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Post by kds on Nov 1, 2021 15:08:47 GMT
I spent most of the first half of 1993 in my honeymoon / infatuation stage with the catalog of Queen. So, one of the few albums from 1993 that I really remember experiencing in real time was the solo debut from Brian May - Back to the Light. This was the first new music from anyone in Queen since Freddie's death.
At the time, I wasn't overly impressed with it, other than a couple of the songs, but it's really grown on me in recent years.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 1, 2021 15:10:16 GMT
L. Kent Wolgamott of the Lincoln Journal Star felt similarly, stating that the record "sounds like a good album from Whitesnake", but "Led Zeppelin it certainly is not."
Neil Jeffries, in a piece for Classic Rock, ranked Coverdale–Page thirteenth in Coverdale's overall studio discography, concluding that the singer sounds "unsure whether to impersonate Robert Plant or be himself".
While Plant commented positively on Page's playing,[59] he was critical of the pairing, stating: "I found it difficult to understand [Page's] choice of bedfellow. I just could not get it."[60] Even before collaborating with Page, Coverdale had been accused of copying Plant, who had reportedly referred to him in interviews as "David Cover-version".[61] Page called Plant's negative comments "short-sighted", while Coverdale described them as a "stab in the back", having considered Plant a friend in the past.[5] Regarding the negative comparisons to Led Zeppelin and Whitesnake, Coverdale stated: "Comparisons are inevitable. You have David Coverdale and Jimmy Page working together, then there are bound to be similarities to former works, because that's who we are."[62]
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Post by Sheriff John Stone on Nov 1, 2021 15:12:15 GMT
With Whitesnake at the end of their initial run, David Coverdale paired with Jimmy Page for......um..Coverdale Page. It's a really solid Zeppelin-esque album. It's too bad there was never a follow up. (This first part will sound weird...)
Having been a Whitesnake fan for a good five years by this time, and a Zeppelin one for maybe about two or three, I was really excited for this album. And yes, of course by 1993 I knew Zeppelin were better than Whitesnake ... but it's Whitesnake I knew first and had a real affection for, even if the first thing I heard of theirs--"Still of the Night"--was obviously a Zep ripoff.
Honestly this album underwhelmed me, because I was hoping for a return of Led Zeppelin more or less. Instead it is a solid, second-rate Zeppelin style band. Coverdale's vocals actually were sketchy, in my opinion, with more gruffness and rasp than I would have expected. (He sounds so hoarse on things like "Take Me For A Little While." But he also sounds perfectly fine elsewhere.)
But some of the riffs are really cool, whether in "Take it Easy," "Over Now," or the singles.
I've wondered in hindsight if a more creative rhythm section would have been a better choice than what amounted to session players. But I suppose two superstar egos are enough to balance with a new project without trying to find another Bonzo or JPJ.
Surprisingly, while the album hasn't necessarily been at the forefront of the public's mind these past two decades, it was a reasonable hit: it peaked at #5 in the US and #4 in the UK, going platinum in the US and Canada, gold in Japan, and silver in the UK.
I'm not familiar with the Coverdale-Page album, but "Pride And Joy" is one of my favorite songs of the 90s.
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Post by kds on Nov 1, 2021 15:55:01 GMT
In November 1993, arguably the biggest hard-rock megastars int he world, Guns 'n' Roses, released a new album. As long as they took between Appetite For Destruction and its true follow-up, their double double-albums Use Your Illusion I&II--each disc was essentially a double album, at ~75 minutes--this could have been considered a quick turnaround.
But it wasn't a new album proper: The Spaghetti Incident? comprised a baker's dozen covers (or fourteen, counting the controversial hidden track). Among those artists being covered were Nazareth ("Hair of the Dog"), the Misfits, the Damned, the New York Dolls, and perhaps most surprisingly, the Skyliners ("Since I Don't Have You"). (Yes, I think the choice to cover the Skyliners was more surprising than the aforementioned controversial one to cover Charles Manson, though obviously that's the one they caught hell for. And note I am not saying it was a good decision to cover Manson.)
The album was not only not a new originals album, it wasn't even quite a new album: they'd recorded its music during the marathon Illusion sessions, not quite sure how they'd be used. Izzy Stradlin had been on many of the songs, but his parts were replaced by Gilby Clarke performances.
