rock
Stav desky: EX
- hraná deska, běžné stopy používání (drobné škrábance a šum nebránící normálnímu poslechu)
Stav obalu: VG+
- větší pomačkání obalu, můžou být odřeniny apod.
Pozn.: znaménko + nebo - upřesňuje stav desky, obalu
obal pouzity,viz foto
deska velmi dobry az vyborny
A1 Suite In C (incl. Turnham Green, Here I Am And Others)
Words By, Music By – Ian McDonald 11:21
A2 Flight Of The Ibis
Music By – Ian McDonaldWords By – B. P. Fallon 3:18
A3 Is She Waiting?
Words By, Music By – Ian McDonald 2:40
A4 Tomorrow's People - The Children Of Today
Words By, Music By – Michael Giles 7:00
B1 Birdman
Music By – Ian McDonaldWords By, Concept By [Original Idea] – Peter Sinfield 21:45
B1a The Inventor's Dream (O.U.A.T)
B1b The Workshop
B1c Wishbone Ascention
B1d Birdman Flies!
B1e Wings In The Sunset
B1f Birdman - The Reflection
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Arranged By [Strings, Brass], Conductor – Mike Gray (tracks: A1, B1)
Artwork By [Cover Painting] – Charlotte Bates
Bass Guitar – Peter Giles
Drums, Percussion [Assorted], Vocals – Michael Giles
Engineer – Brian Humphries
Engineer [Assistant] – Richard Digby Smith
Guitar, Piano, Organ, Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet, Zither, Vocals – Ian McDonald
Organ – Steve Winwood
Photography – Richard DiLello
Piano [Solo] – Steve Winwood (tracks: A1)
Producer, Arranged By – Ian McDonald, Michael Giles
Trombone – Michael Blakesley (tracks: A4)
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This was a one-off album with Ian McDonald and Michael Giles with some help from Peter Giles on bass, Judy Dyble on vocals (I'm assuming, since she is pictured on the front cover, though technically no one is credited), and even Sinfield contributing some of the lyrics. Essentially this is sort of a remnant of the GG&F band, only without the F. The sound lies somewhere between there and Crimson, with kind of a folkish bent. The difference between this and similar records is that Michael Giles' performance is top-notch (as expected) and sometimes he gets into complex and almost funky grooves, the type that King Crimson was staying far away from. But there are also flashes of his earlier work - "Suite in C" shows Giles even getting to do some "Schizoid Man"-type fills. McDonald basically handles the rest, being credited for guitar, vocals, piano, flute, organ, sax, clarinet, and zither (!?). He also wrote almost all the music and handled most of the production. I do think that McDonald is better suited with an actual band like Crimson, as his vocal and guitar styles are pretty nondescript, but he fills out the album well, especially in the absence of a guy like Fripp. Overall, this is mostly pleasant music with a few neat tricks, but it's nowhere near as ambitious as the tracklisting makes it out to be - the 10+ minute "Suite in C" doesn't build much and is really just comprised of three seperate sections, and even the sidelong "Birdman" piece is mostly a bunch of seperate instrumental jams, which are some of the high points of the album ("Birdman: The Workshop", "Birdman Flies!") It's not really an epic piece, with few vocals and kind of a jazzy vibe, and doesn't repeat many themes, so in a way it's a lot like "Lizard". As for Side 1, there are a couple of ballads that are just okay ("Is She Waiting", "Flight of the Ibis", essentially an alternate version of "Cadence and Cascade", which McDonald wrote anyway), and one particularly funky piece written by Giles ("Tomorrow's People"), that runs strong for four minutes then pointlessly wanders on for three more. The Beastie Boys sampled this tune, I kid you not. I will say that it's a good listen and a definite point of interest for early Crimson fans, but being this lightweight and nearly completely devoid of any vocal hooks I can't see this being put on the stereo too often. If nothing else fans should get this just for the opportunity to hear Giles' unique percussion style again.
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Presumably this offers that glimpse of what could have been with King Crimson, if Ian McDonald and Michael Giles had stayed, and had they been allowed to contribute in the mighty way that this album proves they could have. Of course, some of the ideas heard on "Flight of the Ibis" were contributed to King Crimson, in the form of "Cadence and Cascade."
