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Re: The Sound Of Blood And Thunder



On Sat, 25 May 1996, Mark Leaman wrote:

> So it's a two-headed beast, this thing we call The Who. Which is your
> favorite aspect? And why?

I'd say both are the best when put into one song.  My favourite Who song
is A Quick One which starts out pretty poppy but by the time it gets to
the cellos it's built up into a full blooded rawkin' Who beast, especially
on the R&R Circus.  Another favourite is Rael which starts of pretty
lightweight music wise then becomes the heavier theme we all know so well. 
Same thing for PW, slightly depressing acoustic -> full-out electric rock. 

I think this is also the reason I like Stairway (<gasp> a Who fan 
admitting he likes the most heinous of all Zep songs) when the acoustic 
seems to spiral down into electric, and the song becomes a rocker.

Why??? Anyone can bash out the powerchords (the Ramones have been doing 
it for 20 years quite successfully) but to be able to take a light song & 
transform it seems to be a special skill unto itself.  The sense of 
coming to a musical climax from a mellow start is cool too.

Having said that, I tend to lean towards the Blood & Thunder side, with 
other favourites like Cry if You Want, Young Man Blues and The Real Me 
which don't seem to have much internal progression, they just rock for 
the entire duration (though The Real Me is the heavier part of a 
larger structure which fits into the above format).

I was listening to Signals by Rush the other day and though many of the 
songs sound good as they are (Subdivisions, analog kid, digital man, 
countdown) many of the others screamed out for some kick-ass Pete-style 
guitar in certain spots to give it some balls instead of what Alex did which 
seems to get lost in with the synths and detract from what the songs 
could have been.  


Shane Matheson						MechEng/CompSci UWO

	"I smash guitars because I like them. " -- Pete Townshend