SCOTTS HIDDEN TREASURES #24

[Scott]

For the most part the idea for this list is suppose to be about what I'm listening to from the week past.  Sometimes I've worked up some lists that weren't really what's in my player but rather what I emotionally connected with during a moment.  This week it seemed that each time I listened to something posted on here I heard complex layers of music, new sounds that I've never heard before and time changes that were really quite cool.  It made me think back to the days when I would carve out time to dig into my collection and go deep into the tracks that were this way as well.

I'd pick through my collection and pull out what I wanted to hear.  I'd arrange them in the order I wanted to play them, then, sometimes I would take my speakers and arrange them so that I was seated perfectly in the middle of them so that I missed nothing in the complexity and beauty of the music.  Each time I would take a song I've heard hundreds of times and find something new about it.  These experiences were some of the best times I had with music.

So the real hidden treasure this week may not be a track or something about a song, but rather, the way you listen to it. I tried to go back and remember some of those tracks I used to pull out and play in this fashion.

Heres a few....

TITLE: Dreamweaver
BAND: Gary Wright
ALBUM: The DreamWeaver
YEAR: 1975
No guitars, only synth's and drums.  Still one of the best albums of all time (IMHO), and an artist who can still write a cool track.  Did you know he is still writing and playing?

TITLE: Angelique
BAND: Kenny Loggins
ALBUM: Nightwatch
YEAR: 1978
Loggins doesn't get much airplay on this site, but if you subtract the movie soundtracks he has a very deep catalog and music that is lush and layered.  This is one my personal favorites.  The bass playing is top notch, and the acoustic solo is one of the best I've ever heard played!

TITLE: Run Like Hell
BAND: Pink Floyd
ALBUM: The Wall
YEAR: 1979
Pick a track any track, The Wall was one of the best albums to sit and listen intently too.  I love the guitars in this track or you could pick Comfortably Numb as that works really well also.

TITLE: Perfectionist
BAND: Saga
ALBUM: Saga
YEAR: 1978
So with the Saga talk I had to include a track from them.  Hard to believe that this was considered progressive and a radical departure form the normal music scene at one time.  Still really good today, I love their first 4 albums.

TITLE: In My World
BAND: The Moody Blues
ALBUM: Long Distance Voyager
YEAR: 1981
Slow, simple, and yet hauntingly complex.  I love this track and although it a bit mellow listen to the layers that are present.  What a beautifully written and produced song!  I think Mike Pell will be proud of me for including the Moody Blues on my list  :-)

TITLE: Dreams I'll Never See
BAND: Molly Hatchet
ALBUM: Molly Hatchet
YEAR: 1978
Triple guitar attack, pounding drum beats and a Hammond droning all the way through it.  The guitar solo is enough to cause you to crank it up and listen closely.

TITLE: From Now On
BAND: Supertramp
ALBUM: Even In The Quietest Moments
YEAR: 1977
Can you hear perfection?  I love this track from start to finish it contains some really cool moments, from the start it really kinda pulls you in and then holds onto you all the way through.  Its perfect musicianship and production values are evident and always amaze me when I listen close.

TITLE: Queen of Spades
BAND: Styx
ALBUM: Pieces of Eight
YEAR: 1978
JY's guitar is just simply killer on this track all the way through. This is the Styx that I think is the best!  The beat, the vocals, the solos, the bridge and the guitar solo to the end the song  - Love this track!

TITLE: Tempted
BAND: Squeeze
ALBUM: East Side Story
YEAR: 1981
(Pulled from Paul Carracks 'Twenty One Good Reasons')
Just laid back and cool, the beat is killer and the track just really cool in its simplicity.  

TITLE: Stranglehold
BAND: Ted Nugent
ALBUM: Ted Nugent
YEAR: 1975
Politics aside, this song cries out to be cranked up with your head stuck between two speakers.  Perfect track to end this list.

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I still try to listen this way sometimes, but its different now as my time demands are not the same and the way I play and listen to music is also not the same.  However in those moments where I can do it, there is a
still something very special about the connection to the music.

HERE'S YOU LINK...
http://www.podsnack.com/playlists/726937ccbbbbb63a1bfdccd01a123901

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[Jon]

Some "Queen Of Spades" love. THANK YOU!

[Scott]

Has to be a top 3 Styx tune for me!

[Jon]

I actually called into a radio station and requested that song. Not that I couldn't have listened to it at anytime at home, but I wanted people to hear it and say that it was great and bow down to me. It didn't happen. They played it and that was it.

[RJhog (Admin)]

Gary Wright - Dream Weaver - Never, ever realized there was no guitar in this. It really is a great song.

Kenny Loggins - Angelique - I like this tune. It definitely has a 70's vibe, but I like that about it.

Pink Floyd - Run Like Hell - I've never been a huge Floyd fan. I remember my cousin having this album and loving it, I just didn't get it at the time. I'm trying to get it now. I have recently bought a couple of Floyd classics. They definitely feature fine guitar work.

Saga - Perfectionist - Saga is one of those bands I want to discover. I only know there two hits from Worlds Apart, and although this is definitely not single material, I like the sound and it has done nothing to change my mind about needing more of their material.

The Moody Blues - In My World - Beautiful song. Yet another band I should hear more of. By the way, who the hell is Mike Pell??? :-)

Molly Hatchet - Dreams I'll Never See - I don't understand how this is a cover of an Allman Bros. song, but the title is different than on the Allman's album...but it's a fantastic cover. Great, great guitar sound.

Supertramp - From Now On - The only song here that I'm not big on. I've tried liking some Supertramp, but other than a couple of songs, it's just not for me.

Styx - Queen Of Spades - Hey, Jon and Scott are not the only two folks here that dig this song. You've gotta love DeYoung's vocals on this song.

Squeeze - Tempted - The only song I know by this band. I do like it. However, it's a little overplayed on classic rock radio, but a good song none-the-less.

Ted Nugent - Stranglehold - This song is epic, possibly Nugent's masterpiece. Great vocals by Derek St. Holmes and the guitar work will just kick your butt. This needs to be played loud and proud.

Outstanding playlist Scott. Keep 'em comin'.

[Scott]

Good point on the Squeeze tune. I will need to take some of that into account when I pick tracks. But I love the beat and tone and Carrack''s voice, especially in the setting described for these tracks.

Admittedly, I haven't listened to Classic Rock radio for years now. I get tired of the retread Classic rocks stations playing these same playlists over and over, so I either listen to talk radio or my own CD's/MixDiscs...

[RJhog (Admin)]

I don't think for a second that you shouldn't have included the Squeeze tune. It's just one that you hear a lot, but that doesn't make it a bad tune. It gets played 'cause folks like it. That's kind of what bothers me about the whole "selling out" rap some bands get when they have a big hit. It's a big hit because people like it. But that's for some other thread, some other time.

XM Radio is really the only reason I still listen to the radio. Quite frankly, some XM stations play deep cuts. I listen to XM49, which is more similar to a regular classic rock station, playing all of the songs you are accustomed to, plus a few that you are not. Then there's XM46, which is similar, but plays even more deep cuts. It's called classic vinyl, if that tells you anything. Then there is The Boneyard, XM53, which really digs out some deep cuts. Recently I have heard Love 'Em and Leave 'Em and All Hell's Breaking Loose by Kiss, as well as several other deep cuts, many times songs I've never heard. You would like this station Scott, because every time I turn to that station I'm hearing a tune by Rush, usually something I've never heard.

Anyway, that's the reason I still listen to radio, but just last night I switched out my CD's in my truck and loaded up on some classics. Many of those will be featured on AOTW soon.