As I reflect over 2009, I think about what was the most important music of the year to share with others.
There is probably far more music created every year than anyone will ever manage listen too. Most good music discovered by myself is already a minimum of two years old. Other times I’m a little luckier.
Apparently Germany is where it is at.
The proud nation that gave us some of the greatest classical composures of all time, such as Beethoven, Mozart, and Orf, and also gave us some of the most badass rock groups of all time, The Scorpions, Rammstein, and UFO.
My little exploration into European symphonic metal began back in April. I reviewed Nightwish – Deep Silent Complete, for those of you who don’t remember, it was a metal opera group out of Finland. My good friend Rick as a surprise rather enjoyed the song and the band as a whole when he began to look into them further. This really touched my heart, since it is exactly what I wanted to accomplish in the first place, but more so because Rick mostly just reads the music in review because he liked the analytical way I ranted about things that pissed me off. Anyway having never seen eye to eye musically it sure was nice to break ground with Rick, who told me his favourite genres of music just so happened to be metal and opera.
Well that got me looking for more, because who can’t help but love metal and opera combined?
I Google searched “metal opera” only to find there is already a rock opera in existence titled “The Metal Opera.”
Upon further investigation I learn about Tobias Sammet, German rock god. Tobias leads the German rock group Edguy, which may be a stupid name for a rock group, but don’t let that distract you from the fact they are very good. But Tobias Sammet being a rock god and all found it hard being settled to writing just good rock music, he wanted to do more, he wanted to tell stories on a grand scale through the cryptic art of rock operas. Not wanting to alienate the rest of Edguy by forcing the group into a direction they may or may not have wanted to go, he started a side project titled “Avantasia.” Avantasia is a combination of Avalon, and Fantasy. For those who don’t know Avalon is the mystical island the sea nymphs take King Arthur after his final battle against the forces of Mordred. Legend has always been that time does not pass on Avalon and when Britain needs him most Arthur will return. Just some interesting trivia, just in case you wanted to know.
Anyway back in 2000 Avantasia released “The Metal Opera,” which rocked. But we were lucky enough in 2008 to be treated to Avantasia’s second masterpiece “The Scarecrow.”
Tobias did something interesting when releasing “The Scarecrow.” He started work way back in early 2007, and while some songs were already seeing the final publish, he couldn’t wait for the album’s release to come to share it with the world. So he released two LP “Lost in Space” Part 1 and 2. Some of the tracks on those two LPs were amazing, and interestingly enough other then the track “Lost in Space,” only one other song off the LPs made it to the album “The Scarecrow.” It takes a special kind of musician to make so much good music he can’t fit it all on his albums.
So this month everyone rock out to Avantasia - “Lost in Space.” As near as I know “The Scarecrow,” was the best album of 2008. If you enjoy “Lost in Space,” half as much as I do, I highly recommend also by Avantasia; “The Story Ain’t Over,” and “Promised Land.” But honestly anything by Avantasia is freaking awesome. All three songs are linked on my facebook page.
Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.
- Colin Kelly
Also, the extended version featuring Helloween's Micheal Kiske:
Also, the "epic" version, also known as "Alive at Gatestudio":
I was going to say something of the sort last month but I got all excited about the Trans-Siberian Orchestra and Carmina Burana, and I had to talk about that.
But since democracy is being made a shamble of once again, I’m sure the whole voting process is once again on everyone’s minds.
Voting is a joke isn’t it? There is no one really worth voting for and even when all is said and done there is another game to play by these politicians. Because no one gives a crap about running the country, its just the iron law of oligarchy, everyone wants to be on top, and feel special. No one really cares about getting things done.
Are our politicians really to blame? Yes, they are, they are the clowns that keep taking our tax money and making a mockery of both our nation and democracy. But there are many more people to blame then just those ass-hats, and that is everyone else.
If we have great leaders out there, then where the hell are they? I know they’re out there somewhere but they couldn’t possible go anywhere is politics can they? No of course not, because not enough people will support good politicians, more often then not we don’t even know who they are. So we shrug our shoulders and support a random politician, or just pick a party that tells us what we want to hear more often then the others. Sometimes we get lucky and wind up with a good person in power sometimes we don’t. Random the way modern grown up children like it.
