Interactive Poll XIII - Surprise, surprise

Most of the surprises I've had recently have been at festivals, particularly Big Ears & RIO where there are many bands I've never heard of. Here's two where I walked in with no idea who they were and immediately had to get as close to stage as possible and then buy everything they've released.

Edited by Nogbad_The_Bad - July 23 2020 at 09:48

TCat wrote: By the way, I am making Steve Miller's "Shu Ba Da Du Ma (x4)" the one eligible for voting purposes.   Logan:  The vocals on the "Imagine" cover are a little reserved and somewhat dark.  The lead singer for A Perfect Circle is none other than Maynard James Keenan, the lead singer of Tool.  APC is his musical outlet for a more heavy-alternative sound.

That’s interesting, thanks. They did sound familiar. His vocals are one reason why I didn’t care for what I heard of Tool (I liked at least one Tool song, but I never explored the band deeply). That and I’m not a metal fan aside from various classic heavy metal bands, and, well there are actually considerable post 70s exceptions (does post metal count or is it beyond metal) , but I won’t say that I could not acquire the taste for such vocals if I put the time into it even if it is sometimes said that familiarity breeds contempt. ;). Certain NuMetal styles of vocals I find off-putting.

Edited by Logan - July 23 2020 at 11:35

And continuing with a little more Ian and Cristi:  

Cristi: A-ha “Halfway Through the Tour,” Never heard this, should have, just from being in the rock bus biz.  Catches the road tedium perfectly.  Sounds slightly Beatlesesque to me as well.  Toto “Dave’s Gone Skiing” Surprised me, too.  I have friends who love Toto, they just never hit my radar much, like many arena rock bands of that time.  That was very enjoyable. Alex Skolnick Trio “Tom Sawyer”  Really an interesting cover of an iconic piece.  Definitely made it this band’s own.

Snicolette wrote: And continuing with a little more Ian and Cristi:   Ian: The Comet Is Coming “Summon the Fire”  Really groovin’ sax playing, that guy is a star.  In Love With “les-flics-de-la-police” (and now for something completely different, but isn’t that just Ian for ya?  😉 ) Very percussive from all three players at once, despite the fact that there’s just one percussionist.  Also very intense, but in a completely different way than your other two.  Cristi: A-ha “Halfway Through the Tour,” Never heard this, should have, just from being in the rock bus biz.  Catches the road tedium perfectly.  Sounds slightly Beatlesesque to me as well.  Toto “Dave’s Gone Skiing” Surprised me, too.  I have friends who love Toto, they just never hit my radar much, like many arena rock bands of that time.  That was very enjoyable. Alex Skolnick Trio “Tom Sawyer”  Really an interesting cover of an iconic piece.  Definitely made it this band’s own.

ok, one more song that really surprised me, from Europe's last album from 2017 (and btw, those who haven't checked their albums since they came back in the 2000s should, you'll have some surprises definitely )

Edited by Lewian - July 24 2020 at 16:57

And one more for the road:

Lewian wrote: Quick listen to some others: In Love With sounds great, gotta check them out. They're probably on PA!? (And as you're not Pedro... ) Cristi: The A-Ha one surprised me most, and in a good way, didn't know they did 7 minutes songs (although I knew they have some cool stuff). Quality-wise I also like Toto Tambu and Alex Skolnick, Europe less so.

Meltdowner wrote: I'm on page 4 and so far two songs really surprised: Diethelm/Famulari - Portrait : Fusion with Flamenco and actually tasteful 80's sounds. I will have to check out the full album later. Steve Miller Band - Shu Ba Da Du Ma Ma Ma Ma : I only knew "The Joker" (song) and never appealed to me but this was much different. It has such a fantastic build-up. Micky's suggestion was great too, very Mellotronic I already knew Air but it's been a while, I forgot how good it is. By the way, I noticed Brian Reitzell played drums on it. Greg, do you know Reitzell's "Auto-Music"? I took a chance on that CD and it's a great modern Krautrock album.

Even though I very actively search for anything Krautrocky in both modern and past music, I didn't know it, Samuel. The name rings a bell, but that might just be thinking of Kraftwerk's Autbahn or even the Italian Automat. By the way, you might have caught my embarrassingly gushy reaction, but I absolutely loved Spaceway 70. Wow! That made my day. It's my most enjoyed of the series, and believe me, I have enjoyed a huge amount that has been posted.

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Lorenzo's is one which I find truly remarkable. It also wowed me.

Dvar's Gyandarvaal was another favourite, and I found Lewian's remarkable, but there was lots of really strong stuff here. It's going to be tough just choosing three.

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As for Cristi's Europe song, they of the "Final Countdown" (a cheesy song that I've always liked), that recent one was surprising. I really like that a lot and was not expecting to like it so much. Impressive for a band going so long, well, it would be impressive for any band. You've had various favourites of mine in the series of different styles, which might seem rather interesting since our Prog tastes commonly follow different avenues. My tastes are very diverse -- more diverse than sometimes it might seem.

This has been a fantastic round for my ears. So have all of the ones been that I've participated in, but I've really enjoyed listening through all of the music that has been posted in this thread.