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Post by DarkSideFreak on Apr 5, 2017 6:27:16 GMT 10
Using the classic introduction by Jackie Lynton (ex-Savoy Brown) from the 1977 live album as a title for this thread  Facts first: One of Britain's most successful bands ever (I think they had more hit singles than any other band) and a group with remarkable longevity. The beginning was difficult. Three singles by "The Spectres" and one by "The Traffic Jam" (which Francis Rossi later said was an awful name) had flopped. The first single under the name "The Status Quo" (now a quintet with Rick Parfitt added) however was a surprise hit. "Pictures of Matchstick Men" gave the group a psychedelic image but this was more of a studio accident that they tried to repeat a couple of times afterwards. In reality, the song has a couple more chords than most people associate with Status Quo but it does already showcase Francis Rossi's knack for writing catchy pop melodies. This late live version is devoid of all the studio experimentation but makes for a nice combo with the next hit "Ice in the Sun". It's interesting to see how influential The Bee Gees were in those days. Status Quo had already covered "Spicks and Specks" and the second album, "Spare Parts" was an attempt to go further in that baroque pop / dramatic ballad direction. "Are You Growing Tired of My Love" was a minor hit but the album flopped like the first one. What's curious is that while Quo would soon radically change their sound, they never entirely gave up on this style and so you can hear the sensitive ballad "Where I Am" in the middle of all the heavy rock on "On the Level" from 1975. The return to the single charts came with the change of style. "Down the Dustpipe" and the more laid back "In My Chair" both were very different from all the bubblegum, psychedelic and baroque pop elements of the first two albums. Instead, now we got blues shuffles with a commercial edge. Tour manager Bob Young (who played harp on the first and co-wrote the latter track) helped the band in this direction, as is also evident on the album "Ma Kelly's Greasy Spoon". They lost keyboarder Roy Lynes around this time and while the first "Frantic Four" album "Dog of Two Head" was no more successful than the first 3 LPs, the band became heavier and started to garner a live audience. This finally paid off when "Paper Plane" became a top 10 hit and the album "Piledriver" established them as an album band. It's a wonderful, varied record with no weak track whatsoever (and some unexpected surprises like the very sad power ballad "A Year" or the slow blues "Unspoken Words") but I think Rick's signature song has to be one of the best Quo tracks ever. The intertwined multi-part structure, the dynamics, Francis' epic solo, Rick's vocals and the rhythm section playing like one person - all the hallmarks of a Quo milestone. The live versions are even harder rocking but unfortunately they always left the intro off! The album which, for many, marks the apex of Quo's career. Their DSOTM if you will. "Hello!", their first #1 album, contains what later became their eternal opening track ("Caroline") and is bookended by two absolute masterpieces. Ladies and gentlemen, bow down to And the unbelievable I chose the live versions just because they are that bit more firey. Also 4500x, already ten minutes long in its studio version, was extended live (the longest versions are over 20 minute long!) and showcases the "telepathic" communication between the four guys. It's boogie nirvana!! PS: Watch out for the guitar/bass duet about 3 minutes in. Nice, innit? And then those tempo changes. Magic. To be continued... |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 5, 2017 16:19:40 GMT 10
I take back everything i've said in the past. While I don't think i'll ever be mad on Status Quo, and I am not entirely sure why they're such a favourite of yours (just from my personal perspective on what makes great music), I will admit this is some strong stuff. I think i've always just found the vocals a bit too safe, as opposed to AC/DC who if you really go back and listen to are hard to understand how they were at all appealing to mainstream 70s rock which in turns makes it more interesting to me. Maybe my opinion on the sound of Status Singing will change. Musically however, it's about enough for me to enjoy.
