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Two albums that no-one has been waiting for the release of. Except me.
Both these albums were released last year, both are by bands I love and have everything they released, and both are, sadly, largely underappreciated in the main, with the vast majority of people asking “Who?” when I mention them. And with my typical procrastination, lack of organisation and terrible time management, I'm only now getting to listen to them for the first time. The seventh degree of separation --- Arena --- 2011 (Verglas) https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/im...XHeIFoxofj8Siw True story: I only originally checked out Arena because their band name was the same as an Asia album, and I had enjoyed all Asia's output up to then (and since), but once I heard them I quickly set about collecting all their albums, and have loved every single one. I was rather dismayed that 2005's superlative “Pepper's ghost” was the last one I could find, but even so, it's such a brilliant album that I consoled myself with the knowledge that, should Arena never record any more material, this was one hell of a high to go out on. And so it remained, until last year, when my eyes nearly popped out as I scanned my regular copy of “Classic Rock presents Prog”, to see that Arena had released a new album! As soon as it was available I got it, but as per usual with me, anticipation is often preferable to reality, which can sometimes lead to disappointment, and so I waited till the right time to listen to it. Waited and waited. I didn't want to rush it, I didn't want to listen to it when I had not the time to fully devote to appreciating this long-awaited opus. I wanted to be in the right frame of mind. And so I waited. And waited. Months drifted by, and suddenly I was in 2012, and realised I still hadn't listened to the new Arena album. Then the one-year anniversary of Gary Moore's death came round, and I was busy preparing for and marking that. Following that was Valentine's Day, more work, then the second part of “Stranger in a strange land” … work just seemed to pile up, and with my personal commitments as well there just didn't seem to be the time I needed to devote to this album, which I really wanted to listen to. So now, no more excuses. Before I start getting ready for the first annual Polly awards next week, I'm sitting down to listen to this, and the other album below. It's about time, and if I don't do it now then it's going to be too late to include either or both in the nominations for a Polly, should they, as I believe they will, qualify. Arena's first album in six years is a concept album, focussing on the last hour before death and the first after it, according to their website. The fact that it's a concept is no huge surprise to me: both the previous and indeed the one before it were also story-based, with “Pepper's ghost” telling the story of five heroes who defeat evil in nineteenth century London, and “Contagion” concentrating on the destruction of the world and its rebirth. Arena say this is their darkest album to date. We shall see. It opens with acapella singing from new vocalist Paul Manzi, which is as good a way as any to announce your arrival I guess, then guitars and drums crash in, along with Clive Nolan's signature keyboards, and to me it's a return to the Arena I know and love, a bit of a shock that Rob Sowden is gone, but this new guy seems to click in seamlessly with the rest of the long-established band, and “The great escape” is a hard rock cruncher with dark overtones certainly, but no darker, in my opinion, than anything off “Pepper's ghost”. Speeds up in the last minute with heavy guitar from John Mitchell and bass from the reurning John Jowitt, missing since 1998's "The Visitor", then we're into another cruncher with “Rapture”, hard snarling guitar and doomy keys, with Mick Pointer pounding the drumkit purposefully, as he has done since Arena first got together, seventeen years ago now. Nolan's keyboards have often set the tone on Arena albums, and here again he is front and centre, keeping a dramatic and powerful melody against which Mitchell's guitar whines and Pointer's drums crash like breakers on the beach. He also writes all their material, and he doesn't disappoint in the lyrical content here. In “One last au revoir” he sets up an eerie, ethereal opening before the song breaks out into an uptempo rocker, AOR really, with great guitar work from Mitchell and ELO-style vocoder breaks, with a great guitar solo from Mitchell which at times verges into Mike Rutherford territory while Clive Nolan pays tribute to Tony Banks, while never once losing the individuality in his playing. Like most concept albums these days, I'm finding it a little hard to follow the actual story, but I think this track concerns a possible suicide, though it's difficult to be sure. “The ghost walks” then, would seem to concern the crossover to the world of the dead, or limbo maybe, with an almost slow rap from Manzi, really Genesis-style keys from Nolan, while Pointer sets up a drum pattern that's almost directly lifted from “Chosen”, from the “Immortal?” album. Doomy, hollow bells ringing in the distance add to the sense of unease and paranoia this track engenders, then Pointer hits some really echoey beats and the thing takes off on an instrumental break led by another great solo from Mitchell, Jowitt again meshing perfectly with Pointer to resurrect the great partnership, one of the great rhythm sections of progressive rock. Nolan's delicate piano intro brings us into “Thief of souls”, hard guitar from Mitchell punching holes in the tune that Nolan effortlessly papers over with his rippling piano notes, the two master musicians complementing each other perfectly. When Mitchell breaks loose though it's clear this song is a vehicle for his inestimable talents, with some great backing vocals as Paul Manzi almost, but not quite, makes me think “Rob who?” He certainly excells on this track, and is really coming into his own. I have no information to hand on who he is or where he came from, but he certainly is an undiscovered gem. “Close your eyes” seems to run rather seamlessly from the previous track, with more AOR leanings, hard and heavy but very melodic, while “Echoes of the fall” comes in on a very busy synth line then cuts loose into a fast hard rocker with Nolan's keys leading the track in a manner quite similar to the likes of “Bedlam Fayre” or “Opera fanatica” from “Pepper's ghost”, Pointer's drums rattling along at a hell of a lick, Manzi's voice harder and raunchier than previously. It's a short track, barely two and a half minutes, and leads into the prog-centric “Bed of nails”, keyboard-led but with some sharp guitar from Mitchell lending the song real punch and heart, especially when he fires off another emotional solo. This song is a sort of half-ballad, heavy but slow and very heartstring-pulling. Some great keyboard melodies from Clive Nolan, and a fine performance behind the mike from the new man. “What if?” is a gentle little introspective number with soft guitar opening and an impassioned vocal from Manzi as he wonders if things could have been different. More great backing vocals and some flute-style sounds on the keyboard on a really nice little tune. The oddly-named “Trebuchet” goes back into classic Arena territory, recalling the likes of “Contagion” and “The Visitor”, ramping everything up after the little break, the melody riding along on Nolan's superb keyboard wave, Mitchell's guitar bouncing off the edges and rebounding to hit again, Pointer's drumming the counterpoint as the whole thing charges along, and it would seem from the bits of the lyric I can pick up that the soul whose journey we've been sharing/watching is getting ready to cross over fully to the other side. “Burning down” keeps the tempo up, heavy and dramatic, another fine vehicle for Manzi's powerful and emotive singing. Great keyboard solo from Clive, with punchy, snarly guitar from Mitchell, and this leads into the longest track on the album. At just under eight minutes, it's of course not a patch on the nineteen-minute “Moviedrome” from “Immortal?”, but on this album “Catching the bullet” is about three minutes longer than the next-longest tracks, and it's a real epic, with heavy guitar opening then sparkly keys in a mid-paced tempo with measured drumming, the speed picking up as it goes along in what sounds like a last farewell as the soul prepares to embark upon the final stage of its journey into the unknown. ”This is me signing off” sings Manzi, ”This is me signing out.” A great three-minute instrumental break then, including a wonderful, expressive guitar solo from John Mitchell brings the song to an explosive conclusion, and we're into the last track. Closing on the piano-led ballad “The tinder box”, it's an emotional and powerful ending to the album, some lovely strings adding to the sense of drama and angst, some crying guitar from Mitchell helping to craft the atmosphere, as the song cuts into a harder, fiercer mode, great backing vocals helping Paul Manzi produce a stellar finale as he cries ”I am free now!/ I am free!” In an incredibly clever piece of writing by Clive Nolan, Manzi declares ”We are children/ We could never understand/ We are dancers/ We are actors/ We are players on the sand/ We are children/ We could never understand/ We are part of this arena/ We are part of this band.” Stunning, and just an amazing end, exactly what you want to be remembering the tune of as you close down the album. So, was this album worth waiting six (or, thanks to my delaying action, seven) years for? You bet your favourite Fender Strat it was! This album once again reaffirms, in my view at least (the only view that matters) ;) Arena as one of the premier prog rock bands around now, but more, it shows not only how vesatile they are, but how they can also look to their past to create their future. Nolan is a master storyteller, and the musicians he surrounds himself with all know their role and fulfil that role perfectly, making Arena perhaps one of the tightest, most cohesive and consistently satisfying bands working at the moment. In “The seventh degree of separation” they have once again shown how to craft a near-pefect album, that hits all the right spots and surely must go some way towards finally lifting their profile and gaining them appreciation outside of their own fanbase? It's criminal that so few people know of this band, and a situation that must be rectified as soon as humanly possible. Just one small point: I hope it doesn't take another six years before their next album, although when you see what they created when they took the time to get it right, perhaps six years is not so long to wait after all. TRACKLISTING 1. The great escape 2. Rapture 3. One last au revoir 4. The ghost walks 5. Thief of souls 6. Close your eyes 7. Echoes of the fall 8. Bed of nails 9. What if? 10. Trebuchet 11. Burning down 12. Catching the bullet 13. The tinder box Stormwarning --- Ten --- 2011 (Frontiers) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ver_art%29.jpg One of my other favourite bands, whose cause I have tried to trumpet through this journal but which, generally, seems to have fallen on deaf or uninterested ears, is Ten, another UK hard/melodic rock band who just can't seem to get a break. Some of their music should have burst the charts wide open, especially Gary Hughes' perfectly-penned ballads, but no dice. No-one seems to want to know. Well, perhaps this will convince the naysayers. Of course, as related above, this is another album I grabbed as soon as it was available and which I have waited until now to review. Well, it worked with Arena, so who's to say it won't be two-for-two? Ten have an impressive pedigree with me, their last album, coming five years previously, blowing me away, and in fact I don't think I could actually point to a Ten album I don't like. So the signs are good for this, their ninth album, though I see there have been some lineup changes. The core of vocalist/guitarist/founder Gary Hughes, keyboard player Paul Hodson and guitarist John Halliwell remains, but there is a second guitarist, Neil Fraser, who replaces Chris Francis, who played on the last two albums, and there's a new drummer too in Mark Zonder. As ever, Gary Hughes writes all the songs, and as usual with Ten there's not really such a thing as a short song: looking down the list I see two at over seven minutes, two more at over six and a few over five. Of course, Ten have had longer songs indeed: on the previous album “The twilight chronicles”, they had an opener twelve minutes long, while all the way back in 1997 the opener on “The robe” was over nine minutes long. Still, it's good to see we should be getting value for money. The album gets going with sort of jungle-beat drums as “Endless symphony” is brought in on dark, heavy keyboards courtesy of Paul Hodson, then nice bright piano as what I tend to know as “the Ten sound” begins to establish itself, though Hodson then launches into a lovely little classical piano piece. As we move into the second minute though, John Halliwell's guitar comes in hard, shortly followed by the familiar and welcome voice of Gary Hughes, and the king is back! Sounding as good as he ever has, there's no evidence that five years away from the band has done anything to lessen his commitment to them, despite his solo career. Gary has one of those voices that just commands attention, with no need for histrionics or effects of any type, and despite the lineup changes everyone gives everything they have to make this band one of the most accomplished and technically proficient I have ever heard. Gary's voice soars effortlessly above the soundscape, the one seeming built for the other, like long-lost friends reunited, and John Halliwell's solos are a joy to rediscover. It's a great and powerful opener, perhaps not on the lines of “Rome” or “The name of the rose”, or even “The crusades”, but a welcome return certainly. “Centre of my universe” starts off on echoey guitar and for a few moments fools you into thinking it may be the first ballad, but then it breaks out into a solid AOR rocker, with great piano and keyboard melody from Hodson, some fine soloing from Halliwell and though Gary's voice is a little lower in the mix here than I would like, it's still very audible and discernible. This rocks along with the sort of power bands like Ten just put out without even seeming to think about it, although I have no doubt it takes years to get that sort of understanding between musicians. Some more lovely harpsichord-like piano opens “Kingdom come”, joined by squealing guitar and then strings-style keys take the song along in another mid-paced rocker with great AOR overtones and a super twin guitar attack from Halliwell and new boy Neil Fraser. “Book of secrets” starts out on spacey, eerie synth sounds and a thumping bass before it kicks into high gear in a song with quite a lot of the previous album in it, as well as a decent dose of influence from the debut album, “X”. The lyrical theme breaks somewhat with Ten's usual fare, concerning itself with the “little black book” of a