The Playlist of Life --- Trollheart's resurrected Journal

Trollheart · 10-09-2011, 09:28 AM

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

Firepower --- Raven --- from "Wiped out" on Neat

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

Trollheart · 10-10-2011, 09:43 AM

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

Trollheart · 10-10-2011, 10:11 AM

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

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

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

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

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

Trollheart · 10-10-2011, 10:19 AM

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

Temples of gold --- Kamelot --- from "Karma" on Sanctuary

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

Trollheart · 10-11-2011, 11:57 AM

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

Love with a vengeance --- Debbie Harry --- from "Necessary evil" on Eleven Seven

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

Trollheart · 10-11-2011, 05:48 PM

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

Most people know of Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), or at least of his “Spring” from the “Four seasons” suite, but I personally prefer the closing concerto, “Winter”...

Johannes Pachelbel (1653-1706) is another name many people will not know, but you're sure to recognise this piece, his “Canon in D Major”. Apologies in advance for the stupid ad before this video.

Proving that there were still some amazing classical musicians alive and writing incredible music well into the twentieth century, this is Samuel Barber (1910-1981), with his moving and very recognisable “Adagio for strings”. Nice poem with this video, incidentally.

A beautiful piece of music called “Serenade” by Franz Schubert (1797-1828)

Listening to some of this music, you'd perhaps wonder how much beauty can this world hold? Well, here's one more. Franz Liszt (1811-1886), with one of his most beautiful and famous compositions, “Liebestraum”, or “love dream”.

Always striving to be that little bit different here at Trollheart's journal, we hope that you enjoyed this second selection of truly magnificent classical music, and if you feel like checking any of the composers here out further, you can more than likely find most of their music online. Failing that, try any of the classical compilations: most of them have few if any bad tracks.

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

Trollheart · 10-11-2011, 05:49 PM

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

Trollheart · 10-12-2011, 10:51 AM

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

One more try --- George Michael --- from "Faith" on Columbia

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

Trollheart · 10-12-2011, 01:04 PM

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Until next time....

Trollheart · 10-12-2011, 01:27 PM

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

10-09-2011, 09:28 AM	#361 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Random Track of the Day *Sunday, October 9 2011* What else would you want on a relaxing, lazy, rainy Sunday, than heavy metal? As a sort of an unintentional sneak preview then of the second part of our look at the NWOBHM, here are Raven, one of the movers and shakers of the revolution in Heavy Metal back in the eighties. Firepower --- Raven --- from "Wiped out" on Neat You won't find any keyboard tinkling or intricate acoustic guitar work here, and there ain't a string section to be found! It's raw, powerful, headshakin' metal all the way, with a track from their second album, released at the height of their popularity and command of the NWOBHM, a track called “Firepower”! NOW see if you can read the Sunday papers! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-10-2011, 09:43 AM	#362 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	After the hectic nostalgia of last week, it's back to business as usual for the worm, who today would like to start the week off with one from the Thompson Twins (why were they called twins when there were three of them?) and one of their better songs, “King for a day”. With extra nuns! __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-10-2011, 10:11 AM	#363 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Time for some more good closing tracks from albums. Starting off with the finale to Arena's 2005 album “Pepper's ghost”, this is the phenomenal “Opera fanatica”. An incredible little track from an album already reviewed, George Michael's surprisingly good “Listen without prejudice volume 1”, this is the closer, an introspective little acoustic piece that somehow encompasses the entire album. Class. The amazingly low-key ending to Pink Floyd's final album with Roger Waters, from “The final cut”, this is the emotional and evocative “Two suns in the sunset”. And speaking of emotional, the closer from Tears For Fears' opus “The seeds of love”, the truly majestic and breathtaking “Famous last words.” And just so that you don't drift off to sleep right away, we'll close with the final track on the final album featuring Bruce Dickinson before his departure from Iron Maiden, the title track to 1992's “Fear of the dark”. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-10-2011, 10:19 AM	#364 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Random Track of the Day *Monday, October 10 2011* More metal today, though it's a ballad this time. From American prog-metal band Kamelot, this is from their album “Karma”, and it's “Temples of gold”. Temples of gold --- Kamelot --- from "Karma" on Sanctuary Like most metal bands, Kamelot can write a great ballad, and they have many. This is a good one, if not one of their best, from an album which, although it doesn't rank among my favourite Kamelot records, is still very much worth a listen. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-11-2011, 11:57 AM	#365 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Random Track of the Day *Tuesday, October 11 2011* With Halloween fast approaching, spooky things are happening here at Trollheart's journal! First the old random-o-meter decided to preview one of the bands due to feature in our second look at the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), Raven, and now it's chosen today's track as being from Debbie Harry, slated for our next “Gone solo in the game” slot! Mystic forces, Eddie! Mystic forces...! Love with a vengeance --- Debbie Harry --- from "Necessary evil" on Eleven Seven An interesting, sparse, low-key song perhaps more typical of mid-eighties Kim Wilde, “Love with a vengeance” is a handclap-percussion and bass-driven semi-ballad, which if nothing else proves that even at age sixty-two she still has it on this album released in 2007, her first in fourteen years. Looking forward to reviewing this for the feature.... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-11-2011, 05:48 PM	#366 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Time once again to pay our respects to the men (sorry, ladies, but they were exclusively men: it was a different time) who created the music that has allowed rock, pop, country, rap and every other type of band and artiste to exist: yes, we're dipping into centuries of the very best classical music again. Most people know of Antonio Vivaldi (1678-1741), or at least of his “Spring” from the “Four seasons” suite, but I personally prefer the closing concerto, “Winter”... Johannes Pachelbel (1653-1706) is another name many people will not know, but you're sure to recognise this piece, his “Canon in D Major”. Apologies in advance for the stupid ad before this video. Proving that there were still some amazing classical musicians alive and writing incredible music well into the twentieth century, this is Samuel Barber (1910-1981), with his moving and very recognisable “Adagio for strings”. Nice poem with this video, incidentally. A beautiful piece of music called “Serenade” by Franz Schubert (1797-1828) Listening to some of this music, you'd perhaps wonder how much beauty can this world hold? Well, here's one more. Franz Liszt (1811-1886), with one of his most beautiful and famous compositions, “Liebestraum”, or “love dream”. Always striving to be that little bit different here at Trollheart's journal, we hope that you enjoyed this second selection of truly magnificent classical music, and if you feel like checking any of the composers here out further, you can more than likely find most of their music online. Failing that, try any of the classical compilations: most of them have few if any bad tracks. Now off you go, back to your indie rock and your heavy metal. I'll see you there later... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018 Last edited by Trollheart; 12-22-2011 at 12:28 PM.

