Talk:Rock Bottom (album)

Infobox

I've added a whole bunch of information and an infobox, but don't have a link to a fair use cover scan or any external review links... Fosse8 16:34, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Cover image and external review added. --BNutzer 17:59, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

Wow, that was impressively fast...! Fosse8 20:48, 1 May 2006 (UTC)

which floor have he fallen from?

did he fall from the third or fourth floor?

here [1] it is written 3rd floor

and here [2] it is written 4th floor.

which is true?

A UK third floor window is the same as a US fourth floor window, so maybe the 'Rock Bottom' entry was written by an American and the 'Robert Wyatt' entry written by a Briton? Halmyre (talk) 16:46, 12 December 2007 (UTC)

More on floor 4

4th according to episode 3 of abridgement of his biography which was written by Marcus O'Dair who appears to be from the UK.

Earcanal (talk) 10:10, 7 January 2015 (UTC)

Album Reviews

Why was the Pitchfork review deleted? Just because the rating is considerably lower than the others? It's a well-known publication, and it seems biased to only include favorable reviews. I'd like to add it again unless there is a good reason not to. Cromni (talk) 00:36, 17 January 2010 (UTC)

Personally, I have a problem with the Pitchfork reviews of his albums, not necessarily because of the low ratings, but because they seem to want to review them as if they were "indie rock" albums, (or at least some sort of pop-rock subgenre) instead of the more jazz-related albums that they are. This is especially true of his post-1970s work. That being said, such a review shouldn't necessarily be deleted, but it's something to think about anyway. 74.130.253.223 (talk) 20:22, 19 February 2010 (UTC)

Also, the inclusion of a negative review should also be reflected in the Reception segment. As of now, it is not and so the entry is not very balanced or organized. —Preceding unsigned comment added by WestArcherLives (talk • contribs) 08:42, 11 March 2010 (UTC)

Audio clip

Would anyone object to an audio clip. Is the existing mention of ""Sea Song" sufficient to support one? Open to any and all other suggestions. Thanks. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:47, 5 July 2018 (UTC)

@Martinevans123: As you've probably noticed from my tentative steps to beef up a bibliography section, I'm going to tackle an expansion of the article soon. I think "Sea Song" is the best candidate for a first audio clip, and once it's expanded we could probably include a sample from a second song. Every song on the album is over 5:00, so the sample policy could justify up to 30 seconds of any one of them. As far as which segment of "Sea Song": normally I wouldn't propose using the first 30 seconds of a song, but 0:00–0:30 gets us right to "You look different every time," which seems perfect. Other good snippets could be sometime just before "we're not alone" leads into the vocalizing in the outro (~3:45–4:15), or maybe the jazzy bit after "please smile" leading into a few lines of the second verse (~2:20–2:50). —BLZ · talk 22:16, 5 July 2018 (UTC)

All excellent suggestions. Perhaps 30-second clips are a bit pointless with an album like this, of course. A bit like just showing a few strands of hair. I await your expansion with interest. In my opinion, this is one of the finest albums ever recorded. Martinevans123 (talk) 22:23, 5 July 2018 (UTC)

I agree completely, it's one of the very best rock albums. Once the article's written out a bit more, I'll have a better sense of which portions of the songs are most singled out for critical commentary, but there is something compelling about giving just the first 30 seconds for an album like this. If there's a second sample down the line, some good candidates could be the middle of "Little Red Riding Hood Hit the Road" (where it reverses) or any of Ivor Cutler's vocals. I almost wish there were some way to put "Alifib" and "Alifie" side-by-side for comparison, but that would get a bit excessive.

More thoughts about possible media to include (taking notes so I remember later): this poster (promoting the 1974 Drury Lane concert, Rock Bottom, and "I'm a Believer") is terrific, with every band member in a wheelchair. The image itself is discussed in sources and the same photo ran on the cover of NME, so I think it could reasonably be included in a section about the release and marketing of the album. Runner-up goes to the iconic image of Wyatt as a gnome in this magazine ad. The gnome image is also discussed in some sources and doubled as the eventual cover for the live album of the Drury Lane concert, but it doesn't feel quite as impactful or interesting as the band sitting in wheelchairs in solidarity with Wyatt.

