Brian Eno - Song by Song (& Album by Album) Thread

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by HitAndRun, Oct 31, 2021.

  1. Nitrous

    Nitrous Forum Resident

    Location:
    Shropshire UK
    This is the only duff track on the album. Lacklustre version that doesn’t really fit with the overall album. 2/5.
     
  2. AZRunner

    AZRunner Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW FL
    You Really Got Me. I guess I liked the original at some point in my life, before I was beaten over the head with endless covers. This may be the worst of the lot, just because it’s such a waste of precious groove space. 3/5 is as low as I’m willing to go for my personal rating scale of Eno tracks, but this is not an Eno track. 1/5
     
  3. eeglug

    eeglug Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, USA
    You Really Got Me. I've never had a problem with this. It was good fun when I first heard it and it's still that way now. This, even after having been bludgeoned by Van Halen's leering lascivious cover (which I also like on its own terms). It'll be a good bit of sideshow entertainment if any of you throw a tantrum over this.;)

    This is one where Eno's vocals & the harmony vocals seem particularly suspiciously pristine. Supposedly it's MacCormick & Watson on backup vocals throughout this album...hmmm. I'll have to re-listen a little later.
     
  4. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    You Really Got Me:

    I also have no problem with this, but I find it a bit plodding and lackluster. It misses the drive and rawness of the original. So in that sense it's the least interesting song on the album. And yes, the vocals sound too slick to be genuinely live.
     
  5. William Gladstone

    William Gladstone I was a teenage daydreamer.

    Location:
    Panama City, FL
    You Really Got Me - When I saw this on the track listing a couple of weeks ago, I outwardly groaned. This is not my favorite era of the Kinks, this song is overdone, and Van Halen made the definitive version (that I still get tired of), so...I was not expecting much. I was, however, pleasantly surprised. Yes, it started off with that iconic riff, like this would be a full out barnstormer for kicks and giggles, but then it pulled back and that staccato organ took control and I thought "neat." Eno's vocals sound like they're almost melting, very deadpan slacker and indifferent, like he's trying to flatter the girl but also can't quite be bothered. That's a nice touch. Ultimately, they make this relic (though at the time I don't guess it was much more than a decade old) their own, and the solo breakdown, where yet again the rhythm section manifests glory, is tastefully epic, and the variation that becomes the outro is a nice spin. Still, at the end of the day, it's THAT song...and even though they did a good job of changing it up, the question remains - why...? 3/5 because of the rhythm section.
     
  6. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Thank God I've never heard this Van Halen version that seems so famous.
     
  7. William Gladstone

    William Gladstone I was a teenage daydreamer.

    Location:
    Panama City, FL
    A few years ago I saw a gal named Frankie Rose and her studio albums are all about the harmonies, and I wondered how they would transfer to a live setting. Answer - some sort of "harmonizer." No idea if they had that sort of gadget, etc back in the mid 70s, but she was able to pretty well recreate her studio vocals running one mic through this little pedal deal that I assume had presets galore.

    And that's about as technical as I can get, because I'm a bass player and stupid when it comes to gear. And women. :)
     
  8. William Gladstone

    William Gladstone I was a teenage daydreamer.

    Location:
    Panama City, FL
    That absolutely made my morning LOL I'd say you don't know what you're missing...but yeah, you do. :)
     
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  9. Vangro

    Vangro Forum Resident

    Location:
    London
    Van Halen didn't mean much in the UK at all until "Jump". I'm sure hardcore metallers and guitar shop nerds knew them.
     
  10. Front Row

    Front Row Finding pleasure when annoying those with OCD.

    Location:
    Chicago IL
    Nice way to close the set e the encores. I like the chords played at near the end of the song.
     
  11. brew ziggins

    brew ziggins Forum Prisoner

    Location:
    The Village
    A fly in the ointment. The song has always been too sophomoric for words As noted above, Eno's detached vocals hint at parody, but the rest of the band seems to be playing it straight. The instrumental break goes nowhere.

    **

    All I can say is, there better be a bitchin' encore.
     
  12. fried

    fried Forum Resident

    Location:
    Paris
    I managed to avoid the Van Halen version too.

    I love the Kinks, Waterloo Sunset might be my favourite song by anyone ( one of my all time, top ten all time favourite songs of all time) but I don't even like the plodding original. At least it had some sort of edge. Eno sounds so out of place singing this I wonder if it's supposed to be tongue in cheek. 1/5
     
  13. Patanoia

    Patanoia Third Ear Centre

    Location:
    Grapevine, TX
    I hear "You Really Got Me" as part of a medley with "Miss Shapiro", the way U2 interpolated snatches of songs like "Ruby Tuesday" into "Bad", or Lou Reed doing "You Keep Me Hanging On" in the middle of "Rock 'n' Roll". Maybe "Miss Shapiro" reminded them of the Kinks' song during rehearsal. (Maybe it even inspired "Miss Shapiro", so they're doffing their cap.) Note how the three note pattern from "Miss Shapiro" is repeated at the end of "You Really Got Me". On its own, not a great version, but in context, 4/5.
     
