Can you post the cover and we can let the panel decide? I am not qualified to be the sole arbiter of Beach. Oh wait, maybe not, is it pornographic? If so don't post it. This actually turned into an interesting thread despite its inane premise, so it would be nice to have it continue.
For me, the crap I give Love Beach is directed much more at the music, than the cover. They went from some pretty dark, intense, complex music, extremely well played, to this schlock, musically speaking. If the music itself was somewhat close to Trakus, Trilogy, Brain Salad Surgery, Th Barbarian, etc, etc, I wouldn't think twice about the cheesy cover.
Yes was actually still pondering this. He has passed the event horizon of the Beach Singularity. I don't think he IS THE Beach however, that may be Kenny G.
If the music had been Brain Salad intense and dark, we'd all be talking about what a great parody of the Bee Gees the cover was!
I have never actually heard Love Beach. I'm a casual ELP fan at best, but nothing about it has ever made me think I needed to check it out. I think I'm gonna have to rectify this today, as curiosity is really getting the best of me. My assumption is that it sounds like Ambrosia (from their third album onward)...or Pablo Cruise.
"Running Wild" - Girlschool After the raw menace and sinister power of Demolition, Hit and Run, Screaming Blue Murder (a hard rock milestone imo), and Play Dirty, Running Wild seemed to be something of a poodle clip.
I never quite understood what is meant by "irrelevancy" in this case? Is that prog is non-factor in popular music, and contemporary music culture? If that's what is meant, all I have to say is, who cares*? I doubt music with: a very high level of musicianship, complexity, a broader and deeper range of emotional and/or intellectual content than mainstream music will ever be able to achieve, long format music, avoidance of verse>chorus>bridge song form, will ever be popular again. I am not just including prog here. There is so much contemporary prog from all over the world, that sounds substantially different than the prog of the 70's, that it is hard to keep up with it all. Much of it, is even more "progressive" than the prog of the 70's, because it is a given that there is no chance of popularity, so there is no need for modern prog bands to try to write a hit. Is any of it culturally relevant? No, of course not. Is any of it incredible music, with world class musicianship, with deep and broad levels of emotional content? Of course there is. *I guess the musicians care, because they would probably like to make a better living.
Thanks to those who can laugh and wish to help others laugh. May those who can't laugh learn from those who still can. It is good for you, makes you feel better, strengthens your immune system, fights cancer, and firms up your abs! Lighten up! I will be gone for a while. Thanks for the chuckles, been a fun and funny ride.
