worst song?

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Taiwan Beer
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worst song?

Post by Taiwan Beer »

I've been following the 'someone on the Brian Jonestown Massacre forum who has gone apeshit' thread with great interest and I must say well done, runcible, for your valiant defence of what appears to be an ace gig. So gutted I wasn't there, but being in Taiwan right now prevented that. I did see the Koko show, which I found ordinary at best. I saw Spacemen3 and have been with spz right from the start. Lifelong devotee I guess. But that thread got me thinking: What's my least favourite song?

I'm going for 'Yeah Yeah'

thoughts?
flamingrev
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Re: worst song?

Post by flamingrev »

Their studio version of Amazing Grace (I think it was a Let It Come Down b-side) is absolutely horrible.
alan_cohaul
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Re: worst song?

Post by alan_cohaul »

Hmm...the worst Spiritualized song? I don't know if there's any that I absolutely cringe at. There's none that i'm really like, "oh crap, gotta skip this one".
Edukator
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Re: worst song?

Post by Edukator »

I love 'Yeah Yeah'!

Mine would be 'Lord Let It Rain On Me'. I think most of 'Amazing Grace' is pants to be honest.
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Re: worst song?

Post by Luminescence »

There are no real shockers for me. But, i'm not to keen on 'The waves crash in'
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Re: worst song?

Post by spzretent »

Edukator wrote:I love 'Yeah Yeah'!

Mine would be 'Lord Let It Rain On Me'. I think most of 'Amazing Grace' is pants to be honest.
thats my fave song off that record!
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Re: worst song?

Post by veep23 »

hehe... good call spzretent...i'll second that. Off the new one, Waves Crash In isn't really working for me.
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Re: worst song?

Post by BzaInSpace »

Taiwan Beer wrote: But that thread got me thinking: What's my least favourite song?

I'm going for 'Yeah Yeah'

thoughts?
:shock: That's an amazing song!!! :shock: As always though...each to their own.

Dunno if I really have a least favourite - although 'Out Of Sight' never got me. I swap that one with 'Going Down Slow'...in my mind. 8)
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mc
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Re: worst song?

Post by mc »

My "least favourite" album tracks are:

On Fire
Never Goin' Back
Lay It Down Slow
I Gotta Fire

I don't think any of these are bad songs, just less good.
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Re: worst song?

Post by runcible »

Sticking my neck out - I don't like Cool Waves at all. And I find Cop Shoot Cop curiously lacking in direction.

I'm still amazed at how negative people are about Lord Let It Rain On Me which I have always loved.
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Re: worst song?

Post by Greeny »

Cop Shoot Cop's never been a particular favourite of mine....
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Re: worst song?

Post by bunnyben »

that song od complete works- rock and roll- terrible terrible song and when i saw the lyrics for the new song 'life's a problem' "jesus be my chaufer" etc, i can see why it didn't make A&E...

lord let it rain is my second favorite spz song (after ladies and gents)
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
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Re: worst song?

Post by supershonn »

runcible wrote:Sticking my neck out - I don't like Cool Waves at all. And I find Cop Shoot Cop curiously lacking in direction.

and i'm gonna lop that fucking thing right off!

i love love love love love 'cop shoot cop'. love! there is so much to like in that song...it has that ebb and flow. how it starts and fades out only to come right back at ya. ohh and the breakdown. ya know that's why i'm such a huge fan of alot of Spring Heel Jack as they do that great breakdown/freakout for their entire set. just lovely!

and 'cool waves', grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr! that's another great one. that one instantly grabbed me the very first time i played it. it's the backing vocals that just floor me.


why are we hating anyways? who started this thread? off with their head as well. :wink:
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Re: worst song?

Post by rameses »

Twelve Steps - not the whole song, just the bit with the police sirens and strings in the middle. I've been trying to 'remix' (i.e. delete ) them out. It spoils a real good song.
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Re: worst song?

