Trollheart

Random Track of the Day
Wednesday, November 2 2011
Nice little boppy pop tune the random-o-meter has picked out for us today, from Chris Rea, and an album released, would you believe, almost twenty-five years ago? Wow! I feel old!

That girl of mine --- Chris Rea --- from "Dancing with strangers" on Magnet


Something of an underrated album, “Dancing with strangers” is a really strong record, with tons of excellent tracks and few if any bad ones. (Makes note to review it at some point) This is one of perhaps the weaker tracks, something of a filler but not at all bad. Lightweight, poppy, happy and feelgood, it's a track called “That girl of mine”, and shows that Chris Rea likes to let his hair down and have fun just like anyone else from time to time.

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Okay, I have never done this before, and it's not what I started this section for, but this is such an unusual and even unique situation that I feel it qualifies. When Bon Jovi released “This left feels right” in 2003, they reinterpreted some of their bigger and more popular songs, giving them a fresh twist. Many were meh, some were really good, but what they did with “It's my life” truly set the song apart. So much so, that although it's their song, I almost consider the version of “This left” to be a cover, albeit by the same band.

Can a band cover their own material? No of course they can't, but let's leave the semantics to one side just for now, and humour me. Have a listen to the original from “Crush” and see how much they changed it for “This left feels right”. There's no question that if another band had done the second version it would have been hailed as a stunning cover, or reinterpretation, and the fact that it was the original artiste who released the new version doesn't in any way, to my mind, take away from the truly unique slant they put on this song.

Don't believe me? Here, cop an earful of the two versions below, see if you don't agree.

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One of the bigger hits from a-ha, from their debut album “Hunting high and low”, released in 1985, this was another number one smash for them after the instant success of “Take on me” earlier that year. And no wonder: what a great song! It is, of course, “The sun always shines on TV”.

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Anyone who's a regular reader of my journal (yes, both of you!) will know that I am most of the time firmly mired in the seventies or eighties: my album reviews rarely stray from that period, and I consider those two decades to be the best for music --- not surprising, since the seventies encapsulated my early teens and my adolescence was spent in the eighties.

But all of that is about to change. Well, for a while anyway. In this section I'll be reviewing a current album, an album from this year. I hope to make this a weekly thing, but we'll see. At any rate, it will certainly be more up-to-date than my usual reviews and features. Not that there's anything wrong with them, of course, but once in a while it helps to pop your head over the parapet and check what decade you're in. This section will bring me (perhaps kicking, perhaps screaming) at least temporarily into the twenty-first century, before I dart back to the safety of 80s metal and 70s prog, and all the stuff I like to listen to from days gone by, as it were.

A place where the sun is silent --- Alesana --- 2011 (Epitaph)


And we couldn't come more bang up-to-date than this album, released only two weeks ago! I know nothing of this band, and the thing that drew me to their latest album was, believe it or not, a combination of the title and the sleeve. I mean, how more seventies prog rock can you get?

As it happens, this band are not a progressive rock band, though they are a rock band. Lucky for me: in searching for new albums to download I came across one called “Songs of the ungrateful living” by an outfit called Everlast. Sounds metal, yeah? Sounds prog, maybe? Wrong: it's a rap group. Now I have nothing against rap, but it's not my bag, so there's an example of being led by your heart (or in this case, your eyes) and not listening to your head. I could have downloaded the album and then been really disappointed. So I checked out Alesana before I clicked the button, listened to some samples, and what I heard made me happy enough to get the album, which I will now review for the first time here.

But first, a little about the band behind the album.

