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Author Topic: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway  (Read 11870 times)

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Bobber

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Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« on: October 17, 2011, 09:13:04 AM »

Big Barn Bed
Paul picked up the first line of this song from the reprise of Ram On from his album Ram. I have a soft spot for this song and really like it. Acoustic guitar sounds good and Denny's drumming is as good as ever. I have become a fan of his style in the past few weeks, that's for sure. Drumming along with bass line and an attacking little crash here and there. What's that 'ananda owie'? Is it English for something? It does get a little annoying in the end. Working towards the end the different harmonies are all there and make for a good finale. Even the end is good. Good song this.

My Love
The song that sold the album. I have heard this song so many times it hardly touches me anymore, but it remains a great song from the very beginning. A little fade in on the keyboards and that first piano chord. Wonderful stuff. Paul's voice is in great shape here. Henry's solo on the guitar justifies the idea of an extra leadguitarist in Wings. I still think it's one of the best solo's on a Paul McCartney record, tho I admit I have some listening to do in the coming months.

Get On The Right Thing
A Ram leftover, but it hardly shows it's a leftover for I think this is another great song. Maybe Paul is playing around with his voice a bit too much and he thought the same, but Denny Laine assured him it was alright. Great harmonies and strange sounds. Well done this. After these first three songs one could get the feeling that this is going to be a brilliant album. It's very promising so far. But here comes...

One More Kiss
...another Paul stinker. I am sure he can write a dozen songs like this in a day. Songs his dad likes. As far as I'm concerned, he got away with it while he was with the Beatles, but One More Kiss is too simplistic. Well produced tho, but this spot on the album should have been for one of the other songs that Paul skipped. I understood RRS was originally intended to be a double album, but it turned out to be a single one after all. Amongst the songs that were skipped were some good rockers and certainly a couple that are much better than, for instance, One More Kiss. For there's more dreadful stuff to come.

Little Lamb Dragonfly
That's not the case for Little Lamb Dragonfly, for I absolutely adore this song. Every chord is a hit for me. I've cried a million tears over the line 'How did two rights make a wrong' after another broken heart. It looks to be made up of two or three different parts, but Paul crafted these together to a great song in my humble opinion. Maybe the la-la-la's at the end are a bit too long (was Paul doing another Hey Jude here?), but it doesn't bother me.

Single Pigeon
A bit of a strange song; I don't really know what to think of it. It's pretty short as well. The introduction of the brass section at about 1.30 is a highlight, but it only takes about 20 seconds and then the song is over. A little filler and not a bad one.

When The Night
The echo in the harmony by Denny and Linda drives me crazy. After listening to it over and over again last week, this song became a certain skip. Paul lets his voice go loose towards the end and he really shouldn't, it doesn't make things any better.

Loup (The First Indian On The Moon)
What is this all about then? It should've fitted well on Paul's debut solo album, for it reminds me of the dreadful Kreen Akrore. From the first very notes I know this is not a good song. How come I know and Paul obviously didn't realise? Of course Paul can experiment as much as other do, but it turns out his experiments usually work out disastreous. This song is absolutely hopeless to my ears. Nimrod will probably like it. ha2ha

Medley: Hold Me Tight - Lazy Dynamite - Hands Of Love - Power Cut
Trying to redo the fabulous Abbey Road medley here? Funny thing is that another short song (Single Pigeon) could have its own place on the album, and some of these snippets were even longer than that song. Anyway: Hold Me Tight is of course not a redo of Pauls badly sung song from 1963, but it is equally in quality. Not very good and a similar start to the medley. Lazy Dynamite is a piece I would like to skip altogether. Is there something wrong with the reverb in the harmonies in the verse? It sounds awful to my ears. The transition to Hands Of Love is a joke. Hands Of Love itself is OK to my ears, but maybe that's just because I was glad I got rid of Lazy Dynamite. The last snippet, Power Cut, is, certainly in the first half, the most interesting part in this medley for me. There's some tension in this part that I like. Towards the end there's guitarsolo's with the melody of other songs in this medley. Yeah well, at this point I usually have heard enough of the medley and the complete album.

