Btw, @mark winstanley , I meant to ask, what's your schedule for the days we'll be covering the Sleepwalker bonus tracks after the album proper ends tomorrow?
It does sound like the Kinks, more or less. The question is one of quality and a unique approach. If the first thing I heard from them was "Stormy Sky," or even "Full Moon," would I be on this thread at 5:34 in the morning 42 years hence? Would I have continued the journey? It was "Lola," I think, so here I am.
Nothing much to add, this is a great song, and my long-time favorite on the album with the opener. The walking bass line in the outro is heavily reminiscent of Hendrix's version of Hey Joe.
Full Moon is one of the three really good tracks on this album. Excellent song and lyrically it's another song about sleepwalking, which we know Ray suffered from - if suffered is the right word?
You’ve got to love these ominous low piano notes in the intro. They have an Elton Someone Saved My Life Tonight/Danny Bailey kind of vibe, only more sinister. Oh, and yeah, One Man's Ceiling too, good catch @ARL. Then starts a lovely piano song, Headmaster style, but you understand quickly enough that it's not gonna last, the song's gonna growl at some point. It’s another interesting one, a rock song in delivery but almost folk in structure, just a long verse ending with a title phrase/hook, and no proper chorus, just a short bridge. Or maybe, a verse that by virtue of repetition and momentum-building becomes the chorus. The way Ray sets his inner shouty-self free as the song proceeds, enhanced by the excellent group “aaah” background vocals, gives it an almost anthemic quality, but it's hard to tell if it’s painful or liberating – or both. Dave’s quite discreet here, just a bit of textured chords in places, and I think Ray even does the high harmony himself on the “it’s just / another / full moo-oo-oo-oo-oon” main hook. Day after day, this deep Sleepwalker dive makes it apparent that Ray had something on his mind, a theme or concept of sorts, when he started writing this fistful of sleepless tunes. All this nightlife imagery, vampire, night stalking, creep crawling, werewolf, moon, skies, obsession, jealousy, alienation, mixing the surreal (horror flicks) and the all too real (alcoholism, despair, mental illness)… sometimes it feels like the whole record is the radio soundtrack of a long insomnia night, spent walking around a city, or driving around it in Travis Bickle’s cab (Taxi Driver was released in early 1976). I too long neglected this song, but it clicked for me a few years ago, after I found out Ray did it solo because it was a fan’s favorite. I much prefer the studio take to the Old Whistle Test one, I find it more powerful, more frightening, more cathartic, more feverish (as Tom Petty would've said). And yeah, in the end, we get the Johnny Thunder “lalala’s” and the come-back of the Lola resonator guitar! Yep, Johnny Thunder and Lola, folks ! So no "doesn't sound like the Kinks" allowed today, then !!
Full Moon: Hmm, I do think it’s very clever to circle back to ‘Sleepwalker’ with the lyrics, “Don't be afraid of me when I'm walking in my sleep. Don't get alarmed, dear, when I start to crawl and creep.” I think this is a good, solid song. Plain vanilla, if you will, a bit syrupy with the synths…but pleasant. This was one of my five original playlist candidates and I’ve gone back and forth trying to decide. But The Kinks standards are high (not my fault!) and so it’s a ‘no.’ Playlisters: 2 out of 8
Pretty much the same as usual Tomorrow - Life Goes On , and I'll give my album thoughts Wednesday - Artificial Light Thursday - Prince Of The Punks Friday - The Poseur Saturday - On The Outside (both Mixes) Monday - Father Christmas single Tuesday - Misfits
Ah , see the reason I asked was there is one more 'Sleepwalker' outtake at large that I thought should be considered: 'Elevator Man' which so far has only appeared on the 'Waterloo Sunset '94' EP in (naturally) 1994 (this is also where 'On The Outside' first appeared).. tbh it's not their most substantial song, so I'm not saying it should necessarily get a day to itself, but was wondering if you could find space for it on one of he days?
