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Bassman Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: Feb. 2008 Posted: May 23 2008, 10:08 I've been listening to this more frequently than usual lately and it's simply getting better and better each passing year-and it was already wonderful to begin with (original mix or otherwise).  It's far more pastoral, reflective and, dare I say, mature than it's predecessor.  As a fully cohesive composition all of its movements blend beautifully-from the mystical, elemental introduction, leading all the way up to one of MO's most satisfying conclusions on record. Right after "Martian Thunderstorm" there is a brief interlude which then leads into a reprise of "Spanish Tune" with the classical guitar accompanied by strings right up until the very last chord.  It touches the soul every single time and makes one want to start it all over again. There's no substitute for the sturm and drang that is TB, but, by the same token, there is no substitute for the haunting, understated beauty of HR.  Music at it's best.     -------------- Turn up the music... Hi as Fi can go. Back to top

Tayniee Group: Members Posts: 132 Joined: April 2008 Posted: May 23 2008, 17:38 Now you're talking. There is a haunting beauty about this piece of work that I find hard to articulate, except to say it touches the soul. I remember Holger saying that he couldn't explain why it was so special and was still working on it. I can relate to that. The highlight is the section from 15.00 onwards, a MO classic build up of joy and passion, and much more...       -------------- As we all know, endings are just beginnings. Back to top

Sweetpea Group: Members Posts: 1476 Joined: April 2007 Posted: May 27 2008, 01:08 Bassman, I've also been giving HR a lot of playing time recently, and I agree with much of what you've said. It's a great work - understated and mature. It took me a handful of listens to begin to really appreciate its beauty but, these days, I can't get enough of it. -------------- "I'm no physicist, but technically couldn't Mike both be with the horse and be flying through space at the same time? (On account of the earth's orbit around the Sun and all that). So it seems he never had to make the choice after all. I bet he's kicking himself now." - clotty Back to top

Scatterplot Group: Members Posts: 1980 Joined: Dec. 2007 Posted: May 27 2008, 01:44 This is as good as it gets. HR still keeps me focused after 34 years. Anybody seen the new Mars photos? Cool. -------------- We raise our voices in the night Crying to heaven And will our voices be heard Or will they break Like the wind Back to top

Bassman Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: Feb. 2008 Posted: May 27 2008, 01:53 Amen Scatter. I'm envious of Brits that are just within reach of going to see the actual place.  For a countryside to have inspired such music makes it a place I want to see before I die.  Not because I have any illusions that it's been untouched by man since 1974, but because I know it's remained just untouched enough for me to be able to see God in it. Back to top

Holger Group: Members Posts: 1506 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: May 27 2008, 03:34 Quote (Tayniee @ May 23 2008, 23:38) I remember Holger saying that he couldn't explain why it was so special and was still working on it. Indeed, and I still feel I can't. I guess it's just like Mike said in Changeling - the music's there because it conveys things that can't be put into words... Back to top

The Caveman Group: Members Posts: 2178 Joined: Jan. 2008 Posted: May 27 2008, 09:30 Intteresting piont about the maturity of it.I've never really thought about it like that but you are right.It's more structured than TB and much calmer sounding (except side 2 of course....wakes me up if i drift everytime).It's not as 'complete' as Ommadawn to me at any rate it is truely beautiful whichever way you cut it. -------------- THE COMING OF THE GREAT WHITE HANDKERCHEIF IS NIGH. Back to top

ex member 419 Group: Members Posts: 1177 Joined: April 2008 Posted: May 28 2008, 21:23 [EMAIL=tubularnet.com]tubularnet.com[/EMAIL]   I am yet to acqiure a copy of Hergest Ridge, but if it is as good as voyager, I reckon it will be an extra bonus, and another disc to add to my survival pile collection ( for when days are a drag) Back to top

Scatterplot Group: Members Posts: 1980 Joined: Dec. 2007 Posted: May 29 2008, 01:54 Don't bother with the "boxed" post '76 re-mix. You can get the '74 original on a Rapidshare link provided on a thread in HR called Porky.... -------------- We raise our voices in the night Crying to heaven And will our voices be heard Or will they break Like the wind Back to top

Scatterplot Group: Members Posts: 1980 Joined: Dec. 2007 Posted: May 29 2008, 02:13 Ah....here it is. Nice to know its still there. I d/loaded it to my work computer. http://rapidshare.com/files....p3.html Jim -------------- We raise our voices in the night Crying to heaven And will our voices be heard Or will they break Like the wind Back to top

Scatterplot Group: Members Posts: 1980 Joined: Dec. 2007 Posted: May 29 2008, 02:16 Nope, that didn't copy/paste right. Here: http://rapidshare.com/files....p3.html -------------- We raise our voices in the night Crying to heaven And will our voices be heard Or will they break Like the wind Back to top

Gladstoner Group: Members Posts: 46 Joined: May 2008 Posted: May 29 2008, 03:13 Quote (Scatterplot @ May 27 2008, 00:44) This is as good as it gets. HR still keeps me focused after 34 years. Anybody seen the new Mars photos? Cool. I just had a thought about a feature in those Mars Phoenix images, and then I read this post. There is a low ridge to the south of the lander. Guess what I think it should be named? -------------- You don't find great music. It finds you. Back to top

Scatterplot Group: Members Posts: 1980 Joined: Dec. 2007 Posted: May 29 2008, 04:26 whut? -------------- We raise our voices in the night Crying to heaven And will our voices be heard Or will they break Like the wind Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: May 29 2008, 09:19 I might probably be the sole voice to recommend the '76 remix of Hergest Ridge. I think one should have the original mix if possible, but the later remix is mandatory, for it's easier to find and one has to decide for himself which version is better. Besides, the remix doesn't have the abhorrent, atrociously awful speeding-up organ chord. -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

