Shadorne
You can have my Petty tix if he plays in Canada! I will catch him with TT by the Bay. My kids and grandkids are firmly rooted there! |
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I am up North in Canada. Perhaps Steve will head North one day on a drum clinic for Gretsch. I saw a clinic with Dennis Chambers last year with Ndugu Chancler in the crowd. Dennis paid a huge tribute to Ndugu - a real gentleman - and then he proceeded with his impression of the hulk drum solo... Dennis is so good it was scary.
Steve's More Head project was with the Stone Temple Pilots and Alex Ligertwood - it rarely get's much better than that - some old favorites played with a new twist! |
Nice one Shadorne -
We come from a disfunctional family.......he is the black guy who is into rock and roll, I am the white guy who is into hip-hop. We talk on the phone often, each time promising to spend more time together, but he is busy, me too and are the only family members living in the US, him in LA, me in SF.
Nice to see you post on a dream Brit supergoup of today and include him - beautiful complement - I will make sure he sees that.
Where do you live out of curiosity ?
He sent me "It Up" and I always ask him to send me any stuff he does but he has never mentioned "More Head" - I am guessing he did that after it up as the cover was all about the head shot, so I will have to get on his case about that one, never knew it existed until you mentioned it. Just bugged him two weeks ago to snag me a promo copy from him on Platinum Samples - have heard nothing back so when I remind him I will hit him up for "More Head" also. |
Just saw your name linked to the Tom Petty thread and checked in. Are you a fan? Not a great fan myself but my cousin is in the band - Steve Ferrone (drummer). I have been following your cousin Steve since the days of AWB. I first saw him in 1977 in Nice, France, with AWB - at that time it was the original band with the addition of Steve - the "Person To Person" album features how they sounded back then. I have both Steve's own albums - It Up and More Head. He is such a tasteful player. I saw Steve on the Mojo tour when they came through and loved the triplet in six time feel on Flash Of Freedom - sounds like something he an Mike came up with together at The Dirty Knobs - certainly a darker sound than one would expect from Petty which is why Mojo is such an interesting new sound for the band. Anyway if Bongo can't use those tickets then think of me ;-) |
TT: I am good. Working the whole Summer. Tom Petty can always be counted on to put on a great show. Working Coachella this weekend; some great private parties with Peter Yorn and Aloe Blacc. |
Hey Bongofury - how are you ?
Just saw your name linked to the Tom Petty thread and checked in. Are you a fan? Not a great fan myself but my cousin is in the band - Steve Ferrone (drummer). Next time they are in LA or SF and if you are free I will wangle a couple of passes and we can grab that beer we never had.
Just thought I would hop off the porn sites and check in and see what chaos you might be creating around here.
Cheers |
As an old geezer myself, I am not a big fan of old geezer musicians. I find most of their stuff recycled, boring, and lackadaisical. When you've lost a step, hang up the spikes.
I spend the majority of my music budget on new bands primarily indie stuff.
That being said Neil Young is an exception, at least for me. His willingness to experiment is refreshing.
Kudos as well to the Doobie Brothers. If you're a fan of their music from the first album to "Stampede", you'll love the new album. It expands on that path. |
Bill, glad you feel that strong. I love Neil,gonna buy it right after Christmas. |
>>12-23-10: Winoguy17
Does anyone really take the Grammy's seriously?<<
Excellent point.
Past grammy winners include Sheryl Crow, Christopher Cross and a myriad of talentless suck ups.
Le Noise is the best rock album of 2010 grammys notwithstanding. |
Does anyone really take the Grammy's seriously? |
>>12-22-10: Shadorne
Mojo is nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Album<<
So is Le Noise by Neil Young and should win by a landslide if the voters don't muck it up. |
Mojo is nominated for a Grammy for Best Rock Album |
I never got around to posting on Petty/ZZ Top at the Hollywood Bowl. A great show and the Mojo material benefits greatly from the "live" treatment. The set list was greatest hits + Mojo. IME, this type of show tends to favor the hits and that's what happened here, as the (typically older H-Bowl) crowd starts to energize with the more familiar tunes. Not everyone seemed familiar with Mojo. Personally, I preferred the new stuff.
