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Question: Shiva :: Total Votes:21 Poll choices Votes Statistics Fantastic Love it. 4  [19.05%] Good. 7  [33.33%] Not Impressed. 6  [28.57%] Hate it. 4  [19.05%] Guests cannot vote

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Milamber Group: Musicians Posts: 2275 Joined: Feb. 2010 Posted: Aug. 29 2012, 21:01 We've all had time to sit (with) Shiva. What are your thoughts on the track? Also can someone enlighten on when Mikes vocals were recorded, a new idea or something done earlier and then removed for the original release. Personally I don't mind the track, it's certainly growing on me. Kudos to Mike for singing about egrets   Back to top

stpaul Group: Members Posts: 230 Joined: Feb. 2005 Posted: Aug. 30 2012, 00:41 Definitely it is a recent voice-over recording. the vocal are treatd in the same way like on Surfing. In my opinion it was not a good idea to release this as it sounds quite strange. Back to top

memberd Group: Members Posts: 45 Joined: Sep. 2003 Posted: Aug. 30 2012, 08:45 I didn't see the point of it .. unless it was to 'fill out' QE2 Deluxe a little bit. -------------- "...inside, and the positions are reversed..." Back to top

olracUK Group: Members Posts: 1683 Joined: June 2003 Posted: Aug. 30 2012, 09:54 Or perhaps he found a notebook with his original lyric ideas from way back when? Not worth putting on the album at all. -------------- The answer is 42 - but what is the question? Back to top

adler Group: Members Posts: 54 Joined: Aug. 2005 Posted: Aug. 30 2012, 13:32 Quote (memberd @ Aug. 30 2012, 08:45) I didn't see the point of it .. unless it was to 'fill out' QE2 Deluxe a little bit. Agree.... But why in Platinum Deluxe he didn't put Sally ?   Back to top

Argiers Group: Members Posts: 9 Joined: Aug. 2012 Posted: Aug. 30 2012, 14:18 Hello Tubular Netters. Don't know why I never signed into this site before but better late than never. Been an Oldfield nut since 4 years old in 1979 - so Platinum and QE2 are tattooed on my brain from that time. Shiva - in a word - 'odd'. Two words - 'bloody odd'. But let's be happy that Mike still has the ability to make us scratch our heads and say "eh...?". And indeed - where is Sally on The Platinum reissue? I feel we were spoiled rotten with TB, Omm and HG reissues - the remixes are incredible. I fear the future holds not disappointment but less excitement. Who else was disgusted by Virgin's "remastered reissues" a few years ago? I held on to my original cd copies... Peace! Ewan 'Argiers' Corben. -------------- Buggered if I know... Back to top

memberd Group: Members Posts: 45 Joined: Sep. 2003 Posted: Aug. 31 2012, 02:55 Yes I was also expecting 'Sally' .. Mike sort of getting his own back on Virgin . .perhaps they've lost the tapes . .or they were destroyed?!?!?   -------------- "...inside, and the positions are reversed..." Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Sep. 01 2012, 18:48 I've already said in another thread that I think Mike considers "Sally" too personal an expression of his state of mind at the time to be given a general release now, in 2012. Back then, he most probably loved the song and must have got quite upset when Branson kicked it off Platinum, but then he accepted that. Today, he probably hates the song with a passion. Also, as MemberD says, because the song was omitted from the album's final tracklist, the original master tape containing it may have very well been lost, or destroyed. About "Shiva", I consider it one of his many experiments. He loves experimenting with old ideas and recycling them - he has shown quite often how much he likes that. Of course this piece, being something that Mike did strictly for himself, it may not be to everyone's liking (for myself, I think it's enjoyable as a fresh variation on a well-known piece, and I do like his low-key vocal performance... by the way, does anyone here have the full lyrics? ), amd also his decision to release it in what is supposed to be a "deluxe edition" of an album of his may be opinable, to say the least. But can we be sure about the fact that it was entirely his own decision to release it? @ Milamber: I don't think Mike had any meaningful lyrics for "Sheba" back when he recorded it - all he wrote was the "Sana, Egg Eh Gaga Woo" phonemes (he apparently likes that word, Sana - in Taurus II, Maggie sings "Sana, Rosana, daloo wee rawana..." ). He probably intended the piece to have no sensible words at all and he was using Maggie's voice as an instrument, something he'd already done in the past and he kept doing, up to right now. So I think that both the lyrics and the vocals are very recent, as part of his attempt to juggle a little bit with an old piece of his. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

Bell Boy Group: Members Posts: 108 Joined: June 2009 Posted: Sep. 03 2012, 04:28 "it was a ......mistake !!!!!!!!!!" Back to top

memberd Group: Members Posts: 45 Joined: Sep. 2003 Posted: Sep. 03 2012, 05:27 What was that Mike said at the end of his book...that bit about just doing what he wanted, not bothering if anyone else likes it or if it will sell....? Well,...that! -------------- "...inside, and the positions are reversed..." Back to top

Argiers Group: Members Posts: 9 Joined: Aug. 2012 Posted: Sep. 03 2012, 14:02 Couldn't agree more. And that means that he will continue to tread his own path sounding like only he can. -------------- Buggered if I know... Back to top

