progbethyname wrote: Catcher10 wrote: lazland wrote: Steven Wilson. The Raven That Refused To Sing....a work of utter genius. I know, for a fact, this album, when I am still listening to it in 2044 (I will be 80!), it will be on the same terms as when I listen to Nursery Cryme now in 2014, 33 years after the initial release.........I hear something new each time it is played, a frisson of emotion every time it gets spun. Surely this is the definition of musical emotion and pleasure? I told you so!!! Great blog my friend......will keep stopping by. Can you put out some fresh chips and dip?? The last serving was a bit...stale! Na Jośe. Steve would serve quality English Tea and Crumpets and you know it.

Quick postscript to the evening:

^ Sounds absolutely great, Steve. I'm so glad we are now 3 pages into your passions in Prog and in life. It's an honor.    It's sounds like you are getting a ton out of your musical library these days (older and new) and I have to say I feel deeply every little bit of the joy you are feeling. I recently picked up a brand new stand alone DAC player from the UK greats, ARCAM. I cannot believe the heightened resolution that I am hearing even with my already stellar audio equipment. Just when you think things can't get better, they do. Anyway, I feel a little like you these days where a sense of rebirth and reflection had been done on my part because I am now re listening/revisiting all my Prog and non Prog favourites because there is so much in the music that I just couldn't hear before. It feels truly wonderful and I felt it would be a good idea to share it with you and others on here.

Have a good day my friend and looking forward to your next list because its very inspiring. As you know I relistened to English Electric pt2 because of the kind, thoughtful words you had to say about the track 'judas Unrependent.'

lazland wrote: Then, before dinner doing some ironing, I put The Tansads live LP, Drag Down The Moon, on. The Tansads formed in 1990 and came from Wigan. If you think The Levellers, or Chumbawumba, you would be close. Punk folk, with an attitude, they came near to success, but never really made it. The heart of the band were the Kettle brothers, and the gorgeous Janet Anderson. I am not sure how to post a You Tube link, but if you put Tansads in the search tab, you will see them. I saw them live three times, including the 20th anniversary reunion gigs that are definitely on YT. A great band, whose attitude was forged by the Thatcherite destruction of the industry of the North West where they lived. Two fingers up to a sh*te society, and never mind the bollocks. True working class punk, not the plastic cobblers of McLaren and co. For those of you going to see Pendragon at The Citadel in St Helens, that was this great band's spiritual home.

Thank you for reminding me about these guys Steve, and I hope you don't mind if I put a few tubes into your blog as a testament to how good they were at what they did...

Steve. I'm so glad to hear about another ARENA appreciator where one does realize just how professional 'Songs From The Lion's Cage' is. Solomon is a beautiful 14 minute epic about the parabolic tales and lessons of King Solomon. I nearly weeped with joy in the last minute and a half when Keith Moore performs that lights out guitar solo...so epic...so moving. Overall a wonderfully biblically themed album with a dark nature infused in it. 10/10, especially for the album's artwork!! ;) Funny enough I feel the same about their 2nd album, PRIDE which is just as dear to me. "SIRENS' is a 13min epic that carries the same formula as Solomon. Very grand finish. Such panache!!

Genesis's Duke. I could not agree more. I got a lot out of this album. Not only is it Prog to me in every sense of the definition (if there really is one. ) but its an album that can teach you a lit about the human condition, and Duke's Travels' has that lovely soldering on attitude. It's like when one is faced with an oddity or hardship you move on and don't give up. That's a mentality I get especially when I hear the last 2 minutes of the song.

Once again. Inspiring and uplifting. Thank you.

Cheers

Funny you should pick THE one JBH track that I deeply adore.......and it's the live Berlin version too!!
Safe to say that I agree with everything you said about it.

Oh and very nice touch with the Duke's suite too! Recently I've been playing the early 80s stuff a lot, and those two along with Mama, Home By The Sea and Second Home By The Sea never fail to touch me. The ploinking 80s electronic sound really does suit the sweetness of Phil's vocals incredibly well, I find.

Guldbamsen wrote: Funny you should pick THE one JBH track that I deeply adore.......and it's the live Berlin version too!! Safe to say that I agree with everything you said about it. Oh and very nice touch with the Duke's suite too! Recently I've been playing the early 80s stuff a lot, and those two along with Mama, Home By The Sea and Second Home By The Sea never fail to touch me. The ploinking 80s electronic sound really does suit the sweetness of Phil's vocals incredibly well, I find.

rushfan4 wrote: lazland wrote: Today, I listened to the new Mostly Autumn cd, Dressed In Voices, on the Amazon Cloud player during my lunch hour, having pre-ordered it on the self same site. Yes, I know I should probably have ordered it from the band directly on their website, but it is better than those old illegal downloads, isn't it? At least the band get their royalties. Yes, I know that Amazon are a bunch of tax avoiders. Actually, I do know a little bit about this, given my work. Amazon, whilst acting in a morally questionable way, to say the least, are not doing anything illegal whatsoever. It is their right to base themselves in Luxembourg, and if governments around the world do not have the guts or gumption to start charging corporate tax to income earned in a particular country at the point of sale, rather than allowing these complex residency and transfer pricing rules as they do now, what is a cozy large corporation to do, eh? Actually, I am not supposed to comment on such things, really, so let us all forget what I wrote above, and state for the record that The Infernal Revenue are right in all things they do, Amazon are fantastic, so are the government, and we can all carry on with this hypocrisy.....sorry......corporate friendly tax regime without any semblance of shame whatsoever. Yes, dear friends, I do, indeed, get a tug of moral regret whenever I click on that old Amazon button to buy something. I spent over £200 on there this weekend. If there were a UK built alternative, as efficient, as cheap, and with a marvellous, super cloud thingy which allows me to listen to a new purchase before the cd even arrives in my letter box, then I would use said service. However, there isn't, so I can't. Also, I learnt, some time ago as a fairly politically active creature, that pointless protests are just that.....pointless. Is the entire UK population going to boycott Amazon because of their tax arrangements? No, only a very small proportion, certainly not enough to make a difference. Why? Well, half of the people probably do not even know of those arrangements, and, if they did, most would blame the government, which wouldn't be that far off the mark, really. Also, more to the point, Amazon gives us what we want. A huge range of shopping, easily accessible, delivered quickly and cheaply, and, as with today, the chance to listen to something before I actually have it. If only they had decent competition, eh? The album itself, on first listen, might just be the finest released by this great band. Very dark, certainly in the subject matter, it hopefully might herald a springboard for greater commercial success. It would certainly be deserved. I did speak to Bryan Josh at a gig in Cardiff, and a really pleasant bloke he is, too. The marriage to Olivia would seem to have sparked a massive creative spark for them both, because she sounds magnificent. I perused your blog again just to see if you might have mentioned your thoughts on this album.  It is times like these where it sucks that these albums are imports.  That is pretty much double the price of a normal album, and triple what I would pay to purchase the download. Dressed in Voices [Import] Mostly Autumn (Artist) | Format: Audio CD Price: $28.47