From: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org (avalon-digest) To: avalon-digest@smoe.org Subject: avalon-digest V2 #29 Reply-To: avalon@smoe.org Sender: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-avalon-digest@smoe.org Precedence: bulk avalon-digest Tuesday, October 14 1997 Volume 02 : Number 029 Today's Subjects: ----------------- [AVALON] avalon ["MCGINLEY GA" ] [AVALON] Back to the future ["MCGINLEY GA" ] Re: [AVALON] the next sound [Will ] ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 14:36:19 GMT From: "MCGINLEY GA" Subject: [AVALON] avalon In relation to the talk on "Avalon", The Sunday Times listed this album as Ferrys key work while annoyingly dismissing his later work in their 6 part "1000 makers of music" - -------------------- To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 14:32:36 GMT From: "MCGINLEY GA" Subject: [AVALON] Back to the future Referring to the comment that the next album will be a "stormer" I said last year that Mamouna had something of a Portishead sound to it. The reports of Robin Rimbaud being drafted in make me fell that the new material will sound even more similar. Either that or B.f has decided on a Bowie "Earthling" effort, although I somehow doubt if he'd have the nerve to do that. Finally can anyone send me a list of B.F/R.M picture discs and tell me of their availability. - -------------------- To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ Date: Mon, 13 Oct 1997 16:16:53 -0500 From: Will Subject: Re: [AVALON] the next sound Victor Hastings wrote: > > John wrote: > > > > One of the things Inoticed on B&G's was that Bryan employed the use of a > > large quantity of musicians some - who at the time were quite high > > profile (Mark Knopfler). > > > > My view is that notwithstanding the quality of B&Gs (particularly > > Windswept) that in general Bryan produces better work when he has a > > band. > > > By "has a band" do you mean his work is better when he uses the same > musicians throughout the album rather than changing personnel from track to > track? > > RM albums 1-5 are clearly "band" albums. 6-8 fall into a gray area (that's > "grey" for our international readers) because Ferry was beginning to rotate > personnel (Steve Ferrone on drums for Dance Away; 3 different drummers & 2 > bassists on F + B; I believe Avalon had fairly stable personnel from track > to track. > > On his first four solo albums I believe Ferry used generally the same core > musicians but supplemented w/ other musicians. (Don't have the record info > to check, though.) B&G, Bete Noire, Taxi & Mamouna use a ton of different > musicians; the only constant throughout is the presence of Neil Hubbard. > > So I guess it depends on whether you classify the early solo efforts, and > the Manifesto/F+B/Avalon trilogy, as "band" efforts. I think Avalon is one > of the best RM efforts; even friends who aren't crazy about RM/Ferry like > Avalon. If you classify Avalon as a band effort, then I'd probably agree > that, in general, the band efforts are superior to the ensemble efforts. > IMHO, playing in a "band" can//should result in productive constructive > criticism & give-n-take from your fellow band members, whereas in an > ensemble, a session man who mouths off at the boss gets replaced. Hence a > tendency toward wretched excess & Ferry has certainly been guilty of that > on occasion. I'm going to open myself up to all sorts of criticism and say that when BF went solo he probably went through some adjustment to get away from that band input, productive criticism thing.Some artists get by it and it's OK. Mick Jagger's solo effort, I thought was quite good (She's the Boss) but I don't like the stones all that much.Sting apparently had his nads removed when he left the Police(what was he thinking-there's a big future in elevator music?)Much as I liked the musicians in Roxy I think the milestone in Ferry's career was Boys and Girls with Knopfler and Gilmour. You've got heavily talented musicians, the nuclei of the bands they were from(much like Ferry)doing what the man tells them(constructive criticism and band input from these guys? now you've got something). He seems to know what he wants and I think the end result is what he wants. In closing all I can add to this jumbled mass of statements is,39 Steps, Your painted smile, The only face...don't know why he didn't name that one Havana Moon(no band input?) Respectfully all this is IMHO Will - -------------------- To unsub, mail majordomo@smoe.org with: unsubscribe avalon ------------------------------ End of avalon-digest V2 #29 *************************** ======================================================================== Please send any questions or comments about the list to avalon-digest-owner@smoe.org