Post by onechord »

'Let It Flow' is so beautiful. Full blast/full volume, the Spector/Wilson payoff at the end is so incredibly, warmly blissed-out. Pure ecstacy. A peek into Jason's soul, perhaps?
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Re: worst song?

Post by angelsighs »

Lay It Down Slow
Borrowed Your Gun
Lord Let It Rain On Me

Again, for me they are only 'least favourites' rather than bad. I dont find any Spz songs repellant or bad enough to skip every time- even the lesser song maintain the mood of the album, kinda fit in, etc

I would have said She Kissed Me.. previously but the live versions have been so bitchin' recently that it has been redeemed greatly in my eyes.

I love Rock n Roll ben- not the sturdiest song underneath but the arrangement lifts it. Better than Going Down Slow i reckon (both could have sat nicely on the album)
And runcible- gotta disagree strongly there im afraid! so you switch L&G off after No God Only Religion presumably! crazy!!
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Re: worst song?

Post by runcible »

angelsighs wrote: And runcible- gotta disagree strongly there im afraid! so you switch L&G off after No God Only Religion presumably! crazy!!
Actually LAG isn't one of my favourite Spiritualized albums by a long way - I still don't like a lot of it that much and I play it less than the others. I know it was the entry point for many but I thought it was flawed at the time and the London date of the tour disappointed me to the extent that I became very disillusioned with the band for about 6 months and couldn't listen to any Spiritualized during that time. Fortunately a mighty gig in Leeds later that year drew me back into it again.

But then I think it's crazy not to like Lord Let It Rain On Me which I still think is a great track.
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Re: worst song?

Post by purespace »

not worst, but least listenable:

x-files theme
electric phase (jarring and makes my hearing aids squeal)
space
I think I feel it coming on
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Re: worst song?

Post by bunnyben »

runcible wrote:
angelsighs wrote: And runcible- gotta disagree strongly there im afraid! so you switch L&G off after No God Only Religion presumably! crazy!!
Actually LAG isn't one of my favourite Spiritualized albums by a long way - I still don't like a lot of it that much and I play it less than the others. I know it was the entry point for many but I thought it was flawed at the time and the London date of the tour disappointed me to the extent that I became very disillusioned with the band for about 6 months and couldn't listen to any Spiritualized during that time. Fortunately a mighty gig in Leeds later that year drew me back into it again.

But then I think it's crazy not to like Lord Let It Rain On Me which I still think is a great track.
that's interesting. what is it about lag that you dislike? do you think it is too 'commercial' comprared with lazor and pure phase? what about the albums after ladies...?
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
moop
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Re: worst song?

Post by moop »

purespace wrote:electric phase (jarring and makes my hearing aids squeal)
agreed. have probably listened to pure phase the most of all spz albums and i absolutely love the flow of the whole thing EXCEPT this one track, which i never really understood (seems pointless and misplaced to me). i guess after the slide song he wanted to shake things up a bit, but so many times i've had to jump up and skip the track before it fades in too much. on a similar note, i never *got* whatever guitar loops was doing either. :?
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Re: worst song?

Post by runcible »

bunnyben wrote:that's interesting. what is it about lag that you dislike? do you think it is too 'commercial' comprared with lazor and pure phase? what about the albums after ladies...?
I don't like the music as much as the 1st 2 - that simple. It's OK but doesn't grab me. The title track (the original version) is wonderful, All Of My Thoughts and Home of the Brave are nice. I loved I Think I'm In Love when I first heard it but went off it. Electricity is good. But that's about it - it's alright but I find it unrewarding when compared to how much praise it receives.

I played Let It Come Down on Saturday during a huge cooking session (cooking and music are a great combo) and realised how good it is. Out of Sight is sublime and Won't Get To Heaven is an extraordinary song. But it works really well as a whole I think although I'm not much of a fan of Stop Your Crying.

