Sir Mustapha
Group: Musicians
Posts: 2802
Joined: April 2003 |
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Posted: Feb. 03 2005, 05:27 |
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Of course, you were talking about 'Islands' the SONG, not the album. That explains something, already. Silly me. In fact, the song 'Islands' is definitely commercial and somewhat crap, in a way (in my opinion, of course). But I still see Earth Moving as a heavily flawed album. And when I take out an album to listen to, I always listen to it in several ways, with attention to several aspects. And I let myself open to both the technical aspects and the emotional aspects (that are heavily subjective, of course), so there isn't the problem of me just analysing the song "technically". If I'm really not in love with a song, it's because it just isn't for me, or maybe it's a difficult song that hasn't worked all its way into my mind - but in that case, I wouldn't have a strong opinion of it. I have tried Earth Moving already, several times, and what I can see is that the overal picture isn't too attractive to me, and also that it must not be too attractive to much people. Of course the album has its fans, but the Mike Oldfield community in general turns it down (for a number of reasons), and also it hasn't fared too well in the charts. Remember that 'Moonlight Shadow' was (and still is) very successful. And believe me, it's no coincidence that I see 'Moonlight Shadow' as largely superior to most tracks in Earth Moving. Not just because I like it better, but I see lots of things that make it a better song: the natural dreamy sound, the catchy melody, Maggie Reilly's performance, the beat, the guitar, and even the lyrics. Earth Moving's songs are way too thinny and synthetic (like a Casio keyboard on auto-pilot), the melodies are quite cliché, and most vocalists are that kind of hysterical over-the-top performers that make a song be immediately identifiable as "80's" to many people. Just see Max Bacon trying to turn into Freddie Mercury in 'Hostage'. But then, like I said, these songs have their fans. 'Far Country' takes many people "there" (like you, Alan, Raven, etc.), and that's natural. If it didn't take me there, it's just because it isn't quite "my" song. Many others take me to places. I could make a list, but I'm not in that particular mindset at the moment. 'Far Country' just wasn't made for me. And that's far different from what I feel for 'Earth Moving', for example, which I consider a genuinely bad song. 'Far Country' is good and I like 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
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