Well that is going to come down to the individual.... a lot of us wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the Arista years, and the Kinks wouldn't exist for us.... I suppose that is why I find it extremely interesting that so many folks seem to somewhat resent the Arista years, or something... that's how it seems to come across..... I think most of us would agree that Something Else to Arthur, at least, are probably peak Kinks in a sense...... but as for the longevity of the band through the eighties and nineties, the Arista years are probably the most important era, because without them a very large number of us wouldn't have ever heard much else by the band.
"Full Moon" is a song I really appreciate. It is another song I learned from the Winterland 1977 broadcast. I really like the studio recording which has the sweep of Kinkiness I may have been missing with the trip to the middle of the road on "Stormy Sky". It is a great song and a heartfelt Ray vocal.
This is my anal retentiveness coming out so I'll respect your decision in the end, but since the track was recorded 1976 I was wondering if it wouldn't be better first covered in the Sleepwalker timeframe? For instance we covered all the Great Lost Album songs when they were recorded in the late 60s and then considered the album as a whole when it came out in 1973.
I can do it on Tuesday and move Misfits to Wednesday, I don't mind.... My understanding was that it was remixed and also had recording edits, though I could be wrong on that.... so it seemed outside the 77 time frame
So did 'On The Outside' though, but we're covering the 1994 mix at this point as well. I don't really want to make a big deal of it, really sorry I hate making waves over something so unimportant but can't help my nerdishness here: we could always put it to a vote?
Full Moon Without a doubt, the strongest ballad on the album. It revisits the by now familiar theme of insomnia, but this time unmitigated by any levity, as we had with the title track -- this song is dark. The narrator is consumed by stress, madness..."a truly broken man". The song starts with a portentous piano intro and builds slowly from there, gathering more intensity verse by verse as the harmonies kick in, step by step, until Ray's voice screams in utter frustration at the inescapable trap he's in. The middle piano break is as frightening as it is beautiful -- was someone listening to Warren Zevon's debut album (and giving him ideas for his second)? And I loooove that "Johnny Thunder" reprise at the end -- mostly Dave, but Ray joins in for a verse. Sweet Helena is praying harder than ever. "Mr. Big Man", its antipode on the album, simmers gently with controlled anger. "Full Moon" is the sound of that rage boiling over. After two relatively bland numbers, this track is the shot in the arm Sleepwalker needed. This is a majestic, powerful song. A hidden gem in the Kinks' extensive oeuvre.
This may be obvious, but it suddenly dawned on me watching this that when Ray goes into the falsetto “mooo oon, ooh oooh, oooh” he’s evoking a wolf howling at the moon!
Re: Stephen Bishop. You've seen him if you've ever seen National Lampoon's Animal House. He's the guy playing guitar on the staircase who has his instrument decimated by Blutto/Belushi for playing wimpy music at a rowdy, rock 'n roll party. If that's not an indictment of yacht rock, I don't know what is!
Yeah. Ray must have a special fondness for this one. I was taken aback when the updated CD re-issue of "Come Dancing With The Kinks" swapped out Juke Box Music--a superior track, IMO--for Full Moon. My only guess it was done at the behest of Ray.
I'll do it on Tuesday. There is an original version of On The Outside. To the best of my knowledge there isn't an original version of Elevator Man available... that was why I looked at it the way I did. Tomorrow - Life Goes On , and I'll give my album thoughts Wednesday - Artificial Light Thursday - Prince Of The Punks Friday - The Poseur Saturday - On The Outside (both Mixes) Monday - Father Christmas single Tuesday - Elevator Man Wednesday - Misfits
Full Moon In the upper half of Sleepwalker songs, although I don't think I noticed it much for years. I like it okay now. Love Ray's singing on this one.
Genuine thanks for your patience in accommodating my irritating nitpicking on this subject. I'm afraid I have one more irritating thing to add though: should those days be moved ahead one? As if today is Tuesday and we're discussing 'Full Moon', doesn't that make 'Life Go On' Wednesday etc?
Sorry folks, a bit busy, messed it up. Corrected list Tomorrow - Life Goes On , and I'll give my album thoughts Thursday - Artificial Light Friday - Prince Of The Punks Saturday- The Poseur Monday- On The Outside (both Mixes) Tuesday- Father Christmas single Wednesday - Elevator Man Thursday - Misfits
