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April 5, 2018 10:42 PM   Subscribe

 
Relistening to it tonight I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is a prog-pop album. Of high quality.

We had a lot of those in the 80s, really, when you think about it.
posted by hippybear at 11:07 PM on April 5, 2018 [1 favorite]




Sorry, couldn't resist, carry on...
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:30 PM on April 5, 2018


I thought I fired you months ago, if not years.
posted by hippybear at 11:31 PM on April 5, 2018


Pfft - like that'd keep me from showing up.
posted by Greg_Ace at 11:40 PM on April 5, 2018 [4 favorites]


Some above-average songs and strong production make this a very listenable and enjoyable Fogelberg album but somehow, in my opinion at least, it hasn't aged particularly gracefully. It's a strong album but it always seems a bit stuck temporally -- very much a product of its time and never destined to be a timeless classic.

And though I do enjoy it, I can never quite escape feeling like it's a guilty pleasure, though at the same time I can't figure out why it should feel that way.
posted by Nerd of the North at 11:58 PM on April 5, 2018


it always seems a bit stuck temporally -- very much a product of its time

Nothing wrong with that -- some art is destined to be reminder of when it was made.
posted by wolpfack at 5:01 AM on April 6, 2018


Oh, dang. That voice ... I loved Souvenirs the most, but his albums with Tim Weisberg were also awesome.

Thanks.
posted by allthinky at 5:11 AM on April 6, 2018


Who the dickens is Dan Fogerburp??

Every time I hear his name, I cross him up with former CCR frontman and noteworthy jerkpants John Fogerty. Then I remind myself that they are not the same man, and then I remember this story, and I smile.
posted by middleclasstool at 5:25 AM on April 6, 2018 [2 favorites]


And the musac at work is playing one of these songs. I bought the vinyl back in the day, and enjoy it....but...it's starting to wear on me when on constant repeat.
posted by mightshould at 6:51 AM on April 6, 2018


Nice one. Thank you.
posted by james33 at 7:22 AM on April 6, 2018


If I were twenty years younger, I'd get "Dan Fogerburp" tattooed on my nether lands.

I'm going to go out on a limb and say this is a prog-pop album.

There's nothing at all "prog" about Nether Lands. It's a solid slice of post-Eagles/Jackson Browne folk-rock with a couple of nods to pop orchestration—"Nether Lands," particularly—a faint bit of Hollies on "Lessons Learned" and the very Elton-ish piano rocker, "Love Gone By." The flutes, percussion, and classical guitar on "Give Me Some Time" sound like nothing else on the record, but its quasi-Balearic vibe make it my own favorite. "Dancing Shoes" and "Scarecrow's Dream" seem the most Fogelberg-ian cuts here, pointing the way toward The Innocent Age.

Of The Innocent Age, Alfred Soto had a great line recently, "... as a diagnosis of pre-Big Chill weltschmerz, captured in period Ann Beattie short stories, “Same Old Lang Syne” beats Henley-Frey, Van Morrison, and Rod Stewart for truth."

And speaking of "Same Auld Lang Syne," no one's ever evoked that song's peculiar mixture of pathos and hilarity better than Kiki and Herb ...
posted by octobersurprise at 8:25 AM on April 6, 2018


Damn, making out to Dan Fogerburp, now that takes me back... yeah, I'm pretty old.
posted by e1c at 8:28 AM on April 6, 2018 [1 favorite]


And speaking of "Same Auld Lang Syne," ...

... it's a little too full of the aforementioned pathos for my taste, but I could listen to Michael Brecker's soulful graceful soprano sax solo in the last minute of the song over and over again.
posted by Greg_Ace at 8:34 AM on April 6, 2018


Thanks for posting this. Nether Lands was part of the soundtrack of my 18th year. A stunning album.
posted by essexjan at 3:26 PM on April 6, 2018


The student Union at VU in the late 70's had a Dining area that was high backed wooden booths. Besides the usual scratched doodles, some poor soul made it their life's purpose to cover the seat backs, table tops, and benches with Folgerberg lyrics.

To my 18 year old mind that made everything Folgerberg pathetically trite and sobby slobbery. I never saw who was responsible but I am fairly certain it was someone in an overstretched cowl neck sweater that doubled to wipe away the tears of anguish and longing.

I hope the "engraver" has permanent carpal tunnel damage from their efforts. My boyfriend ( now husband) made it a point to NEVER sit in one of those sappy booths.

His music was fine, we just associated it with some sad, lonely loser with strong wrists.
posted by moonlily at 5:30 PM on April 6, 2018


Dan Fogelberg opened for the Eagles on their Hotel California tour (along with Linda Ronstadt). I saw it at Arrowhead stadium in Kansas City. As I recall, the truck with all of Dan's band's gear got lost and Fogelberg wound up doing a solo acoustic set of this album. Ronstadt's sets were great. The Eagles were awesome. The best part though was at the end of the whole show. As the crowd was leaving they started playing "The Load Out" over the sound system and I realized that it was actually Jackson Brown onstage playing. Everybody went back to their seats and got another twenty minute encore.
posted by DaddyNewt at 7:30 PM on April 6, 2018


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