(TV) Greg's Great & Hilarious S&OT Review

["Casey, Leo J" <Leo.J.Casey@Volpe.dot.gov>]

Greg wrote:

>nO ONE IS GOING TO READ THIS ALL THE WAY THROUGH, NOT ALONE TWICE

 

Greg, I loved your review but didn't read it twice---I read it three times.

 

I liked what you said about the ".. speaky vocals"

 

But most of all:

>I like the way he fits all the parts together and plays them off each other


>and off the spaces between the notes like a classical composer rather 

>than a pop musician 

 

Spot on!

 

The part about Jutta and esp.

>Tom on Designer Guys? ..his walls are covered with Smoke 

>residue!_) _an ashtray is not a centerpiece Mr. Verlaine!_). 

 

It brought back bad memories of my NYC hotel room last week :>)

 

>Kind of a shlocky little number with a cheesy, 

>predictable chorus ..

 

A fair number of the choruses on the album are predictable 

(or/and Overly familiar). 

 

>Rating: I'm harder on poor Tom then I would be on anyone else.  

That's the price of genius.

 

>As a Verlaine album compared to prior efforts B.  

Agree.

 

>As a Verlaine album versus the world, an A plus is too low.

Yes.

 

Ty, where is your review in the Boston Globe-get cracking.

 

Or if you're not writing it who is?  Loan them your cd if necessary :>)

 

I'm being deliberately bad in not trimming this post because I want 

to make it easier for those Marquee Moon-ers, who skipped this the 

first time around To check it out.

 

    Leo

 

PS: Are you related to those two Canadian guys who did those Molson 

commercials about 10-12 years?  (What were there names?) 

 

PPS:

>my ***cheap plug alert*** upcoming recording / cd / whatever 

 

Send me an e-mail off-list when it comes out, I'd like to buy 

a copy---on second thought what the hell, send it On-List,

this List needs reminding.  

 

----Original Message-----

From: tv-owner@obbard.com On Behalf Of grntg

Sent: Friday, May 19, 2006 4:32 PM

To: tv@obbard.com

Subject: (TV) greg reviews SaOT

 

Warning: I get kinda mean to some of your favorite bands at the end...

 

Here it is, per all your requests (okay Leo's only) my thorough blow 

by blow review of SaOT.

 

Parade in L.:  I like this a lot, it doesn't remind me of Olivia 

Newton John as Leo intimated but I can't recall ever listening to 

ONJ other than the schlocky Grease soundtrack which my spouse adored 

for about two weeks when she went through a retro phase.  Perhaps I 

should check into ONJ's solo stuff?  Anyways, I wish Around had 14 

of these structured kind of things rather than the play along 

jam-in-a-box effort I so harshly criticized it as being.

 

Heavenly Charm:  This ticks me off a little as I have a 

song w/ _charm_ in the title on my ***cheap plug alert*** upcoming 

recording / cd / whatever.  Get rid of the vocals, replace them 

with a lead guitar run and we have the makings of an excellent 

instrumental cd. Rocket theme comes up from the Television album, 

(editors note: this 'foreshadowing' you are using is virtually 

non-descript until the second read through. Do you think you are 

the next Steinbech (SP)? nO ONE IS GOING TO READ THIS ALL THE WAY 

THROUGH, NOT ALONE TWICE.  you should clean this up.  ).  

The speaky vocals take away from this.

 

Orbit:  Kind of a shlocky little number with a cheesy, predictable 

chorus.  This would fit in Cover.  Does Verlaine realize how 

old he is?  Singing about _girls_ at his age is kind of creepy, 

unless the _girls_ he refers to are his age, yuck!  I don't like 

this one at all.  

 

Blue Light: More speaky vocals to start off.  Cover era music 

w/ FlashLight era vocal stylings.  The lead guitar, to me, is worth 

the price of the cd so it's all gravy from here.

