NAME a band that "went synth" and got BETTER. We KNOW Rush wasn't that band. But NAME one!

[Amerigo Vespucci]

I can't think of one. You're on your own here.

[lovemydog]

1. New Order

Human League (not fair as I never heard them w/o synths, but I'd guess they sucked)

The Who rocked the synth on Baba O'Reilly but wisely didn't over-use them

[Amerigo Vespucci]

10. I'm with you on The Who...I'd forgotten that, and...

...probably for the very reason you named...they "wisely didn't over-use them."

[ZombieHorde]

2. Pink Floyd.

Their more "synthy" albums are not their first ones, but I love them.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

13. I always went for the tracks where Gilmour was most prominent

I don't really care for The Wall (yeah, I know...blasphemy), but I love "Comfirtably Numb," and that's primarily for Gilmour's contribution. Strip away his vocals and that guitar solo and you have "The Final Cut." That's one of the few albums in my collection I've listened to once, and it was one painful listen.

[harmonicon]

23. Rick Wright was the secret force behind that band.

You may or may not know that half of the vocals on "Comfortably Numb" are sung by him.

I think their earliest stuff (first two albums, but especially early singles - check out "Relics" if you haven't) is the best. Wright wrote "paint box" which I think is one of their greatest songs, including the Barrett ones. On their later albums, it was him providing a lot of the glue holding the group together.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

28. It's sad that he quit and was rehired as a "sideman"

I thought that "The Final Cut" was an unadulterated piece of crap, one of the few albums in my collection that I listened to once, and once only. I'd read something...probably in Rolling Stone...that when he was brought back for "A Momentary Lapse Of Reason," Gilmour and Mason were basically "Pink Floyd" and Wright was brought back in the same manner as a session musician. I have no idea what happened between "Lapse" and Gilmour's "Live In Gdansk"...which I believe is Wright's final recorded performance, other than the Floyd tracks on "Live 8." Hopefully he received the compensation he deserved.

I've pretty much heard every piece of available Floyd music, including the Barrett solo albums. I agree with you on Wright...on occasion, Floyd has been reduced to a "Lennon versus McCartney" style debate. The Beatles were more than Lennon & McCartney, and Pink Floyd was more than Waters & Gilmour.

[harmonicon]

33. Yeah, he was a hired gun for awhile.

I should say that I was initially wrong about "comfortably numb" - I think I was thinking of "Time" that's just him and Gilmour. Likely he replaced some of the Waters parts after Waters left, but it's not always easy to tell, and the credits on the records aren't complete and sometimes flat-out wrong (basically they all learned to sing on the fly by imitating Syd Barrett).

So, during The Wall he was fired/quit, but agreed to stay on for the tour, but not as a full band member. Because of this, he actually made money, because he was paid for the gigs, whereas the three others lost money, because they had to front the cost for the tour. As they didn't tour for "The Final Cut" (I agree that it's terrible), I'm not sure that it even counts... Wright played on every Floyd tour at least. Then, when "Momentary Lapse of Reason" came around, though he did play on it, he - like on "The Wall" - didn't have a share in the band. Apparently, this was because Gilmour and Mason had put up all of the money for the legal battle with Waters over their name and trademarks (this included who could use the flying pig). He was back as a full-share member for "The Division Bell" and subsequent tour and live albums.

You only have to listen to solo Waters and Gilmour (and Wright, for that matter) records to know that Pink Floyd were more than the sum of their parts.

[hifiguy]

36. Your history is right on the mark.

RW was a (very) highly-paid "sideman" on the Momentary Lapse tour and became a partner in the band again after Dave and Nick reached a settlement with Roger.

[fishwax]

40. "You only have to listen to solo ... to know that Pink Floyd were more than the sum of their parts"

So very true. So brilliant together, but the solo albums do nothing for me.

I'm in the minority (a very small one, I know) on The Final Cut--I think it's a good album, and certainly better than its reputation. But, then, I've been a defender of Dylan's Self Portrait for years as well, so Cut isn't the only generally-reviled album in which I've found much to admire.

[chollybocker]

3. Ultravox!

During the John Foxx years, they were a struggling punk-prog-guitar band. Once they droppped the "!," and added the"Ure," they hit their biggest success with Vienna, Hymn, Sleepwalk, Monument, Dancing....

What do I win?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

14. Believe it ot not, I know of them...very well...but have never heard them.

If they had an MTV hit in the 80s, then I definitely heard them, because I had MTV on ALL the time. I know of "Vienna," and I know "Sleepwalk" was the single from that album, but unless I go hunt it down on YouTube, I can't remember a single note from it.