All in all an album with some very promising songs (1, 2, 3 and 5) and some depths (4, 7, 8 and parts of the medley). One could feel that Paul was working towards an album that would really matter. But this one is not it.
« Last Edit: October 18, 2011, 10:46:52 AM by Bobber »
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glass onion

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #1 on: October 17, 2011, 12:32:09 PM »

nice review,bobber,pretty much spot on.'red rose speedway' is not a paul album i play very regular.however,i think 'little lamb dragonfly' is my fave paul song ever.i absolutely adore that song,and for anybody that does not own this album,it is worth buying for that song alone.'big barn bed' is ok,'my love' is a paul classic,otherwise the album is patchy.i don't mind 'one more kiss',i can listen to that without much trouble.'when the night' is poor,though.so,join in then!!"......don't know why you hang around my door,i don't live here anymore....."pure class.
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tkitna

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #2 on: October 17, 2011, 08:49:42 PM »

Cant wait to review this one. This album catches some flack from a lot of people, but I always seemed to like it a bit more than most. Its been awhile since i've thrown this one in. Wonder if its lost any appeal?

Ollier

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #3 on: October 18, 2011, 12:52:10 AM »

The first time a heard this album I'd been punched in the face a few times the night before and I think it effected my judgement somewhat. Haven't really listened much too it... anywych this is my memories from this one...

Big Barn Bed, I like bass and drums, vocal sounds good to me. My Love, I think it's quite sweet, great solo and melody too. Little Lamb Dragonfly, the tune of the piece, sound vocals and melody kills. When The Night, sorta sounds better live in Newcastle. Loup, great bass, best stoned moment on the album.

Overall not the best but who am I to judge...

Better off listening to Hi Hi Hi / C Moon instead...
« Last Edit: October 18, 2011, 01:48:59 AM by Ollier »
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KelMar

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #4 on: October 18, 2011, 05:55:16 AM »

nice review,bobber,pretty much spot on.'red rose speedway' is not a paul album i play very regular.however,i think 'little lamb dragonfly' is my fave paul song ever.i absolutely adore that song,and for anybody that does not own this album,it is worth buying for that song alone.

I never heard this song before so I checked it out. I was kind of surprised to see it was over 6 minutes long but those minutes flew by. What a great song.
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Toejam

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #5 on: October 18, 2011, 03:08:30 PM »

I judged this one by it's cover which I think just screams 'This is an average album' and I remember being deeply unimpressed with it. I don't think I played it more than 4 or 5 times, if that and 'cause I sold virtually all my vinyl in the mid 90's I've only been hearing it again on y/t
1. Big Barn Bed -5 It's o.k when it's on but they're no getting away from it's overwhelming averagness
2. My Love -9. An effective slow and sensuous love song with a great catchy, gimmicky chorus( i mean that as a compliment).
3. Get On The Right Thing 7 It's a fairly good tune and a decent album track albeit one with a cliched rock-star-as-benevolent-fascist lyrical theme
4. One More Kiss -7 A nice moving little tune but the lyrics are trite even for RRS, which is saying something!!
5. Little Lamb Dragonfly -9 Ah! The notorius LLB. An infectious, perhaps uniquely,sentimental epic. I heard this on the radio one night and it was faded out 1/2 through so the BBC could announce the pope had died then it was faded back in!!  Is anyone that desperate to know that the pope, who everyone knew was at deaths door, had finally stepped through?
6. Single Pigeon -8 A sweetly melancholic coherent little ditty. The kinda Macca song that would be something of a classic if it'd turned up on the white album
7. When The Night -6 Again an OK song just a bit above average. It grows on you when you give it a chance and get caught up in it's mild drama but it's such a self plagiarm. The opening is almost the same as Little lamb dragonfly the bridge is exactly the same tune as Tomorrow from Wildlife and the rest got recylced later on as Call me back again on V&M
8. Loup (1st Indian On The Moon) -7 An effective mood peice but nothing that's not been done a million times by groups before and since. First take a minor chord then add...
9. Medley; - a) Hold Me Tight -7 An other ok toe-tapping tune with lyrics straight out of the cliche cabinet
 Lazy Dynamite -7 It's a bit better than the other average songs on here
c) Hands Of Love -5 Just another typical RRS average song
d) Power Cut –7 Yes, it's another Wings by numbers song
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Mr Mustard

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #6 on: October 18, 2011, 11:46:33 PM »

I’ll nail my colours to the mast straight away by declaring that I never liked this album. Apart from the strikingly eye catching cover it always struck me as an otherwise unmemorable, flabby collection of disappointingly average, instantly forgettable tracks. But I must confess that repeated listening does improve its standing.... a fraction. It will never be more than a very pedestrian effort from Paul, but the odd track manages to get through and grow on you after a while. It’s reputation is probably flattered coming as it does hard on the heels of the execrable “Wild Life”. By the same terms, in view of what was to follow it is hard for me to see this album as anything more than a stepping stone.

