Random Track of the Day
Friday, September 2 2011

One of my all-time favourite bands today, with a track from their excellent and successful 2004 album, “Marbles”. It could be said to be the title track, but really only a quarter of that, as there are four songs, or pieces, called “Marbles” on the album, numbered I to IV. This is “Marbles I”.

Marbles I --- Marillion --- from “Marbles” on Intact
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“Marbles” is a concept song, as it were, tracing the path from childhood to adulthood via the remembrance of simple things, like playing with marbles. As “Marbles I” opens, on a piano and keyboard line, very relaxed and a little jazzy in tone, it's a desperate search for lost childhood, reflected in the opening line “Did anyone see my last marble?” It forms the start of the piece, which then goes back to trace the singer's childhood and how marbles, as a game and a pastime, played a large part in that.

The song is under two minutes long, though the four parts taken together run for over six and a half.

Hold me --- Laura Branigan --- 1985 (Atlantic)
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I was, I have to admit, shocked and saddened to learn that Laura Branigan is dead. I had no idea, and when I went to research her discography for this review I found out that she died of a brain aneurym in 2004. Such a pity: she was so talented. In her relatively short then career she released seven albums, of which her most successful and best known was 1984's “Self control”, though she will always be remembered primarily for her huge hit “Gloria”, from her debut self-titled album. This however is my favourite of hers.

It opens with the title track, a slick, polished, street-rock song with dramatic keyboards and synthesisers telling the tale of a girl looking for love, and what she's prepared to do to find it. It's got a very eighties feel to it, with sax and horns and quite a funky beat. More straight-ahead commercial pop follows in the shape of “Maybe tonight”, with a great warbling keyboard line and powerful echoey drums. It's a song of “look what you lost and you'll be back” as she sings ”Maybe tonight, maybe tomorrow/ It's just a matter of time/ Until you're running back in my arms again.” The song has an odd kind of tango-like rhythm, with Laura in strident voice, defiant and assured.

The first ballad comes in the form of “Foolish lullaby”, a song driven on breathy digital piano with synthesiser backup. It's another of those love triangle song s,where Laura asks ”If you're so sure that she's the one/ Why are you lying here with me?/ Did it ever cross your mind at all/ How all this feels to me?” As a ballad it really works, and is well positioned between the two previous fast tracks and the one that comes next, “Spanish Eddie”, which is a real rocker, with great synth and a jumping beat, kind of puts me in mind of the likes of “Flashdance”, then her version of Alphaville's hit ballad “Forever young” slows things down perfectly again. She does a great job on it, so much so that I think I prefer her version to the original. There's real power and emotion in her voice as she sings.

Much as I like Laura Branigan's work, it's again something of a disappointment to find that she did not write her own material, at least on this album (and looking quickly through her discog, none of the other albums either). She contributes to one track on this one, and there are the odd songwriting credits on her other releases, but very few and far between. Here, she has the likes of Jack White, Harold Fatermeyer and even Michael Bolton writing for her, and Faltermeyer also plays on the album. The songs are generally good, but it's always a pity when the artist doesn't create her own material.

She also recruits the talents of other luminaries, like Michael Landau on guitar and James Ingram on vocals, and in fact the supporting cast numbers close to forty. The production is top-notch, being handled by Faltermeyer, with Jack White and Mark Spiro. “I found someone” is a song made more famous later by Cher, but written for Laura by Michael Bolton. It's a power ballad, sung with great passion by Laura, but more restrained than Cher's punchy rock version. Whereas the woman with one name utilised a lot of heavy guitar and pounding drums in her version, Laura goes for an arrangement based around piano and keyboard, with just the right amount of percussion. It makes her version perhaps less aggressive than Cher's, but I believe better too.

“Sanctuary” is a pop/rock mid-paced song, with a good beat, and a really good guitar solo in there too, while “Tenderness”, the only song on which Laura co-writes, is a sort of cross between a rock and a dance number, with great horns. It's not great, not bad, but would have been a better closer than “When the heat hits the streets”, which is unashamedly pop/dance, and a little weak. Sorry, a lot weak. Bad choice to close what is essentially a really good album.

Laura's next album, “Touch”, just didn't do it for me, and I don't know what the albums after that were like, but I found “Touch” to be very heavily dance-influenced with not too much rock material at all. Here, there are pop songs certainly, but a decent smattering of rock too. Whether Laura changed her musical direction after this or whether “Touch” was a temporary aberration I don't know. Nevertheless, this album showcases some of her best work, some of her strengths and perhaps one or two of her weaknesses. Not a classic, by any means, but an album worth giving your time to listen to.

TRACKLISTING

1. Hold me
2. Maybe tonight
3. Foolish lullaby
4. Spanish Eddie
5. Forever young
6. When I'm with you
7. I found someone
8. Sanctuary
9. Tenderness
10. When the heat hits the streets

Suggested further listening: “Branigan”, “Self control”

Random Track of the Day
Saturday, September 3 2011

Always enigmatic, often eccentric, an acquired taste --- just a few of the labels often associated with the music of Nick Cave. Once you get into him though you'll recognise him for the genius he is. Like a modern-day romance poet on crack, or Tom Waits when he's just about sobre and REAL mean, Cave sings about anything that takes his fancy, with an uncompromising attitude that is sorely lacking in many of today's musicians. It turns some people off his music, but attracts many many others. In any event, Cave tends to write his music for himself, not for fans, record labels, sales or fame. A true hardcore artist, you can't help but be affected by his music, whether positively or negatively. One thing he is not, and that is boring or predictable.

New morning --- Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds --- from “Tender Prey” on Mute
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Tenderprey.jpg


I've only listened to this album once, but it is fantastic. One of Cave's older recordings before he got into his orchestral period, it contains some excellent tracks. This is called “New morning”, and comes closest to a cross between a country track and a gospel song. Nice piano and harmonica, and one of Cave's least dark songs, almost a prayer. You can almost see the hulking, shadowy figure of Nick Cave standing in the pulpit, leading the congregation while the Bad Seeds play behind him, early morning light streaming in through the stained-glass windows of some church in East Nowhere, USA.

Abominog --- Uriah Heep --- 1982 (Bronze)
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There's little confusion as to what kind of music you're going to hear on this album! With a revamped and updated heavy metal sound, Uriah Heep released their fourteenth album to critical acclaim. Personally, it was another one of those records I bought strictly on the basis of the album sleeve! I loved that demonic face! At age nineteen, and into the likes of Iron Maiden, Motorhead, Sabbath and Saxon at the time, this was the sort of music I wanted to listen to.

Mind you, it's not totally heavy metal, and in some places it's more hard rock, but it is loud! As the opening guitar chords of “Too scared to run” blast out of your speakers, you know you're in for a headbanging time! The drums crash in and the song takes off, with one short break before it all powers off again and new vocalist Peter Goalby makes himself heard, stamping his identity on the song, and on the whole album. The chugging guitar of founder member Mick Box creates in great part the sound of this song, though the keys of new man John Sinclair play their part too, creating a heads-down rocker that hardly gives you time to catch your breath before slipping into “Chasing shadows”. Introduced on a boppy keyboard line it soon sparks to life as another hot rocker, although not as frenetic as “Too scared to run”, and driven mainly on keyboards.

“On the rebound” is another bouncy rocker, utilising the considerably talents of former drummer Lee Kerslake, and written by Russ Ballard, in fact the first of several covers: the band write about half of the material on the album, with the rest made up by cover versions. Great keyboard arpeggios here from Sinclair, with Goalby really stretching himself vocally. Some really mesmerising guitar from Box stamps his authority on this song, then it's on to John Cougar's “Hot night in a cold town”, where the pace slackens slightly. Not quite a ballad, it's certainly slower than the tracks on the album to date, and provides a welcome chance to catch a breather before we're off again, running with the lion...

A song originally recorded by the band Lion, of which John Sinclair was a member, “Running all night (with the lion)” was a track Sinclair brought with him from his time with Lion, and here the guys give it the Uriah Heep treatment. I must admit, I haven't heard the original, but this is a power rocker of the first order! Striding, brash, ballsy and with great guitars from Box and a down-and-dirty vocal from Goalby. Sweet! Two more covers then, first up is “That's the way that it is”, with great jangly guitar intro and an impassioned vocal by Goalby, backed up by some very Europe-like keyboards --- hair metal, ho!

“Prisoner” is a sort of a semi-ballad, starting off with lush keyboards and a gentle vocal, but then it ramps up and becomes a punchy anthem, almost with elements of gospel near the end. Great backing vocals, Box's wailing guitar underscoring the mood of the song. Church-like organ introduces “Hot persuasion”, which then gets into a great little groove, while “Sell your soul” is a real fist-clenching, air-punching anthem, where Mick Box gets to really let loose!

Closer “Think it over” is a slow rocker, comes in on gorgeous slide guitar and atmospheric keyboard, a great melody and a powerful closer to the album. Although a cover of sorts, this is in fact an original Uriah Heep song, which was performed by the previous lineup in 1980, before they broke up, so technically it's not really a cover at all. Just thought you'd like to know that!

Uriah Heep have of course over twenty albums to date, of which I've only heard this and their greatest hits (“July morning”, “Stealin'” and “The wizard” are great tracks, by the way), and I believe their earlier stuff is not as heavy as that heard here, but either way they have to be worth checking out on the basis of this album, and once I get some time (whenever that may be!) I'll definitely be dipping into their back catalogue.

For now, this serves as a great taster and an idea of what to expect from this old and established, and yet fully up-to-date and modern rock band.

TRACKLISTING

1. Too scared to run
2. Chasing shadows
3. On the rebound
4. Hot night in a cold town
5. Running all night (with the lion)
6. That's the way that it is
7. Prisoner
8. Hot persuasion
9. Sell your soul
10. Think it over

Random Track of the Day
Sunday, September 4 2011

How random is that? Yesterday we had Nick Cave, today we have Josh Groban, two artistes who could not be any different, yet in many ways are quite alike. Great singers, powerful presence on stage, and a willingness to step “outside the box” on occasion. I've reviewed Josh's “Closer” earlier in my journal, so not too much to add, just have a listen.

Mai --- Josh Groban --- from “Awake” on Reprise
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...joshgroban.jpg

It's another of Josh's non-English songs, but don't let that put you off. With pristine production by David Foster, and a powerful orchestra backing him, this is a fine example of why Josh Groban is seen as one of the most accomplished and noted singers in his field today. Ignore the words --- you're unlikely to be able to understand them anyway, I couldn't --- and listen to the song. Proof that music can transcend the language barrier.

Random Track of the Day
Monday, September 5 2011

Ah, the randomness continues, and sometimes it dovetails with what has already been reviewed, though this time it's an album reviewed very recently: Joe Walsh's “The smoker you drink, the player you get”. I thought this album would be a whole lot better than it was, given its reputation and the reviews I had read about it, but though it's by no means rubbish, I wasn't as blown away by it as I had expected to be.
Wolf --- Joe Walsh --- from “The smoker you drink, the player you get” on ABC-DunhillReprise
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“Wolf“ is at least one of the better tracks on the album, a laid-back ballad with really nice guitars. Very Eagles sound on it. If you want to read the review of the whole album, head back a page.

http://www.trollheart.com/new2wall.jpg
Time to hop on a bus to Weirdsville and take a trip, if not to the Twilight Zone, then definitely to the Late-in-the-Afternoon Zone, where I veer off from the kind of music I usually write about to feature some tracks from artistes I would normally either not have an interest in, or whose genre is not one I normally review. Weird sh*t I like, as the title says.

First off, here's a disco band. Well, maybe the disco band of the seventies. I was never into disco music at all, but Earth, Wind and Fire had something about them, and a lot of their music was at least the kind of thing I didn't turn off or switch channels for. This is one of their big hits, and in fairness it's infectiously danceable. This is “September”. Oh, and so it is...


And totally on the other side of the scale, well you just can't beat those old romantic ballads, can you? This is a song I actually got to know through, would you believe, “Star Trek Deep Space 9”. There are many versions of “I'll be seeing you”, but I prefer the slower ones. Hard to find, to be honest. I had one by Barry Manilow, but I've already subjected you to him once, and didn't feel that would be fair play, so here's someone called Jo Stafford, with the sort of arrangment for this song that I prefer.


And I truly HATE the Big Band sound, but even I can't fault the class of Glenn Miller on this favourite of his, “Moonlight serenade”.


