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Recently, someone reminded me of an album I haven't heard in more than 30 years; Chris Squire's solo effort, 'Fish Out Of Water'. It was one of those instant longing moments - I don't know why I hadn't thought about it for so long, but as soon as he mentioned it, I needed to hear it again.

This has happened to me before, and the result has quite often been disappointing. Listening again, I'll be aware of all the recording flaws, the playing mistakes, or the just plain bad writing. But not in this case - Squire's album is even better than I remember it, full of subtleties that I hadn't noticed before, and showing itself to be surprisingly undated and very strongly written and arranged.

Anybody have similar experiences, good or bad?

PS

Something else that springs to mind on this - if you had asked me a week ago to sing or hum anything from that album, I wouldn't have been able to - not a single phrase. But when I started playing it (it's still available, hurrah!) I could sing right along with all of it. What a strange thing memory is. That album's been in my head all this time, undisturbed, and amazingly complete. (Now if I could just remember where I put my car keys :0)

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Can't say I'm overly excited by the prospect of a Chris Squire album but yep like you I have gone back to albums after years of not listening to them.  Many have been a disappointment.  I used to love "Over" by Peter Hammil when I was in my late teens early 20'sl.  I purchased it again many years later and found that my least favourite tracks when I was 20ish were now by far the best songs on it - "On tuesdays she used to do yoga" being a standout.  Much of the rest of it seemed like over-emoted rubbish.  I think it has to do with age lending itself to an appreciation of subtlety - the Yoga song is understated (by Peter Hammill standards) - and finding over stated melodramatics just a little silly.

I listened to Hallowed Ground by The Violent Femmes again recently (27 years after its release!!!!!!).  Still bloody brilliant and fresh as a daisy.

Another that springs to mind (and I am aware I am probably about to risk my friendship with you Martin) is Shadows and Light by Joni Mitchell.  In my days as a budding bass player who had just purchased his first fretless bass, this was the ultimate album.  Jaco at his finest.  Listening to it now I hear some very good playing but it all sounds kind of dated in an 80's kind of way.  The days when too many chorus pedals were barely enough.

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As a folky guy, Dylan was a big influence and I used to have a cassette of Blood On The Tracks that I wore out in my early twenties. I hadn't heard it for years but one day o couple of years ago decided to buy the cd and I've now played it again hundreds of times in my truck. Bob's voice is still iffy and on my stereo there's a huge peak in the frequency range that makes his voice undesirably edgy, especially when he's belting out the higher notes in his vocal range. I never used to like his voice at all but I've grown to really love it. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but he sure sounds like he's telling the truth or preaching the gospel on that record.

As for the memory thing, I'm always struggling to think of songs to play when I do the odd gig but usually if I can think of the first word or line in a song, even if I haven't played it for 15 years it all comes back. Many times the lyrics are falling into my brain as I have to sing them, at the last possible second before each line. Those songs are in there, I just have to get the trigger.

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Originally Posted by Michael Heath:


I listened to Hallowed Ground by The Violent Femmes again recently (27 years after its release!!!!!!).  Still bloody brilliant and fresh as a daisy.

Another that springs to mind (and I am aware I am probably about to risk my friendship with you Martin) is Shadows and Light by Joni Mitchell.  In my days as a budding bass player who had just purchased his first fretless bass, this was the ultimate album.  Jaco at his finest.  Listening to it now I hear some very good playing but it all sounds kind of dated in an 80's kind of way.  The days when too many chorus pedals were barely enough.

I don't know The Violent Femmes at all - heard the name but haven't a clue about them. As for Shadows & Light - I know what you mean about chorus pedals, they can date a recording like a Yamaha DX7! But I can't say it's actually bothered me on that album - even though, on top of Jaco's rig, Joni's guitar is constantly running through a Roland Jazz Chorus amp.

I can cope with the chorus for all the wonderful arrangements of her tunes - they pretty much outclass the studio versions across the board. Except for Metheny's contribution to Furry Sings the Blues, which is horrible.

By the way, what makes you think we were EVER friends buster??

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Originally Posted by Steve Ambroise:
As a folky guy, Dylan was a big influence and I used to have a cassette of Blood On The Tracks that I wore out in my early twenties. I hadn't heard it for years but one day o couple of years ago decided to buy the cd and I've now played it again hundreds of times in my truck. Bob's voice is still iffy and on my stereo there's a huge peak in the frequency range that makes his voice undesirably edgy, especially when he's belting out the higher notes in his vocal range. I never used to like his voice at all but I've grown to really love it. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but he sure sounds like he's telling the truth or preaching the gospel on that record.

As for the memory thing, I'm always struggling to think of songs to play when I do the odd gig but usually if I can think of the first word or line in a song, even if I haven't played it for 15 years it all comes back. Many times the lyrics are falling into my brain as I have to sing them, at the last possible second before each line. Those songs are in there, I just have to get the trigger.

I never liked Dylan's voice when I first heard him, but grew to like it  - or at least his voice from his younger days. These days it's sooo rough, that I can't really listen to his recent stuff. But then again, maybe that'll grow on me too over time!

I think I've just got a crap memory (for most things). It's all I can do to remember the lyrics to even my all-time favourite songs. The Chris Squire album is interesting - I never listened to lyrics at all when I was younger and couldn't tell you what the songs are about. But most of the music seems to be as clear in my memory as if I had heard the album just last week.

