So how do you feel Privateering (album) is holding up?

[11-54_Stringcheese]

It's been some time now since its release. Do you still like it? Do you feel the blues numbers blend well with the other tracks? Should it have been release as a single disc?

[ingridswing]

I don't listen to albums a lot, only the first couple of months they are played. Later I prefer to listen to liverecordings.
I do like privateering, there are a few skippers for me, but also very great songs. For me it's not important that styles differ from song to song. When I play an album I play it in the right order and skip if I don't feel like hearing a particular song.

[dmg]

I think this is an excellent thread.  There is always excitement when a new album is released and that excitement perhaps clouds our judgement (well, I know it does mine) so to ask this question now the album has been out for a few years with the dust settled, it should yield more realistic reviews.

I am like Ingrid in that I don't listen to the albums much, preferring live recordings but when I do I find that I often wish this had been reduced to a single CD as there are a number of inferior songs.  If it had, it could have been a really good album.  I also have trouble with the blues numbers;  Don't Forget Your Hat could be the worst song he's ever written.  It does have some nice songs though:

Privateering
HA
CBC
YTC
KOG
Bluebird

[superval99]

I still enjoy Privateering, but as with all MK/DS albums I prefer listening to the live versions if possible, rather than the album version, but I can listen to the whole album without the need to skip any song, including all of the blues songs - I love the harmonica on those songs!   

An extra long single disc would probably have been the best option, as with Tracker, maybe!

[ingridswing]

I think this is an excellent thread.  There is always excitement when a new album is released and that excitement perhaps clouds our judgement (well, I know it does mine) so to ask this question now the album has been out for a few years with the dust settled, it should yield more realistic reviews.

I am like Ingrid in that I don't listen to the albums much, preferring live recordings but when I do I find that I often wish this had been reduced to a single CD as there are a number of inferior songs.  If it had been it could have been a really good album.  I also have trouble with the blues numbers.  Don't Forget Your Hat could be the worst song he's ever written.  It does have some nice songs though:

Privateering
HA
CBC
YTC
KOG
Bluebird

And a couple of bonussongs that I really like as well ;-)

[11-54_Stringcheese]

The blues numbers are not bad - some are great, Bluebird Cafe for instance - but they tend to sound a bit same-y. I also find the otherwise lovely Redbud Tree to be a strange choice for the opening track and also that it sticks out a bit in terms of sound, style and theme. After the beanstalk is one I easily could be without ...

All in all I think it's a fine record. Kind of fresh feel to it, which I like.

[goon525]

It's all very well preferring live recordings to the original studio album, but when - as with the last two albums - many of the best songs never get played live...

[11-54_Stringcheese]

Yes, often it's the "big ones" that get played live. More than often I find the not-so-popular songs to be true gems.

[dmg]

Yes, often it's the "big ones" that get played live. More than often I find the not-so-popular songs to be true gems.

That seems to be the case these days.  Not so before though.  Perhaps partly because the older albums had fewer (and usually longer) songs they always seemed to get a good amount of play on stage.  Indeed in DS there were very few songs never performed live:  Communiqué, Hand in Hand, My Parties and a couple from the EP but that was about it.

[herlock]

I like very much Yon Two Crows (a masterpiece, a shame that the live version with the fantastic solo was dropped after a few tries !), KOG (I prefer live of course for the amazing solo, but the studio one is nice too, even if too repetitive), Submariner (also a shame it was played only 4 times live), Redbud tree (same, not even played in Europe), and for the bonus ones I like very much "River of Grog" for its russian-like vibe.

I am tired of Privateering (starts nice but never take off), I used to could (cheap version of Two Young Lovers) and Corned Beef City (I can't believe that the man who wrote Telegraph Road also wrote these poor lyrics !), which unfortunately are the ones that Mark prefer to play live

Haul Away does little to me, same as Seattle. Radio City Serenade is not so bad.

For the rest, I'm not found of the blues stuff at all, so I seldom listen to these songs.

[ds1984]

Listened to it three times and it takes the dust since.

[dustyvalentino]

Haven't listened to it for a couple of years now.

[11-54_Stringcheese]

That coming from big fans says quite a lot.

[3Strats]

I  tend to listen to music mostly when I'm driving.  My last car had a 6 CD multi-changer which was always loaded with DS or MK albums on constant play, so all the albums got played regularly, Unfortunately my latest car doesn't have a CD multi changer so I tend to have one MP3 CD with 3 or 4 albums or 2 concerts on.  Due to that, and that alone, Privateering doesn't get as much play as it used to, although the Get Lucky, Privateering & Tracker tour MP3 s are on regular rotation.

[dustyvalentino]

That coming from big fans says quite a lot.

To be fair, there are a lot of MK/DS albums I haven't listened to for years.  Still love them though.  I think the older I get the more I realise life is short and there's a lot of great music out there that I've never heard.