East of Midnight

higgy78 · 03-13-2003, 12:17 PM

I'm just curious, I'd like to know what other people think about this album. Its a strange one for me because I either love or can't stand all the songs on it...I love "i'll tag along", "let it ride", and the first two songs on the album (the names escape me right now), but the rest I don't know what Gord was thinking! I was a little disapointed when I first listened to it because it looks like he was sucked into the 80s abyss (a little bit) like just about everyone else... any thoughts?
Ben

Auburn Annie · 03-13-2003, 01:32 PM

Stay Loose and Morning Glory are the first two cuts.

TheWatchman · 03-13-2003, 02:58 PM

The first time I heard it I was very surprised as I was used to hearing the traditional Lightfoot sound. The picture on the cover clued me in that it was going to be a little different.

Actually, I liked it the first time I heard it. It's definately a change but a nice one nonetheless. "I'll Tag Along" is great and another great one is "A Passing Ship". "Let It Ride" is also fantastic. Heck, their all great.

I can see why the die-hard folk lovers wouldn't care much for it but I like every type of music out there. Lightfoot is my favorite though. For example, I started my travels today with Lightfoot, then Louis Armstrong and then The Highwaymen.

Martin/12 · 03-13-2003, 03:11 PM

I agree--East of Midnight seemed a very pop-focused project. Surprisingly, Gord regarded it as one of his best accomplishments. There are definitely some very good songs on there, but at least a couple seem to have been created by the "Anti-Lightfoot". What's worse, several of the songs could have been much, much better if they had not been produced with the adult-contemporary pop sound. If you have ever heard light arrangements of the East of Midnight (the song), A Lesson in Love, or Morning Glory--you can realize those songs' true potential. The song, East of Midnight is especially good in a simple unplugged arrangement. It's almost unrecognizable from the album--in a good way.

I think the orchestration is the problem--which is why people seem to like and hate different songs. You can hear the same sound in some of the cuts on Songbook.

I believe Gord was really searching for a new sound, because pop music had left his kind of genre behind. He took this project on himself after convincing execs that he had a vision for it, but needed "hands off" for him to do it right. He didn't even use his regular musicians.

It seems Gord was very disappointed with the reception of EOM--which is why he quit producing for several years--the worst travesty of all! Still, it has some good stuff. I like A Lesson in Love, I'll Tag Along, Morning Glory and the light version of EOM. These are the songs he has always favored in concert. Anything For Love--which he co-wrote with David Parker (?) was very weak IMO.

Borderstone · 03-13-2003, 03:48 PM

Well,my personal take on this is that most Adult Contemorary music from the 1980's is synthetic,plastic,unemotional tripe. I mean it. The saving grace of East Of Midnight is Gordon himself. His voice gives at least a touch of human emtion to these songs,that,if any other artist did them,they would amount to even less than what happened with him singing. "Morning Glory" is awsome. I like the light jazzy feel of,"A Lesson In Love". "A Passing Ship & The title tack are good too. "Let It Ride" sounds like an '80's arrangement of "Cold On The Shoulder",still good. "Stay Loose"? A bit on the dull side and I can't believe it was on Complete Greatest Hits."Anything For Love"- again,if it wasn't GL,it would not have seen even AC radio. I've heard the rest and I can only say they range from Okay to fair. Again,it's not Gord's fault. That's just the '80's for you. The anti-'70's decade,when it really was not hip to be square. :P

brink · 03-13-2003, 04:23 PM

Martin/12: It was David Foster, he did the Tears are not Enough for the Canadian singers. Critics were thrilled with it and from what I remember it seems that they blamed Foster and not GL for the song.

joveski · 03-13-2003, 04:57 PM

recently i've been listening to it a lot. i love morning glory, EOM, passing ship and i'll tag along.

it's a good way to get people that don't like "country" music to admire lightfoot - works for my friends who "hate" his music. they hear parts of EOM and say "oh, this isn't too bad"

personally i love it.