The first, and most striking thing about Alesana is that they have three vocalists and three guitarists. Interesting. One of the vocalists, Dennis Lee, is credited as “unclean vocals”, and as I've heard some samples where those bloody “death growls” I hate so much come in, I have to assume that's what's meant by that description. The full current lineup is as follows:-

Shawn Mike --- “clean” vocals, rhythm guitar, piano
Patrick “Peezee” Thompson --- lead guitar
Alex Torres --- lead guitar
Shane Crump --- bass guitar, backing vocals
Dennis Lee --- “unclean” vocals
Jeremy Bryan --- drums

Perhaps I'm the only person who doesn't know about these guys, and you'll all be shaking your heads, clucking your tongues and saying to each other in knowing tones, “Where has this guy been?” but so be it if that's the case: this is the first I have ever heard of Alesana, so I'm going to come at them from that perspective.

This is their fourth album, their debut having been released in 2006, although they had an EP the previous year which apparently got them noticed. They seem to create concept, or at least themed albums, each time. Their first was based on Greek mythology, their second on the fairytales of the Brothers Grimm, and their third loosely around the work of Edgar Allan Poe. This time, their focus is on Dante's “Inferno”. So not your usual “rock all night” fare then!

So, to the album. It certainly opens very prog-rock, even folkish, with lilting piano and soft vocal on opener “The dark wood of error”, and you could almost think you were listening to the likes of Mostly Autumn, perhaps touches of Kamelot in the spoken (Italian? Latin?) lines that accompany the music, almost like narration, but then second track “A forbidden dance” kicks in, and ups the ante with a powerful rocker, and you can right away get the impact of those three guitars. I would of course, as those who know my musical tastes will not be surprised to hear, be happier not to hear the “unclean” vocals of Dennis Lee screaming all over the place. I've never seen the point in them personally, and if anything they seem totally at odds with the music and the other vocals in the song, not quite ruining it for me, but I'd be definitely happier without them. Still, there's a sort of Lostprophets feel to them, and they're not as bad as others I've briefly suffered through.

The rest of the song is great though: excellent hooks, great melody, and the “clean” vocals of lead singer Shawn Mike certainly have a lot to recommend them. “Hand in hand with the damned” is another rocker, carried of course on sharp and powerful guitars, with solid drumming, and it quickly becomes apparent how tight this band is, switching from mad triple electric guitar attack to lovely, understated acoustic at the drop of a plectrum, never missing a beat. Hard to believe they've only been together for seven years.

It's not surprising that they're garnering a hell of a following though, on the basis of the music presented here (and I haven't heard anything from their previous three albums), as “Beyond the sacred glass” slips in almost unnoticed from the previous track, riding on a moody, atmospheric keyboard intro before the guitars kick in. It's the longest song on the album, at just over six minutes, quickly metamorphosing into another fast headbanger, with shades of Iron Maiden in there in some of the guitar work. It's the first track where I hear the “clean” and “unclean” vocals mesh and start to actually complement each other, and to be fair when that happens it works quite well.

And then suddenly everything slows down as electric yields to acoustic guitar, and a lovely piano melody takes over, overlaid with some really fine soloing which, while not shredding or anything close, is just as effective, if not more so. Almost Santana in its style, I feel. The tempo picks up again and the song gets rocking again to the end. Probably could have lived without the sudden, jarring abrupt ending to so sublime a track, though.

Like many concepts, it's a little hard to follow the story if you aren't familiar the source material, and let's be honest, not too many of us will have struggled though “The Inferno”. I tried, but found it a little dry and replete with too many references to Italian society and politics, but I have a basic idea, like most people, of the work. Nonetheless, it's a little hard then to marry up the songs to the story, but “Circle VII: Sins of the lion” does at least mention the seventh of the nine circles of Hell, and is suitably bombastic and operatic in its execution to give you a good idea of travelling through Satan's kingdom.

“Vestige”, on the other hand, returns to the style of the opener, with simple piano and clean vocals, and there's little doubt that there are female backing vocals in there somewhere, but I can't find a credit for the unknown songstress anywhere, not even on the band's own website (which is sorely in need of an update --- the discography doesn't even contain this album!), while “Lullaby of the crucified” kicks up the speed again after the brief interlude, with an interesting choppy guitar part in the middle, spoken, almost tannoy-like vocals echoing in the background while the guitars get more insistent and louder, until they punch out of the song and take over again.