Midge Ure appreciates your loyalty and enthusiasm, though, and he told me that he will be sending you a delightful basket of mini muffins to prove it. They should arrive in six to eight weeks. Make sure to let us know when they arrive!

[chollybocker]

20. Oh, that Midge. Always with the mini muffins.

[chollybocker]

4. Also, Joy Division became New Order.

But that was not better. So I withdraw the suggestion.

[bluesbassman]

5. The only great band that I can think of who went synth was ZZ Top.

Last edited Thu May 10, 2012, 01:27 AM - Edit history (1)

Afterburner was pretty heavy with synth and didn't totally suck, but thankfully the lads grew out of the synth phase. Recycler was cleaned up a bit and Antenna took 'em back toward their roots.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

9. 99% of the praise for Antenna was "thank God they've backed off on the synths."

I was one of those people.

[bluesbassman]

15. I saw 'em in Berkley for the Rythmeen tour.

No moving sidewalks, no overblown stage show, just the three of them up on stage. It was awesome. No distractions just the boys playin'. Great show.

Contrast that to seeing them at the HP when the did the Antenna tour, HUGE ass stage show, OK but nowhere near as fun.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

16. The "bonus tracks" on "Tres Hombres" (the 2006 remaster)...

...live versions of Waitin' For The Bus, Jesus Just Left Chicago, La Grange. What a joy. 100% pre-synth, just that little ol' band from Tejas in their native element. If you've seen them live, you know exactly what I'm talking about, especially the version of "Jesus" found here. The sound is just FAT and OMINOUS. If you don't own that specific CD, here's why it's special (in addition to the bonus tracks):

Tres Hombres (Spanish for "three men&quot is the third album by American blues rock band ZZ Top and was released in 1973. The album marked the first of many times the band worked with engineer Terry Manning which proved a successful combination as the release was the band's first commercial breakthrough. The album hit the top ten while the single "La Grange" hit number 41 on the singles chart.

During the height of ZZ Top's success in the early 1980s a digitally remixed version of the recording was released on CD and the original 1973 mix version was discontinued. The remix version created controversy among fans because it significantly changed the sound of the instruments, especially drums. The remix version was used on all early CD copies and was the only version available for over 20 years. A remastered and expanded edition of the album was released on February 28, 2006, which contains three bonus live tracks. The 2006 edition is the first CD version to use Manning's original 1973 mix.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tres_Hombres#2006_remastered_version_bonus_tracks

The 1:37 mark, when the Reverend Billy yells "Awwww, take me WITH ya, Jesus," right before his solo, is cathartic. He just leans into the solo and it's shrapnel everywhere. He takes one more solo at the 3 minute mark. I've heard the original and every commercially available live version of this song...the one on this CD, for my ears, is definitive.

[bluesbassman]

17. Interesting. I own the original vinyl and the six disc "Six Pack" set,

I hadn't heard about the remastered with bonus tracks. Guess I need to hunt it up on Amazon. Thanks Bro.

[Aristus]

6. Chris De Burgh.

He started out as a troubador-style balladeer; one man, one guitar back in the 70's. In the 1980's, he hired synthesizer wizard Rupert Hine as his producer, and released three masterful albums in a row: The Getaway, Man On The Line, and Into The Light. That was his best period.

[opiate69]

25. Seconded!

[XemaSab]

7. David Bowie?

[Amerigo Vespucci]

12. Depends on the album, I guess...

...Bowie certainly can't be blamed for "consistency," especially on his late-period albums. Like a lot of people, I became a fan during the Mick Ronson years, which remain my favorite. Some of his more adventurous works like the "Berlin Triology" (Low / Lodger / Heroes) are filled with some very cool surptises, but he also turned in a few efforts that were boring or simply lacked good, solid songs. Of course, the same can be said for my three favorite artists of all time (Neil Young, John Lennon and Frank Zappa).

[GaYellowDawg]

8. The Steve Miller Band.

Abra, abra cadabra. I wanna reach out and grab ya.

Obviously, I'm kidding.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

11. I'd love to hear The Steve Miller Band "unplugged."

And by that I don't mean "an acoustic show."

I mean all of the instruments, microphones, etc. unplugged and placed back into their cases and crates and loaded on the trucks and rolling out of town.

Now that would be music to my ears.

[Yuugal]

18. No way!

I can think of at least five great songs from them. I list in them in reverse awesomeness order....

5) hmm
4) (cue the crickets please)
3) er.....
2) does the sweet silence between the tracks on a SMB LP count?
1) Serenade (I was very young and tripping balls so forgive me)



Edited to add, we did also listen to "Fly like an eagle" the night I heard #1 so I guess the original #1 was actually #2. Go figure.

