More Imaginos

[John A Swartz]

>I won't speak for all of BOC but I agree with Theo 1000%; Buck is better
than he used to be which boggles as he (to me) was the best even back
then.

I also agree.  Don't know if Buck's "chops" have really improved, but his
feel for the song and ability to make his solos more coherent is definitely
better than ever (assuming of course there was ever room for improvement).

>If Al's the man then forget the concessions we are
gonna get Imaginos the way he and Sandy intended.

>From my own negatively biased opinions of Pearlman (based mostly on
interviews I've read with him - including especially the fairly recent
one in Seconds magazine), the only thing we need Pearlman for is the
lyrics he wrote -- as for musical "vision", I'm not sure he has anything
left to contribute.  As long as Al has access to the lyrics (big if?),
Imaginos could get its proper treatment.

Of course, all of this discussion assumes that Al even wants to do this.
I have a feeling that Al has pretty much closed the book on *Imaginos*.
I mean, I personally would love to see the definitive version of this
album done, and if Al (with or without tBS) wants to undertake it, I'm
all for it.  On the other hand, if Al doesn't have the time or desire
to try and re-create something from arguably a difficult time in his
life, I'm not about to demand it as a fan.

>While I love this album, IMHO (of course) it is not as good as some
other concept albums I have heard.

O.K., now you went too far!  ;-)

Well, you can have your opinions on which concept album is best (and I
certainly am a big fan of *Dead Winter Dead*).  The biggest problem with
*Imaginos* as a concept album, IMHO, is that because it was not "
"complete", and because the songs aren't really in the right order (I
still say "Random Access History" is a fabricated myth to explain the
bad sequence on the final product), it can be confusing to follow the
"story" (o.k., we educated fans know what's going on, but to the
uninitiated, do they really hear these songs as all part of a complete
story?  My guess is no).

John