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Pretty in Noise Review (German)
Quote:that townsend/artist line can very much be brought into the MP-vocal debate. entertainers hit the right notes but artists focus on expressing themselves. [
](yes i'm aware of the thousand examples that defy this simple statement but it's still a worthy thought
Horsecrap imo! Just look at Geddy Lee of Rush; Playing intricate basslines, keyboards, pedals ++ live , but he still manages to sing way better then our guys do. And if he's not an artist, then who is?
The bottom line is that one after 20+ years should be able to expect a better vocal preformance then what's being delivered these days. And the almost mind boggling thing about it all is that they actually sang way better in the past. What gives??!
that was one of the thousand examples that defy this simple statement but it's still a worthy thought.
and maybe they sing worse now than in the past – though I wouldn't go out on that limb since I haven't heard all the live recordings from 20+ MP years – because the playing nowadays is much more demanding.
But debates like these frighten me a bit. I'd rather expect these in a (shudder) Dream (shudder) Theater forum. Or one for Rush for that matter although I really like them. I see a nerdy male 37+ years old audience making notes during shows about the mistakes they hear to post and discuss on a board as soon as they're back home. :wink:
Glenn Hughes shows how it's done (!):
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NGoFC_p2V0k
In those days, the headliner tuned up on stage.
No offense, but I hate Geddy Lee & his shitty falsetto vocals! For me they have ruined quite a lot of the musical greatness that Rush have… Same thing with Bruce Dickinson in Iron Maiden: Great band, singer fucks it all up.
I'd take a slightly sour Bent/Snah combo every day over Geddy Lee :MPD:
Quote:No offense, but I hate Geddy Lee & his shitty falsetto vocals! For me they have ruined quite a lot of the musical greatness that Rush have…I wouldn't agree on that considering their post 1980 and especially the most current stuff but their earlier albums really are a chalk-on-the-board listen due to him.
But…
Quote:I'd take a slightly sour Bent/Snah combo every day over Geddy LeeI definitely can't disagree with that.
Quote:In those days, the headliner tuned up on stage.true. makes me think why I even bother with muting tuning pedals. having everything as sterile as can be in a rockshow? hmm…
Glenn Hughes has some ear torturing singing attitude going. I'd take Geddy Lee anyday over him.
Quote:I wouldn't agree on that considering their post 1980 and especially the most current stuff but their earlier albums really are a chalk-on-the-board listen due to him.Ok, I haven't heard much of the post 1980 material, so he might've moderated his singing drastically for all I know. But it kinda annoys me that 70's Rush are so musically competent, and then Geddy Lee doesn't vary his robotic Jon Anderson-falsetto at all. He sounds dangerously similar to a smurf at times :lol:
@ Supernaut
To me, there's nothing wrong with expecting some skills from artists that have taken on vocal duties for 20 years, no matter how great their music is. To me, it's become such an irritating thing that i quietly wish that their next musical venture will be an instrumental one. I mean….they sound KILLER on albums, and so it's such a let down to go to a live show, and getting served sourball after sourball throughout the show.
Don't get me wrong….I love the band to death! I just hope that they focus abit more on the vocals for live shows in the future. Or stop setting the bar way too high for themselves on albums, and then bomb on stage…
PS: Their music isn't that much more demanding now then before if you think about it.
It's your choice to hate Geddy Lees vocals. But the point still stands. He really captures the flow and feel of his vocals on albums when playing live.
That four-star Mojo review in full:
Modern day Norwegian psychsters Motorpsycho reached a career peak with their last album, the fantastically named Heavy Metal Fruit. Taking its name from a lyric in Blue Oyster Cult's apocalyptic tune, Me 262, the album rippled with post-Deep Purple dynamism and jazz inflections. The latter are given full and further rein on this 2-CD set, the music for which was commissioned in 2010 to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the Molde International Jazz Festival. Teamed with keyboard player Ståle Storløkken and the Trondheim Jazz Orchestra, the power trio sculpt a phenomenal album which cuts across rock, jazz and neo-classical music with gleeful abandon. From volcanic guitarmageddon (Hollow Lands) to moments of grand ambition (the 10-minute plus swoop of Into The Gyre), this is as bold and as progressive as rock gets.
(Review by Phil Alexander)
With Permanent Waves Geddy drastically lowered his range except for that Freewill part, which has reportedly the highest singing part in the whole Rush catalogue. I prefer the handful of albums they did right then up to Grace Under Pressure to the sometimes way too bombastic stuff from the 70ties. Then they did some terrible albums mid to late 80ties but came back to form with Counterparts. Vapor Trails and everything thenafter I find very enjoyable. Back to "classic rock" without the shrieking vocals. And the Feedback cover album has some nice tunes, taken from Neil Young to The Who.