In all honesty the next 2 (including A & E) are great in places although AG is definitely the weakest album in the catalogue. A & E is great for anyone else, just good for Jason.

I've now remembered I haven't played Fucked Up Inside for ages - that's next.
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Re: worst song?

Post by Taiwan Beer »

onechord wrote:'Let It Flow' is so beautiful. Full blast/full volume, the Spector/Wilson payoff at the end is so incredibly, warmly blissed-out. Pure ecstacy. A peek into Jason's soul, perhaps?

Couldn't agree with you more, mate :D
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Re: worst song?

Post by James T »

Worst album track I would say 'I Gotta Fire'
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Re: worst song?

Post by flamingrev »

Yeah, if I was gonna pick a song (meaning not Electric Phase kinda thing) from an album that was my least favorite, it would probably be one of the miscellaneous rockers. None of them are really bad, but once Amazing Grace rolled around they started to seem really samey and kind of boring. Cheapster was the one rocker on Amazing Grace that really seemed to show some spark.
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Re: worst song?

Post by angelsighs »

runcible wrote: it's alright but I find it unrewarding when compared to how much praise it receives.
couldn't disagree more. I don't think it can be praised highly enough.
runcible wrote: I played Let It Come Down ....realised how good it is.
Agreed. Every now and again I go through a phase of listening to this album over and over and then put it back on the shelf for a bit until it 'ripens' again. I often find myself defending it to people.

You dont like Cool Waves, but surely isn't that song the blueprint for the whole of LICD?
runcible wrote: AG is definitely the weakest album in the catalogue.
Agreed. Does anybody challenge this?
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Re: worst song?

Post by runcible »

angelsighs wrote:
runcible wrote: it's alright but I find it unrewarding when compared to how much praise it receives.
couldn't disagree more. I don't think it can be praised highly enough.
Agree to disagree on that one. I don't think it even vaguely compares in magnificence to LGM. Or Pure Phase and I was doubtful about that for the lack of new material it contained when it first came out.

angelsighs wrote: You dont like Cool Waves, but surely isn't that song the blueprint for the whole of LICD?
No! You think Cool Waves sounds like Out of Sight or Won't Get To Heaven. For me absolutely not.
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Re: worst song?

Post by bunnyben »

moop wrote:
purespace wrote: i never *got* whatever guitar loops was doing either. :?
showing how versatle a gutair is
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
bunnyben
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Re: worst song?

Post by bunnyben »

runcible wrote:
bunnyben wrote:that's interesting. what is it about lag that you dislike? do you think it is too 'commercial' comprared with lazor and pure phase? what about the albums after ladies...?
I don't like the music as much as the 1st 2 - that simple. It's OK but doesn't grab me. The title track (the original version) is wonderful, All Of My Thoughts and Home of the Brave are nice. I loved I Think I'm In Love when I first heard it but went off it. Electricity is good. But that's about it - it's alright but I find it unrewarding when compared to how much praise it receives.

I played Let It Come Down on Saturday during a huge cooking session (cooking and music are a great combo) and realised how good it is. Out of Sight is sublime and Won't Get To Heaven is an extraordinary song. But it works really well as a whole I think although I'm not much of a fan of Stop Your Crying.

In all honesty the next 2 (including A & E) are great in places although AG is definitely the weakest album in the catalogue. A & E is great for anyone else, just good for Jason.

I've now remembered I haven't played Fucked Up Inside for ages - that's next.
i just listened to fui! it's very good. i didn't like LICD until i saw acoustic mainlines then i rediscovered the songs and went back to the album and loved it, although some songs are a bit weak and some of the lyics are a bit banal compared with other songs that he has writen
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
bunnyben
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Re: worst song?