Just to raise the tempo, here's Charlie Daniels and his band with a great favourite of mine. Couldn't really feature this anywhere else, so here he is with “The Devil went down to Georgia” (thought he lived there?) ---- just listen to them fiddles!


Probably sounds totally dated now, but when this came out first it was cutting edge! I remember seeing the Art of Noise on Top of the Pops and they had COMPUTERS on stage! Oh wow! Break that mould! Here they are with “Close to the edit”.


Okay, that's enough weirdness for now. What passes for normal service will now be resumed. Until next time....

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Close --- Kim Wilde --- 1988 (MCA)
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I was never a huge fan of Kim Wilde, and only bought one other of her albums (apart from the greatest hits compilation), and that was 1986's “Another step”. I was relatively disappointed with it, but on hearing the single “You came” I decided to try again, and I was glad I did. This is widely acknowledged as one of Kim Wilde's best albums, and it's easy to see why.

It opens with the disappointingly disco “Hey Mister Heartache”, which just does nothing for me at all with its funky bass and its bland synth lines, drum machines and frankly forgettable melody. That this was chosen as the first single from the album is staggering, and it's probably as well that I never heard it, or I would have passed on the album. All comes right though with the next track, the aforementioned “You came”, the second single and the one I heard that convinced me to take a chance on the album.

Yes, it's a disco/dance song, but the lush keyboards on it and the clapalong beat mark it as a much different song to the previous. You could hear Kylie singing this. What do you mean, that's not a good thing? Whereas the melody on the opener was confused and failed to stick in the brain, this has an unforgettable hook and a great beat. The whole album is based fairly closely on keyboards with some guitar, and although I see no bass player credited there must be one --- unless they're doing bass on the synth? Anyway, it's a well-rounded song, a real hit and got into the top ten, marking the return of Wilde for the first time since the days of “Kids in America”, “View from a bridge” and “Cambodia”, all about five years previous.

Still, good as “You came” is, if you want lush, listen to “Four letter word”, with its grandiose keys and its seventies disco melody. A semi-ballad, it's sung with passion and belief by Kim, with a lovely melody and great backing vocals. Her brother, Ricky, helps her out a lot on this album, playing keyboards, guitar, and programming the drum machines, while her famous father, Marty, has a hand in most of the songwriting.

“Love in the natural way” is a soul/disco song that could have been written for Luther Van Dross or James Ingram, a nice cheerful song, but it doesn't measure up to the quality of what has gone before. “Love's a no”, on the other hand, is a bittersweet ballad, perfectly crafted and played. A plea for patience and understanding, it gets very intense as the song progresses, then a dirty guitar introduces one of my favourite tracks on the album, the boppy “Never trust a stranger”, with great keyboard lines and a great break in the middle, with a great bassline (whoever's playing it!) and a powerful ending. Probably the closest to a rock track on the album.

Another ballad then, the superlative “You'll be the one who'll lose”, with atmospheric keys and nicely picked guitar, and a drum machine beat that sounds like fingers clicking. Cool. “European soul” is basically Madonna's “La isla bonita”, then “Stone” is back to disco/pop but with an element of rock in there too, good beat with nice synthesiser-created brass. The album ends on a cover, a song by Todd Rundgren called “Lucky guy”. It's a pretty simple piano ballad, with some nice string arrangements (presumably on synth) and a really nice piece of slide guitar to close the album on a satisfying note.

Yeah, Kim Wilde won't be everyone's cup of tea (though you would, wouldn't you?) ;) but this is an album worth taking a chance on. It's a lot better than I expected it to be, and while it didn't blow me away I was very impressed with it. Some really well-crafted songs and some melodies you may just still be humming as you put the disc away.

TRACKLISTING

1. Hey Mister Heartache
2. You came
3. Four letter word
4. Love in the natural way
5. Love's a no
6. Never trust a stranger
7. You'll be the one who'll lose
8. European soul
9. Stone
10. Lucky guy

Random Track of the Day
Tuesday, September 6 2011

Something totally different this time. I've only recently heard of, then downloaded, this album but already it's showing promise. Isabel Oversveen, otherwise known as Issa, is a 26-year old rising talent from Norway, who has cut her teeth with all manner of bands there and earned the respect of the music industry. This is her debut album, and for a first effort it's commendable. Watch for a review of it once I get a chance to digest it properly. Hey, for now just admire, huh? ;)

What can I do --- Issa --- from “Sign of angels” on Frontiers
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“What can I do” is from her debut album “Sign of angels”, and listening to this it's sort of hard to believe that this is her maiden voyage. Good commercial heavy rock with some well-known (in Norway) musicians backing her, and she has a voice that's just suited to rock and hard rock, coming from the same school of singing as veterans like Ann Wilson and Pat Benatar. On the strength of this, I would say Issa has a very bright future ahead of her, and I'm certain the wider world will hear more of her very soon.

Phoenix --- Asia --- 2008 (Frontiers)
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The Second Coming of Asia? Well, after the somewhat disappointing “Silent nation”, which was the first ever Asia album not to have a title beginning and ending in A --- from “Asia” through “Alpha”, “Astra”, “Aqua”, “Aria”, “Arena” and “Aura” --- Asia reunite with the old lineup that last played on 1983's “Alpha” (one great album!) and the difference is there for all to hear. The band reunited with longtime cover artist Roger Dean, whose services they had dispensed with for the previous outing, and the classic Asia feel is back. Okay, so it's not a title beginning and ending with A --- there's not even an A in it! --- but it's the sound we've grown used to and love. It's almost 1983 all over again!

The album gets going with “Never again”, a heavy rocker with that classic guitar sound from Steve Howe that first introduced us to “Heat of the moment”, all those years ago. John Wetton is back on vocals, and doesn't he sound great! His new solo album is definitely going to be worth checking out. In something of the same vein as the title track of “Arena”, this song declares the singer's determination that ”Never again will I raise arms/ Against my brother/ Never again will I spill blood/ Of any mother's son.” Geoff Downes, back behind the keys, sounds happy to be there, and of course there is no other Asia drummer than Carl Palmer!

The theme of the song could also possibly be interpreted as “never again will we break up”, though that's a matter of conjecture. There's no denying though that the guys seem to be happy playing together again, almost three decades since they cut their last record as a band. “Nothing's forever” starts with an acapella intro before the keyboards of Downes announce themselves and the track gets going, a mid-paced rocker which lopes along nicely, and is the only song on the album completely written by Wetton. The big ballad of the album is the mighty “Heroine”, with its lyric affording all the power to the woman in the singer's life, in a nice turnaround from the guy being the hero who protects the girl. Wetton sings ”You are my heroine/ Do with me what you will/ This is no time to die/ No time to kill.” This is an interesting conclusion coming from the opening lines, which seem to describe an attempt at suicide: ”I hold the razor blade up to my face/ And feel the pulse benath my skin/ The crimson line describes the outer trace/ Of my broken heart within.” Of course, the guy could just be shaving, I guess.

The music is dramatic and powerful, nice piano and solid keyboards from Downes, fragmented guitar from Howe and steady drumbeat from Palmer. It's a classic Asia ballad, and doesn't disappoint we who know their music. Wetton's voice is full of admiration and passion as he sings, and whether or not this is semi-autobiographical or just a generic idea I don't know, but it sounds a little personal. Nice touches on the keys by Downes as he picks out some piccolo/string arrangements.

The next track is a long one, and a three-part composition at that. It goes under the banner of “Sleeping giant”, and starts off with a nice instrumental intro, some very seventies guitar from Howe, almost reminiscent of the soul stars of the day, with nice choral vocal accompaniment and a keyboard theme pulsing through the song. A nice bass line and dramatic keyboard chords herald the second part, “No way back”, a basic rock tune, which in fairness probably could have stood as a track on its own. The final part is just called “Reprise”, and it's just that: a retuning of the opening part. “No way back” works, but I think this whole “Sleeping giant” thing is unnecessary, a case of overextending something that did not need to be as long as it was.

A good boppy rocker then in “Alibis”, with bright keyboards and great backing vocals, which is another thing Asia do very well, one of their many strengths. Great solo from Howe here, showing that after almost thirty years he still has it! Nice guitar outro by him to the song, too, then it's another ballad, piano-led and with Wetton in strong voice. “I will remember you” is very good, but basic Asia fare, nothing terribly special. It's followed by a fast rocker, “Shadow of a doubt”, and then we're into the second multi-part composition, “Parallel worlds.”

It starts off with a nice slow guitar intro and a balladic song develops, which last about three minutes and then becomes an instrumental with Steve Howe's guitar leading the way as the pace increases until it suddenly stops and we are treated to three more minutes of guitar, this time Spanish guitar, from Howe, in a piece which makes a viable bid for the best playing on the album. It's emotional, heartfelt and evocative, and closes the piece nicely. This one works as a multi-part, in the same way “Sleeping giant” doesn't, as the other parts are not merely there to bracket and extend the original song. Sheer beauty and class.

Howe pens solo two tracks on the album, the first being the ominous sounding mid-pacer “Wish I'd known all along”, echoing remembrances of Arena's “The day before the war” and “Suspicion” from 1985's “Astra”. Not surprisingly there's a good bit of guitar in the song, but to his credit Howe doesn't build the song around his own instrument, and there's plenty for Downes to do as well. The only song on the album not written by at least one of the band members is, ironically, one of the best tracks on the album.

The rather strangely titled “Ochard of mines” is a truly beautiful little ballad, competing with “Heroine” for ballad of the album, and putting in a fair shout for standout track too. It's gentle, swaying and restrained, with one of Wetton's best vocal performances on the album. Howe's other composition is the rather nice ballad “Over and over”, and the album closes on “An extraordinary life”, a fast-paced but ultimately forgettable track, and not one I would have closed the album on --- how many times do I say that?

So, the verdict. Well, first of all it's Asia, so expect no huge surprises. If you like Asia's music you'll enjoy this album, if you don't then it's unlikely you'll get into it. There's little new or innovative about “Phoenix”, other than the two multi-parters, which Asia have never attempted prior to this. One works, one doesn't, so whether or not we'll see further experiments of this nature in later albums is open to question. There are the usual lush ballads, rockers and some heavier tracks, and as I said, it's the original lineup from “Alpha”, so to many people's minds the “proper” Asia.

I certainly enjoyed it more than I did “Silent nation”, although that album has some very good tracks. The difference is that “Phoenix” has very few, if any, weak tracks, and even the poorer ones are better than some of those on “Silent nation”. But when they're good, the songs are exceptional, which really makes this album a triumphant return for Asia, and validates the title without question.

TRACKLISTING

1. Never again
2. Nothing's forever
3. Heroine
4. Sleeping giant
(i) Sleeping giant
(ii) No way back
(iii) Reprise
5. Alibis
6. I will remember you
7. Shadow of a doubt
8. Parallel worlds
(i) Parallel worlds
(ii) Vortex
(iii) Deya
9. Wish I'd known all along
10. Orchard of mines
11. Over and over
12. An extraordinary life

Suggested further listening: "Asia", "Alpha", "Astra", "Aqua", "Aria", "Arena", "Aura", "Silent nation", "Omega"

I really like the Uriah Heep Track. They are a band that I know virtually nothing about.

Glenn Miller? I have to confess to being a fan. In The Mood, Pennsylvania 65000 and Little Brown Jug are great tracks and I do listen to his music a lot more than I let on.

As for Art Of Noise, they have become an incredibly influential band in Electronica in both sound and production. A very under rated band. If you haven't already heard it (but I reckon you probably have) check out the German band Propaganda and their album Secret Wish. Produced by Trever Horn (Art Of Noise obviously). The opening track is one of the most under rated pieces of Ambient Electronica I have heard and it adheres to a Pop music format. That was the beauty of Trevor Horn.

Random Track of the Day
Wednesday, September 7 2011

Looks like more from those frozen guys from our home planet! Yes, it's Iced Earth again, with a very Iron Maiden-sounding track about those magnificent men in their flying machines. This is taken from their album “The glorious burden”, and it's called "Red Baron/Blue Max".

Red Baron/Blue Max --- Iced Earth --- from “The glorious burden” on SPV
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...iousBurden.jpg


Always a fun thing to write songs about, the two World Wars provide great scope for lyrics. I'm biased of course but I believe the ones who make the best use of this is Iron Maiden, with the likes of “Aces high”, “Tailgunner” and “Where eagles dare”, but Iced Earth do a good job here with the tale of the World War One German flying ace, Manfred Von Richtofen, otherwise known as the Red Baron. Nothing overly special about the song: good heavy rocker, great guitars and the singer sounds very like Bruce Dickinson. You can almost hear the chatter of machine guns as the aces battle it out in the bullet-strewn skies over France....