CJJC Group: Members Posts: 210 Joined: Aug. 2010 Posted: Sep. 11 2012, 11:47 Shiva's growing on me, but it really is a track of two halves. The low-key bits sound hesitant as if Mike hadn't actually worked out how they were going to fit with the tune beforehand and is just winging it on the spot. I'm sure this is not the reality of the situation but it creates an odd sensation. But as soon as the chorus comes in with the slightly strange array of voices I'm totally on board, especially since this is followed by a reprise of the "Shiva, I wish that I could walk with you" bit but up an octave and really given some oomph. I think it might stand up to a more confident cover version, especially omitting the original vocoder vocals, or limiting them to portions of the track where they don't interfere with the lead vocals. As it stands, though, it could genuinely serve as an interactive dictionary definition of the term "curate's egg". -------------- IMHO Back to top

larstangmark Group: Members Posts: 1767 Joined: Mar. 2005 Posted: Sep. 11 2012, 14:17 Quote (CJJC @ Sep. 11 2012, 11:47) The low-key bits sound hesitant as if Mike hadn't actually worked out how they were going to fit with the tune beforehand and is just winging it on the spot. Exactly. This is obvious to everyone who has even a little experience recording/producing/writing songs. It's un-rehearsed like a guide vocal from a pre-production rough demo. That sort of thing almost never makes it onto a record (admittedly the chorus is cool though! That coupled with the fact that he has simply made overdubs onto the CD version makes it more lazy than quirky. Talk about "following his own path" rings rather hollow when you hear a track like that (unless you refer to the constant shortcut he seems to be on) A few hour of vocal reharsals + recording a new backing track is what I would have expected him to do. It's not like he's broke or in a hurry. -------------- "There are twelve people in the world, the rest are paste" Mark E Smith Back to top

Ugo Group: Members Posts: 5495 Joined: April 2000 Posted: Sep. 11 2012, 20:00 Quote (larstangmark @ Sep. 11 2012, 20:17) Quote (CJJC @ Sep. 11 2012, 11:47) The low-key bits sound hesitant as if Mike hadn't actually worked out how they were going to fit with the tune beforehand and is just winging it on the spot. Exactly. This is obvious to everyone who has even a little experience recording/producing/writing songs. It's un-rehearsed like a guide vocal from a pre-production rough demo. That sort of thing almost never makes it onto a record (admittedly the chorus is cool though! That coupled with the fact that he has simply made overdubs onto the CD version makes it more lazy than quirky. Talk about "following his own path" rings rather hollow when you hear a track like that (unless you refer to the constant shortcut he seems to be on) A few hour of vocal reharsals + recording a new backing track is what I would have expected him to do. It's not like he's broke or in a hurry. @ lars: doesn't it sound weird to you that the chorus is cool, as you say and I agree , and the verse is... tentative, to say the least? It almost sounds like he did it in two different periods of time. About Mike getting lazy, this is what I'm kind-of saying all the time about Mike, his playing and his music at least from TMB onwards - but seemingly I can't get anyone to agree with me. Of course he has had his nice moments on every album he did since then, but I think it's more and more unlikely that we will ever get anything from him that's longer than 10 minutes - let alone an album side-long piece. I still think he did "Shiva" as an experiment for himself, and then some wise-ass in his current label managed to persuade him to release it. -------------- Ugo C. - a devoted Amarokian Back to top

stpaul Group: Members Posts: 230 Joined: Feb. 2005 Posted: Sep. 12 2012, 01:59 Experimenting is fine but MO is not a 20 year old bedroom producer. His voice-over recording sounds quite unprofessional Nowadays you don't need the multitracks to remix a song... Back to top

seventeen64 Group: Members Posts: 26 Joined: July 2013 Posted: July 27 2013, 15:22 I love this extra layer, it certainly adds more depth to the Sheba backdrop and, it works! I didn't expect this I have to say lol -------------- life is not one-dimensional Back to top

CJJC Group: Members Posts: 210 Joined: Aug. 2010 Posted: Sep. 03 2013, 22:14 I've listened to Shiva a lot now and, though it may seem paradoxical, I like it but I seriously wish it was better. Seriously, if I can work out or find an easy to follow transcription of Sheba's vocal part as well as decipher all of the big list of Hindu deities that makes up one bit of Shiva, I'd have a bash at a version myself. If I do, expect to disagree with my interpretation of the vocal parts. -------------- IMHO Back to top

Holger Group: Members Posts: 1506 Joined: Feb. 2003 Posted: Jan. 25 2015, 18:57 Quote (CJJC @ Sep. 04 2013, 04:14) if I can work out or find an easy to follow transcription of Sheba's vocal part as well as decipher all of the big list of Hindu deities that makes up one bit of Shiva, I'd have a bash at a version myself. I can discern the following: Shiva, Rama, Ganesha, ?, Brahma, ? Shiva, Rama, Ganesha, Hanuman, Krishna, Ganesha The two I don't recognize really sound like nothing I've heard before in the context, but it's not like I know everything there is to know about it. Back to top

nightspore Group: Members Posts: 4770 Joined: Mar. 2008 Posted: Dec. 05 2017, 03:53 I've finally got around to getting QE2 Deluxe, and I must say I much prefer Shiva to Sheba. Mike's voice is full of passion, and the song goes with a swing, whereas Sheba - no doubt intentionally - seems a more mathematical exploration of musical sounds. Back to top

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