high-class call girl, down on her luck, ready perhaps to sell the secrets contained therein. Great guitar solo from Halliwell, and this is probably the closest to straight-ahead rock on the album so far. The title track is classic Ten, solid keyboard melody and great backing vocals against a hard guitar assault which sounds a little Maidenesque at times, as Gary prepares us for the End of Days. An uptempo rocker, it gives way to another fast track, “Invisible” showcasing again Ten's excellent use of backing vocals, with some real rockout guitar from Halliwell and Fraser. Indeed, this track is pretty much built on the guitar work of the two guys, with a great solo from Halliwell setting the seal on their teamwork. With a title like “Love song”, it surely has to be the first ballad? It would seem so, with a whistling keyboard riff and tapping percussion, jangly guitar and Gary at his most passionate and emotional. But then it jumps into life and Ten confound the obvious preconceptions by making this a mid-tempo half-rocker. I know their ballads, and this is not one of them. Interesting. The only problem I have with this is that it's about two minutes too long. At just over seven minutes, despite a great guitar solo, there's not really much new in the last two minutes, and it's just overstretched in my opinion. Another good AOR tune in “The hourglass and the landslide”, with a great hook in the chorus, and just about short enough to be released as a single, not that any of the tracks were. Definitely the most overtly commercial track on the album though. With “Destiny” another fast rocker, I'm beginning to fear for my Gary Hughes ballads? Or, I should say, ballad, because if the next track isn't one then there aren't any, as there's only one track left before the end. That would be a pity, because so far there has always been at least one ballad on a Ten album, and they're often the highpoint, at least for me. This track definitely retains some of the melody and themes from the previous album, which is no bad thing. And the closer, “The wave”, finally gives us the ballad. Built on a Beatles/ELO style with some lovely strings and keyboard, it's a decent closer, but in terms of Gary Hughes ballads it's not a patch on the likes of “Rainbow in the dark”, “Wonderland” or “Soliliqoy” from previous albums. Nice little soaraway guitar solo, but I have to say it's a far weaker track than I had hoped, or expected, and as a final track it's nothing like a disappointment, but it's not the powerful closer I would have wanted to have heard. I'll have to reserve judgement on this until I've heard it a few more times, but I do see a mixture of styles from both the darker, heavier “Twilight chronicles” and 2001's lighter, more melodic-leaning “Far beyond the world”, which was incidentally the first Ten album I ever heard. Even as I listen to the song playing out now I can feel myself getting more into it, but there's no doubt that it's not the strong ballad I had been expecting --- truth to tell, I had expected more than one, and am just a little bit upset that there is only the single slow song, and that so generally below par. But I expect I'll grow to like this album. It hasn't had the immediate effect on me that the likes of “The twilight chronicles, “Return to Evermore” and “Babylon” had, but it will probably just take time. Certainly, after waiting half a decade for their new album, I'm not in any way disappointed with “Stormwarning”, just not quite as blown away by it as I had hoped/expected to be. Not quite so much a storm then as a light breeze? But then, weather is so notoriously changeable... TRACKLISTING 1. Endless symphony 2. Centre of my universe 3. Kingdom come 4. Book of secrets 5. Stormwarning 6. Invisible 7. Love song 8. The hourglass and the landslide 9. Destiny 10. The wave |
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Yes, the worm knows Irish Week is over, but with Ireland qualifying for the Euros he thinks this is still an appropriate song to play. Let's here yiz all now … OH-lay, ohlay ohlay ohlay...! |
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Raise the curtain, roll the drums and set off the flashbombs! Set your amp to ten and tune up that guitar, as we go in search of more rock and metal operas, of which there are more than you might expect. Our last outing was a triple-album affair, but it's no exaggeration to say that mammoth opuses like that will be very much in the minority, and most if not all of what we deal with here will turn out to be single or possibly double albums, but it's unlikely we should come across a similar situation to “Genius”. Normal operas usually take for their inspiration love stories, classic mixup a la “The prince and the pauper” (and, if you're a Blackadder fan, the Porpoise!), telling a story by setting it to music, introducing characters and settings and almost invariably singing in a language other than English. Thankfully, rock and metal operas usually stick to English, as they have a much tougher sell: metalheads and rockers are much less likely to be attracted to the very idea of opera --- even a rock one --- and so have to be catered for much more carefully. The subjects fuelling metal and rock operas, too, vary, but usually go in a different direction to standard opera, heading out into space, perhaps, or the future, or in the case of “Genius”, inside the mind. There has to be some hook to get the rocker's attention, and let's be honest, fat women rolling around the stage in huge hoop skirts and guys with dodgy moustaches challenging each other to duels is not going to work. So often a marriage of futuristic, sci-fi themes and hard rock music is the thing, and indeed, this is what we come across in our next example. Days of rising doom --- Aina --- 2003 (Transmission) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ising_doom.jpg Gathering a huge cast of stars, Aina --- the entity set up to take on the task of this metal opera --- exists only here, as this was the only album they put out, and after nine years I think we can assume it will remain so. Involving some of the cream from the world of rock and metal, like Glenn Hughes, Tobias Sammet, Damian Wilson, Jens Johansson, Oliver Hartmann, Derek Sherinian, Thomas Youngblood and Erik Norlander to name but a few, “Days of rising doom” is set in the fictional land of Aina, where a power struggle is taking place. As the story opens, the old king is dying, and his two sons, Torek and Talon, are vying for power. The overture is on piano and keyboard, joined by snarling guitar as Kamelot's Youngblood and Nightwish's Erno Emppu Vuorinen attack, then the style settles down into an introspective guitar piece as “Revelations” introduces King Taetius who is dying, and is being warned by the Prophets of danger ahead. Nice choir in this, then the guitars and drums pound in, kicking the speed right up as the song takes off, Damian Wilson from Threshold taking the role of the dying king. Good heavy keyboard passages here, courtesy of Norlander, then we're into “Silver maiden”, which introduces the lady Oria Allyahan, who will become the love interest in the story, and the cause of a war. Nice laidback piece on acoustic guitar and what sounds like harp, lovely strings and a high female vocal from Candice Night. The story is narrated in song by Helloween's Michael Kiske. Very filmic and dramatic, with crashing drums, strings and lush keyboards, and Kiske's voice high and clear. Oria is to be married to one of the two sons of the king, Talon or Torek, and though it is Torek who becomes king on the death of his father, he is enraged and humilated to such a degree when his rival brother wins the hand of the lady that he flees the kingdom, swearing revenge. In “Flight of Torek” everything punches into top gear as Thomas Rettke (Heaven's Gate) in the role of the spurned brother declares his anger and his vow for revenge. It's a real power rocker as the keyboards and drums drive the song along, aided by frenetic guitar from Thomas Youngblood. This then slows down later in the song into a lazy, lovely blues passage, with some sumptuous strings and keyboard as Talon (Glenn Hughes) excitedly declares to his brother his love for Oria, and that that love is reciprocated. Tobias Sammet narrates the scene, relating Torek's fury as the music speeds back up and the drumming like a steamhammer sees Torek vow revenge as he flies from the land. In “Naschtok is born”,Torek travels the land, his anger and humilation burning within him, until he comes to an ugly place which an even uglier, beast-like race call home. Deciding that this will be from where he launches his invasion of Aina --- it's not really made clear if Torek has abdicated the throne, but if not, why would he need to invade his own kingdom? --- he introduces himself to the people, the Krakhon, as their god, Sorvahr, and sets about his plans. The Krakhon, filled with hate, are happy to accept him blindly as the god who will lead them to battle and victory. It's a fast rocker, a real metal scorcher with angry guitar and pounding drums, and Rettke giving a fine performance as Torek's anger and humilation spills over into madness and megalomania. Rettke stays in the spotlight for another powerful rocker, although in “The beast within”, the best I can guess at is that Torek performs some ritual which somehow allows the spirit of the Krakhons' god to enter his own soul, thus melding the two. The song is taken up with Torek performing the rite while his new people watch on. Lots of heavy guitar and thundering drums, Youngblood in fine form as Robert Hunecke-Rizzo keeps the drumkit steaming along. Battle plans are laid then in “The siege of Aina”, a deceptively gentle guitar melody opening the song but soon giving way to a marching, chanting metal cruncher as Torek in the guise of Sorvahr tells his troops to slay rape and destroy, but they must leave the royal castle alone, as he has a score to settle there. The song quickly kicks into another full-blooded fast rocker though as Baktuk, advisor to the deposed king, consults with his lord and they prepare to invade. However when they reach the city Talon (Glenn Hughes) meets them and offers their surrender, saying that they only wish to be left in peace. Torek, however, is in no mood to be magnanimous towards the man who stole the woman he sees as his, but Oria is prepared to offer herself to Talon's brother if he will only spare her husband. Thomas Rettke steals the show here, the full force of his insanity and anger at his brother, and at his wife, bubbling to the surface like some sort of evil stew. Gilmouresque guitar intro and heavy synth opens “Talon's last hope”, as the (presumably) king of Aina weeps at the loss of his wife (what a wimp!) and wonders what has become of her since his brother took her. Solid, heavy drums carry the track with a punchy bassline, and some very lush keys. Talon's counsellors advise him that Torek will return and that the city will fall, and that they should get his daughter, Oriana (god help us!) away from there before he comes back. She is their last hope to continue the royal lineage, and must be protected. Who wrote this stuff?? Oh yeah: Amanda Somerville. Well, I wouldn't be taking too much credit... The music's good though, sort of a heavy ballad. Nice keyboard passages. Meanwhile, to no-one's surprise, Torek rapes Oria, in the imaginatively titled, um, “Rape of Oria”. Candice Night, in her last vocal performance, does well, the music eerie and disturbing, synth passages and piano runs, with doomy drums as Oria accepts her fate. Well, she doesn't really have any choice now, does she? Some really nice emotional strings accompaniment takes the song to its conclusion, and then we're into “Son of Sorvahr”, where we learn that the result of this unholy union is Syrius, a boychild, whom Torek intends to help him take back the throne that he abandoned. Another hard rocker with another great turn from Thomas Rettke, fully immersed in his role as Sorvahr, declaiming the birth of the son who will restore his glory and destroy his enemies. Some really over-the-top organ is provided by Axel Naschke of Gamma Ray, then we're treated to a rather nice pastoral piece, with some gentle acoustic guitar as Michael Kiske reprises his role as narrator, covering the years that pass as Syrius and Oriana grow to adulthood. Meeting one day they fall in love, unaware they are in fact brother and sister (where's Jerry Springer when you need him?) “Lalae amer” --- which I think I've figured out translates from the inbuilt language used on the album (Ainaese?) as “long love” or something similar --- concerns Oriana's conscience, as it tells her everything will be all right and she will be with Syrius forever. Little does she know... The writer herself makes an appearance here as the conscience, the song itself quite eastern in flavour, mid-paced and generally mostly laidback, a lot of flute and sitar sounds on the synth I would say, solid but controlled drumming, and a great guitar solo from Thomas Youngblood. Things get rocking again then for “Rebellion”, as Talon finally grows a pair and raises an army to take back Aina with his daughter. The criminally-underused Glenn Hughes finally comes into his own here as he prepares to march to war with his brother and take back the throne that, er, isn't rightfully his. Or is. Who can tell? Good keyboards here, but as is often the case with metal operas, a lot of the music is very similar. Youngblood does attempt something close to an Irish jig here, lending at least this track a sense of humour, and Erik Norlander racks off one of his famous keyboard solos as the song trundles along. Point of interest: no mention is made of the fate or Oria, though I assume we can take it she died, or was killed, after she gave birth. Still, it would have been nice to have had this cleared up. At any rate, “Oriana's wrath” opens on growling synth, then choral vocals and heavy guitar as the armies are lined up against each other. However, on the battlefield the terrible truth is revealed, and Oriana faces Syrius on the opposing army. Unwilling either to kill the other, they both declare a truce, but Sorvahr (Torek) is again enraged (is he ever any other way?) and kills Syrius. This leads Oriana in grief and anger to fight his army. She and her father win, and the kingdom is restored as she takes the throne. Hoorah! Nice piano ending with some soaring strings and choral vocals, and it certainly paints this as the climax of the album, but then the “final battle” was always going to be the focal point. “Restoration” is the coda to the album, as such, the “presenting medals scene in Star Wars”, the “all lived happily ever after” bit, but rather than a slow, gentle, strings and piano and acoustic guitar ending it's a hard rock cruncher, which I find a little odd. I feel this particular style is at odds with the ending of the story, and though I guess it could be seen as a triumphant march, it just doesn't really ring true. Michael Kiske as the Narrator has the final word, as indeed he had the first, so in that sense the story, and album, are brought full circle. Well, it's not anywhere near as innovative or indeed interesting as Daniel Lannier's “Genius” trilogy, in fact the story is so hackneyed that it's almost embarrassing. The lyrical content is not that great either; I find that, with rock operas: a lot of the time the lyricist(s) worr(ies)y more about getting words to rhyme than to make sense, but in fairness that was the same with “Genius”, although English is not Lannier's first language, so you would have to allow him some latitude here. So, if the story is not anything particularly special, does the music save “Days of rising doom”? Well, I'd have to say no. That's not to say the music is poorly written or played, because it's not, but then you'd expect perfect performances from the stars involved. But it's nothing new. The story is quite trite; this sort of thing happens all the time in sword and sorcery novels, and there's little innovation in the plot. But the music, though it's good, is just that: good but not great. It's just too banal, too ordinary. You could be listening to any metal or rock album really. Unlike the “Genius” trilogy, it doesn't engender the sense of wonder and drama that it should. No, after spending some hours this afternoon putting this review together, I definitely feel that my time could have been better spent. Still, that's not to say that it's a bad album. Just not a great one. And I suppose that's borne out by the fact that they didn't try this again. One day of rising doom, it would appear, was more than enough. TRACKLISTING 1. Aina overture 2. Revelations 3. Silver maiden 4. Flight of Torek 5. Naschtok is born 6. The beast within 7. The siege of Aina 8. Talon's last hope 9. Rape of Oria 10. Son of Sorvahr 11. Serendipity 12. Lalae Amer 13. Rebellion 14. Oriana's wrath 15. Restoration Cast of characters Narrator: Michael Kiske Talon: Glenn Hughes Torek/Sorvahr: Michael Rettke Oria: Candice Night Oriana: Sarah "Sass" Jordan Syrius: Marco Hietala Narrator II: Tobias Sammet King Taetius: Damian Wilson Oriana's conscience: Amanda Somerville The Prophets: Oliver Hartmann/Herbie Langhans Baktuk: Olaf Hayer Main musicians Erik Norlander: Keyboards Thomas Youngblood: Guitars Derek Sherinian: Keyboards Jens Johansson: Keyboards TM Stevens: Bass Axel Naschke: Organ Erno Emppu Vuorinen: Guitars Olaf Reitmeier: Acoustic guitars |
