"Tales from Topographic Oceans" Being Remixed by Steve Wilson

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by rstamberg, Nov 24, 2015.

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  1. JAG

    JAG Forum Professor with Tenure

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    Look when a band calling themselves a trademarked name and they had nothing to do with the music they are playing, they are covering it. They are hired guns. If a band changes musicians and produces new music and plays said music then they aren't hired guns are they? However when a band covers basically the 3 most popular albums the band ever produced and 4 out of five members had absolutely nothing to do with it then they are a cover band! You can argue and disagree but facts are facts. There is a reason they don't do Drama when 3 of the 5 members had something to do with it. Because it doesn't sell. Howe has slowed down so much that the music sounds like a lounge act and White simply can't keep up anymore. You can shout it from the mountains but what you have is a joke on tour at this point trying to fool those that don't know what is going on. I am a fanatic about Yes and know many Yes fans throughout the world for over 30 years. We don't go and wish they would stop. The band is going to play in front of maybe a handful of people. Promoters won't even book them anymore in anywhere but casinos and free carnivals.
     
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  2. Unfortunately, it's also about what they write. Don't see the bands you mentioned penning a "Stairway to Heaven" of this generation. People are still crying for a re mix of TFTO over 40 years later. I don't see any modern bands having that kind of staying power over the course of time. I might be wrong, but I would guess that Yes and Zeppelin will be held in much higher regard than System of a Down 50 years from now. It's more than just chops and playing through couplex time signatures. Ask Robert Fripp.
     
  3. Meng

    Meng Forum Resident

    In the US, maybe.

    In the UK and Europe, they still sellout non-casino and non-carnival venues which hold more than "a handful" of people. All the five British shows I've seen since Anderson left the band have been sold out, and more-than-warmly received.
     
  4. Norbert Becker

    Norbert Becker Senior Member

    Location:
    Philadelphia PA
    So by this logic no one can tour with the name Yes unless Bruford comes out of retirement and they tour without a guitarist or bassist?

    Somehow I don't think any of the surviving members would agree with that.
     
  5. vinylphile

    vinylphile Forum Resident

    Well you're entitled to that opinion. Personally, I'm not really sure that "Stairway to Heaven" has stood the test of time in any objective sense of the phrase. But your opinion is noted.

    Just please don't come on all strong and state factually that Yes and Zeppelin and (fill in the blank 60s or 70s band) is any better than current bands. That's just tiresome and condescending.
     
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  6. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    This wasn't a matter of the original vocals being "studio-enhanced" -- in 1973 when The Song Remains the Same was recorded Plant's voice had changed (because he'd blown it out) and he was no longer able to sing for very long in the high screechy style he had used on the first couple of Zeppelin albums. If you listen to live recordings from 1969-70 (say, the versions of "We're Gonna Groove" and "I Can't Quit You Baby" on Coda) you can hear that at the time those albums were recorded he could sing that way on stage.
     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2016
  7. vinylphile

    vinylphile Forum Resident

    I'm not so sure about that. I'm no Zep expert but according to Wiki The Song Remains the Same was recorded in 1973 - i.e. around the same time as Houses of the Holy and well before Physical Graffiti. His voice may certainly have "changed" but he can still scream the songs out on the studio recordings whereas to me his voice on the live recordings - well, not so much. When a singer's voice sounds much better in a studio vs. a live recording that gets me spidey senses tingling.

    Not saying I don't respect Zep and what they achieved, just saying that one is fooling oneself by saying that studio trickery didn't exist back then. Not to the extent of autotune - but I'm not talking about that sort of thing. There are plenty of talented musicians who actually can sing and play instruments creating music right now. One just has to dig a bit deeper to find what one is looking for vs. back in the 60s and 70s.

    Hey, an opinion that music and musicians from the 60s and 70s were better - no problem. But stating it as fact? Problem!
     
  8. Squealy

    Squealy Forum Hall Of Fame

    Location:
    Vancouver
    What I'm saying is, right at the time they were recording those shows his voice was changing but he was still having to sing the songs Zeppelin had recorded in the years prior when he could still sing that way. Following Houses of the Holy (on which, yes, they did employ a few tricks such as speeding his voice up) he didn't do that kind of singing as much on the albums anymore.
     
