BOC: Track Orders/Sad Sony

[BREVARD, Adrian R.]

>Yeah, most big record companies are, I'm sure - the music business is
business first, music second.

And a one-sided relationship at that; suck the money and *uck the artist
seems to be Sony's motto. 8>)

>Interesting theory.  Don't know that I've ever compared a song based on what
it came before or after.

Well your not really comparing its more a matter of how it grabs your
attention on first listen.  Take for example Savatage's DWD.  The songs
I Am, Starlight, and Dosen't Matter Anyway have a certain pace/style
that fit naturally like a puzzle.  Now if you were to insert say One
Child between Starlight and Dosen't Matter you have a pace interuption.
Wouldn't feel natural at all.  Each song individually may be good but
there may be a tendency to skip a song if the pace dosen't feel right to
you.

Imagine if BOC had D&S, Golden Age, 7 Screaming Diz's on one side of an
album and a second side with Debbi Denise, Lonely Teardrops, Light Years
of Love, bet you wouldn't like it that much, the pace would be all
wrong.

>My theory has been that the problem with the "lamer" albums if you will is
that they lack enough universally-liked songs among BOC fans.  On the
first 3 albums, 90% of BOC fans probably like 90% of the tracks - and
90% of the unliked tracks are probably the same 2 or 3 songs.  On RbN
and CN, I suspect that it's more like about 70% of BOC fans like about
50% of the tracks - and if you asked them which tracks they didn't
like, you wouldn't have to poll too many people to get every track on
the albums.

Agree, look how often the list disagrees on RBN and CN alone.  But again
song placement may be a big part of that.  Give it a try in your spare
time sit down with either or both of these discs and place the songs in
an order that feels right to you, fast/medium/slow etc. Copmpare this to
the original track order and see which way feels best.  You can analyze
the lyrics, song structure or whatever but the best way to tell if you
are listnening to something good or bad is the way it makes you feel.

>I wouldn't start with it, but not for the reason you mentioned - but,
basically because it is somewhat unrepresentative.  I think it is a
"must have" for anyone with more than about 4 BOC CDs in their
collection, but as an "intro to BOC", this album won't give you a good
appreciation for the rest of the BOC catalog.  Then again, if you just
want an album
that kicks ass all over the place, Imaginos fits the bill.

Oh I would agree its a must have and would also agree that it is kick
ass top to bottom.  Guess I look at it with jaded vision as two things
really stick out in my mind.  1) the playing is very professional, lots
of talent, but unemotional.  No one really seems to have their heart
into this effort.  2) It had the potential and material to be one of the
all time best recordings ever but clearly it is not.  Its not the full
version and circle back to point one, not everyone had their heart into
making this the phenomenal piece it could have been.  I just can't get
around that at all.  Truly wish they had made Imaginos much earlier as
Pearlman had suggested.  Think of Imaginos done by the original lineup
right after OYFOOYK, I think the end product would have been completely
different.

Yeah it's "if I woulda coulda shoulda" but I will always consider it the
biggest career mistake the band ever made.

L8er
Ghost in the Ruins