Post by bunnyben »

runcible wrote: AG is definitely the weakest album in the catalogue.
Agreed. Does anybody challenge this?[/quote]


i really like this album, it was my first spz experience and even now it is growing on me, at first i liked she kissed me... lord let... lay it down slow... but now i adore rated X and songs like that. the only track i don't like now is 'oh baby'. i prefer it to lgm and pp(em) that is not to say i dislike them, they are great in their own right but percentage wise have less songs that i like to the other albums. lgm always seemed a bit 'dead' to me and it was only when i heard live recordings of Shine a light, i believe it was on one of laz's or mojo's mixes, and the circumstances when i eard the song brought the song to life for me and it's only after this i've given it more time and i love about 4/5 songs on it but for me it is still lacking

ladies and gents
songs A&E
licd
amazing grace
pp
lgm
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
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Re: worst song?

Post by flamingrev »

As a whole, I think LICD has Jason's strongest lyrics.
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Re: worst song?

Post by Zenchan »

angelsighs wrote: Agreed. Does anybody challenge this?
I'd make a real challenge that, song for song, Amazing Grace is better than Let It Come Down

As for the main topic question, I Gotta Fire is the only album track that I always reach for the skip button for.
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Re: worst song?

Post by radioshack »

I'd choose Never Goin' Back. Though I don't think I really dislike any Spiritualized song that much I'd skip it.

Have to admit there's quite a few Spacemen 3 songs I find skip-worthy.
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Re: worst song?

Post by runcible »

bunnyben wrote: lgm always seemed a bit 'dead' to me and it was only when i heard live recordings of Shine a light, i believe it was on one of laz's or mojo's mixes, and the circumstances when i eard the song brought the song to life for me and it's only after this i've given it more time and i love about 4/5 songs on it but for me it is still lacking
If Jason hadn't been in Spacemen 3 LGM would rate as the greatest debut album of all time for me. I'd still include it in the best 10 albums ever made. Best 5 in fact, maybe even 3. (I'm sounding like $26 now! Where is that guy?!)
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Re: worst song?

Post by runcible »

radioshack wrote:
Have to admit there's quite a few Spacemen 3 songs I find skip-worthy.
On the 3 proper albums I can't think of a single one. The consistency is superb - I played PWF over the weekend and parts of it sent shivers down my spine. Recurring is also a brilliant album but it's hard to include it as a proper group work as little contribution was made by Jason and Pete to each other's music (I don't think Pete played anything on side 2).
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Re: worst song?

Post by supershonn »

bunnyben wrote:
runcible wrote: AG is definitely the weakest album in the catalogue.
Agreed. Does anybody challenge this?


yeah yeah i'll double down on that. also being in a band and understanding how this album was recorded is even more spectacular. this album has some pristine moments on it. rated x being the first track to floor me off of the album. i love his voice on this album, it was first time in ages that you really heard it, without the magic of studio fx. it's raw and pure. i'm really happy he continued in this direction on A&E.
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Re: worst song?

Post by herman »

Unhappy to say this, but the 2 songs J shouldn't have recorded:

- On fire : complete dissapointment when I heard it for the first time, didn't change my opinion about it after listening to it several times.
- Waves crash in : waves crashing in that's for sure, but they're going no direction

Conclusion?

After putting out 6 proper studio albums under the Spz-banner 2 weak songs isn't to bad.
Something you can't say for most other bands.
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Re: worst song?

Post by Ian »

runcible wrote:I played Let It Come Down on Saturday during a huge cooking session (cooking and music are a great combo) and realised how good it is. Out of Sight is sublime and Won't Get To Heaven is an extraordinary song.
I seem to remember you saying that Out Of Sight was a personal low point of the album for you in the past, so I'm delighted to discover that you love it now - it's long been my favourite from that album. [Apologies if I'm misremembering.]

I listened to Let It Come Down while driving around Scotland on holiday earlier the year, and although I've always quite liked it, I enjoyed it far more than I was expecting. I agree with flamingrev that it's Jasons best lyrical work.

