This is the best statement of RS' musical instinct: from the first demo of Plastic Passion to Siamese Twins and finally to A Night Like This - one and the same chord progression in punk, in goth and in pop. That's what makes these songs so amazing: they always have a sense of urgency, and in their happiest moments, have a tear on their sleeve, just as in the gloomiest moments, there is always a small bit of hope.
Haunting. I just watched Siamese Twins video 2002 Berlin....the comparison is equally intense. What is amazing is that Robert was only 21 when he wrote this. His delivery is incredible.
It was gonna be the last album. In a way it was. In those days all bands split up. The UKs other great album of 1982, Hex Enduction Hour by the Fall, was recorded in identical circumstances. I think they threw everything at them. Being a rock star wasn't necessarily a lifetime job in those days, especially if you were even vaguely associated with punk. This couldve been their final artistic statements.
This song is intense... way better than the album version. The guitar is some of Robert's best. The Figurehead from peel as well I always thought The Figure B/W Siamese Twins should have been the single from Pornography. The DJs would have had a meltdown😂
Sounds like a flanger pedal into a chorus effect. He used a Roland JC120 amp at that time which has a built-in chorus effect. You could use any basic chorus pedal, like a Boss chorus, if you don’t have a JC amp. So guitar > flanger > chorus > clean amp.
@tbeat03, first thing to know : Smith used his Ovation Breadwinner quite a lot for all his Pornography demos and on the official LP too. This guitar allows a full array of different sounds that can't be reached with a Jazzmaster. Pushing the trebble on this guitar can get these particular harmonics ringing sound. Second thing : despite having used his Roland in 1981 along his Peavey rig (JC-160, not JC-120 which was only used for some gigs in 1980, but that was it), he quickly chose his Peavey Musician Mk III + Peavey 412F cabinet for Pornography. As for effects, Smith used an Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, a MXR M117 flanger, a Boss CE-2 (often taped to his amp head) and most certainly a Boss DS-1. During the 1981 Picture Tour, a Boss BF-2 flanger could also be seen taped to the top of his Roland JC-160 as well as during the Parisian 1982 Davout sessions. As for the way to get these harmonics sounding as such, use the following effects : delay (yeah strange, but Smith used his delay at the beginning of his effects chain up to 1984), flanger (either BF-2 or M117), chorus (CE-2). All of this feeding is Peavey amp. But quite simply, to even make things richer, I really think he played natural harmonics for the LP, so yeah, certainly with a detuned guitar. On Siamese Twins, there are up to 4 different stacked guitar tracks at some points of the song. Hope it helps.
This is the best statement of RS' musical instinct: from the first demo of Plastic Passion to Siamese Twins and finally to A Night Like This - one and the same chord progression in punk, in goth and in pop. That's what makes these songs so amazing: they always have a sense of urgency, and in their happiest moments, have a tear on their sleeve, just as in the gloomiest moments, there is always a small bit of hope.
Haunting. I just watched Siamese Twins video 2002 Berlin....the comparison is equally intense. What is amazing is that Robert was only 21 when he wrote this. His delivery is incredible.
It was gonna be the last album. In a way it was. In those days all bands split up. The UKs other great album of 1982, Hex Enduction Hour by the Fall, was recorded in identical circumstances. I think they threw everything at them. Being a rock star wasn't necessarily a lifetime job in those days, especially if you were even vaguely associated with punk. This couldve been their final artistic statements.
A gem.
This song is intense... way better than the album version. The guitar is some of Robert's best. The Figurehead from peel as well I always thought The Figure B/W Siamese Twins should have been the single from Pornography. The DJs would have had a meltdown😂
For me, the Peel recordings of these two songs probably get more play than anything else they've ever done. Such a snapshot in time.
it's not a sports contest? 'better' 'best' ffs. what are you, a teacher or something?
Thank you for this version.
The incurable Cure, beautiful👍
Wonderful
🥰
Robert's guitar sounds like on the record, giving those harmonicas that sounds like shining blades. What kind of effects could reproduce that?
Sounds like a flanger pedal into a chorus effect. He used a Roland JC120 amp at that time which has a built-in chorus effect. You could use any basic chorus pedal, like a Boss chorus, if you don’t have a JC amp. So guitar > flanger > chorus > clean amp.
@tbeat03, first thing to know : Smith used his Ovation Breadwinner quite a lot for all his Pornography demos and on the official LP too. This guitar allows a full array of different sounds that can't be reached with a Jazzmaster. Pushing the trebble on this guitar can get these particular harmonics ringing sound.
Second thing : despite having used his Roland in 1981 along his Peavey rig (JC-160, not JC-120 which was only used for some gigs in 1980, but that was it), he quickly chose his Peavey Musician Mk III + Peavey 412F cabinet for Pornography. As for effects, Smith used an Electro Harmonix Deluxe Memory Man, a MXR M117 flanger, a Boss CE-2 (often taped to his amp head) and most certainly a Boss DS-1. During the 1981 Picture Tour, a Boss BF-2 flanger could also be seen taped to the top of his Roland JC-160 as well as during the Parisian 1982 Davout sessions.
As for the way to get these harmonics sounding as such, use the following effects : delay (yeah strange, but Smith used his delay at the beginning of his effects chain up to 1984), flanger (either BF-2 or M117), chorus (CE-2). All of this feeding is Peavey amp. But quite simply, to even make things richer, I really think he played natural harmonics for the LP, so yeah, certainly with a detuned guitar. On Siamese Twins, there are up to 4 different stacked guitar tracks at some points of the song.
Hope it helps.