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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2011 8:34:12 GMT
On the band web site (www.guymanning.com)...related to the new album..each song has its own biography page which tells you all about the history of the family and all the individual stories There you go Syd. That'll focus your listening when you get the CD. The 'average man' was a bit sad and the ending on the CD kind of surprised me - I won't tell you. Thanks Guy. BTW, I joined the site but can't get a reply button. I was going to answer your question re: are you all waiting for Christmas, any reviews. I couldn't get a reply to work otherwise I'd have written something.
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Post by guym on Dec 8, 2011 8:58:08 GMT
We will be doing a lot more live work in 2012 - check out the LIVE page on the web site ...hopefully we'll get near you!
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2011 14:10:40 GMT
Its a great site Ian, I'll be back a few times to read through some more. The site really reflects the care and feeling that goes into the songs.
Syd
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Post by Deleted on Dec 8, 2011 15:46:16 GMT
Absolutely, Syd. Then instead of focusing on the quality of recording, you start to focus on what Guy is actually singing about and how the sounds that he has chosen are woven in with the words to reflect the emotion/feeling or time and place of the event.
That's the 'craft' of a musician, where it communicates something rather than just a piece of music to put on while you have your tea!!
With Guy's music, a little bit of research does pay off and you start to see where he's coming from and then you realise what a good writer/arranger he really is.
I love the Jethro Tull feel in the first song, and it reflects a period way back, when Newton was alive in the 1600's so that folksy fell is really fitting.
The story about the nurse being shot by the Nazis builds but you barely notice it. It starts with the childish memory of colourful (innocent) flower pictures that she drew and then as the story unfolds, it becomes more 'rock/riff' orientated and starts to get quite heavy sounding right up to the point where she utters the words that he really sings with a kind of plaintive voice and it had me really feeling sorry for her. You'd have thought the story would have ended there, but he adds a coda at the end which refers back to the flowers that she drew and it was said, grew on her grave so the song kind of goes into a circle. Very clever writing.
The last song about the Tsunami is also a cry from the heart. The self-taught fisherman who predicts the very problem that he faces at the end of the album.
It's full of tragedy and drama and the musical content that surrounds the words is really carefully crafted. It's not just riffs, verses and choruses. It's extremely well thought out.
It takes you beyond the superficial 'quality' of recording to my ears.
It makes me wonder whether any of us still listen to music, or do we listen to gear?
I must admit, the older I get, the less I worry about the gear. I'm looking for the communication aspect of music much more rather than worrying about bit and bytes and distortion and hiss!!
There are certain pieces that just affect me so greatly and it's nothing to do with the recording quality at all.
Pink Floyd communicate very much so. I'll never forget hearing this for the first time; 'For want of the price, of tea and a slice, the old man died'. Had me in bits.
Guy's music has the same effect on me because of the subject matter. Anser's Tree is linked to this album and the miner buried alive is hair raising. It's not as obvious as you'd think. Guy has some psuedo sound effects of the tunnel collapsing, but the silence that follows is almost deafening, with him crying out in that strident voice of his. It's just really horrific and desperate. Guy communicates that feeling with his voice in spite of critics pontificating about whether they like it or not. He sings with conviction and that rough edge around his voice kind of adds to the drama and story telling imo.
Anser's Tree and Margaret's Children go together and are linked. It's the same family tree.
I still believe that it affects me so much because I know how hard it is to put this stuff together and Guy has done an amzing job on a very large tapestry of sound.
He's underated. A great song writer.
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