Backing up the thread a little to the mention of Let It Flow - another long-time firm favourite - does anyone else think that the deep bass drum (I'm sure that someone with some actual musical knowledge will name it for me) is meant to be a heartbeat? So that when the break with the electrical distortion comes in, it's supposed to represent a near overdose, in line with the general theme of the song, before that huge sweeping ending, representing the restarting of <the narrator's/Jason's> heart? Or is this hugely obvious and I've managed to miss it until recently?

Sorry, I can't do least favourite threads properly...
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Re: worst song?

Post by runcible »

Ian wrote: I seem to remember you saying that Out Of Sight was a personal low point of the album for you in the past, so I'm delighted to discover that you love it now - it's long been my favourite from that album. [Apologies if I'm misremembering.]
Um... Ian you are right, as you mostly are. I DID say that about Out of Sight and... I feel silly but for some reason I've got track titles muddled. I actually meant Don't Just Do Something - that is the track that is so glorious and the one I meant to namecheck. Our Of Sight is far from my favourite track from the album. DJDS is so overblown, such enormous production - it is just yearning for the 'I'm going nowhere' section with its monumental crescendos. A huge track. Sorry folks - led you up the wrong alley there.
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Re: worst song?

Post by Ian »

Ah well. Disappointed that my accurate memory means that you still haven't seen the light! Can't disagree about Don't Just Do Something, which is also excellent.
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Re: worst song?

Post by supershonn »

that deep bass drum is a timpani Ian. wonderful sound. and i always thought the same thing about "let it Flow".

brilliant track.
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Re: worst song?

Post by moop »

ok, seeing as people started mentioning 'out of sight'. did the lead harmonica ever remind you of the lead guitar in 'vibrato' by Acetone?
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Re: worst song?

Post by angelsighs »

I'll have to second the love for Don't Just Do Something (this thread is morphing into a 'favourite songs' one!)- an absolutely momentous piece of work both musically and lyrically. It works on so many levels.

I do find Amazing Grace rather enjoyable- it's good for a quick fix and covers most of the bases of the bands sound, it just comes up short compared to all the other albums.
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Re: worst song?

Post by bunnyben »

which would say is the most diverse record?
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
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Re: worst song?

Post by simonkeeping »

Don't Just Do Something
Amazing song. A bizarre thing happened in that I heard it being played in Habitat one Christmas and since then Ive always associated it with that time. Have a listen it does have that kind of feel to it. Espicially if youve od'ed on the Phil Spector Christmas Album. Or maybe its just me? Not sure what to make of this thread? theres songs I like more than others but I don't think I dislike any of Jason's songs.
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Re: worst song?

Post by angelsighs »

I suppose LICD could be considered quite Christmassy- funnily enough I got the album for Xmas 2001 and it started my love affair for the band. I dig Spectors Christmas album too- thing is you can only play it for about 2 weeks of the year, the rest of the year it makes me puke!

as for your question ben- AG and A&E are actually prob the most varied albums with a good range of instrumentation and both slow n fast songs. But then again AG does have all those samey garage rockers.
LGM is the least varied but totally succeeds in spite of that. PP is a slightly more tonally varied ver of LGM.

LICD and L&G are somewhere in between- a lot going into the melting pot but the mixing and mastering make them more unified sounding.
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Re: worst song?

Post by flamingrev »

"which would say is the most diverse record?"

Ladies & Gents covers a lot of ground.
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Re: worst song?

Post by mkb »

supershonn wrote:that deep bass drum is a timpani Ian. wonderful sound. and i always thought the same thing about "let it Flow".

brilliant track.
I love the track, but I've never fell in love with the studio version. I was relatively late into Spiritualized (started with Ladies & Gents about 3 or 4 years ago), and the first version I ever heard was the version played in 2001 on the Portsmouth Pyramids bootleg. That's become the definitive version from me, the way that it explodes back in after the noise section is just so powerful that the album version sounded weak in comparison.