Jack! My number one (and only!) fan! :D
Thanks for the comment: so good to see someone else's name there, not just mine! I know of Propaganda, yes, but haven't heard much from them. That track is pretty good: the music reminds me very much of Vangelis album "The City". Very ambient.

So you're into Glenn Miller as well? My god man, is there any music you're not interested in? ;) My own thought-to-be eclectic tastes just pale in comparison to yours. But no, I don't want to hear any grindcore, thanks! :)

Did you ever get to review that "Even wolves dream" album I sent you, must be years ago now? Just wondering what you thought of it.

Thanks again and feel free to keep commenting...

Cheers
TH

Symphony of the night --- Nightscape --- 2005 (Lion)
http://www.speed-n-power.com/band/Nightscape/05.jpg

Where do these bands hide?? It's almost impossible to get any information on Nightscape, other than the fact that they're a Swedish melodic rock/metal band and they have two albums, this and their self-titled debut. They have no personal website, no Myspace or Facebook page, and there seems to be very little known about them. And yet, they're a really good band, at least on the strength of this release, who I'd like to hear more from and know more about. Ah, the life of a reviewer is never easy!

So let's dive straight into the album and sample the proof of the pudding, as it were. It opens with “Haunted hill”, a deep synth into which explodes as a thundering metal track, reminiscent of Iron Maiden at their best, circa “The Beast” or “Piece of mind”. The guitar work of Joakim Wiklund is a joy to behold, and the vocals of Simon Ekesson almost sound female they're so high, but there's great strength in his voice. However the real power of Nightscape is in their close harmonies. In a band who play close to thrash metal – though always melodic --- keeping close vocal harmonies in a song is usually not high on the list, but this works to make them seem almost like a metal version of Queen, the masters of this sort of thing. The keyboards of Markus Sundquist really add an extra layer to the music, lifting it out of the realm of a thousand other thrash/speed metal bands and more onto the level of the likes of Balance of Power or Ten. The opener really sets you up for the rest of the album, and it doesn't disappoint.

“Higher than life” blasts at you like it's trying to tear your throat out, as drummer Tyler Volez and bassist Stefan Widmark create the perfect rhythm section, tight as a bank manager and tearing the song along on rails of thunder, while Wiklund rips off solo after solo and Ekesson is clearly audible above the cacophony, and you can make out his vocals no problem, no mean feat against an onslaught like this. The pace doesn't slow down as “Merlin” makes its entrance, keyboard-led and with again great backing vocals. Not any surprise at all that this song is based on the Arthurian legends, and tells the tale of Merlin from the wizard's point of view: ”All he wishes is a life without pain/ Fighting for justice/ Protecting his king.” The song has a truly excellent solo from Sundquist, worthy of the greats of progressive rock.

Most of the tracks on this album are longer than you would expect, in fact six are over five minutes. The next one up is one of the shorter ones. “Across the sky” is a dramatic, powerful song that kicks the speed down just a little, with lots of guitar upfront and some phenomenal drumming from Tyler Volez; another great solo from Wiklund with some top-notch shredding. “Home” is another short track, with an almost Magnum boogie vibe and perhaps stands as the most commercial track on the album, with its singalong melody and hooks that just kick down the doors of your brain and settle down in your favourite easy chair, refusing to leave.

“Rage divine” is an epic rocker, that rattles along like a warhorse charging into battle, while “Curse and damnation” shows off Nightscape's classical leanings, in much the same way as top shredder Yngwie Malmsteen also draws classical influences into his music, and similar to recently-reviewed Adagio. The choral backing vocals reach critical mass in this song, perhaps the best they've sounded all through the album. Great solos on both keyboards and guitars help shape the theme of this song. Halfway through it suddenly slows down, then we're treated to yet another screaming guitar solo before an acapella part precedes the song kicking back into high gear to its powerful conclusion.

The title track closes the album, and it's worth waiting for. A little slower than most of the other tracks but still no ballad --- there are none on this album, these guys don't do slow! After a bit it speeds up and Wiklund's guitar is off again, and indeed it's he who mostly leads this track, the final on the album, though there is a very special keyboard solo from Sundquist, just to let us know he's still there! The album closes as it opened, powerfully and with great melody and fantastic vocals, and establishes itself without question as a true find.

If you've never heard Nightscape before --- and you probably haven't, judging by the level of exposure they seem to have received --- then you need to hear this NOW! Metal heads will love it. Rockers will love it. Those who like their rock or metal with a classical bent will love it. You'll love it.

Trust me, this is a symphony you don't want to miss.

TRACKLISTING

1. Haunted hill
2. Higher than life
3. Merlin
4. Across the sky
5. Home
6. The Serpent King
7. Rage divine
8. Curse and damnation
9. Symphony of the night

http://www.trollheart.com/saloon3.jpg

Inspired by two events, a new section begins. What, another one? Yeah. Shut up.

The first impetus for this idea was thanks to Nice Guy (see his “Music Musings” here http://www.musicbanter.com/members-j...c-musings.html), when he postulated that an album can sound better second or third time around. Now, this is nothing new, but it did put me in mind of the first time I heard Phil Collins' “Face value”, and I hated it. After a while I went back to it, and whereas it's not the best debut album ever, and suffers from some pretty weak songs, I was, on second listen, able to appreciate the album a lot better, and hear tracks I had largely ignored. My problem there was that I had been expecting, naively, a Genesis album, and of course that was not what I got.

The second part of the idea came when I was writing my second entry for “Taking centre stage”, which is to feature Iron Maiden. When listening to the Blaze Bayley-era albums, particularly “Virtual XI”, I tended to discount them, but when reviewing them as part of the new feature I began to realise that one of them at least was nowhere near as bad as I had originally remembered.

And so those two events give birth to “Last Chance Saloon”, in which I will be revisting albums that have not impressed me down the years, listening to them again and deciding whether or not they are as bad as I remember, or whether, with new insight and somewhat fresh ears, I can see (or, more properly, hear) something in them I did not originally.

There's no guarantee my opinion will change of course, and those albums I pick to review (or re-review) which still fail to live up to my expectations will be treated as such, and I will write about how bad they are. But those which convince me I was right to give them a last chance I will admit to being perhaps wrong, or hasty in judging them.

The first album to get into the Last Chance Saloon is as mentioned above, Iron Maiden's “Virtual XI”.

Virtual XI --- Iron Maiden --- 1998 (EMI)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Vitrual_XI.jpg

The last album to feature Blaze Bayley on vocals, this album, like its predecessor, introduced something Iron Maiden had mostly shied from utilising on their albums before, keyboards. There are places where it really works, particularly on second and longest track “The angel and the gambler”. That song is driven almost entirely by keys, as played by Steve Harris, Iron Maiden's founder and bass player, and he does a great job with them, integrating them into the Iron Maiden sound and also managing to create a whole new soundscape previously impossible with just guitars.

Opener “Futureal” is standard Maiden fare, good heavy guitars but you can hear Bayley's voice stretching on the vocals, and you can't help but wonder how Bruce Dickinson would handle such a song. It's not a huge departure from the usual Maiden songs, as mentioned, and the keyboards are minimal if used at all. It's only when “The angel and the gambler” gets going that the keys really take over. Built on a blues organ style opening, with accompanying guitar attack, the track runs for almost ten minutes, a good rocker with the keyboards driving the melody. At least here Bayley sounds better, his voice seeming more comfortable in the lower registers. The song has a great hook, but to be fair it's really overlong at just short of ten minutes, with the last three minutes being nothing more than a repeating of the same line and melody, though the guitars of Janick Gers and Dave Murray do a lot to make it other than just a repetitive exercise.

There's no doubting that the keyboards really work on “Angel”, and add a whole new dimension to the song, and it's on this track that they're most prominent, whereas on “Lightning strikes twice” they're mostly in the background and the familiar guitar sound prevails. It's a decent song, if a little straightforward and not exactly brimming over with originality. The same can't be said, however, of the next one.

“The Clansman” is another epic, indeed the second-longest at just a few seconds under nine minutes. Taking as its subject matter the struggle for Scottish independence, it's of course redolent of “Braveheart”, with the cry “Freedom!” echoing throughout. It starts off slowly, a kind of moody guitar taking up the first three minutes or so, then it gets going in a typical Maiden groove, somewhat reminscent of “Die with your boots on” from “Piece of mind”. Great guitar work from Gers and Murray, and some really fine singing from Blaze. The liner notes say Steve Harris plays keyboards on this, but I have to say I can't hear them. Maybe there, just in the background...

“When two worlds collide” is good rocky fare, and “The educated fool” is more a cruncher, but to be honest neither really stand out the way the better tracks on Maiden albums prior to (and after) this have done. You're not getting the likes of “Tailgunner”, “Run to the hills”, “Judas my guide” or even “Sun and steel” here, that's for sure. Harris does a good job of creating a string section on the keyboards for “Don't look to the eyes of a stranger”, but again they're more ancillary than upfront: the only track they really stand out on is “The angel and the gambler”, and maybe that's a good thing. “Stranger” goes through a few changes, from slow start to outright rocker, with a nice slow guitar buildup halfway to a real tearaway solo as the track hits full speed and careens towards the end. Good inventive drumming from Nicko McBrain on this track too.

The album ends on a tribute to both sides who fought the Falklands War, a nice acoustic guitar opening and some mournful strings on keyboard, then the guitars get going, but it stays fairly mid-paced, I suppose the closest you'll get on this album to a ballad. It's a good closer, with some excellent guitar work and an admirable anti-war theme.

So, was I wrong about this album? Listening back to it now, I have to say no, I wasn't, but perhaps I was a little harsh on it, dismissing it entirely. It has some good tracks on it, although sadly they are in the minority. That's not to say that the other tracks are necessarily bad, just below par for what I would expect from this band. Of course, having suffered through “The X factor” (the album, not the show, though that's almost as much a trial!) I suppose I should have been expecting this. It's no coincidence that once Bruce came back, it was “Brave new world” that blew me away and pulled me firmly back into the Maiden fold, and since then the albums have all been great, if not excellent.

Nothing against Blaze Bayley: he was probably on the spot and trying to fill some huge shoes, like Ray Wilson in Genesis. How could you follow the likes of Gabriel and Collins? You couldn't, and for me (and many thousands/millions of fans) Bruce Dickinson was and is Iron Maiden, so he had no chance really.

But in fairness the blame can't all be laid at Bayley's feet. The songs on this album, and the previous, in general, are not of the high quality we have come to expect, and the band did seem to be getting a little lazy, recycling old ideas and themes. The introduction of keyboards should have added to the sound, but to be honest, apart from that one song, I struggled to hear any real impact from them. Gers is a good guitarist, but I definitely missed Adrian Smith, and in addition to all that, this was the first Iron Maiden album since 1988's “Seventh son of a seventh son” to contain only eight tracks, so you kind of get the feeling of being shortchanged there too.

In conclusion, I would say that although I have a better appreciation for “Virtual XI” now, it's still rated very low on my scale of Maiden albums, and I wouldn't expect to be spinning it at any sort of regular intervals. If I make an Iron Maiden playlist, I would almost certainly include “The angel and the gambler”, “The Clansman” and maybe “Como estais amigos”, but the rest would be left behind, and if I never heard them again I wouldn't be too traumatised.

That's not the mark of a good album, nor even an average one. I would still class this under the heading “Must Try Harder”.

TRACKLISTING

1. Futureal
2. The angel and the gambler
3. Lightning strikes twice
4. The Clansman
5. When two worlds collide
6. The educated fool
7. Don't look to the eyes of a stranger
8. Como estais amigos

Random Track of the Day
Thursday, September 8 2011

A band seemingly hated by a lot of people, but one of my favourite prog metal bands, today's Random Track of the Day comes from Kamelot, from their third album “Siege perilous”, which was the turning point for the band. The two previous albums are woefully inferior to this, and those which followed, mostly due to the often poor performance of vocalist Mark Vanderbilt. Here he is replaced by Roy Khan, and the whole Kamelot sound takes on a completely different dimension.

Rhydin --- Kamelot --- from “Siege perilous” on Noise
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...lous_cover.jpg


As I say, this album is the first to feature the vocal talents of Roy Khan, who would remain with the band through seven albums, right up to 2010 when he left for medical reasons. The singing is crisper, clearer and more passionate than on either of the two previous albums, “Dominion” and “Eternity”, and the writing and whole feel of this album comes across as more together and tighter than previously. The track itself is not one of the better ones on the album, but it's a good rocker nonetheless.