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Classic smoothie from the late great John Martyn, this is “May you never”. |
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Let's have some more of those classic rock songs, shall we? Start off with a true rock classic from Free, this is “Alright now”. Great one from Fleetwood Mac, big hit for them called “Rhiannon”. Dire Straits' first hit, which has become a real classic and a favourite, it's “Sultans of swing”. The great Alice Cooper, with “School's out”. Not yet, kids! and to finish up this time, here's the unlikely Norman Greenbaum with his only ever hit. You know the one... |
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Ah, I'm a little depressed. Nothing to blow away the blues like laughing at someone else's misfortune though, is there? And when we think of that, where do we automatically turn here? Yes, that's right: it's time to once again descend the slippery steps into Eurovision Hell! Bwa hahaha! Today we're looking north, to the cold icy lands of Scandinavia, where you'd have to wonder how these girls keep warm! Seriously, the only good thing about Finland's 1994 entry was the two singers, who look very pretty but aren't anything special. The dancers are really annoying and distracting --- what is that guy up to at 1:32? --- and in fact their routine reminds me of the dance Rimmer and Lister did for “Tongue tied” (only Red Dwarf fans will get that reference). The song itself seems not to be able to make up its mind whether it's a pop, hip-hop number, a ballad or a big orchestral thing, but turns out to be fairly generic pop pap. The fact that the chorus (such as it is) is in English while the rest is in Finnish is just silly. The group, whom I guess to include the dancers as they're in the pre-song promo, are called CatCat --- which is not a bad name --- and the girls look well even if they're not the world's greatest singers, but really, what is the deal with those long coats? Makes no sense. Which just about sums up the Eurovision I guess. Oh yeah, this was the year we won. Again. This is transmitted from Ireland, as we had also won the previous year, and the year before that. This would be our third, and thankfully last, for a while. It's a great feeling, no doubt, to win, but victory just places extra financial strain on the country that has to host the next year's competition, so I'm sure many Irish heads were shaking, the initial euphoria at winning having by now long worn off, and I think we were just hoping we wouldn't be saddled with the huge cost of hosting the show again. Fat chance. Still, at least we showed we could put on an event to rival any of the bigger countries! Go Ireland! Just, don't win again, ok? (Flash forward to 1996 --- D'oh!) https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/im...1Xnzos_twjo0gN 1994 --- Finland --- “Bye bye baby” by CatCat |
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Is it possible, the worm asks, to get smoother than Mister Martin Fry? Doubtful... |
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Hi everyone. Stacey-Lynn here, just letting you know that in case you're one of the very few who's wondering where this month's edition of “Journal News” has gone --- yes, you over there, in the corner, trying to pretend it's not you! --- I'm here to let you know that there won't actually be a March edition, as we're all getting fitted for our dresses for the big show coming up on Saturday. http://www.trollheart.com/Polly3.jpg That's right: you thought we'd forgotten, didn't you? Well we haven't, and Saturday marks the first ever Annual Polly Awards ceremony. Laura, Alicia, Helen, Li-Chang and I will all be there, handing out the awards for what we've judged to be the best music we've heard in 2011. It's sure to be a glittering night, a gala event, so make a note to join us, this Saturday, March 24, right here at the Playlist of Life. See you there! |
The edge of all I know --- Gwyllion --- 2009 (Black Bards)
http://www.metal-archives.com/images...23868.jpg?1210 Now here's something interesting! A band from Belgium whose name is taken from the name of an old Welsh fairy tale. Hmm. A gwyllion, according to Wiki, is an ugly female spirit that likes to mislead unwary travellers. Sounds nice, huh? Of course, like many creatures of folklore, gwyllions were said to be vain, and if one entered your house in disguise and was treated with the proper respect, it would do you no harm. So that makes this band a prog rock band then, yes? Well, no. Not according to the website Encyclopaedia Metallum, which describes them as “symphonic power metal”. Yeah, they're fronted by a woman, so expect the inevitable Epica/Nightwish/Within Temptation/Insert band name here comparisons. Worryingly, this being their second album and having been released three years ago now, there seems to have been no recent activity by this band. EM describes their status as “on hold”, and their MySpace page is so up-to-date that it has a “teaser” video for this album! So where are they, and what are they doing? Or have they broken up? They seem to have received rave reviews, toured, and looked ready to break out, but no-one seems to know where they are now. More importantly though, what's their album like? Well, it only has nine tracks, and none of them are super-epics, the longest being six minutes. It opens with “In silence enclosed”, with a suitably dramatic start, heavy keyboards, choral vocals, not too much of the guitar --- as yet --- that comes powering in as we head into “Entwined”, and we hear the voice of Annelore Vantomme for the first time. Seems she wasn't around for the first album, which I haven't heard, but she certainly adds something to the sound here, even if her voice is perhaps not as strong and commanding as I would prefer. Heavy fast guitar from Steve Deleu and Martijn Debonnet, with the sound pretty much built on the keyboard orchestrations of Joris Debonnet, which I'm going to assume means he and the guitarist are brothers? It's a powerful start, with plenty of dramatic keyboard, but no real hook as yet I can hang onto, but this is only the second track, so let's not write them off just yet. Annelore's voice gets a bit more powerful and operatic as the song nears its end, then we're into “Void”, a guitar-driven rocker with thunderous drumming from Wouter Debonnet (another brother?) and some male vocals added by, I think, his brother Martijn, who is the only one other than Annelore credited with any vocals. Interesting juxtapositioning of the vocal styles, though not as harshly different as the likes of Leaves' Eyes or Within Temptation. Nice piano piece from Joris as the song slows down to allow Annelore to really show off her vocal prowess, but only for a moment before it all crashes back into high gear and takes off again on the twin guitar rails. Another nice piano solo there before the end, then “Rage” makes that seem like plodding along, as it hurtles along at breakneck pace, almost too fast in places. Great piano work from Joris --- you'd wonder how his fingers can move that quickly! Well, if I had much hair left I'd certainly be headbanging to this! It all takes a break about three minutes in for a nice harpsichord-sounding solo and some slightly less frenetic guitar, kind of medieval in its way, then it speeds back up again as it goes crashing towards the ending. “Beyond goodbye” starts off on what sounds like a twelve-string guitar, some steady bass and slow percussion, Annelore's voice nice and clear, then the guitars crash in but it's a million miles removed from “Rage”, much more restrained if still loud and heavy. I wouldn't call this a ballad, no, but it's certainly the slowest and most laidback track on the album so far. Some lush keyboard backing helping to create the soundscape, though the guitars of Martijn Debonnet and Steve Deleu really drive this song, which does help Gwyllion, on this track at least, to stand a little apart from the plethora of female-led power metal and symphonic metal bands. “The night awakes” has a very Scottish/marching to war feel about it, again slower than “Rage” --- though what could match the speed of that track? --- though still heavy and powerful. Kind of puts me in mind of Thin Lizzy's “Emerald” in places. One thing I haven't really heard yet, rather surprisingly, is a good guitar solo from either of the guys. Or a keyboard one, come to think of it. Maybe that's a good thing, as no-one wants to showboat, just concentrate on doing the best job for the band that they can. Still, a guitarist who doesn't solo..? There's a lot of seventies prog, well, updated seventies prog to “Closure”, with heavy organ from Joris, a rattling drumbeat and chugging guitars, and a really effective piano melody line, which again sounds quite harpsichordal. It's the longest track, and Annelore really gives her voice its head (as it were) on this song, her lungs certainly capable of delivering a powerful vocal punch. Nice sort of “Smoke on the water” riff, too, with the twin guitars really getting into a Lizzy vibe as well. Good stuff. Rolling keys from Joris keeps things going, then it all ramps up again as it hits into the last minute, but it finishes disappointingly abruptly, which I think ruins the ending. Thought we were getting a ballad there, as “A thousand words” opened with violins and strings, but it quickly kicks into life and launches into another power rocker, not as fast as “Closure”, to be sure, but still nowhere near a ballad. Nice dramatic punch to it though, and then the album ends with “Angelheart”, which opens on beautiful soft piano and could very well be the ballad I've been waiting/hoping for. Would certainly be a nice way to end the album, which hasn't really taken much in the way of a pause for breath all through its length. Okay, well we're almost halfway through now, so I'm going to go out on a limb and label this the ballad. It seems to feature only Joris and Annelore, and is really nice and laidback, a lovely sort of coda to all the mad frenetic metal that's been going on, and it's without doubt a real vehicle for both Annelore's voice and Joris's excellent and flawless piano playing. A lovely end to what, it has to be said, is a fairly generic album. Not bad, but nothing terribly special. The problem is that there are so many of these power/symphonic metal bands around now, and so many with female singers, that many of them do sound very similar. There's nothing to really mark Gwyllion out from the others out there, and nothing to raise them to the levels of the likes of Nightwish, Edenbridge or Epica. But that said, they're not a bad band, just not one that leaves you with any sort of indelible memory of them after the music has faded. The question remains: have we seen the last of this band? Unfortunately, having now listened to their album, I have to say that I'm less bothered whether we have or not. TRACKLISTING 1. In silence enclosed 2. Entwined 3. Void 4. Rage 5. Beyond goodbye 6. The night awakes 7. Closure 8. A thousand words 9. Angelheart |
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Let's have a classic from the repertoire of the Cars, shall we? This is “My best friend's girl”. Not literally, you understand. The worm doesn't have a girl. Or a best friend. Or a friend... |
HI there US: sorry for the late comment, but as you can see I have been/am exceptionally busy, what with Irish Week and now the Pollys to get ready for! :)
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Not that often you hear the fiddle being used in pop music, but this is a song to lift the soul without a doubt, from the Bluebells, this is “Young at heart”. |
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I spent a lot of my long-vanished youth either listening to music or watching TV, having no social life to speak of. These days it's pretty much the same, and I've noticed that there's quite a lot of decent music in television programmes, whether it's incidental music, opening or closing credits or themes. We've already done this a few times already, so here's another selection. This is the great opening theme to “True Blood”, by Jace Everett. Something I've only just recently got around to watching, and it's pretty good, is Showtime's “The Borgias”. This is the opening theme from it. A favourite show from my youth, running again on the Challenge TV channel, it's “Blockbusters”. And another of my favourite shows, hilarious at times, this is the theme to “Storage wars”. Anyone help me out? Is it “Not in all this town/Nothing owns this town” or what? I can never figure it out, and the fact that he says “You know what I'm talking about!” and I don't makes it all the more annoying! One of the great recent cop shows, starring the incomparable Tom Selleck, this is the short opening theme to “Blue bloods”. Something of a flop, another show that kind of wandered around in a circle a la “Heroes”, short but powerful and dramatic music though to “The Event”. Never found out what the event was... THE quiz show from my youth, revamped for the twenty-first century, they take no nonsense and pull no punches on “Mastermind”! And your chosen subject is the Austro-Hungarian Empire, 1880-1894. Uh, yeah... Powerful, dramatic music though that left you in no doubt this was a serious show. “Have I got news for you” it's not! And something that is NOT serious but IS hilarious is MTV's new mockumentary “Death Valley”. If you haven't seen it yet, catch it. If you like “Cops” style shows mixed with zombies and vampires, you gotta be there! With a huge chunk of almost “Airplane/Police Squad” deadpan humour thrown in. Class! We all know this one! And finish up with the theme to the Buffy spinoff, almost as successful and a show that made a star of David Boreanaz, of course it's Joss Whedon's “Angel”. |
