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Post by Eva Yojimbo on May 11, 2020 21:48:12 GMT
It's an awesome world to be in! I was pretty obsessed with them for several months a few years back. I agree with everything you say about them; arguably the most underrated band ever and should've been much more popular than they were. I kinda associate them with King's X as both being bands that had all the ingredients to be huge stars--a phenomenal melodic sensibility, an ear or hooks and harmony, an attention to craft and detail--but instead remained fairly niche with extremely passionate fanbases. But, yeah, you could put in almost XTC's entire discography into a playlist, hit "shuffle," and land on a great song. If you haven't, I'd highly recommend checking out Steven Wilson's remix/remasters of Drums & Wires, Black Sea, Skylarking, Oranges & Lemons, Nonsuch, and The Dukes of Stratosphear catalog (called "Psurroundabout Ride"). They're excellent, especially the surround mixes. It sure is.  Never heard of Kings X before, maybe I should have? But, so little time, and well, since you brought them into a XTC discussion, I kind of get a little interested, so maybe I should give them a go later on.  I actually do own a copy of Drums & Wires by the Steven Wilson remix, I think it is from 2013 or 2014, but it was just one of those "impulsive" deals, that I was so overenthusiastic over seeing a new CD copy of that album, and I only had old 2001 remaster in my collection, so I picked it up, but still have not heard any of it. That name, Steven Wilson, did he not do some of the King Crimson remasters a while back as well? Sound at least familiar with that name. However, I did pick up the 2013 version of Skylarking, I think it was named Correct Polar... something, on CD and I am so glad they finally included Dear God in the track list, as for me that just made a fantastic album, even better. I think some of the songs also has a maybe warmer or "fatter" sound to it, specially the bass which is just another great way of upgrading an already incredible set of songs and music. I dare say most people haven't heard of King's X. They kinda got stuck in that limbo between 80s metal and 90s alternative rock, without ever fitting neatly into either mold. Perhaps my best description of them would be if you took the instrumental virtuosity and compositional complexity of Rush and combined it with a Beatles-esque melodic and harmonic sensibility. They were never as flashy or showy as Rush or Dream Theater, but they didn't quite fit in with the commercial music of the times either, so they kinda fell through the cracks but amassed a niche, but very passionate, fanbase. I remember an older poster around here, TerrapinStation, who's one of the few people I can safely say had heard more music than myself, said King's X was his favorite band. I may actually start another thread for them and post some of my favorites. If you have a surround sound system, definitely make listening to that Drums & Wires disc a priority. Yeah, Steven Wilson has remixed/remastered many of the great classic prog albums, including everything from King Crimson, many from Yes, Jethro Tull, ELP, Gentle Giant, Marillion, et al. I actually own every one of those massive Super Deluxe King Crimson box sets that have tons of live material, but the highlight of every Wilson release is the amazing surround mixes. Especially for Crimson, I'd say you haven't heard them until you've heard those surround mixes. Something like Larks' Tongues in Aspic sounds absolutely massive in surround sound! Here's an actual list of the albums Wilson has worked on: en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steven_Wilson_discography#Album_remixes It's also worth noting that Steven Wilson is a great musician/songwriter himself. If you haven't, you should also really check out Porcupine Tree and Wilson's solo work. A great starting place for Porcupine Tree is either Stupid Dream or In Absentia, and for Wilson I think The Raven That Refused to Sing is his best. It's essentially modern prog rock, but very, very good modern prog rock. Yeah, I have the corrected polarization version of Skylarking too. It definitely sounds different, but I'm not a fan of how much compression they used on it; the original version is much more dynamic and, tbh, I don't really notice the, errr, incorrect polarity in the bass. In any case, I think Wilson's version is the best of both worlds.
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Post by stefancrosscoe on May 11, 2020 22:00:46 GMT
My list has changed somewhat since I posted that in this thread. I did post my most recent list in the 25 favorite artists thread. Here's my current list: XTC is still in my top 10, but I now have them 9. That is quite an impressive list, and even though I have several albums of many of these fantastic artists and bands, I have to say that the 6 of these will most likely always stay very close to me, but yet, so many other on your list I do have to to get to know better in time. Still, I have hopefully years of time and patience to keep on discovering and get to know more of them.
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Post by Jokers_Wilde on May 12, 2020 0:06:22 GMT
Agreed. I remember hearing the song "Dear God" for the first time back just before I started grade 10, which was in 1990.
First song I remember ever hearing from them was "All You Pretty Girls".
I had the song "Making Plans For Nigel" on a compilation album. At the time, fans of our local hockey club were discussing who the brass should try to acquire at the trade deadline. Someone had mentioned Nigel Williams. So, we would be "Making Plans For Nigel".
The next time I saw the gang, I gave them an amusing rendition of the song.
Finally, Andy Partridge, the lead singer, performed the theme song to the short-lived show "Wonderfalls". A full 13 episode season was produced, but on TV, the show was pulled after only 4 episodes!
Joker's Wilde Would have been very interesting to hear how that turned out.
The group was impressed. Of course, I did it in my Andy Partridge-esque singing voice.
Joker's Wilde
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Post by maxwellperfect on May 12, 2020 1:21:47 GMT
Great band. This is my favorite song by them:
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XTC
May 12, 2020 5:14:44 GMT
Post by stefancrosscoe on May 12, 2020 5:14:44 GMT
Damn, I almost "forgot" of that XTC track, and to think even though Mummer (1983) is often considered a bit of a hit and miss record, or so it seems, they still could not stop "throwing" in such incredible songs.
My favorites of that album still is the beautiful and bubbly kind of "pre-Skylarking" spring/summer time that is Wonderland and the more "night time jazzy" Ladybird.
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