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Topic: qe2: a very good album< Next Oldest | Next Newest >
The Caveman Offline




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Posted: Jan. 09 2009, 08:11

@larstangmark.Oddly enough i link these 4 together.There's a sort of continuity there.Certainly with the first 3 anyway.Crises is,to me,a logical extension for FMO as it was composed and played so much on the Fairlight.
 Odd to think that neither TB or Hergest Ridge had any synth on them.


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larstangmark Offline




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Posted: Jan. 09 2009, 09:46

Quote (The Caveman @ Jan. 09 2009, 08:11)
Odd to think that neither TB or Hergest Ridge had any synth on them.

And that is propably why they don't sound dated. There's a lot of tape recorder trickery going on, so the absence of synths doesn't make these albums less adventurous sounding.

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nightspore Offline




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Posted: Jan. 09 2009, 18:33

Whether or not something sounds dated depends on "where you're coming from". If you've grown up with popular music and follow its changes, then I suppose it will sound dated. If you just "dip in" now and again, it won't. To a modern "classical" musician virtually anything with melody will sound dated!
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larstangmark Offline




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Posted: Jan. 10 2009, 05:14

Quote (nightspore @ Jan. 09 2009, 18:33)
Whether or not something sounds dated depends on "where you're coming from". If you've grown up with popular music and follow its changes, then I suppose it will sound dated. If you just "dip in" now and again, it won't. To a modern "classical" musician virtually anything with melody will sound dated!

Now imagine the oboe section from Hergest Ridge part 1 played on mini moog.  :O

The thing is, the kind of synth lines put down by Keith Emerson or Rick Wakeman in the early 70s do sound fairly comical to the average youngster today. But the way Tangerine Dream or Kraftwek used synths doesn't sound so alien in today's context. This is my experience anyway.
Some things are not as re-cycled as others, so to speak.


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nightspore Offline




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Posted: Jan. 10 2009, 06:15

The point I was trying to make is that to play a "melody" on an electronic instrument would be considered by a modern composer to be wildly anachronistic. If you listen to modern "serious" electronic compositions, they're very fragmented, discordant, with nothing resembling a melody. A good example, incidentally, is Stockhausen's Sirius, by far his most listenable work (and surprisingly enjoyable in parts; it's fun when the signs of the Zodiac get bitchy with one another), although it will certainly jar on a first hearing.
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Sir Mustapha Offline




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Posted: Jan. 10 2009, 09:51

Quote (larstangmark @ Jan. 10 2009, 05:14)
The thing is, the kind of synth lines put down by Keith Emerson or Rick Wakeman in the early 70s do sound fairly comical to the average youngster today. But the way Tangerine Dream or Kraftwek used synths doesn't sound so alien in today's context. This is my experience anyway.

I can't say much about Tangerine Dream, but I agree. It's pretty hard to listen to Kraftwerk and perceive it as "dated". Instead, it sounds ancient, in a documental way, like "THIS is where the real stuff started happening". In a way it's to electronic music what the Beatles were for pop: they weren't the first ones to use synthesizers, but they were among the first ones to use synthesizers the way they're STILL used decades later.

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Dirk Star Offline




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Posted: Jan. 10 2009, 11:14

Personaly I thought QE2 sounded dated the moment it came out.You know and I`m not just talking about the vocoder thing either.I can remember on first hearing some of those choices of synth sounds on the title track and thinking to myself..."Yeah I`m not gonna` be playing this record to any of my cool friends"..

That said it`s an album I`ve always liked,and the production is very crisp and clear.It does`nt suffer from multi gating and over compression like a lot of Mike`s work later in the decade.Favourite tracks for me are..Taurus 1,Sheba,Arrival,Wonderful Land,QE 2,..And a special mention I think for Mirage.A Kind of simplistic piece I guess by Mike`s standards at the time,but very effective none the less.Especialy towards the end there where Mike`s guitar playing gets ever more manic and fevered.Slightly psychotic almost,but in a good way you know.
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olracUK Offline




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Posted: Jan. 10 2009, 17:20

Dirk - you used the phrase "crisp and clear". That production sound pretty musch sums up much of the early 80's pop sound.

From Martin Rushent, Trevor Horn and many others, it was all "sparkle". Sharp, individual sounds, bass to the front.

And I also agree with Scatterplot about the grouping of albums. 1st four (prog rock/classic rock), Platinum, 2nd four (pop prog?), Killing Fields, next 3 excluding Amarok! (euro rock), TB2 TSoDE TB3 (ibiza chilled) and then all over the place.

But to get back on topic. QE2 = a very good album? Yes!


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Dirk Star Offline




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Posted: Jan. 10 2009, 19:30

Yeah "sparkle" is a good way to describe it Olrac UK.When everything was shiney and new,a bit like ourselves I guess.  :p

Sure I would`nt have a go at Mike too much for the way some of the production went later in the decade,as it was kind of the "fashion of the times" I suppose.Plus at the end of the day it`s all a matter of personal preferance anyway.And likewise with the vocoders and synths thing.You know I think it probably sounds better today than it does when it was released if that makes any sense.At least it does from my perspective anyway.