  9. JAG

    JAG Forum Professor with Tenure

    Location:
    Northeast USA
    I have said this before, without Anderson or Squire it doesn't matter who is in the band but it isn't the band YES. The surviving members owe their careers to those two. The only reason to use the name at this point is money. If it was simply to play music they would tour as the Steve Howe band.

    Look if you guys want to see Geoff Downes, Davidson, and Billy Sherwood perform Tales then go spend your money. That isn't YES performing and never will be.
     
  10. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    This thread has gone completely off the rails. There's another thread for arguing about the legitimacy of the current Yes line up, just as I'm sure that there are several about Robert Plant's vocals and the state of modern music. Please find the appropriate thread and grind your axe there.
     
  11. Norbert Becker

    Norbert Becker Senior Member

    Location:
    Philadelphia PA
    Baak on topic, are we saying that it seems as though a Wilson Tales *will* see the light of day after all?
     
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  12. PJayBe

    PJayBe Forum Resident

    I bloody well hope so!!!!!!
     
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  13. vinylphile

    vinylphile Forum Resident

    To get back on track - I certainly hope so as well! While I do find the album overblown and IMO it violates the cardinal rule of concept albums (music serving concept rather than the other way around), I do quite enjoy much of it. I also feel the fidelity could be greatly improved and hope Steve can work his magic!
     
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  14. Tristero

    Tristero In possession of the future tense

    Location:
    MI
    Yeah, I have mixed feelings about it overall too, but if the band feels strongly enough about Tales after all these years to tour behind it--and I'm still a bit stunned at the idea of the current line up performing this album in its entirety--I don't see why they wouldn't want to release a lovingly remixed treatment from S. Wilson. They already tackled the equally abstruse Relayer, so Tales feels like a natural in the series at this point.
     
  15. jay.dee

    jay.dee Forum Resident

    Location:
    Barcelona, Spain
    My favourite version of the TFTO material appears on Steve Howe's solo live album "Not Necessarily Acoustic":

     
    Last edited: Jan 18, 2016
  16. krimson

    krimson Forum Resident

    I think this thread was completed a few pages ago where it was stated from Wilson's newsletter that it has been completed but it is shelved. End of storey. We can lock this thread now. Otherwise we can all just dream at this point that it will get released but its up to a company that owns the rights to it that makes the decision.
     
  17. hotsoup

    hotsoup Forum Resident

    Location:
    Walla Walla, WA
    Sadly, I think I agree.
     
  18. Lonson

    Lonson I'm in the kitchen with the Tombstone Blues

    I want a version remixed. . . or remastered. . .by STEVE Wilson. . . or STEVE Hoffman.

    We'll see. I'm patient.
     
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  19. brimuchmuze

    brimuchmuze Forum Resident

    Actually he said it was not completed.
     
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  20. krimson

    krimson Forum Resident

    Correct. It was shelved in 2013 to do the popular albums.
     
  21. yesstiles

    yesstiles Senior Member

    :thumbsdow

    Since when is "Relayer" one of the popular albums?
     
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  22. brimuchmuze

    brimuchmuze Forum Resident

    agentalbert and box of frogs like this.
  23. DPM

    DPM Senior Member

    Location:
    Nevada, USA
    True enough. But for me, the music comes before all else. Besides, rock and rollers tend to be idea guys (and girls). For instance, no one in the Beatles was a jazz level player, but as a group they were pure gold. The same goes for Pink Floyd, Zeppelin, David Bowie, Bruce Springsteen, Black Sabbath, etc.

    Someone you should check out--that is, if you haven't already--is a young female singer named Cecile McLorin Salvant. I heard her CD, Woman Child (2013), for the first time this evening, and I was mightily impressed with both the music and the abilities of Ms. Salvant and her band. The sound quality of the CD (mastered by Mark Wilder) is pretty incredible too.
     
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  24. What does this have to do with TFTO?
     
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  25. milco

    milco Forum Resident

    I think people are expecting too much from a SW remix for 'Topographic Oceans'. Side two will still take ten minutes to get going, side three will still sound like it's been thrown together in the studio and side four will still have that silly drum solo. And TFTO will continue to be an album that fascinates and frustrates in equal measure...
     
    Timjosephuk likes this.
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