Random thoughts on some of the known-to-me songs from #2:
Izzat Love? never made much of an impression on me. Will be interesting to see what Binky says about it.
Message in a Bottle is a tour de force, and works great regardless of what tempo it's at. A friend once gave me a recording of a Police show from soon after their first album came out, and the set included an early version of Message in a Bottle that was much slower. It worked brilliantly anyway.
Firth of Fifth is my #1 Genesis and I thought it would be Yo Mama's because he has praised it on these boards before. I ranked it #6 in the British Isles countdown and took it in the This Is Their Best Song Draft (aka The Smiths Go to College). What I said there:
Round 6:
Firth of Fifth -- Genesis
This was one of the major "classic rock" bands that I was surprised was still on the board, though they are not for everyone. I am going with this now because they -- and this very song -- have a chance of being sniped by Yo Mama.
Like Fleetwood Mac, Genesis is really several bands in one. They changed drastically not only from beginning to end, but with almost every album. Early Gabriel and late Gabriel bear little resemblance to each other, as do early early Collins and late early Collins and early late Collins and late late Collins (I'm gonna block out the stuff they did with that other singer.) The constant was their striving to make major musical statements. Even the poppiest Collins-fronted albums have material of stunning sweep. Gluing it all together was Tony Banks, who IMO is one of the greatest keyboardists in rock history.
Selling England by the Pound, their penultimate album with Gabriel, is the quintessential Genesis work IMO. Here, the ambition of their earliest work remains, but the production quality was significantly better and the band tried more complex arrangements and long instrumental passages than before. If someone who knew nothing about prog asked what it sounds like, as good as response as any would be to play them the best songs from this album.
To me, its greatest track, and the greatest track of their entire career, is Firth of Fifth. Banks' performance on piano and organ and Steve Hackett's on guitar are breathtaking. It's got all kinds of crazy time signatures going on, but never devolves into wankery for its own sake. This is what I turn to when I want to hear experimental music that's easy on the ears.
Pride and Joy is one of those songs that just makes you feel good every time you hear it.
Heart in the Hand of the Matter is indeed what I was talking about when I said:
If this is what I think it is, the women in the crowd of my second TOD show absolutely swooned when [Jason Reece] performed it.
Inexplicably, if this is what I think it is, said track was not performed at my first TOD show despite it being on their current album at the time.
I suppose it's technically an emo song but the song is so well-structured and the performance is so breathtaking that labels don't matter.
Better Things is indeed one of the Kinks' underrated gems. Ray Davies had exceptional insight into people's feelings.
YYZ is one of the best rock instrumentals by anyone. I only saw Rush once and they closed their show with this because it's so revered.
Aja is my #1 Steely Dan and I ranked it #18 in the US countdown. What I said there:
This is probably Steely Dan's jazziest composition, and is notable for the incredible performance on drums by Steve Gadd. Everything about it hits the pleasure zone for me. It's one of the best examples of how to make jazz "accessible."
Becker and Fagen went through multiple takes with multiple drummers before Gadd gave them what they were looking for. Fun/weird fact: I was an acquaintance of the guy who procured and laid out the lines of coke that Gadd did before the successful take. (There was a LOT of coke at the Aja sessions, which were Brian Wilson-esque in their excessiveness.)
Hitchin' a Ride is an explosion of mayhem.
I believe RA selected Georgio By Moroder for GP4. I love how its different elements are layered.
Harry Hood is another one of Trey Anastasio's earliest compositions for Phish, and matches the sweep and majesty of the prog epics it emulates. It is often used as a set closer, but at a show I saw in Philly in 1999, they used it as a show opener for the first time since 1985 (when they were a college band).
Hold on Tight is the last great ELO song. It was added to Time at the last minute because the label folks didn't hear a single among the rest of their material (and they were right, for the most part).
Down in a Hole sums up the grunge ethos as well as anything.
I do think Back in Black likely had its lyrics written by Bon Scott before his death, given the respective outputs of Scott and Brian Johnson, but Johnson brings a yowl to it that I don't think Scott could have achieved.
Ray's version of Georgia on My Mind is achingly beautiful.
Everlong is my #1 Foo Fighters. I ranked it #21 in the US countdown. What I said there:
Every second of this gets my blood pumping, because the music has amazing passage after amazing passage and the lyrics/vocals get me very emotional.
And it’s David Letterman’s favorite song, so there’s that.
Bookends is so simple, yet so captivating.
Magic Man is probably my #1 Heart. It's one of the most epic things from the '70s (which is saying something) and the instrumental passages at the end are spectacular.
Rocket Man is gorgeous and I never get tired of it.
youtu.be