Marty
PS ZZ Top was astonishing. The radio hits degrade into monster riffs that barely hang together as songs. As you can imagine, this didn't necessarily go over so well with the crowd described above. Without diminishing Petty's show in any way, I thought ZZ Top was better than the headliner. I believe that I may have been the only person in attendance who held that opinion. |
Just picked it up and have listened to it twice, and I like it. After the latest from Clapton and Santana I was afraid to start this album for fear of hearing lame covers, but I was brave and was rewarded nicely, Good job Mr. Petty!! |
I'm real impressed that T.P. can put out his own blues without covering all the past stuff.It may not be perfect but he sure ain't scared to give it a try and that's what I like about it. It's refreshing and new. I've always been a Tom Petty fan so maybe I'm a little biased. |
I finally listened to the Bluray version of Mojo. I think the music is great especially First Flash of and Pirate's Cove but the sound quality is very good but not great. Gaucho on SACD, which I acquired at the same time, is much more impressive. |
At first I didn't get it. I thought the songs were too simple and a bit predictable, and I wasn't prepared for their style or a lot of the country influences. But the more I listened (and later with the aid of a certain, ahem, mood affecting plant) I became enthralled with it. The most beautifully simple songs -- both lyrically and musically -- expertly written and played by pros who have obviously been playing together a while. Honestly, the music grooves in a way that reminds me of being on some sort of lazy trip. Very appropriately named album.
The guitar work is fantastic and really open and more raw compared to some earlier works. The rhythm section has never sounded better either. It sounds like they're all really having fun getting loose. IMO one of the best Petty albums ever.
Also, compared to a lot of the stuff out there currently, I think it's recorded rather well, as I believe most of the later Petty releases to be.
PS - another nod to She's The One soundtrack. A gem |
Bill, I think the program is to progress from ganster to rapper, not the reverse. |
>>07-26-10: Rwwear
If Rap didn't have vocals and the dreadful thump, thump, thump it might be tolerable<<
Agreed.
There would be dead silence in that case.
Infinitely more enjoyable than listening to current and future criminals shucking and jiving.
Thump thump. |
If Rap didn't have vocals and the dreadful thump, thump, thump it might be tolerable. |
Audifeil,
regarding the no rap thing, if you listen to most of Dr.Dre's production work with Eminim, the slight musical nuances that build up in the background you would be very impressed. I suggest the Marshal Matthews LP to start, listen to whats going on behind the vocals.
I can also suggest you try The Nappy Roots catalog, very musical.
Your missing out on a lot of great stuff, Beastie Boys etc but hey, it's your record collection, not mine. |
Shadorne: What a diplomatic response! You're my hero! |
Regarding the Mojo BD, dynamics are similar to Tom Waits Heart Attack and Vine CD. Recordings of such high quality are extremely rare these days.
Some may not like the "live" sound - so opinions can vary - no doubt some will hate it.
Although, it may not make the demo shortlist purely because it lacks careful manipulation, reverb, overdubs etc. It is a very "honest" recording and sounds about as realistic as it gets.
As a recording that sounds like the band actually does sound (when playing live) - this is recording is definitely exceptional. |
Shadorne,
I just played my Bluray for the first time and I concur with your assessment. The CD is most notable -IMHO- for what it lacks: compression. It appears to have been recorded at a significantly lower level than most of this ilk, and - for me - must be cranked to appreciate. It also offers a nice sense of space and air around the performers.
The Bluray sounds quite similar, but adds a more obvious dynamic quality, evident at lower SPLs. Still not demo quality to my ear, but awfully, awfully good for what is essentially a "bar band" style recording. |
I just received the Bluray of Mojo and it comes with a link for a FLAC stereo 24bit 48KHz download.
It is better than the CD, same EQ and mix and obviously the same studio master but there are more dynamics. While the CD was very good, the Bluray is exceptional sound quality. |
Or you could get into the Roots. ?uestlove is an amazing drummer. |
>>07-20-10: Bongofury
Audiofeil, no rap<<
Correct, no rap. No hip hop.
I'd rather have a root canal. |
Audiofeil, no rap? You are missing out. |
Audiofeil,I have to agree with you on one point,"Wish You Were Here" is a much better recording than "Dark Side Of The Moon". |
Ok, I'll take one more bite of the apple probably to the consternation of most readers but this is it.
To my ears this is simply a good but nothing out of the ordinary recording. As a frame of reference let me use another over-hyped (IMO) album recognized for its' "superior" sonics.
I now have 23 copies (18 vinyl, 5 digital) of Dark Side Of The Moon. In almost every "best recordings" thread, this album inevitably receives accolades one after the other.
To my ears, the album is very similiar to Mojo i.e. a very good recording but nothing spectacular. Yes, the special effects are cool and much of the synthesizer (VCS 3) work is groundbreaking. But sonically the album pales in comparison to Wish You Were Here, The Wall, and even Meddle for that matter.
I'm done now as I've undoubtedly PO'd many Pink Floyd groupies in addition to Tom Petty's.
