Hi all,

I am fascinated by synthesizers in music. In particular, the Mellotron used by Michael Pinder when he was with the Moody Blues, especially as used in "Nights In White Satin" and "Tuesday Afternoon". Also, I am blown away by the synthesizer used powerfully in other Moody Blues songs such as "Isn't Life Strange" and Pinder's "When You're A Free Man", both from the Seventh Sojourn album. Unfortunately, Pinder quit the music business in 1978, so we have missed great things from him, though I still like the Moody Blues greatly. But 21 years have gone by and monstrous amounts of new music have been made, whether becoming popular or not. Well, I would like to find more material in the same (or similar) league, if it is out there somewhere, material with synthesizers as primary instruments in Rock music. Do you have any recommendations of groups, albums, or even just individual songs, that might satisfy this hunger? I have not been able to keep up with even a fraction of what has happened in music the last 15 years, being turned off by the rap invasion.

tooclassy@aol.com

I share your feelings on the Moodys and seriously doubt if there will ever be another group like them. Although a completely different style, when I need a synth fix I always turn to ELP. Like Pinder is to you, Emerson's my hero.

RE: Emerson Lake & Palmer..

I am probably not familiar with any specific albums by ELP, only a few of their top hits
(of which even them I cannot remember the names of, offhand.)

Since I am looking for specific names of albums or songs, what (if anything) do you recommend, and why?

(I am looking for help in buying some CDs since I 1) no longer have a "music buddy" like I did 20+ years ago, turning me on to all sorts of music, and 2) I cannot afford to buy every CD at the store in order to find a few gems. The material I am looking for doesn't have to be new, just new to me - which is nearly everything.)

tooclassy@aol.com

I'm not sure I can say which album (CD) I like the best. My three favorites are: ELPS' first (titled Emerson Lake and Palmer), Tarkus and Trilogy.
If, today, I had to say which one's best, I'd probably lean more towards Trilogy.
Tarkus is also very good with lots of synth parts.
#1 is more Hammond and piano but does include "Tank" which, in my opinion, has one of the best lead synth lines ever written, and also includes "Lucky Man".
If you don't mind live recordings, Pictures At An Exhibition is yet another good choice.
Brain Salad Surgery (again, in my opinion) falls a little short of the ones mentioned earlier.
Works Volume 1 and 2 are much different than all of the rest but are still worth the purchase. Volume 1 is a double CD with disk 1 split between compositions of Keith Emerson and compositions of Greg Lake (and Peter Sinfield; ala King Crimson) and disk two is split between compositions of Carl Palmer and the three (ELP) together. This is also where Emerson began using the Yamaha GX-1 featured on "Fanfare For The Common Man".
I haven't heard any recordings made after Works V2 so I can offer no comment. However, if you appreciate pure talent and love synths, especially Moog, any of the above will be a real treat.

Thanks. I will arrange a listening of one or more of the above ELP albums. Yes, I love Moogs.

By the way, I have been recommended some King Crimson albums, their first album in particular. Is there a connection between them and ELP?

King Crimson was very progressive and, yes, there is a connection. The connection is Greg Lake; bass and lead vocals. I know he (Lake) was with King Crimson on In The Court Of The Crimson King, but I don't know how long he stayed with them as, over the years, the band went through many personnel changes. However, that one album is a classic and if memory serves me correctly, I still have the LP in a box somewhere, but no turntable. I picked up the CD not too long ago and was pretty disapointed with the remastering. Uh-oh, almost getting back to the analog/digital battle.

This thread makes great reading. I really think I should start up a forum just to discuss what people think are the most notable recordings featuring synths. I think we'd get some interesting discussion as well as find out about recordings that we may not have heard before. Not sure what the best title for this forum would be though ... any ideas ?

I can't think of a forum title but I would also like to hear from others regarding their personal favorites. The groups don't necessarily have to be synth based, just as long as there are great synth (or key) lines and leads. Personally, I always seem to revert back (way back) to groups such as Deep Purple, Pink Floyd, and even some of Styx earlier stuff.

The thing I bring to this forum is a focus on "user friendliness" and have an emphasis on end-customers of synth work, namely myself. Like most people out there, and unlike many of you, I have no real knowledge of synths, what makes them different from others, how they work, how to play them, etc. I can only really focus on how they sound, and in particular, how they are used and when they are used well in recordings to the extent that I might really like them. Hence, the topic at hand.

I first began to hear the power of synths played well when I heard on a high-end car stereo "When You're A Free Man" by Mike Pinder of the Moody Blues. (Somebody tell me, was that on a Moog?) Powerful and expansive sound, yet more subtle and less aggressive than, say, early Genesis. That was the beginning of my appreciation of synths. If I understand correctly, Pinder was also the one whose earlier Mellotron playing in Nights In White Satin caught the world by storm and got the attention of the Beatles, who then used the Mellotron for the first minute of "Strawberry Fields Forever". If they were impressed with Pinder, so am I. (There's other songs which also illustrate the same abilities and his use of synths to great effects; listen to "Isn't Life Strange", "You Can Never Go Home", "My Song", etc.)

There needs to be a good melody in there, and preferably lyrics, otherwise it seems (usually) to come off excessively experimental, electronic, and sommetimes common, sounding even lazy, or at best, meant for meditation and spacing out, as good ambient stuff seems to aim for. I have just bought a dozen of the very best ambient CDs I could find (such as Aphex Twin - SAW 2), yet I think ambient represents only one end of the musical spectrum I am trying to discover.

I am also searching for the "best techno CDs, preferably danceable techno" as well - and I'm open to suggestions - but again, there's not much lyrics there either, and even less subtlety. So with that my quest is still not over with.

I dunno if I am making any sense here but I thought I would explain the path I have been taking and the music I haven't found yet.

tooclassy@aol.com

back in the early 80's I was the international radio director for the IEMA. I received hundreds of lp's from all over the world. Of all of them, there are a few that stand out. Klaus Schultz for best use of synths, Emerald Web for the best overall listening pleasure and for just fun listing Bafo Banfi's "My Sweet Life". We all have our favs but for pure synth music these still have no equal in my opinion.
Majik