Big Barn Bed – Not too bad if a little arthritic in its repetition – a bit too much of a “chant” for my liking but the vocal blend is cooking along excellently by now. Plus a nicely coherent instrumental style which gives it a “Ram” flavour and that can only be good. Don’t like the abrupt ending.

My Love – Don't ever ask me why, I never could get by with "My Love". Hideous. Surely my least favourite of all his hits. There, I’ve said it! It’s difficult to put my finger on precisely why. The cloying sickliness.. the syrupy layers.. a substandard/boring vocal.. irritating backing... a gooey guitar solo.. sorry, but it always makes me feel like I’m stifling in bed with a fever and too many itchy blankets, all the curtains drawn shut and a bare 40watt light bulb shining right above me – even though it’s a bright sunny day outside.  Discomfort put to music. I’m serious; the track p*sses me off BIG time! The supposed showpiece of the abum, but a suffocating, horrible song as far as I’m concerned. Skip at all costs!

Get On The Right Thing – Another miss for me. Gropes around trying and failing to find a proper melody. It’s all over the place. Unusually the backing harmonies grate. Sorry Macca, you got on the wrong thing here - it's a mess.

One More Kiss – I have a soft spot for this one for no other reason than it has a (very) early Beatles ring to it. The sort of simplistic innocent number I can easily imagine Paul playing to John for the first time in Mimi’s porch circa 1958. An infectious little tune - I’m sure Paul could write harmless, charming songs like this every day. Why doesn’t he?

Little Lamb Dragonfly – A curious one... the “Little Lamb” opening I like, nice vocals and a soft, warm little melody – annoyingly its fragile beauty is quickly eclipsed by the clumsier but more turgidly overwhelming “Dragonfly” part which I just don’t care much for – Paul’s vocal becomes clunkier and the overall effect is of two mis-matched songs rather awkwardly glued together.

Single Pigeon – Probably my favourite song on the album, I’d forgotten how much I quite like this. It recalls to mind the deft beauty of “Junk” from his debut album - unfortunately it is similarly marred by a sudden, inconclusive ending. Nonetheless I like the simple piano accompaniment, the vocal interplay and Paul’s masterfully light touch. A nice poignant little song and a pleasingly succinct antidote to the sort of overlong repetition which he had a tendency to indulge in during this era.

When The Night –Bearable – I actually quite like the backing vocals – but the arthritis soon sets in again and we are left with a disappointing plodder replete with uninspired, excruciating “Moon ‘n’ June” type lyrics. You’ve heard worse yet you know he really can do so much better. Dull.

Loup (The First Indian On The Moon) – A simple but overlong dirge. No lyrics, just a sort of somnolent hum which I have to admit gets annoyingly trapped in my head, even if it does sound like the ominous build up to some sort of sinister ritual sacrifice. It’s peppered with irritatingly forgettable little sound experiments along the way aswell. Was there any point?

Medley: Hold Me Tight - Lazy Dynamite - Hands Of Love - Power Cut – It’s hard to digest the fact that the same man who crafted some sublime song suites managed to dish up this clumsily segued mongrel hotch-potch. “Hold Me Tight” manages to make its 1963 ‘With The Beatles’ namesake sound like a masterpiece, which it certainly was not. Staggeringly infantile to the point of embarrassment, it quickly gives way to the equally trite “Lazy Dynamite” in which the vocal mix just sounds plain wrong to me - sorry Paul, but this is rubbish and you must know it is. An inept, hamfisted transition stumbles into the more pleasing “Hands Of Love” which, whilst maintaining the almost nursery rhyme tweeness, redeems things a little thanks to a more perky rhythm and livelier vocals over a moderately catchy tune. The “medley” – actually more of a badly stitched together chimera – rounds off with the unremarkable “Power Cut” (yet another plodder) before having the cheek to patronisingly weave guitar motifs reviving the other medley numbers together as an afterthought in an insultingly weak final pay off.