There's no doubting the musical talent of these guys, even though from the picture on their home page you'd take them all for members of the college chess club. Guitarists Patrick Thompson and Alex Torres certainly know how to ply their trade, and while Shawn Mike adds in rhythm guitar along with lead vocals, he's really proficient on the piano, letting those fingers glide across the ivories and adding a real sense of the classical to Alesana's music. Most of it is basic fast rock though, and as I mentioned, reminds me very much of the Lostprophets, even the way Mike sings. But that's no bad thing. There's definitely more than a hint of Maiden in the guitar attack, which again is a compliment and not a criticism.

A nice little laid-back, semi-jazzy part is unexpected but welcome in “Labyrinth”, which runs without pause or change into “The Fiend”, where Dennis Lee comes across very well as the Dark One, growling and roaring like a man possessed. To be honest, his “low” unclean vocals are much better and more effective I think than his “high”, screaming, throat-searing yells and roars. The former I could listen to more easily, whereas the latter really, to me, just seems to be screaming for the sake of making noise. Hey, I said I hated death vocals, didn't I?

There's another supersmooth segue directly into “Welcome to the Vanity faire”, and if I have a criticism --- or indeed, just an observation --- about this album it's that there is, so far, no clear-cut ballad. No, every album does not have to have one, but considering the style of music Alesana are producing, and the largely untapped talent of Shawn Mike on the piano, I feel a nice slow song would be good to hear, as everything so far has been, generally, loud and fast, though certainly not without melody and not without a great deal of thought obviously having gone into both lyrics and music. It would just be nice to rest for a while, put our feet up on our way through Hell and take a breather.

Well, “The wanderer” comes close, a nice piano-led slower piece, with some very nice female backing vocals, but it's only a minute and a half long: I would have liked this to have been expanded on, to see what Alesana can do when they try something a little less, shall we say, hectic? Manic, even. “A gilded masquerade” starts off promisingly, but soon kicks into the usual fast rock song. A good song, nothing wrong with it, but like I say, a proper ballad would have been nice. If nothing else though, the album is great value for money, with the closer, “And now for the final illusion” clocking in as track number sixteen, with only two of those being a minute or shorter.

It's a good and effective closer, with a feeling of epilogue about it. Great mass vocals, with pretty much the same melody running through from beginning to end, very sparse lyric --- apart from the opening muttered monologue, I only hear the one phrase --- then a very nice piano piece with what sounds like the title of the album murmured over it to the end.

I don't really know what it is that makes Alesana stand out from the pack: perhaps it's the unusual effect of having three guitarists and three vocalists, maybe the classical piano or the progressive rock flavoured themes. It could even be the “unclean” vocals of Dennis Lee, which to be fair do add a huge amount of energy to songs that are never dull, slow or boring, but do get something of a kick from his manic screams and growls. Whatever it is, it seems certain these guys are going to be around for a long time, so my advice is check them out, but make sure you have a guide. Unlike AC/DC wrote many years ago, Hell is a bad place to be.

TRACKLISTING

1. The dark wood of error
2. A forbidden dance
3. Hand in hand with the damned
4. Beyond the sacred glass
5. The Temptress
6. Circle VII: Sins of the Lion
7. Vestige
8. Lullaby of the crucified
9. Before him all shall scatter
10. Labyrinth
11. The Fiend
12. Welcome to the Vanity Faire
13. The Wanderer
14. A gilded masquerade
15. The best laid plans of mice and marionettes
16. And now for the final illusion

So that's my first album from this year reviewed. Interesting stuff. As I said, I'll try to make sure I run this section once a week, but who knows? With other commitments and time constraints, that may not be possible, but I will make certain that I review at least one new album per month. Next time it'll be something totally different, just to keep things fresh.