[harmonicon]

24. !!!

That's rich.

I was in an all-synth (well, plus vocals) band for years. A friend suggested that we do an unplugged record which would just consist of us hitting our gear with sticks and shouting, "why won't you work?!?"

[Alexander]

19. Yes

Before Rick Wakeman joined for the "Fragile" album they didn't use any synths.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

21. "The Yes Album" is still my favorite.

I like the whole album, but "Starship Trooper"...specifically the coda, "Wurm"...is the one that slays me every time. The problem with all future live versions is that they didn't follow the layered repetition of the original, which was the thing that made Howe's ending solo "pop." Initially, Wakeman would solo, then Squire had to have a solo, and it was all of these solos that just didn't deliver the same payoff. What made the original great is that it kept building and building and building, and you knew SOMETHING was coming, and there it was, tight, tasty and compact...one of my favorite guitar solos of all time, and DEFINITELY my all-time favorite Steve Howe performance.

[WCGreen]

22. I saw them at a Community College just west of Cleveland back in 1972....

They did Every Little Thing by the Beatles and America by Simon ad Garfunkel, it blew me away...

&feature=related

[harmonicon]

26. I can think of a few.

Also, I wouldn't completely discount Rush. While I do think "Fly by Night" is their best record, some of the stuff with synths - especially "farewell to kings" and "moving pictures" - was good too. I do agree that the stuff that was REALLY synth heavy wasn't so good.

I digress...

examples:

The Cure. Their first album was ok. On the second, they replaced the bass player and added a synth player and came into their own. The synth player was gone by the next record, but only because the three remaining members were now doubling on synth. I really think that was their best period ("17 seconds", "Faith", and "Pornography&quot . When the band got bigger (number of members, I mean), the synths were generally less prominent, but they haven't really gone away.

Tubeway Army. "Replicas" is an incredible album.

Neil Young. (kidding)

[Amerigo Vespucci]

37. I watched that Rush documentary on VH-1 Classic...

...and I never heard Rush during their initial, heavy heyday. My first memory of them, like a lot of people I'm sure, came with "Moving Pictures" and "Tom Sawyer" being played on FM radio every 15 minutes. So when I finally heard "2112," I was shocked. Who knew? Original Rush fans knew, I guess. I never cared for songs like "Freewill" and had no idea they did off-the-wall stuff like "La Villa Strangiato." So my preference is Peart on drums, Lifeson on guitar, Lee on bass, wailing. No pop crap. No synths. More music, less singing. Keyboard "interludes" are OK....just enough to make the performance interesting, not to overpower it.

[RZM]

27. It's usually a mixed bag. Some might say the Police got better with synths

I don't recall synths on their first two albums, but the rest of them definitely had lots of synth.

But I don't know if I would consider those albums better.

[Amerigo Vespucci]

35. "Synchronicity" is my favorite Police album, and...

...I wouldn't compare it to any of the others. It was an entity unto itself. It was a shame to see them walk away after that, but if you're gonna do it, you want to make an album THAT good and THEN walk away. Kind of like the Beatles going out with "Abbey Road" (yes, even though "Let It Be" was the last album they released, it was recorded before Abbey Road).

[mikeytherat]

29. Van Halen - "Jump" is when they finally hit their stride.

mikey_the_rat

[Populist_Prole]

32. Aaaarrrgggghhh! You're gonna' need a bigger wall

'Jump' is where they might have hit there commercial stride, but really........................

[Amerigo Vespucci]

34. At least HALF the praise for the new album...

...has been that Eddie kept the keyboards to a MINIMUM. Fans would rather hear reworked demos from the 70s that feature Eddie wailing on guitar than the 2012 version of "Jump." The thing about Van Halen is that it's ALWAYS about the money. The new album and tour with Roth should put them in a position where they never have to work another day of their lives. So if Eddie decided to be a dick and say "No, I MUST play keyboards on every track," word would have spread pretty quickly and the payday might not have been as huge. Hopefully he got that nonsense out of his system during the Van Hagar years. I listen to those albums and am still shocked over how much "soft rock" they contain.

[dana_b]

30. The Who

"Whos Next" and "Quadrophenia" are two of my favorite albums ever.

[Shagbark Hickory]

31. Does Ric Ocasek count?

[hifiguy]

38. Genesis.

Their sonic palette really expanded when Tony Banks started using Mellotron and synths, somewhere around "Selling England By The Pound." Of course then things really went to hell in a handcart a few years later when Steve Hackett quit.

[kwassa]

39. Talking Heads with Bernie Worrell of PFunk.

Stop making sense.