 

>From Her Fingers: Reminds me of the songs floating around on the 

lost album bootleg.  Man, is he a good guitarist.  I like the way he 

fits all the parts together and plays them off each other and off 

the spaces between the notes like a classical composer rather than 

a pop musician.  Another song about _girls._  I can see _little 

American girl(s)_ driving around and belting out the fa fa fa five 

chorus, catchy, really catchy.  Let The Matrix produce / remix this 

nd you can get that nice downtown condo to that Jutta's probably 

nagging you for.  Tom on Designer Guys? (lisp this__oooo careful 

Steven, his walls are covered with Smoke residue!_)(_an ashtray is 

not a centerpiece Mr. Verlaine!_).  Hey, I'm married, my wife 

watches these while I read Saturday's paper.

 

Nice Actress:  Detective movie guitar work circa This Cops 

from Mars.  The bad language is kind of surprising.  My five 

year old also found it rather surprising and giggled away.  

Thanks Tom.  There is something groovy cool about this song.  

I wouldn't think I'd like something like this but it is probably 

my fave on the cd.

 

A Stroll: More speaky vocals but they really work on this one.  

The guitar work is gorgeous beyond gorgeous.  The drums sound like 

boxes.  Verlaine is a great 

rhythm guitarist.  

 

Earth in etc: Everybody Sing it!  _One Time at Sundown__ Who 

cares, the world needs more of this song.  Verlaine's guitar is 

so effortless and fluid it sounds ordinary until you listen 

carefully to the nuances.

 

Lovebird: I like the chord changes, I like the bass, I like 

the drums, I like this song.  The lead solo is great beyond great 

albeit short.  Another song that sounds like it could have been 

on Television.

 

Docum: one hour after 4 a.m. (get it?).  What's that _Next_ button 

on my cd player do?  Oh yeah_

 

Shing: Is it just me or is it almost rap at the beginning?  Tom 

been listening to the artist formerly known as Puffy?  I'd like 

this better without vocals. No, that's not true.  I wouldn't like 

this in a house, I wouldn't like it with a mouse.  I wouldn't 

like it in a boat, I wouldn't like it with a goat.  I do not 

like it at all.  Sam I am, I don't like shingaling.

 

All weirded out:  Didn't Television play this live in recent 

years?  Was the reunion just an evil plot by Tom to get Richard 

to play a Verlaine solo song?  How is Richard taking this?  

This doesn't fit in with the rest of the album.  Could have 

been saved for the next fabled Television cd but I am not going 

to bitch about including a really good song that doesn't fit, 

especially at the rate Verlaine releases songs and other things 

insert groans here).

 

The Day: I do not see this as a single as others have. I think 

it's a good, no it's not, it's an exxxcccceeellent song but it 

doesn't fit into single format that appeases the masses.  Best 

vocal on the cd.

 

Peace piece: Frames the cd out.  Somewhat relieved as I was 

expecting hippy lyrics.

 

Overall: Great guitar work, lots of interesting things going 

in within the songs, little flourishes here and there keep it 
all interesting and surprising.  He plays instruments off each 

other and the space of other instruments like pieces composed 

for orchestras.  Where Around was jamming (perhaps it was his 

gift to us hardcore fans rather then a grasp at a larger audience), 

these songs sound worked out, crafted, molded and made into 

something spectacular. 

 

Interesting w/ Verlaine playing all the lead and rhythm for 13 

out of 14 and how this sounds like a natural progression from 

Television (oft criticized as a thinly veiled Verlaine solo album) 

regarding the vocal style, guitar tone, tempo, etc.  Actually, 

it could be the Television album.  Tom Verlaine is TV which is 

Television.  Different players, same sound, same vision, I get 

it now.  I know who calls the shots.  

 

Rating: I'm harder on poor Tom then I would be on anyone else.  

As a Verlaine album compared to prior efforts B.  As a Verlaine 

album versus the world, an A plus is too low.  You are not worthy 

to floss with his broken guitar strings you hacks, which include 

Arcade Fire, Strokes, White Stripes, Darkness, and all those other, 

for only a moment, critical darlings.
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