And now, back to the eighties I go!

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The worm was talking to another worm earlier today and the weird subject came up about people who live around here who apparently speak only in numbers --- sounds a bit fourteen nine six six one seven oh, if you ask me! --- but it put in my head the old song by a band called New Musik, and their only, to my knowledge, hit single, “Living by numbers.”
So here it is!

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From time to time, I hear tracks in the course of my day --- usually from my ipod or maybe when in a shop, or on the telly --- which I think are really cool. They don't fit into any of my usual sections: they're not especially random, they couldn't really be always considered earworms, but I want to talk about and feature them. What to do?

Create a whole new section, of course!

So here is where I'll feature tracks I think you should check out, with maybe a little bit of info on each. No theme, no linkage and not even any set format: one time it could be three tracks, another ten, another time maybe just one. See how I'm feeling, what has impressed me on any particular day. I'll just post as I feel, so it could be close to a daily thing, maybe weekly, or two or three weeks could go by without any recommendations and then I could hit you with a dozen in one week. Or one day. As unpredictable and unreliable as Dublin Bus, I kid you not.

So to start us off, here's the Boss, with a great track from his multi-platinum album, “The river”. It's a very low-key song, the vocals at times almost muttered, with none of the usual exuberance associated with many Springsteen songs, but it does demonstrate how his songs very often focus on the little guy, the problems of the working class, and at times, the sheer hopelessness of living a life on the fringes. With cutting lyrics like "I was going to be your Romeo/ You was going to be my Juliet/ These days you don't wait on Romeos/ You wait on that welfare cheque", you know this ain't gonna be a fun ride! Remove any sharp objects from your reach before listening to this, it has no happy ending...

Point blank (Bruce Springsteen) from “The River” on Columbia


And in total contrast, though she may be someone most rockers would scoff at (but you would, wouldn't you? Well, if you're a guy. Although, even if you weren't... cough cough splutter!) you have to admit that Kylie writes some pretty damn fine songs. Okay, most of her stuff can be dance tosh, as I recently found out when I reviewed “Aphrodite”, but this is sultry, sexy, and that body --- er, I mean, voice! Excuse me for just a moment....

Slow (Kylie Minogue) from “Body language” on Parlophone


Now, before you get too sweaty and have to go have a lie down (like me), have a listen to this one. I love this just for the happy, up feeling it gives me. It's not a classic, but I like it a lot.

Empire State (Fleetwood Mac) from “Mirage” on Warner Bros


I love this one, although I'm not a huge fan of his, from John Cougar Mellencamp. This is “Check it out”, so do as the man says!

Check it out (John Cougar Mellencamp) from “The lonesome jubilee” on Mercury


Just love this one from Aerosmith!

Livin' on the edge (Aerosmith) from “Get a grip” on Geffen


And though not a big fan of the Eurythmics, I do like some of their stuff. This is the title track from one of the two albums of theirs I own. Love it.

Savage (Eurythmics) from “Savage” on RCA


Finally, more renowned for their love songs like “If” and “Baby I'm a-want you”, this is Bread with one of their boppier numbers, “Took the last train”. Till I feel like doing this again, then....

Took the last train (Bread) from “Retrospective” on Elektra

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Random Track of the Day
Thursday, November 3 2011
Going all the way back to 1978 today with a track taken from the eighth, even by that early stage, album by Styx. It is in fact the title track.

Pieces of eight --- Styx --- from "Pieces of eight" on A&M


I must admit, I know little of this band beyond their big hit singles “Babe” and “Mr. Roboto”, although somewhere in the dusty vaults their discography lies untouched as yet. From what I hear here, very stadium/pomp rock with prog overtones. Nice.

