I like very much Sydney 86. Of course too short but tight version. And this sort of abrupt start "waouh", no boring intro, straight to the thing.
I see what you mean, but I wouldn't call the TOL intro "boring"
Indeed, I loved in the intro. Terry's powerful drums, then Chris on his sax followed by Mark doing some wonderful improvisation - never the same twice. Great and powerful. Impact, followed by near silence as they brought it down to a whisper, then Mark would play little pieces and talk about the Spanish City etc. What's not to like about that? Talk about setting the mood! Sheer brilliance.
Agreed, dmg, this intro is fab, both on the LOG tour and on the BIA tour; I prefer the BIA tour overall for this intro, for one reason - the synth sound to help the guitar gives a nice romantic touch, probably by Guy Fletcher ? one positive influence
on Alchemy without synth it sounds a bit dry, all the more that the guitar tone is stronger. But still, Alchemy strong point is the longer sax intro... I undertood some call it the "Portobello outro" instead, but come on, this sax part coming after the band intros, and after the carribean vibes (which can still be heard on the CD, but not on the video, probably for the better), I have troubles calling it an "outro"
Also, Terry's overdriven-to-death drums at the beginning in the BIA tour are really too much, I prefer the link with the sax part of Alchemy...
Oh well, matter of tastes, all these versions are fab in the own sweet way ! Watching Alchemy one now, really love it...
btw what do you think of the studio version ? I really love it, simple and clean sound, I think the MM record was really well produced... and I think the studio version is better than the OL tour version, where the guitar is too soft, falls flat, and is out of tune at the end, as already spotted.
As for Sydney'86, I stand by my opinion that it is not my favourite (although very nice too). It is too short, the band is tired, the guitar tone falls a bit flat compared to Wembley, and the solo, alhtough longer than Alchemy, is less convincing that both Alchemy (short and efficient) and Wembley (long but very well built).
(I'm always quoting Wembley/Sydney because I prefer watching videos than listen to pure sound, and these are the only two available. Houston sounds similar to Wembley anyway).
