SCOTTS HIDDEN TREASURES #18

[Scott]

Mix-tapes.  We've all made them.  I remember sitting at the stereo going through album after album looking for the right mix.  I'd pre-pick all the tracks and lay them out in the order I was intending to record them.  Then I'd rewind the cassette and set the counter to zero and then advance the cassette counter to 5 to avoid the intro being cut off.  Set the record and pause buttons.  I'd place the needle perfectly on the track I wanted and set the recording levels just perfectly.  Lift the needle, and reset is perfectly at the start of the track again and record.  Repeating for every track until the tape was full on both sides.  The mix-tapes took hours sometimes to get right.

I had mix-tapes for Metal Mania, Party tunes, Slow Jams, all sorts of themed combination's.  I used only Maxell UDXL II 90.  I always believed there was a degradation in quality if the cassette supported more than 90 minutes of music.  Myth?  Don't know...  What it did was really focus me in on the right song combination's, I paid attention to length of songs, beats, transitions from song to song and interludes sometimes.  And although I made hundreds of these things only a few became staples.

One of the best ones I ever made and my friends liked was a concept of 1 old and 1 new.  Essentially I would take an artist and pair up one of their older tunes with one of their newer tunes.  It made for a pretty cool listening experience.  

So that's what SHT 18 is ... For each band, I will take one song from their early catalog and then one from the latter stages of the catalog.

NOTE: It was very tempting to compare bands that have changed members a lot but who wants to debate Van Halen/Hagar anymore?  Also could have included Lynyrd Skynyrd, Foreigner and INXS but chose not to for the same reason.  Also because the songwriting dynamic is so different in these bands that it's not a real comparison and therefore not the intent of this mix-tape.

Lets see if this still works after all this time...

RUSH

TITLE: Anthem
ALBUM: Fly By Night
YEAR: 1975

TITLE: Far Cry
ALBUM: Snakes and Arrows
YEAR: 2007

From Fly By Night to today Rush has been Geddy, Alex and Neil.  This is the most pure listen you will have when comparing beginnings to current efforts.  Anthem hints at the progressive direction of the band while Far Cry reaches back in time to the riffs you would hear during the Hemispheres time period. Two songs, two directions to hear.  And while keyboards are still used, gone is any hint of the songwriting style used in the 80's.  


LOVERBOY

TITLE: Lucky Ones
ALBUM: Get Lucky
YEAR: 1981

TITLE: One Of Them
ALBUM: Just Getting Started
YEAR: 2007

The trademark riffs are still in place.  This bands has been pretty consistent throughout their career.  I like their new stuff because it's not trying to be something it shouldn't be, its just, well... Loverboy being Loverboy.


CHICAGO

TITLE: Old Days
ALBUM: VII
YEAR: 1975

TITLE: Rescue You
ALBUM: 16
YEAR: 1982

I'm imposing my Peter Cetera rule here.  I've paired up two non-ballad tracks that show the beginnings (pun intended) of the Cetera dominated Chicago with something of a similar rhythm from one of Ceteras last recording with Chicago. I picked 16 because I believe it to be the better of the final two Cetera Chicago releases so it gets the nod in this list.


DEF LEPPARD

TITLE: Let It Go
ALBUM: High N Dry
YEAR: 1981

TITLE: Gotta Let It Go
ALBUM: Songs From The Sparkle Lounge
YEAR: 2008

I was gonna go with Rock Brigade or Wasted as the old track, but, Def Leppards production values have been most consistent beginning with High and Dry. So the production values and writing match closer.  That coupled with the song title similarities was to good to pass up on. I do like both tracks, but clearly prefer old Lep to new Lep by a wide margin.  I think the Sparkle Lounge was a step in the right direction for them.  It would have been even better if they would have left Tim McGraw off of it.


THE EAGLES

TITLE: One of These Nights
ALBUM: One of These Nights
YEAR: 1975

TITLE: Waiting in the Weeds
ALBUM: Long Road Out of Eden
YEAR: 2007

I can't believe that only 2 full studio albums separate these two songs?  I picked from the time that the Eagles moved into a less country based rock and roll and wrote more mainstream music.  So starting with One of These Nights seemed most logical.  These two songs really show off Henley's writing ability and how it hasn't missed a beat.  Waiting in the weeds is one of the most beautifully crafted songs I've heard in a very long time.

So there you have it, an online Mix tape using a thought process I've always been interested in...


Peace Out Homeys!!!

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http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/729ec12dad43c44d77213ba067a86921

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[RJhog (Admin)]

That's a great read Scott, and a cool idea. As I was reading I thought you were gonna say you pulled out one of those old mixtapes and SHT was gonna be the same as that tape. But the idea here is really cool as well. I'm looking forward to this one, just have to check out LAOTW first, then this will be next.

[Niels (Mod)]

RUSH: Old song - New song 1-0

I love Rush, but mostly Rush up until 1990, or something. Snakes and Arrows was a good album, and I LOVED the live-DVD from that tour, but I'm mostly to old Rush.

LOVERBOY: Old song - New song 1-0

I know absolutely nothing of Loverboy's music. It never really was my music-style, but if I had to choose, I like the old tune. The new one sounds like a Def Leppard throw-off.

CHICAGO: Old song - New song 1-0

I like Chicago, but not really their really old stuff, but this songs is okay, so I'm going to choose the oldest one.I don't care much for the "new" one.

DEF LEPPARD: Old song - New song 1-0 (No contest!!)

Let it go is one of my absolute favorite Def Leppard-songs. It's not that bad, the new one, but hey...they should hook up with "Mutt" Lange again.

EAGLES: Old song - New song 1-0 (Again no contest!!)

I'm NOT an Eagles-fan, far from it, but I love "One of these nights".

This was a great play-list, Scott.

[RJhog (Admin)]

First of all, I think all of the bands represented here hold up very well from where they started. The exception may be Chicago, but only because Cetera's no longer with them (as far as the sample, it holds up just as well, but it's been a while since Chicago 16 came out).

Rush

I like both songs. I'll give the edge to the newer song (better vocals imho), but they are both good. I say this, not as a huge Rush fan, but they are the tops where musicianship is concerned, and at every instrument.

Loverboy

I've always liked Loverboy. Get Lucky was their overall best album to me, but I really like this new song as well. I think the lyrics are cool (the line about the ex-girlfriend is great). I'm calling this one a draw.

Chicago

I really like Cetera's vocals. What the hell is he doing? And why is he not putting out some music? I've heard Old Days many times, but I really listened this time and that's a wonderful song. The song from 16 is just okay, so this one goes to Old Days by a landslide.

Def Leppard

This really is one of the great bands of our generation. You can't go wrong with anything off of High 'n' Dry. I also like the newer song. Take the production away from "Gotta Let It Go", and I believe it would fit well on High 'n' Dry. Surprisingly, I'm calling this one a draw.

Eagles

Scott, I totally agree with your comment about Henley's writing prowess. Both of these songs are fantastic. I have LROOE and I must go back and re-listen, b/c this is the second song from that album that has been brought to my attention in the last 2 weeks (Mike Pell's show pointed out the other one). I'll give a slight edge on this one to One Of These Nights b/c it's simply one of the Eagles' best.


Superb post and what a great idea for it. I love this stuff, so keep it coming...

[Jon]

Nice list! I have all these songs but will have to definitely take a listen to the player!