Anybody here own any Starcastle?

[3-LockBox]

I was reading on another site that the company re-issuing the band's album were basically just burning and turning CD-Rs. Can anyone attest to their sound quality?

Also, are they as good/bad as I've read elswhere?

[Troy]

Yes, they are as good/bad as they say.

[richmon]

Can anyone attest to their sound quality?

Also, are they as good/bad as I've read elswhere?

I picked up 'Fountains of Light' about 5-6 years ago and sold it after a year. They sound like Yes, bad Yes that is. It was like an album of songs that didn't make the Tormato album. The sound quality was ok, nothing bad or good. The Gibralter review pretty much says the same thing, except for one contrarian reviewer. http://www.gepr.net/stfram.html

[3-LockBox]

Yes, they are as good/bad as they say.

Thanks 8==>

Where you been?

[Troy]

Thanks 8==>

Where you been?

Oh you know . . . here and there.

[3-LockBox]

Oh you know . . . here and there.

I know you've been away cuz my sarcasm detector hasn't pegged like this in a while

[BarryL]

I was reading on another site that the company re-issuing the band's album were basically just burning and turning CD-Rs. Can anyone attest to their sound quality?

Also, are they as good/bad as I've read elswhere?

In fact, I was listening to Fountains of Light on the weekend. THey had a great sound, and are very under-rated, in my opinion. But, they also have a limited sound. I think that their first album is their best. Their second album is very similar, with the song Fountains being the standout track.

I think you'd enjoy their first album, just called Starcastle, with the blue cover.

The singer sounds like Anderson, but the band doesn't sound like Yes at all. However, if one had to link them in sound to one of the big five or six, then it would be Yes,not KC, PF, Genesis, ELP or Gentle Giant.

Their third album Citadel, has a couple of good songs, but it was an attempt to convert to a radio-friendly pop format, and it doesn't work. Roy Thomas Baker produced it. I think they did a fourth album (I can vaguely recollect a grey and white cover) which has been totally forgotten.

Anyway, Lady Of The Lake is great mid-70s American prog, all 10+ minutes of it.

E-mail me if you need some samples.

[BradH]

IAlso, are they as good/bad as I've read elswhere?

They suck but Troy likes 'em so that's good.

Otherwise he'd be out throwing pop bottles at cars & stuff.

[Troy]

They suck but Troy likes 'em so that's good.

Otherwise he'd be out throwing pop bottles at cars & stuff.

*plink* Got one!

[Mr Peabody]

I have the album that has the song Lady of the Lake and I like it pretty well.

[BarryL]

I have the album that has the song Lady of the Lake and I like it pretty well.

I love that song. That's the song that sold me on the album.

Too many people just hear that they sound like Yes and dismiss them. The musicianship on this album is outstanding, and Lady Of The Lake gives them all a chance to shine big-time. This is one band that knew that to make great prog music, all the musicians didn't have to play at the same time, all the time.

[Mr Peabody]

Good to hear from you Barry, I was starting to think my taste in music was out in left field. Well, maybe it is and I just share it sometimes.

[BarryL]

Good to hear from you Barry, I was starting to think my taste in music was out in left field. Well, maybe it is and I just share it sometimes.

Well, it's not starcastle, but there's a song on there called The Tower that turns my crank. Any band with a guitar player named Punky Meadows can't be that bad. This one came out the same time as Styx Equinox.

I was listening to the radio and The Tower was played, followed by Mother Dear by Styx, and recall the DJ saying: "If you like that kind of music, there's two new records you have to get..."

I got them both, and enjoyed them immensely.

[Troy]

Any band with a guitar player named Punky Meadows can't be that bad.

Barry, tell me you haven't heard Frank Zappa's homage to Mr. Meadows "Punky's Whips." Man, that is one goofy, crude monster of a song. Unbearably insulting, really. Brilliant song, sung by Terry Bozzio while he played the drums like a madman. The version on the Baby Snakes DVD with the Don Pardo intro has to be seen to be believed.

Angel was a prefab band like the Monkees. It was a Neil Bogart creation. Velveeta.

[BarryL]

Angel was a prefab band like the Monkees. It was a Neil Bogart creation. Velveeta.

I know nothing about Angel, but that first album, and some of the second, have a place in my fading memories of my pubescent year (I was 15 or 16 when they came out).

So how does it happen that a fringe velveeta band like Angel warrants the attention of Zappa and the boys. Seems mighty small fry for them.

I don't have the Baby Snakes DVD but I have two others. Perhaps I should pick this one up.