McDonald and Giles presents three long-to-epic pieces of peace-loving, often groove-laden, psych-tinged progressive rock, along with two short songs. Clocking in at 2:40, the acoustic beauty "Is She Waiting" was perfect in length, but still probably too uniquely esoteric for any meaningful radio exposure, while the aforementioned "Flight of the Ibis" might hold a bit more authenticity than its King Crimson counterpart. The "Birdman" suite is a serviceable long-form piece, if not a stunner; the excellent "Suite In C" is a more succinct and engaging progressive piece, along with the Giles showcase "Tomorrow's People - The Children Of Today."
One probable and weighty influence on this music should be mentioned. I'd argue that McDonald and Giles owes just as much to Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band as it does to In The Court Of The Crimson King. In a way it seems as if the two musicians were trying to summon back the summer of love. Perhaps they succeeded more in simply producing a warmly glowing nugget of the early British progressive rock school of music-making.
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I hear far too often that this album doesn't sound enough like King Crimson, should it? If you're two guys who leave a band would you want to go out and make a similar album?? Of course not, and while Michael Giles' drum sound from ITCOTCK is still intact, he still adds other elements that I find work very well. Another noticeable change is the lack of mellotron on the album, which believe me I love mellotron so I was dissapointed at first listen. However, Ian McDonald has stated that he didn't use one because he wanted the album to sound different, also he didn't own one anymore. So those who expect the album to draw from Court will be disappointed, but what we have is a terrific album on it's own right.
I really enjoy all the performances instrumentally here, Michael and Peter Giles hold down the rhythm well, with Mike's unique drumming always grabbing your attention. Not to take away from Peter Giles either, his bass is much more audible than on In the Wake of Poseidon (more on that in my review of that album), and his playing is dextrous and easily stands up to Greg Lake's performance on Court. Ian McDonald is of course busy with everything else, from guitar to piano, to zither! He displays proficiency on all fronts which is why he was such a valued member of Crimson. If there's one gripe I have with Ian's performance it's the vocals, they seem to restrained at times, especially on "Is She Waiting?" and sections of the Birdman suite. On the flipside, Michael Giles' vocals are much fuller and until I heard "The Cheerful Insanity of Giles, Giles & Fripp" I had no idea he could even sing! Also good contributions by Steve Winwood on "Suite In C," the organ and piano solos were quite enjoyable.
Apparently this album wasn't really well received when it was released, and I can't imagine why, it endures well without sounding dated. I hadn't even heard of this album and I spied it at a record store in Vancouver, obviously I recognized Mike Giles right away and was taken aback that the album existed. Definitely one of my best record store finds.
Suite In C - 4/5
Flight of the Ibis - 5/5 (Essentially Cadence and Cascade with slightly different arrangments)
Is She Waiting - 4/5 (Haunting but lovely piano on this one)
Tomorrow's People - The Children of Today - 5/5 (Mike Giles' vocal and drum performance is wonderful, great drum solo)
Birdman - 5/5 - (Great piece, originally a Pete Sinfield idea, written in 1969 and expanded in 1970)
Check this album out, forget about what these guys did before, this is different and it's a classic.
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Note to self- I cannot find my copie(s) of this fine LP. When I do, I will fill in the Canadian data to this base.
I have a couple Canadian gatefold copies. From what I remember, the labels are identical. Both are Stereo. I have seen there are Mono Promo LP's. Are these a remix or just redux?
I rate this high. I do not compare it whatsoever to the Prog direction, often mentioned due to the tree root connection to Fripp a la Crimson.
It is pretty laid back, a bit trippy, very english, and played in the key of beatlesque. :D
I don't think I've heard anything like this. It's sparse and echoey with spontaneous moments of good stuff while on the line man.
Always buy this when in your eyeline. Support your local stylus producer by playing your records.
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I have never been a fan of prog rock. I have tried but have never found much that agreed with me, however if the albums I have explored in that genre were as good, tasteful and engaging as McDonald and Giles self titled effort then I would definitely investigate farther. Subtetly, a hallmark of alot of favorite lp's, is all over this lp and it comes across as complex but effortless and natural at the same time. A rarely achievable feat. Beautiful, engaging, softly challenging, this is a great lp and one I will continue to listen to years on down the line.
