The Church - any of the congregation here? (Part Two)

Aweseome!

 

oh hey i'm in that photo

 

bought the new CD in advance* for the guaranteed admittance. saved me a bus trip to Tacoma. also got it signed by all the 'current' members! (my copy of _After Everything Now This_ was also signed at the Let It Be in-store in Minneapolis)


*already downloaded it from Freegal, but ... i have all the other albums on CD, soooo


one of the photos i took:

 

Denver show was awesome! The crowd was maybe a bit subdued but Steve was very enthusiastic anyway. It's kind of sad to hear him talk about old songs and say "I wrote this about..." rather than "we did this" because of course no one else on stage has any of the history with those songs. They're great at covering those older songs though.

Steve had a cut on his finger that he kept looking down at all night, it was clearly bothering him and interfering with his playing. He said he put super glue on it before the show but it came off. Anyway, as a result he said he was going to "cut the encore short" but even so, they played 23 songs in total and the final song "You Took" probably went on for 10 minutes or more, it was epic in the best possible way.

The songs from the new album sounded really good (and gave Ian and Ashley some cool backing vocal opportunities) and it was awesome hearing so many favorites, "Destination," "Hotel Womb," "Metropolis" (!!!), "Grind," "Is This Where You Live," etc. etc.

 

I have watched a few clips from Marty’s recent shows. He is sounding good. I hope he does a small tour in the US. It got me listening back to some of his Noctorum albums. The first one is great. I missed the RSD release, but just bought it for $5 from an Amazon seller. That’s crazy. It must not have sold well. “Ask Again” would have fit in well on Forget Yourself.

What are everyone’s favorite solo and side project Marty albums?

 

And you almost skipped this show/tour!!

 

Not much I don’t like. Art Attack, In Reflection, Nightjar and Spirit Level are some of my favorites. Might not be the popular opinion but I like MWP’s voice more than SK’s.

 

Yeah, that may be an unpopular opinion, but I am sure you are not alone. I definitely prefer Steve. I don’t care for many of Marty’s later Church tunes, but I love the earlier ones. Overall, he is very hit and miss for me.

I guess my favorites would be:
Rhyme
Spirit Level
Sparks Lane
In Reflection
Hanging Out In Heaven
Offer the Light

Some good songs on every album, but they can be inconsistent. I am loving these first two Noctorum albums lately. I didn’t think I cared much for Nightjar. I’ll have to revisit it.

 

I find it interesting and strange that Marty will not even mention the name The Church. He refers to them as his former band, but he is playing "Under the Milky Way" and a few other Church songs on the recent tour. He must be softening his stance a bit. They say time heals all wounds. I doubt he will ever make music with Steve again, but I am happy that he is starting to embrace the great songs he recorded with The Church.

I'm really impressed with Steve and his determination to keep it all going. Why should he have to quit the band that he worked so hard to create? He has done a fantastic job at finding replacements for what would seem like irreplaceable guitarists. Ian and Jeffrey are doing an amazing job. I still don't know enough about Ashley, but he looked to fit in well with the band. Many of the guitar parts that I thought must be him actually turned out to be Ian when I saw them play live. The first couple times I saw Ian with the band, he looked like a fish out of water. He was struggling to find his place. The recent show I thought he finally found it.

 

I haven't explored all of his solo albums but I adore both the All About Eve albums he played on. Touched By Jesus is one of my go-to spring/summer albums, and Ultraviolet is a must for fall/winter. I like these two a lot more than their first two albums. Is this a hot take?

 

I like those two better than the ones without Marty as well. Just love listening to him play.

 

Interesting discussion about MWP and I liken it to being a New Order fan with/without Hooky.

 

What if New Order was just Barny and a bunch of new people?

 

If MWP was like Hooky, he wouldn't be performing a handful of Church songs at his solo shows. He'd hire a bunch of young whippersnappers and do tours performing full Church albums, and only Church albums, night after night.

 

I do love Stephen Morris’ drumming so my analogy isn’t perfect.

But it’s a case where I still love parent band/main creative force, while wishing key past band members/significant contributors would return to the fold.

I feel similarly for Depeche Mode and The Cure too. Sometime soon I may feel same for U2…

 

The first guitarist isn't bad at all but Marty's creativity took them to the next level. The shoegaze makeover of Ultraviolet suited them beautifully.

 

I'm on my first listen of Hypnogogue. This makes up for my having a promo CD of Untitled #23 about a month or two before it was released (an album which has become top-tier Church for me). All I can say is that despite the turnover, this has the quintessential Church sound. Definitely the most immediate Church album since U#23 and first impression suggests Hypnogogue will rate highly in a catalogue of amazing albums.

 

Not according to Steve.

He wrote a scathing response to someone on a Church fan facebook page. I don't think Steve and Marty are getting together for tea anytime soon. I would post the entire thing here, but there are plenty of F bombs! Here are a few things Steve had to say.

Speaking of Marty and Peter- "Yes they are both amazing guitarists . However they were not songwriters nor were they particularly creative."

I love Steve and he is a far more prolific and accomplished songwriter, but I'm pretty sure Marty and Peter write songs!

Steve does make a lot of good points and he has reason to feel like he is being attacked by some fans who say it's not The Church anymore. He doesn't call Marty by name, but he even takes a dig at Olivia and calls her his child bride. Ouch!

Marty and Steve both seem like lovely people. There must be some deep rooted feud between them. Why do all my favorite bands always have so much drama?

 

Marty’s also a super nice guy and he made some terrific albums. I also like the two albums he made with All About Eve and the same band without their singer as Shooting Star. His work with Moat is also pretty darn good and especially Noctorum

 

Can you PM me the link?

 

I love Steve’s work but he’s totally off base here.

 

It would be amusing if Marty and Peter rejoined for a farewell tour and The Church lineup became 5 guitars, 2 drummers and Steve. And probably deafening.

 

In Chicago tonight.

 

Amazing pic. How was the show?

 

And Richard Ploog given he was the second longest serving drummer in the band.