Random Track of the Day
Sunday, October 9 2011
What else would you want on a relaxing, lazy, rainy Sunday, than heavy metal? As a sort of an unintentional sneak preview then of the second part of our look at the NWOBHM, here are Raven, one of the movers and shakers of the revolution in Heavy Metal back in the eighties.

Firepower --- Raven --- from "Wiped out" on Neat
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You won't find any keyboard tinkling or intricate acoustic guitar work here, and there ain't a string section to be found! It's raw, powerful, headshakin' metal all the way, with a track from their second album, released at the height of their popularity and command of the NWOBHM, a track called “Firepower”! NOW see if you can read the Sunday papers! :D

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After the hectic nostalgia of last week, it's back to business as usual for the worm, who today would like to start the week off with one from the Thompson Twins (why were they called twins when there were three of them?) and one of their better songs, “King for a day”. With extra nuns!

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Time for some more good closing tracks from albums. Starting off with the finale to Arena's 2005 album “Pepper's ghost”, this is the phenomenal “Opera fanatica”.


An incredible little track from an album already reviewed, George Michael's surprisingly good “Listen without prejudice volume 1”, this is the closer, an introspective little acoustic piece that somehow encompasses the entire album. Class.


The amazingly low-key ending to Pink Floyd's final album with Roger Waters, from “The final cut”, this is the emotional and evocative “Two suns in the sunset”.


And speaking of emotional, the closer from Tears For Fears' opus “The seeds of love”, the truly majestic and breathtaking “Famous last words.”


And just so that you don't drift off to sleep right away, we'll close with the final track on the final album featuring Bruce Dickinson before his departure from Iron Maiden, the title track to 1992's “Fear of the dark”.

Random Track of the Day
Monday, October 10 2011
More metal today, though it's a ballad this time. From American prog-metal band Kamelot, this is from their album “Karma”, and it's “Temples of gold”.

Temples of gold --- Kamelot --- from "Karma" on Sanctuary
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Like most metal bands, Kamelot can write a great ballad, and they have many. This is a good one, if not one of their best, from an album which, although it doesn't rank among my favourite Kamelot records, is still very much worth a listen.

Random Track of the Day
Tuesday, October 11 2011
With Halloween fast approaching, spooky things are happening here at Trollheart's journal! First the old random-o-meter decided to preview one of the bands due to feature in our second look at the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), Raven, and now it's chosen today's track as being from Debbie Harry, slated for our next “Gone solo in the game” slot! Mystic forces, Eddie! Mystic forces...! :cool:

Love with a vengeance --- Debbie Harry --- from "Necessary evil" on Eleven Seven
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An interesting, sparse, low-key song perhaps more typical of mid-eighties Kim Wilde, “Love with a vengeance” is a handclap-percussion and bass-driven semi-ballad, which if nothing else proves that even at age sixty-two she still has it on this album released in 2007, her first in fourteen years. Looking forward to reviewing this for the feature....

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Time once again to pay our respects to the men (sorry, ladies, but they were exclusively men: it was a different time) who created the music that has allowed rock, pop, country, rap and every other type of band and artiste to exist: yes, we're dipping into centuries of the very best classical music again.

Most people know of Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), or at least of his “Spring” from the “Four seasons” suite, but I personally prefer the closing concerto, “Winter”...
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Johannes Pachelbel (1653-1706) is another name many people will not know, but you're sure to recognise this piece, his “Canon in D Major”. Apologies in advance for the stupid ad before this video.
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Proving that there were still some amazing classical musicians alive and writing incredible music well into the twentieth century, this is Samuel Barber (1910-1981), with his moving and very recognisable “Adagio for strings”. Nice poem with this video, incidentally.
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A beautiful piece of music called “Serenade” by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)
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Listening to some of this music, you'd perhaps wonder how much beauty can this world hold? Well, here's one more. Franz Liszt (1811-1886), with one of his most beautiful and famous compositions, “Liebestraum”, or “love dream”.
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Always striving to be that little bit different here at Trollheart's journal, we hope that you enjoyed this second selection of truly magnificent classical music, and if you feel like checking any of the composers here out further, you can more than likely find most of their music online. Failing that, try any of the classical compilations: most of them have few if any bad tracks.

Now off you go, back to your indie rock and your heavy metal. I'll see you there later... :)

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Always makes the worm think of summer, this one! Whatever happened to Dodgy? Hope they didn't live up to their name! Here they are with their big hit, from 1996, “Good enough”.

Random Track of the Day
Wednesday, October 12 2011
Nice little ballad picked out by the random-o-meter today, one of George Michael's big hits, from the album “Faith”, it's “One more try”.

One more try --- George Michael --- from "Faith" on Columbia
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One area George Michael excels in (should that read excelled? Is he retired now?) is the writing of almost-perfect ballads, like “Careless whisper”, “A different corner” and “Cowboys and angels”, and this is another in that vein, with lots of keyboard and thumpy drums, a heartrending realisation that the affair is over. Great song.

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Time for yet another voyage across the sea of mediocrity to the Islands of Possibility, where we find unknown and struggling bands who are just dying for their music to be heard. We crate it all up, ship it back home and display it here for you, at the harbour market, so that you can hear the kind of undiscovered talent that's out there. The journey is not easy, and indeed, on the last one we lost three good men (well, two good men and a parrot … well, one good man … okay, just a parrot. And alright, he didn't so much fall overboard as fly away when we got to the island. But that's all beside the point...) but we keep going back, for the rewards are surely worth the risks.

So, now that you know what we go through to bring you this music, the least you can do is listen to it. So switch off your ipod for a moment and click on the links below. You may be very glad that you did. Should you wish to sail these largely uncharted waters yourselves, point your sextant towards SoundClick - Free MP3 music download and much, much more., but be warned: it's dangerous out there. The seas are rough, no place for landlubbers!

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A Greater Claim
Okay, first warning: these guys are Christian rock, so be prepared for a little preaching and attempts at conversion in their lyrics. Oh, wait, no, don't: they appear to be entirely instrumental, and very heavily guitar-based. But they're worth listening to. They've only been together since 2007, but show a maturity far beyond that in their music. Apparently, according to their page, they used to be known as The Scarlet Resurrection, but on their search for a new band name, they opened up a bible and the words “a greater claim” were the first they saw. Hey, I guess you can't argue with the Good Book... Give them credit, they're the first band I've looked at in this series who have made a conscious effort to actually provide some information about themselves. Always helps.
SoundClick artist: A Greater Claim - page with MP3 music downloads
Genre Christian Rock
Nationality Um... American, would you believe?
Gold For the few that were many, parts 1 – 3, Cross
Silver A grain of sand, For what it's worth, Upon the horizon, Everlast, Motionless
Copper Soon to be

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A Headfull of monsters
Their spelling, not mine. Brian Duell (keys) and Mark Griffiths (guitar) claim to be a progressive rock band, styling themselves on the music of Gabriel, Floyd and Zeppelin, among others. At the moment they're just instrumental, but are looking at the possibility of adding vocals. What they've put together here is really impressive, and I'd be very interested to hear how singing would affect this dynamic, and the music.
SoundClick artist: A Headfull of Monsters (Official) - A Headfull of Monsters are Brian Duell on keyboards and Mark Griffiths on guitar. Although we have
Genre Progressive rock
Nationality UK
Gold Origins, Dying moments, Reflections, Winter ice, Misted moon, Carnival of the grotesque, Mask, Death of ginger gene, Ear fatigue, Cryptic (That's right: EVERY track from this duo is Gold!)