Frustration and disappointment are the unpleasant aftertaste I am left with in conclusion.

You get the feeling Wings need a good shake up and a bit of tension to re-ignite their spark......  ;)
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tkitna

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #7 on: October 19, 2011, 05:07:07 PM »

Red Rose Speedway

Its been awhile since I’ve listened to this album (evidence by the dust I wiped off of it), but I always liked it well enough. Hopefully that’s still true.

Big Barn Bed - Love the harmonies in this song. Like the beat and how it does a little better than just plodding along. Acoustic guitar and bass sound great. Dennys playing is great as usual. Not a huge fan of the electric guitar tone, but its not awful. Piano is cool at the end. I like the song, but I’ll admit it’s a bit tedious after awhile. The harmonies truly save it for me. Decent enough.

My Love - A huge slice of cheese from Paul. Either you like it or you don’t. My wife and I had this as our wedding song, so you can guess where I lean. The song is just so full with the strings, harmonies, bass, and Pauls great voice. I think it sounds great. Production wise, they did a good job. Love the guitar solo. A song that deserves the recognition it received in my opinion. I love it.

Get On The Right Thing - I like this song too, but I’m having a hard time explaining why. I cant seem to find the words for some reason. I suppose its infectious with its many build ups and so forth, and the pounding drums that do it for me. The harmonies arent that great (too high in my opinion), but I think Pauls voice is good when he isn’t screaming. The handclaps kind of annoy me eventually, but they are what they are. Again, only an average song at best, but I like it and I don’t know why. Whatever.

One More Kiss - This song fools me. When I first hear the opening guitar and so forth, I think to myself that I’m going to hate it because it sounds too much like country, but then it falls into a nice shuffle. Its weird to me. A country/shuffle and its not bad. Pauls voice saves it for me. Nice little tune.

Little Lamb Dragonfly - Opening guitar always reminds me of ‘Venus and Mars’. My favorite part of the song is at the 2:35 mark where Paul sings over the backgrounds. Its short and he only does it a couple  times, but its great in my opinion. He does it again at the 3:22 and 4:53 mark too. It’s a pretty song with nothing wrong with it, but it bores me eventually. Its too long and too stagnant for me.

Single Pigeon - Best song on the album. Damn you Paul McCartney for not making this song longer. Love the piano beginning and Pauls singing. Love the backgrounds vocals also. The brass at the 1:32 mark blows my mind and then its over. I’ll say it again, damn you Paul. Great song or at least the beginning of a great song.

When The Night - I like the beginning piano and Spanish guitar. The backgrounds are good. Reminds me of some song in the 50’s for some reason. Maybe it’s the ’Ooooo’s’ in the background. Not a great song by any stretch of the imagination. Painfully average actually. Paul could have written this in his sleep and may well have done so.

Loup (1st Indian On The Moon) - I hate the Indian moaning, but I like the middle part. I love Dennys playing at the 2:40 mark. Great groove. Pauls bass is nothing short of awesome there too. I don’t know. Its an ok song I guess, but nothing I’d ever go searching for to hear.

Medley - A)Hold Me Tight - Love when the music kicks in with that 20’s type atmosphere.  Like the lead guitar tones. I realize Paul does nothing, but repeat himself, but it doesn’t bother me that bad. B) Lazy Dynamite[/b] - Add some harmonica playing (good by the way), and repeat yourself some more. I don’t know, I found myself starting to tire of the whole thing by this point. C) Hands Of Love - like the guitar intro at the 5:05 mark. Nice acoustic and I like the drums. Like Lindas voice here too. Then the song gets too goofy with the burp, burp, burp, burp chanting. 7:28 Complete change in music again with D) Power Cut. By this time I’m spent, but this is probably the best piece of the medley. All in all its way too freaking long and boring as a whole. It’s a chore to listen to all of it.

Bonus songs -

C Moon - Never a favorite. I do like the drum sound and playing and the backgrounds, but on the whole the song has always bored me. Too silly and boring.

Hi Hi Hi - One of Pauls greatest rockers in my opinion. Old Paulie felt rebellious with this one singing ’Hi Hi Hi’. (giggle). So out of character for the medias darling. He must of felt like the Rosa Parks of rock when he wrote this one. I don’t care. It’s a kick ass tune.

