The Living Rockumentary

Hey, Ningie...
Inspired by your recent stroll through "The Great White Lunchroom" after a long time not having listened to it, I did the same last night. And I have a hard time deciding which songs/tracks could've been axed. At 20 tracks, it's kinda like the "White Album" in that the sheer quantity adds something to the overall quality. And different people always end up loving different songs. For my money, I'd prune silly things like "Wild Honey Pie" and "Why Don't We Do It In The Road" as well as the superfluous album version of "Revolution." However, I would keep "Revolution 9" and the treacly Ringo ballad that follows it and probably kill "Birthday" and "Yer Blues," two rather slight rock&roll compositions. And I'm sure many folks would disagree with me on that. You hear "Lunchroom" and are appalled at "Let You Go"; however, that track is both Shelly's and Sam's favorite of the whole album of 20 songs. I can understand how you're not thrilled with your lead vocal but Paul's drumming and our group background vocals elevate it above your original version on "Big Plans." As for me, there certainly are songs that are inferior to the others, "Meandering" and "Crabcakes" specifically, but both serve their puposes on the record. Slight as they may be as songs, they were live favorites that we played energetically in the studio and they also add different flavors to the overall album. But like you, the hardest thing to appreciate about the entire album is the vocals. None of us were really expert singers and we left lots of clunker notes in, and ended up using final takes that we could've re-sung with much better results had we given the vocals time and been patient. Sure, it's cool that "Sycophant" was one-take from top-to-bottom but even if I killed my voice that day, I could've tried another take another day and come up with something better. Speaking of rushing things, it seems like every tempo on all my songs is way too fast! "I Wouldn't Know" and "Northampton" are ridiculously fast; even "Insulation" would've benefited from a slowed-down tempo, more measured, druggier and insistent. Overall, though, I now prefer Northampton to Insulation, which was my hit on the album at the time. Why? Northampton is marred by a bad lead vocal but mostly on the bridge (the whole bridge is poorly done- poorly written, poorly sung, the instrumental backing is lacking) but Insulation features a lousy vocal from beginning to end plus there are some laughable lyrical lines in there and Ari's two-note riff is idiotic (the stuff he plays in the fade was much more interesting- in fact, he was playing two riffs there- one macho distorted thing plus also the Andy Summers-like clean riff that gets a bit buried). Really, I only am liking the chord changes and the sonic nightmare at the end. My favorite bit on the album is that noise and confusion segueing into Player Piano. Kinda like "Revolution 9" being resolved by "Good Night." So let's kill Insulation and keep Northampton but erase Northampton's lead vocal. I have a mix of just the instrumental track to that song and it works on its own (except the bridge, again) because Paul's drumming is so creative throughout. Blended with your fluid bassline and Ari's riff, it stands on its own as an instrumental. Fallin' 4 U is superfluous- it's one Ari song too many at this point and coming after the similarly wimpy Player Piano, it's even less necessary. (If it led off a real Side 2, that'd be a different story- stupid CDs with their one long program of songs). But if I have to kill one Henning song for symmetry, I guess I'll let Let You Go go anyway. I know both that one and Motion Sickness embarrass you all these years later (and they should, compared to the stuff you've written since then). What else? Believe it or not, I'm killing Greyhound! I know I've already axed the hit Insulation but I prefer Ari's trio of ballads (1992, Feverish, Freezer) to this Nirvana rip and Strangel's too clutch for the album plus I have a weak spot for the poppy Mysterina. But it would be sacrilege to keep both Victorian AND Mysterina (at least Ari would think so) so let's kill one of them (either one).

So that means goodbye to Meandering, Greyhound, Insulation, Fallin 4 u, Let You Go, Crabcakes and Victorian. Voila, a more manageable 14-song album. But we're left with 3 of Ari's songs being ballads, me only "singing" one of my 5 contributions (Packy is spoken, Sycophant screamed, Beth sings Mouth and Northampton is now an instrumental) and the overall album is missing two of its proven hit songs and now is filled with more basic "album tracks" like Packy Run, Motion Sickness, Freezer, Feverish etc.- songs that fit into the 20-track album well but become too prominent on an album of just 14. We'd be missing the energy of Greyhound, Crabcakes and Meandering, the colors that Insulation, Crabcakes and Victorian provide to the overall picture. See? It's just lacking. I dunno- I'd be curious to hear what 7 songs you'd axe. And what would you yank form The White Album too, while you're exercising your creative pruning skills?

(My edited White Album kills Glass Onion, Wild Honey Pie, Bungalow Bill, Piggies, Rocky Raccoon, Don't Pass Me By, Why Don't We Do It, Birthday, Yer Blues, Revolution 1, Honey Pie, Savoy Truffle, Cry Baby Cry- but that still leaves 17 songs, one of which (Revolution 9) is eight minutes long! I just don't know what else I'd want excised- I'm already missing Cry Baby Cry (but not Rocky Raccoon, that piece-a-gabbage).