While it never had a big reputation and was comparatively unsuccessful, it did peak at #4 in the US and went platinum.
What a disappointing way to end GNR's original reign. And, I'm guessing either the band, or the label, didn't think too highly of the album. UYE was still being mined for singles, with the single and music video for Estranged being released in December 1993.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 1, 2021 16:17:18 GMT
I think it was clearly an afterthought to buy a little more time with "new" (already in the can) material as the band seemed to be falling apart and unsure of its place in the post-grunge world. And even that, it's strayed substantially from the original band. No Steven Adler, no Izzy Stradlin; and instead Matt Sorum, Gilby Clarke, and Dizzy Reed.
But of course instead the band went on to fall apart completely and whatever little time they bought turned into more than a decade of inaction on the new material front.
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Post by kds on Nov 1, 2021 16:21:34 GMT
Yep, and I've said it before (I think in the 90s thread) that the disappearance of Guns N Roses for the rest of the decade accelerated the decline of guitar based rock in the decade.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 1, 2021 19:49:16 GMT
1993 was a huge year for Janet Jackson, who released her massive hit album janet. in May of that year after a bidding war that left her with a $40 million contract with Virgin that made her the world's highest paid musical act. (Her brother Michael one-upped her weeks later with a $60 million deal with Sony.)
She had already had huge successes with her third and fourth albums--Control went 5x platinum and Rhythm Nation 1814 went 6x platinum, and both were #1s in America--but this, her fifth album, represented another leap. It also marked a shift in the musical and visual style for the then-27-year-old. She had gone from almost asexual to one of the world's biggest sex symbols seemingly overnight. And the music reflected it, with sultry hits like "That's the Way Love Goes" and "Any Time, Any Place" bringing jazz and R'n'B to what had been the almost mechanical dance sound of her earlier music.
The shift is partly attributable to her production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, but also to Jackson herself: she co-wrote and co-produced every song on the album. She told Rolling Stone at the time that she wrote "all the lyrics and half of the melodies."
Throughout 1993 and '94, the album spawned six Top 10 singles, four of which were Top 5 and two hit #1. The album also topped the US charts and was nearly 8x platinum in America, with 14 million sold worldwide.
I hadn't been a Janet Jackson fan before, but as the 16- and 17-year-old who saw this one (and let's be serious, it started with the videos for me), I found a whole new appreciation for her. All joking aside, a lot of its music struck me as more interesting than her previous stuff--though I did enjoy her music from Control onward.
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Post by jk on Nov 1, 2021 20:30:21 GMT
1993 was a huge year for Janet Jackson, who released her massive hit album janet. in May of that year after a bidding war that left her with a $40 million contract with Virgin that made her the world's highest paid musical act. (Her brother Michael one-upped her weeks later with a $60 million deal with Sony.)
She had already had huge successes with her third and fourth albums--Control went 5x platinum and Rhythm Nation 1814 went 6x platinum, and both were #1s in America--but this, her fifth album, represented another leap. It also marked a shift in the musical and visual style for the then-27-year-old. She had gone from almost asexual to one of the world's biggest sex symbols seemingly overnight. And the music reflected it, with sultry hits like "That's the Way Love Goes" and "Any Time, Any Place" bringing jazz and R'n'B to what had been the almost mechanical dance sound of her earlier music.
The shift is partly attributable to her production team of Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis, but also to Jackson herself: she co-wrote and co-produced every song on the album. She told Rolling Stone at the time that she wrote "all the lyrics and half of the melodies."
We saw Ms Jackson perform at Glastonbury (on TV) a while back and were most impressed. And then last night she was spotlighted in a BBC documentary about music in the 1980s. I didn't like her at the time (a familiar story!) and I'm still no major fan of her music but these days she has my deepest respect, not least for professionally breaking away from the Jackson family and doing her own thing. I'm a great admirer of what Messrs Jam and Lewis did for The S.O.S. Band. I don't know if they still produce her...
