loveless
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Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
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Post by loveless on Feb 20, 2024 23:17:34 GMT
There's nothing else in PF's catalogue that sounds like IO, is that right? Barrett added a real jagged tension and excitement to their "explorations" that is notably absent forever after. And I like all of that stuff to varying degrees (some of those warhorses they carry through the pre- DSTOM period like "Embryo", "Saucerful.." and "Careful With That Axe, Eugene"), but...the energy of the band on IO is...you only get so much of that, so for those who are into it (raises hand), it's a crucial corner of 1967 Pink Floyd (and, I guess, by extension, ALL Pink Floyd).* As regards Piper... and the Syd era, I may not love IO in quite the standalone way I love "Emily" or "Astronomy" or..."Mathilda Mother", but...it also sits in such a specific place on one of my all time favorite (and impeccably sequenced) albums, providing a contrast to the likes of "Flaming", "The Gnome", "Chapter 24", and "Scarecrow", that...it's essential to me as part of the greater experience. *We had a thread last year regarding the golden anniversary of DSOTM, and I swear (of the twenty respondents) roughly ten people popped in to say "soporific" and the other ten popped in to say "plodding" (a guest might have logged in to say "dreary" and/or "ponderous"). And, while I may exaggerate my impressions of the thread - I guess my overall point would be that...seemingly as soon as Syd is out of their hair, they really do get right down to the business of doing some very dedicated mellowing out. A tendency they didn't really show (or develop) in his presence/under his influence.
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Post by Charlie O. on Feb 21, 2024 0:33:37 GMT
As regards Piper... and the Syd era, I may not love IO in quite the standalone way I love "Emily" or "Astronomy" or..."Mathilda Mother", but...it also sits in such a specific place on one of my all time favorite (and impeccably sequenced) albums, providing a contrast to the likes of "Flaming", "The Gnome", "Chapter 24", and "Scarecrow", that...it's essential to me as part of the greater experience. Good point. Thinking about it just now, if White Light/White Heat had been sequenced thusly -
Side 1: White Light/White Heat The Gift I Heard Her Call My Name Lady Godiva's Operation
Side 2: Sister Ray Here She Comes Now
- I'd probably feel more strongly in favor of "Sister Ray" than I do, if only because I would have felt obliged to sit through all 17 minutes to get to "Here She Comes Now", and maybe would have grown to love it. (I'm not sayin' that that's necessarily a better sequence, although I think it would have worked fine, at least on LP. Would have made the two sides closer to the same length, to boot.)
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loveless
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Bringing ballet to the masses. Sticking to the funk.
Posts: 2,788
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Post by loveless on Feb 21, 2024 0:43:26 GMT
Yes, I fully agree. Something about "Sister Ray" closing the thing might give it more of an asterisk than it deserves on its own merits. For those who DON'T put it in their top ten Velvets, it becomes more of an "option".
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Post by quaco on Feb 22, 2024 3:25:52 GMT
As much of a Floyd devotee as I am, I have to say "Sister Ray". It gets better the longer it goes on, such that by the seventeen-minute mark, it actually disappoints me when it ends. It's not that the end is better than the beginning, it's not, it's just that it becomes a hypnotic pulse that it shocks the system to do without it. I just love the sound and the repetition! I should try other versions to see if that magic is present in all versions. I suspect it is, more or less.
"IO" isn't my favorite thing on Piper, but it is special and it's the sound of that band at that time in that scene—and I love the open-ended quality. Really anything can come in the middle. My favorite version is the one from Santa Monica Civic 1970 (which appears on Omay Yad), as it goes some different places than usual. The studio one is great though.
From about 6:30 on, it starts to really cook in a different way:
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