Vincent St. Louis, Local musician, playing guitar & bass 47 years
Ouch. I’m a big fan. But I gotta say, they are not masters of their instruments. It’s relatively simple to play their music, aside from the sound effects. And we know that they’re not the greatest vocalists. Dave has a unique throaty tone, Roger plays a good psychotic, & Richard has a soft resereved approach. They are always in key, on pitch, & blend and harmonize well. You can tell them apart, & having three voices is an asset, especially with the various moods & emotions they convey. It’s all about the total package. The everyman topics. And the ambitious concepts. Remember that they spent a year trying to make an album with kitchen utensils and gave up. (Ordinary Household Objects)
Don't start throwing tomatoes (or spitting on them!) These everyman concepts apply to their musicianship. They are indeed competent. As a guitarist myself, I used to say Dave was a blues guitarist in a space rock band. He can bend and sustain with real emotion, always picks the best notes, and I think he’s better than Clapton. Roger can thump with the best of them, playing like a precision machine on One of These Days & Sheep. Richard brings interesting chording from jazz, and aside from those early Farfisa sounds, has used technology in a pleasing way, despite the subject matter. And Nick was the star in their early transitional period with a ton of drums, carrying those crazy improvisations along with some semblance of order.
I sometimes wonder why they weren't dropped from their label, without hits after Syd. Someone had faith, allowed them to experiment, and grow a new head. Not gonna happen in today's music business. They are truly a reflection of their time in rock history. And from the beginning, they incorporated a visual element. All the best music paints a picture in your head, doesn't it?
It’s the total package that matters. The concepts. That everyman appeal. Pleasing tones in the world of faster, louder, fabricated, image conscious, crazier show-offs. So I can play all their riffs. Big deal. But it does bring me closer to appreciating and truly enjoying their work. You should too.
