Shangri La Dee Da Topic

[Stop That Pigeon]

i cannot help but feel bad listening to SLDD... this is such an AMAZING album and they did not receive the recognition that they should have during this era (2001-2002) for producing such a masterpiece of an album...

Precisely. Think about it - what other band in rock history could have been in the position to say, "You know what? "Samba Nova"? "About A Fool"? Let's cut 'em, we don't need them."

Incredible, absolutely stunning quality throughout from all 4 members imo.

[soxstpfan]

Yeah STP definitely didn't belong in the Family Values Tour. I feel like they were so out of place surrounded by all that mediocre nu metal.

Agreed, 100%.  Even back then, everyone was questioning why they chose to play on that tour.  Sitting through show after show of all that shit was painful to say the least.

It was like that old Sesame Street bit "One of these things is not like the others".... because one of those things (STP) was awesome, and the others were the musical eqvialent of diarrhea

[andrewivanhayes]

this album should have gone on-and-on because of the potential singles....

I always thought that after the lead single, DOTW, that this should have been the subsequent release order:

1) Days of the Week (lead)
2) Hollywood Bitch (follow-up)
3) Wonderful
4) Coma
5) Transmissions
6) Too Cool Queenie

in the event that the subsequent singles had a shorter life than Atlantic's marketing department anticipated, than they could have pushed the next single to radio ahead of time... Clearly Atlantic threw a classic album away causing the loss of significant sales revenue and also caused a great deal of turnbulence in the band in the process

[soxstpfan]

I realize that this topic is over four years old. (However, I have over 2000 posts, so I can do as I please   ) Plus, we have some new people here, so it would be interesting to get their take on it. I took Sean's playlist that he created and added it to my iTUNES library months ago. I can honestly say I've listened to this tracklisting much more then the actual SLDD album itself. What does everyone else think of this alternative track listing?

1. Transmissions from a Lonely Room
2. Hello It's Late
3. You Can't Drive Me Away
4. Too Cool Queenie
5. Heed The Water Whisperer
6. Samba Nova
7. Bi- Polar Bear
8. Wonderful
9. About a Fool
10. Learning to Drive

Nice! Went and made this as a new playlist, and I have to agree with you, It just has a better flow and seems like a more cohesive album

[T-Bone]

I loved this album!  I do agree that the order of songs could have been arranged in a much better order and some of the cut songs could have replaced some of the existing tracks.  I worked at FYE when this came out and played it continually in the store.  I remember being disappointed because we didn't sell many of them at the time.

[andrew]

this album should have gone on-and-on because of the potential singles....

I always thought that after the lead single, DOTW, that this should have been the subsequent release order:

1) Days of the Week (lead)
2) Hollywood Bitch (follow-up)
3) Wonderful
4) Coma
5) Transmissions
6) Too Cool Queenie

in the event that the subsequent singles had a shorter life than Atlantic's marketing department anticipated, than they could have pushed the next single to radio ahead of time... Clearly Atlantic threw a classic album away causing the loss of significant sales revenue and also caused a great deal of turnbulence in the band in the process

They did release Days Of The Week as the first single, and Hollywood Bitch as the second, and then they didn't release anymore after that, so I'm pretty sure your idea of releasing the same first 2 singles that the band released in real life wouldn't work.

It should have been Coma first, and then Transmissions From A Lonely Room second.

They released a pop song followed by an abrasive rocker, and I think if they released Coma followed by Transmissions, they could have picked the 3rd single based off of if people liked the rocker, or the poppier Transmissions better.

It really should have just been a double album. One hard disc, and one disc with the mellow songs.

[loungefly611]

It really should have just been a double album. One hard disc, and one disc with the mellow songs.

I think that was the plan until the label nixed it. Or was that for No. 4?

I think that Too Cool Queenie should have been the lead single. Coma would be killer, but I think that it's a bit deceptive considering the rest of the material from the album doesn't sound like it. (Not including Dumb Love of course) Hollywood Bitch would have made a killer follow-up single.

I could talk about the complete botch job that Atlantic did with SLDD all freaking day. It just sucks what they did to a fine piece of work.

[andrew]

It really should have just been a double album. One hard disc, and one disc with the mellow songs.

I think that was the plan until the label nixed it. Or was that for No. 4?

I think that Too Cool Queenie should have been the lead single. Coma would be killer, but I think that it's a bit deceptive considering the rest of the material from the album doesn't sound like it. (Not including Dumb Love of course) Hollywood Bitch would have made a killer follow-up single.

I could talk about the complete botch job that Atlantic did with SLDD all freaking day. It just sucks what they did to a fine piece of work.

It was SLDDDDDDDDDD. It was a fine piece of work, but it doesn't flow like it should. There should have been the rock disc, and the quiet disc. Hollywood Bitch followed by Wonderful? It could be two different bands performing those songs....

[loungefly611]

It really should have just been a double album. One hard disc, and one disc with the mellow songs.