Oh yeah
IMO
YMMV
Yadda yadda..... |
The SQ controversy is interesting, as both the Pallas pressing and recorded SQ seem excellent to me as well. Bill, is it possible that your negative opinion about SQ is attributable to the digital recording process in general as compared to analog recording? Although recorded in hi rez, there is a slight synthetic character (what I would call a digital "envelope") that perhaps no lover of the analog recording process can ever get over. |
inspired in part by this thread, i've devoted more time listening to mojo and my initial enthusiasm has somewhat temepered. there's a distinct, 70s fleetwood mac vibe to these proceedings, which is not necessarily a bad thing. however, the record is, in the end, decidedly schizophrenic--really cool, hard edged rockers are offset by the underdriven, mostly forgettable ballady stuff. plus "pirates cove" should never have entered the canon of such a fine band. nonetheless, i reiterate that mike campbell is a god. and i vote with those opining that the recording quality is superb--if nothing else, the record sounds damn good. |
PS
If anybody else has issue with my opinion on this album (sonics not content), please private email me or call.
There's no sense in mucking up this thread any further.
Thanks
Bill |
I'm saying that based on 50+ years of collecting vinyl which has reached almost 7,000 pieces (rock, classical, blues, folk, motown, country, and most other genres except rap), it is an average recording.
Today's standards/expectations have been lowered and the manufacturers are meeting them to the demise of long time vinyl aficionados.
That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it. |
Audiofeil: I believe that while it isn't superb, Mojo is definitely an above average to excellent recording/vinyl mastering--at least by today's standards. Go back thirty years or more, and lots of albums sounded as good or better. Are you saying that Mojo is merely an average recording compared to other recently released mainstream rock records from the past few years? |
At least TP did not issue a hip hop album. I would be the ONLY person on Gon thinking that was great. |
My dear coleslaw
Actually it's you who missed the point.
I like the material.
The recording is average.
Let's brush up on those reading comprehension skills. |
Audiofiel,
This, "MOJO" represents a unexplored direction for this band.
In my opinion, they "Nailed" it!
This is more of a blues experiment, and to say that it is in anyway a failure, is to completely. "miss the point".
TP Rocks!!!! |
FWIW - you do have to crank Mojo to get the goods! The benefit of the better dynamic range is lost if you don't turn it up. |
You know what - My apologies to all. Specifically Bill. I'll feil (sorry!) this one under: Agree to Disagree.
Marty |
My responses to Marty and Shadorne are over the top.
Please ignore idiot me.
To the gallows....... |
I'm sure Bill's right. His declaration of the relative quality of this recording is unassailable based on the difference between the 7,000 recordings he cites and the 5,000 I referenced. Who could argue with that? He is clearly 2,000 more qualified to pass judgement than I am.
No attempt to piss on (or off) anyone. I'm merely pointing out that a delta in the size of the database does not change Bill's opinion into fact. Do you seriously believe that this difference in opinion is based on the fact that, buried within those additional 2,000 recordings lies wisdom revealed to Bill but not to those with less than his mighty 7,000 recording collection?
Maybe you do. OTOH, I suspect that - as is so often the case - Bill states his opinion as fact because that is simply what he does.
My leg feels nice and dry.
Marty |
A pissing contest with more down the leg than over the fence. |
Well another 2,000+ and you exit the piddling and enter the serious.
Good luck to you. |
Well, if you put it that way.....
Glad to get that straightened out because I thought it was a decidedly better than the average r'n'r cd. It appears that I sorely needed to be disabused of that misperception. It being based on my piddling 5,000 or so r'n'r cd collection which I naively use for context. Of course, I also thought that this was a matter of opinion, but I guess I'm mistaken on more than one front.
Thankfully, I learned the truth before it was too late.
Marty |
>>07-13-10: Shadorne
but it kicks the proverbial butt of most pop and r'n'roll recordings in SQ.<<
No it doesn't, but you're entitled to your opinion which could be based on a very limited collection. I'm comparing it to 7,000+ pieces of vinyl. Enough said.
It's an averaga recording. |
It's an average recording.
Nothing more. Well you are entitled to your opinion and I don't have the vinyl so I cannot comment on that. The CD is outstanding as far as these things go in this kind of genre. It may not be a carefully crafted "Diana Krall" studio recording but it kicks the proverbial butt of most pop and r'n'roll recordings in SQ. |
Dread,
I think that was the point. It's kind of a stylistic survey of the late '60s. I like it quite a bit, but I understand your take on it, too.
Marty
Rwwear - Upon closer examination, it turns out that I was actually given a copy of the blu-ray, not the dvd. I haven't had a chance to cue it up yet, but hope to do so soon. I'll comment when that happens. |
Rock is by nature unrefined as it should be. But I wonder since we are listening to different versions of the recording which is the best sounding? I have yet to receive the Bluray version so am unable to comment on it's quality. |