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About time I got this section underway. Each month I'm going to try to remember certain artistes who died during that month, tell you a little about them if I can and feature a few of their songs or some of their material. Of course, unfortunately people die every day and musicians are no different: death comes to us all whether we rock a stadium of fifty thousand people or live our lives out in obscurity as a struggling writer, whether we produce the biggest artistes of the decade or sweep the streets or drive a taxi or keep the world safe for others. And that means that every month in every year someone connected to the world of music likely died, so that it's unlikely I would ever manage to cover everyone who has passed away over the years. So if I miss someone out, it's generally because I didn't know them, or their music, or don't consider they were a big enough player for their death to have impacted anyone reading this in 2012. If that seems callous or failing to give credit where it's due I apologise, but I have to draw the line somewhere and if I tried to mention every single musician who has ever died then I would never get away from this article, and the rest of the Playlist of Life would fall into disrepair. So, with that in mind, here are the more well-known or important or influential musicians and people connected with the music biz who died in March. My thanks to BITTER SUITE BAND: official website! for the information. Serge Gainsbourg (1928-1991) Interestingly, Serge was born on April 2 and died on March 2 1991, at the age of 62. We only know him outside of France for his steamy duet with Jane Birkin, “Je t'aime.... moi non plus”, which basically introduced a whole generation of horny young lads to the idea of sex and scandalised the record industry when it hit the number one spot in the UK in 1969. Apparently he was a huge star in France though, and his death almost precipitated a day of national mourning. Serge died of a heart attack. Dusty Springfield (1939-1999) Born Mary O'Brien, Dusty had a long and glittering career, with many solo single hits. She also contributed a song to the James Bond movie “Casino royale” and had a hit with a duet performed with the Pet Shop Boys on “What have I done to deserve this”. Her biggest hits though were “You don't have to say you love me” and “I only wanna be with you”. Dusty died of breast cancer on March 2, 1999, having also been born, like Serge Gainsbourg, in April. Danny Kaye (1913-1987) Beloved of children's movies, an actor and singer much in the style of Gene Kelly but with more of an emphasis on the “Peter Pan” ideal, Danny was born David Daniel Kominski and became famous for his title role in the movie “Hans Christian Anderson”, as well as “White Christmas” and “The five pennies”. A singer and dancer, consummate actor, well-liked and respected by his peers, Danny died on March 3 1987 of a heart attack. Glenn Hughes (1950-2001) Don't panic, Deep Purple fans! It's not that one! This Glenn Hughes was a member of Village People: he was the biker, and probably quite annoyingly to him, his character became forever interlinked and identified with gay stereotypes, as Glenn himself was not gay. You could identify hom on the Village People records --- should you have some reason to listen to them! --- as he was the deep, bass voice in the group. He died March 4 2001 after a long battle with lung cancer. Sergei Prokofiev (1891-1953) Legendary composer of such classical works as “Peter and the wolf” and the by-now-well-known “Montagues and Capulets” from “Romeo and Juliet”, which among other uses serves as the theme to the TV show “The Apprentice”. Prokofiev died on March 5 1953. Patsy Cline (1932-1963) Most famous for her song “Crazy”, Patsy's life was made into a movie, “Sweet dreams”, in which her role was taken by Jessica Lange. Patsy, born Virginia Patterson Hensley, was one of the trailblazers for women in country music, the first female solo performer to be inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame, ten years after her death. She died in a plane crash at the age of only 30, on March 5 1963. John Belushi (1949-1982) Best known as one half of the cult band the Blues Brothers, John was brother to actor James, and a great friend of Dan Aykroyd, whom he partnered in the band. After achieving success outside the confines of “Saturday Night Live”, the Blues Brothers became a huge hit, eventually spawning a massive cult movie (which I never got) and making the two guys even bigger household names than they already were. John died of a heroin and cocaine overdose on March 5 1982. John P. Sousa (1854-1932) Composer best known for the march “Stars and stripes forever”, which has become one of the great nationalist themes of the USA, and also serves as the tune against which the popular football chant “Here we go, here we go, here we go!” is sung, wherever drunken soccer fans meet (!), sometimes without any need of soccer! John had the sousaphone named after him, after having pointing out the need for one. He died of heart failure, March 6 1932. George Formby OBE(1904-1961) Born George Hoy Booth, Formby became the man known for introducing hatred of the ukulele to millions, through his use of the instrument in many films, with his catchphrase of “Turned out nice again” equally annoying. However, it must be allowed that he was, at the time, one of Britain's foremost comedians and best-loved actors and singers, and he entertained the troops during the war. George died of heart failure on March 6 1961. Nelson Eddy (1901-1967) One of the very first crossover stars, Eddy began his career in opera but crossed over into the world of pop music, also starring in many musical films. He had three separate stars on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, and died shortly after being stricken while onstage, March 6 1967. A cerebral hemorrhage was the cause found for his death. Tommy Vance (1941-2005) Radio DJ much beloved by rockers, Vance hosted a rock show on radio which was one of the only ones to feature hard rock and heavy metal, and as such gave airplay and thereby exposure to many of the new bands coming up during the emergence of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM). Born Richard Anthony Crispian Francis Prew Hope-Weston --- no wonder he changed his name! --- he regularly topped polls of favourite radio Djs and was seen as almost as big a star as some of the bands he promoted, an almost impresario of his day. He died of a stroke on March 6 2005. Divine (1942-1988) Born Harris Glenn Milstead, Divine was one of the first truly outrageous pop performers of the eighties, coming up around the same time as Culture Club were introducing the world to another singer who would become much more famous than Divine ever was. Very popular in Europe, Divine had several hit singles, of which the two he is most remembered for are “Walk like a man” and “You think you're a man”. He died in his sleep of suspected heart failure, March 7 1988. Adam Faith (1940-2003) The man who would not give up! Three times he tried for chart success, and it was indeed third time lucky for the man who was born Terence Nelhams-Wright, though the final success came about, bizzarely, when he played a pop star in a movie! After that, he had over twenty hit singles, changing his name along the way of course. He died of heart failure on March 8 2003. Mike Starr (1966-2011) Legendary bass player with Alice in Chains, Mike Starr, born Michael Christopher Starkey, also helped form the rock supergroup Sun Red Sun with Black Sabbath's Ray Gillen. He died March 8 2011 as a result of a massive prescription drug overdose. Notorious BIG (1972-1997) Real name Christopher Wallace, he began rapping as a youth but balanced this with a life of crime which would eventually lead to his own death. His first recorded material as a rapper was released under the name Biggie Smalls, later changed to Notorious BIG when he hit the big time. After the gunning down of his former friend, Tupac Shakur, which many believed was at the behest of Notorious BIG, he himself was shot while in his SUV on a promotional tour. Though it was never conclusively proven, the theory and general accepted idea is that his execution was in retaliation for having ordered the death of Shakur. He died on March 8, after having been shot several times, the hospital staff unable to save his life. Brad Delp (1951-2007) Influential singer and the voice behind American rock band Boston, it's his voice you hear on their iconic hit “More than a feeling”, and think wow, how could he hit such high notes? But that's one of the things he is most remembered for, having such a high register. He committed suicide a few months before he was due to be married, leaving a note saying how lonely he was. Tributes poured in after his death, acknowledging and demonstrating how respected and admired he was throughout the rock world. Andy Gibb (1958-1988) Despite being a brother to Robin, Barry and Maurice, Andy Gibb did not join them in the Bee Gees, preferring instead to carve his own musical path. He had some limited success, with three number one singles in the seventies, but his popularity soon faded and he had his last hit in 1981, after which he turned to acting. But perhaps due to his lack of real, sustained success, put up against his older brothers' enduring classics, he turned to cocaine and died on March 10 of myocarditis, a virus brought on by the indulgence in the drug, which inflames the muscles of the heart. He was only thirty years old. Danny Joe Brown (1951-2005) Lead singer and lyricist with southern boogie band Molly Hatchett, he died from a combination of diabetes and the resurgence of a previous stroke. He had only just left the hospital an hour previously, having spent four weeks there recovering. He died at home on March 10 2005. Charlie Parker (1920-1955) Immortalised by Clint Eastwood in the film “Bird”, Charlie Parker is one of the most influential musicians jazz has ever seen. He collected numerous awards, had countless tributes made to him and made an indelible impression on just about every musician since who has come into contact with his music. He died of lobar pneumonia and a bleeding ulcer while watching television, March 12 1955. Yehudi Menuhin, OM, KBE (1916-1999) Without question one of, if not the most famous violinist of the twentieth century, he died of complications arising following his contraction of bronchitis, March 12 1999. T-Bone Walker (1910-1975) Born Aaron Thibeaux Walker, he was one of the true blues originals, so influential in fact that Jimi Hendrix based much of his stage persona upon that of Walker --- playing his guitar behind his back, with his teeth, etc. He was the first one to truly push the lead guitar forward as a proper instrument, and essentially the first blues lead guitarist. He died on March 16 1975 of bronchial pneumonia following his second stroke. Herb Cohen (1932-2010) Manager, record producer and publisher, Cohen had artistes like Linda Ronstadt, Alice Cooper, Lenny Bruce and Tom Waits on his books, and collaborated with Frank Zappa, whom he not only managed but essentially discovered, in setting up record labels. He also managed the huge Montreaux Jazz Festival. He died on March 16 2010 from complications due to his cancer. Jermaine Stewart (1957-1997) Singer who achieved some chart success in the eighties with songs like “We don't have to take our clothes off” and “Get lucky”. He died of liver cancer, attributed to AIDS, on March 17 1997. Paul Kossoff (1950-1976) Legendary guitarist with classic rock band Free, his most iconic and recognisable work of course is on “All right now”, Free's huge hit single. After they split, Paul spent time playing with other bands and found his work as a session musician in great demand. He worked with, among others, John Martyn, Jim Capaldi and Mike Vernon. He died of a heart attack brought on by drugs consumption, March 17 1975. Clarence Leonidas “Leo” Fender (1909-1991) The man who founded the Fender Musical Instrument Company, which of course produced the iconic guitar which is still used and loved by guitarists all over the world today, the Stratocaster, as well as the Telecaster and other guitars. He died of complications brought on by Parkinson's Disease, March 21 1991. Dan Hartman (1950-1994) Starting his career as a keyboard player and later guitarist, as well as a songwriter, it was ironically disco that would provide Dan Hartman his only solo hits, with three number ones, the two most famous of which were “Instant replay” and “Relight my fire”. He died on March 22 1994 of a brain tumour caused by AIDS. Harold Melvin (1939-1997) With his band, the Blue Notes, Harold led the way in the Philadelphia soul movement, and scored big hits with “If you don't know me by now” and “Don't leave me this way”, the latter of which provided a springboard to the career of the Communards, and reintroduced Harold's music to a younger generation. Simply Red's cover of “If you don't know me by now” was given a gentler, more respectful treatment, whereas the Communards turned his yearning, passionate and soulful plea for another chance into a synth-drowned, drum-machine-strangled dance hit. Harold died, having suffered a stroke from which he never fully recovered, March 24 1997. England Dan (1948-2009) Born Danny Wayland Seals, the brother of Jim Seals from Seals and Croft, he changed his name to England Dan and had his biggest contemporary hit with his friend John Ford Coley, when they recorded “I'd really love to see you tonight”. Their only hit, it led to the split of the duo and Dan went on to become a big country star, scoring eleven number ones. He died following treatment for mantle cell lymphoma, March 25 2009. Ludwig von Beethoven (1770-1827) I don't really have to say anything here, do I? Actually died of exposure to lead poisoning, an accidental side-effect of treatment his doctor had arranged, March 26 1827. Almost two hundred years later, his music is still played, enjoyed, loved, copied and studied. Ian Dury (1942-2000) Stricken with polio as a child, Ian Dury did not allow this to stop him from becoming one of the leading figures of the British punk and new wave rock movement of the seventies, penning such immortal