Has anyone here NEVER heard the demo of Smile At You? - Page 4

GypsyBlueEyes · #46 10-21-2009, 09:19 PM

I've got to say, I don't understand how anyone could not love this demo. I love everything about it. The lyrics are amazing. The rawness and intensity is unbelievable, especially the last two minutes, and every time she throws down the lines "my first mistake was to smile at you," "my heart was broken," and "that love was stolen" you know she meant it. All the long "ohs" and "yeahs" pull the whole thing together. It wouldn't be the same without them. The passion that bleeds from her vocal is gorgeous. This is a prime example of why people always love the demos so much more than the final product.

CADreaming · #47 10-21-2009, 09:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by David

Yes! They haven't demonstrated the evolution that we saw in Shakespeare or Michelangelo. Or consider the advances Beethoven himself made in his final five years. Practically no major composer of the next 100 years escaped the profound influence of his final symphony, his final mass, his final piano sonatas, or his final string quartets. For Mendelssohn, the grandeur of the Ninth Symphony gave rise to the Hymn of Praise in his own Second Symphony. For Wagner, the addition of voices in the finale of the Ninth confirmed his view of the supremacy of vocal music. For Brahms, Bruckner, & others, Beethoven's final works were a model of pure instrumental music at its apogee, while Mahler took the cosmic breadth of the Ninth & the Missa Solemnis as a starting point for his own symphonies. Schumann actually quoted a theme from Beethoven's An die ferne Geliebte in his C major Fantasy. Webern was attracted to the compression & concentration of the late bagatelles.

Beethoven was the titan who effected a revolution in music every bit as fundamental as the French Revolution in politics. He was in some senses very much a man of his age, expanding the forms & genres he inherited & infusing them with personal vision & the spirit of the age, but he is also a man for every age. His music influences the course of composition to this day. Its enormous intellectual strength & ingenuity are almost unfathomable, as scholars examining his manuscripts have recently shown. Beethoven embodies every human state of emotion: from triumph to despair, from joy to darkness.

Fleetwood Mac has not lived up to the Beethovenian model, the Beethovenian ideal.

What are your thoughts?

Oh, I wish strand were still here!

Well, I'm fascinated by your view. I also think it ironic, because of LB's comment in Destiny Rules - about "teaching these young punks how to play".

In some ways, I think his playing has evolved and for the better. Really, in many ways I think that. When I listened to his "introduction" piece on the Out of the Cradle album compared with any of his acoustic work today, I definitely think LB's playing has been refined through the years. And, I was impressed with the band as a whole, overall, at my first two Mac shows this summer. However, to adequtely compare we would have to hear just Mick, John, and Lindsey - without the "extras" thown in the mix.

Now, when you are comparing are you only listening for the music nuances or do you also critique the vocals? And, do you think it's fair to make vocal comparisons?

strandinthewind · #48 10-21-2009, 09:48 PM

IMO - the best version. Clever vocals et al

http://www.yousendit.com/transfer.ph...TlFvQUkwTVE9PQ

And, David - I agree with the analogy - query if La Nicks could write something like the Ninth (celestial) with little to no hearing

As for the SYW version - the vocal, for her, was searing. The production was Muzak worthy. I agree with her when she said LB's production was not as good as some of the demos. Such is life.

vivfox · #49 10-21-2009, 10:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by GypsyBlueEyes

I've got to say, I don't understand how anyone could not love this demo. I love everything about it. The lyrics are amazing. The rawness and intensity is unbelievable, especially the last two minutes, and every time she throws down the lines "my first mistake was to smile at you," "my heart was broken," and "that love was stolen" you know she meant it. All the long "ohs" and "yeahs" pull the whole thing together. It wouldn't be the same without them. The passion that bleeds from her vocal is gorgeous. This is a prime example of why people always love the demos so much more than the final product.

I totally agree with you. However the reason I started this thread was to find out if anyone enjoyed the SYW version without ever having heard the demo and after reading everyone's responses I have gathered that had we never heard this demo we'd probably love this song from the album. Those of us who have heard the demos could never accept the album version because we feel it lacks the passion of the demos and those of us who never heard the demos will defend the beauty of the album version till the end of time. My final observation: We Are All Right.

**mylittledemon** · #50 10-22-2009, 12:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivfox

I'm curious because everyone who has heard any of its demos always like the demo better than the released track.

I don't believe I've heard it, then again, I don't particularly care for the song anyhow.

Quote:

Originally Posted by strandinthewind

La Nicks

I thought we were close to getting rid of this.

michelej1 · #51 10-22-2009, 11:11 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by vivfox

I totally agree with you. However the reason I started this thread was to find out if anyone enjoyed the SYW version without ever having heard the demo and after reading everyone's responses I have gathered that had we never heard this demo we'd probably love this song from the album. Those of us who have heard the demos could never accept the album version because we feel it lacks the passion of the demos and those of us who never heard the demos will defend the beauty of the album version till the end of time. My final observation: We Are All Right.

I've heard the demo and liked it well enough. It seems to me I had 2 or 3 of them, although I don't know how they vary from one another. I liked them fine. Then when SYW came out, I liked the SYW official version just about as much. The demos do not seem at all superior to the SYW version to me.

I just like the song. I don't really, really love it. Maybe you have to be passionate about it. But the demo doesn't spoil my appreciation for the SYW version by a long shot. Michele