"rocKeT man"

[caen!bsbbs!nrc@harvard.harvard.edu (N. Richard Caldwell)]

woj@remus.rutgers.EDU (shoeless joe gazer) writes:

> i picked up the single (on vinyl no less) last weekend. in a sentence, i
> like it. i'm not yet sure that i understand why people are put off by the
> rootsy beat (aside from richard's feeling that it detracts from the lone-
> liness of the lyrics) but i find it to be an interesting rendition of the
> song nonetheless. 

The way the feel of this song goes against the grain of the lyric
is pretty much my whole point.  If the lyrics where about how
great it must be to be an rocket man it wouldn't be nearly as
grating.  To me it would still be an unremarkable song but at
least it would have some potential for a Drukman remix.  Maybe
something with George Jetson space ship sounds zipping around
like Fetchin' Bones' _(I Feel Like An) Astronaut_.

> as for "candle in the wind", i find it rather cheesy with those synths
> and the electric piano. this song just lends itself to solo accompianment
> with a *real* piano. again, i find KaTe's voice far from up to snuff on 
> this one as well. the instrumental is really annoying since we don't have
> her voice to distract you from the cheese. one thumb down out of two.

I agree completely here.  How Kate could have taken this
beautiful song an set it to those wretched synth sounds is
completely beyond me.  The horrible mix on this cut makes it
worse by keeping them right at the front constantly and
occasionally bouncing them back and forth across the sound stage
like some kind of ersatz FantaSound(tm).

Kate's vocal is downright scary.  She displays very little of
the range and control that make her voice so amazing when it's
working right.  I'm concerned that cigarettes and disuse may have
taken their toll.  Kate does do a wonderful job of injecting this
song with the feeling that it deserves (in contrast to _Rocket
Man_).  But it is this sort of emotion expressed with superb
vocals that represents Kate at her best.  

My hope is that this was an extreme rush job.  No time to
properly mike the piano (at least not the way Del dangles mikes
all over the room), no time to get that beautiful Elton John
piano arrangement down, no time to loosen up the voice, no time
to get a decent synth sound or a decent mix and of course, no
time to fix up that nasty audio belch that pops up here and
there.

My feeling from all of this is that Kate should stick to writing
her own material.   It's better and she does it better.

I do see something positive and promising in _Candle in the Wind_
but rather than disrupt the gloomy tone of this post I'll save it
for later.


"Don't drive too slowly."         Richard Caldwell
                                  The Big Sky BBS (+1 614 864 1198)
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