So, what have you been listening to lately?

[Basvarken]

Been listening to the Deluxe box of UFO's Strangers In The Night.



The choice that they (record company? Ron Nevison? The band themselves?) made for the official release in 1978 makes perfect sense to me. It really is the best selection of the nights they recorded.

I just don't think songs as Hot N Ready, Pack it Up and Go, I Ain't No Baby are as strong as the ones that ended up on the (double) album.

And on some nights Phil Mogg did not hit all the notes he could have. Guess they were partying real hard back in those days. And a singer's voice is just a vulnerable instrument to a hangover or fatigue.
But the band is really tight. And Schenker is incredible on all of the recorded nights.

It puzzles me why he insisted on overdubbing his guitar parts in the studio. Producer Ron Nevison refused to have him do that. And consequently Schenker just walked out and quit the band...
In the liner notes I read that he had to play most nights on a spare Flying V, which made him feel uncomfortable.
Over the years he has made peace with the album.

[uwe]

One thing I began to notice after a while, is that it's rare to see an ugly woman in the Netherlands.  I'm not saying they all look as good as Laura Vandervoort.  It's just that the prevalence of ugly ducklings must be pretty low there.  I have an American friend (a bassist) who has lived in Denmark for sixteen years or so.  His contact with the Netherlands has been minimal, but he has visited.  He much prefers Denmark, but I remember once he told me when he got older he might seriously consider moving to Holland.  His reason--his only reason--was that he had never seen a country where the women age so well.  He was dead serious, but I suspect to some degree he might have had a point.

Most Dutch women look like A(d)rian(e) Vandenberg. Or vice versa.

[Basvarken]

Yes that's true.

[uwe]

Been listening to the Deluxe box of UFO's Strangers In The Night.



The choice that they (record company? Ron Nevison? The band themselves?) made for the official release in 1978 makes perfect sense to me. It really is the best selection of the nights they recorded.

I just don't think songs as Hot N Ready, Pack it Up and Go, I Ain't No Baby are as strong as the ones that ended up on the (double) album.

And on some nights Phil Mogg did not hit all the notes he could have. Guess they were partying real hard back in those days. And a singer's voice is just a vulnerable instrument to a hangover or fatigue.
But the band is really tight. And Schenker is incredible on all of the recorded nights.

It puzzles me why he insisted on overdubbing his guitar parts in the studio. Producer Ron Nevison refused to have him do that. And consequently Schenker just walked out and quit the band...
In the liner notes I read that he had to play most nights on a spare Flying V, which made him feel uncomfortable.
Over the years he has made peace with the album.

Yup, that's a nice piece of history right there and I agree they were consistent as a band. Mogg was never the greatest singer, but he had charm. And his lyrics weren't as awful as other hard rock singers'. Schenker was just an anally-retentive obsessive with his solos, you know how that tends to be a German trait. Still a gifted man.

I notice that you have a strong penchant for Live albums that were doctored in the aftermath, lieber Rob, Lizzy's Live & Dangerous, UFO's Strangers In The Night, tsk, tsk, tsk ... you really should add Judas Priest's Unleashed In The East to your favorites which was recorded live on two different continents, the music on a 1979 Japan tour, the vocals by the other Rob in an English studio afterwards because he had been too knackered to perform properly in Japan, the ole insomniac, and didn't like what he heard.

Don't you think you should give a REAL LIVE ALBUM like Made In Japan a chance sometime? 

[Basvarken]

I have never cared for Judas Priest. Back in high school some of my friends were really dedicated Priest fans. So I heard their albums quite often including that half live album.
But somehow I never clicked with that band. I have zero Priest albums.

In those days Made In Japan for me was an album that was from another generation. My older cousins (with their beards and their long hair) listened to that.
To me it representated long extinct dinosaurs of rock.
I did try to like it later, but I just couldn't get into that album with those lengthy (sometimes long winded) live versions. With that drum solo that (in my memory) was an entire side of one LP being the pinnacle of boring old fashioned rock to me back then.

But you're right, maybe I should give it a try once again.

[uwe]

https://www.bbc.com/travel/article/20180131-where-dutch-directness-comes-from

Yes, Your Royal Bluntness, that is just the way you all are. The article nails it. Straight to your face, with a very pure, almost childlike honesty. I've never minded it, I find it refreshing and the fact that you guys abhor showing off is another positive trait you have.

