From: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org (seven-seas-digest) To: seven-seas-digest@smoe.org Subject: seven-seas-digest V3 #275 Reply-To: seven-seas@smoe.org Sender: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Errors-To: owner-seven-seas@smoe.org Precedence: bulk seven-seas-digest Wednesday, August 18 2004 Volume 03 : Number 275 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 19:53:44 +0100 From: Barry Whiting Subject: Re: seven-seas Some Grey Glory Never apologise, Ted. As always, a pleasure to read. Theodore Turner wrote: >(sorry, this is a long one!) ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 10:10:19 -0700 (PDT) From: chris adams Subject: Re: seven-seas Some Grey Glory As a result of this email, I played the album this morning. I'd always loathed it. But I gotta tell ya, it's gotten better with age. Dunno why. Doesn't sound as "slick" as it did. - --CA Theodore Turner wrote: (sorry, this is a long one!) So I took out the old (non re-issue) Grey for a walk last night & was really blown away by a few songs & came away with a much happier updated sense of the record in general. When it came out I had already heard "The Game" & loved it - as we've been saying a lot of late - its a truly beautiful song & really is (for me) the swan song that ends the bands (first) magical period. I remember digging "Over You", but maybe not being 100% sold, then "bedbugs"...I'll come clean here & admit I've never really fallen for that song...then..."all in your mind" & I'm kinda thinking...."whahappen"?..but then the Classical Bunny style of "Bombers Bay" pulled out side one for me....its got that sad swagger...proud vulnerability (as does "The Game" ..that is "SO BUNNYMEN!!" - - a great song. Then "Lips"..its a really good song...great hooks...chorus & solo"....& "Lost & Found" I really dug....but as we've discussed..its the production that really steals a lot of the magic away from this record & the triple glossed effect of "New Direction(although great licks!), Blue Blue Ocean & Satellite....i think left me thinking...."this don9t really sound like Bunny Music". Then, "All My Life" It was beautiful but in a kinda obvious..maybe even lazy way (I feel bad saying that, but I think I may have kinda felt that way). But I played the hell out of that record & learned to live with my disappointment that (for the most part) it really was not in sound or spirit "the record after Ocean Rain" & all & all we had some Grey good times together. So lets shoot ahead 17 years to last night. Again, "The Game" is gorgeous, a perfect song. But I was more curious in going back to the songs I was not totally happy with, & I really loved "Over You"...a great groove...& leaves you feeling light and renewed, lots going on in that song. I still don9t totally get down with "Bed Bugs", but its fun enough. Then "All in your mind"..ya...that one still sounds pretty bad to me...its like...if you wanna do New Order...do it RIGHT...like how Mac did it with "Faith & Healing", this was really mostly just a muffly wandering mess....but ya...cool solo.....if you could only hear it! Its nota bad song tho..as is the case with pretty much everything on the record...its the production that destroys it - I remember being pretty rocked by that song at least once live. Then the sweetheart "Bombers Bay"...still releases the same amount of delicious Bunny-chemicals into the bloodstream!! I love everything about that song...Laurie Latham could not ruin it...try as tho he may have!!. Then "Lips.." , its great as always....a great seductive rocker & loads of fun....and a killer solo. But it was "Lost and Found" that really sent ("new"?) chills up my spine. What a lost/forgotten gem , here the flangey production works perfectly with emotional drift of the song, a Classic!! I don't think they ever played this live?????? Anybody know different? I had fun with "New Direction" , but , again - the songs is lost somewhere underneath Latham's console - again a song that rocked live. On to "Blue Blue Ocean"..& I'm kinda bored in a pretty and contented way. Then "Satellite" does its best to rock out...and manages its moments...then is brought back under Latham's safe homogenous confinement. Then closing with "All My life"....its a beautiful song & makes for a good evening walker. So all & all, for the most part I heard and felt some things in this record that I had either forgot were there, or had missed the first time around. I found myself (again) fantasizing about what those songs would have sounded like with a different approach to production...and tried to imagine the stripped down, bold semi-acoustic touch a band like New Zealand's "The Clean" could have put on those songs in the studio at the time. Now, to hear the re-issue & will report back. Ted ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== New and Improved Yahoo! Mail - 100MB free storage! ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ Date: Wed, 18 Aug 2004 16:29:33 -0400 From: "Henry Biedenkapp" Subject: Re: seven-seas Some Grey Glory >From: chris adams >As a result of this email, I played the album this morning. I'd always >loathed it. But I gotta tell ya, it's gotten better with age. Dunno why. >Doesn't sound as "slick" as it did. > >--CA I agree Chris, since I made this observation about a year ago before the remasters were issued. My opinion as to why the "love-in" for the Grey album for oldtime Bunnyfans, isn't really a "love-in" but an acceptance since the Bunnymen have isssued other albums since. The point is that at the time we were expecting the sixth masterpiece (I'm including STLAS) and we were sorely disappointed at the slick production and the "sell out" commerical aspect of "Lips" when the sales should have been for any previous non-pop oriented Bunny single. Now that time has pass, none of the comeback albums have the masterpiece status to us, whatever, merits we feel for WAYGTDWYL and/or Flowers. They don't equal to the first four in status of our eyes as grew up chroncically with these albums. Laterday Bunnyfans will have different opinions, especially those who first awareness of the Bunnymen was "Lips". The remastered bonus tracks from the Grey album and Grey tracks from Crystal Days show how this album should have sounded, I think we wouldn't have been so harsh at the time, granted it is a masterpiece but it's a fine album. Henry _________________________________________________________________ FREE pop-up blocking with the new MSN Toolbar  get it now! http://toolbar.msn.click-url.com/go/onm00200415ave/direct/01/ ====================================== http://www.bunnymenlist.com ====================================== ------------------------------ End of seven-seas-digest V3 #275 ********************************