I think that was the plan until the label nixed it. Or was that for No. 4?

I think that Too Cool Queenie should have been the lead single. Coma would be killer, but I think that it's a bit deceptive considering the rest of the material from the album doesn't sound like it. (Not including Dumb Love of course) Hollywood Bitch would have made a killer follow-up single.

I could talk about the complete botch job that Atlantic did with SLDD all freaking day. It just sucks what they did to a fine piece of work.

It was SLDDDDDDDDDD. It was a fine piece of work, but it doesn't flow like it should. There should have been the rock disc, and the quiet disc. Hollywood Bitch followed by Wonderful? It could be two different bands performing those songs....

I agree. I'll be the first to admit that the flow of that album sucks. While I think two discs would highlight both sides, all I think it would take would be add in a few of the b-sides, subtract some of the current tracks, rearrange the order, and we would have a killer album.

[andrewivanhayes]

there seems to be a tendency for the label to pull the plug on an album where the do not want to allocate any more financial resources to the project... but just because you do not see the return on investment from dollars spent on video production does not mean that marketing managers cannot continue to utilize their relationships with radio to push subsequent singles...

grass roots marketing has always moved units... they screwed themselves and the band on this album because it clearly had a longer shelf life than 2 singles... plus STP was highly publicized and televised during this period, having played a televised album release show in Toronto (Much Music)... headlined the Rolling Rock Town Fair in Latrobe, PA... and then headline the Bizarre Festival in Koln, Germany...

i remember being at Rolling Rock... people went absolutely bananas when STP came out and opened with "COMA"... that concert was broadcast live on PPV all over the world... Atlantic should have rushed "Coma" to radio on the following Monday...

You do not need an MBA to understand these basic concepts... perhaps these companies should start recruiting BE community members for senior management positions...

who knows, perhaps Me, H.Dillinger, VC, STB, 611, Gonzo, Aaron and a few others could become the Senior Operating Committee.

[andrew]

It really should have just been a double album. One hard disc, and one disc with the mellow songs.

I think that was the plan until the label nixed it. Or was that for No. 4?

I think that Too Cool Queenie should have been the lead single. Coma would be killer, but I think that it's a bit deceptive considering the rest of the material from the album doesn't sound like it. (Not including Dumb Love of course) Hollywood Bitch would have made a killer follow-up single.

I could talk about the complete botch job that Atlantic did with SLDD all freaking day. It just sucks what they did to a fine piece of work.

It was SLDDDDDDDDDD. It was a fine piece of work, but it doesn't flow like it should. There should have been the rock disc, and the quiet disc. Hollywood Bitch followed by Wonderful? It could be two different bands performing those songs....

I agree. I'll be the first to admit that the flow of that album sucks. While I think two discs would highlight both sides, all I think it would take would be add in a few of the b-sides, subtract some of the current tracks, rearrange the order, and we would have a killer album.

But your tracklisting doesn't have Coma! That's the best guitar solo everrrrrrrrrrrr.  

[T-Bone]

this album should have gone on-and-on because of the potential singles....

It should have been Coma first, and then Transmissions From A Lonely Room second.

They released a pop song followed by an abrasive rocker, and I think if they released Coma followed by Transmissions, they could have picked the 3rd single based off of if people liked the rocker, or the poppier Transmissions better.

It really should have just been a double album. One hard disc, and one disc with the mellow songs.

I like two things that you said about this album.  

First, I like having a different song for the first single.  I wasn't crazy about Days of the Week.  It's okay, but I must admit, I was disappointed when I heard it as the first single.  And besides, that song was intended for Sheryl Crow!

Second, I like the double album idea.  Even if the record compandy or the band didn't want to do this, I think it would have been great to release a more mellow e.p. such as AIC's did with Jar of Flies.  There were certainly some great B-sdes that could have made it on that disc as well.

[JohnL]

This album has gotten so much better with age. Black Again and Bi Polar Bear are such classic stp songs. Specifically, the sonic landscape that Robert creates with the autoharp, dean's acoustic and scott's vocal delivery on bi polar bear just kill me. The large, echoing drum part kretz plays is a perfect fit for the song.

[Casper]

I just popped it in the car today and I have to say even though I love it, it doesn't really flow all that great... The first half is fairly pop-rock oriented and the second half is very stoner, psychedelic.

[STPGurl]

This album has gotten so much better with age. Black Again and Bi Polar Bear are such classic stp songs. Specifically, the sonic landscape that Robert creates with the autoharp, dean's acoustic and scott's vocal delivery on bi polar bear just kill me. The large, echoing drum part kretz plays is a perfect fit for the song.

Yo John - how the hell are ya?  Long time no "see!"

I completely agree with you - SLDD's like a fine wine - better with age.  BPB wasn't something that impressed me much when the disc first came out - now it's a favorite.  Maybe it's that time has passed and it's grown on me, or maybe just that I'VE grown.  Though it's not my favorite album, I think it's their best to date because of that.