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It's an odd thing, how you can just love someone's music, but then they release an album that just doesn't hit the spot for you. You try, since it's an artiste you like --- you want to enjoy it, but somehow it just isn't happening. Finally, you're forced to admit that the very fact that it's an album by X is after all not enough on its own for you to like it, and you reluctantly tell yourself it's a bump, an aberration hopefully, but this one is getting past you, and there seems no way you're ever going to like it.

Maybe at some point it'll get a shot at the “Last Chance Saloon”, but for now you hate it. Well, hate is a very strong word, of course, and there are few albums in my collection --- that I've listened to --- that I could truly say I hate. But there is certainly more than one artiste whose music I collect who has released what I consider to be, shall we say, something below par, and this is what this section will concentrate on. Well, partly.

It's called “Love/Hate”, so what I'll be doing is featuring two albums by the same artiste, one of which I love (or really like) and one of which I hate, although again as I say hate is probably too strong a word. Let's say, one I like a lot less, perhaps the one I like least of the artiste's catalogue, or at any rate what I have heard of them to date.

I just find it interesting that sometimes you can love an artiste but they can release an album you really don't like. It just proves that sometimes, no matter how hard you try to like something --- for the right or the wrong reasons --- you just can't make the leap, and you're left having to admit there's, to quote Savatage, a complaint in the system. An otherwise perfectly-oiled machine that runs like clockwork has one defective part. It doesn't stop the machine working, but it interferes slightly with its operation.


Mike + the Mechanics --- Mike + The Mechanics --- 1985 (WEA)


The funny thing about this album is that I bought it, not because it featured Mike Rutherford from Genesis (although it does), in fact when I purchased the album I was unaware it had any Genesis connections at all, although had I known it would have only strengthened my resolve to buy it. I decided to get the album on the strength of the first song I heard from it (on the radio, I think), which was in fact the opener, “Silent running”.

I really loved this album. Yes, there are weak tracks on it, though they number very few, and there are no terrible tracks at all. But more than that, there are some absolute gems there. Conceived, as mentioned above, as a side project for Genesis guitarist Mike Rutherford (whose solo album “Acting very strange” I had already heard and liked), The Mechanics consisted of vocalists Paul Young (no, not that one!) and Paul Carrack, Drummer Peter Van Hooke and keyboards man Adrian Lee, with Rutherford of course taking all guitar and bass duties. In addition to this, they operated something of an “Alan Parsons” setup vocally, with two other singers taking the mike (sorry!) for two of the songs, while Young and Carrack alternated.

As I said, the album opens strongly, on the powerful and dramatic “Silent running (on dangerous ground)”, which was in fact from the soundtrack to the film “On dangerous ground”. It has a very Genesis-like intro, with humming synth and swirling keys, and then picks up on a really nice beat, until Carrack takes up the vocal, singing a song that warns of nuclear holocaust about to occur. It's mid-paced, very keyboard-driven, which is perhaps unusual for a project created by a guitarist, but it works very well. Carrack's vocals are clear and distinct, and he has a powerful voice which really suits the song. Of course, there is the obligatory and expected guitar solo from Rutherford in the song: no point being the focus of the project if you can't make your presence felt!

The opener is in fact the longest track on the album, just over six minutes, with the rest of the nine songs all coming in around the four minute or less mark, with one or two going a few seconds over that. “Silent running” ends sharply, just as you think it will probably fade, and next up is one of their big hit singles, “All I need is a miracle”. Much poppier, more commercially accessible than its predecessor, it was made for the charts, and although both songs did very well when released, initially it would be “Miracle” for which Mike + the Mechanics would be remembered. Until of course, they had bigger hits.

It starts off again very Genesis-y, with lush keyboard and a sort of called-out/echoey vocal, then settles into a poppy, boppy groove, with Paul Young taking over on vocals. I don't personally feel that it's as strong a track as “Silent running”, but it's a good followup and the quality doesn't dip for “Par avion”, in fact it ups the ante quite a bit, with a truly beautiful ballad, luxurious keys and a breathy vocal from session man John Kirby. Everything about this is understated: the melody, the percussion, the singing, all gives the impression of a very rare and delicate jewel being carried on a velvet cushion, from the chirping birds and crickets on the intro to the almost Phil Collins-like percussion, the keyboard sweeps, the flutelike passage right at the end. Fragile and lovely.