Wes Steele · 03-13-2003, 07:28 PM

For you "Morning Glory" fans, it even had some air play here in the Cleveland area.

Wes

TheWatchman · 03-13-2003, 07:44 PM

I've heard some tracks off of it in the Ashtabula area pretty often. The easy listening stations play Lightfoot VERY often.

03-13-2003, 09:08 PM

My personal take on the e.o.m.album was the songs were well written ,of course well performed but I hated the "horns". I saw Gord in concert in the late seventies,also afew other times,but on this particular evening he began to sing "Minstrel of the dawn" .He started off acapella and sang a few bars with little or no musical accompaniment before his band began to join in. It stands out in my mind today as it did then as the single most beautiful piece of music I have ever heard.I still get chills when I think about it.Horns?Who needs them?

walls · 03-13-2003, 10:27 PM

Give an artist a break, and let them break away from the routine once in a while, if that were the case. The cover photo was a give-away of what was to come.

I would almost venture that a 21-year old record executive "wonder-kind" thought that this "old" man should be put in a white suit, become adult comtemporay, have a diffent band and sound, forget about his roots, and then be shuffled off to Vegas and points beyond. Throw out the scarfs, play this "hip" music, and you can stay a star.

Nonetheless, whether this was a record label attempt to pressure a performer to produce more units, or not, there were a number of songs that only Lightfoot could have pulled off, despite the record company's misguided intentions and complete change of musical direction. All my himself, he fooled them, or made them look like fools.

A Lesson in Love, Anything for Love, A Passing Ship, I'll Tag Along, and East of Midnight, they are good stuff, and yet, they add another dimension to the performer.

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restless shadows

Chuck Darling · 03-14-2003, 04:59 AM

I consider East Of Midnight Gordons "Sargent Peppers" Album! and to add to Wes's comment they would also play Anything forLove quite often also..I saw Gordon on the EOM tour and it was fab! at the old Front Row Theatre Wes!!! Man I miss that place...

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Ever Onward...

Wes Steele · 03-14-2003, 01:22 PM

Ya Chuck, I have some of the most fondest memories of the "Front Row"...

I did have a chance to talk with him a few times there also. Very intimate place.

I miss it also.

Wes

higgy78 · 03-14-2003, 01:30 PM

thanks for the feedback...its always interesting to listen to music again that you're familiar with after hearing someone else's opinion on it. Let It Ride has one of my favorite gord lyrics..."hear the steeple bells ring out above my lobster pots" (I hope I'm understanding him)...

BILLW · 03-14-2003, 06:41 PM

I love the album, one of my favorites to fall asleep to.

Bill

Rob1956 · 03-14-2003, 07:20 PM

I think Gord approached this album like he has every other one: with complete professionalism and forethought. I believe that he took the lackluster response to Salute very hard. There was an article in USA Today when Salute came out that he had spent much time on the album making it sound different after Shadows kind of tanked. When Salute failed to do much on the charts, he really decided to do a changeup and so EOM was born. I may be wrong, but I think David Foster only produced (or co-produced) AFL, the rest was Gord producing himself. I wonder if there are any more songs he and David did together that are still in a vault somewhere...Gord only let one song appear on the album that they both did together. I think that says something by itself. I like the album alot..because I know that it was a Lightfoot product and therefore was a quality piece. AFL I think is the weakest song on the album but it's ok. Morning Glory is excellent, and it seems as if Gord wrote it with the knowledge that his voice now had a higher register and he was sort of experimenting with this new situation. Think about it, would MG have been as successful an endeavor if Gord's voice sounded like it did on the Sundown or Cold on the Shoulder albums? Just food for thought.

Chuck Darling · 03-15-2003, 08:06 AM

"Remember when Mr Barnum presented Jenny Lind,They named a candy after her, a Circus after him" Man I love that! Or "Smoke rings rising till they disappear, in the sky above, if you ask me I'll tag along" Great Lyrics, Fantastic Album!!!

Chuck.

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Ever Onward...