I've never been able to shake that, and, for me, that goes for quite a few of the songs from LGM and Pure Phase (the other obvious candidate being Take Your Time). Live, some of that has so much more impact.


I do realise that this is probably just a conseuence of me hearing the live versions first (the second Spiritualized album I got was the Albert Hall album), and if I had heard LGM and Pure Phase first I would have loved them, but some of it doesn't sound fully realised to me.

Of course, the rest of it sounds completely magical.
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Re: worst song?

Post by tarzan_undies »

worst song?

I've never been a fan of the 'anthems' such a Baby Stop Your Crying or Soul on Fire. The sort of tracks that people give their wives/girlfriends a knowing look when they're played live....cringe. I'm always reminded of the band Embrace or even Oasis for that matter!!
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Re: worst song?

Post by nickh »

tarzan_undies wrote:worst song?

I've never been a fan of the 'anthems' such a Baby Stop Your Crying or Soul on Fire. The sort of tracks that people give their wives/girlfriends a knowing look when they're played live....cringe. I'm always reminded of the band Embrace or even Oasis for that matter!!
That’s hilarious, I’ve never noticed that before. Do people really do that?

Horrible!

:lol: :lol: :lol:
radioshack
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Re: worst song?

Post by radioshack »

runcible wrote:
radioshack wrote:
Have to admit there's quite a few Spacemen 3 songs I find skip-worthy.
On the 3 proper albums I can't think of a single one. The consistency is superb - I played PWF over the weekend and parts of it sent shivers down my spine. Recurring is also a brilliant album but it's hard to include it as a proper group work as little contribution was made by Jason and Pete to each other's music (I don't think Pete played anything on side 2).
So basically you're saying you still find some of Recurring worthy of skipping? Outwith the context that the album was made in and how it's not considered the work of a 'band', you're still basically saying Recurring has some duff tracks?

I think there was a reassessment of Recurring on here a few years back, with most people jumping to defend Jason's commonly dismissed Side B. I'm still of the opinion he was keeping his better tracks for Spiritualized and LGM.

For me, Recurring is Sonic's finest hour. Still 3-1 to Jason though.
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Re: worst song?

Post by runcible »

radioshack wrote:
So basically you're saying you still find some of Recurring worthy of skipping? Outwith the context that the album was made in and how it's not considered the work of a 'band', you're still basically saying Recurring has some duff tracks?

I think there was a reassessment of Recurring on here a few years back, with most people jumping to defend Jason's commonly dismissed Side B. I'm still of the opinion he was keeping his better tracks for Spiritualized and LGM.

For me, Recurring is Sonic's finest hour. Still 3-1 to Jason though.
I didn't say duff, I just suggested it's not as good. I don't like Just To See You Smile and Drive as much as the rest of it but they are OK. Feel So Sad was done much better as Spirituialized.

I have certainly never dismissed Jason's tracks - generally they are magnificent. Feelin' Just Fine is, for me, one of his and Spacemen 3's greatest ever songs. Live it was absolutely incredible.

On Pete's side I Love You and Set Me Free are both wonderful.

3-1 to Jason? I'm sot sure what that refers to. And which Spacemen tracks do you like to skip, as a matter of interest?
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Re: worst song?

Post by radioshack »

runcible wrote:
radioshack wrote:
So basically you're saying you still find some of Recurring worthy of skipping? Outwith the context that the album was made in and how it's not considered the work of a 'band', you're still basically saying Recurring has some duff tracks?

I think there was a reassessment of Recurring on here a few years back, with most people jumping to defend Jason's commonly dismissed Side B. I'm still of the opinion he was keeping his better tracks for Spiritualized and LGM.

For me, Recurring is Sonic's finest hour. Still 3-1 to Jason though.
I didn't say duff, I just suggested it's not as good. I don't like Just To See You Smile and Drive as much as the rest of it but they are OK. Feel So Sad was done much better as Spirituialized.