A bit of what you fancy --- Quireboys --- 1990 (EMI)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...atYouFancy.JPG

Everything about these guys screams American southern rock!, but in fact they're from the UK, Newcastle to be precise. But you'll hear no “way-aye” or any other Jimmy Nail-isms: their lead singer sounds like he was born in the Deep South, and like already-reviewed Bonfire, they do a great job of presenting themselves as a US band. The music is certainly southern rock though (well, I guess coming from Newcastle that should read northern rock!), as a casual listen to this, their debut album, will show.

It's down and dirty rock'n'roll from the off, with “7 O'Clock” introducing the album on a raucous, party-atmosphere song, great honky-tonk piano from Chris Johnstone (don't forget the “e”!) and battling guitars from “the two Guys”, Bailey and Griffin. But it's when singer Spike Gray opens his mouth that you're in no doubt this is an American band. Which it isn't.

With a southern drawl and a gravelly quality to his voice that puts you in mind of Axl Rose, he can certainly belt out the songs, and he's a guy who's come to par-tay! “Man on the loose” is another hard rocker, very much in the same vein as the opener, but then comes one of better tracks on the album, the darkly ominous “Whippin' boy”, with its harkback to slavery and Spike warning ”You mean so much to me/ But there ain't no way/ I'm gonna be no whippin' boy!” There's a great vibe to this track, with echoey guitars and dark piano; really takes you back to the days of the Civil War, and references to Dixieland leave you in no doubt that it's a song about the Deep South and the injustices practiced there for over a hundred years.

“Sex party” is a taut, political satire aimed at the excesses within the Republican … nah, just kidding. It's a song about an orgy. As such songs go, it's fun, fast and forgettable, but the next track up, “Sweet Mary Ann”, stays in the mind a lot longer. A country-tinged ballad, it's got more than a touch of classic Bon Jovi in it, and it runs along at a decent pace, sort of more a half-ballad really. The proper ballad is next, “I don't love you anymore” a heartrending realisation that the love is gone, and how hard it hits when you haven't been expecting it.

”She sat there, smokin' all my cigarettes/ At a table set for two/ I could have cried/ When she said/ I don't love you anymore/ I was slain and shown the door/ Ain't no room here anymore.” Powerful lyric helps craft this into a standout ballad, and a good contender for best track on the album. Can't help thinking that Spike sounds like the vocalist from Smokie on this one, though!

“Misled” is a great rocker, enjoyable like just about every track on this album. To be fair, there are no high concepts or intricate ideas on this recording. But what do you expect on what is basically a southern rock-flavoured album? The songs are mostly party songs --- drinkin', rockin', havin' a good time is what these guys are interested in. Great boogie piano on “Misled”, with a deceptively slow lead-in vocal by Spike. “Long time comin'” is almost the same melody, with a sort of fifties intro, built around the idea of being a toy boy: ”Been a long time comin'/ Boy she said/ Finish the job or don't get paid!” and Spike's cheeky assertation at the end ”Any old time/ Is a good time for fun/ But with a rich rich mama/ You get the money and run!”

Yeah, fun with a capital F is the heart of this album. “A bit of what you fancy” is not an album you put on to dissect the quality of the playing, or to think deep thoughts or try to figure out music's place in the scheme of things. Nah, it's an album you rack up when you want to party, or cheer up, or when you have the guys coming around for some beers, the better if they bring some ladies. It's a party album, and you just can't stop your fingers from tapping and your legs from dancing as you listen. These guys must be a blast live!

“Roses and rings” is another semi-ballad with the same sort of country edge that characterises “Sweet Mary Ann”, some nice violin or fiddle in there too. “There she goes again” is a piano boogie, and “Take me home” closes an album that really has no bad tracks. True, many are similar and not too many stand out all that much, but there's a lot to praise this album for.

It's unapologetic southern rock with an English twist, with great musicianship and a clear idea of where the band are, what they want to do and the message they want to get across. That message in particular is simple: have a good time. Listen to this album and you're guaranteed to be able to take that advice.

TRACKLISTING

1. 7 O'Clock
2. Man on the loose
3. Whippin' boy
4. Sweet Mary Ann
5. Sex party
6. I don't love you anymore
7. Hey you
8. Misled
9. Long time comin'
10. Roses and rings
11. Here she comes again
12. Take me home

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Plenty of songs are written on a relatively simple premise: rock all night, I love you, I'm the toughest/fastest/insert boast here, smash the system and so on. There's absolutely nothing wrong with these type of songs, as long as they're written and played well. But it's always gratifying to see a lyricist stretch themselves a little, whether it's to tackle a subject normally not expected, prove or put forward a point, tell a story or just to try to write something different. I'm always happy to see great lyrics in a song --- the lyric is the lifeblood of the song, and no matter how good the melody is (unless it's an instrumental) the words have to make sense, and mean something, for the song to remain in your head long after it's finished.

So this section is dedicated to those songs on which the writer(s) took just that little bit extra care and put that extra bit of thought and effort into their lyric, to create a song that's just a little bit special, perhaps unusual, perhaps even weird, but certainly not ordinary.

The first song I want to present is from German metal band Axxis, whose album “Paradise in flames” I raved over earlier in my journal, and who have cropped up in the Random Track of the Day more than once. This track, however, is from their third album, “The big thrill”, released in 1983, and is called “Waterdrop”.
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...ebigthrill.jpg
Waterdrop (Axxis) from “The big thrill”, 1993.
Music and lyrics by Bernard Weib

It's an unusual subject to tackle, for certain, the more so because it's a heavy metal band recording it, but “Waterdrop” is really special. A lovely gentle acoustic guitar introduces the song, backed by lush keyboards, with very little percussion and a very laid-back vocal by Bernard Weib. The song is written from the point of view of, yes you guessed it, a drop of water, telling its journey from sky to river to sea, carrying with it “the elixir of life”. It's a lovely little song, quite unexpected as I say on a metal album, but proving what we metal fans already know, that some of the best ballads have been written by rock and metal bands.

The full lyric is below, and this is the song itself.


I am just a waterdrop
Fatefully I cannot stop my fall down to earth.
Like a tear from heaven sent
I don't know where my way will end
I just fly in the unknown deep
in the unknown deep.

Alone I'm weak and innocent
And yet I'm strong by my million friends
I'm one with the violence of the pouring rain.

In a raging river,
In a churning ocean,
I'm the flowing blood of the world - the elixir of life.

In a raging river,
In a churning ocean,
I'm the origin of life - I will survive,
I will survive.

I am just a waterdrop:
I'm so weak - I cannot stop my fall down to earth.
I'm formed to rain, clouds, ice and snow
Creating seasons - I let the nature grow
let the nature grow.

When I rain down the wasteland
Green grass is growing in dry sand
I'm indispensable - the elixir of life.

In a raging river,
In a churning ocean,
I'm the flowing blood of the world - the elixir of life.

In a raging river.
In a churning ocean.
I'm the origin of life - I will survive.
I will survive.
I will survive.

Grace --- Jeff Buckley --- 1994 (Columbia)
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...kley_grace.jpg

Lauded as one of the greatest songwriters of his generation by a whole host of stars, including Jimmy Page and David Bowie, Jeff Buckley released only one studio album before his untimely and accidental death in 1997. It has been cited by many of his contemporaries as one of their favourite, and has become a real influence on some upcoming musicians. I have to admit, I'm not a longtime fan or anything, and this is my first listen to the album that is considered one of those you really should hear before you die. So let's hear it.

I really don't get the opener, “Mojo pin”. It starts off almost imperceptibly, so quiet for the first few seconds that I had to look to see was anything happening with my media player. When it does get going it's a little confused, though the guitar is nice, and I have to say that it didn't make the impression upon me that I had expected it to. The title track is next, and is better, more cohesive, kind of reminds me of Nick Cave in some respects. Buckley was certainly a talented musician: here he not only plays guitar and sings, but also plays organ, harmonium, dulcimer and tabla.

Some nice slide guitar introduces “Last goodbye”, and it's a nice mid-paced song, good percussion. The guitar shapes most of the songs on this album though, and there's some good playing here. His vocal is clearer here, more distinct and you can actually hear what he's singing, unlike the previous two tracks. Nice organ work too. This is one of three tracks on the album written by Buckley alone, while he collaborates on four more.

His version of “Lilac wine” is soulful and personal, and although I've only ever heard till now Elkie Brooks' version, this is apparently based on a recording made by Nina Simone, and it's very stripped-down, whereas Elkie Brooks had a full orchestra behind her for her version, there are strings on the chorus here, but mostly just the acoustic guitar. I personally find Elkie's version more powerful and dramatic, whereas Buckley's is introspective, somewhat lonely, perhaps better suiting the theme of the lyric.

When you actually get to hear him, Jeff Buckley had a voice that could quite easily be mistaken for that of a woman. It's quite high, and the inflections seem female, especially on “So real”, with its sparse guitar line and minimal percussion, its beat verging on a semi-reggae rhythm. But of course it's the next track that he's best remembered for, and there's nothing negative you can say about his version of Leonard Cohen's “Hallelujah”, which has become almost the standard for the song.

As a classic song, it's achingly beautiful, with its tender yet angry lyric, its simple melody and above it all the voice of Buckley soaring like a (sometimes avenging) angel. It's been copied, covered, and in some cases ruined (X-Factor, I'm looking your way!), but never bettered. Most people who know the song will admit this is their favourite version, even if they've heard the original. It could wring tears from a stone.

There's no point in saying which is the standout track, as there is absolutely no competition, but a good contender for second place is another of his solo-penned efforts, the blues ballad “Lover, you should've come over”, where he really gets to let loose. Great organ work paints a melancholy landscape to this song, while the ever-present guitar strums away. His version of Benjamin Britten's “Corpus Christi carol” is quite amazing, where he hits the sort of registers usually reserved for the likes of Aled Jones at Christmas! It's quite literally breathtaking, and on an album with a title like “Grace” it's extremely fitting. It's followed by the rockiest of the tracks, another Buckley original, called “Eternal life”, and you can definitely see the Led Zeppelin influence on this, but I find it a little jarring, especially after the sublimity of the last three tracks.

The album closes on “Dream brother”, a sort of eastern-sounding track that starts slow but builds up, with the addition of the Appalachian dulcimer giving the song a very arabic or oriental feeling. It's a good closer, but I'm left wondering what the fuss about this album is?

There are good tracks on this, certainly, some very good, but I would not in any way rate it as a classic. Maybe it's more a musican's album; you have to understand the playing and the techniques to properly appreciate it? That's the only excuse I can come up with for my kind of non-appreciation (or at least, non-adoration) of this, Jeff Buckley's only studio album. It's good, but for me, it's no classic.

TRACKLISTING

1. Mojo pin
2. Grace
3. Last goodbye
4. Lilac wine
5. So real
6. Hallelujah
7. Lover, you should've come over
8. Corpus Christi carol
9. Eternal life
10. Dream brother

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Time for another dip into my theme selections. This time I'm looking at songs that all have to do with eyes, whether the word is in the title, or whether they're about somone's eyes, seeing or being blind. Opens up the scope a little, certainly, but let's see what we come up with.

First off, here's Billy Idol, with one of his better songs, “Eyes without a face”.


Rockwell next, with what I think may have been his only hit, the rather cool and funky “Somebody's watching me”.


My favourite version of this comes from Christine McVie's album “The legendary Christine Perfect album”, but as expected that's impossible to find on YT, so let's give Beyonce a chance and see how she does with the classic “I would rather go blind”. Hey, how white is she these days, anyway? ;)


Another great classic, from England Dan and John Ford Coley, with “I'd really love to see you”.


One of the heavier Rainbow tracks now, and a great performance from Graham Bonnet, on “The eyes of the world”.


Go on, why not? “Eye of the tiger”, the song that put Survivor on the map (and wiped them from commercial history!)


The multi-talented Elton John, with a lovely little ballad, “Blue eyes”.


Right back to 1977 now, for a duet between two legends. James Taylor and Carly Simon, with “Close your eyes”.


Skip the first minute if you want to avoid the intro, which is in German or somesuch language. This is Ireland's own 1993 Eurovision entrant, Niamh Kavanagh, with “In your eyes”.


And to finish up, a great, great rock legend, Deep Purple with “When a blind man cries”.