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A Kiss to remember
In contrast to the last two artistes, this one gives absolutely no information about him, her or themselves, so I can tell you nothing except expect more instrumental rock.
SoundClick artist: A Kiss to Remember - page with MP3 music downloads
Genre Instrumental/ambient
Nationality American
Gold Hard to believe, Now that you're here, Change the world, Breathe
Silver Behind the screams, When you're alone, An effigy of me
Copper The anxiety of temptation

And that's it for another edition of Trollheart's Treasure Chest. Incidentally, the fact that all three artistes featured today turned out to be totally instrumental was not planned, and was pure coincidence. However I think it demonstrates that there are bands out there with the talent and the musical ability to create excellent music without having to add words. Most people can sing, one way or another --- okay, not everyone can sing well (you don't ever want to have to hear me sing!), but only a certain percentage of people can pick up a guitar, sit at a piano or keyboard, or thump out a drumbeat and make it MUSIC. That's the difference: musicians make music, the lifeblood of any song, and these three artistes, despite not singing, prove their capability and expertise by way of their respective musical instruments.

To quote a phrase, they let the music do the talking.

Until next time....

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As he may already have mentioned, the worm is not a big Oasis fan, but he does love this song, one of their later and perhaps lesser-known hits, “Stop crying your heart out”.

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Now and zen --- Robert Plant --- 1988 (Es Peranza)
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What's that you say? Sacrilege? How dare I feature an album in this section by one of the gods of rock and roll? Believe me, it hurts, but this is exactly how I felt after buying, and then listening, with sinking heart, to Robert Plant's fourth solo album. Oh dear, I thought: not a whole lotta love goin' on here (sorry)!

No, when I bought an album that featured the solo efforts of the frontman from Led Zeppelin, I expected a whole lot more. Okay, I wasn't naïve enough to think this would be a Zep album, and I knew that, like most solo artists branching out, Plant was likely to try out a few ideas that might not have worked within the confines of the supergroup. I was prepared to give him a chance. But with a pedigree like his, and such talent to draw upon --- plus the fact that he was certainly not recording this album because he needed money! --- I looked forward to a reasonably good album, even a great one. What I got, sadly, was one that is quite good now and zen (sorry again!), but most of the time fails to live up to the very high standards you would expect from someone of the calibre of Mister Plant.

It starts off well enough, with the mid-paced “Heaven knows”, with his old mate Jimmy Page on guitar, which really helps to make the song, but right away you can hear that this is a lot more based on keyboard and electronic music than dirty rock and roll. It seems very polished --- which is not a criticism, but it definitely lacks the immediacy of a “Led Zep IV” or “Houses of the holy”. I know, I know: it's not a Zep album, but who could fail to make such comparisons, if only peripherally? Anyway, as I say, “Heaven knows”, the opener, is a decent enough track and sets down the marker, which sadly is not maintained throughout the album.


Because then you get “Dance on my own”...


“Tall cool one” helps to rescue things, a little faster, a little rockier, but reminds me in a strange way of the Bangles? I'm sorry, what was that? Yeah, the Bangles!


I do like “The way I feel”


But there's something missing about “Helen of Troy”


and then you get “Billy's revenge”


“Why?” is pure Yazoo/dance/Bronskibeat. Come on, Rob!It's catchy, yes, but not what I'd expect on an album like this...


The utterly lovely “Ship of fools” stands out from the crowd...


… but then he ruins things by closing with “White, clean and neat”. Sigh!


Yes, okay, fair enough: the legend “Nice song, shame about the album” is a little unfair here, as there are a few good tracks, but hey, I'm not changing that graphic to add an “s” to the word “Song”! And four out of nine tracks may seem like a good ratio for an album, but when you're dealing with someone of the stature of Robert Plant, I think we have a right to expect a lot more. Also, this was his fourth solo album, so he could hardly claim to be “feeling his way” as a solo artist.

There is a tenth track, but it wasn't on the original vinyl release, which I have, so as I haven't heard it before I'm ignoring it. Perhaps it's good, perhaps it's bad, perhaps it would slightly change the ratio. I don't care. I was very disappointed with this album, and I didn't buy another Plant release, although he went on to record another five, up to last year. Mind you, I seem to remember Jimmy Page's solo not being that great either. Or was that the one he did with David Coverdale? So many icons, so many disappointments. It ain't supposed to be this way.

Random Track of the Day
Thursday, October 13 2011
Ah yes, some more good old straightforward rock! It's Whitesnake today, from the album of the same name, “Slide it in”!

Slide it in --- Whitesnake --- from "Slide it in" on EMI
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One thing I loved about the early Whitesnake albums (other than the music, of course!) was the cool graphics of snakes on the covers. Remember “Love hunter”? Whitesnake would never be accused of being poe-faced, pompous or overblown. Their music is unapologetically simple, direct and uncomplicated, with many the double entendre, and this is no exception. But hey, forget all that and just listen to the rock! Coverdale is most certainly a god of epic proportions!

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Today the worm remembers one of the catchiest songs of 1999, with one of the weirdest, seemingly incongruous videos ever. Fatboy Slim, aka Norman Cook, with his number one hit “Praise you”.

Random Track of the Day
Friday, October 14 2011
Hooray! Finally, some Waits! The random-o-meter has picked out a great little track, the opener from his 1987 album “Frank's wild years”, which is called “Hang on St. Christopher”.

Hang on St. Christopher --- Tom Waits --- from "Frank's wild years" on Island
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Carried on a sort of brass/horns melody, with cool bass and with Waits singing as if he's got a bullhorn to his lips, “Hang on St. Christopher” is weird, but by no means the weirdest track on this album. It's a great opener though, and details the flight of Frank from his burning house towards his new life, detailed first in the song “Frank's wild years” on a previous album, 1983's “Swordfishtrombones”. In order to truly get the lyrical idea behind “St. Christopher”, it's probably helpful to also listen to the aforementioned “Frank's wild years”, which sets the scene.

So here for the first time is a double Random track of the day, so you can listen to “Frank's wild years” and make some sort of sense of the actual track featured above.
Frank's wild years --- Tom Waits --- from "Swordfishtrombones" on Island
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No, nothing to do with Bruce Dickinson and the boys --- well, not this time. This is a new section wherein I'm going to examine and review the debut albums of bands and artistes. Could be a band or artiste who has gone on to greater things, could be one that failed utterly, could be one who never had a second album. In the case of the former, I'll be comparing how this album stacks up against their later work, and how, if at all, their debut presaged greatness --- or not! --- to come in the future.

We're starting off with this one, the self-titled debut from multi-platinum artiste Dire Straits.

Dire Straits --- Dire Straits --- 1978 (Vertigo)
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Like so many other debut albums, this is self-titled and so perhaps shows a little lack of originality, but then again if you're an unknown band you probably want people to first and foremost know and remember your name, so sticking your band or own name on the title is not that bad a marketing ploy: hey, Peter Gabriel did it for four of his albums! Course, he was by then already established as an artiste in his own right, so that was more down to his own personal quirkiness than a desire to imprint his name forever on the consciousness of music lovers.