Borderstone · 03-15-2003, 06:53 PM

As long as we're talking '80's Gord,let's put his LP's in order of importance. 5>Gord's Gold II-4>Salute-3>East Of Midnight-2>Dream Street Rose-and #1:"Shadows"! Feel free to agree or dis-agree. Shadows is definetly his best of that decade (although D.S.R. comes in only about 1/2 lower.) Borderstone,ow-teh he-ah 'n' Al-boi-tah Bow-end!

Wes Steele · 03-15-2003, 07:03 PM

Borderstone, I would have to agree with you there. Shadow's, I believe is one of his top albums of all time...

Worst, is Gold II, in my opinion. Can't understand why he redid those songs. They sound worse than the original cuts. I do like "If It Should Please You" though...

Wes

03-16-2003, 08:36 AM

I understand where you are coming from with your thoughts on Gord's Gold 11.By the time of it's release,all of these songs were so firmly ingrained in my mind that the slightest {and I mean slightest}change in voice or background was noticable,and in your mind you say "hey wait a minute that,s not right." However,maybe if we had heard Gord's Gold first,and later on we heard the originals maybe we would say"hey wait that's not right."

TheWatchman · 03-16-2003, 09:00 AM

I really like Gord's Gold II and I think that the original versions of the same songs were great too.

I think that it was a great idea that he recorded those songs again. I like to hear the difference in his voice on those songs. Once I heard Gord's Gold II, I wished that he would have went back and re-recorded some more of the older versions. One not being any better than the other, just a different version.

My opinion on Gord's Gold is that it was released in 1975 which was when he was in his prime and sang with that deep, rich velvety voice that made him one of the best singers of all time. Gord's Gold is a good example of Gordon at his best.

Eventhough his voice has changed over his 40+ years of touring and making albums, the change is a welcome one to me. Anything Gord records I like. East Of Midnight and Waiting For You are 2 of my all-time favorites yet his voice is much different on those 2 albums and presently than it was in the 70's.

joveski · 03-16-2003, 01:56 PM

personally i love GG2. the songs and background sound a lot more modern. race among the ruins and high and dry sound better than the originals, but some sound better in their original format.

it doesn't sound too 80s like EOM, just and updated feel.

Borderstone · 03-17-2003, 05:04 PM

I really don't like to say that Gordon has a 'worst' album. Since they all have at least something to offer a listner,I would not go that far. Let's put it this way,even if I rated GGII or Salute at 2&1/2 stars,I'm still saying that there is something good for longtime fans or even the casual listner. I would never rate GL any lower because no male singer has ever really done the kind of music that mirrors my personal emotions. Case closed. Borderstone,outta here and Alberta Bound!

gwen snyder · 03-17-2003, 08:16 PM

GG2 has its' own (in a philosophical vein) essence. I think gord did them that way for the diversity and to show us his fans that he was changing. These are all positive things, and I really like GG2, I think I mentioned that I wore out that cd, somewhere else in here ramblin' around...
If nothing else you must give credit were credit is due, he was not stagnant, he knew he wanted to do something different to prove to us he was still out there chillin' somewhere.
Gwen

03-19-2003, 07:37 PM

I too remember the old Front Row Theater.The first thing when I heard GL was going to be there I went right out and bought tickets.I had never been there before and when I saw my seat location {row "G" I believe}I thought "well that's gonna be a mile back there." When I got there and sat down I felt like I was darn near sitting on the stage.It was impossible to get a bad seat there no matter how far back you sat.Also,the crowd there was so enthusiastic,but at the same time well mannered.The applause was deafening but when it died down you could have heard a pin drop until Gord started singing again.At the end of the performance there were standing ovations and two encores,what a great night.By contrast, I saw him once at Blossom ....I'll bet you did too,and the acoustics were bad,GL was just a speck in the distance,and people around me talked so loud I could hardly hear the music .I finally got mad enough to start yelling at people to shut up since I didnt pay good money to hear them blab! By that time it was too late to save the evening anyhow,but I swore I would not return.So far I have kept my promise.


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