Things ramp up considerably then for “Hanging by a thread”, which has Young again behind the microphone. It's probably the heaviest song on the album, with electronica-like keyboard samples, thumping, insistent drums and grinding guitar, not to mention a very angry and determined vocal. Nice synth break in the middle, very Depeche Mode or Human League. Then it speeds up as it heads towards the ending of the song, finishing abruptly, which this time works well.

“I get the feeling” goes all jazzy and carribean, very singalong/clapalong, with good brass from Ray Beavis and John Earle, but it's a little too “Sussudio” for my tastes. “Take the reins” picks the speed and power up again, a fast, heads-down, urgent song, the first really guitar-led song on the album. Another beautiful ballad follows, with the vocals this time taken by Gene Stashuck, "You are the one" is built on a simple piano melody with keyboards coming in to flesh out the sound, and followed by another ballad, this time a song originally written by Genesis and intended to be on their self-titled album. As it didn't make the cut, Mike Rutherford sought permission from Tony Banks and Phil Collins to use "A call to arms" on his album, which they agreed to.

It's a great song. Powerful, dramatic, effective and emotional, with Carrack back on vocals and doing a fine, fine job. Opening with a gush of powerful piano and keyboards, it rides along on a punchy melody, with drums very reminscent indeed of those used on the opener to Genesis' “Genesis” album, “Mama”. In some ways, it's kind of a continuation of the theme explored in “Silent running”, with a very singalong chorus and a great hook. Would have been a great closer, but there's one more track to go. Sadly, after the majesty of “A call to arms”, closer “Taken in” comes across very much as tacked-on, a filler track that should really not have been included, or at least should not have been the last track on the album. As I point out in my “Happy endings” section, it's the last track on an album you're always left humming, and I'd much rather be humming “A call to arms” than “Taken in”, which is I feel very lightweight and inconsequential.

A weak ending then, but a great album overall, which is why I really like it, and being impressed as I was with the debut, I went on to buy the next two albums, but as I shall relate below, there came a time when I knew it was no longer any use to explore this avenue.

TRACKLISTING

1. Silent running (on dangerous ground)
2. All I need is a miracle
3. Par avion
4. Hanging by a thread
5. I get the feeling
6. Take the reins
7. You are the one
8. A call to arms
9. Taken in



As I say, hate is a very strong word, and I don't hate this album, but it was the end of the road for me as far as this band was concerned. I loved the debut, and the second, but after I heard this one I no longer wished to buy Mike + The Mechanics albums, and from what I've heard of them since, I have never regretted that decision. They seem to have gone more down the commercial pop route as the years and albums have gone by, and the rock has been to a large extent, as far as I can see, jettisoned.

Word of mouth --- Mike + The Mechanics --- 1991 (Virgin)


Maybe I was expecting too much. I mean, the debut, detailed above, had blown me pretty much away, and the followup, “The living years”, was as good if not better, and of course yielded a huge hit single in the title track, so I was ready for more. I was however not ready for what I got, which was a huge disappointment, disillusion and the sinking feeling that this band were slipping away from the music I had enjoyed listening to them make.

It starts off well enough, with a nice guitar intro, but this is soon superceded by poppy keyboards, and the opener “Get up” shows itself to be a very pop/chart song, with little to recommend it to any rock fan. This could, really, be a song by any sub-par pop band. Title track helps restore my faith, with its thumping drums, its live feel and its great chorus, and its quite political lyric: ”Look out for those who/ Still want to hang on/ Look out for those who/ Live in the past/ Get out and listen/ To the whisper/ Cos the times are changing fast.” Right on. Great angry guitar, not so much of the keys on this one. Perhaps we'll be okay?