Another unrelated thought: as I'm reading through sources, it feels like it'd be logical to put an in-depth section about the "I'm a Believer" single here rather than, say, at the actual "I'm a Believer" article. I didn't realize how much "I'm a Believer"—even as a stand-alone, non-album cover song—was tied into the Rock Bottom promo cycle and born out of the label's desire for a marketable single from Wyatt at that time. Anyway, it makes more sense to write about it here than to flesh out a history of Wyatt's "I'm a Believer" shoehorned between the Monkees and Smash Mouth. —BLZ · talk 20:56, 6 July 2018 (UTC)

Agree about the wheelchairs. Agree about the posters. Agree about the single (I still have my copy). It's very comforting to see someone approaching audio clips the correct way. My approach is to add what I think is a fair example of the album/artist and then search in retrospect for a supporting critical discussion after. Which explains all those B-Bot notifications on my Talk page lol. As a totally biased audiophile, I'm often left wondering "what's the point of these wordy critical reviews?" - the only truth is in the music itself - that's what the reader should be able to hear at one clic. Martinevans123 (talk) 21:05, 6 July 2018 (UTC) (... or at least those readers who are able to hear.)

@Martinevans123: You may have seen by now, but after sifting through all the Rock Bottom material I decided to start at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane 8th September 1974 concert and work from there. I created and expanded that article with the idea that there will eventually be a subsection here about the concert, maybe a paragraph long or so; that way the eventual "Main article:" template has somewhere to link out to. I've already added a music sample to that page, also for "Sea Song", and I chose the very tail end of the track for that page.

Btw, thanks for the rec. Berlin School-style electronics stuff can be hit or miss for me, especially if it's all plastic synth arpeggios all the time, but I like how that blended a range of other sounds, it felt very organic and alive. —BLZ · talk 01:11, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Thanks for adding the sample there, BLZ. And well done with Theatre Royal Drury Lane 8th September 1974, which is a great article. I'm sure it will pass WP:GA without too much trouble. Glad you enjoyed the Franco Battiato. Martinevans123 (talk) 09:10, 22 July 2018 (UTC)

Music and lyrics

Yes, it is unsourced, and some is just opinion. But it all sounds quite accurate and some of it could be easily sourced. So just saving a record here and here. Martinevans123 (talk) 13:52, 17 August 2021 (UTC)

Alife/Alifie

On some pressings the track is called "Alife", on others "Alifie". How do we deal with this? Is there a source that defines one of these as a misprint? Is there a source that declares one of these is the "correct" one? (See this change.) Mark in wiki (talk) 16:28, 14 May 2022 (UTC)

On the initial release, the track is titled "Alifie" on the label (and he sings the title as "Alifie" in the song), but a misprint identifies it as "Alife" on the cover. ASCAP's repertory database confirms that the correct title is "Alifie," and they have no Wyatt-related songs under the title "Alife"- about as close to a definitive source as one can get, or at least one who isn't a registered PRS member can get (unlike ASCAP/BMI, one has to be a registered member to search their database). Some reissues have gone with "Alifie," some with "Alife." For the purposes of this article, I think we want to go with the "more official" name; I've edited the article such that the track is titled "Alifie," with an explanatory footnote about the title confusion. Yspaddadenpenkawr (talk) 22:33, 18 August 2022 (UTC)

need more important reviews

Christgau is an unimportant nobody that just happened to get a regular gig for a few years - where are the Rolling Stone and New Musical Express views of the album? And other important/notable comments? This album had a fairly large amount of press at the time. 2603:6080:21F0:6140:18B3:B154:5009:231 (talk) 13:55, 29 December 2023 (UTC)