classics as “Hit me with your rhythm stick” and “Sex and drugs and rock and roll”. He became a champion for many new artistes coming up, including Madness, and something of a godfather of punk rock. He is still cited by many artistes today as one of their major influences. He died of cancer March 27 2000. Maurice Jarre (1924-2009) Father of electronica supremo Jean-Michel, Maurice became most famous as a film soundtrack composer, and scored well over thirty films, as well as TV work, most notably his haunting score for the miniseries “Jesus of Nazareth”. He died of cancer on March 28 2009. Mantovani (1905-1980) Like James Last, you could pick up just about any instrumental album featuring renditions of popular songs, TV and film themes or classics and there would be a good chance it had Mantovani's name on it. Born Annunzio Paulo Mantovani, he was an Italian conductor who became popular and then famous during World War II, both on the radio and live in concert. Mantovani became quite well-known in the charts, his treatment of classic love songs and film themes earning him hits; one of his albums and one of his singles both getting to number one. He died in a care home on March 29 1980. Carl Orff (1895-1982) German composer most famous for “Carmina burana”, of which the piece “O fortuna” has been used and overused in film, TV and advertisements, but (sadly) is most closely associated these days with the show “The X-Factor”. Orff has been accused of being if not actually a Nazi then a sympathiser, or at best an apologist: he seems to have been untouched by the general “cleansing” of intellectuals by Hitler at the beginning of World War Two, and is even said to have refused to help his friend, Kurt Huber, who was about to be betrayed to the Nazis as one of the leaders of the resistance movement The White Rose. However, these stories are unsubstantiated and not agreed upon. Orff died on March 29 1982, and although a cause of death is not given, it's logical to assume that, at age 86, it was from natural causes. Andy Hallet (1975-2009) Best known for his role on TV's “Angel” as Lorne (originally The Host), Hallet was responsible for much of the song content in the show, as his character was supposed to be able to read a subject's mind through their singing. His status on the show was originally as a guest star, but that was later upgraded to full member and he featured in the opening credits to the last two seasons. Hallet died of congestive heart failure on March 29 2009. |
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One of the many hits of John Cougar Mellencamp, you spell it don't say it: R-O-C-K in the USA! |
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http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL1.jpg Good evening, and welcome to the 1st annual Polly Awards ceremony! Here in the grounds of the magnificent Erin Hall we're coming to you live, for the very first time, from the Sunrise Club to present our personal picks of the last year. I'm Stacey-Lynn, and assisting me in presenting the nominations will be my four Newsfoxes, Laura, Helen, Alicia and Li-Chang. This award show breaks with the traditional format somewhat, in that there are two separate parts. The first is the “Chronological” awards, where we present nominations for material created and/or released in 2011. The second part, or “Non-Chronological”, concerns albums or material we have only heard for the first time in 2011. So for instance, an album released in the eighties or even the seventies could be eligible, if the first time we heard it was last year. The only criteria here are that the material must have been released before 2011, and we must have heard it for the first time that year. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL2.jpg Each category has four nominations, but only one can win the Polly. So without further ado I'm going to hand you over to Helen, who has the first category. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysHelen1.jpg Thanks Stacey-Lynn, and welcome all to the 1st Annual Pollys. The first award is for the best album cover of 2011, and the nominations are as follows: http://www.trollheart.com/albumartawards1.jpg And the first ever Polly goes to.... Alesana, for “A place where the sun is silent”. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL3.jpg Thanks Helen, great to get the ball rolling, and congratulations to Alesana. If you've not heard their latest album it's certainly worth a listen. And of course a great sleeve: good choice and well deserved. Well, now it's time to present the award for the Most Surprising or Impressive Album of 2011. This award is given to an artiste or album who exceeded all expectations, or just surprised the heck out of us with their work. I'm going to hand you over now to Li-Chang for the nominations. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLi1.jpg Thanks, Stacey-Lynn. Good evening everyone, here are the nominations for the Most Surprising or Impressive Album of last year. The nominations are: Snow Patrol, for “Fallen empires”. ... And you will know us by the trail of dead, for “Tao of the dead”. Lanterns on the lake, for “Gracious tide, take me home”. Solar Fields, for “Until we meet the sky”. Worthy nominees all. And the winner is... Lanterns on the Lake, for “Gracious tide, take me home”! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL4.jpg Great work, Li-Chang, and I have a sneaking suspicion that's not the last we'll be hearing of those guys tonight. Great album, great debut, and a very deserved winner indeed. And now we move on to the award for Best Male Vocalist. This award is not only presented to a new vocalist, but any vocalist qualifying for nomination must have released new material this year. As you might expect, the competition for this award is pretty stiff, so here to read the nominations is Laura. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLaura1.jpg Thanks, Stacey-Lynn. Good evening everyone. The nominations for Best Male Vocalist are as follows: Meat Loaf, for “Hell in a handbasket”. Steve Earle, for “I'll never get out of this world alive”. Arnel Pineda, for “Eclipse” by Journey. Peter Gabriel, for “New blood”. And the winner is... Meat Loaf! Congratulations, big guy: you've still got it! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL5.jpg Yes indeed, after four decades in the business, Meat still has what it takes to leave the others trailing in his wake. Congratulations to him. And that naturally leads us to our award for Best Female Vocalist. The same rules apply, though this time the new girls are out in force, as Alicia will explain to us. |
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Thank you Stacey-Lynn, and welcome to you all. As Stacey-Lynn says, this last year has seen the emergence of some real talent, but as we have to restrict the nominations to a total of four, we've included one “old hand” as well. The nominations for Best Female Vocalist are: Manda Ophuis, from Nemesea, for “The quiet resistance”. Kim Seviour, from Touchstone, for “The city sleeps”. Hazel Wilde, from Lanterns on the Lake, for “Gracious tide, take me home”. Kate Bush, for “50 words for snow”. And the winner is... Hazel Wilde, Lanterns on the Lake! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL6.jpg Congratulations to Hazel. Told you that was unlikely to be the last we heard from this great band. Well done, and who knows? We may yet hear from Lanterns on the Lake again before the end of the evening. Well, now it's time to move on to the award for Most Innovative Album of the Year. I think we can expect some familiar faces in these nominations. Over to you, Laura. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLaura2.jpg Thanks, Stacey-Lynn. Yes, in these Cowell-fuelled days of quick-fix, prepackaged pop albums and by-the-numbers rock, it's always nice to see that some artistes out there are still pushing the envelope, trying to break down boundaries, experimenting, never happy to stand still. All of these names are synonymous with that pioneering spirit, and each one is worthy of winning this award. The nominations are: Tom Waits, for “Bad as me”. Steven Wilson, for “Grace for drowning”. Kate Bush, for “50 words for snow”. Peter Gabriel, for “New blood”. And the winner is ... if I can just get this pesky envelope open... ah! Tom Waits, for “Bad as me”! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL7.jpg So another old hand collects a Polly! Well done, Waits: there's life in the old (rain) dog yet! Great album, and certainly innovative, that's for sure. Now we come to the award for Best Album Track. Always a hard one, this. Here's Li-Chang with the nominations. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLi2.jpg The nominations for Best Album Track are as follows: Lanterns on the Lake, for “The places we call home”, from “Gracious tide, take me home”. Snow Patrol, for “New York”, from “Fallen empires”. Steven Wilson, for “Postcard”, from “Grace for drowning”. Bell X1, for “Amsterdam says”, from “Bloodless coup”. And the Polly goes to... Oh! Bell X1, for “Amsterdam says”! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL8.jpg Well, that's a surprise, but a worthy winner indeed, and nice to have an Irish band get an award. Very well done guys, some very stiff competition in there. Congratulations. Now the award for the Best New Band. This is perhaps a slight misnomer, as any band can qualify, even if they have had releases previously. The criteria are that they, obviously, must have released something in 2011, and that year must be the first we at the Playlist of Life have heard of them. Of course, they can be totally new bands, but they don't have to be to qualify, just as long as they satisfy the above conditions. Over to you, Helen. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysHelen2.jpg Thanks, Stacey-Lynn. Well, I guess you've explained the category as well as I could, so all that's left then is to announce the nominations. And they are: Coldspell, heavy metal band from Sweden, current release “Out from the cold”. Lanterns on the Lake, folk rock band from the UK, current release, which is also their full debut, “Gracious tide, take me home.” Alesana, heavy rock band from USA, current release “A place where the sun is silent”. Touchstone, progressive rock band from the UK, current release “The city sleeps.” And the winner is... Well, wouldn't you know it? Lanterns on the Lake! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL9.jpg Congratulations once again to Lanterns on the Lake. This is turning out to be something of a clean sweep for them! Well, as much as all the nominees no doubt wanted to win the Polly for any or all of the previous categories, there are few if any who would want to have been nominated for any of the next few to come. Just as every year brings great albums, it also brings bad ones, and the next award is given to the Most Disappointing Album of the year. Alicia will tell us more. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysAlicia2.jpg Not necessarily the worst album --- that's still to come --- this category focusses on albums that should have been a lot better than they turned out to be, in our opinion. These are albums that were either hyped to the heavens or were from artistes we would have expected to have produced the goods. And the nominees are: Peter Gabriel, for “New blood”. Bon Iver, for “Bon Iver” Charred walls of the damned, for “Cold winds on timeless days” and Steve Earle, for “I'll never get out of this world alive.” And the award goes to .... Peter Gabriel, for “New blood.” Tough luck, Peter! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL10.jpg Yes, sorry about that, Peter. You know we love you, but that album was just hyped to be so much better than it turned out to be. A huge, huge disappointment and a real letdown. Just didn't work, for us. And this leads us to our next “bad” category, which we'll let Li-Chang tell us about. |
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Thank you, Stacey-Lynn. The award for Most Overrated Album is similar to the one just given, but it focusses more on the hype surrounding the album, the reviews it got and the fact that it failed to live up to its promise. It's not seen as the same as the Most Disappointing Album because, here at the Playlist of Life, we may not have expected it to be great anyway, but were drawn in by the buzz around it. And the nominations in this category are: Dream Theater, for “A dramatic turn of events” Peter Gabriel, for “New blood” The Von Hertzen Brothers, for “Stars aligned” and Coldplay, for “Mylo Xyloto”. And the award goes to... Coldplay, for “Mylo Xyloto.” http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL11.jpg Not really too much you can add to that, is there? Which takes us to the award no-one wants to win, but it has to be awarded anyway, so tell us Laura, what are the nominations for the Worst Album of 2011? http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLaura3.jpg Well, there have been quite a few bad albums, Stacey-Lynn, but we've had to narrow it down to four, so they are: Dream Theater, “A dramatic turn of events” Peter Gabriel, “New blood” Charred walls of the damned, “Cold winds on timeless days” and “Sin-atra” by Various Artists And the Polly goes to... ”Sin-atra”! Those of you who contributed to this mess should all be ashamed of yourselves haha! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL12.jpg Yes, well deserved. Funny for about five minutes until the joke starts to wear thin, and you realise there's little else underneath. But enough about Trollheart's Best Man speeches...! ;) Okay, so that takes care of all the awards nobody ever wanted to win, and leaves us with Best Debut Album of 2011, and the nominees for this will be read by Helen. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysHelen3.jpg The nominations for Best Debut Album are: For all we know, for “For all we know” (CLIP NOT AVAILABLE) Pistol Annies, for “Hell on heels” Three Seasons, for “Life's road” and Lanterns on the Lake, for “Gracious tide, take me home”. And the winner, once more, is ... Lanterns on the Lake, for “Gracious tide, take me home”! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL13.jpg Unbelievable! Can they make it a clean sweep, we wonder, as we come to the last category in this first part of the show? It is, of course, the one you've all been waiting for, which needs no introduction. Li-Chang? http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLi4.jpg Thank you, Stacey-Lynn. Yes, the nominations for the Best Album of 2011 are: ”50 words for snow”, by Kate Bush “Grace for drowning” by Steven Wilson “Gracious tide, take me home” by, oh, you know...! “Fallen empires”, by Snow Patrol. And the winner of the award for Best Album of 2011 is... can they do it again? YES! ”Gracious tide, take me home”! Many congratulations! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL14.jpg Yes definitely, huge respect and congratulations to a band who have all but made a clean sweep of the awards here tonight. The future is looking bright for Lanterns on the Lake. A total of FIVE Pollys! Fantastic work, delighted for them. That's it for part one of the show. Please make your way in an orderly fashion to the bar and don't forget to return for part two, when we'll be dishing out the Pollys for the non-chronological awards. See you all soon! Bye for now! |
