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Top 5 underrated prog keyboadists

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Topic: Top 5 underrated prog keyboadists
Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Subject: Top 5 underrated prog keyboadists
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 14:14
Yeah another underrated T5 list. Sorry...

1. Dave Stewart (Egg, National Health)
2. Tony Banks (Genesis) 
3. Thomas Johnson (Anglagard, Thieve's Kitchen)
4. Neal Morse (Spock's Beard, solo0
5. Kerry Minnear (Gentle Giant)



Replies:
Posted By: Argo2112
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 14:40
1. Jordan Rudess - Dream Theater
2. John Tout - Renaissance
3. Eddie Jobson - UK, Zappa
4. Patrick Moraz - Yes, Moody Blues
5. George Duke - Zappa, solo


Posted By: Fischman
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 16:21
Jordan Rudess (Dream Theater)
John Tout (Renaissance)
Neal Morse (Spock's Beard, Solo) 
Derek Sherinen (Dream Theater)
Eddie Jobson (UK, Zappa, Jethro Tull)


Posted By: BaldJean
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 16:30
Ingo Bischof (Kraan, Karthago, Guru Guru and others)
Hugh Banton


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Posted By: JD
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 16:40
Dick Hyman
Victor Borge
PDQ Bach
Liberace
Morton Subotnick


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Posted By: Grumpyprogfan
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 17:11
Liberace is awesome. Victor Borge is prog? Cool performer but prog?


Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 17:20
Ryo Okomoto
Tomas Bodin
Peter Bardens
Martin Orford
Kit Watkins


Posted By: dwill123
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 17:37
David Sancious (Bruce Springsteen, Peter Gabriel, Eric Clapton, Sting, solo)
Chester Thompson (Santana, Tower of Power)
Mike Mandel (The Eleventh House)
Patrice Rushen (Jean-Luc Ponty, Pat Metheny, CAB)
Tom Coster (Santana, Billy Cobham)
 


Posted By: M27Barney
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 23:26
Dave Greesnslade...Best haunting doom laden hammond player of all time.....and Par Lindh...

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Play me my song.....Here it comes again.......


Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 23:43
so basically anyone that isn't Rick Wakeman or Keith Emerson? Putting Tony Banks on an 'underrated' list is pushing it a bit as is Eddie Jobson and Patrick Moraz. That would probably be my top five list of all time!
Kerry Minnear and Dave Greenslade underrated?!

1. Fred Schendel (Glass Hammer)
2. Par Lindh
3. Martin Orford
4. Jurgen Fritz (Triumvirat)
5. Stale Storlokken (Elephant 9)

honourable mention for Mark Kelly who tends to hide his light under a bushel. Incommunicado has some scintillating keyboard playing! 


Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: July 11 2019 at 23:48
Damn should really have mentioned Rod Argent and Manfred Mann. Both capable of genius moments



Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 00:09
and really annoyed that I forgot about Ton Scherpenzeel (Kayak and Camel) . Has everything but hardly ever mentioned.


Posted By: ExittheLemming
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 00:33
In no particular order:
Vincent Crane (Atomic Rooster, Dexys Midnight Runners)
Rod Argent (Zombies, Argent)
Morgan Fisher (Morgan, Mott the Hoople)
Dave Greenslade (Colosseum, Greenslade)
Gianni and Vittorio Nocenzi (Banco) these brothers might count as two choices?


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Posted By: progmatic
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 02:49
1. Cyrille Verdeux
2. Eddie Jobson
3. Roger Hodgson


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PROGMATIC


Posted By: M27Barney
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 05:28
What about badens of Camel???

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Play me my song.....Here it comes again.......


Posted By: M27Barney
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 05:30
Greg Boynton - dagaband...best keyboard player ive seen live and that includes wakeman and banks...

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Play me my song.....Here it comes again.......


Posted By: Manuel
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 07:24
David Palmer, John Evans, Jon Lord, Ken Hensley and Mikey Simmonds.


Posted By: someone_else
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 15:20
Jürgen Fritz (Triumvirat)
Martin Orford (IQ)
Dean Watson


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Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 15:31
No mention of Erik Norlander yet? 


Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 16:03
Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

No mention of Erik Norlander yet? 
 

Nope, nor Jim Alcivar (everyone goes Who?!).


