Cardiacs Bites It: Big and Tall Ships-It Bites/C..

I've done a few polls featuring Cardiacs "Big Ship" and I thought focusing on these two different music approaches might be interesting.

Both bands are in PA, both bands have an album (an EP in the case of Cardiacs and an LP with It Bites) named after the respective songs, and both bands made music I consider to be kinds of Crossover Prog. Both bands have been called both not Prog and not progressive by some people, and both have been called pop music. Tim Smith of Cardiacs referred to his music as pop. The Tall Ships song by It Bites is not considered to be the most progressive or Prog song on the album of the same name, but I thought that it paired up with Big Ship provides some interesting contrast. I will include both a live and recorded in studio version of both.

Here are excerpts from two reviews in PA about each track:

Epignosis wrote: "The Tall Ships" Other than "Never the Same" by Echolyn, I don't think I've ever heard a more optimistic and hopeful song about eventual endings. As it should be, the melody is the centerpiece of the song. Easing up on the tempo, the piece adopts acoustic guitars and the synthesizer lead takes on the form of an Irish whistle. All in all, this is a stunningly beautiful composition.

russellk wrote: 'Big Ship', the opener, is representative of their sound. Sparse in parts, it builds to the most gorgeous and dynamic close, gloriously over the top.

"Big Ship":





"The Tall Ships":





Edited by Logan - June 21 2021 at 07:26

It Bites gets the nod.

Cardiacs without any hesitasion

Boom. I'd like to say that if I stay on course, one day every band in PA will have the honour to have a shanty spar* with Big Ship, but I'll never get that full steam ahead even if I'm making some headway. With me at the helm, it's more likely that I'd keel over and die, or at least capsize, before that happens.

*Spar: a thick, strong pole such as is used for a mast or yard on a ship for the landlubbers.

I like discovering more music this way that might be outside my wheelhouse. I just happened to be reading a topic on It Bites which got me associating with Cardiacs (both having had some similar claims made about them). I think I did a more thorough ships poll at one time.

It Bites - The Tall Ships