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 1, 2021 20:52:28 GMT
We saw Ms Jackson perform at Glastonbury (on TV) a while back and were most impressed. And then last night she was spotlighted in a BBC documentary about music in the 1980s. I didn't like her at the time (a familiar story!) and I'm still no major fan of her music but these days she has my deepest respect, not least for professionally breaking away from the Jackson family and doing her own thing. I'm a great admirer of what Messrs Jam and Lewis did for The S.O.S. Band. I don't know if they still produce her... She's quite a performer, but I wouldn't give her much credit as a singer. Decent, but not a standout. I think with her--as with Michael, frankly--it was more the total package of songs, style, dancing, singing...everything.
Frankly, though, I pretty much lost all interest in her music after janet. So I had to just check and see her producers since. It seems they have worked with her on each of her subsequent six albums--just six albums in 18 years! Times change...--but in a decreasing capacity. Most of the albums, especially the more recent ones, follow the trend of having multiple producers. Four, five, six...
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Post by B.E. on Nov 1, 2021 21:58:48 GMT
Regarding the end of GNR's original run, I just so happened to hear their version of "Sympathy for the Devil" last night and I was NOT impressed. I thought the vocal was distractingly bad. I see that it was actually their last single until 2008.
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Post by kds on Nov 2, 2021 12:17:04 GMT
Regarding the end of GNR's original run, I just so happened to hear their version of "Sympathy for the Devil" last night and I was NOT impressed. I thought the vocal was distractingly bad. I see that it was actually their last single until 2008. I've never really been a fan of their version of that song. I actually forgot about it, but on Halloween, when running out to pick up something, I happened to hear it on the radio.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 2, 2021 12:21:51 GMT
I remember when I first heard it, back when it was released. Terrible.
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Post by kds on Nov 2, 2021 12:29:39 GMT
That subpar version was a soundtrack song, which reminds me that the 90s was a time when bands could score some hits with a one off soundtrack appearance.
The soundtrack for Last Action Hero, which has probably endured better than the movie itself (even though I think it's underrated), included big songs for AC/DC (Big Gun) and Megadeth (Angry Again). Also, it was already mentioned, but Queensryche released one of their last really good songs on that soundtrack in Real world.
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Post by Kapitan on Nov 2, 2021 13:19:13 GMT
While I'd never heard of him at the time, about seven years after 1993 I discovered a '93 Tom Waits album I've come to rate as pretty good, if not great: The Black Rider.
It is a reworking of the music from Waits's first collaboration with stage director Robert Wilson. The 1990 play was an adaption of a German folktale "Der Freischutz," later made into an opera by Carl Maria von Weber. For this adaption, Waits did the music and he partnered with William S. Burroughs on lyrics for some of the songs; the others he did alone.
If 1983's swordfishtrombones was Waits doing junkyard music, this was graveyard music. It is eerie, otherworldly, and out of time. Here, appropriate for the season, is "November."
No shadow No stars No moon No care November It only believes In a pile of dead leaves And a moon That's the color of bone No prayers for November To linger longer Stick your spoon in the wall We'll slaughter them all November has tied me To an old dead tree Get word to April To rescue me November's cold chain Made of wet boots and rain And shiny black ravens On chimney smoke lanes November seems odd You're my firing squad November With my hair slicked back With carrion shellac With the blood from a pheasant And the bone from a hare Tied to the branches Of a roebuck stag Left to wave in the timber Like a buck shot flag Go away you rainsnout Go away, blow your brains out November
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sockit
The Surfer Moon
Posts: 234
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Post by sockit on Nov 2, 2021 23:48:06 GMT
The soundtrack for Last Action Hero, which has probably endured better than the movie itself (even though I think it's underrated), included big songs for AC/DC (Big Gun) and Megadeth (Angry Again). Also, it was already mentioned, but Queensryche released one of their last really good songs on that soundtrack in Real world. That soundtrack was actually really good, and for a short time the only place to hear some of the songs. Alice in Chains' "What the Hell Have I" is a pretty good song, but the mix and mastering sucked badly. Nails on chalkboard! Fortunately the song was later remixed on one of AiG's best-ofs and it sounds much better. Def Leppard's semi-acoustic "Two Steps Behind" is a decent enough tune, showing yet another side of them, although around here it was radio-played to death.
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