Still, it could be worse. Although they only exist in a novel I half-wrote, one band called their debut album “The comeback album: volume II”, which is about as full of dichotomies and confusion as you can get! So titling your album the same as your band is not, on the face of it, a bad idea. People are more likely to remember “Dire Straits by Dire Straits” (if only for the simple reason that they then only have to deal with one phrase) than they are to remember, say, “Morning sun by Dire Straits.”

But no matter what you call your album, it makes no difference at all if the music is not up to scratch. Now, we all know that Dire Straits went on to be huge, but what was their first effort like? Were there hints of the greatness to come, or was it, like Billy Joel's “Cold spring harbour”, a miracle that they even got to record a second? Let's look, as the Americans say, under the hood.

It starts off with “Down to the waterline”, introduced on moody synth before that what-would-become-iconic guitar sound cuts in, and the song gets rocking at a nice lick. Once you hear Mark Knopfler's voice, you know you're listening to something a little bit special. His laconic, almost offhand way of singing has become his trademark, so that you can hear his influence on any record he has a hand in, even if he doesn't take the vocals. His distinctive guitar style is also evident here, backed by his brother David, and sterling bass work from John Illsley, with Pick Withers completing the rhythm section behind the drumstool.

The cool, smooth guitar sound that has characterised so much of the Dire Straits music through the years continues on “Water of love”, with slight reggae overtones, its pace a little slower than the opener, and then “Setting me up” kicks up the level higher, with a sort of fifties-style mixed with elements of Bluegrass bopping along with some fine picked guitar, until “Six blade knife” slows everything down again, returning to the pace of “Water of love” and allowing Knopfler to really shine on the guitar.

“Southbound again” has a certain rockabilly feel to it, tapping up the tempo again a little, some great rhythm guitar work from Mark's younger brother David, really infectious beat. Then we're into the obvious standout, their big hit which took them to the commercial bigtime, it's of course the excellent “Sultans of swing”. Surely no more need be said about such a classic track? Definite clues as to how big this band was about to get in future years.

More little reggae influences on “In the gallery”, which personally I find a little overlong at six-minutes-plus: just seems to wander on and on without any real direction. Much better is “Wild West End”, with its banjo-like opening, its lazy, swaying, almost minstrel-like melody and its gentle rhythm. A definite runner-up for top track, as far as I'm concerned. The album closes on “Lions”, which I find to be something of a superfluous track: I would have been happy for it to end up on “Wild West End”.

As a debut, this album is not perfect, but then, few ever are. There are tracks that don't completely work, there are overlong tracks and tracks that might have been better omitted. But what does work is the incredible voice and guitar work of Mark Knopfler, and anyone could see from this album that he at least was going to be a star. Let's be brutally honest here: he dragged the rest of the band along on his coat-tails to fame. Mark Knopfler was Dire Straits, in even more of a way than Freddie Mercury was Queen, or Phil Lynnot was Thin Lizzy, and the band could not have existed without him.

This is not an album that was going to set the world on fire. Few debuts are. But it was also not an album that made you think you would never hear of this band again. It set down certain markers, on tracks like “Wild West End”, “Down to the waterline” and “Water of love”, to say nothing of “Sultans of swing”, and definitely made you sit up and take notice. Sure, it suffers from sub-standard track, but what debut album does not?

“Dire Straits” was, if nothing more, a first salvo across the bows of the music world. The warning shots had been fired, and nothing could be done to prevent the barrage that was due to attack the charts over the next twenty years or so. Followup “Communique”, released the next year, would be successful but hardly set the charts alight. That would have to wait until 1982, when their fourth album, “Love over gold”, would produce the number two hit single “Private investigations”, as well as hosting the fourteen-minute track “Telegraph Road”, leading to the album having a total of FIVE tracks!

In between this and “Communique” Dire Straits recorded “Making movies”, which yielded two songs which became very popular, if not chartworthy, in “Tunnel of love” and “Romeo and Juliet”. Of course, after 1985's “Brothers in arms” they could do no wrong.

It's always interesting to look back at how a great band started off their career, and I don't think the debut album here shows too many dissimilarities from any of the others. Of course, as they progressed, and technology became more advanced, usage of this resulted in Dire Straits' sound becoming more polished and professional, but it's nice to see that in the beginning, they were doing it the hard way, the tried and trusted way, the traditional way.

Sultans of swing, indeed.

TRACKLISTING

1. Down to the waterline
2. Water of love
3. Setting me up
4. Six blade knife
5. Southbound again
6. Sultans of swing
7. In the gallery
8. Wild West End
9. Lions

Suggested further listening: "Communique”, “Making movies”, “Love over gold”, “Brothers in arms”, “Alchemy” (double live)

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Another one from 1999, as chance would have it, the worm loved the album “The man who” by Travis, and this is one of the best tracks on it, the single “Turn”.

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The worm likes to read science-fiction, and in a large percentage of the sf books he reads, the Earth is destroyed in one way or another. Often it's through neglect, war, wastage of resources, alien invasion or some sort of virus or pathogen. It's seldom, however, destroyed due to a misunderstanding. But this is the story behind German singer Nena's 1983 one-hit-wonder “99 red balloons”, where the radar signature of a bunch of balloons let go into the air is mistaken for an enemy strike, and the missiles are launched.

Sad, yes; humourous in a dark way, definitely. But the basis for a really good catchy song, and here it is.

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It's a Saturday evening in Dublin, it's miserable and raining (of course!), so what better than a few nice instrumentals to soften the mood? Yeah, it's time for “Words get in the way” again...

Start off with a real classic, so much so it even has “classic” in the title! It's Mason Williams, with “Classical gas”.


The king of the multi-instrumental work, Vangelis, with one of my favourite pieces from him, this is “To the unknown man”.


And from an album I reviewed a little while back, this is Matt Stevens, from “Ghost”, with a great little track entitled “Lake man”.

Random Track of the Day
Saturday, October 15 2011
Time to go all easy-listening for the weekend, with a nice little track from the inimitable Carpenters. Not one of their ballads, more a sort of poppy bopper, from 1977, and “All you get from love is a love song.” Nice.

All you get from love is a love song --- The Carpenters --- from "Passage" on A&M
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Smooth, cool, jazzy, with great sax and Karen Carpenter's flawless vocals. What more could you ask for? They don't write 'em like this any more!

Random Track of the Day
Sunday, October 16 2011
Well, it's my own fault for trying to broaden my musical horizons, and stepping places I should avoid! With the inaugural “Stranger in a strange land” imminent, in which I flail wildly around in the scary world of Boybands, I've had to download many boyband albums, and they of course have become, at least temporarily, part of my music collection, so that the random-o-meter, in its capricious (and some might say, evil) way, has lighted on one of them! God-damn it!

Can't lose what you never had --- Westlife --- from "Westlife" on BMG
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As fate would have it, it's one of my most hated boybands that has been picked out, Westlife. From their 1999 debut self-titled, it's a track called “Can't lose what you never had” (does that include talent, boys?) ;)
Man, I need a shower...

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Ah, Pulp! You gotta love 'em, dont'cha? What are they up to now, the worm wonders? This is one of their big, big hit singles, one of the best: “Common people”.

Prominence and demise --- Winds --- 2007 (The End)
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Winds, you say? A band called Winds? Interesting. I think. Tell me more.

Okay then. A progressive metal/neo-classical band from Norway, Winds have in their ranks a classical pianist, a neo-classical guitar virtuoso (it says here) and a black metal drummer. They have been togther since 1998, when they met up in more or less serindipitous circumstances, and have released four albums since then, of which “Prominence and demise” is their latest.

