Kevin's Watch

Oh, it's very good.

No, I understand what you're saying about Pulse, and I agree about that show (to a certain extent). I thought The Delicate Sound of Thunder was a far superior album with a lot more of the "live" feel to it.

I haven't heard Delicate Sounds yet. I'll look into it. I remember once my dad and I were talking about music, and he (a huge classical fan, who was once a huge rock fan) said "I think Led Zeppelin were the closest that pop came to classical music." Hmm, I thought. Pink Floyd might not be my number 1 favorite artist, but I think they were the ones that came closest to the classical style. The complex arrangements and all, they really did blend styles of classical into rock. Anyway, I brought that up because I think that if classical were to combine into rock at a concert, it would be like PULSE.

sgt, I just didn't want to confuse the Waters Berlin Wall album with the one I'm talking about. I think it's called Is Anybody Out There.

Cail wrote:On another note, I picked up the Pulse DVD yesterday, and it confirms what some people have said here (including me). It's a good show, but it pales in comparison to the first tour in 1988. I have an ancient VHS copy of that show, and I really hope they digitally remaster that one too.

Was this the MLoR tour? Paul's and my first date was to this show at Miami's Orange Bowl.

That's interesting about your dad. Presence-era Zeppelin is incredibly complex, but I agree with you that Floyd is more classically based.

Yeah Menolly, it was the AMLoR tour. I can't remember where it was recorded, but it was just stunning.

I think so too. I don't know too much about Zeppelin however.

I loved that show. My seat wasn't the best, but I loved it anyway.

But, for most classical style rock group? I gotta got with Close to the Edge or side one of Tormato (the combination of Wondrous Stories/Awaken is amazing) by Yes.

wasn't some of the Metallica stuff symphonic? I'm thinking maybe And Justice For All?

LM: I see.

Selloutica did an album with a symphony, but I'd call them crap not classical.

Ah...I was thinking of the songs structure themselves, instead of rock groups that recorded with symphonic orchestras. If we go in that direction, than I have to mention The Moody Blues Days of Future Passed and several Frank Zappa albums.

Thanks To Gravity (New Hampshire band) is very orchestral.

www.thankstogravity.com/
www.andyhappel.com/

Lord Mhoram wrote:I remember once my dad and I were talking about music, and he (a huge classical fan, who was once a huge rock fan) said "I think Led Zeppelin were the closest that pop came to classical music."

LM, I basically agree with your dad...but it is a kind of blanket statement. It would be great if he could elaborate on it. I think it depends a lot on what kind of classical music is being compared to Led Zep. If we're talking mild-toast stuff like Mendelssohn, then no. (I don't care for his music.) Led Zep's music had more passion and power than that, for sure. More like the rhythmic force of Beethoven. Or the dark intensity of, say, Shostakovich.

I personally think rock artists may be deluding themselves when they try to emulate a "classical" sound. I think they end up sacrificing the energy of rock 'n' roll for no good reason, all for the sake of creating a wishy-washy sound that's neither as powerful as the best rock nor as inspiring as the best classical. This could be why I just can't seem to get into most progressive rock. (I do like 80's Genesis, but veteran fans seem to regard that decade as the band's sell-out era. Heck, people like to dismiss the entire Eighties as a sell-out era.) At any rate, I'll listen to a strong rock single over a lengthy 8-minute epic almost all the time. Led Zep wrote some mighty epic songs, of course, and I love them. But it was still rock 'n' roll. I'm really not sure if I'm making sense. As I'm not a musician, I can't make my case on a technical level.

I don't know how strongly you fans would classify Pink Floyd as progressive rock (if at all), but if Floyd is prog rock, then it's a more listenable brand of prog rock than others I've heard. Even so, I'm more of an admirer of Floyd from a distance, rather than a committed fan. Floyd's music is a hit-and-miss affair for me, I'm sorry to say.

Back to the topic at hand, I remember being impressed by The Final Cut on first hearing. Roger Waters's lyrics wowed me (and they still do) - and I'm not the sort who normally follows song lyrics. It's been years since I've listened to the album, and I don't have a copy. I guess my enthusiasm for it has cooled over the years, but I would still say it's a good album.

However, my favorite Floyd album is still The Division Bell, for what that's worth. Maybe I like it a lot precisely because it has more "commercial" sounding songs than other Floyd albums. Guess it means that even though I respect Waters very much as a lyricist, the music still counts more, and so I'll gravitate more towards a "pop" musical work like Division Bell than a lyrical tour-de-force like Final Cut.

Holy ghost of Syd, this turned into a long post.

Matrixman,

I could ask my dad to elaborate. However, knowing what I know about his taste in music, I would think he was more referring to Beethoven, Mozart, Bach, and Vivaldi - all of whom I know he likes, and none of whom are Romantics like Mendelssohn was. As far as I know anyway, I know very little about classical.

Anyway, I was talking about song structure, not necessarily orchestration. I pretty much agree with MM's observation about bands that try to "classicize" their music. Pink Floyd's compositions, which don't really sound like the other prog I've listened to, seem to me to be the most succesful at this. Again, I haven't listened to the more complex Zeppelin songs.

Bah, it's no use; MM is Canadien, therefore he knows Rush kicks all other band ass!

Of course, I could be wrong in assuming his anti-prog rave is just a cover up...heh, me wrong. Sometimes I'm just too funny!

I'm no longer speaking to any Canadians.....I just found out Loverboy is back on tour.

Why?

WHY!?!

oh god...mike reno

Oh cruel fate! Why do you mock me?

the headband

the vinyl pants

the mullett


the duets with patty smythe and ann wilson

a suicide pact, Cail?

indeed.

Oh, I should ban all of you for that....

no, you should ban Loverboy.

why would they reform??????