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an McDonald and Michael Giles were part of the original lineup of King Crimson, and much of this collaborative album between the two sounds very similar to the first two Crimson albums - just without the Mellotrons and Greg Lake's strong vocal performance. Well, they try, and sometimes succeed.
"Suite in C" and "Tomorrow's People - The Children of Today" are where they are at their best in the long form. Lyrically it's rather trite, but instrumentally they and the rest of the guest musicians make this work, particularly Giles's inventive drumming. The one song where it comes together both lyrically and musically is the all-to-brief "Is She Waiting", which sounds more like a single that never was.
Unfortunately, the band really decides to stretch out on the second side with "Birdman", 22 minutes of failing to take a song anywhere for even the duration of a normal pop song. Lord knows they try, but the lack of any lyrical or melodic theme just makes for a tedious experience.
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I had very high expectations - after all, McDonald wrote/co-wrote my favourite Crimson album. But no, this one seems underwhelming. The musicianship is great (the drums!) and the songwriting is really impressive, but there is one BIG propblem to it: the vocals. McDonald is aware of his weakness and quite reasonably mixed them very low, I normally second vocals buried deep in the layers of instruments, but this time it seems to me that these fine songs called for a stronger (dare I say it - Lakesque) voice to push them through. (Sorry for the constant comparisons, but the duo naturally falls for it as well - confront those pompous subtitles for the opening track). So McDonald's cords fit Is She Waiting? perfectly, but the rest too airy, which hurts all the more when such elaborate harmonies are featured. Tomorrow's People, which is sung by Giles, is a pleasant surprise, he starts singing only against his drums and wins (only Giles is rather terrible at harmonising, as shown at the ending of the chorus). I'm not totally happy with the suite either - could be more concise. The two theoretically lesser tracks, Ibis and Waiting, paradoxically seem to me the strongest. The confident pens and the breathtaking soloing alone lift the rating to four stars, but I can sense a wasted chance here rather than a forgotten gem.
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A fascinating record. Its 'prog' at its most understated. From the cute Beatlesque intro to "Suite in C" to the massive King Crimson keyboard washes of "Birdman", the record is consistently engaging. "Is She Waiting" is lovely, and so quintessentially late sixties that you have just to close your eyes to see the paisley.
The record is hard to pin-down. Its comparable to King Crimson's Lizard, and I agree it has echoes of Pink Floyd ... many disparate sounds, from pop and jazz to ballad. There are some lively rhythms and fanciful playing of flutes, drums, organs and milk bottles.
Its all so understated. Barely rock. Yet so eccentric.
I've had this for many years. It continues to grow on me. And I am pleased to see that many people seem to be turning on to it in recent years.
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Suggested...
Not to long ago a record store opened in town and I was buying a lot of vintage vinyl including: King Crimson, Led Zeppelin, Beatles, Yes, Nektar, etc....
I guess after seeing me buy a few stacks from him over time, the owner of the store showed me an album that he said was pretty rare that had members of King Crimson's first album. He obviously couldn't sell me his copy but he told me if I ever saw it, I should pick it up. I went onto eBay the next day and luckily ran into the Argentinean release from '77...the price wasn't even bad.
After the first listen I knew this was such a great album...I loved everything about it. Now after listening to it many times and some from different perspectives; it is probably my favorite album of all time. I know that's almost blasphemy when we talk about the best bands in the world, but for releases individually alone it is my favorite. If I could rate it a little higher than my other 5 star ratings.....I would.
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For many years this album could be easily found in used record clearout bins. Possibly a good many copies ended up being destroyed while still in mint condition, unable to find good homes. I suspect many King Crimson fans back in the day bought it and disliked it. I've owned this album for over 30 years and played it only perhaps three or four times in all that time. It's only after hearing the album this morning that I finally find myself really enjoying it. Maybe age and maturity have something to do with that.
These songs have a warm lightness & naivety that in the past I narrowly dismissed as "twee". The arrangements are plenty sophisticated and rich, but elegantly spacious too. It does sound like early King Crimson, yet I'd also strongly compare "Wings in the Sunset" with some composition by Rick Wright of Pink Floyd circa 1969-71. The piano theme sounds like one of Wright's haunting/charming little melodies, with the building layers of brass and softly thudding drum fills reminding me even more of Floyd's Atom Heart Mother.