That's it for this selection. If anyone would like to suggest a theme for me to feature, just drop me a line or a comment, and I'll see what I can do.

Random Track of the Day
Friday, September 9 2011

Interesting track today. From prog/fusion band The Tangent, this will probably hit a chord with fans of the Flower Kings, as members of that band were involved. It's from the album released in 2003 called “The music that died alone”. This is in fact from the title track, but as it's a long piece (the album's actually made up of four long tracks, each broken into smaller tracks) my Random-o-meter just caught this part. It's the third movement of four in the title track.

Pre-history --- The Tangent --- from “The music that died alone” on InsideOut
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedi...Died_Alone.jpg


The title track is probably the best on the album, and this is part 3, or the third movement, of that, going under the name of “Pre-history”. This part is purely instrumental, and very jazz/fusion with elements of prog rock in it. Lots of piano and very Santana-like guitar. Lots of good organ too.

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Ever wanted to find out about a band or artiste, but lacked the time --- or inclination, or money ---- to listen to all their albums, or click every video of them on YouTube? Here's where my “Beginner's Guide” may come in handy. Although my other section, “Taking centre stage”, goes deeply into an artiste and talks a lot about them, how they started, their successes and failures, lists their albums and showcases some of their work, they're a little detailed for someone just wondering if they'd be into this artiste.

So this is hopefully a quicker, snappier way of making that decision. I'll choose an artiste, write a little about them and post what I consider to be their best (and perhaps worst) output. That way you can get a feel for them, see if they may be worth checking out, or if you should probably steer clear of them after all. Needless to say, these will all be artistes I am myself into, and ones I know about and can feel somewhat qualified talking about.
Threshold
So our first Beginner's Guide is to Threshold, whom a lot of you may not know. They're an English prog rock band who have been going for over thirty years now, and have released, to date (2011) nine albums, as well as four live ones and a video. The current lineup of the band is as follows:

Andrew “Mac” MacDermott --- vocals (see note 1)
Karl Groom --- lead guitar
Richard West --- keyboards
Johanne James --- drums (see note 2)
Steve Anderson --- bass (see note 3)
Nick Midson --- guitar (see note 4)

After three decades of recording, Threshold have gone through some staff changes over the years, including some who have left and come back, as explained in the notes below, but here we're just concentrating on the current incarnation. As I introduce each album below, I will note any changes in membership.

Note 1: MacDermott is the current vocalist, but prior to 1998's “Clone”, his duties were performed by Damian Wilson, who was there at the inception of the band. He sang on both debut “Wounded land” and “Extinct instinct”, their third album, with vocals on the second one, “Psychedelicatessen”, being handled by Glyn Morgan.

Note 2: Johann James plays drums for Threshold now, but has only been with them since the fifth album, “Hypothetical”. Prior to that, there have been a succession of occupants of the drumstool, including Tony Grinham, Nick Harradence and Mark Heaney.

Note 3: Although Steve Anderson is the current bassist, he has only been with Threshold since the last-but-one album, “Subsurface”. Before that, bass duties were carried out by Jon Jeary.

Note 4: Midson left after “Subsurface”, and Groom became the sole guitarist in the band.
Wounded land (1993)
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Threshold's first album, “Wounded land”, was released in 1993. For a debut it's quite incredible, with only nine tracks but no duds. Two of the tracks are over ten minutes long, the best of these being the amazing “Surface to air”, and then there's the gorgeous little two-and-a-half-minute ballad, “Keep it with mine”. Being the debut album, “Wounded land” features original vocalist Damian Wilson, drummer Tony Grinham and bass player Jon Jeary.

The first track I want to feature from this wonderful album is the already-mentioned “Surface to air”. Over ten minutes long, it's a real tour-de-force, starting off like a ballad, almost Rushesque, with powerful string section on synth. Ninety seconds in it explodes into a full-blown rocker, very epic and dramatic, great guitars from Groom and Midson. Halfway through it gets very bluesy, with some great solos, then picks up again for a boppy, prog-rock ending.


The other extreme then is the shortest track, a ballad with no intricate sections, no convoluted playing, nothing but the acoustic guitar and synth backing. “Keep it with mine” still stands, even after all these years and nine albums, as one of my favourite Threshold tracks.

Psychedelicatessen (1994)
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Only a year later and Threshold were back, with “Psychedelicatessen” (cool title!), which while no “Wounded land”, has some great tracks on it. I've chosen “A tension of souls” as a real example of how heavy and powerful Threshold can get (sorry about the anime video!).



The other example is another heavy song, the closer, “Devoted”. Vocals are different on this album, as it's Glyn Morgan doing the singing. In addition, the drummer is Nick Harradence.



Extinct instinct (1997)
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That takes us three years into the future, and they released “Extinct instinct”, their longest ever album, with twelve tracks, clocking in at just over sixty-seven minutes in total. There are loads of good tracks to choose from, but I've gone for the heavy, almost doom metal “Lake of despond”



and the acoustic ballad closer, “Mansion”.



A return to vocal duties for Damian Wilson, with Mark Heaney occupying the drumstool.

Clone (1998)
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Only a year later, again, and 1998 saw the emergence of Threshold's current vocalist, Andrew “Mac” MacDonald, for their fourth album, the brilliant “Clone”. I've purposely restricted myself to two tracks per album in this section, and it's just as well, as to be fair I could feature the whole thing, it's that good! But which to choose? Well, without question, one of my favourite Threshold songs of all time, the closer “Sunrise on Mars” has to be one of them,


and I'll go for, let me, see... hmm. Ok, well let's try the powerful “Goodbye mother Earth”.



Phew! Okay, that's that decision made! Take my word though, and seek out the whole album. It really is worth it.

Hypothetical (2001)
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Another three years then to the next Threshold album, but wow, was it worth waiting for! After the opus that was “Clone”, they were going to have a lot to live up to. And they did. “Hypothetical” is a great, great album, and again it's really hard to choose just two tracks to represent it, but choose I must. So I'm going for “Keep my head”, a ballad



and another of my favourites, and definitely my favourite on the album, the ten-minute epic “Narcissus”.



Again though, check out the full album if you can.

Oh yeah, this album marked the end of drummer Mark Heaney's tenure on the stool, and he was replaced by Johanne James, as the true lineup of Threshold began to coalesce.

Critical mass (2002)
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Threhold seem to go on a basis of an album this year, another next year, and then next three years later, and this is borne out with the release of “Critical mass”, which hit the shelves in 2002, one year after “Hypothetical”. This album marks the last contribution of bassist Jon Jeary. He would be replaced on the next album by Steve Anderson, who then completes the current lineup.

From this album I've chosen the heavy opener, “Phenomenon”



and the thirteen-minute closing title track.




Subsurface (2004)
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2004's “Subsurface” breaks the chain, being released only two years after “Critical mass”, and I have reviewed it extensively, so I'll just say it's one of Threshold's best albums, and here I'll feature tracks that are not included in the review. Bass player Steve Anderson joins up, to give us the lineup we have today.

Starting off then with “Opium”



and ending with “Pressure”,



but if this interests you do go back and read the full review of “Subsurface”.

Dead reckoning (2007)
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And that brings us to the latest album, 2007's “Dead reckoning”, which re-establishes the practice of leaving three years between albums. The only lineup change for this album was that longtime rhythm guitarist Nick Midson left, so that Karl Groom took over all guitar duties.

From this album I'm featuring “Hollow”



and the excellent “Safe to fly”.



So that's your introduction to Threshold. I hope it's been of use to you, and may encourage one or two of you to seek out the albums, or at least some of them. Threshold are something of an underrated band, but they don't deserve to be. They have a new album scheduled for release next year, and I for one can't wait.

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Everyone knows what an earworm is, right? Well, just in case, let me explain. Ever heard someone whistle a tune, hum a song or even tap out the rhythm of a popular well-known song, and then realise you're humming/singing it yourself? That's an earworm: a song that when you hear it ends up being lodged in your brain for a while. Sometimes even the title of the song can do it.

I'm going to start posting a daily earworm, just for the sheer fun of it. The section opens with Huey Lewis and the News, and one of his best and most well-known hits from the eighties, “If this is it”. Try not to hum this to yourself for the next half hour! :D



The Worm will be back tomorrow. There is no escape! Bwah-haa-haa-haaaaa!
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Emotional creatures, part one --- Steve Thorne --- 2005 (Giant Electric Pea)
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Steve who? Well, you may not know him, but Steve Thorne has worked with the likes of Jadis, Colony Earth and The Salamander Project, and has the musical clout to be able to call on the talents of people like Nick D'Virgilio, Geoff Downes, Gary Chandler and John Jowitt from Jadis, Tony Levin and Martin Orford for his project, “Emotional creatures”. He himself is a multi-instrumentalist and a great songwriter.

The album kicks off with “Here they come!”, a short instrumental with a nursery-rhyme/musical box opening that soon warps into something altogether different and more ominous, with a marching beat and spacy synth, then it's on to “God bless America”, an acoustic offering which is either heavily sarcastic and satirical, or a totally poe-faced nationalist anthem. I suspect the former, especially in the lyric ”England laps like a dog”. Some nice flute in there, leads into “Well outta that”, a mid-paced rocker about leaving the rat race behind, with again some nice acoustic guitar and warbling keyboards, as well as some lovely mandolin from Arnie Cottrell. A powerful, dramatic ending with what sounds like marimba or vibraphone and some really nice strings.

“Ten years” comes in on a nice atmospheric opening, very pastoral, reminiscent of very early Genesis, with Nick D'Virgilio from Spock's Beard behind the drumkit. Elements of Porcupine Tree in there too, and it ends with, of all things, what sounds like a child singing into the fade. Geoff Downes gets in on the act for “Last line”, again carried on acoustic guitar but with some pretty angry, even manic vocals from Thorne. As you might expect with Mr Downes involved, there's an extended keyboard solo, and very good it is too, though you kind of get the idea that it was only written in due to his being on the track. Still, it's good to hear him on the Hammond.

The last track to feature D'Virgilio is “Julia”, a nice little ballad which becomes a bit more frenetic and harder as it goes on, while the longest track on the album, “Therapy”, is a catchy, almost poppy song with a very memorable melody. Probably would choose this as the standout track. So far. “Every second counts” is very Porcupine Tree, with spoken commentary over an instrumental passage, while “Tumbleweed” is another pastoral acoustic ballad, very Jethro Tull, with the reappearance of mandolin and flute.

Penultimate track “Gone” features Jadis' Gary Chandler on guitar, adding a real sense of hard rock to the album, and good keyboards too, but the song is mostly built on the fretless bass playing of John Jowitt, he also of Jadis. The song lyric follows the actions of a school shooter who finds a gun and ”Took it into school and hey/ Girls and boys were blown away.” Chandler lets loose with a fine solo in this, perhaps the heaviest and also the most hard-hitting and topical song on the album. Another contender for top track.

The album ends on another acoustic ballad, the aptly-titled “Goodbye”, with some very effective backing vocals, lush keys and Classical guitar to create a fitting finale.

So that's “Emotional creatures, part one”. An eclectic mix of styles, themes, and arrangements, to be sure. Quirky to the max, definitely different. Whether you'll enjoy it I suppose depends on your attitude approaching the album, but one thing is for sure: it won't bore you, and you're likely as not to come away with a certain feeling of having experienced something totally new and apart from anything you've listened to before. At least, that's the impression this album made on me.

And don't worry, I will be reviewing “Emotional creatures, part two” at a later date.

TRACKLISTING

1. Here they come!
2. God bless America
3. Well outta that
4. Ten years
5. Last line
6. Julia
7. Therapy
8. Every second counts
9. Tumbleweeds
10. Gone
11. Goodbye

Random Track of the Day
Saturday, September 10 2011

More German metal for the weekend! Not Axxis this time, but Primal Fear, who have some really good albums. This is from one of them, 2005's “Seven seals” Good rockin' track called “The immortal ones”.

The immortal ones --- Primal Fear --- from “Seven seals” on Nuclear Blast
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Okay, it's not going to win any prizes for originality or subtlety, but then, this is heavy metal we're talking about, and German heavy metal at that. What you see is what you get, and whatever your expectations of such a band, you're likely to be right.

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Ten Years Later...

I thought long and hard before deciding to do this, but as the tenth anniversary occurs of the worst and most devastating attack on American soil, and television channels bombard us with stories, documentaries, dramas and programmes of all types remembering the 9/11 attacks, I felt I really needed to make some sort of contribution.