My daughter grew up in a family where all kinds of matters (politics, religion, sex, money, sickness, death, sibling rivalry, parental relationship issues, psychology and "why-I-just-can't-stand-the look-of-your-face-today") were discussed very openly, but even she says that her Dutch boyfriend/husband-to-be sometimes leaves her speechless with his blunt- and directness. "And," she says, "there is nothing mean or callous about it, he just tells you straight and unfiltered to your face what he thinks and feels".

[uwe]

I have never cared for Judas Priest. Back in high school some of my friends were really dedicated Priest fans. So I heard their albums quite often including that half live album.
But somehow I never clicked with that band. I have zero Priest albums.

In those days Made In Japan for me was an album that was from another generation. My older cousins (with their beards and their long hair) listened to that.
To me it representated long extinct dinosaurs of rock.
I did try to like it later, but I just couldn't get into that album with those lengthy (sometimes long winded) live versions. With that drum solo that (in my memory) was an entire side of one LP being the pinnacle of boring old fashioned rock to me back then.

But you're right, maybe I should give it a try once again.

True, 25% of MiJ is sheer 70ies self-indulgence, but there are also many parts where you hear a well-oiled machine at the somewhat frantic peak of its powers with entertaining improvisational abandon and tongue-in-cheek moments: "Can we have everything louder than everything else?!"

Priest were never an improvisational band, they aim for perfection, consistency and overwhelming your senses. Kind of like Rammstein. I find Priest entertaining and emotionally gripping when I'm in the mood for it, but they don't trigger anything cerebral in me, Purple does.

[westen44]

I've been thinking seriously of pre-ordering this.  I just found out about it yesterday.

[westen44]

Most Dutch women look like A(d)rian(e) Vandenberg. Or vice versa.

You've probably been to all parts of the Netherlands several times.  I've mostly been to Friesland, Groningen, and North Brabant.  I don't think I ever saw many men or women who looked like that.  Unlike many Americans, I've never been to Amsterdam very much.  I did get to go to Rotterdam when I saw Golden Earring ten years ago.  The first person I ever met from the Netherlands was from Rotterdam.  We were both working in a small town in Mississippi.  That was years ago.  Maybe it gave me a false impression.  Because she wasn't blunt at all.  I had to go to the Netherlands itself to experience that.  Oh, boy; it's real.  I think Americans (including myself) go in the opposite direction.  I mean by that beating around the bush and not getting to the point.  But the Dutch can get to the point fast and then beat it to death in the process. 

Oh, yeah I failed to mention I've been to Leeuwarden a few times, too.  That's where a very good friend has moved to.  He is probably my closest friend there now. 

[uwe]

I've been thinking seriously of pre-ordering this.  I just found out about it yesterday.

If it only weren't for the vocals ... If baffles me to this day that they claimed at the time that they "couldn't find the right one". That's nonsense, you just have to look hard enough and in strange places. Look at what Purple did after Ian Gillan's departure, lift David Coverdale, who no one had ever heard of and who had never recorded professionally, from obscurity.

The whole BBA period is marred for me by the absence of a singer in their - admittedly high - instrumental league.

Still might get this though.

[uwe]

Ok, this now is life-affirmingly fun and well done.

https://youtube.com/shorts/gtiCVSHdRd8

[westen44]

I'm still on the fence myself about the BBA box set.  Right after I posted I found out Golden Earring was releasing a remastered and expanded version of Cut.  So I immediately pre-ordered that.  Whether or not I'll want to pre-order yet another CD is debatable.  The Golden Earring box set consists of two CDs and a DVD.  At only $30, it's definitely a better deal than the $50 BBA cd set.  However, I might add that this may be more of a deal for Europeans than Americans.  Because I suspect that DVD won't play in the U.S.  According to the Steve Hoffman forum, it probably won't play.  That isn't stopping me from buying it, though.  The two CDs will at least play and that is my third favorite Golden Earring album anyway. 

The DVD is PAL/0 format. 

[Basvarken]

This one's for you Westen 44.

[uwe]

Who are these guys? I recognize the Golden Earring rhythm section and the lead guitarist reminds me of Barry Hay, but he obviously isn't ....

[Basvarken]

They are Di-rect. A band from The Hague.
They've been around since 1999. When they started they were very young (like 16 or so). Became quite popular quite soon, so they have a lengthy career despite still being relatively young.