In fairness, ballad “A time and place” is not at all bad, though it does suffer from the curse of the mid-eighties ballad, that overpreponderance of digital piano, which tended to make nearly all ballads sound similar. Nicely sung though. Does have a very Genesis feel to it, not surprising as Rutherford was at the time also participating in recording sessions for their “We can't dance” album, which would be in fact their last with longtime frontman Phil Collins. This time out, however, there were no session vocalists, and Paul Carrack and Paul Young again shared the singing.

Sadly though, this is about the last decent track on the album, bar the closer. Perhaps it's the collaboration of BA Robertson on most of the tracks with Rutherford that's to blame for the serious dip in quality in the songwriting, but then again, some of the really weak songs had no input for him, like the opener and “The way you look at me”, so maybe I'm doing him an injustice. I was never that fond of Robertson's music, though that shouldn't really be a factor, should it? Nevertheless, the inescapable conclusion is that the rest of this album is largely filler, though “Yesterday, today and tomorrow” is a decent rocker, but even that suffers from some pretty poor lyrical content, just not up to the standard I had come to expect from these guys.

“The way you look at me” is pure pop. It's not a bad song, per se, but it's very very lightweight, very charty, very throwaway, and not much better is “Everybody gets a second chance”, another poppy example, with a somewhat annoying beat to it, and although “Stop baby” is a nice little ballad with a nice atmosphere to it, “My crime of passion” just doesn't do it for me. It's a little rocky, but only a little, and I just see the slide into pop music getting steeper and steeper here.

The album does finish well. “Let's pretend it didn't happen” (advice for the disillusioned Mike + The Mechanics fans?) is a good harkback to the quality of the sort of songs that characterised the first two albums, with good keyboards and a very hooky melody, a lot of drama and some really effective guitar, while closer “Before (the next heartache falls)” is a powerful semi-ballad that really grabs at you and establishes itself as a worthy closer, almost too good for this album.

As I say, the album isn't crap, it's not even that bad. It's just that in comparison to the first two it falls very far short of what I was expecting, with a lot of filler and below-standard songs, and it really coloured my attitude towards Mike + The Mechanics, and as I mentioned my premonitions of dread were well-founded, considering the direction the band took. A real pity, as I thought they could have done so much better, but then, I suppose for a side project for one of the most famous and accomplished rock guitarists in the world, it was a good run.

TRACKLISTING

1. Get up
2. Word of mouth
3. A time and place
4. Yesterday, today and tomorrow
5. The way you look at me
6. Everybody gets a second chance
7. Stop baby
8. My crime of passion
9. Let's pretend it didn't happen
10. Before (the next heartache falls)

But for me, this was where the romance ended, and we parted amicably. It started so well, but ended so badly. We see each other from time to time, but it's never going to be like it was. You can't go back. And when you've been burned once, you're not too eager to stick your hand back into the fire again.

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Random Track of the Day
Friday, November 4 2011
It's Friday, it's the start of the weekend, must mean it's time to rock! And you can't beat the old masters, can you? Randomly selected out of the compu-hat today we have the towering Iron Maiden, with the title track from the last album Bruce Dickinson was involved in for many years.

Fear of the dark --- Iron Maiden --- from "Fear of the dark" on EMI


A real classic Maiden tune on an album that was, let's face it, pretty below par, this is another of those great Steve Harris compositions, and has everything you could possibly want from an Iron Maiden track: power, class, excellent lyric, catchy melody, mad guitars, Bruce at his departing best, plus Eddie hiding in a tree! Oh my, how we missed the King when he went into self-imposed exile!

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Just exactly how do you manouevre orchestrally in the dark, the worm wonders? Still, these guys managed it for many years, having a string of hit singles and a huge following. This is one of them, a later hit called “Sailing on the seven seas”.

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