Anyone who knows me is aware of my views on American foreign policy, but I didn't want this feature to be coloured by my own political beliefs. In fact, in order to be totally true to the spirit of pure remembrance and tribute, I decided not to feature any political songs at all. I also stayed away from any puns --- intended or not --- or, as far as I could, empty cliches.

As the towers fell and the smoke blotted out the New York city skyline, and people panicked and news channels hosted “Breaking News” banners all day which told stories we found hard to comprehend, or believe were happening, events moved on very quickly. From the Iraq and Afghanistan invasions and then wars, the poltical jockeying and in-fighting, the terrorist rhetoric and the widening effect September 11 had on the world, both on the markets and on people's thinking, it soon became easy, in a way, to forget those horrible, heart-wrenching scenes of people desperately walking around near Ground Zero (as it came to be known), clutching faded photographs and plaintively asking if anyone had seen their loved ones. In the huge whirlwind of world events that took over, it became easy to forget the human face of this tragedy.

But as the world moved on, many people had not that luxury. On September 12, over three thousand families awoke to the awful, numbing realisation that they would never see their loved ones again. They had to live with that now, and there was nothing presidents, political commentators, newscasters or bloggers could do about their loss. They were, to a very great extent, on their own, and as time moved on, in many ways, they faded into the background, the forgotten and overlooked casualties of a war that was only just beginning, but may never end.

So in order to try to speak to those dispossessed I offer this tribute. More than likely, it will not be read by anyone who might benefit, even in a small way, from it, and even more likely it will be seen as an empty gesture, but I hope not. If only one person reads this who has been affected by the events of 9/11, and it helps them, even a little bit, then it will have been worth it. I don't expect that will happen, but it's worth trying for, and it's worth doing, just for the slim hope that it may ease someone's troubled heart.

In the end, I decided the best way to approach this was to divide it into two separate sections. The first deals with songs of loss, remembrance, sorrow. It's not meant to upset anyone (though of course it may), but to underline and perhaps tap in to the feelings that invariably accompany a loss of this magnitude. The second section presents songs of hope, joy, celebration, with more than a few songs about the city in which this attack took place. So the hope is that the reader might start off melancholy, remembering their lost loved one(s), but then be cheered by the happier, more positive songs.

I've gone to great lengths to keep any sort of politics out of this feature. There is nothing about Islam, nothing about GW Bush, nothing about Iraq or Afghanistan. Some of the lyrics in some of the songs may not exactly reflect the theme here (Gary Moore's “As the years go passing by” would be a good example), but taken on their own merits they can be shaped to fit the general mood, so if anyone is upset at the choice of a song or songs, please understand that it is more the title and spirit of the songs, in some cases, that I want to get across, rather than the actual lyrics.

With that in mind, here is the first section, the sad, reflective part, with songs I think, and hope, will fit the mood.

Part I: Reflection, Loss and Memories

Of all the songs on Bruce Springsteen's 9/11-inspired album “The Rising”, I believe this is the most appropriate for this section. Its lyric fits the theme, and I believe he has managed to capture the sense of shock, loss and disbelief that greeted too many people in the days after the attack. It's a sad, contemplative little ballad, simply called “Your're missing”.


Although written about the Indonesian Tsuanami of 2004, the mood and theme, and indeed the title seem to fit the sense of loss engendered by 9/11. It's a haunting, primarily piano-driven heartfetl ballad from prog rockers Mostly Autumn, from their “Storms over still water” album, and it's called “Carpe diem”.


It's a tiny little three-letter word, but Annie Lennox sings the question most people would have been asking on that fateful day.


And here she is again, this time with Dave Stewart in her band the Eurythmics, from the album “We too are one”, in itself a statement of hope and togetherness and support. Another ballad, with some very powerful lyrics, the closer from the album, it's called “When the day goes down”.


Sometimes the most effective lyric or theme is the simplest, and REM certainly make that point here, with the superlative “Everybody hurts”.


One of Chris Rea's most beautiful and yet angry ballads, from the album “The road to Hell”, and “Tell me there's a Heaven”.


Another simple idea that everyone can identify with, whether they lost someone or just sympathise with those who did. Asia, from the album “Aura”, and “I will remember you”.


One of the enduring traits of New Yorkers is their stoicism and their courage, this desire to go about their daily business, even after such a tragedy. The idea that no-one will stop us or scare us into hiding runs through this, one of the last Queen songs with the late Freddie Mercury, and though “The show must go on” was written in reference to his fatal illness, it could as easily be applied to the daily lives of those who must struggle on without wives, husbands, brothers or sisters at their side.


More simple sentiments from a simple man who always writes a great tune. Bob Seger, from the album “The fire inside”, this is a lovely little country-tinged ballad entitled “Always in my heart”.


You can't beat a classic. The perennial song of help and support from Simon and Garfunkel, over forty years old now, still has the power to move and soothe a troubled heart.


A song of reflection and struggle through the night, the Alan Parsons Project from the album “Vulture culture”, some very telling and poignant lyrics in “The same old sun”.


A blues song by a man who himself recently left us, the great Gary Moore and a great ballad, “As the years go passing by”, from his album “Still got the blues”.


A short but powerful little ballad from Prefab Sprout, from their hugely succesful “Jordan: the comeback” album, and a song with a sentiment we would perhaps all do well to heed.


Shadow Gallery do some really nice ballads, but for the purposes of this section I think this is the most appropriate. From the album “Room V”, this is “Comfort me”.


One of my favourite ballads ever, Sarah MacLachlan's beautiful, ethereal “Angel”.


The sentiments expressed by Linda Ronstadt in “Shattered” speak for themselves...


From Heart's “Brigade”, the title says it all: “Cruel nights”.


Another of my favourite ballads, and sung by a man who knows how to sing them.



Part II: Recovery, Hope, Determination and Survival

Bon Jovi, in addition to being New Jersey's favourite sons (sharing that distinction with Mrs. Springsteen's boy) always know how to write a song that lifts the heart and puts hope back where it may have been lost. “Bells of freedom”, from their album “Have a nice day”, is no exception.


And New Jersey's other most famous and proud musical export does the business here, throwing a fist of defiance into the ash-choked New York skyline and declaring that terrorism will never triumph. Title track from the album “The Rising”.


Dedicated (as far as I'm concerned, for the purposes of this feature) to the brave firefighters of the NYFD who risked --- and in some cases, sacrificed --- life and limb to try to rescue people on that fateful day.


Who isn't in a New York state of mind, from time to time?


Appropriately hopeful and triumphant song from Robbie Williams, from the album “I've been expecting you”, this is “Phoenix from the flames”.


And what sentiment could be more simple, or more welcome? The Eagles, from “One of these nights”, and “I wish you peace”.


U2's anthemic cry for unity, this is of course “One”.


A song of hope, tolerance and kindness, even in the midst of war and distrust.


More simple but very important sentiments, from Bill Withers, with a universal anthem, “Lean on me”.


A song that's been covered many times, but this is my favourite, Josh Groban with “You raise me up”.



With a World War I theme, Bryan Adams' “Remembrance Day” can still fit into our theme here, with its hope for universal peace. Maybe someday.


Possibly one of the feelgood, never-say-die songs ever written. This is the original and best, from Journey.


May not be an obvious choice, but Chumbawumba's drinking anthem qualifies, I believe, for its repeated assertation “I get knocked down, but I get up again.” Plus it's good fun.


The Adventures, from the album “The Sea of love”, with a promise: you don't have to cry anymore.


One of several songs referencing New York, this is A-Ha, with “Manhattan skyline”.


Bon Jovi again, with the gloriously upbeat and fun song “I love this town”.


Truer words have never been uttered. Yes, from the album “Union”.


If we all took Diana Ross's advice once in a while, maybe the world would be a better place.


Something we all hope to see in our lifetime, or can at least dream about: a time when horrific acts like 9/11 remain where they belong, in the dark annals of history.


Of course, we couldn't leave out THE New York song of songs! Here's the Chairman.


So that's my little contribution to the tenth anniversary of 9/11. In the grand scheme of things it will of course go completely unnoticed and unremarked upon, but I wanted to do something, even if it was small and insignificant, to mark the occasion and maybe, if it helps just one person for even a few minutes, in some very small way this could help make a difference.

2112 --- Rush --- 1976 (Anthem)
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Definitely one of my favourite Rush albums, and acknowledged as such by fans and critics alike, 2112 is half of a concept album, in that the first side of the LP (or the first seven tracks on the CD) covers one long song, broken into seven parts, all of which relate to the other and tell a story, this being the massive title track. It's generally a science-fiction story, set in the year 2112, of course, where all life and freedom on Earth is controlled by shadowy figures known as the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx. These self-styled leaders determine what is, and is not, considered suitable for public consumption, this extending to entertainment such as books, films and music.

The album opens with the overture, just like a classic symphony, an instrumental based on the heavy rock stylings of Rush, after which vocalist and bassist Geddy Lee sings ”And the meek shall inherit the Earth”, rather a satirical comment as the Priests are nothing like meek, forcing the people to conform and obey their edicts. “The Temples of Syrinx” is another rocker, essentially the Priests introducing themselves to the audience, with great guitar from Alex Lifeson and pounding drums from Neil Peart, who also wrote all the lyrics. Part 3 is entitled “Discovery”, and starts with what sounds like someone unfamiliar with the instrument trying to tune a guitar.

This works very well into the storyline, as in it the hero discovers a guitar, and is amazed by its simplicty of design and the music it is capable of making. Geddy sings ”What can this strange device be/ When I touch it, it gives forth a sound?/ It's got wires that vibrate/ And make music/ What can this thing be that I've found?” As the hero explores the guitar and learns to play it he is captivated by it, and takes it to the Temple to present it to the Priests, leading to the fourth part, “Presentation”. The hero believes that an instrument such as this, which will allow people to play their own music, will be welcomed by the dictatorial guardians of the Temple, but its individuality and its promise of allowing people to express themselves angers the Priests, and they cast him out.

A great solo from Lifeson then, takes us into part five, “Oracle: the dream”, a gentle, spacey synth melody as the hero wander dejectedly back to his home, which then kicks into a heavy passage as he sees visions of the past, the war that almost destroyed the galaxy,and this leads to part six, “Solilioquy”, a gentle guitar introduction that then again explodes into a heavy guitar track as the hero finds he can no longer live in this cold, controlled world, and takes his own life.

Part seven, “Grand finale”, is a revisit of the overture, with rocky guitar, wailing synth and thumping drums to take the piece to its powerful and dramatic conclusion. At the end a voice on a tannoy announces “We have assumed control!” leaving you to believe that the reign of the Priests of the Temples of Syrinx may be at an end.

So that's “2112”, the track, all twenty minutes of it. Against that, it's hard to get too excited about the rest of the tracks, as they're going to have a lot to live up to. “A passage to Bangkok” does not manage it. It's a rocky upbeat number, great guitar as ever from Lifeson, but seems a little ordinary after the opus just experienced, which is why I believe Rush would have been better advised to have had the title track as the closer, or for those old enough to remember and understand, on side two.

“The twilight zone” alternates between striding, strutting blues and contemplative guitar, while “Lessons” has nice jangly guitar and a boppy beat, but it's “Tears” that really makes you sit up and take notice. A beautiful and fragile ballad, with lush strings, acoustic guitar and some mournful flute, it's the only ballad on the album, but the better for it. Apart from the title track --- which is hard to ignore when considering top track --- this gets my vote for best track on the album. Closer “Something for nothing” is another fast rocker, good but not great.

There's no doubting this is a classic Rush album. The trap they seem to have fallen into is the old “top that” syndrome: with a track --- piece, composition, whatever --- of the calibre of “2112”, it was always going to be hard to match it, and in general the other tracks on the album, “Tears” aside, stand as more or less filler when compared to “2112”. They would be good on another album, but here they're blocked by the massive shadow cast by the title composition. A victim in some ways of its own excesses, “2112” is nevertheless an album you should make it your business to hear.

TRACKLISTING

1. 2112
(i) Overture
(ii) The Temples of Syrinx
(iii) Discovery
(iv) Presentation
(v) Oracle: the dream
(vi) Soliloquy
(vii) Grand finale
2. A passage to Bangkok
3. The twilight zone
4. Lessons
5. Tears
6. Something for nothing

Suggested further listening: “Caress of steel”, “Hemispheres”, “A farewell to kings”

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What has the worm got in store for us today, I hear you ask? Well, if I were to sing “I want my MTV” in a high falsetto voice, would that be a clue? Yes, it's Dire Straits, and one of their biggest ever singles, “Money for nothing”, from their last album “Brothers in arms”.