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Originally Posted by Martin Giles:

Originally Posted by Steve Ambroise:
As a folky guy, Dylan was a big influence and I used to have a cassette of Blood On The Tracks that I wore out in my early twenties. I hadn't heard it for years but one day o couple of years ago decided to buy the cd and I've now played it again hundreds of times in my truck. Bob's voice is still iffy and on my stereo there's a huge peak in the frequency range that makes his voice undesirably edgy, especially when he's belting out the higher notes in his vocal range. I never used to like his voice at all but I've grown to really love it. I know he's not everyone's cup of tea but he sure sounds like he's telling the truth or preaching the gospel on that record.

As for the memory thing, I'm always struggling to think of songs to play when I do the odd gig but usually if I can think of the first word or line in a song, even if I haven't played it for 15 years it all comes back. Many times the lyrics are falling into my brain as I have to sing them, at the last possible second before each line. Those songs are in there, I just have to get the trigger.

I never liked Dylan's voice when I first heard him, but grew to like it  - or at least his voice from his younger days. These days it's sooo rough, that I can't really listen to his recent stuff. But then again, maybe that'll grow on me too over time!

I think I've just got a crap memory (for most things). It's all I can do to remember the lyrics to even my all-time favourite songs. The Chris Squire album is interesting - I never listened to lyrics at all when I was younger and couldn't tell you what the songs are about. But most of the music seems to be as clear in my memory as if I had heard the album just last week.

I've seen some Recent Dylan DVD's where his voice was pretty good but I saw him on the Grammy Awards the other night and he was extremely rough. I also saw him live in Vancouver in 1986 and that was a big disappointment for me.

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I'm sitting in the basement pulling out a few raggy old albums that I haven't looked at or played in a long while. I remember listening to music for hours while studying [?] the artwork and photos on the covers of records. The one I just pulled is Kiln House, the real Fleetwood Mac...oops! is that blasphemous or something?... Christine McVie designed the cover for this album. I did not know that until about thirty seconds ago.

I agree that Memory is a curious thing. When I read the posts about Bob Dylan, I could hear that voice as clearly as I feel my own breath. He was singing Masters of War.

As for Kiln House, well, the turntable is upstairs but I don't have to turn it on to hear the tracks. All I have to do is look at the titles and they cue up.

I'm listening to Telll Me All the Things You Do. Go, Danny Kirwan. And thanks.

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Originally Posted by Fhaedra Songrider:
I'm sitting in the basement pulling out a few raggy old albums that I haven't looked at or played in a long while. I remember listening to music for hours while studying [?] the artwork and photos on the covers of records. The one I just pulled is Kiln House, the real Fleetwood Mac...oops! is that blasphemous or something?... Christine McVie designed the cover for this album. I did not know that until about thirty seconds ago.

I agree that Memory is a curious thing. When I read the posts about Bob Dylan, I could hear that voice as clearly as I feel my own breath. He was singing Masters of War.

As for Kiln House, well, the turntable is upstairs but I don't have to turn it on to hear the tracks. All I have to do is look at the titles and they cue up.

I'm listening to Telll Me All the Things You Do. Go, Danny Kirwan. And thanks.

Oh yeah! The covers were a big part of the album experience. I truly miss that.

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Originally Posted by Steve Ambroise:

Originally Posted by Fhaedra Songrider:
I'm sitting in the basement pulling out a few raggy old albums that I haven't looked at or played in a long while. I remember listening to music for hours while studying [?] the artwork and photos on the covers of records. The one I just pulled is Kiln House, the real Fleetwood Mac...oops! is that blasphemous or something?... Christine McVie designed the cover for this album. I did not know that until about thirty seconds ago.

I agree that Memory is a curious thing. When I read the posts about Bob Dylan, I could hear that voice as clearly as I feel my own breath. He was singing Masters of War.

As for Kiln House, well, the turntable is upstairs but I don't have to turn it on to hear the tracks. All I have to do is look at the titles and they cue up.

I'm listening to Telll Me All the Things You Do. Go, Danny Kirwan. And thanks.

Oh yeah! The covers were a big part of the album experience. I truly miss that.

I agree also; I used to do the same thing. I realised after a while that my early albums are forever associated in my mind with the predominant colour of the sleeve. The music on 'Machine Head' is steely blue, 'There's The Rub' sounds pretty much yellow, etc.

Having been a mastering engineer and so having cut the lacquers for several thousand vinyl releases, I have to say that I'm not a huge fan of vinyl - except for the 12" sleeves. No matter how interesting or pretty a CD sleeve is, they're still fiddly little things that can't have the same impact as a 12" sleeve.

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Yeah, it used to be a real event when one of my friends got a new album. We'd all get together and listen intently. I can remember going to parties and listening to albums for hours while checking out all the cool covers/sleeves. Some of the artwork was fantastic (Yes comes to mind instantly) and usually a fair bit of info about the band plus many times lyrics were included. These days you need a magnifying glass just to read the song titles. I suppose you can get the extras online but it's really hard to share the experience with friends. It just isn't the same.

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My daughter is 15, and I was trying to explain the appeal of an LP to her. I used to read the liner notes religiously, to see who played on an album. Then I would go to a flea market or a record store with a good used section, and see if any of those musicians were on any other available albums. I found a lot of great music that way, (and also some real stinkers!). But you just can't do that with CDs.

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Finally, our collective albums have been moved from the dark basement and into the upstairs light. Do I have to alphabetize them? That's work for another day.

For now, I'm going to read the liner notes... Andrew Loog Oldham wrote for the Rolling Stones' 12X5.