The Mess (Live) - It’s a rocker, but it’s a weak one in my opinion. Its alright I suppose, but its forgetful.

I Lie Around - Sound effects open the song with running water, birds singing, talking, and animal sounds. It then gives us a nice happy, walking in the rain beat. The harmonies are absolutely awesome. Drum sound is huge. I like the guitar sound and the song in general. Not great, but enjoyable for me.


Ok, I don’t think I like this album as much as I used to. It’s a gazillion times better than that piece of sh*t ’Wild Life’, but what isn’t? I guess Paul was looking for a momentum switch, and although this was a step in the right direction, he truly wasn’t going to find it until his next album. ’My Love’ was a hit for him and I love ’Single Pigeon, but everything else just feels so ordinary. Its been said before, but I’ll throw it out there again, Paul was capable (and expected) to do much better than this, but its not bad. Its just painfully average.

tkitna

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #8 on: October 21, 2011, 12:21:08 AM »

Reading Cor's and Mr. M's reviews are always enjoyable. I love to see where we differ. Seems pretty close again with the exception of Mr.M's hate towards 'My Love' (nothing wrong with that either) and my lack of excitement towards 'Little Lamb Dragonfly'. I'm glad to see the positive remarks for 'Single Pigeon'. I absolutly love that little song for some reason.

Good stuff Cor. Let me know when you need a break.

Bobber

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #9 on: October 21, 2011, 08:16:53 AM »

Good stuff Cor. Let me know when you need a break.

I'm fine thank you. It's great going through the solo stuff once again, especially because I haven't listened to some it since ages. I'm especially looking forward to George's and Ringo's stuff, for there's some albums I have never listened to at all. ha2ha
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tkitna

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #10 on: October 21, 2011, 08:45:11 AM »

I'm especially looking forward to George's and Ringo's stuff,

I'm a Paul guy, but I cant wait for their stuff either. I think the John solo stuff will have the most participation and thats the stuff I care the least about, but oh well.

Bobber

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #11 on: October 21, 2011, 09:08:44 AM »

I'm a Paul guy, but I cant wait for their stuff either. I think the John solo stuff will have the most participation and thats the stuff I care the least about, but oh well.

Dito on all accounts.
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tkitna

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #12 on: October 21, 2011, 10:44:45 AM »

Big Barn Bed
Acoustic guitar sounds good and Denny's drumming is as good as ever. I have become a fan of his style in the past few weeks, that's for sure. Drumming along with bass line and an attacking little crash here and there.

Glad you mentioned that because I feel the same way. I always thought he was decent, but I never sat down and really studied his playing until these reviews. He and Pauls rhythm section is really something. The guy can flat out play. Great stuff.

tkitna

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #13 on: October 25, 2011, 06:38:47 AM »

Sheesh, I guess this really is an average album. Even Wild Life recieved more attention on the boards than this one.

Bobber

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #14 on: October 25, 2011, 07:11:14 AM »

It's gotta be really good or really bad probably. These solo microscopes are not as popular as I hoped them to be. I will carry on tho. ;D
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tkitna

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #15 on: October 25, 2011, 11:53:33 PM »

Band On The Run will get some attention. After that though,,,it might be rough for awhile.

Hombre_de_ningun_lugar

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #16 on: October 26, 2011, 12:26:16 AM »

Band On The Run will get some attention. After that though,,,it might be rough for awhile.

I'll be one example of that...
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KelMar

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #17 on: October 26, 2011, 02:35:32 AM »

Band On The Run will get some attention. After that though,,,it might be rough for awhile.

That's really the only one I know well. I had London Town too but I don't think I listened to it that much.
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Frightwolf

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #18 on: November 20, 2011, 05:56:37 AM »

I can never get through this album from front to back.  I usually just listen to the first three songs and then the masterpiece that is Little Lamb Dragonfly and go on to another album.
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Toejam

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Re: Microscope: Red Rose Speedway
« Reply #19 on: November 20, 2011, 10:26:22 AM »

It's gotta be really good or really bad probably. These solo microscopes are not as popular as I hoped them to be. I will carry on tho. ;D
yeah. Carry on . I like these threads.
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