Diamond Head: An excellent take - visceral, atmospheric, melodic - the rhythm section yet again almost takes the cake, but this is the first one where Phil really, really lets the passion in his playing shine, and I feel the same exhilaration that I do from the Viva! version of In Every Dream Home a Heartbreak, when everything kicks in. 5/5
Diamond Head Symphonic, soaring, cascading, singing, sighing. Insert gushing superlatives here. One of my favoritest tracks by anybody ever. Back a semi full of stars to the loading dock Incidentally, of the photos I adore, the 801 cover has to be the worst, the grainiest, the most off-color. That’s because I am convinced it was taken during Diamond Head.
Diamond Head Well, the guitar solo at the end of this track pretty much seals the deal for me. It's the soundtrack for everything that's wrong. I'm now guessing that Eno played this show because he may have owed Manzanera a large amount of money? I'm bowing out, see yah at "Science". 0/5
Talk about YMMV. ‘Insert gushing superlatives here. One of my favoritest tracks by anybody ever’ v ‘the soundtrack for everything that's wrong.’ Well, I guess we can be pretty sure the truth is somewhere in that range
For me to consider a live album to be great, the material has to be better live than in the studio. Not every song, but at least a few. There isn’t a single song on this album that is better live. This is still a very good version of Diamond Head. 4/5
Diamond Head I'm not sure what Brian did on this track. I presume some sort of treatment of Phil's guitar. I do like guitar instrumentals, but I think this while a good one isn't the best such track in Phil's oeuvre. It's nice, well performed, and produced. 3.5/5
Thanks for all the contributions everyone. Today's track is Miss Shapiro, written by Brian Eno and Phil Manzanera. Spotify link: Miss Shapiro - Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall,United Kingdom/1976 Lyrics: 801 - Miss Shapiro Lyrics | Lyrics.com Personnel: As per the album Again, we've covered the song in the day allocated to Diamond Head. Here's the original version. And, just for a bit of flavour, here is a non-professional cover by 'Ukesters of Triskelion.
Another very good cover that’s not quite as good as the original. I’m started to sound like a broken record. 4/5 For what it’s worth, I just found this live cover of Miss Shapiro/You Really Got Me by INXS. They are introduced as 801 songs and apparently they performed them regularly as Hutchence states, “This is the last time we’ll be performing this, thank god.” Indeed.
Miss Shapiro. Better than the studio version IMO but then maybe I'm biased, having heard 801 Live long before Diamond Head. I find the keyboard part during the chorus a little too loud on the studio version. Urgent, catchy - just excellent.
Miss Shapiro. I was looking at the lyric sheet while listening and this appears to be a truncated version. It ends too abruptly and I will express my displeasure at what comes next tomorrow. Put me in the 'it crushes the studio version' camp. The chorus: Smokey broads and smoky windows in the square Come, come, charmer, come on over for the day Disappearing cocoa forests flash and die Fortunes crumble, all demolished in the bay I totally dig this - it must have sounded majestic soaring out over the audience at the gig. Overall, this a rather odd, Dadaist lyric to be blasting at a crowd in 1975. As we saw with Sombre Reptiles, the 801 material pushed the boundaries of expected concert performance just a bit. ***** for what we got, wish it went on longer.
The segue to You Really Got Me Is sharp and effective Phil’s outro solo majestic I always loved the fast word play and Brian doesn’t disappoint Movement Hampered Like at Christmas Ha Ha Isn’t Life a Circus Bill McCormack in the unsung hero of the 801 live set
Miss Shapiro - Pretty faithful to the studio version, and that's fine. This definitely has a lot more spark to it, which is yet again because of the rhythm section, which again seems to ignite Phil. That said, still not one of my favorite Eno related outings. 3.7/5
I also heard this version before the studio version. Maybe that’s why I prefer this live version. Who Knows? Anyhow it’s another 5/5 for me.
Storming. The arrangement is better than the studio original, way more dynamic and fun. Shame it's shortened a bit, but what the heck, this is so bloody good! Loving how these nonsense lyrics were belted out onstage. And why not crash straight into You Really Got Me? Not essential, but a bit of a reward for those who've sat through the more complex tunes, and always a great live song, by whoever plays it. Makes perfect sense in he context of the gig.
Miss Shapiro: And we're rocking again! Very good song (not entirely enamored by the chorus. Not the lyrics, which are great, but the melody) which seaways nicely into the next.
The studio version has an odd but clearly intentional arrangement where it builds up momentum as it goes, just as the verse lyrics progress from coherence to gibberish. Each progressive verse "loosens up" both lyrically and musically until the whole track is going full steam ahead. I love that effect, but the more streamlined live arrangement obviously works better in that context. And I forgot to mention this earlier, when we were discussing the studio version; I'm not a U2 scholar, or even a fan, but does anybody else hear U2's signature guitar sound in the chiming guitars of that track?
Haven't been able to keep up with all the threads on my list, but enjoy reading everyone's comments here. I think I like just about everything on 801 Live with the possible exception of the soon-to-be-discussed Kinks cover. But then all is forgiven when the final track comes thumping along. Great release for Manzanera and Eno fans alike.
I think you could argue that but it's a stretch to me. Good catch though. But who knows, there may be other supporting evidence for the link. I don't know if I've ever read anything authoritative (eg. a direct quote from The Edge) on the topic. U2's guitar sound is often associated with the Edge's rhythmic/treble-y way of playing through a delay/echo and a lot of people (myself included) point to Keith Levene's playing on the first Public Image Limited single ("Public Image") from 1978. I would also argue that there are a number of uses of echo throughout the 70s career of Pink Floyd that may evoke the U2 sound (for example "Run Like Hell", or an older more far-fetched one, the echo on the bass guitar of "One Of These Days"). The other potential influence (without using echo) is Andy Gill's treble-y guitar playing on Gang of Four's Entertainment album. But all of the above is just speculation on my part...maybe there are more solid comments about how he got his sound. (I'm not sure I care that much about U2 to know, to be honest...I actually like Public Image Ltd, Gang of Four and Pink Floyd a whole lot more than u2!)
"Diamond Head" and "Miss Shapiro": in both cases, I'm in the "studio version is better" camp, but it's nice to have these live versions. 4.5/5 each. On the U2 influence, "In God's Country" always reminded me of Roxy's "Prairie Rose", but I'm not sure why, and I've never heard the Edge mention Phil as an influence.
Miss Shapiro I like this version better than the original Diamond Head version. I find the studio version gets a bit muddy and indistinct, while this one remains more focussed and more driving. Brian's vocal sounds more confident. This, to me, is a very 'Roxy Music' style song, and could be on a Roxy album with a Bryan Ferry lead vocal. Perhaps that helps show how important Phil was to the Roxy sound. While it takes a long time for the vocal to come in, I don't find the introduction too long at all. On the whole album the 801 band gels, but I think it particularly shows on this track because of the comparison to the original. 4/5
Thanks for all the contributions everyone. Today's track is You Really Got Me, written by Ray Davies and originally performed by The Kinks. Spotify link: You Really Got Me - Live From The Queen Elizabeth Hall,United Kingdom/1976 Lyrics: You Really Got Me Lyrics - 801 Personnel: As per the album. As this is a cover, I'll include the original Kinks version here: https://youtu.be/fTTsY-oz6Go
