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Post by Kapitan on Oct 16, 2020 18:16:55 GMT
Noticed two different things today for the first time, both about "When It's Love."
The first, my brother texted me. Listen to the song in headphones and notice how prominent the clicking sound that pans left and right is. It is presumably the attack of a synth tone--imitative of the mechanical click of some earlier electronic, analog keyboard instruments--intentionally made louder than usual for effect. Once you pay attention to it, it almost takes over the entire intro (and remains loud throughout).
The second is the very high harmony in the refrain. The melody is in D major, starting on the third (F#). The loudest harmony is basically just thirds below it, starting on the root (D). The chord D runs through the whole first line until the word love, at which it goes to the V chord (A major). Together the notes of those two vocal parts are:
F# G A A G F# A D E F#F# E D E
How do I know when it's love
But there is a really high harmony above both parts, sticking with the high D through that whole line until the final note, when it descends to C# (the third of the second chord, A). I can't believe I never noticed it before, considering how high it is. (It's the same note that Sammy hits in the lead in his "answers" to those lines, like "I can't TELL you but it lasts...")
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Post by B.E. on Oct 16, 2020 19:45:57 GMT
1) Pretty significant delay between the clicks. Kinda sounds like they're bouncing off the walls (figuratively). I kinda like it.
2) I'll take the low harmony, I can barely vocalize that high D! Pretty simple musically, but impressive singing. That high harmony doesn't lessen the impact of hitting the same note in the "answer" lead one bit.
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 16, 2020 20:02:37 GMT
2) I'll take the low harmony, I can barely vocalize that high D! Pretty simple musically, but impressive singing. That high harmony doesn't lessen the impact of hitting the same note in the "answer" lead one bit. On that, first, I was wondering if it has been pitch-shifted (or tape-sped). Not because Sammy or Mike (I assume) couldn't hit it, but because it doesn't sound forced from what I can tell. And that's suspicious. Then again, it's down in the mix and bathed in effects and probably multitracked to holy hell. (As for Sammy, he OBVIOUSLY can hit it, in that he does so powerfully in the answer.)
And re that answer, I wonder if that's why they didn't put it louder in the mix: to ensure that high note in the melody had as strong an impact as possible.
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Post by kds on Oct 20, 2020 15:17:53 GMT
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Post by Kapitan on Oct 20, 2020 18:08:08 GMT
This has been on YouTube for 11 years, but I've never come across it until today. (My recent VH rabbit-hole has apparently made clear to YouTube that I might be interested...)
Van Halen doing the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" live in the studio circa '93.
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Post by kds on Oct 20, 2020 18:22:07 GMT
This has been on YouTube for 11 years, but I've never come across it until today. (My recent VH rabbit-hole has apparently made clear to YouTube that I might be interested...)
Van Halen doing the Who's "Won't Get Fooled Again" live in the studio circa '93.
I don't think I'd ever seen that. I know the live version that was included on Live Right Here Right Now, and that actually got some airplay back when the live album was released in 1993, as a stop gap between FUCK and balance albums.
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Post by kds on Oct 27, 2020 13:14:48 GMT
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 6, 2020 23:27:31 GMT
Interesting conversation largely about Van Halen's Warner Bros. vault material.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 20, 2020 0:39:25 GMT
Wolfie's debut single in advance of his first album, a tribute to his dad. Apparently this is more "ballady" than is representative of him. (Can't say it sounds particularly ballady to me. And honestly, it's pretty dull in my opinion.) He does everything from writing to all the instruments, which is cool. But really underwhelming to me.
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 7, 2020 23:34:18 GMT
Another VH-related interview from the Steve Rosen YouTube account I've referenced here and elsewhere this fall, this one from Diamond Dave in 1980 just before Women and Children First was released. (He references it as the next album.) Point of interest from the opening comments, there is apparently a massive "7-part" (or whatever) series coming around the holiday!
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 12, 2020 21:11:09 GMT
Touching, to be honest. Eddie Van Halen visiting an already unwell Jason Becker back in 1996. If you'd asked me 20 years ago who was more likely to survive to now, there's no way I'd have guessed the answer was Becker...
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Post by Kapitan on Dec 12, 2020 21:25:13 GMT
The aforementioned led me to listen to Becker's masterpiece (imo) again, "Air," one of the most brilliant rock (if you want to call this rock) guitar pieces I've ever heard. I know I've posted it before elsewhere, but here it is again. Honestly the thoughts of the late EVH and Becker, still with us thank god, has me feeling pretty sentimental.
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Post by kds on Mar 16, 2021 13:30:03 GMT
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Mar 16, 2021 13:42:37 GMT
Way to go Eddie Trunk!
Ordinarily, on memoriams like that, being featured for twenty seconds would be considered long. But, since they deviated this year with two-minute tributes (for Kenny Rogers, Little Richard, etc.), it did seem like a slight of Eddie. If they would've included a two-minute tribute song for Eddie, which song would've been the best?
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Post by Kapitan on Mar 16, 2021 13:47:38 GMT
If they would've included a two-minute tribute song for Eddie, which song would've been the best? Because we're talking about Eddie, and not the band Van Halen, I'd lean toward "Eruption." There are plenty of guys, some of whom are notable, who could do it justice. Whether Steve Vai, Dweezil Zappa, or even a pop guy like John Mayer, there are options.
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