Influenced mainly by classical and ambient music, they mesh this with heavy metal and prog rock, in something the same way already-reviewed Adagio do. Opener “Universal creation array” starts with a nice little classical piano line, added to by some classical guitar before it bursts into a fully-fledged metal track, with some inspired vocals by Lars E. Si (who we'll just refer to as Lars from now on, for handiness' sake), and some excellent guitar work from Carl August Tidemann. The opening track is a long one, just over eight minutes, just about the longest on the album, though there are other tracks that come quite close.

“Distorted dimensions” is more openly metal than the previous track, not as intricate but still with some really nice piano from Andy Winter, while “The grand design” starts off in a very classical mode but then becomes a rock/metal cruncher, with drummer Hellhammer (yeah, that's his name, at least the one he goes by on the album!) keeping the pounding beat going. Lars executes some very impressive vocal work on this song, and there's a pretty damn badass solo from Tidemann too. My only minus here is the annoying addition of death vocals, courtesy (!) of Dan Swano: thanks Dan --- not!

There's a certain Black Sabbath feel to “When the dream of Paradise died”, but I have to admit I'm starting to lose interest, and this is only track four. It's technically perfect, yes, and different also, but I'm having a hard time distinguishing any real melody of memorable quality in the music. It's almost like some guys jamming or soundchecking. Maybe it's me, I don't know, but I can't see me humming any of these songs when I hit “stop” (which at the moment can't come soon enough, but let's give this album a chance, eh?)

“Fall and rise” has a nice classical guitar intro, then the classical guitar becomes electric guitar, but the piano behind both keeps going, and so far the melody is quite nice. The guitars here take on a recognisable Iron Maiden texture, and the melody itself sounds vaguely eastern-flavoured. Then it becomes a sort of metal boogie, and herein I believe lies the fundamental problem with Winds: they don't stick to one melody or beat for any of the songs --- the tracks drift from classical to metal to rock to prog to anything else in between, often within the same track, which makes it difficult to follow and also hard to appreciate.

In fairness, this seven-minute track has gone pretty quickly. I didn't feel it was dragged out or over-extended, but once it's over I can't remember how it went. This is the trouble: nothing leaves a lasting cohesive impression. The playing is flawless and very entrancing, but it's almost as if each musician is just showing off his talent, without giving any real thought as to how that meshes with the work of his bandmembers, which ends up in confused and muddied songs. “The darkest path” is a perfect example of this. I'm listening to it. I'm hearing great guitar solos, great classical piano, tremendous drumming, but it's over now and I can't remember how it went at all.

“Convictions and contradictions” reminds me of Threshold at times. It's a little more together than the previous tracks, but now we're seven tracks in on a nine-track album, and it's just too late. My opinion has been formed, and it's not good. Even the relative balladery of “When the cold wind blows” can't rescue this album. Unfortunately, it doesn't stay a ballad, and about two minutes into the almost seven-minute track it gets a little heavier, though in fairness not as manic as a lot of what has gone before. If I had to compare this to anything, it would be Edenbridge or Within Temptation, given the female backing vocals from Agnete M. Kirkevaag. I guess this is as close as Winds get to a ballad.

The closer (as if I could care at this point!) “The last line”, has a really nice violin intro, then the guitar bursts in and the song becomes another confused mess. As ever, there's the excellent individual performances: Tidemann is superb on the guitar, whether picking out gentle classical melodies or pushing it to the max with power-shredding that would make Yngwie Malmsteen jealous, Winter is a genius on the piano and keyboards, and Lars is a great vocalist. Hellhammer is, well, Hellhammer. But sadly all of these separate talents add up to less than the sum of their parts, resulting in a very disjointed and confusing album.

Perhaps I'm being unfair to Winds, if so I apologise, but this album did not stay in my memory once I had shut it off, and I always feel that at the very least you should be humming the last track to yourself as you put the album away, close the directory or whatever. Not only am I not doing that, I quite honestly don't think I'd be able to. I can't remember any of the tracks, and I could follow few of them in the first place.

If you want to hear great instrumentation, well-trained musicians and powerul passages of play, have a listen to this. But don't expect songs you can remember later on.

TRACKLISTING

1. Universal creation array
2. Distorted dimensions
3. The grand design
4. When the dream of Paradise died
5. Fall and rise
6. The darkest path
7. Convictions and contradictions
8. Where the cold winds blow
9. The last line

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Phil Collins has got a lot of stick (no pun intended) over the years --- and rightly so, as his music turns from prog rock to rock to pop and to, well, pap --- but this is undeniably a classic, from his early days, and the worm defies you to get it out of your head for at least a few hours!

Random Track of the Day
Monday, October 17 2011
Let's start the new week off with some culture, shall we? Whaddya mean, is the track Motorhead?? No, I'm talking about classical music; as those of you who have perused my “Get the culture bug!” section will know, I have more than a passing interest in the old masters, and this is one of the best.

Wedding march --- Felix Mendelssohn --- from "A midsummer night's dream"
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Ah yes! Guaranteed to send a chill into the heart of any dithering fiance, or any man who fears being asked the question, this is from Shakespeare's classic play “A midsummer night's dream”, set to music, and it's the famous “Wedding march”, which is the song played at just about every church wedding in the world. Betcha didn't know that! See, we educate as well as entertain here....

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It's one of those songs that you hear extracts of on the TV, but never know what song it is. The worm heard it in several shows, and eventually tracked it down, and here it is. Massive Attack, and “Teardrop”.

Random Track of the Day
Tuesday, October 18 2011
After our dip into classical music for yesterday's RTOTD, it's back to rock for today's track. From an album already reviewed by me, it's Bon Jovi, with “All I want is everything”.

All I want is everything --- Bon Jovi --- from "These days" on Mercury
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Those on the far side of the pond may not have heard this, as apparently it was only included on the UK and European releases. Bearing more than a passing similarity both in lyrical content and melody to Prince's “Sign o' the times”, it's a tough, dark song from a tough, dark album, the darkest and most mature album Bon Jovi have ever recorded.

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Recipe: take one pop princess, season lightly with sprinkles of rock star god, add dark, gothic rock poet/singer and place into oven. After some time, remove from oven and lif you have followed instructions precisely, you should have one of the most effective duets of the mid to late 1990s. When Nick Cave released his album “Murder ballads” in 1996, it was many an eyebrow that was raised at the inclusion of one Kylie Minogue on the fifth track, but as it turned out, “Where the wild roses grow” was a huge success, both for Cave (who probably could care less about such things) and for Kylie. In the case of the latter, it raised her profile beyond the somewhat limited pop/dance area she was known for, following on from her association with Michael Hutchence of INXS, under whose tutelage Kylie's own music had been starting to break out of those boundaries.
Nick Cave and Kylie Minogue --- Where the wild roses grow

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The tale of a man who meets his lover by the river and kills her, in order that her great beauty be preserved and not fade, the song is based, according to Cave, on the old traditional song “Down in the willow garden”, and is replete with metaphors and images of death and decay, which would not normally be where you would expect to find she who found fame with such inoffensive ditties as “Hand on your heart”, “Devil you know”, “Can't get you out of my head” and of course “Spinning around”. Remembered, at that time, more for skintight supershort golden knickers than for dark morose songs about death, Kylie did herself no harm at all in teaming up with the Reaper of the music world, and the song, released as a single, did well all over the world, especially in her, and his, native Australia.