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Posted By: AFlowerKingCrimson
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 16:08
Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

No mention of Erik Norlander yet? 
 

Nope, nor Jim Alcivar (everyone goes Who?!).

Well, I think Erik is fairly well known in prog circles though. I never even heard of the guy you mentioned. 


Posted By: JD
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 16:29
Ok, for real this time, not five but a few.

Kerry Livgren (Kansas) - Some great stuff on their early albums for sure.
Duncan MacKay - One hit wonder?
Jeff Wayne - Another one hit wonder?


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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 23:46
Originally posted by JD JD wrote:

Ok, for real this time, not five but a few.

Kerry Livgren (Kansas) - Some great stuff on their early albums for sure.
Duncan MacKay - One hit wonder?
Jeff Wayne - Another one hit wonder?
 

actually what about Steve Walsh?!


Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: July 12 2019 at 23:52
Originally posted by M27Barney M27Barney wrote:

What about badens of Camel???
 

Dunno.I see his name mentioned a lot and always a lot of talk about Camel before and after Bardens. He is obviously highly regarded but is he considered to be at the same level of Emerson, Wakeman and Banks or maybe even better? I like him a lot but never include him in my lists. I suspect though that's because he's just not exciting or flashy. I like a keyboard flourish or three. Even Banks would cut loose occasionally!


Posted By: Frenetic Zetetic
Date Posted: July 13 2019 at 02:44
Paul Hardcastle

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"I am so prog, I listen to concept albums on shuffle." -KMac2021


Posted By: gr8dane
Date Posted: July 13 2019 at 05:34
Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

No mention of Erik Norlander yet? 
 

Nope, nor Jim Alcivar (everyone goes Who?!).

Montrose.I will have listen to Jump on it and Warner again.Seems like i always focus on the guitar.Smile


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Shake & bake.


Posted By: Icarium
Date Posted: July 13 2019 at 05:39
Manfred Mann
Rod Argent
Rick Davies
Jim Gilmour (Saga)
David Paich/Steve Porcaro


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Posted By: Cristi
Date Posted: July 13 2019 at 05:48
some of the musicians mentioned are a surprise for me. I mean how is Jon Lord underrated, he's one of the most respected and beloved musicians. I do not understand. 

Or Jordan Ruddess. I don't find him underrated at all, in fact quite the contrary, he gets so much praise (maybe not on PA, but elsewhere). 
I think Kevin Moore is rather underrated. 


Posted By: DaleHauskins
Date Posted: July 13 2019 at 15:27
Roland Ruckstuhl-(FLAME DREAM Swiss keyboardist, and composer, fellow bandmate)
Nick Magnus-(Enid, Steve Hackett and dear friend)
John Wolf Brennan-(Swiss/Irish Keyboardist,Flame Dream,Impetus,Christy Doran,Julie Tippetts,Chris Cutler,Peter Schärli)
Bobby Cressey- (Lil' John,Snoop Dogg,Warren G,Bobby Brown,keyboardist,producer,organist for San Diego Padres Petco Park.)
Lisa Bella Donna-(Ohioan recording prog keyboardist, artist, Columbus-based progressive-rock band EYE)

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(858) 401-2973
(310) 293-0432
https://artistecard.com/Dalehauskins



Posted By: Jaketejas
Date Posted: July 13 2019 at 16:23
Good call on Saga. They were doing rapid fire guitar/keyboard synchronized solos long before it became commonplace in the 90s.

4 others

Alan Pasqua
Gary Husband
Dennis DeYoung (yes absolutely!)
Trevor Rabin (just as good on keyboards as guitar)


Posted By: omphaloskepsis
Date Posted: July 13 2019 at 17:21
Luca Zabbini - Barock Project


Posted By: jamesbaldwin
Date Posted: July 13 2019 at 17:54
In my opinion, one of the greatest keyboardist of the early prog era, was 

JOHN PETER ROBINSON, QUATERMASS.

He was better than Keith Emerson.

He is like a conductor of orchestra in the records by Shawn Phillips, listen to Futhermore (1974).




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"Happiness is real only when shared"


Posted By: Jaketejas
Date Posted: July 13 2019 at 18:27
Originally posted by JD JD wrote:

Ok, for real this time, not five but a few.

