easycure

Well, no, that's another discussion. If a product is hyped up, expectations necessarily grow. And all this hype doesn't seem to be remotely related to any supposed superior quality of the product compared to the average. The only "special" merit one can attribute to the FF is that they've respected the '80s sound more overtly than the Strokes did a few years earlier, or in a more fun way than the Interpol... I mean, really, no merit at all. Let's admit it; it's simply a matter of fashion; in the "alternative" scene or even more generally in the "rock" proposal, they are just the trendsetters... nothing more. Bye Donz! ;)

mmmmm.. the pretentiousness of Roger Waters knows no bounds.. it feels like such bullshit to me..

Wait, I got a bit lost in the discussion but I want to respond to Claudio Carpentieri... but how can you, I ask, even think of comparing Genesis to Dream Theater? How is it possible? Genesis were IMMENSELY greater in every way... DT did not represent an evolution of Genesis: they copied the way Genesis played, simply "updating" it by adding a bit more speed, a double bass drum, some palm muting, and stronger distortion, when they didn’t ruin it entirely with questionable Glam influences. Genesis were tremendous musicians primarily because they were NEW interpreters of a rock that adopted forms and approaches linked to entirely different genres (not only classical music but also Jazz; just listen to Phil Collins in that respect)... just listen to "The Musical Box" and you’ll find the template for 90% of DT's pieces... moreover, "Selling England..." is by no means embryonic... Progressive was already well mature and heading towards its inevitable decline, as it had revealed itself to be a genre that was far too structured and formalized; "Trespass" may be embryonic, but "Selling England..." certainly is not.

Damn big Bowie+Barrett! You've caught more copying than I have! And big DT, you can't say they haven't listened to a ton of stuff in their lives ahahahah uhuhuhuh

Well, for me the difference is enormous compared to what it was meant to be. I repeat, I invite you to seek out the original bootlegs and you'll understand the difference, which is also perceptible just by listening to Smiley Smile. There, the experiments are genuine and spontaneous, LSD in abundance, but also a youthful spirit that can no longer be. The Smile of now sounds to me like a cover band of the Smile from back then; the artificial copy of an old man grappling with his past production. It can't be considered the absolute masterpiece it was meant to be. Hey Socrates, did you go see Brian Wilson in Ravenna?
So much fun. He did a really beautiful setlist, with some atypical stuff like "When I Grow Up," very balanced, apart from some stylistic missteps from his '70s production.

oh my god, Robi, I hope you’re not serious... just because you’ve intervened a few dozen times doesn’t mean you have to intervene every time. In my post above, I replied to Devon; what’s your connection? Are you keeping tabs on me? : ) well.. anyway, didn’t you have fun discussing here? Come on, I can’t believe it... you stayed up all night thinking about how to respond and didn’t even enjoy it? ...then sorry, I don’t see the point; you could’ve stayed in bed. ; )

Oh, if only this were the Smile it was meant to be... the Bootlegs of the original Smile are much better, with somewhat improvised assemblages but often quite faithful to what the setlist was supposed to be... now it’s no longer what it was supposed to be, and you can feel it... and that voice, oh my god, how sadly old and ugly it sounds.

But like Devon, I had a great time in this year and a half of hundreds and hundreds of comments :D ...now more than ever, I’m glad I wrote it.

Ah, sorry Carlos :) ..it's just that you've made your theory explicit and I can't really argue with you; if you think that way, we're on such different paths that it doesn't make sense to continue discussing... The only thing I can tell you, more like a piece of advice, is that rock is also culture... in the sense that it CAN be something that broadens the mind, that enriches, that involves beyond the simple "oh, listen to that beautiful melody!" ...from this point of view, originality is a fundamental concept. If you took it more into consideration, you might discover that there's a lot of really valid stuff out there, stuff that could really catch your interest, and you might start to notice that bands like the FF aren't even worth the ten minutes spent on the download (obviously P2P, not paid, that one!) ...bye

you already know, Zuckina, you already know :D