Bassman Group: Members Posts: 548 Joined: Feb. 2008 Posted: May 29 2008, 10:08 Scatter, your copy of Orig. HR is VERY nice.  No big blotches of groove distortion on the sections of music where the tape was near-saturated.  Pretty crackle-free.  I'd go out on a limb and say it's on par with (or at least very close to) the famous Bartosik version, and you didn't have to do anywhere near the restoration that he did.  Lucky bugger, you hold on to that one. -------------- Turn up the music... Hi as Fi can go. Back to top

Scatterplot Group: Members Posts: 1980 Joined: Dec. 2007 Posted: May 29 2008, 14:14 What happened was, I had several USA copies decades ago. All sounded like crap. In the 90's I embarked on a quest for a '74 cassette to re-do. I don't think such an animal existed. A cassette "boxed-remix" was issued in 1990. Along comes 2007 and I get on Amazon.com and find a UK LP release by a dealer in New Mexico with a very elaborate description of the LP as a "Porky Cut". Jimbo quickly learns on the net who Porky Peckham was/is. Then he snatches it up for $30. It comes in the mail wrapped in so much cardboard I swear to god it took me over 30 minutes with scissors and a tactical folder knife to get the thing out. It came with a CD(boxed version, plus some Ayers rarities), but damn this dealer took pride in this fine LP!! While......whilst you guys say, I'm waiting for the LP to arrive I buy an unlock code to some fine LP/Tape restoration software. I stop in a thrift store and spend a quarter on a Barbra Steisand LP from 1962 that looks like somebody puked on it(I wanted the WORST record to test the software). It came out sounding great! Once HR arrived, it was in fine condition, had 3X the dynamic range of my childhood USA copies, 1/20th of the noise, and so on. I minimally washed it thru the software and the result should replace any "boxed" version. In my "oppinion".  I'm just one of those people who believes that if Mike or AC/DC or whothef&^%ever does an album.......what they were feeling the day it was released is how it should sound. The "Porky Cut" is sealed in plastic and stored like the holy grail. This is Hergest Ridge to me. Jimbo -------------- We raise our voices in the night Crying to heaven And will our voices be heard Or will they break Like the wind Back to top

Fred Group: Members Posts: 9 Joined: April 2008 Posted: May 29 2008, 19:39 Quote (Scatterplot @ May 29 2008, 14:14) This is Hergest Ridge to me. Can't thank you enough for doing this, and for making it available.  It's a dream to listen to.  You are ... spot on, as they say, with your comments about dynamic range and noise, which formerly made a masterpiece almost unlistenable. -------------- [A]t some point it always occurs to [artists]... that they can do this one thing for the rest of their lives, they can be successful to the outside world but not... to themselves.  That's the moment an artist decides who he or she is. If they keep on risking failure, they're still artists. ~ S.Jobs Back to top

raven4x4x Group: Members Posts: 1535 Joined: Jan. 2002 Posted: May 29 2008, 19:48 Quote (Scatterplot @ May 30 2008, 03:14) what they were feeling the day it was released is how it should sound There is some truth in that, but the boxed remix is one I fell in love with. It has more of the minimalistic beauty which I've always associated with the album. Maybe if I'd listened to the orignal mix first I would feel differently, but after becoming familiar with the remix the original just sounds odd to me, like the album with strange bits added on. -------------- Thank-you for helping us help you help us all. Back to top

Sir Mustapha Group: Musicians Posts: 2802 Joined: April 2003 Posted: May 29 2008, 20:08 It's a good and interesting exercise to try to pin down how much of that preference is due to familiarity and habit. I'm also far more used, I believe, to the remix version. I do, however, like some of the details from the original mix which were changed later on. There are elements on both mixes that I like, and my "ideal" version, I believe, would be somewhere in between the two, closer to the Boxed remix though. I think just chopping off certain elements makes the mix awkward in places, like when the trumpet kicks in for the first time: that swell in volume on the remix is a bit odd and out-of-place, and upon hearing the mix, I went "ooh, so that explains it." -------------- Check out http://ferniecanto.com.br for all my music, including my latest albums: Don't Stay in the City, Making Amends and Builders of Worlds. Also check my Bandcamp page: http://ferniecanto.bandcamp.com Back to top

Dirk Star Group: Members Posts: 1331 Joined: Sep. 2007 Posted: May 30 2008, 03:48 Quote (Sir Mustapha @ May 29 2008, 14:19) I might probably be the sole voice to recommend the '76 remix of Hergest Ridge. I think one should have the original mix if possible, but the later remix is mandatory, for it's easier to find and one has to decide for himself which version is better. Besides, the remix doesn't have the abhorrent, atrociously awful speeding-up organ chord. Must admit I feel the same way as yourself about recommending the remixed version.And I also agree that organ sound definetly needed to go from the original.If I`d heard that sound coming out of my record player all those years ago.I dare say I`d have been sending it into the repair shop for a new belt or something. I`ll admit that most of my preferances are probably down to my own familiarity with the remixed version as well.I don`t think there`s really any getting away from that,for me personaly anyway.I have enjoyed listening to the original but more out of curiosity than anything else.I can`t say I`ve really been able to derive the same pleasure or kick from it for instance.Although in all honesty I`ve only been able to listen to it right the way through once.And even then it was bugging the hell out of me most of the time.Like yourself I could hear parts that I liked better on the original as well.But then sometimes what I seemed to be gaining in bass or depth in some sections.I felt I was losing quite a bit in melody and just the overall feel of it in others.Maybe I was just being distracted too much though by some of the new sounds and levels in there?I don`t know it`s really hard to be compleletly objective about it.I think the knowledge of what`s done is done and I can`t do much about it now.Has kind of put me off listening to the original version more. Back to top

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