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Hi everyone and welcome back to the 1st annual Polly awards. This is the part of the show where we honour those artistes who have been nominated in the Non-Chronological categories. The awards are basically the same, but the scope is much wider, and allows some artistes who may not have qualified for an award to be in with a chance of scooping a Polly. So let's get underway as Alicia tells us about the nominations for the first award. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysAlicia3.jpg Thanks, Stacey-Lynn, and welcome back everyone. We've been requested by the Gardai (Irish police) to remind you that if you took a drink during the intermission, you should be sure to make use of the many taxis outside the venue, and your car will be returned to you in the morning by our valeting service. Do your bit to keep alcohol-related driving accidents to a minimum this year. Thank you. And now, the nominations for the first category in the Non-Chronological Pollys. The award is for Best Album Cover, and here are the nominations: http://www.trollheart.com/albumartawards2.jpg And the winner of the Polly is... Steve Thorne! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL16.jpg How about that? The oldest of our nominated album covers scoops the Polly. Well done, Steve, and we wish you well in your future projects. Next is the award for the Most Surprising or Impressive Album, and Laura will read the nominations for this. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLaura4.jpg Hi everyone. The nominations in this category are as follows: Antimatter, for “Planetary confinement”, released 2005 The Gaslight Anthem, for “American slang”, released 2010 Steve Thorne, for “Emotional creatures, part 1”, released 2005 Lake of Tears, for “Forever autumn”, released 1999 And the Polly goes to... Antimatter, for “Planetary confinement”! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL17.jpg Well done guys, very much a deserved win. Just shows though how an album can still make an impression years later, when one of the nominations there was from over ten years ago! That brings us to the award for Best Male Vocalist, and Helen will read the nominations for this. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysHelen4.jpg Hi everyone, welcome back. The nominations for Best Male Vocalist in the Non-Chronological category are: Janne Hurme, of Human Temple Benoit David, of Mystery and later Yes Jan Henrik Ohme, of Gazpacho Steve Thorne And the winner is... Jan Henrik Ohme, of Gazpacho! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL18.jpg Thanks Helen, congratulations to Jan. Which of course brings us neatly to the award for Best Female Vocalist. Li-Chang? http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLi5.jpg The nominations for Best Female Vocalist are as follows: Judie Tzuke Lana Lane Kim Seviour, of Touchstone Faith Hill And the award goes to... Kim Seviour, of Touchstone! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL19.jpg Great stuff! Kim just missed out on an award in the Chronological sections, good to see her being properly recognised here. And that takes us to the award for Most Innovative Album, and it's back to Laura for this. |
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Thanks, Stacey-Lynn. There have been a huge amount of innovative albums down the years, but of the ones we only heard last year, here are the four nominations we've shortened the list to: ”Terra incognita: beyond the horizon”, by Roswell Six “Ghost”, by Matt Stevens “Missa Atropos”, by Gazpacho “Genius” trilogy by Daniele Liverani And the award goes to... “Genius” by Daniel Liverani! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL20.jpg Yes indeed. Some may argue that Mr. Liverani had an unfair advantage, as his nomination included three albums to the others' one, but we subjected it to much more rigorous critera, which in fact made it harder to choose. In the end though, the decision was easy, as “Genius” is one of the most innovative albums we have heard in a long time. Well done, Daniel. And so we come now to the Best Album Track, and if shortening down a list of the most innovative albums was difficult, this task was next to impossible, but we managed it. Helen? http://www.trollheart.com/PollysHelen5.jpg Yes, a tough task certainly. The final list for the nominations for Best Album Track are: ”Orphans”, by the Gaslight Anthem, from “American slang” “Runaway train”, by Soul Asylum, from “Grave dancers union” “The tinder box”, by Arena, from “The seventh degree of separation” “Line of fire”, by Antimatter, from “Planetary confinement” And the award goes to... Well, there's a turn-up! ”The tinder box” by Arena! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL21.jpg VERY interesting! An album Trollheart only reviewed last week: obviously made a good impression. Well done, the boys from Arena. And now we come to the Best New Band category. As already explained, this is not a “new” band in the sense that they're just starting out, the moreso in these Non-Chronological categories. But Alicia will tell us more anyway. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysAlicia4.jpg Well, once again we stress that the term “new” in this context refers to a band who may indeed be new, or may have been going for some time, but 2011 is the first time we here at the Playlist of Life have heard them. The nominations in this category then are: Gazpacho The Gaslight Anthem Roswell Six Human Temple And the winner of the Polly is... The Gaslight Anthem! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL22.jpg Very well done to the boys, and I'm sure we'll be hearing a lot more from them in the years to come. Thanks Alicia, and now we come to the “bad” awards, the ones that are perhaps an embarrassment to those who win them, if win can be the correct term. First we have the Most Disappointing Album award, which Laura will read the nominations for. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLaura6.jpg Some of these albums will be rather old, but still turned out to be a huge disappointment when we listened to them. The nominations are: ”Grace” by the late Jeff Buckley ”Prominence and demise” by Winds ”GTR” by GTR “Aphrodite” by Kylie Minogue And the award goes to ... GTR! What a turkey! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL23.jpg We haven't an award for Most Overrated Album in this section, since it would be likely to stretch back too far, and how much can you overrate an album that's years old? So instead we're going to move directly to the award for Worst Album. Li-Chang? http://www.trollheart.com/PollysLi6.jpg The Award for Worst Album goes to an album we've heard for the first time in 2011, and the nominations are: ”Surface tension” by Clockwork “GTR” by GTR “Prominence and demise” by Winds “Fur” by Jane Wiedlin And the award goes to... Well, what do you know? ”GTR”! Guess it's so bad it wins two awards! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL24.jpg Indeed. No wonder there was just the one album. Thankfully. And that completes the distasteful task of awarding the “bad” Pollys, so let's now move on to the award for Best Debut Album. |
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Thanks, Stacey-Lynn. The nominations in this category as as follows: Two Door Cinema Club, for “Tourist history” Roswell Six, for “Terra incognita: beyond the horizon” Lisa Hannigan, for “Sea sew” Cowboy Prostitutes, for “Cowboy Prostitutes”. And the winner is... Roswell Six, for “Terra Incognita: beyond the horizon”! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL25.jpg Wonderful. Thank you Helen. And that takes us almost to the main event, the award for Best Album. But before we do, Alicia has one more very special award to tell us about. Alicia? http://www.trollheart.com/PollysAlicia5.jpg As part of our tribute to the very best in music, we here at the Playlist of Life have inaugurated the Lifetime Achievement Polly, which we will be awarding each year to someone who we believe has advanced the cause of music, given millions pleasure and earned our undying respect and gratitiude. There is no shortlist, as the winner is chosen beforehand. So without further ado, I would like to present the first ever Polly for Lifetime Achievement in Music to... Mr. Steve Earle! https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/im...jJ9tHKuiV6ryKa Yes, not only for his amazing albums, great live shows and wonderful music, not only for crossing over boundaries from country to folk to rock, but also for his tireless dedication to good causes, his kicking of the habit and his rebirth, if you will, after being released from jail in 1994, and his unwavering stand against the Death Penalty in the USA, Stephen Fain “Steve” Earle is awarded the first ever Polly for Lifetime Achievement in Music. Congratulations, Steve! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL26.jpg Thanks Alicia. Very well deserved indeed. And now we come to the highlight of the evening, the award for Best Album in the Non-Chronological section. Helen will tell us about the nominations. http://www.trollheart.com/PollysHelen6.jpg Thanks, Stacey-Lynn. The nominations for the final award, the Polly for Best Album, are: ”One among the living” by Mystery “Analogue” by a-ha “Planetary confinement” by Antimatter “The seventh degree of separation” by Arena And the final Polly goes to... a-ha, for “Analogue”! http://www.trollheart.com/PollysSL28.jpg Thanks Helen, just goes to show that even though they've broken up now, the boys from Norway still cast one hell of a long shadow! Very well done to them! Well, that's it for the first year, the first inaugural Pollys. Hope you all enjoyed it, and we will of course be back next year, bigger and better with hopefully just as star-studded a lineup, if not better. If we didn't feature your favourite album or artiste, apologies, but we have to cut the shortlist to four in each category, and like any award, only one can win. I think everyone here though were worthy winners, and those who were nominated but didn't get an award are still very highly thought of by us to make the final list. So now all that remains for me to do is to thank everyone who participated --- in particular my friends Laura, Helen, Li-Chang and Alicia --- and of course Trollheart for organising the whole night and providing the venue. Congratulations to all who won a Polly, and to those who didn't, well there's always next year! I'd like to wish you all a good night, thank you for coming and enjoy the rest of the evening. See you next year! http://www.trollheart.com/Polly3.jpg From the Sunrise Club at Erin Hall, Dublin Presenters Stacey-Lynn McPherson Laura Jennings Helen O'Donnell Li-Chang Matsuki Alicia Frances Nolan Artistic Design Stacey-Lynn McPherson Location Supervisor Beth Williams Scriptwriters Stacey-Lynn McPherson Laura Jennings Helen O'Donnell Cameras The Laser Eye Stage Manager Trollheart Sound Jim Robinson Keith Ryan Oscar Lord Jenny Patterson Mike D'Ambola Cathy McPherson John McDermott Catering Hunger's Mother Lights Industrial Light But Not Magic Music Supervisor Thomas H. Blanchard III Set Design Maura Ni Bhealtaine Anna Jameson Linda D'Ambola Gerry Stevens Graphics Now You See It Hair by Crowning Glory Makeup Connie Simpson Geraldine Taggart Laura Sanders Tanya Dennis Ms. McPherson's Personal Aide Penny Johansson Legal Representation James McDonald Producer Stacey-Lynn McPherson Executive Producer Trollheart An “Ivory Tower” production for “The Playlist of Life”, copyright MMXII |
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Ah come on, you know you all love ABBA! Let's have a shot of “Does your mother know?” |
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Fleetwood Mac- After 8 pages I now know that you're a big fan of certain band's later albums that a lot of people often see as weaker efforts and this Fleetwood Mac effort falls into that category. Fleetwood Mac I love with a passion and Lindsey Buckingham has always been a musical hero of mine, so any Mac album without him on post-1975 gets a big thumbs down from me:finger: Behind the Mask is not a bad album it just lacks Lindsey and without him the heart and soul of the band are not really there. Billy Burnette and Rick Vito did a decent job on the album, but neither of these two could find the spark that was needed. The following album was also average but things got back to normal when Lindsey returned on Say You Will which is a very good album. Do you know Lindsey's solo discography? As his second album Go Insane is Lindsey at his best. Millenium- I don't know this band but I'm very interested in giving them a listen. Mostly Autumn- I've not heard too much of their stuff, but seeing this has now reminded me to give them a listen. Peter Gabriel- Hahaha I think Us is a very average album also and doesn't come near the quality of the two albums either side of it So and Up, but admittedly I last heard this album about 10 years ago!!! when I listen to Gabriel these days, it still tends to be his Genesis stuff and his first four solo albums. Pink Floyd- Now Division Bell is a great album and I was happy for Gilmour, Wright and Mason, because they demonstrated that they really could produce a great album without Roger Waters, their previous effort A Momentary Lapse of Reason showed that without Waters they weren't really capable, but Division Bell is the business and their best post-The Wall release without a doubt. BTW I was always a fan of Richard Wright and know he often took a confidence battering from Roger Waters. Ric Ocasek-Now I know his solo stuff really well, Beautitude was always a slow plodding synth based effort with very few highlights, its best track "Jimmy Jimmy" was part of the Heartbeat City tour and always seemed even more polished and speeded up on that tour set, there are some other nice tunes as well, but the whole thing still gets the thumbs down from me and the best thing about the album is actually its name, its such an Ocasek word:finger: Now This Side of Paradise is a different kettle of fish altogether. It's almost like a Heartbeat City pt.2 and stand's as Ocasek's finest solo release, its full of Ocasek classics and most of the songs on here would have gotten on any great Cars album, what's great about this album is the ambient feel it has and Ocasek has got that spot on, on this release. I love the tracks "Look in Your Eyes" which actually features Ben Orr and the final two tracks on the album are what actually elevate the whole thing to classic status "Hello Darkness" written with Greg Hawkes and "This Side of Paradise" the album closer. That's all I've got time for now, but next time page 9 and more Ric Ocasek and maybe pt.2 of the NWOBHM. |
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One of the big hits for Savage Garden, also the title of an Alan Rickman film, though the worm doesn't think the two are connected... |