Thinking back now as I said earlier QE 2 was an album I always really liked.I played the hell out of it for months,partly because I think it`s such an easy album to listen to.But I can also remember being slightly concerned about everything becoming shorter,and all the cover versions creeping in.You know I can remember thinking "Hmmm his last album had two cover versions on it as well"..So without wishing to be derogratory,and with all that "concerned stuff" kind of out of the equation for me now.It`s nice to be able to appreciate it more fully today for what it is if you like...And yeah it`s a very good album.  :D
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larstangmark Offline




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Posted: Jan. 11 2009, 09:51

Quote (Dirk Star @ Jan. 10 2009, 19:30)
You know I think it probably sounds better today than it does when it was released if that makes any sense.At least it does from my perspective anyway.

I think that's true! The "robot voice" wasn't exactly cutting edge in 1981-82. At the time the vocoder was propably seen as the new "in" thing, and Mike could propably me ridiculed for using it the wrong way. But listening to it 25 years later, it sounds rather original.

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The Caveman Offline




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Posted: Jan. 12 2009, 07:28

I agree that parts of QE2 sound very dated but is that neccesarily a bad thing?To my mind if it sounds good then it is good.I really really like early synths.The farty squelchy sounds (sorry but i can't think of a better way to describe them).Mike never really did that much with these sort of sounds though and even when he did start to use them on Ommadawn he didn't really go for the really extreme Moog style sounds.
 They only really dated sounds from QE2 and then into FMO is the vocoder.They really bug me.ELO where big fans of this as well.Makes me think of Metal Mickey (now i'm showing my age).I actually think Mikes late 80's output sounds far more dated as it all seems to have the big shiny,or sparkle if you prefer,production job.All except Amarok which is absolutly perfect in every possible way.Biased?Me?Not at all!!! :laugh:


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smillsoid Offline




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Posted: April 10 2009, 15:41

I think QE2 is brilliant - precisely because of the 'harsh' production.  Sonically it reminds me of Krautrock (particularly "Neu!") - not in musical form, but in texture.

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Drealm Offline




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Posted: Jan. 18 2010, 13:45

For me QE2 have always been one of Mike's album I understood the most, one I feel close to. I can understand why some people find it weird, but for me it is the contrary, it fits my imagination perfectly. Particularly the song QE2, which have always been my favorite track from Mike (beside long compositions). I think it's one of the deepest album he ever made, like if the music was coming straight from his genius.

So definitely one of my best!
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ex member 419 Offline




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Posted: Jan. 18 2010, 19:02

A jolly good album IMHO. I didn't like it at first but after a few months I started to appreciate how much work it took to play those synths in the way Mike did. This was the time of the MOOG and fat distorted sound was in. Mike didn't follow the crowd and put out what essentially amounted to bands sounding the same. He used the synths to create his own signature. Brilliant. Deb
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smillsoid Offline




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Posted: Jan. 18 2010, 21:07

The point is, QE2 was disliked intensely by some critics at the time, and 'mud sticks' - thus a lot of people (inc. biographers) have felt that it is the Mike album to easily dismiss.  Wrong.  QE2 contains some of Mike's best work, and takes a very brave stance sonically - it is hard-edged and crystal-clear, when so much music at the time was fuzzy, thuddy and 'easy-listening.'  Mike was aligning himself with the likes of German producer Conny Plank (Ultravox, Neu!, Kraftwerk etc.), by rejecting this 'old' sound in favour of something more slick and streamlined.  QE2 stands alone in Mike's catalogue precisely due to its uncompromising sound.  Also, the 2 cover versions on the album have become Mike tracks - eclipsing the originals.  Truly, a great work by a great artist!

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nightspore Offline




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Posted: Jan. 19 2010, 05:30

Quote (smillsoid @ Jan. 18 2010, 21:07)
 Also, the 2 cover versions on the album have become Mike tracks - eclipsing the originals.  

I agree there. Two other tracks - "Celt" and the title track - are among my favourite MO pieces. Those four tracks aside, I'm neutral about the album, much as I am about Guitars: pleasant to listen to, but for me doesn't really scale the heights (as, for example, "Taurus 2" does).
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smillsoid Offline




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Posted: Jan. 19 2010, 08:23

Agree about Taurus 2 - that piece alone outshines the whole of QE2!  But it's still a great, groundbreaking album on many levels.

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The Caveman Offline




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Posted: Jan. 19 2010, 10:02

Personally i could listen to Molly all day long and still not get tired of it.It's such a simple little tune inspired by his daughter and it's a joy to play along to.In fact the whole album is a great 'stick it on the stereo and play along to' album.None of it's really technically hard to play which doesn't detract from it one jot.
 Plus it has Phil Collins on drums on a few tracks.Don't like his solo stuff but he is a really good drummer with a very distinctive sound.When the drums come in on Taurus you know who it is by the tone of his drums.I know he did ,and i think still does,use single headed drums which were hugely unfashionable but he makes them sound immense.He's no Pierre Moerlin but he does a bloody good job of what he does.


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smillsoid Offline




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Posted: Jan. 19 2010, 10:28

Phil Collins = great drummer / crap EVERYTHING else.

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The Caveman Offline




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Posted: Jan. 19 2010, 10:34

That's about right. :laugh:

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