Was listening to Inca Roads on the weekend. I will be playing it on my next radio appearance on April 9, right before Sound Chaser. No Angel on this show.

[BradH]

So how does it happen that a fringe velveeta band like Angel warrants the attention of Zappa and the boys. Seems mighty small fry for them.

It would appear Uncle Frank and crew found abundant humor surrounding an incident involving some type of physical function Punky Meadows may or may not have performed upon the body of one Terry Bozzio.

[Mr Peabody]

I've got the first Angel album on CD and two others on vinyl. I think Troy may have them mixed up with some one else. Angel was raw talent that needed some guidance or at least a good producer. Their albums all sound like they were recorded in some one's garage. Geoff Geuffrie is a good keyboard player and put out a couple solo albums in the 80's. The first solo album had a single but I can't remember the name. The second album was very polished but not focused and some cookie cutter "big hair" metal tracks. A couple of the more pop sounding songs were actually pretty good but no one bit.

Did some one mention Bozio? Just give me all the Missing Persons videos with his sister on them.

Barry do you have any Rainbow? The live album is my favorite and a real super group with Tony Carey on keys, Dio on vocals, Ritchie Blackmore on guitar & Cozie Powell doing drums. An 18 minute version of Catch the Rainbow. It also feature Dio's arrangements of starting with one song, breaking into a medley eventually going back to the original song to end. I also have the first album, Long Live Rock n Roll and one other I'm not sure what the title is.

[BradH]

I think Troy may have them mixed up with some one else.

I think you may have Missing Persons mixed up with someone else.

I saw Angel open for Styx in what should've been called the 1976 North American Double Suction Tour. Wathcing Punky Meadows jerk his foaming beer can from his crotch was a golden moment of corporate marketing for suburban pubes looking for their next fix after Gene Simmons' red puke.

I thought the entire night was a total waste of time and money.

[Mr Peabody]

Brad, was that a jab or are you serious? I can't remember Bozio's first name but he is a drummer who not only played for Missing Persons but several other bands and performers including Jeff Beck. His centerfold sister was the lead singer for Missing Persons.

The reason I made my comment about your confusion is I don't see how anyone could get any comparison what so ever of the Monkees to Angel.

[BradH]

Brad, was that a jab or are you serious? I can't remember Bozio's first name but he is a drummer who not only played for Missing Persons but several other bands and performers including Jeff Beck. His centerfold sister was the lead singer for Missing Persons.

Dude, that was his wife. In fact, she apparently thought she was everybody's wife! But that's another story. Actually this is weird because just yesterday I was reading an interview w/ Bozzio where he says as early as the Zappa days he couldn't leave her home alone.

The reason I made my comment about your confusion is I don't see how anyone could get any comparison what so ever of the Monkees to Angel.

You're right. I think the Monkees were a lot better. No, seriously!

Oh well, it's a big musical world...

Enjoy!

[BradH]

Remember Eddie Haskell?

"Gee, Mrs. Bozzio. You're looking swell today."

[Mr Peabody]

I heard it was his sister from some where back in the MTV infancy. I guess you do learn something new every day.

[BarryL]

Rainbow.

I have Rainbow and Rainbow Rising, their first two albums.

They do a great cover of Quatermass's Black Sheep Of The Family.

I liked the longer tracks of the second album over the first album, which was a bit more controlled.

Is the stuff they did after that any good?

I should check Rainbow out on Allmusic. I bet their back catalogue is really cheap.

[Mr Peabody]

Ah, Rising, that's the one I couldn't remember. The sound quality isn't great but that live album I was talking about is good if you like Rainbow. Who is Quartermass? They must be old for Rainbow to cover one of their tunes. I bought the first album many years ago on vinyl. It's not the strongest album of their catalog but I really liked Man On A Silver Mountain. I'm actually a big Dio fan. His first two solo albums and Black Sabbath's Heaven & Hell are my favorite efforts by Ronnie.

How about Renaissaunce? I can never spell that word right.

[BarryL]

How about Renaissaunce? I can never spell that word right.

I love Renaissance, at least up until Azure D'Or. At Camera Camera and beyond they lost me. There are some weaker releases in there, but albums like Ashes Are Burning and Turn Of The Cards are great. They knew how to compose with an orchestra, and the lyrics by Betty Thatcher are outstanding, and make you want to listen.

And then, of course, there is the fantastic bass playing of Jon Camp (was he the bass player) and the incomparabale voice of the young Annie.

I was lucky enough to see them twice in concert in the late '70s and early '80s. My guess would by 1977 and 1981.