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Always one to give an artiste a fair chance --- especially if they're a pretty girl; see my doomed review of Pixie Lott's second album a while back --- I heard one song off this album (a single) and thought the eternal thought: I wonder if the rest is as good as that? The song, “Soulmate”, was in fact so good that I was really impressed with it and hoped that there would indeed be percentage for me in buying the album. And so I did. But was sorely disappointed, as you can guess, otherwise it would not have ended up here. N.B --- Natasha Bedingfield --- 2007 (Phonogenic) http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...gfield_N_B.jpg Not released in the USA, at least in this form, and with good reason I think, this was the second album for the sister of singer/songwriter Daniel Bedingfield, and would in fact result in her fame and popularity eclipsing his. Her first album, “Unwritten”, had been well received, though I haven't personally heard it; this was not so much so. For my money, the only decent track on it --- and it's streets ahead of anything else on the album --- is the aforementioned “Soulmate”, a lovely, haunting ballad that gave her chart success. Well, there is one other... The opener though, “How do you do”, despite having a certain Waits charm about the brass and the percussion, is quite weak and the other single, “I wanna have your babies” is basic pop/r&b boredom “Pirate bones” is okay, but doesn't live up to its interesting title “Tricky angel” starts off quite well, nice bassline, but then more or less degenerates into basic pop “No more what ifs” could have been a good song, but falls far short It takes the genius of Diane Warren to lift this album out of the ordinary, with the lovely “Still here” But then you have something like “Smell the roses” to close what is a very weak album overall. To be fair to her, at least Natasha does co-write the lion's share of the music on this album, and for that she has to be commended, but her writing (or co-writing, as it were) is just not up to scratch. Either that, or the writers she collaborates with aren't that great. Hard to say, as there isn't one song on the album written solo by her. I suppose I should not have expected all that much: it's generic pop after all, hardly the sort of thing I would normally listen to, but when I heard “Soulmate” I had such high hopes. In the end, all I can say about this album is “N.B: do not bother”. Sorry for the obvious pun, but it fits in well with how I felt about this album, having struggled through it. |
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When I'm not listening to or writing about music, I like to relax with a bit of telly. Like probably most people these days, I have a SKY Plus box, so I hardly ever watch “live” TV anymore: I record what I want and then watch it when it's convenient for me. Like their tagline used to say, it's changed the way I watch TV, and I'm sure that's true for a huge amount of people too. We no longer have to allocate time to sit down and catch our favourite shows; we can now just rely on “the box” to record them for us and we can review what's recorded and watch whenever we please, whether that's the early hours of the morning or just before we go to work. We can record a whole fistful of programmes that we would never have time to watch during the week, and binge on them at the weekend, when things are less hectic and time is more available. Personally, a lot of the time I tend to record whole series, or a few episodes at least, and then watch them back to back. The idea of waiting for next week's episode has largely been eliminated. Nowadays we watch what we want, when we want. The upshot of this of course is that we often end up recording more than we can ever watch, and as the programmes stack up on the Sky box we have to make a decision as to either what to watch or what to delete. I've found myself recording things I thought I'd really like to see, but every time I review the list I'm just not in the mood, or there isn't enough time, or a million other excuses, and things just end up getting wiped off without being watched. Luckily, I went for the terabyte box, which as its name implies means you have 1000 gigs of space to fill up, so it's unlikely to get full anytime soon. Of course, this is a two-edged sword: with so much space available, it's nothing to me to record four, five, six full seasons of programmes and add in movies or specials or documentaries, concerts and so on, and the more I record the more I have to watch. This has resulted in my deciding not to bother after all with some series --- I enjoyed the opening season of “The Wire” but thought the second was a bit flat and uninteresting, and so with about 26 episodes on the box that I was likely never to watch, or want to watch, it was eventually a case of clear out some space by deleting them. There are shows I watch on the day they're transmitted --- though hardly ever live --- or the day after. Shows I'm following, the news, football etc., and these are the ones where I'm actively waiting for them to be shown so I can see them. But many are just series I enjoy or think I might, and record with the intention of watching to see if I like them. Sometimes this works out, sometimes not. In this section, to move away a little from the music for a short while, I'll be going through some of the programmes I'm currently watching and enjoying (well obviously: why would you watch something if you didn't enjoy it?) --- some of them may be very old to some people, some may not even be known to them. As I live in Ireland, some may be only transmitted on our national channels, but I'll throw in as much information as I can about them. 2 Broke Girls http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...intertitle.png The first one is one that followed the original pattern I described above, ie I recorded a few episodes hoping it would be good, kept ignoring it as the episodes built up, and eventually one night thought I'd see what it was like. If it was no use, I reasoned, I could delete the episodes and make space. Somehow, whenever I think this, the show ends up being great. And so this proved to be. A comedy from the same stable that brought us classics “Cheers” and “Frasier” (well, James Burrows is involved), it features two girls from wildly different backgrounds working together as waitresses in a Brooklyn restaurant. Max, played by Kat Dennings, is a tough, streetwise, no-nonsense girl from a poor, working-class background who is doing what she has to do to keep body and soul together. She is joined one day by Caroline (Beth Behrs), a snobby, sexy socialite who is much more used to moving in higher social circles, but whose father has been indicted and imprisoned for running a ponzi scam, and all his assets having been frozen means she has nothing to live on, and must fall back on her completely limited survival skills. Talk about putting a domesticated, spoiled cat out to fend for themselves on the Serengeti! Anyway, things don't go smoothly at first but eventually the two become on/off friends, and the show centres around their dream (put forward by Caroline utilising Max's baking skills) of opening a cupcake shop. Caroline reckons they need $250,000 to make this happen, so they begin saving, and at the end of each episode, depending on whether they've made or lost money, a total is shown as to how far they have to go to reach their goal. It sounds a bit cheesy, and I wasn't sure at first, but I quickly grew to love it, so much so that now I'm letting the episodes build up so that I have a few to watch at once! Other good characters in the show are the lecherous and eternally optimistic Oleg, a Ukranian chef at the restaurant, who thinks every woman is attracted to him, and never stops trying. The girls' boss, Han Lee, a short little Korean guy, is also very well played, and it's refreshing in that the episodes don't seem to centre around “crisis of the week” or anything, just the things that the girls go through on their way towards success and riches, both of which it's painfully obvious they're never going to achieve. The characters may not be original, but they're played with just the right amount of tongue-in-cheek humour that you never feel they're taking themselves too seriously, and yet they still elicit your sympathy when life throws a curveball at them. Well worth a look, it's currently on our national station, RTE, but no doubt it's also available through the usual channels. Here's a clip. The Borgias http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...he_Borgias.jpg Now this is a programme I had the entire series of on my Sky box until I recently decided to give it a shot. I did enjoy it, but I was a little underwhelmed, given the “original mafia” tagline the show had been going with, that it had not a lot more sex and violence in it. Not that I enjoy that sort of thing, per se, but when you're talking about the Borgias, you expect them to be more the Sopranos and less the Simpsons. I found the sympathetic line Neil Simon took with the story interesting, but a little unbelievable. Essentially, he was saying that the Borgias were misunderstood, put upon, reviled and there was a real “us against the world” attitude about how they ruled. This is NOT how I remember being taught the Borgias were! Wasn't the daughter, Lucrezia, supposed to poison her enemies? Yet here she's depicted as an innocent, strong and determined woman, the best side of the family. Well, the image aside, the series is very good: very historically accurate especially in the dialogue (I just hate it when some Roman soldier says “dude” or “guys”, or uses some other idiom that wouldn't be invented for another thousand years!) and the settings, and the story is well written. Jeremy Irons puts in a fine performance as the Pope, but I believe it's Francois Renaud as Cardinal Cesare Borgia and his sister Lucrezia, played by Holliday Grainger, who steal the show. Michel Muller pulls off a star turn as the king of France later on in the series, and Steven Berkoff is his usual scintillating self, though sadly only for two episodes. I personally thought the ending was a little flat (won't give anything away) but am heartened to see that a second season has been commissioned. Let's hope it gets a little more bloody and raunchy though, or I might just have to stick with the second season of “Game of thrones”! Here's what happens when you piss the French off! IRT Deadliest roads: the Andes https://encrypted-tbn3.google.com/im...ZDNihJZhz6EReQ I've been into “Ice Road Truckers” from the start, so when they spun off into this other series, where some of the drivers leave the USA and head for the most dangerous roads they can drive, you better believe I was there! The first series had the guys in India, where high, twisting and treacherous narrow roads that barely deserve to be called such put the truckers to their ultimate test. These were the roads to sort the men from the boys (and the women from the girls)! Now they're back, and this time it's in the Andes, where the roads of India must look like a walk in the park, as they struggle with feet-wide mountainous passes, landslides, tunnels cut into the mountains and bridges that even Indiana Jones would think twice about crossing! For pure adrenalin rush, IRT is great, but the interplay between the drivers is also interesting to watch. On the first series of “Deadliest roads”, one of the drivers gave up on the first day and flew home. I'm not going to give away whether that happens this season, but as I say, these roads are even more dangerous! How they get all those mad camera angles is beyond me: trucks must be festooned with cameras. Currently showing on History. Here's an idea of what to expect. Death Valley http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...-DVOpening.jpg Do you like those shows like “Cops” where the cameras follow the police around on a “normal” day or night? Do you like vampires and zombies? Have you a healthy sense of humour? If the answer to all three is yes, then do yourself a favour and tune to MTV to watch the hilarious “Death Valley”. It's just so good it should be mandatory viewing. Here's a clip. Flashpoint http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Intertitle.jpg A new series I've just started watching that follows the day-to-day adventures of the Strategic Response Unit (SRU), essentially SWAT team in an unnamed Canadian city. The guys are called upon when special tactics are required, and though they do their fair share of sniper work, there's a lot of negotiation involved too. Yes it's hackneyed and has been done to death before, but I'm really enjoying what I'm seeing so far. Only just started on Universal Channel, but I see from Wiki that it's currently going to a fifth season. Good news for me. And finally, though it's not showing at the moment and has in fact finished, I'd like to give a mention to one of the “sleeper hits” on my Sky box, a little show that only lasted five episodes sadly, but should have run for much longer. The Booth at the End https://encrypted-tbn0.google.com/im...VuKKKH_yCUXUwA Xander Berkeley plays the mysterious Man who is always at the booth at the end of a diner, with notebook and pen. He is said to be able to grant your fondest wish or deepest desire, but at a price. He will demand you do something for him. If you do, then what you ask for will be yours. But there is no alternative request: you do what he asks you or there's no deal. This can be anything from robbing a bank (seriously!) to setting off a bomb (no, really!) or becoming pregnant (I am serious, I promise!), and the really interesting thing about the short series is that the lives of each of the people who visit him usually intersect in quite ingenious ways, leading to the one getting their wish at the expense of, or in concert with, the wish of another. It's really quite amazing, a real play on the idea of “how far would you go to get what you want?” Berkeley is brilliant in the role, calm and collected but with both a quiet air of menace, an aura of tragedy and a sense that perhaps he's a victim of his circumstances. In one episode, someone says to him, having heard what he must do to get what he wants, “You're a monster!” He responds calmly, “No, but you might say I feed monsters.” Excellent dialogue all throughout. Check it out if you can, and you'll agree with me that five episodes is just not enough. That's enough of my telly viewing for now. As I watch newer stuff, or stuff that's on my box but I haven't watched yet, or indeed come across older stuff I may have missed, I'll fill you in on the details. As if you care. But if you want to talk TV programmes with me, or comment on any of the ones above, you know what to do! We now return you to your normal programme, already in progress... |
Sure I know Stevie's solo stuff really well and without a doubt her solo album Bella Donna is her best work, the song "Edge of Seventeen" is a classic cut, the only other album in her discography that approaches the quality of this album is Trouble in Shangri-La.