Nick Cave says he wrote the song specifically with her in mind, and had been trying for several years to write a song worthy of her. It was only when he penned this that he knew he had the song he could approach her to perform with him. She jumped at the chance, and the rest is history. It's probably unlikely that they will ever collaborate again, as Cave hates to repeat himself, and indeed Kylie has of late returned to the style of music that initially made her famous, dance and pop, but for a brief moment there, the marriage of, as it were, goddess and devil, took the world's breath away.

A thankless job: credit where it's due
 

:thumb:I think perhaps those of us who maintain journals here should maybe pause for a moment and remember those who do a pretty thankless job, that allows us to, well, exist really. They are the mods, of course, those guys and girls who spend countless hours checking, editing and approving our many posts. Nothing we post can be seen by anyone else without their approval, and I'm sure it's a tough job.

I only hope my own rather numerous posts, articles, sections and reviews don't do too much to add to their burden, but I thank them for their efforts, as I believe we all should. No-one is paid for this job, it's done only for the love of music and the desire to help out, so join me in a hearty round of applause for the mods who approve our posts, and allow our journals to flourish, and next time you're --- like me --- grousing about how long it's taking to get your latest article approved, stop just for a moment and consider the tough job these people are doing.

If the worst we have to do is wait a little while before the world can read our wisdom, sure what hardship is that?

Thanks guys, and keep up the good work!

Trollheart
:clap: :thumb:

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Having already tackled such features as solo artists, beginner's guides and full histories of bands and artistes, this is a new section I've been working on for some time now. I had many titles for it, but none seemed to fit, to encompass the ethos of what this section would be all about. Then recently I had cause to feature a song in the section “More than words” which made me think. That song was by Kevin Johnson, and is called “Rock and roll I gave you the best years of my life”. Though Johnson's song is about his failure to make it in the music biz, and those centred on in this section all most certainly have been successful in that business, the title just fit and I knew this was what I was going to call the feature.

So what's it about? Well, basically it's going to be a (probably quite occasional, due to the amount of work it will need) look at a particular artist, following their entire music career, from beginning to either end, or the present if they are still recording and gigging. If they've been in more than one band, I'll cover that. If they've done solo work, that'll be examined. Any collaborations with other bands or artistes, whether as a one-off or as part of that band, or as a team-up, will also come under the microscope, as will any live gigs they've taken part in, that have been committed to disc.

In short, I'm going to try to trace the path of the artist, from his or her musical beginnings, as far back as YouTube will allow, to where they are now. I'll be looking at how, if at all, they influenced the various bands they either started or joined, and indeed how those bands changed, if at all, after they left. A whole life in music, insofar as I can.

(Note: as in most of my larger features, this will be divided into two parts, primarily because of the restriction on the amount of images allowed, but also, in this case, to serve as a dividing line between the two sides of the artist's career, as you will see below.)

The first to step into the spotlight is that well-known stalwart of such bands as Thin Lizzy, Tygers of Pan-Tang and Whitesnake among others, almost as famous for his perm as for his fretwork, the one, the only,

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Part I: Workin' for the Man

John James Sykes was born on July 25 1959 in Reading, and although his first band was Streetfighter, and he was later in John Sloman's Badlands, there appears to be no footage on YT of the former (not to mention how hard it is to avoid videos for the popular videogame!) and the latter keep getting confused with another band who also go by the name of Badlands. I don't know the music of either, so rather than end up putting up incorrect videos, or indeed referring to the wrong bands, I won't feature anything from either band here. It further appears that John Sloman's Badlands only ever recorded a demo tape, not any albums, so not surprising then that there exists no footage of them.

In a very real sense, then, Sykes' career began in earnest when he joined heavy metallers Tygers of Pan-Tang, although he got together with them only for their second album, after the far heavier and much more raw “Wild cat” (see my review many pages back) had come and gone. By 1981, the Tygers were being pushed by their label into a much more commercial, AOR direction, and John played guitar on what would be their last truly rock album, 1981's “Spellbound” (still far inferior to the rockin' “Wild cat”) and then on their follow-up to that, 1982's “Crazy nights”. Both albums are generally seen by Tygers fans as being indicative of the watering-down of the band, and after 1983's release, “The cage”, the Tygers effectively broke up, although they did reform later, but never regained the popularity they had had at the height of the eighties.

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Sykes joined the Tygers after Jess Cox, lead singer on the debut, left the band in an acrimonious split, and he was drafted in to supplement founder member and guitarist Robb Weir, adding an extra dimension to the guitar parts on the album. “Tyger Bay” (below) is a good example of how he stamped his own identity on the Tygers' sound.

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And the rather good “Running out of time” from “Crazy nights” has him in fine form.

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John was then approached by the aforemenioned John Sloman, and asked to join his new band, John Sloman's Badlands, but although they cut a demo tape they did not stay together and broke up very quickly. He officially remained with the Tygers after the disintegration of Badlands, but he only contributed to two tracks on what would be their penultimate recording, actually my favourite of theirs after “Wild cat”, “The cage”. This is one of them, unfortunately not the one I wanted to feature, damn you, YouTube! It's the infinitely inferior cover, “Love potion no. 9”, but hey, Sykes is on fire on it!

The rest of the Tygers were reportedly annoyed at Sykes for “abandoning” them during the recording of “The cage”, as he went to audition for Ozzy Osbourne, in the sad light of the untimely death of Randy Rhoads in 1983. It was however a gig he did not succeed in winning, but his time away from the band meant that he was only able to play on two of the tracks that appeared on “The cage”, as mentioned.
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After he parted company with the Tygers, John was approached by Phil Lynott, and joined Thin Lizzy as a replacement for Snowy White. He featured on the last studio album by the band, Phil Lynott's swansong, “Thunder and lightning”, on which he not only played guitar but also co-wrote the biggest hit single taken from that album, “Cold sweat”.

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Sykes became a real favourite with Lizzy fans during the short time he was with them, from late 1982 to autumn 1983, when he toured with them on their final tour before they broke up, and he appears on the live album “Life/Live”, recorded during that tour. This also gave him the unmissable chance to play onstage with ex-Lizzy legends Gary Moore, Eric Bell and Brian Robertson. It seems not too much footage of the tour made it to YT, but here's Sykes at his best on “The sun goes down”, from the gig in the Regal Theatre.


After Lizzy broke up, John joined Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Darren Wharton on Phil Lynott's solo tour of Europe, under the banner of “The Three Musketeers” (even though, including Sykes, there were five of them!) and after this ended, John Sykes, never a man to stand still for long, took up David Coverdale's offer to join Whitesnake, and although his first album with them, 1983's “Slide it in”, had original guitar on it by Micky Moody, when he left the band due to irreconcilable differences between he and Coverdale, Sykes was afforded the opportunity to redo the guitar tracks when the album was remixed and reissued for its US release.
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Sykes then toured with Whitesnake, cutting another album with them, 1987's self-titled, seen as the “rebirth” of the band after Coverdale's ego had led to his firing Cozy Powell, Colin Hodgkinson and Mel Galley, with Jon Lord having left to rejoin his old band Deep Purple. Neil Murray had come back, having left the band after 1981's “Saints and sinners”, and a new drummer and some “guest” keyboard players recorded the new album, which was spectacularly successful, due in no small part to Sykes' contribution, both on guitar and songwriting, of which he collaborated on the vast majority with Coverdale.
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But there are few things as overbearingly huge, it would appear, as David Coverdale's ego, and once again he decided to dispense with everyone in the band, going on to record their next album, 1989's “Slip of the tongue”, with a whole new crew. Perhaps burned by his treatment at Coverdale's hands, and wanting to have his destiny in his own hands, Sykes decided it was time to form his own band.