Kerry Livgren (Kansas) - Some great stuff on their early albums for sure.
Duncan MacKay - One hit wonder?
Jeff Wayne - Another one hit wonder?


What about KL's work with AD?


Posted By: miamiscot
Date Posted: July 15 2019 at 14:33
Kit Watkins?


Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: July 15 2019 at 14:36
Originally posted by gr8dane gr8dane wrote:

Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

No mention of Erik Norlander yet? 
 

Nope, nor Jim Alcivar (everyone goes Who?!).

Montrose.I will have listen to Jump on it and Warner again.Seems like i always focus on the guitar.Smile
 

Jim's better represented on Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 (Mitchell Froom joined as keyboardist for Gamma 3). Jim's synth solo on "Skin and Bone" is awesome.


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Posted By: gr8dane
Date Posted: July 16 2019 at 14:19
Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by gr8dane gr8dane wrote:

Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Originally posted by AFlowerKingCrimson AFlowerKingCrimson wrote:

No mention of Erik Norlander yet? 
 

Nope, nor Jim Alcivar (everyone goes Who?!).

Montrose.I will have listen to Jump on it and Warner again.Seems like i always focus on the guitar.Smile
 

Jim's better represented on Gamma 1 and Gamma 2 (Mitchell Froom joined as keyboardist for Gamma 3). Jim's synth solo on "Skin and Bone" is awesome.

Excellent.Got those ,but forgot he was on there.
Time for some Gamma.Clap


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Shake & bake.


Posted By: Magmatt
Date Posted: July 19 2019 at 09:09
Cameron Hawkins of FM ( Bass, Keys and Vocals )
Eddies Jobsons' work with UK.
Richard Tandy the early ELO materials.


Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: July 20 2019 at 00:35
John Hawkins of The Strawbs.  Mellotron, harpsichord, Moog....he does it all.

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Posted By: BrufordFreak
Date Posted: July 22 2019 at 17:10
Gleb Kolyadin (iamthemorning, Gleb Kolyadin)
Ana Carmela (Ekos)
Lalo Huber (Nexus)
Jørgen Hagen (Airbag)
Mats Bender (Introitus)



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Drew Fisher
https://progisaliveandwell.blogspot.com/


Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 01 2019 at 17:03
Juergen Fritz of Triumvirat
Peter Robinson of Quatermass
Joe Vescovi of The Trip
Oliviero Lacagnina of Latte e Miele
Peter Hecht of The Pink Mice


Posted By: Atavachron
Date Posted: September 01 2019 at 17:56
Don Airey



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Posted By: Joe_Banks
Date Posted: September 02 2019 at 14:36
Without a doubt, Simon House (Hawkwind 74-78) is a hugely underrated keyboardist. Just take a listen to this (incidentally, one of the most brilliant song/video mash-ups I've ever seen):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFd7elFVaQA" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFd7elFVaQA


Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: September 02 2019 at 18:02
Shout-out to Jimmy Jackson, an African-American keyboardist who gave life to music from Popul Vuh and Amon Duul II!  He was one of the only people who could conquer the Mellotron-like "choir-organ".  

This fragment brings Jimmy Jackson into the picture. At the time Fricke lend his moog to Amon Düül II for ‘Wolf City’, it was possibly through this connection that Fricke discovered the ‘choir-organ’. As a guestplayer, Jimmy Jackson plays choir-organ and piano on ‘Wolf City’, an album recorded in july 1972. He plays choir organ on the following tracks: "Surrounded By The Stars", "Green-Bubble-Raincoated-Man", "Jail-House Frog" and "Deutsch Nepal".

http://www.popolvuh.nl/d/pvchoir" rel="nofollow - http://www.popolvuh.nl/d/pvchoir




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I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!!


Posted By: Howard the Duck
Date Posted: September 03 2019 at 09:46
Steve Miller!


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MacGyver can do a super guitar solo with a broom and an elastic band. Can you do better?



Posted By: presdoug
Date Posted: September 03 2019 at 14:02
Originally posted by cstack3 cstack3 wrote:

Shout-out to Jimmy Jackson, an African-American keyboardist who gave life to music from Popul Vuh and Amon Duul II!  He was one of the only people who could conquer the Mellotron-like "choir-organ".  