I have certainly never dismissed Jason's tracks - generally they are magnificent. Feelin' Just Fine is, for me, one of his and Spacemen 3's greatest ever songs. Live it was absolutely incredible.

On Pete's side I Love You and Set Me Free are both wonderful.

3-1 to Jason? I'm sot sure what that refers to. And which Spacemen tracks do you like to skip, as a matter of interest?
I think of all the 4 'studio' Spacemen 3 albums, I think Jason's work on SOF, PP and PWF outshines Sonic's work on those same albums. However I prefer Sonic's side of Recurring over Jason's. Perhaps it's silly of me to turn it into a contest, but If I'm being honest that's the way I see it.

I'm not so fond of some of Sonic's tracks, Why Couldn't I See? springing to mind. Nor am I particularly into some of Jason's side of Recurring. I agree with you about Drive too.

I'd say that the most diverse album from Spiritualized is LAGWAFIS. I think this is where the original conversation was going before I turned it into a Spacemen discussion :D
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Re: worst song?

Post by flamingrev »

On Recurring, I definitely prefer Jason's side, which I treat as Spiritualized's debut EP. And which I think is just about perfect.

I still haven't warmed to I Love You, but apart from that I thoroughly enjoy Sonic's side. Big City is one of my favorite songs of his, and I sorta wish he had pursued that direction a little further. But it would have been easy for that path to turn bad. If we're including the bonus tracks (was this the standard issue in the UK?), I really hate the Set Me Free reprise. If I have any real complaint about Sonic's side, it's that it is much less cohesive than Jason's. But the songs and performances are for the most part very strong. A broader lack of cohesion (the songs being split in half) seems to be one of the general critiques of Recurring, but it seems that on vinyl this actually would have been pretty cool. Personally it doesn't bother me much.

Recurring was the last Spacemen 3 album I got, when it was recently reissued in the US. I had been searching for years and wasn't willing to shell out the bucks on Ebay. It felt so good to put that bad boy in my stereo.
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Re: worst song?

Post by runcible »

radioshack wrote:
I think of all the 4 'studio' Spacemen 3 albums, I think Jason's work on SOF, PP and PWF outshines Sonic's work on those same albums.
Except that on the 1st 2 albums the songs were co-written, particularly Sound of Confusion. On that album Jason does all the vocals and Pete doesn't sing at all. It's interesting that 'Feel So Good' is the only track which features them both - their 2 vocal styles contrast so well on that too.
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Re: worst song?

Post by flamingrev »

For the earlier albums, I don't even really think about who's singing or who wrote what. It blends into a really nice whole. On Playing With Fire I see the songwriter's really emerging as their own entities, but even on that one they blend pretty seamlessly.
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Re: worst song?

Post by radioshack »

runcible wrote:
radioshack wrote:
I think of all the 4 'studio' Spacemen 3 albums, I think Jason's work on SOF, PP and PWF outshines Sonic's work on those same albums.
Except that on the 1st 2 albums the songs were co-written, particularly Sound of Confusion. On that album Jason does all the vocals and Pete doesn't sing at all. It's interesting that 'Feel So Good' is the only track which features them both - their 2 vocal styles contrast so well on that too.
I agree again. 'Feel so Good' is possibly my favourite Spacemen 3 track. I just love the part where they break into the 'bop-bop' part together. Superb.
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Re: worst song?

Post by tarzan_undies »

nickh wrote:
tarzan_undies wrote:worst song?

I've never been a fan of the 'anthems' such a Baby Stop Your Crying or Soul on Fire. The sort of tracks that people give their wives/girlfriends a knowing look when they're played live....cringe. I'm always reminded of the band Embrace or even Oasis for that matter!!
That’s hilarious, I’ve never noticed that before. Do people really do that?

Horrible!

:lol: :lol: :lol:
Actually I wouldn't know- I'm usually at the bar or taking a 'natural break' whilst they're playing either of these two tracks
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Re: worst song?