Pulp and flattery!?

My good sir, you are not a burden. Keep up the good work. You are a gentleman and a scholar.

Part II: Out on my own

And so it was that, in 1988, Sykes put together Blue Murder, calling in ex-Whitesnake drummer Cozy Powell as well as Tony Franklin from the Firm, and Ray Gillen ex-Black Sabbath on vocals. However, Gillen didn't work out and on the advice of his label Sykes took over vocals himself. Powell also left before the recording of the first of the band's two albums, to be replaced by Carmine Appice. With keysman Nik Green they released their debut, self-titled album, which was critically acclaimed, but failed to gain any chart success. The album was dedicated to Phil Lynott, who had passed away two years previously.
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John put his stamp firmly on the album, and on the band, playing guitar and singing, and also writing most of the songs on it. He had worked under other people in the past, and most times this had not worked out. He would not allow himself to be in that situation again. Blue Murder was unmistakably his band! He called the shots, he did the hiring and firing, and he decided on the direction the band was to take.

He extended this control even further for their second (and final) album, “Nothin' but trouble”, released in 1992. He produced, engineered and wrote ALL of the songs on it (bar one, the cover of the Small Faces' “Itchycoo Park”), and he also rejigged the band, relegating Appice, Franklin and Green to the status of “additional musicians”, while bringing in new bass player Marco Mendoza, and sticksman Tommy O'Steen.
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Both albums are great power-rock records, but Blue Murder failed to make any sort of impression on the charts, and are fondly remembered, but after a live album released in 1993 they broke up and John began his career as a completely solo artist, though he retained the core of the band, in O'Steen and Mendoza. He had as a matter of fact already recorded a short solo EP in 1982, which he expanded ten years later to a full album, titled “Please don't leave me”, padded out with added material from his Tygers days. As none of the songs bar the title track were his own, it's not really considered as being his first solo album, though technically, it is.

His first real effort was “Out of my tree” in 1995, with a sleeve created by famous Irish artist Jim Fitzpatrick. I haven't been able to track down a copy of it, so I can't speak to its quality, however here are a fewYouTubes of the tracks I was able to locate. It appears John wrote all the tracks on this album, as well as producing, mixing and engineering it.
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John's next solo album was 1997's “Loveland”, with most of the band again changed: this time he had two drummers, two bass players, and two keyboard players (although this “doubling-up” may have been due to some of the tracks having been recorded previously), with Nik Green and Tony Franklin relegated to playing on the closer, “Don't say goodbye”, whereas ex-drummer Tommy O'Steen plays on “Haunted”. Interestingly, the album opens on two ballads, both really excellent, followed by a re-re-release of “Please don't leave me”, this one from his 1997 re-release of the album which started life as an EP, retitled “Don't hurt me this way”, and featuring the late Phil Lynott on vocals.

As I said, I haven't heard “Out of my tree”, so can't comment much on it, though going from the YTs here it seems it continued the hard/melodic rock stylings that characterised the two Blue Murder albums, whereas this one goes completely in the opposite direction, being in fact an entire album of ballads! Talk about throwing a curveball! It's a fantastic album though, and you have to admire Sykes' sense of taking a gamble that it would be accepted by his surely by now legion of fans, without a single shredding guitar solo or even a rocker on the whole album. And yet it works. Beautifully. Right down to the powerful, urgent closer, “Don't say goodbye”, dedicated to the late John Lennon. You can hear the hurt, anger and frustration in Sykes' voice as he sings about the death of one of his idols.

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Only a year later and John Sykes' new album was out. “20th century” dispelled any idea that he was going to record another album of ballads, kicking off with “Look in his eyes”, a decent rocker, followed by three more in quick succession, the best of these being the Gary Moore-like “2 counts”. “Defcon 1” then kicks the gear into about ninth, and the whole band get rockin' like lunatics. In fact, in direct opposition to his previous effort, this album has no ballads at all, and rocks from beginning to end, especially on penultimate track “Cautionary warning”, where Sykes channels the ghost of Phil Lynott.

Sykes waited another three years before unleashing his last, and to date, most recent solo effort upon the world. The new millennium saw the release of “Nuclear cowboy”, on which Sykes stretched his creative talents and dabbled in some new sounds. There are hints of punk, thrash and even electronica on this album, especially on the title track and “One-way system”, with some very effective string arrangements on “Talking 'bout love”, which comes across as a very Sabbath-style cruncher, but the strings really add something to the song.
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Nice little Spanish guitar-like interlude on “Sick”, with an almost rap beat and rhythm, while this time round Sykes does include a ballad; just the one, but it's totally gorgeous. “I wish it would rain” (not to be confused with the Phil Collins ballad!) is a powerful, emotional and multi-layered song which stands out the more as there are no other ballads to compare it to: even on his previous album there wasn't one, as we saw, although the one prior to that was nothing but ballads.

As of this year, 2012, John has stated his intention to put together a new band with ex-Dream Theater drummer Mike Portnoy. This announcement was only made very recently, and it's unlikely at this point that we'll see any output from the new project before the new year, I would think.

What is clear is that from humble beginnings John Sykes has played with the greats, created a powerful reputation for himself and also created demand for his services --- both Phil Lynott and David Coverdale approached him about joining their respective bands at the time --- he has never had to look for work. But having been in other people's bands, and experienced some of the repercussions of having to deal not just with a big ego, but with a big ego that has control over you, he appears to have decided that the way to go is solo, or at least for him to be in charge of his own band. Of course, Portnoy is a legendary figure himself, and casts a huge shadow, so it will be interesting to see how the dynamic of their new group plays out, and also who else is involved.

One thing is sure: after over thirty years in the business of making music, we have not heard anywhere near the end of John James Sykes.

Random Track of the Day
Wednesday, October 19 2011
Hooray! Everything's comin' up Trollheart! After my luck yesterday with the random-o-meter picking out a Bon Jovi song for me, today it's again come up trumps, with another of my favourite bands, Arena, and indeed, one of my favourite songs from them.

Sirens --- Arena --- from "Pride" on SPV
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Taken from their second album, “Pride”, this is in fact the closer, a powerful, almost fourteen-minute saga of human emotions and mythology, with some great passages, including a great guitar solo. Arena tend to get a little overlooked in the present glut of bands who go under the banner of progressive rock, but I think they truly deserve that tag, and if after listening to “Sirens” you disagree, then there's nothing more I can do to help you!

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FOURTH SPIN
I suppose after all it's inevitable. When you download as much music as I do, often without even knowing anything about the artist other than they look like someone you might enjoy, or that you've been recommended their music, and that same music can stay unlistened to on your PC for months, sometimes years, then there is going to be some sort of percentage of what you download that you are not going to like.

And so it has proved with the first three “Spins of the Wheel”. Since I began this section, the intention being to randomly select an album from my collection and review it, no matter my feelings on said album, I have to date had three strikes, as the Americans say. The first two were albums I didn't like, or hadn't listened to (then didn't like when I did), and the third was what I would class as a “meh” album: it was ok, but it didn't blow my mind. Up until now, the Wheel has not been kind to me. But all of that is about to change.