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Post by DarkSideFreak on Apr 5, 2017 19:01:50 GMT 10
I take back everything i've said in the past. While I don't think i'll ever be mad on Status Quo, and I am not entirely sure why they're such a favourite of yours (just from my personal perspective on what makes great music), I will admit this is some strong stuff. I think i've always just found the vocals a bit too safe, as opposed to AC/DC who if you really go back and listen to are hard to understand how they were at all appealing to mainstream 70s rock which in turns makes it more interesting to me. Maybe my opinion on the sound of Status Singing will change. Musically however, it's about enough for me to enjoy. I can understand that argument. For me it's what makes them unique, that blending of pop and rock, and in the 70s the variety of the three voices - Francis' countryesque smooth nasality, Rick's rock assault and ballad singing and Alan's macho attitude. But yeah, the fact that they kept their voices down in the mix and didn't pay that much attention to arresting vocal performances has often been cited for the lack of US success. They tried remixing their stuff with vocals higher in the mix to appeal to the US market, but they just ended up losing their identity. Agree that AC/DC have nastier and more remarkable vocals, but it's also a case of somebody being there only for the singing and therefore obviously taking a different role to somebody playing guitar at the same time. I think this is why Quo have retained such a large fan base in Britain - the down-to-earth attitude with no star 'cult' whatsoever. If they had a singer upfront the whole dynamic would be very different. You may come across a few more surprises... |
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Post by BluesyThug on Apr 7, 2017 15:53:11 GMT 10
I take back everything i've said in the past. While I don't think i'll ever be mad on Status Quo, and I am not entirely sure why they're such a favourite of yours (just from my personal perspective on what makes great music), I will admit this is some strong stuff. I think i've always just found the vocals a bit too safe, as opposed to AC/DC who if you really go back and listen to are hard to understand how they were at all appealing to mainstream 70s rock which in turns makes it more interesting to me. Maybe my opinion on the sound of Status Singing will change. Musically however, it's about enough for me to enjoy. Completely agreed with you. I do feel that they became a little reliant on their formula later on, but there's definitely plenty of experimentation in the earlier years. The second song does sound a hell of a lot like The Bee Gees, particularly the track To Love Somebody. |
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Post by DarkSideFreak on Apr 12, 2017 18:24:34 GMT 10
I take back everything i've said in the past. While I don't think i'll ever be mad on Status Quo, and I am not entirely sure why they're such a favourite of yours (just from my personal perspective on what makes great music), I will admit this is some strong stuff. I think i've always just found the vocals a bit too safe, as opposed to AC/DC who if you really go back and listen to are hard to understand how they were at all appealing to mainstream 70s rock which in turns makes it more interesting to me. Maybe my opinion on the sound of Status Singing will change. Musically however, it's about enough for me to enjoy. Completely agreed with you. I do feel that they became a little reliant on their formula later on, but there's definitely plenty of experimentation in the earlier years. The second song does sound a hell of a lot like The Bee Gees, particularly the track To Love Somebody. That's true, but I think Francis made the point years ago already - if we try to change around our sound too much, we get flack from our fans, if we stick to what works, we get flack from the critics. There have been various attempts at changing the sound over the years, and often the result was going back to the roots for the next project. |
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Post by BluesyThug on Apr 13, 2017 17:31:35 GMT 10
Completely agreed with you. I do feel that they became a little reliant on their formula later on, but there's definitely plenty of experimentation in the earlier years. The second song does sound a hell of a lot like The Bee Gees, particularly the track To Love Somebody. That's true, but I think Francis made the point years ago already - if we try to change around our sound too much, we get flack from our fans, if we stick to what works, we get flack from the critics. There have been various attempts at changing the sound over the years, and often the result was going back to the roots for the next project. I'd be very surprised if most fans want more of the same.... it's good to fuck with the formula a bit. Certainly worked well with The Beach Boys haha (if not commercially in the US, then artistically) |
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Post by Deleted on Apr 14, 2017 0:09:55 GMT 10
That's true, but I think Francis made the point years ago already - if we try to change around our sound too much, we get flack from our fans, if we stick to what works, we get flack from the critics. There have been various attempts at changing the sound over the years, and often the result was going back to the roots for the next project. I'd be very surprised if most fans want more of the same.... it's good to fuck with the formula a bit. Certainly worked well with The Beach Boys haha (if not commercially in the US, then artistically) But if you stray too far away fans are shocked. |
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Post by BluesyThug on Apr 14, 2017 1:15:54 GMT 10
I'd be very surprised if most fans want more of the same.... it's good to fuck with the formula a bit. Certainly worked well with The Beach Boys haha (if not commercially in the US, then artistically) But if you stray too far away fans are shocked. In some cases, true  |
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Post by DarkSideFreak on Apr 26, 2017 18:48:42 GMT 10
That's true, but I think Francis made the point years ago already - if we try to change around our sound too much, we get flack from our fans, if we stick to what works, we get flack from the critics. There have been various attempts at changing the sound over the years, and often the result was going back to the roots for the next project. I'd be very surprised if most fans want more of the same.... it's good to fuck with the formula a bit. Certainly worked well with The Beach Boys haha (if not commercially in the US, then artistically) Well, when "Rockin' All Over the World" came out people wrote letters saying "Shoot the fucking producer". This had to do with the sound of the album as much as with the material, but there are many fans who say everything the band has produced since then is crap. And even the band admitted that they had gotten off track in the 80s and 90s - it took them a long time to realize where their real strengths lie! |
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Post by Deleted on Aug 11, 2017 22:55:04 GMT 10
Are we ever seeing more of this project?