Post by spzretent »

radioshack wrote:
I think there was a reassessment of Recurring on here a few years back, with most people jumping to defend Jason's commonly dismissed Side B. I'm still of the opinion he was keeping his better tracks for Spiritualized and LGM.

For me, Recurring is Sonic's finest hour. Still 3-1 to Jason though.
Probnlem I have is I have the 15 track Japanese CD. So it isn't a Sonic/Jason split per se.
Not too mention it has the most colorful obi strip ever.
http://www.lilmoxie.com
Detroit, Music, Sports and Other Stuff(including Spiritualized, Spacemen 3)
natty
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Re: worst song?

Post by natty »

"Do It All Over Again", without a moment's doubt.
Multi
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Re: worst song?

Post by Multi »

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Last edited by Multi on Mon Apr 09, 2012 5:36 am, edited 1 time in total.
Zenchan
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Re: worst song?

Post by Zenchan »

mkb wrote: I love the track, but I've never fell in love with the studio version. I was relatively late into Spiritualized (started with Ladies & Gents about 3 or 4 years ago), and the first version I ever heard was the version played in 2001 on the Portsmouth Pyramids bootleg. That's become the definitive version from me, the way that it explodes back in after the noise section is just so powerful that the album version sounded weak in comparison.
That is indeed quite a brilliant, brilliant version of the song. Absolutely blistering.

Recurring's a funny one for me. I think Jason's side is better overall, but I also think Big City is the best thing on the whole record. In fact, I think Big City is one of the best Spacemen 3 tracks from any era of the band.

Also, will we ever get a decent re-release of the Perfect Prescription? Specifically, one that doesn't sound like it was mastered with a tape recorder and a microphone inside a cupboard like the dreadful Fire Records CD does?
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Re: worst song?

Post by flamingrev »

I want to say that someone asked Sonic about this when he was hanging around the Spacemen 3 section of this board. If I am remembering right, he said that Forged Prescriptions was basically the reissue of Perfect Prescription. Which seemed odd to me, given how much Spaceage loves to release every single mix of every song.

The reality may be that the rights are tied up in legal mumbo jumbo. Somebody else here likely knows more about that than me. And given that Forged Prescriptions came out not that long ago, I can't imagine that Spaceage has remaster/issuing PP very high on it's list of priorities.
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Re: worst song?

Post by Zenchan »

Hmm, in a semi-ironic twist I did actually make a copy of Forged Prescriptions on my MP3 player where the tracks were rearranged into the original PP track order.
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Re: worst song?

Post by colin macklin »

Their 'X-Files Theme' is pretty awful. Does it count?
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Re: worst song?

Post by lionboy »

Having heard such great things about the Portsmouth Pyramids version of Let It Flow does anyone know where I can download a copy? Have had a look on Tuftys fabulous site but no sign of it there. Am really surprised that a live version has had such rave reviews - to me it's very much a 'headphones and darkened room' song where the sound quality needs to be studio quality for it to really give me major goose-bumps when it kicks-in after the distortion. I'd be really interested to hear this kick-ass live version.
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Re: worst song?

Post by gottafire »

lionboy wrote:Having heard such great things about the Portsmouth Pyramids version of Let It Flow does anyone know where I can download a copy? Have had a look on Tuftys fabulous site but no sign of it there. Am really surprised that a live version has had such rave reviews - to me it's very much a 'headphones and darkened room' song where the sound quality needs to be studio quality for it to really give me major goose-bumps when it kicks-in after the distortion. I'd be really interested to hear this kick-ass live version.
Hang fire til my new motherboard comes and I can get my big rig up and running again and I'll be uploading shedloads more to the blog. The Pyramid Show included. Bear with me
http://spiritualizedelectricmainline.blogspot.com/

The place for live Spiritualized®!!

Now with added Tufty power!!!
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