Take the time to look at the video. Although it seems pathetic by today's standards, and your five-year-old could probably do better with an iPad, at the time this was considered cutting edge, and we marvelled at the “amazing” computer animation --- look, their mouths move in sequence with the singing! Wow! I believe it may also have been one of the first, if not the first music video to be totally computer animated (even the stage performances, though live-action, are part of the animation, as the two characters are watching them on a cartoon TV), and caused quite a stir on its release.

With backing vocals from Sting (he sings the “I want my MTV” part), the song was quite controversial in featuring a word like “f@ggot”, and yet getting to number one. Wouldn't happen today! It's also really clever in that it's Dire Straits (well, Mark Knopfler) lampooning their own success, taking the role of deliverymen and installers who bitch about the high-flying rock star life as compared to their own, thoughts many people no doubt have had about Dire Straits: some would definitely agree that they earn their “money for nothing”.

Random Track of the Day
Sunday, September 11 2011

Perhaps appropriate for the day that's in it, today's Random Track of the Day comes from another of my favourite bands, indeed, a band who have kicked off the “Beginner's Guide to” section just a few days ago, Threshold. This is not actually taken from any of their albums, as it were, appearing only on the Japanese issue of “Psychedelicatessen”, but included on what would become the first of four fan-released albums containing remixes, radio edits and acoustic versions of hard-to-get songs. This first one is called “Decadent”, and was released in 1999.

Lost --- Threshold --- from “Decadent”
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“Lost” is a lovely little partly-acoustic ballad, very laid-back and soothing, with some really nice keyboards as ever from Richard West. It's worth seeking out “Decadent” for just this track, though it has some great stuff on it. Hard to get your hands on, though....

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Another new section, in which I'll be posting some of my favourite or most memorable themes from TV shows. Everything from the sixties to today. May bring back some memories...

First, my favourite TV theme from my favourite TV show of all time, BBC's classic “The Onedin line”. Actually a classical piece from a ballet by Aram Khachaturian called “Spartacus”, this is the Adagio from it, but it has been and will forever be identified with this show.

Unfortunately, and quite amazingly to me, I've had a lot of trouble tracking down the original that accompanied the series --- everyone seems to have uploaded an orchestral rearrangement, which I don't like. So this is the closest I could get to the one I remember.



Another great orchestral piece, from a show I used to love as a kid. Theme from “Black Beauty”.


You've probably seen this on Sky in its current reincarnation (and it's darn good yes) but this is the original and best theme to “Hawaii Five-O”. Book 'im, Dano! :)


This theme just screams brawn and power, and cool fast cars with big guns to boot! It's “The Professionals”!


And speaking of big guns, here's another of my favourite Saturday shows as a kid, despite how silly it all was, we loved “The A-Team”.


Ominous and full of threatening power, I loved the theme to Terry Nation's “Blake's 7”. Specially the bit at the end with the synth!


Who didn't love “Minder”?


Another classic, with a theme that should never have fit the type of show it was, but has become forever synonymous with “Hill Street Blues”.


One of the greatest dramas ever written, with a powerful theme tune. “The West Wing”.


Ramp it up for Buffy!


Yeah, those are the sort of programmes I used to watch (and still do, some of them) on the ol' goggle-box. Hope you enjoyed them. More some other time...

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Today the worm brings us a song you either love or hate, but that you can't have failed to have heard at some point. I'm firmly in the “love” bracket, though I haven't heard anything else by Snow Patrol that I've liked, to date. This is of course their biggest selling single, from “Eyes open”, it's “Chasing cars.”

Random Track of the Day
Monday, September 12 2011

Nothing like starting off the week with a good slice of heavy metal! Today's Random Track of the Day comes from Anubis Gate, a metal outfit from Denmark, from their third album, “Andromeda unchained”, this is “Resurrection time”.

Resurrection time --- Anubis Gate --- from “Andromeda unchained” on Locomotive
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This is the first time I've heard these guys, and though most times metal bands from the “top of the world” tend to be black, doom, death or goth, Anubis Gate seem more in the area of what I would term “proper” or perhaps “classic” heavy metal, with the likes of Maiden, Helloween, Queensryche and so on. Good song, good band. Must check further into this album.

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Dear oh DEAR oh dear! Who in their right mind thought this was ever a good idea? Three ladies, unknown before (and after) this, to me at any rate, covering one of the seminal classic rock songs of the seventies, and one of the greatest and most recognisable songs ever. Taking on Blue Oyster Cult's opus “Don't fear the Reaper” would be a big enough task on its own, but when the Alice Band tried to make it all smoulderingly sexy and dangerous ---- yeah, just didn't work.

First, there's the total absence of the signature opening guitar riff. When that's missing, you know things aren't going to go well. Then there's the style it's sung in, sort of cross between pop and folk, with a bit of country thrown in. Drumming that sounds weak and machine-created, a lazy vocal which almost works, weak backing vocals, no guitar solo in the middle … ah, I could go on! But instead, I'll let you decide. Here are the two versions side by side, original first.

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Time once more to wind down with a nice selection of my favourite ballads and slow songs.

Kicking off with some classic AOR, here's REO Speedwagon with one of their huge hits, this is “Can't fight this feeling”.


And from a multi-classic to a totally unknown song, though not an unknown artist. During his time with Genesis, Mike Rutherford quietly released two solo albums, neither of which made any impression on the charts until he formed Mike and the Mechanics, but that's another story. This is from his second solo album, “Acting very strange”, the closing track, a beautiful little song called “Hideaway”.


Yeah, I know you all hate Coldplay, but this is my journal, so here they are, with the great “Fix you”.


Longtime readers of my journal will know I'm a big fan of the late Dan Fogelberg, but rather than trot out the usual hits, I wanted to feature something a little different from him. So here's the title track from his album “Souvenirs”.


Pat Benatar was a real staple of the eighties rock scene. Here she is with her ballad “We belong”.


I had a real crush on Suzi Quatro when I was a kid! Hey, who wouldn't? Here she is, with Chris Norman, one of her poppier hits, “Stumblin' in”.


Sticking with the ladies, here's the multi-talented Stevie Nicks, from her second solo album “The wild heart”, with the wonderful “Beauty and the Beast”.


And a great song from Nanci Griffith, this is “From a distance”.


One more from the ladies: this is Gloria Estefan, from her time with Miami Sound Machine, with the excellent “Words get in the way”.


We'll finish up, then, with Marillion, a great track (the closer, as it happens) from their “Marillion.com” album, ten minutes of pure magic, this is “House”.


Hope that helped relax you after a hard Monday. Back with another selection in the fullness of time...

Random Track of the Day
Tuesday, September 13 2011

After a rockin', headbangin' start to the week yesterday, today's RTOTD slows everything down with a nice gentle piece of classical music. From one my favourite composers, Edvard Grieg, this is called “Melody” from Op 38. Classical compositions aren't as easy to label as rock or pop ones are: so many different artistes have played the music of the masters that it's often extremely difficult to tie a classical piece to a particular album, but I think the track here is from the “Lyric pieces” recording. Don't shoot me if I'm wrong though!

Melody, Op 38 No. 3 --- Edvard Grieg --- from “Lyric pieces, Book II ”
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I've always loved Grieg's work, ever since I heard “Peer Gynt”, especially “Morning” and “In the hall of the Mountain King”, but this is a short little piano piece, somewhat reminiscent, I believe, of Chopin's work, but then what do I know? Nice little piece though, very relaxing, and check out the pianist in the YT! She looks about twelve! Hey, the way these people practice from age zero, I guess she could be! Her name's Marusia Petrova, so I guess she's from Russia or some eastern bloc country. Wish I could play like that. Wish I could play....!

Listen without prejudice, volume 1 --- George Michael --- 1990 (Columbia)
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Let's be clear on one point: I was never into Wham! Few guys I think will admit they were, but I genuinely hated the band, and I use that term very loosely and grudgingly. They stood for everything I despise about music, and I was glad when they broke up. I had to amend my opinion though when George Michael went solo. There was a lot of his work I didn't like --- mostly the dance stuff --- but by gum he knew how to write a ballad! So although “Faith” passed me by, I decided to take a chance when his second solo album came out, mostly on the recommedation of my boss at the time.

“Listen without prejudice, volume 1” (there never was a volume 2, though one had been planned) lives up to its title. It's a stark departure from the pop/dance tunes with which his previous album is laced, and for which, along with his involvement in Wham!, he had become identified with. It's a much more mature album, and at times, yeah, it rocks!

The first thing to help sway my opinion of this guy was the first single released from the album, which is also the opening track. It's a power ballad, with great heavy keyboards, acoustic guitar and thumping drums, with a “save the world” lyric with some excellent lines: ”I guess somewhere along the way/ He must have let us all out to play/ Turned His back/ And all God's children/ Crept out the back door.” Not the sort of subject matter we had been used to hearing from this ex-pretty boy popstar. His voice is powerful and passionate on the song, and there's real emotion there. He doesn't just sing either: George Michael plays guitar, keyboards, even percussion, and also arranges the horns used on the more soul-type tracks later. “Praying for time” is a powerful, dramatic opener and puts you in the frame of mind that says this may not be such a bad album after all!

Then it's followed by “Freedom 90”, and we're back to the days of Wham! Dancey, poppy, with insistent keyboard, handclaps and not too much guitar, but with an interesting lyric where Michael recalls his previous approach to the music business when he sings ”Didn't know what I wanted to be/ I was every little/ Hungry schoolgirl's pride and joy/ And I guess it was not for me.” It's obvious he's trying to break out here, establish himself as a more credible artist and not just a pretty boy singer, and there's a nod back to his Wham! Days when he grins ”What a kick/ Just a buddy and me.”

Things unfortunately don't get any better with his cover of Stevie Wonder's “They won't go when I go.” It's slow, monotonous, almost gospel and to me very depressing, especially the “backing moans”, but things start to look up when “Something to save” makes its entrance. With a nice acoustic guitar melody and some lovely violin it's a simple song, short but very memorable. It's followed by one of the standout tracks, “Cowboys and angels”, which comes in on tinkling piano, courtesy of Chris Cameron, and synth-wind noises, then carried on a fizzing keyboard line and a great beat, with a breathy vocal by George Michael, and lovely saxophone from Andy Hamilton. A lovely mid-paced ballad with minimal percussion and some really nice bass lines too.

Now my faith (pardon the pun!) in this album is rekindled, and I'm really beginning to enjoy it. “Waiting for that day” keeps the quality high, another mid-pacer with lovely organ and a melody very reminiscent of that old Stones chestnut, “You can't always get what you want”, to the point that Michael actually includes the chorus at the end of the song as it fades out. Superb. But that's nothing compared to what's to come.

Without question one of the greatest ballads, and anti-war songs, of the past decade, “Mother's pride” probably edges it in the fight for top track. On a simple piano and keyboard line, it decries the practice of men going off to war, the way it's glamourised by, among others, the mothers who send their sons to fight for their country: ”Still hear the women say/ Your daddy died a hero.” The lyric cleverly and emtionally goes through several changes, reflecting the state of the boy to a man to a soldier to a corpse, as he starts off as ”A baby boy/ In his father's eyes to ”Just a boy/ In his country's eyes/ He's a soldier” and to ”Crazy boy/ His lifeless eyes/ He's a soldier now forevermore.” Stunning, absolutely stunning. If anything was to elevate George Michael to the status of serious artist, this is it. And it does. Heartbreakingly perfect.

After that, it's hard to get too excited about “Heal the pain”, which though it's a good acoustic semi-ballad, is a bit of an anti-climax, and “Soul free” is just annoying funk and ruins the good feeling I've been getting from this album. Closer “Waiting (reprise)” is nice though, an acoustic ballad that, though short, manages to encompass the feel not only of its parent track, but somehow, of the entire album.

As you probably realised by now, “Listen without prejudice” was a big surprise to me, and a pleasant one at that. I haven't bought a George Michael album since, nor do I plan to, and as this was a commercial flop for the artist it's a path he didn't retread, which is a pity, but means that this album stands as a testament to the other side of George Michael, the personal and senstiive side, the mature and serious side, what he could do when he really pushed himself and freed himself from the constraints put on him by record labels and fans alike. It's a tribute to him that he managed to see his vision realised, even if it didn't open up a whole new style of music for him. He went on to become mega-successful, selling over one hundred million albums. Not bad for a poor boy from Greece!

