I think this is the best recorded session that exsists, actually I'm pretty proud of it, 'Full Service' espically sounds really great. This song really kicks major ass, I love the nice heavy atonal chords at the beginning, into the staccato shit when teh vocals start. The loose ending is hilarious, espically when Jamey tries to close things off at the end and Washburn continues his tireade of wild leads and finishes with what can only be described as a 'funny' note. The drums and bass are really clear and clean.
This is the most 'Full' version of 'Full Service'. That song has some of the best words ever, I remember asking Washburn what they were. It seems easy to understand to me now when I listen to the song, but its probably actually difficult, its only because I know them. I think it is:
"you make me paranoid, lately youve been nervous
I want to help you out...full service
I want to _______....________
I want to pick you up but I'll kick you down on purpose"
The tape ends with 'Benihana', at the time it was teh 1st time I think I had ever heard that song, and I was baffled where they were getting this shit from. Later they recorded it on the split EP which is nice. The tape cut the song off, so i faded it out during my transfer to mp3. It sounds fucking awesome, that song is kind of representative of Pie in the Sky to me...songs like 'Buckley' are awesome but almost too fast or just didn't have the kind of emotion that I remember from this band, or that they did best.
To me this recording is the 'real' Pie in the Sky'. Maybe its just the quality of the recording but it just sounds great. I dont know if Reid showed up late or something, some of the songs sound like they are 3 piece, but others I know I can hear 2 guitars. I think the thing that confuses me is that although I have the same predicament here as on the 12/11/98 session (5 instruments - 4 tracks) things dont sound as muffled or fuckedup, it sounds great.
Particularly interesting is 'Mindless Slobs', a song which is a combinatino of riffs I have heard WAshburn play long before Pie in the Sky existed. In the recording here, since there are no vocals I mic'd both guitars properly and panned them hard left and right, this truly is a stereo expereience, check it out on headphones.
This recording also defnately has the best version of '30 Years' ever. While 'Benihana' might be the most representative song of this band (30 years is a close second), this is probably my favorite. I think alot of other people woudl agree with that too. This song has something that bands today have forgotten -- playing super fast but yet its still emotional, in fact its more so. I don't think I'll ever get sick of this song. I have been playing this song for a very long time now, and I can play the barebones of some of the leads I've heard and seen Washburn play from the break in this song, but this version is baffling to me, even now. If i was this bands producer, i woudl force them to somehow make the song longer.
1. 30 Years
2. Buckley
3. Full Service
4. Green
5. Mindless Slobs
6. Spreading Yourself Thin
7. Benihana