This fragment brings Jimmy Jackson into the picture. At the time Fricke lend his moog to Amon Düül II for ‘Wolf City’, it was possibly through this connection that Fricke discovered the ‘choir-organ’. As a guestplayer, Jimmy Jackson plays choir-organ and piano on ‘Wolf City’, an album recorded in july 1972. He plays choir organ on the following tracks: "Surrounded By The Stars", "Green-Bubble-Raincoated-Man", "Jail-House Frog" and "Deutsch Nepal".

http://www.popolvuh.nl/d/pvchoir" rel="nofollow - http://www.popolvuh.nl/d/pvchoir


Cool, Chuck! He also played on Passport's debut masterpiece "Passport-Doldinger" from '71.


Posted By: Braka1
Date Posted: September 04 2019 at 06:39
I think i know why this guy might be overlooked - because, for my money, after the two and half albums he recorded with this band, they were pretty awful.

Tony Carey  (Rainbow 1976-77)






Posted By: chopper
Date Posted: September 04 2019 at 08:10
I've got to mention John Young of Lifesigns and many others including John Wetton and, er,  Bonnie Tyler.


Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: September 05 2019 at 00:04
Originally posted by Braka1 Braka1 wrote:

I think i know why this guy might be overlooked - because, for my money, after the two and half albums he recorded with this band, they were pretty awful.

Tony Carey  (Rainbow 1976-77)




 

fair point. Stargazer and Gates Of Babylon alone make this guy worth a shout out.


Posted By: Braka1
Date Posted: September 05 2019 at 09:27
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Originally posted by Braka1 Braka1 wrote:

I think i know why this guy might be overlooked - because, for my money, after the two and half albums he recorded with this band, they were pretty awful.

Tony Carey  (Rainbow 1976-77)




 

fair point. Stargazer and Gates Of Babylon alone make this guy worth a shout out.


It actually isn't him on 'Gates of Babylon', from what I remember. He played on some tracks on that album, but I think it was David Stone on that track.  Still, I've watched some live  clips, and the guy was no slouch.


Posted By: Blacksword
Date Posted: September 05 2019 at 10:08
Originally posted by Joe_Banks Joe_Banks wrote:

Without a doubt, Simon House (Hawkwind 74-78) is a hugely underrated keyboardist. Just take a listen to this (incidentally, one of the most brilliant song/video mash-ups I've ever seen):  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFd7elFVaQA" rel="nofollow - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sFd7elFVaQA


Good call. He was great with Hawkwind.

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Posted By: Braka1
Date Posted: September 06 2019 at 11:25
I'll third Simon House.


Dave Greenfield   Say what you will, but The Stranglers were the only early punk band I can think of which was keyboard-dominated.  'Black and White' (1978) is a great fusion of  punk and prog.


Posted By: cstack3
Date Posted: September 06 2019 at 14:22
Originally posted by chopper chopper wrote:

I've got to mention John Young of Lifesigns and many others including John Wetton and, er,  Bonnie Tyler.

Very good!  How about a shout-out to Bob Fripp?  He was never very prominent on keys, but he was an early champion of the Mellotron....I saw him play "dueling Mellotrons" with David Cross, April 20, 1973 in a LTIA show, and I believe he played a bit of electric piano on LTIA.  He also has a keyboard onstage in the recent touring monster of King Crimson!  


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I am not a Robot, I'm a FREE MAN!!


Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: September 06 2019 at 15:32
Originally posted by Braka1 Braka1 wrote:

Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

Originally posted by Braka1 Braka1 wrote:

I think i know why this guy might be overlooked - because, for my money, after the two and half albums he recorded with this band, they were pretty awful.

Tony Carey  (Rainbow 1976-77)




 

fair point. Stargazer and Gates Of Babylon alone make this guy worth a shout out.


It actually isn't him on 'Gates of Babylon', from what I remember. He played on some tracks on that album, but I think it was David Stone on that track.  Still, I've watched some live  clips, and the guy was no slouch.
 

I praise Tony Carey whenever the opportunity arises. Rising is indeed the best album in Rainbow's repertoire. Tony's intro on "Tarot Woman" is iconic on its own. Post-Rainbow, he's done some great stuff, as Planet P Project or under his own name, even if not all of it's prog. He's even recorded instrumental electronic fare. He moved to Germany, took part ownership of a studio and spent virtually all his waking hours within that building and made many hours of music. He was born in California but has remained in Europe. 