10-11-2011, 05:49 PM	#367 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Always makes the worm think of summer, this one! Whatever happened to Dodgy? Hope they didn't live up to their name! Here they are with their big hit, from 1996, “Good enough”. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-12-2011, 10:51 AM	#368 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Random Track of the Day *Wednesday, October 12 2011* Nice little ballad picked out by the random-o-meter today, one of George Michael's big hits, from the album “Faith”, it's “One more try”. One more try --- George Michael --- from "Faith" on Columbia One area George Michael excels in (should that read excelled? Is he retired now?) is the writing of almost-perfect ballads, like “Careless whisper”, “A different corner” and “Cowboys and angels”, and this is another in that vein, with lots of keyboard and thumpy drums, a heartrending realisation that the affair is over. Great song. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-12-2011, 01:04 PM	#369 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	Time for yet another voyage across the sea of mediocrity to the Islands of Possibility, where we find unknown and struggling bands who are just dying for their music to be heard. We crate it all up, ship it back home and display it here for you, at the harbour market, so that you can hear the kind of undiscovered talent that's out there. The journey is not easy, and indeed, on the last one we lost three good men (well, two good men and a parrot … well, one good man … okay, just a parrot. And alright, he didn't so much fall overboard as fly away when we got to the island. But that's all beside the point...) but we keep going back, for the rewards are surely worth the risks. So, now that you know what we go through to bring you this music, the least you can do is listen to it. So switch off your ipod for a moment and click on the links below. You may be very glad that you did. Should you wish to sail these largely uncharted waters yourselves, point your sextant towards SoundClick - Free MP3 music download and much, much more., but be warned: it's dangerous out there. The seas are rough, no place for landlubbers! A Greater Claim Okay, first warning: these guys are Christian rock, so be prepared for a little preaching and attempts at conversion in their lyrics. Oh, wait, no, don't: they appear to be entirely instrumental, and very heavily guitar-based. But they're worth listening to. They've only been together since 2007, but show a maturity far beyond that in their music. Apparently, according to their page, they used to be known as The Scarlet Resurrection, but on their search for a new band name, they opened up a bible and the words “a greater claim” were the first they saw. Hey, I guess you can't argue with the Good Book... Give them credit, they're the first band I've looked at in this series who have made a conscious effort to actually provide some information about themselves. Always helps. SoundClick artist: A Greater Claim - page with MP3 music downloads Genre Christian Rock Nationality Um... American, would you believe? *Gold* For the few that were many, parts 1 – 3, Cross *Silver* A grain of sand, For what it's worth, Upon the horizon, Everlast, Motionless *Copper* Soon to be A Headfull of monsters Their spelling, not mine. Brian Duell (keys) and Mark Griffiths (guitar) claim to be a progressive rock band, styling themselves on the music of Gabriel, Floyd and Zeppelin, among others. At the moment they're just instrumental, but are looking at the possibility of adding vocals. What they've put together here is really impressive, and I'd be very interested to hear how singing would affect this dynamic, and the music. SoundClick artist: A Headfull of Monsters (Official) - A Headfull of Monsters are Brian Duell on keyboards and Mark Griffiths on guitar. Although we have Genre Progressive rock Nationality UK Gold Origins, Dying moments, Reflections, Winter ice, Misted moon, Carnival of the grotesque, Mask, Death of ginger gene, Ear fatigue, Cryptic (That's right: EVERY track from this duo is Gold!) A Kiss to remember In contrast to the last two artistes, this one gives absolutely no information about him, her or themselves, so I can tell you nothing except expect more instrumental rock. SoundClick artist: A Kiss to Remember - page with MP3 music downloads Genre Instrumental/ambient Nationality American Gold Hard to believe, Now that you're here, Change the world, Breathe Silver Behind the screams, When you're alone, An effigy of me Copper The anxiety of temptation And that's it for another edition of Trollheart's Treasure Chest. Incidentally, the fact that all three artistes featured today turned out to be totally instrumental was not planned, and was pure coincidence. However I think it demonstrates that there are bands out there with the talent and the musical ability to create excellent music without having to add words. Most people can sing, one way or another --- okay, not everyone can sing well (you don't ever want to have to hear me sing!), but only a certain percentage of people can pick up a guitar, sit at a piano or keyboard, or thump out a drumbeat and make it MUSIC. That's the difference: musicians make music, the lifeblood of any song, and these three artistes, despite not singing, prove their capability and expertise by way of their respective musical instruments. To quote a phrase, they let the music do the talking. Until next time.... __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

10-12-2011, 01:27 PM	#370 (permalink)
Trollheart Born to be mild Join Date: Oct 2008 Location: 404 Not Found Posts: 26,970	As he may already have mentioned, the worm is not a big Oasis fan, but he does love this song, one of their later and perhaps lesser-known hits, “Stop crying your heart out”. __________________ Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018