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A superb slice of 'what could have been' offered by two former members of King Crimson (okay, actually 3 if you want to pick nits).
Ian McDonald and Mike Giles left KC in December, 1969 taking with them a good deal of the material for this album. According to Mr. Fripp, a good portion of it would have ended up as half the second KC album and probably part of the third. They entered the studio in 1970 with Mike's brother Peter (also from KC and Giles, Giles & Fripp fame) and laid down this wonderful little record.
Yes, Steve Winwood plays the piano and hammond organ solos on the 'Turnham Green' section of 'Suite in C', but other than orchestration, all the noises on the record were the Giles brothers as the rhythm section and Ian McDonald playing EVERYTHING else (guitar, piano, organ, flutes, saxophones, clarinets and zither). The vocals were split between Mike and Ian (who both have fairly decent voices - Mike sang on the G G & F albums, and Ian sang on the 3 Foreigner albums he was part of - yup, THAT Foreigner)
The highpoints are very good - 'Suite in C' is excellent, though I think Ian's guitar playing isn't recorded very well. The performance is great, though. Mike Giles' playing is incredible. He is probably one of the best drummers out there capable of truly playing 'with feeling'. He can say more by gently tapping a ride cymbal at just the right time than most other drummers can with a full 10 minute gonzo solo. 'Flight of the Ibis' is actually the original melody of what would become 'Cadence and Cascade' on the second KC album - Fripp got to keep the lyrics (written by Peter Sinfield, a friend originally of Ian McDonald's) and had to write a new melody, while Ian got the melody, but had to get new lyrics (written by B.P. Fallon) - it would be interesting to hear what the original lyric would be like married to this melody. The album peaks with the 21+ minute track 'Birdman', which is broken up into many smaller sections. While the orchestration is good, I can't help but wish that some of it were handled by a Mellotron instead - I think it would have been better overall, though less organic.
The McDonald & Giles album didn't fare very well in the record stores, I'm afraid, which led to their eventual choice not to work together as a duo again. Mike went on to many studio sessions, and work with Anthony Phillips (most notably on 'Wise After the Event') of Genesis fame, while Ian eventually hooked up with Mick Jones (who had been in Spooky Tooth) and formed Foreigner where he made 3 albums.
This album has a very different feel to it than the KC albums of the time - more lighthearted and upbeat, not the doom and gloom that Fripp & Co. offered us on 'Islands' or 'In the Wake of Poseidon'.
Had McDonald & Giles NOT left King Crimson, would Greg Lake have stayed with KC instead of leaving himself a few months later to join Keith Emerson in ELP? Would the original line up of KC lasted more than two or three albums?
Who knows? But it's fun to think about.
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Two-biggest mistakes in Rock history:
1. George Martin does not put Strawberry Fields and Penny Lane on Sgt. Pepper, thus dooming the album to be knocked down perennially despite it's world-shaking appearance,
2. McDonald and Giles leave King Crimson for no good reason and form themselves into this arrangement for a good dose of career-ending mediocrity.
Some may consider this a lost treasure, but I think it's a defensive attempt to explain their decision to leave KC. Insipid is the word that comes to mind. The contemporaneous KC albums of this era, flawed, distorted, perhaps, can never be called bland, formless, or forgettable.
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The album made by the 2 members who left King Crimson after the band's well known debut. It won't surprise anyone that this album is nowhere near as good as In The Court Of The Crimson King. The 3 remaining Crimson members did a lot better as well with In The Wake Of Poseidon. There's no mellotron, not a lot of guitars but there is some very fine music here that is well worth hearing for Crimson fans. "Flight Of The Ibis" is the original version of "Cadence and Cascade" (the piano part can still be heard in King Crimson's final version), it's a beautiful ballad with one of Ian McDonald's finest melodies. "Is She Waiting?" is another great ballad. Michael Giles doesn't disappoint either with "Tomorrow People", a song that would not be out of place on later Crimson releases. What's left are 2 long suites of music. While there's some worthwhile music in there, as a whole both pieces don't really work and at times it's hard to sit through some of the less interesting passages. So in the end we have 3 great songs and 2 suites that both have their moments here and there. Don't pay big bucks for this, but as long as cheap CDs of this do exist this is worth checking out for fans of the first 2 King Crimson albums.