Up is a complex art rock album and is indeed a cold and inacessible bit of work, but I found its one of those albums that gives over to repeated listens to really enjoy the quality of the album, thats my experience of it anyway. Page 9 Elo- I have a love hate relationship with ELO and often tell people I don't really like them, when in fact I actually do! Out of the Blue is a classic 1970s double and the band's crowning achievement and a better album than the previous A New World Record. Out of the Blue is probably the band's best album from their golden period along with Eldorado. It took Jeff Lynne several attempts before he was able to transform his love of the Beatles, over to a symphonic rock environment ELO style, Out of the Blue is that album. FTW my fav ELO album has to be Time, with its heavy synth approach its the swansong of ELO, but sadly its a forgotten gem. Boston- I adore Third Stage and I actually bought it when it actually came out (showing my age here) When I first put it on and heard Brad Delp singing "Amanda" I was hooked, its an album I still love today and one of the finest AOR albums of the 1980s. Ric Ocasek- I see you didn't do a review for Fireball Zone? This is a very good album and one of his rockier outputs, its got a lot of good material and "Mister Meaner" has to be one of the best songs that he has ever written, if you don't know it I'm sure you'll really like it. You mentioned earlier that you thought Ric Ocasek was guilty of ripping off his old melodies, well Quick Change World is one of the worst cases of plagiarism that I know off, its the worst album he has ever written and the whole thing sounds like some shoddy cut and paste job of earlier material, its an embassing album. Next time more of Ric Ocasek or part 2 of the NWOBHM and definitely page 10. |
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One of the Police's earlier hits, but not any the worse for it; one of their better songs in fact, when they were a bit truer to their original reggae roots, this is “Roxanne”. |
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Okay, well as the Americans would say, my batting average on new albums this year has been pretty damn poor --- I think two out of six so far have impressed me --- but last week's offering from the Boss was never going to have been in doubt, nor was it, and I'm hoping this will help get me back on track and go some way towards redressing the balance. There must be better albums getting released, even this early in the year! Come on, we're nearly a quarter of the way into 2012! I've liked Lana Lane ever since I heard “Lady Macbeth”, though I have to say some of the tracks from her other albums have somewhat underwhelmed me, but then I've tended to listen to them on playlists rather than as an album all the way through (I know, shame on me!) so I can't really say that any particular album has disappointed me, though her covers project, “Gemini” did fail to impress. But then, so did Fish when he tried the same on “Songs from the mirror”, and that's the only one of his albums I don't rate. Lana has a new album out this year, her first in four, so I'm expecting a big return to form and a serious thumbs up. El Dorado Hotel --- Lana Lane --- 2012 (Think Tank) http://www.thetank.com/graphics/lledh_cvr4.jpg For those of you who don't know, Lana is married to producer, musician and basically everything supremo Erik Norlander, and he usually plays on and produces her albums, as well as co-writing with her. He's of course involved here again, with a guest appearance by Asia's John Payne, not only singing (well, backup singing) but also playing mandolin! This I have to hear. Big, growling guitars, heavy organ and rolling drums greet us as “A dream full of fire” opens the album, an epic, almost progressive rock piece, a long opener but not the longest on the album, but at just under eight and a half minutes it's plenty to sink your teeth into, to whet the appetite that has been waiting since 2008's “Red planet boulevard” to be satisfied. And satisfied it looks to be, as the song rocks along as it gets into its stride, Lana's voice as distinctive and strong as ever, certainly not seeming in any way dulled from four years of inactivity. Norlander is a constant presence on the keys, ever by her side, both as husband and musical partner, while guitar duties are taken by no less than five guys, giving the album, not surprisingly, a very heavy, guitar-centric feel, while yet allowing plenty of scope for Norlander to express himself as only he can on the keyboards. A great running bass line more than halfway through is complemented by what sounds like cello, but isn't credited as such so perhaps that's on the banks of synths Erik Norlander is using. Either way, it sounds really impressive and just adds to the overall soundscape. On first listen this comes across as very similar to “Lady Macbeth”, which in my opinion is no bad thing, as that's my favourite of her albums. Great guitar solo, though who's playing it I couldn't tell you, as there are, as mentioned, five candidates. The song actually fades out on the solo, then we're into “Maybe we'll meet again”, with a huge, powerful keyboard intro very close to Europe's “The final countdown”, a mid-paced rocker with some really nice choral vocals (keyboard made?) and another great soaraway guitar solo. I have to admit, looking at the title I thought this would be a ballad. It's not. Though I'm confident there will be at least one, as Lana Lane does truly exceptional lovesongs. The title track, as such --- it's actually called “El Dorado” --- comes in on spooky synth and strings, with gorgeous Spanish guitar, restrained percussion giving the song a very low-key feeling, and it seems indeed to be a somewhat epic (six minutes) rock cruncher, with heavy guitar and solid keyboard, Lana's voice passionate and yearning, the Spanish guitar really characterising the song and providing its identity. It's not clear from the lineup, but I'm going to guess that it's Mark McCrite who's behind the Spanish guitar, as he mentions the song is one of his favourites, and he is one of the guitarists. Erik Norlander's keys certainly give the song a very progressive rock feel too, a lot of drama and intensity in a slowburning song that seems like it could go on forever. There's very little short here, with most of the tracks heading over the five minute mark, many well over that, and “Darkness falls” is no exception, coming in at a respectable five minutes eight seconds. It starts off slowly, with more Spanish guitar and humming synth, then breaks into a dark rock groove a little in, sliding back into the soft, gentle melody and then back out again, with great backing vocals from John Payne. A beautiful acoustic or Spanish guitar solo (how do you tell the difference?) a little more than halfway in, which is then taken up by the electric guitar and runs all told for about a minute before Lana comes back in to take the song to its conclusion. The shortest track is next, in “Hotels”, acoustic piano led with some nice guitar backup and a soulful vocal from Lana, decrying the life on the road as she sings ”I live in hotels/ A life I know well/ My personal Hell/ So very lonely.” Beautiful strings accompaniment opens up the song, piano keeping the melody with some brass, again probably Norlander on the synth as no trumpet or trombone player is credited. This is the first ballad, and certainly worth waiting for as Lana's soft, almost breathless vocal carries us along and into her world of room service and tour buses, which can of course have very much a downside. Oh no! I'm shocked --- shocked! --- to hear Lana use vocoder on her vocals on “Believe”! Why? Oh why? She does not need any electronic processing of her voice: it's fine as it is. Well, luckily it's only sporadic use, but it really grates on me. Damn, I hate vocoders, in case you didn't already know. The song? Oh yeah. It's a mid-paced AOR style rocker, kind of in the Journey or Styx mould, but it's damn hard to concentrate on anything after that shock. The first, hopefully the only disappointment on the album so far. I must admit, Norlander's frequent use of what I have to term “the Europe riff” on his keys is also quite annoying. Once is okay I guess, but he's using it almost as a signature now, and come on man, “The final countdown” was a decade and a half ago now. I think they have the high ground here! Good heavy guitar opening then to the other short track, “Life of the party” just about edging the four minutes, and it's a good straight-ahead rocker which certainly gives the five guitarists a chance to cut loose. I must say, I've heard John Payne's voice a little now (though not that much) but I have yet to hear this mandolin he's rumoured to play. Heavy organ adds to the song as it trundles along --- this will be good when played live, I have no doubt. Next up is “Gone are the days”, opening on choral synth but quickly breaking into a boogie rocker that rocks with energy, bopping along on an almost three-chord-boogie that reminds me in places of “Through the rain” from “Love is an illusion”. It's really a powerful rocker, and features a curious spoken word outro which may be Norlander, hard to say, but the voice sounds very English, so it could be John Payne. Some great guitar work though, and the bitter shock of the vocoder use is already a fading memory. “Moon god” opens on wild guitar and organ, but that damn vocoder is back! Just when I'd wiped it from my mind, or as good as. Goddamn it! You would not believe how much I hate vocoders. I think the only time I can take them is when ELO used them back in the seventies and eighties. The track: concentrate on the track. Yes. Well, it's a mid-paced rocker that goes through some changes over its five minute length, with a really nice acoustic guitar bridge which is then joined by electric guitar and forms a great instrumental break about three minutes in, then goes back to heavy rock for the remainder of the song. The closer is a new venture for Lana. An eleven-and-a-half-minute progressive rock epic, “In exile” opens on beautiful acoustic guitar and strings --- hints perhaps of Payne's much-anticipated mandolin there? --- and a soft, gentle vocal from Lana complemented by tender acoustic piano from her husband. Solid, ballad-style percussion cuts in, joined by some evocative electric guitar, which on the third minute crashes into life with heavy chords as the synth swells behind it and the drums get heavier, then it all drops back to a gentle acoustic guitar and piano melody. In true prog-rock style though, it changes focus, as a funky bass taps out the new rhythm and guitars and keys join in an extended instrumental section, part of which is a great guitar solo and which stretches the instrumental break to almost four minutes, pulling in seventies-style Mellotron, staccato drumming and snarling guitar and ending on a drumbeat pulled from Marillion's “Misplaced childhood” as Lana comes back in, the piano backing her with the strings gently ushering the song along into its eighth minute. A complete stop then before the bass kicks things off again and drums and guitar are added along with some brassy-sounding synth, another great guitar solo which takes the piece, Pink Floyd-style, to the tenth minute before another breakout guitar solo finishes proceedings off, handing over to Norlander's synth, the two then combining to take the piece to its conclusion. This is definitely one album that's been worth the wait, and it sets me up, as I knew it would, with a decent chance to turn things around. If the albums I review from now on end up being this good I'll soon forget the likes of “A brief crack of light”, “Whose side are you on” and “How to dismantle a U2”. There wasn't really any doubt in my mind this would help redress the balance: I've been waiting for a new Lana Lane album for years now (four, to be precise) and am delighted to be able to report that the wait is now over, and the album is everything I hoped it would be. TRACKLISTING 1. A dream full of fire 2. Maybe we'll meet again 3. El Dorado 4. Darkness falls 5. Hotels 6. Believe 7. Life of the party 8. Gone are the days 9. Moon god 10. In exile |
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