  14. eeglug

    eeglug Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, USA
    I think you're on to something with this, that's really the spirit in which to take the inclusion of this track. Not every artist is hellbent on showing how deadly serious everything is, sometimes they just want to show the audience a good time.

    (I remember in the 80s a friend dragged me to see Bryan Ferry - whose 80s albums didn't really do anything for me - and I was actually surprised how much power chord guitar he incorporated in his set, at a time when all his studio work was super cold 80s slick techno-ish pop. Sometimes bands do stuff to make their concerts work and please people who come to see them, even if their guesses about audience taste are off the mark.)
     
  15. richard a

    richard a Forum Resident

    Location:
    borley, essex, uk
    Yeah it’s the seventies, it’s a live gig, there’s always a cover or two of a classic track.
    Eno does sound a bit awkward singing it to be honest, but it’s a hell of a lot more fun than that very stuffy cover of The Lion Sleeps Tonight. Manzanera does the business, the band rocks, and the audience can sing / clap along to something familiar. It’s all good.
    Don’t worry folks, those 801 boys will be back shortly for an encore that will utterly blow your socks off!
     
  16. Summer of Malcontent

    Summer of Malcontent Forum Resident

    'You Really Got Me' is a great song that's easy to cover decently but hard to cover originally, and I've got to give the band credit for their oddball take on it, even if it's not an album highlight for me.
     
  17. Mr. Heartbreak

    Mr. Heartbreak Deep in the heart of darkest America

    Location:
    US
    Everyone who has never heard the Van Halen version needs to YouTube it STAT!

    You’ll either love it or hate it, so there’s no downside. :laugh:
     
  18. conjotter

    conjotter Forum Resident

    This link should work. Miss Shapiro is a must-listen:

     
  19. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

    You Really Got Me

    This to me is a bit of a novelty cover. In the same way that The Lion Sleeps Tonight is, in hindsight, a bit of a novelty.

    Perhaps this is not the best cover to choose for the album, but I do think it's fun to hear Brian singing this.

    Although, I do prefer the Kinks version.

    3.5/5
     
  20. HitAndRun

    HitAndRun Forum Resident Thread Starter

  21. richard a

    richard a Forum Resident

    Location:
    borley, essex, uk
    Here we go.
    Is Third Uncle by 801 even better than the studio original? I think it is.
    Many wondrous things to be heard here.
    The drumming. Wow. How does Simon Phillips keep up such a barrage of bashing without keeling over?
    Manzanera’s astonishing guitar playing. Perfectly recreated from his astonishing guitar playing two years earlier on the record. But edged up a notch. Manic and deeply exciting.
    Eno’s ferocious delivery. Stunning.
    The rest of the band keeps pace too. No slacking here! What an encore. What a way to close the gig / live album.
     
  22. AZRunner

    AZRunner Forum Resident

    Location:
    SW FL
    A great live cover. If I had been in the audience I would have gone absolutely apesh!t at the opening bass notes. Nothing could ever come close to the the studio version, that’s untouchable, but what a way to end a concert. 4.5/5
     
  23. Jamsterdammer

    Jamsterdammer The Great CD in the Sky

    Location:
    Málaga, Spain
    Third Uncle:

    Great! Just great. A fantastic headbanger to end the show with. I can just imagine being in the audience and everybody jumping up and down. The band's on fire. Perfect.
     
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  24. eeglug

    eeglug Senior Member

    Location:
    Chicago, IL, USA
    Third Uncle. Sheesh, it's even faster than the studio version. A real runaway train of a performance. The vocals sound authentically live here. Is there a complete version of this? I remember the vinyl version sputters to an abrupt end. My cd version fades out. Maybe the actual performance goes on too long for its own good?
     
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  25. brew ziggins

    brew ziggins Forum Prisoner

    Location:
    The Village
    So, it's Eno and Phil and Simon etc playing Third Uncle. ***** How bad could it be?

    I'm somebody who will lean toward live versions 95% of the time, but I am surprised to conclude that I prefer the TTMBS take. The 801 cut sounds like the cover photo, a bit grainy and out of focus. Phil's 801 solo sounds like Phil Manzanera cutting loose, which, no question, is a good thing. However, in the studio, he deploys a methodical, tooth grinding, laser like Fripptone, which is a wonder.
     
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