Also, that's not Tony on the first Rainbow album. The first line-up was Ritchie and 4/5 of Elf. Mickey Lee Soule was the keyboardist. 

After the first album and tour, Ritchie fired Soule, bassist Craig Gruber ("plays too funky") and drummer Gary Driscoll ("don't like his style").

Ritchie found Carey when he and Bain were in Hollywood for auditions for the band that would go on to record Rising. Carey was in another room with his own band. Carey joined not so much because of Ritchie, but because of frustration with his own band not making satisfactory progress with their own record.


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Posted By: richardh
Date Posted: September 07 2019 at 00:16
Originally posted by Braka1 Braka1 wrote:




Dave Greenfield   Say what you will, but The Stranglers were the only early punk band I can think of which was keyboard-dominated.  'Black and White' (1978) is a great fusion of  punk and prog.
 

absolutely . Nice N Sleazy has probably my favourite synth solo of all time and I'm a massive ELP fan!


Posted By: Braka1
Date Posted: September 07 2019 at 00:30
Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:


Also, that's not Tony on the first Rainbow album. The first line-up was Ritchie and 4/5 of Elf. Mickey Lee Soule was the keyboardist. 



Right. By 'the two and a half albums' I meant 'Rising', 'On stage' and some tracks on 'Long Live Rock and Roll' (I think I knew their glory days were over when they released an album with that title - though it was still pretty decent. The next year's 'Down to Earth' was when i knew it was over. God, that cover....)




Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: September 07 2019 at 10:42
Originally posted by Braka1 Braka1 wrote:

Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:

Also, that's not Tony on the first Rainbow album. The first line-up was Ritchie and 4/5 of Elf. Mickey Lee Soule was the keyboardist.


Right. By 'the two and a half albums' I meant 'Rising', 'On stage' and some tracks on 'Long Live Rock and Roll' (I think I knew their glory days were over when they released an album with that title - though it was still pretty decent. The next year's 'Down to Earth' was when i knew it was over. God, that cover....)
 

Don't like LLRnR? Some real gems on that one. At least Dio didn't leave till after three great albums. I couldn't imagine him singing that DtE fare.




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Posted By: SquonkHunter
Date Posted: September 07 2019 at 20:15
I second John Hawken. His work with the original Renaissance, Strawbs and Illusion was first rate. Love those heavy Mellotron chords and swells. 


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"You never had the things you thought you should have had and you'll not get them now..."


Posted By: Fischman
Date Posted: September 07 2019 at 22:06
Originally posted by richardh richardh wrote:

[QUOTE=Braka1]I think i know why this guy might be overlooked - because, for my money, after the two
and half albums he recorded with this band, they were pretty awful.

Tony Carey  (Rainbow 1976-77)




I just realized this is the Planet P Project guy. Wonder why that never crossed my mind before.


Posted By: Braka1
Date Posted: September 08 2019 at 03:46
Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:


Don't like LLRnR? Some real gems on that one. At least Dio didn't leave till after three great albums. I couldn't imagine him singing that DtE fare.




Oh, I don't dislike it, and you're right, there are some great songs on it. I just thought at the time it was a notch down from to 'Rising' and the live album - and after the epic grandeur of 'Rising', 'Long Live Rock'n'Roll' sounded like a title I'd have expected from AC/DC or Kiss. 


Posted By: verslibre
Date Posted: September 08 2019 at 11:11
Originally posted by Braka1 Braka1 wrote:

Originally posted by verslibre verslibre wrote:


Don't like LLRnR? Some real gems on that one. At least Dio didn't leave till after three great albums. I couldn't imagine him singing that DtE fare.




Oh, I don't dislike it, and you're right, there are some great songs on it. I just thought at the time it was a notch down from to 'Rising' and the live album - and after the epic grandeur of 'Rising', 'Long Live Rock'n'Roll' sounded like a title I'd have expected from AC/DC or Kiss.
 

Rising is indeed hard to beat. I hear you on the title. Maybe they should have titled it after "Gates of Babylon."


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Posted By: Magog2112
Date Posted: July 25 2023 at 11:24
1. Clive Nolan
2. Tomas Bodin
3. Martin Orford
4. Mark Kelly
5. Dean Baker



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