Well I never got sourballs or bombing shows from them. That's because I enjoy what I hear as an overall presentation. I purposedly don't listen to details or little mistakes. For me MP live is a physical belly gutsy hearty thing and in the best possible case a transcendent experience. And their current music is most definitely more demanding to play. There's tons of odd meters and weird breaks and Snah's chords and harmonies are way beyond the usual rock scaling. Now they have to sing to all that every night at deafening volumes. Oh I never would want them to set any bar lower just to hit the notes right. That's a weird wish. I respect how they push themselves and their music, even at the risk of going over the brink, and I want to follow them when witnessing it. Like Led Zeppelin in their prime. Tons of odd and broken weird guitar solos by Jimmy Page but so what? They wanted to boldly go out there every night, too, at whatever cost, and sounded different every night. This going out there attitude is what brought TDDU to life in the first place and this is the reason why 99% of "progressive" bands will never even get close to its idea nowadays. Add to that the open nature of their live arrangements and the stretching out without safety nets. It's their desire to experiment and their total devotion to music and to being a musician. There's way too many people always traveling the safe side when making music. And the last thing I wish Motorpsycho to do is to get safe and boring. I'd take some sour notes anyday over that.
I had to endure Dream Theater for example due to working at a venue and it was terrible. Music by robots. Why not stay home listening to the records? Why not demanding a percentage of the entry ticket money back according to the mistakes played? I find it weird to "demand" anything from the artist expect their 100% energy and dedication for this evening (on a sidenote, to quote Rollins: "fuck the bands who do warm-up gigs!", because this stands for respecting one audience less than that other one in the bigger city's more important venue). So I'd rather have them screaming and playing wrong notes with full dedication than to be perfectly on pitch all the time while repeating the same songs in the same safe-bet manner every night, being in full control because the bar's been set just low enough. If they'd ever do that, that's when I probably will stop going to see them and I shudder to think of this. But I'm convinced this will never happen. That's just the way they do it and what they deliver and so it's what we get, teh 100% real shit in a manner incomparable to other bands. Very much fortunately.
I know I'm playing one thing (energy & dedication) against the other (perfect playing and singing) when both could go together just fine. But maybe not in things Motorpsycho, and if so, then I simply prefer the first to the second thing. And who are we to demand that? Shall we boycott the shows to make them practice more or what? :lol:
I pretty much stopped listening to audience live recordings btw. Because they never sound right (no offense to you recording guys, that's in their very nature) and sour vocal notes of course do jump out much stronger than when heard right there at the venue, but also the instrumentation is mostly way out of balance. So I don't know…, maybe listening too much to those recordings kinda stains the perception of Motorpsycho live? A band that's actually THE BEST FUCKING LIVE BAND EVER!?
Coming back to Rush again, I went to see them last year for my first time and I sooo didn't care if they played the solos and drumfill all correctly right down to the subatomar level, as opposed to probably 90% of the audience around me. I just enjoyed it. The sound, the music, the songs (though it was a bit of a disappointing setlist) and mostly the energy and their joy of playing.
Ok one more thing….
You're making it sound like i'm bashing their music, which i'm certainly not doing. I agree with everything you're saying when it comes to the musical part of both their albums, shows and overall philosophy. From my standpoint it's purely a vocal issue, and will alyways be just that. But (again for me) it's come to a point where i find it almost embarrasing to listen to, and it ruins what could have been epic experiences when seeing them live (been to a number of shows now, and will see them in London). And the worst part is that i don't even find myself being harsh saying theese things. The reason being; When so many good bands out there manage to re-capture their studio music so overall well when they're playing live, it's just strange to see that MP can't seem to overcome this obsticle. I could have been more forgiving if Bent wrote "Na na na – i'm in love with a girl" lyrics set to a limited vocal ranged melody line. But bent really puts thought and passion into both his lyrics and melodies, and so i think it's pretty safe to say that he takes vocals and melody pretty much as seriously as the music when writing and recording albums. So why not live? Why settle for mediocre vocals live when every thing else is so damn good? I just don't get it…And don't tell me that it's because their music is too complex. I don't buy that for a second…
But just to clarify; I'm not demanding anything. I'm just saying that i find it strange, and abit irritating. In the end, you're probably right about them doing their thing like they've always done (thank god), and so they'll never bother to care about this. But i'm entitled to find it frustrating nevertheless. To shed some light on the thing, discuss, rant abit and then let it go. Cus in the end their overall music plus killer instrumental skills live make up for their vocal shortcomings. Though one can dream of a show where their vocals match the music in skill, can't one?
PS; I find it funny that you consider Dream Theater as "Music by Robots". Ok, i'm not that keen on the band, but i feel that they play with an equal amount of passion and determination as MP does nevertheless. They've just rehearsed more! So what you consider "robotism" i consider being almost inhumanly good based on the fact that they're taking it dead seriously….both live and on album!
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