Finally, the winds of fortune have blown favourably upon me, and the random album selected this time around is one I not only like, but love, and one I know a good deal about, being a big Tom Waits fan.

Blue Valentine --- Tom Waits --- 1978 (Asylum)
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As I mentioned a short time back when I featured the opening track in the section “Head start”, you just never know what you're going to get with a Waits album, and this is no exception. His fifth (not including the live “Nighthawks at the diner”) album, it's as ever an eclectic mix of styles, and how much more eclectic can you be than to kick off your album with a showtune, but that's exactly what he does. His version of “Somewhere”, from Leonard and Bernstein's “West Side Story”, is, shall we say, unique? Delivered in his characteristic growl, it's a song that at first you would not see as suiting his singing style, and yet for all that (or perhaps in spite of it) the song works really well.

Waits often sings like a drunk, slurring his words and mumbling his delivery, but if you are a fan of his music you'll know that he never gives less than a hundred percent for any song, and once you've acquired the taste there really is no-one he can be compared to, living or dead. A mix of blues, jazz, lounge, soul, country, hard-edged rock, gospel and even swing, along with a few other styles which defy categorisation, which seem just to have been invented by him, make for a complex and interesting musician who never fails to surprise, impress and occasionally shock, but always delivers satisfaction. I can't really point to a Waits album I haven't thoroughly enjoyed.

So, “Somewhere” gets the album off to a somewhat unsettling start, with its orchestral arrangement, beautiful sax playing by Frank Vicari and Herbert Hardesty, all juxtaposed against Waits' slurred, drunk-sounding croon, but if you thought that was going to be the tone of the album, think again! You really have to be quick on your feet when listening to a Waits album, as you quite literally never know what's coming next. And what is coming next is “Red shoes by the drugstore”, a jazzy, bluesy bouncer carried on sweet bass lines, muted drumming and flourishes on the guitar, with Waits at his streetcorner storyteller best, making an assignation with his lady. Like many of his songs, “Red shoes” is full of gangland imagery, streetpunks hanging out on every corner, watching from the darkness, avoiding the sweep of the flashing lights of the police as they cut through the night.

It's a short song, and in fairness quite repetitive, but doesn't suffer from it, but it pales beside the classic “Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis”, driven almost entirely on tinkling piano as Waits reads the letter sent to him by a “lady of the night” he is acquainted with. She tells him that she's ready to be clean, lead a normal life, that she's got married and has a baby now, but it all turns out to be a shakedown for money for her lawyer. It's a deeply disturbing song in its subject matter, the moreso when you find out at the end (sorry for the spoiler!) that it's all lies, and the woman is not going to change. The simple piano melody serves to highlight Waits' deep and sonorous voice, and it contains some classic Waits lines, like ”Everyone I used to know/ Is either dead or in prison”. You just get the sense at the end of Waits crumpling up the card, shaking his head as he tosses it into a trashcan, knowing that people don't change.

“Romeo is bleeding” is, lyrically, a revisitation of the themes in the title track to 1976's “Small change”, with more street gang metaphors, and the story of one who pushed his luck too far. It's carried on upright bass and sax, with a great swing beat, and Waits' incredible eye for rhythm that makes the lyric, although sung almost at odds with the melody, mesh perfectly and create a cool little song. Great organ from Charles Kynard adds some real atmosphere to the song, while the sax just takes it to the top, but as ever it's Waits' laconic telling of the tale of Romeo the hood that grabs and holds your attention.

The shortest track name ever on a Waits album, I believe, “$29”, or “Twenty-nine dollars”, is another song of life on the street, on a great blues melody, and at just over eight minutes is the longest track on the album. Tinkling, echoing piano and sweet electric guitar carry the song, which just sways along on a rhythm that reeks of the very best of the blues. More great lines: ”Cops always get there too late/ Always stop for coffee/ On their way to the scene of the crime/ Always try so hard/ Just like movie stars/ But they couldn't catch a cold/ Baby, don't waste your dime!” and ”Streets get so hungry/ You can almost hear them growl!”

Everywhere you look on this album there are great tracks. “Wrong side of the road” is a Bonnie-and-Clyde style ballad, driven on lowdown sax and squealing organ as Waits prepares for a crime spree with his lover. Waits' lyrics just continue to impress, and often amuse: Strangle all the Christmas carollers/ Scratch out all their prayers/ Tie 'em up with barbed wire/ And push 'em down the stairs!” Remind me never to go carolling outside Waits' house! It's a slow, bluesy/jazzy ballad with again a great beat, and providing an insight into a character who just doesn't care what he does, who he hurts or who he kills, or indeed whether he's killed himself. As he declares as the song comes to a fading close ”With my double-barrelled shotgun/ And a whole buncha shells/ We'll celebrate the Fourth of July/ We'll drive a hundred miles an hour/ Spending someone else's dough/ Drive all the way to Reno/ On the wrong side of the road.”

So this review is turning out to be a bit longer than expected, but really, you can't rush through a Waits album: it just demands your fullest attention. And to be honest, there's very little persuasion needed, with songs the calibre of “Whistlin' past the graveyard”, where Waits goes at his most manic, a swing, big band type rhythm, with the ubiquitous sax leading the way, or the hard-edged “Sweet little bullet from a pretty blue gun”, with its tale of seedy motel encounters with less than legal young women, set to the basic melody of “It's raining it's pouring”, the children's nursery-rhyme actually included in the lyric by Waits, no doubt with a lopsided grin and a tip of his cap.

But the standout track has to be the heartbreaking “Kentucky Avenue”, where Waits sings to his crippled friend, making believe they're going to run away together. It's a supremely powerful song that just drags at your heartstrings, and when you realise (again, apologies for the spoiler) that the friend he's talking to is lame, the tears aren't long in coming. ”I'll take the spokes from your wheelchair/ And a magpie's wing/ And I'll tie them to your shoulders/ And your feet /I'll steal a hacksaw from my dad/ Cut the braces off of your legs/ And we'll bury them tonight/ Out in the cornfield.” The song is again a simple piano melody, the sparseness of it somehow making it a deeper, more meaningful song than perhaps it would have been with a full orchestra behind it.

Another ballad ends the album, and it's the title track (with just the addition of an “s”, to make it “Blue Valentines”), a ballad wrapped in barbed wire, on a lone guitar as Waits cries into his whiskey about the woman he has left behind, the things he has done that haunt him and that he can never change or be forgiven for, least of all by himself. A fitting end to a tremendous album, rightly seen as one of Tom Waits' best. You can't listen to this and fail to be moved: he just has that effect. If this is to be your first steps into the wonderful, disturbing, terrifying, amazing world of Tom Waits, my advice is try to get past his growly voice and listen to what he's singing, and once you lose yourself in his cityscapes and stories, meet his colourful characters and maybe share a drink with them, you may never want to find your way back again.

TRACKLISTING

1. Somewhere
2. Red shoes by the drugstore
3. Christmas card from a hooker in Minneapolis
4. Romeo is bleeding
5. $29
6. Wrong side of the road
7. Whistlin' past the graveyard
8. Kentucky Avenue
9. A sweet little bullet from a pretty blue gun
10. Blue Valentines

Suggested further listening: "Small change”, “Rain dogs”, “Frank's wild years”, “Swordfishtrombones”, “Foreign affair”, “The heart of Saturday night”, “Closing time”, “Heartattack and Vine”, “Mule variations”, “Nighthawks at the diner”, “Bone machine”, “Orphans: Brawlers, bawlers and bastards” and many more....

