Rick Beato... yeah or nay?

[Vic2012]

accompanied by either a photo of the YT personality pulling a ridiculous face,

Usually wearing a backwards ball cap too. When will the cliche end? SMH.

[Progatron]

^Maaan, I never watch "unboxing" videos.

I suppose the original intent made sense, since people might have been interested in the contents of actual boxed sets before they decided if they were worth sinking money into. Or even if they never planned on buying them, but were simply curious enough to want a peek inside. But like everything else, they became ridiculous, with people 'unboxing' standard LPs and CDs, often with such informative commentary as 'Here's the booklet' or 'Now I'll read out the track titles'.

[Jerjo]

[Trane]

I've wondered about this as well. A lot of the smaller guys drop off after a while, once they realize they have to incessantly 'create content' (I loathe that term) in order to maintain even a modicum of interest. But even the bigger ones now have a ton of competition. After all, there are only so many hours in the day, and how much time can people devote to sitting and watching someone else talk about music over and over again, rather than just listening to it themselves? My social media feeds are jammed full of these faces all wanting me to 'like and subscribe', and the vast majority of them are offering the same themes: fairly shallow reviews, 'unboxings' (a term which apparently now even applies to a jewel case CD), lists/rankings of the same old bands/albums ad nauseum... etc. And it doesn't help that so many of these thumbnails are now plastered with tabloid clickbait headlines: 'THICK AS A BRICK: IS IT REALLY THAT GOOD?' - accompanied by either a photo of the YT personality pulling a ridiculous face, or a screenshot of the panel all laughing together.

I've never subscribe and "like" anything, especially if it's a google thing (YT = G). I've spent two years kicking G and the flurry of invasive cookies out of my laptop and still be able to profit from YT adfree.The only case where I considered doing it was for Rael74's rockumentary, but I will send him money instead (like I do here and for G2K)

Sure I've watched some board games tutorials with a prefered YT channel presenter (for technical or filming/angles choices), but it was sporadic and never followed them because "I was a fan" or sumthin'...
These guys are sent a whole bunch of games or merchendises and can be honest about what they really think, but TBH, I feel like that's the same from a would-be Kardashan lookalike tart selling a clothe or handbag or jewelry, it's just commerce.

I did watch (like most everyone here, I guess) of some of these megabox unboxing vids (Caravan, Floyd Early Years, Tangerine's Hades, etc...) of a few years ago, but it didn't really influence of change my mind.

[Rarebird]

LOL

[battema]

Sigh...what the hell, I'll stick my neck out and pile on.

YouTube has become like Spotify for me: at the core, it is a competitive model. You have to ask/beg/demand likes, subscribes, listens and pre-saves because you're trying to coax an algorithm to show YOUR stuff ahead of the thousands/millions(/billions?) of others who are also making stuff and who ALSO are trying to coax the algorithm to do the same. As was said above, for me the model turns art into content, prioritizes quantity over quality and puts creative people in a contest.

[bondegezou]

you'd expect that enthousiastically aggressive tone & volume from a metalhead, not a proghead.


But then again, I'm not into these opinion-splattering videos (that includes Pardo, and ZombieWoof), as if doing that was making you an authority on the matter.
I'd probably say the same for Popoff's videos if I was into metal music, though he has written a few books (only read his first, which was a disgrace spellin-, syntax- and grammatical-wise) , which does make him an expert of sorts.
I did make an exception for the Tonar/Leroy/Gezou series for Yes, but it was so much more than animating a list of whatevers.

All the more power to them if it works, but no thx for me.

Tonar/Leroy/Gezou is the best YouTube content, for sure. I bet David Gilmour would want to talk to us.

[Sean]

We wouldn't even bring up Roger. ;-)

[markwoll]

[Dok]

https://www.instagram.com/p/DCPYoNyRk05/

[happytheman]

I see where he sat down with Rick Wakeman..

[Man In The Mountain]

I see where he sat down with Rick Wakeman..

From beginning to end. Fantastic, A+

[Mr.Krautman]

From beginning to end. Fantastic, A+

I fully concur.
Rick (W) is a fantastic story teller and Beato is never as good as when he lets others talk.
These 1:30' have passed much faster than I initially thought and a pure joy from start to end. No way to pause.
Don't miss this, WATCH !

[zeprogmeister]

A lot of great stories from Rick on this one.

[bondegezou]

A lot of great stories from Rick on this one.

Are they (a) true, and (b) different to what he's said many times before?

[Mr.Krautman]

Are they (a) true, and (b) different to what he's said many times before?

(a): there's no way to ascertain everything, but this is true for ALL artists interviews.

(b): some anecdotes I've heard before, many others were new to me, as well as some technical details, etc... but I admit I haven't seen ALL R.W's past interviews to compare !

[happytheman]

Are they (a) true, and (b) different to what he's said many times before?

It's been a while since I read Say Yes but I had heard several of these stories before.. session work etc. When he got into the bit about the Fragile writing sessions he shed some light on a few areas I hadn't heard.. the bit about Roundabout keyboard solo being a one take as well as the CTTE solo. Then the bit about having to go back and "learn" the solo because in his mind it was a solo.. subject to how he felt at the time he played it.. didn't realize the fans would give him hell for not nailing it every night.. I'll admit I have the one at the end of RSOG set in stone and when I hear him muck it up on various live versions it bugs me.. oh well.. But like others I really enjoyed the laid back energy that Rick (Beato) cultivated so it was more of a conversation vs. a list of questions to be answered.

[markowitz]

Good watch and great storytelling. Thanks!

[Batchman]

I had never been aware of the connection between "Catherine Howard" and "Morning Has Broken" until I heard Wakeman's story about the latter on this video. He didn't mention the former but it was clear when he played.

[zeprogmeister]

A lot of stories about the early session days, I hadn't heard these before but I haven't read/heard all his interviews.

[Mascodagama]

I only just got around to watching the interview he did with Pat Metheny in 2021:



One of the best things I've ever watched on music. Gripe as we may about some of what Beato does, stuff like this is gold and I'm grateful for it.

Fascinating to hear Pat in a context where he can talk at such length - a guy who has thought deeply about his art and craft, and can articulate every aspect of it. I actually paused the tape a couple of times to go and buy a Metheny CD I didn't already have. And I can see myself going back to watch the whole thing again.

[Sean]

Are they (a) true, and (b) different to what he's said many times before?

I definitely heard some new ones. Most of the chat is about his days as a studio player before he joined Yes. The most amusing is him meeting Thomas Goth, the harpsicord builder, and getting to know him. He winds up going to his place and the Queen Mother just happens to be there that day. Then, they get to Yes and he plays and breaks down solos to Roundabout and a bit of Close To The Edge.

[Mister Triscuits]

Thomas Goth, the harpsicord builder

Thomas Goff

[Sean]

Thanks. I knew that and spelled it wrong anyway.

[Sean]

I might confuse him with Goff Downes.