So, do like it says on the tin, and you're unlikely to be disappointed with this album. Just a pity he never got to write Volume 2...

TRACKLISTING

1. Praying for time
2. Freedom 90
3. They won't go when I go
4. Something to save
5. Cowboys and angels
6. Waiting for that day
7. Mother's pride
8. Heal the pain
9. Soul free
10. Waiting (reprise)

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The worm bring us back to the mid-nineties today, for one of those number one hit singles that made Oasis so much the flavour, not only of the month, but of the year. In recent times they've faded away a little, and all we really hear about them now is when one or the other of the Gallagher brothers opens their mouth and puts their foot in it (isn't that a physical impossibility? Metaphor, man! Metaphor!), but this is from when they were riding high, and it's a great little song, one of their best.

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Is feidir linn! Yes we can! Feature another Irish album, that is! Been a while now, so let's have a look at what my homeland, the emerald isle, the land of saints and scroungers --- sorry, scholars! --- has produced over the years that you may have missed hearing, or even knowing about.
Stuck together with God's glue --- Something Happens! --- 1990 (Charisma)
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Another great Irish band, who could have been the new U2 perhaps, but it just didn't work out. This was their second album, and four years later they had essentially broken up. They still reform to play the odd gig but are not officially a band anymore. If nothing else, they've left us with the best ever acronym for a tour, with the Something Happens Irish Tour!

The album was actually well received when released, at least in Ireland, with two of the singles charting. The most popular was “Parachute”, of which more later, but the opener, “What now?” was actually my favourite, with its powerful rock melody and its great guitar hooks, it was a shoe-in for radio airplay, and it got a lot of that. Second track, “Hello hello hello hello hello (Petrol)” had the parentheses added after fellow Irish band That Petrol Emotion accused them of ripping off one of their songs. I don't know the song, so I can't say, but there must have been something in it, if they made the amendment.

“Parachute” is next, a great piano-driven bopper, with cool vocals from Tom Dunne, who would later go on to great fame as a radio DJ, Ray Harman, the band's guitarist, gets behind the keys to really drive the melody on the piano. Great, commercial, with more hooks than a butcher's shop, and the album is ticking along really nicely so far. “Esmeralda” is a short, bouncy, fun little track with more than a hint of the Waterboys or fellow Irishmen the Stars of Heaven, while “I had a feeling” is far more down and dirty rock, with growling guitar and heavy drums from Eamonn Ryan, more great hooks and another fine track.

“Kill the roses” starts off acoustic with a great bass line, then comes to life for the chorus, recalling the best of Springsteen's “Nebraska” period, and Alan Byrne's bass drives “Brand new god” in a semi-acoustic song with understated singing by Dunne, while “The patience business” opens on a piano line very reminiscent of Billy Joel's “My life”, but then settles down into its own groove. Nice horns, though they're probably on the keyboard? Very little information exists on this album, and the copy I used to have was on a tape cassette, which I no longer have, so it's thanks to Wikipedia for most of the information on the album, and even that's quite minimal.

“Devil in Miss Jones” has some nice piano and some often incongruously heavy guitar, but doesn't impress me as that special a song, and “Good time coming”, while a great little rocker, is again similar, this time too similar to the Stars of Heaven for me to stand out on its own. “I feel good” is a nice atmospheric little mid-paced rocker, with more than a tinge of country-styled rock, and is in fact the longest track on the album, almost five and a half minutes. Some great guitar from Ray Harman helps this track stand out, and then we're into the closer.

“Skyrockets” is less than two minutes long, a sort of half-blues, half-acoustic track with an interesting melody and an almost acapella vocal --- yeah, despite there being music: you'd have to hear it to understand what I mean. It's an innovative end to the album, and certainly a track you remember when you're putting the disc away.

All in all, this album has some flaws but I think that had circumstances been kinder, Something Happens! could have been a real force to be reckoned with in Irish --- and who knows, international? --- rock music. As it is, they certainly penned some great tunes and made their mark, if only for a short time on the charts. What is it they say? The brightest candle burns the shortest? Thinking about those skyrockets again....

TRACKLISTING

1. What now
2. Hello hello hello hello hello (Petrol)
3. Parachute
4. Esmeralda
5. I had a feeling
6. Kill the roses
7. Brand new god
8. Room 29
9. The patience business
10. Devil in Miss Jones
11. Good time coming
12. I feel good
13. Skyrockets

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THIRD SPIN

And here's something else we haven't done for a while! Time to spin the wheel, and see where it lands. Round and round and round she goes --- please not another Moody Blues album! --- where she stops.... ah! There she stops! Hmm. In-ter-est-ing!

Icon Acoustic TV Broadcast --- Wetton/Downes --- 2008 (Frontiers)
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Two accomplished musicans, both former or even current members of Asia, John Wetton and Geoff Downes have collaborated in the past, under the umbrella of the Icon Project. This is an Icon album, though it bears both their names on the sleeve as well as the Icon name, and is an acoustic rendering of mostly Asia hits, as well as a few from the first Icon album, released the previous year. Geoff Downes has been a member (and has returned as a member) of Yes, also collaborated with Trevor Horn in the Buggles, and of course has been with Asia for every album. John Wetton has worked with King Crimson, Wishbone Ash, Uriah Heep and Bryan Ferry, in addition to his solo work and has also teamed up with everyone from Steve Hackett to Phhil Manzanera in his long career, so both have impeccable pedigree within the music business.

The session kicks off with a beautiful understated acoustic version of Asia's top hit, “Heat of the moment”, and it's quite amazing how different to the originals acoustic treatments can be. Stripped down to guitar, piano and keyboard with, it seems, no percussion at all, the song takes on a whole new dimension. It's also very much slowed down, to make it a ballad where the well-known version is a power rocker. “Voice of America” is the next Asia track to get the acoustic makeover, with truly beautiful violin and piano. This was a ballad anyway, when it made its appearance on Asia's third album, 1985's “Astra”, but there was a lot of power in the chorus, which here is of course missing without the big drum sound, but for what it is, “Voice of America” sounds more like the original than did “Heat of the moment”.

“Let me go” is the first of the Icon songs, and as I haven't heard the first album I can't say how different it is to the original, but here it's given a lovely violin and keyboard treatment before stabbing piano takes over as Wetton begins singing, the piano almost keeping a metronomic drumbeat for the song, which works very well. I get the impression this was a fast, rocky track on the original Icon album, but I like the version presented here. It has an ending very reminscent of Genesis' “The lamb lies down on Broadway”, particularly the track “The Lamia”. Another Icon track follows, “God walks with us” is a nice little ballad, with some really nice backing vocals from Downes, but again it's hard to relate how the track works as an acoustic, not knowing how the original goes. Some really nice Spanish guitar in the track, anyway.

Now this one I feel qualified to speak on! Again from the debut self-titled Asia album, “Sole survivor” is carried on a raft of keyboards on the original, but here it's the piano that takes centre stage, and the tempo is slowed down as well, with good backing vocals and again the piano sometimes used as a percussion instrument (which I guess it is), more like a drum, keeping the beat. The keyboard apreggios on the bridge work very well too. In general though I think this was perhaps a bad song to choose for the acoustic treatment, as it just sounds forced, to me.

“Meet me at midnight” is another Icon original, nice harpischord-like keyboard and classical guitar , then we're into Asia's second album, “Alpha”, for one of the great ballads from that album, “The smile has left your eyes”. This works very well, being a slow and somewhat sparse song in the first place, here played on violin and piano, while “I lay down”, another from the Icon album, is a nice piano-driven ballad, with Wetton on top form, almost religious fervour in his singing. One of my favourite tracks from “Alpha” is next, the powerful closer, “Open your eyes”, here treated to piano and synth arrangement. It may seem a strange thing to say, but it's nice that Wetton and Downes chose Asia songs that John originally sung, as it makes it easier to relate to them rendered acoustically. All the Asia songs here are from the first three albums, after which Wetton departed the band, returning for 2008's triumphant “Phoenix” (reviewed a page or so back) and remaining with them for last year's “Omega”, and he's always been my favourite vocalist in Asia. Downes, of course, has been with Asia from the beginning, and remains with them to this day.

Of course, they couldn't leave out the other big hit single, which put both of them on the map. “Only time will tell” is again taken along on piano melody, with great backing vocals, but I miss the fast pace of the original, and again I feel that if it hadn't been such a huge hit, and therefore an expected inclusion, they might have left this alone and gone for something like “Without you” or even “Time again” from that album, which in fairness is not one of Asia's best, despite being their debut and a huge seller.

Another from “Alpha” then, “Don't cry” is originally a fast-paced rocker, which actually opens the album, and they do a decent version of it here, at least keeping the original tempo of the song, inasmuch as they can. It's the last Asia track on the album, which then closes with two Icon originals, the first of which, “In the end”, comes across as a nice ballad, with those violins again and the ever-present piano, and the violin takes centre stage for the closer, “There in your bed”, a short track that finishes off the album nicely.

I do have a few complaints, or let's say, niggles, perhaps even disappointments about this album. The first is of my own making, so I take full blame for that: I haven't heard “Icon” so I can't tell whether these acoustic versions are better, worse than or the same as the originals. But the Asia tracks I do know, and while some are handled well, others are not so much. Also, I would have liked to have heard more of John Wetton's guitar in the tracks. While it does crop up from time to time --- and when it does, it's very good! --- the bulk of the songs seem to rely on Geoff Downes' piano and/or keyboards, and after a while it gets a little samey. There are, in fact, tracks where the piano treatment does not work at all, like as I mentioned “Only time will tell”, or “Sole survivor” --- sometimes you need that guitar!

All in all though, for fans of Asia --- or indeed, Icon, Wetton and/or Downes --- this will be an interesting album. For those using it as an introduction to Asia, I wouldn't: you'll get a skewed picture of them, thinking all their songs are ballads, and while many are, they have some great rockers too. Check out instead the first three albums to get a flavour of what they're really about, and how the songs represented here from their early catalogue actually sound.

Acoustic albums are always hard to review, as there are of necessity fewer instruments, fewer players and much more stripped-down arrangements. Here, Wetton and Downes rearrange their old material from Asia, sometimes well, sometimes not so well, and add in some of their solo work from Icon. It's a decent album, but I am left wondering what the actual Icon album really sounds like?

TRACKLISTING

1. Heat of the moment
2. Voice of America
3. Let me go
4. God walks with us
5. Sole survivor
6. Meet me at midnight
7. The smile has left your eyes
8. I lay down
9. Open your eyes
10. Only time will tell
11. Don't cry
12. In the end
13. There in your bed

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A little bit ago I opened a section called “Head start”, where I feature great opening tracks from albums. There, I stated, which is true, that the first track on the album is probably the most important, as it can often determine whether you go on to listen to the rest of that album, or not. However, similarly important is the closing track. An album which you have enjoyed every bit of, but which closes with a bad, weak or disappointing track can really colour your whole memory of the album. You want it to be good opening and good closing (preferably good all the way through, of course), and in essence you want to be humming, whistling or trying to sing to yourself the last track as you put the CD away, switch off the media player or whatever.

And so we come to the companion slot for “Head start”, which I've thought a little about titles for and decided finally on “Happy endings”, as that's what I want to experience on finishing an album. This, then, is the first edition of that section, and will feature, as did “Head start”, five tracks which I feel help those albums close really well.

First up we have the closer from Marillion's stunning 1983 debut “Script for a jester's tear”, which is so good I literally could not move for minutes after having first heard it. One of the most powerful anti-war songs ever written, it's “Forgotten sons”.


A totally fantastic album, The The's “Infected” builds up to the powerful closer, the unutterably brilliant “The mercy beat”, which just leaves you wanting more. Perhaps too good a closing track?

(P.S. Don't worry about the weird Mexican stuff at the beginning of the video: it starts about a minute in. Not sure why it's there, but there you go...)

Probably one of the most emotional songs closing an album I've ever heard, the mesmerising ending to the Divine Comedy's “Casanova”, this is “The dogs and the horses”.


Peter Gabriel's first four albums are all called “Peter Gabriel”, so they're identified by year. This is his third, 1980, which yielded the hit single “Games without frontiers”, and closes on the powerful political indictment of South African Apartheid, the story of activist Steven Biko, and this is simply called “Biko”.


From one of the best David Bowie albums ever, the closing track to “The rise and fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars”, the semi-acoustic, introspective cautionary tale, “Rock and roll suicide”.