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The worm fears his section is in danger of becoming a “where are they now?” feature, but he must admit he wonders where these guys are these days. They had two big hits in the 80s, then nothing was heard from them. What a pity. Mr. Mister, with one of their big hits, “Kyrie.”

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IRELAND MOURNS...

Holy Christ, what is WRONG with this world? Rory Gallagher dies, not front page news. Gerry Rafferty leaves us, footnote. Gary Moore shuffles off to the Great Gig in the Sky, barely a mention. But five snotty, talentless gits from Ireland decide that finally, after fourteen years (twelve, according to Louis Walsh, but who can believe anything he says?) they've had enough of ripping off teenage girls by basically recycling the same songs over and over, have made fat enough piles of cash to be able to “spend time with their families” --- yeah, right: expect solo albums aplenty soon! --- and the whole country starts wearing black! It's HEADLINE news on most of the Irish newspapers. Yeah, I said HEADLINE news! Never mind the death of Gaddaffi, we have the split of Westlife!

No doubt there'll be a sharp rise in the suicide or attempted suicide rate among distraught teenage girls in Ireland and elsewhere, oh and watch for the “reunion tour” in about, what, five years? Before that? Get down to Paddy Power now and place a bet, take my advice. Could be a nice little earner!

Wise up, people! It's a band (using the word in its loosest form) breaking up. It's not the end of the world. Or is it? Perhaps this is --- yes, yes! It all fits! One of the great catastrophes said to presage the end of the world in 2012. A humanitarian disaster on an unprecedented scale. Why didn't I think of that? Here I was, thinking earthquake, famine, tsunami, war, when I should have been considering the global effect the breakup of these guys would have on the world! Of course! It has to be true.

Teenagers all over the world begin jumping off cliffs, the music industry implodes and shortly afterwards takes with it the whole of Western society, while certain people who shall remain nameless grin and say that this is proof they were right: that music IS evil and should have been outlawed, look at the damage it is causing, the lives it is taking. Relations between East and West (YOU know who I mean!) deteriorate, the world slips towards the inevitable precipice...


I'm just thankful I have my seat booked on Virgin Galactic's Earth Evacuation flight on December 2012. What? You thought those were to be pleasure trips? People are going to pay $200,000 a SEAT to go into space for no reason and come back a little while later? You thought --- Oh, yes, sorry, of course. THAT's what they ARE doing, yes. Forget you heard anything about a planned escape by the rich and influential from this planet before the Big Day. Nothing of the sort: where did you hear that? Silly. Of course Branson would not be involved in such a thing! A mega-rich tycoon, saving the richest people on Earth from --- come on! Does that even SOUND possible?

Well, must go. Lots to do before the Big One --- er, before the --- er, before nothing at all, actually. Nothing going to happen. All rumour. Now where did I put that ticket? WHERE? WHERE!! I CAN'T FIND ---- Oh, there it is! Phew! Nearly gave myself a heart attack there. What ticket? Oh, nothing, nothing. The safe combination is.... there we go, safe and sound.

That's all. Run along now, nothing to see here. Any intimations of collusion on behalf of Virgin Galactic with the evacuation of the Earth will be met by the very strongest legal response. Sorry? No, I have no comment. Sorry. No. NO. NONE. Please get out of my way. Thank you.

Note: Trollheart wishes it to be understood that, should he suddenly disappear from the planet on the aforementioned date, this is entirely coincidental and does not add any credibility to the scurrilous rumours being circulated at this time.

Random Track of the Day
Thursday, October 20 2011
Woo hoo! Looks like we're back with those crazy Polish proggers, Riverside, for today's RTOTD. Taken from the live album “Reality dream”, this is twelve and a half minutes of pure prog magic.

The same river --- Riverside --- from "Reality dream" on InsideOut
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I'm still making up my mind about this band, but so far I've liked what I've heard. This is another good one, although the opening “radio” thing does put me in mind of Marillion's “Forgotten sons”. Still, if that proves Riverside were listening to, and were influenced by, Fish and the boys, no bad thing!

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Ah, Eurovision! Was there ever a more pointless competition (other than the X-Factor, of course!)? Every nation fights to compete, even holding trials within each country themselves to select the song to go forth and represent them, and whoever wins has the dubious honour of hosting the next year's contest. No prize, no real fame to speak of, no recording contract. Most Eurovision winners, let alone entrants, fade very quickly into the mists of musical history, although of course there have been a few notable exceptions, who have gone on to carve out a successful musical career on the back of their Eurovision victory. They are, though, very much in the minority.

I think the best comment on Eurovision was in the “Father Ted” episode “A song for Europe”, where Ted's arch-enemy, Fr. Dick Byrne, is flabberghasted to find that his much superior entry has lost out to Ted's awful, one-note-one-chord “My lovely horse”, and when he suggests the contest is obviously a fix, he is asked why would the organisers allow a far inferior song to go forward and represent Ireland? He rather haltingly suggests that maybe Ireland, having won the last two times, can't afford to host it again and so wants to send such a dire entry forward that they will have no chance of winning!

Okay, it's comedy, but there's a kernel of possible truth in there. For most countries, hosting the Eurovision is more trouble than it's worth. It's a huge headache, logistically, politically and most of all financially, and there are few if any rewards, apart from the “prestige” of staging the event. Sure, it's good for the tourist industry of the country in question, but it's not like the European Championships or the World Cup, where the hosting country has the sudden influx of thousands upon thousands of fans from every country, bringing all their lovely disposable income with them! No-one travels to the Eurovision; everyone watches it on telly at home. So where's the point?

This is a question, of course, debated by men much more learned than I, and I will not attempt to unravel the mystery in these pages. Rather, this section is being opened to highlight some of the truly awful songs that featured in previous Eurovisions. Some were even winners! And just in case anyone thinks I'm bashing any particular country, my own little island will not escape my scathing satire, you may be sure of that. We have had some woeful entries, and the harsh spotlight of scorn will be shone with its fullest intensity on those, mark my words!

But to start this section off, here's a good one from all the way back in 1974. Don't ask me how it did, but I somehow doubt it won. Paulo de Carvalho (never heard of him? Not surprised...) singing Portugal's entry, “E depois de adeus”, which apparently means “and after goodbye”. Perhaps he should have stuck in a comma before “goodbye”...! Hey, let's be honest: I don't know the guy. Maybe he was big in Portugal, who knows? But this song is typical of the kind of sub-cabaret tripe they used to trot out every year for this contest, though in fairness, they haven't got much better these days. Enjoy!
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1974 --- Portugal --- “E depois de adeus” by Paulo de Carvalho

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After wondering where yesterday's artiste, Mr. Mister, are now, no such worries with these lads! All at home, rolling about in their stacks of money! Seriously, you can't keep the Eagles down, as their reunion album “Long road out of Eden” showed in spades. This is one of their classic hits, a crossover country/rock/pop mainstay, it's “Lyin' eyes”.

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Ah, yiz'll be hummin' this guitar riff all day now! The song that made Bryan Adams a household name, this is “Run to you”...