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Post by DarkSideFreak on Sept 6, 2017 21:37:33 GMT 10
Are we ever seeing more of this project? I actually did a write-up but never posted it here. Thanks for the reminder. I hope I can put it up soon... (However, on the Steve Hoffman Music Forums I've started a far more detailed thread - check it out if you like.) |
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Post by DarkSideFreak on Sept 7, 2017 0:58:31 GMT 10
"Quo" is easily the heaviest, harshest and most progressive Status Quo album. In some ways it's untypical because the Rossi/Young axis didn't produce a lot of material; instead Alan (aka Nuff) Lancaster (who also sang a lot on the LP) and Rick Parfitt wrote most of the material. While a lot of fans bemoan the fact they didn't continue in that direction, I find the country/pop element equally as important to this band's unique sound; hence, I agree with Francis calling the album "unbalanced". Still we get gems such as this monstrous opening combination:
and the equally unbelievable ending epic. Unlike 4500x this one rocks like a bastard from the beginning, then there's those wicked guitar duets in the middle followed by a drum solo, and the ending is just... Jesus. Probably the heaviest, dirtiest this band has ever sounded. Breathtaking.
"On the Level" was another number 1 album and also contained the only #1 single hit, the driving "Down Down". It's a truly unusual song in its sound and structure - hard and heavy and yet melodic and accessible, long but without any solos and featuring several starts/stops. "Blue for You" continued in that direction, with some songs definitely influenced by Queen's vocal arrangements, others more influenced by the band's intake of speed. Just listen to them going off like a rocket on this underrated album track:
Another classic sung by Alan Lancaster featuring those vocal layers at the end and some surprises thrown in:
"Rockin' All Over the World" was the first album with an outside producer since the early 70's. Pip Williams broadened the sound and the band tried out lots of new directions, but the end result was a bit underwhelming, particularly when the energy factor is concerned. They did come up with at least one headbanger in the Quo tradition (which by the way only fully realized its potential in the recently released remixed version):
"If You Can't Stand the Heat..." is where the wheels fell off. The songwriting, on the whole, just was no longer up to standard. However it's still interesting to hear them trying out new things such as this disco-rock fusion:
I think it's also the first album to use drop-D tuning, which would dominate the character of their next big hit. "Whatever You Want" marked a "return to the roots" - it's probably the best album the FF lineup has done after the classic album run. Including several great shuffles, an epic closing track ("Breaking Away" with its four-part structure and several tempo and mood changes) and even an attempt at a 4500x-esque medley type thing ("Come Rock With Me"/"Rockin' On"). But beyond all the heavy rock, there is also one of the most beautiful ballads written by anyone ever, the stunning "Living on an Island".
The FF (plus Andy Bown on keys, whom we know from Pink Floyd's The Wall as bass (!) player and from The Final Cut as organist) managed two more albums, both of which were largely recorded at the same sessions: "Just Supposin'" and "Never Too Late". This Parfitt/Bown collab does have a slightly ominous Floydiness about it:
After two pretty mediocre albums with Pete Kircher on drums, Francis had enough of constantly arguing with Alan and decided to call it quits. Francis and Rick recorded solo albums but neither were released - instead the record company insisted on getting another Status Quo album, particularly since the 3-song opening for Live Aid had made the band even more popular. Rick introduced Francis to a rhythm section he'd worked with on his solo record - John "Rhino" Edwards and Jeff Rich - and thus the new age of Quo began with a very sterile 80s sound but some interesting songs. The highly untypical "In the Army Now" was hugely popular and soon became a live favourite.
To be continued...
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Currently on the radio: "The Unforgiven"