of the song, before all the keys and horns and key-horns kick in. It's in there - once you hear it, you'll know it.
Today's song is There It Is: Despite the unevenness of this album, things finish pretty strongly with the next 2 tracks. Particularly this one and (again) it makes you wish Mike had recorded more vocals for the album, as he could still do the business when he pushed himself. The production has numerous issues as always, but I think it's a really strong vocal arrangement. I also think it was a good decision to have the false ending. With a better production I would give it a higher mark, but 3.5/5.
The odd phrase reminds me of Infinite Rider. It's a little busy and probably outstays its welcome a little but it's one of the stronger tracks and leads nicely to the final song. There It Is - 3.5/5
There It Is - 3.5/5 Another welcome vocal. Nicely performed. I think this song would work well as a road trip mix. I haven't made new road trip mixes in quite a while. I know I never had this song on it. I plan to add it in the future.
While I may not really dig this particular Pie tune, I like the variation in opinion here for our small group of Monkeefanatics. Anyway, I really wanted to like Rays better, but that is for a later post.
There It Is I agree that it's nice to have another song; the vocal arrangement is good; Mike could still deliver. With a better arrangement this could have fit on Infinite Rider, my favourite Nez album. The guitar solo is simple, but it fits. And the other guitar parts work well. I don't like the keyboards on this track and feel that they ruin it to an extent. Being able to hear the song in better quality may have helped. Before this thread I didn't realise that there were still a lot of vocal tracks released by Nez that I didn't know about. I'd sampled some of the albums but only heard instrumental. Has a compilation of the later vocal tracks been released? 3.5/5
As HitAndRun and DaveJ point out perhaps a song that would fit on Infinite Rider and perhaps why I like it. Probably number 2 on this CD for me and a 4. I like the sentiment and the tempo and the various parts. One of the songs that fits the theme of the cover art and poster inside to a tee.
"There It Is" -- 3/5 Agreed, this does have a very Infinite Rider sound to it. This is one of the few songs on Rays that I legitimately enjoy and don't find completely frustrating.
I really like the vocal and love the harmonies and the melody is fundamentally solid. I can't take the synth-disco at all, though. 3/5
There It Is - This does like it could have been on Infinite Rider. Love the layered vocals and the music has a good beat to it with a nice guitar solo. I also think it could have been the closing track. Could make a good Dance remix. 4/5.
Well, “There It Is”... But what is It? Again, not sure. Some kind of enlightenment? Peace? Salvation? Maybe it’s one of those “It’s what you make of it” things. Maybe Nez knows what It is, but he’s not saying. I think, because Nez had such a way with words in his early songs, so many of his later songs come up short for me, lyrically. I’ll touch on this more in a couple of days, but I haven’t found Nesmith the Wordsmith terribly interesting for some time (Not since The Prison, for the most part). The fact that so few songs on Rays even have words adds to that notion. Musically, I mostly dig this. The latter day “synth-disco,” as Juan put it, is not really my thing but it’s got a decent groove. Kinda like the Jerry Lee-style piano (Would’ve liked more) and the Latin-sounding percussion. What guitar there was a nice, and again I’d have liked more of it. The false ending was cool. If it goes on a bit too long, that’s maybe a fault of the production, plus the lyrics (IMO) not really having a lot to say. Can’t say this was a mind-blower, but it (Whatever “It” is) is not bad. 3/5.
There It Is 4/5 Like the drums and it's nice to hear Nez's vocals although they are buried deep in a busy mix of music.
Today's songs is Follows the Heart: I think it's true that under some circumstances There It Is could have been an album closer if it weren't for the existence of this track. This song might almost have been designed solely for that purpose. Had it been released during another era Follows the Heart might easily be ignored, but amongst the slim pickings on this CD it becomes something of a highlight. The lack of authentic instruments detracts again and Mike's vocal, while reasonable, is some distance below what he would have been capable of at one stage. A high 3/5.
Follows the Heart This would be nicer with a more restrained accompaniment. Like solo acoustic guitar. The basic song is good, though not a highlight in Nez's career. The arrangement and instrumentation ruin the song for me. It would have been interesting if Micky had chosen this for his sings Nez album. But, there were plenty of other songs. 2.8/5
“Follows the Heart” is interesting. The lyrics can be taken at face value, but I think there’s more to it, and it takes on, perhaps, a greater poignancy given the questions about Nez’s current health. Unfortunately, Nez’s “talk-singing” approach here doesn’t really grab me. Same for the instrumentation. When did Nez join Tangerine Dream? It’s a fitting closer, but I can’t give it more than 2.5/5.
Follows The Heart - The last track on Rays, it has a nice, almost pastoral sound to it. Nesmith’s vocals are a little too buried in the mix and I agree that some acoustic guitar might have benefited the tune. Overall, not a bad album closer. 4/5
Follows The Heart 5/5 This is my favorite track on the album & one of my favorite Nez tunes. Everything about it screams signature Nez. His vocals sound great. It sounds like a song that could have been on The Prison. I often think, had he done this sort of music for The Ocean then that album wouldn't be the pile of crap that it is.
Many times I read Turk's review and agree with what he says, this time he is spot on again and sums up how this song feels to me. Also agree with HitAndRun the song is good but far from a Nez highlight. I think as has been a common comment throughout, lyrically, (what minimal there was) not the top notch songs from Nez. I think that is normal for someone writing songs for around 60 years. I did want to add my two cents on There It Is meaning. I think the song was intentional ambiguous as to what was "There" since it is different for everyone. It is a song about when you are young anticipating arriving after driving in the car for hours and hours, which many of us have had happen to us. A second meaning is there in the CD. The poster shows Nez driving around through time and cities trying to find something to eat. Instead, he finds a peaceful place and comments "suddenly, I am not as hungry as I thought." Another journey, this time perhaps looking for the wrong thing but ultimately finding what you want.
Instead of starting a thread, I’ll ask here. The Monkee Business picture disc was a lot of fun but sounded pretty bad because of the picture disc I assume. Has anyone heard the cassette? Did it sound better?