So we’re apathetic, no big deal right, but now your opinion on political matters is irrelevant and so is your mindless zombie vote. Of course it still counts, that’s democracy, no matter how stupid you are you can influence the whole nation..
Things have spiraled out of control because we let things get that way. While we are a far way away from any real danger in our country and government even with this coalition nonsense, I think it is safe to say we have reached a point of stupidity.
I’ve heard the politic body being referred to as a machine many times before, but I have to completely disagree, it’s a mess. It is a complicated combination of fears, ideals, and hopes thrown into a mixing pot and then compared randomly among extremely similar, untrustworthy, parties. We derive a popularity contest with party restrictions, and ultimately mislead ourselves into believe we have done something progressive sometimes, somehow. We have a long list of rules and regulations that sometimes serve some purpose other then being abused. Most importantly no one ever dares say, “wait a minute this whole thing is bananas!”
Roy Harper is an old hippie out of England. He has been writing folk rock music for god knows how long now. Way back in 1970 on Led Zeppelin III the final track is titled “Hats Off to Roy Harper.” Obviously Page and the boys had quite a respect for the man.
More impressive is Roy Harper’s appearance on the Pink Floyd track “Have a Cigar.” Did you ever wonder why Gilmour sounded so different on that song? Well now you know why, it is not him, it’s Roy Harper guest singing.
“By the way, which one’s Pink?” Funny stuff.
Also one of my favorite Canadian groups of all time “The Tea Party” teamed up with Roy Harper for the song “Correspondence” where Roy sang a very deep poem at the end titled “As You Draw Near,” and also on the song “Time” where Roy guess sang the entire song.
Roy Harper is a hippie, as I already said, so you can expect the typical left minded stuff from people like that is his songs. War is bad, Republicans are nazis, pollution is going to kill everyone over night, you know that kind of melodrama. However But Roy Harper is a little different I think. Sure he does have his run-of-the-muck hippie songs, but he is fair. I like people who are fair.
If you are going to bitch about how much you hate war, is it really very fair to hate only George Bush, the Republicans, and America? What about those genocidal lunatics over in the Middle East, are they not just as guilty for causing death and war? Maybe more guilty? Definitely more guilty?
Roy Harper has a song called “Playing God,” where he mocks both British and American war efforts in the Middle East. Which is fair.
But;
Roy Harper also has a song titled “The Black Cloud of Islam,” where he directly attacks the entire Muslim faith for being a religion of conquest, hell bent on forcing a brutal and violent view of god upon the world, with their twisted religion. Sadly, we all know this also fair.
Maybe it is not kosher to bad mouth a religion, but fanatical Islam is pure evil. I’m not saying the entire Muslim faith is evil, though I wonder sometimes, but “fanatical Islam,” oh yeah, evil. They literally believe god wants them to kill everyone who isn’t Muslim. If that doesn’t convince you of their evil, I don’t know what will.
Back to the whole voting mess that is democracy, Roy Harper best song in my opinion happens to be “The Monster.” The way things have changed in our view and use of democracy is quite depressing. It doesn’t have to be this way, but we let it get this way, maybe we can get our dignity back with a little effort. In the end the politicians have no power but the power we give them, and if we really want a change you’d better believe it we can get one. Roy captures that kind of feeling towards democracy pretty well in this song I think.
“Now that there’s is no one left to vote for, only fools to vote against.”
This whole political body you just might say, is a monster. I love humanity, its people I can’t stand, and when you start looking at the petty differences and attitudes towards serious issues like economics, and social tolerance, its appalling how stupid the average person is.
Interesting note, Jeff Martin lead man of the “Tea Party,” is the guest guitarist on this song.
Until next month/year, keep on rocking in the free world,
I’ll be twenty-five years of age tomorrow, so take that world, better luck next time.
It’s funny some of things you don’t think about when they are not important to you.
One thing I am lucky to have is a quite a collection of good friends. My oldest friend Craig Kemery, whom I have now known for eighteen years now, most of my life even, did me the gracious favor of taking me to see the Trans-Siberian Orchestra on the fifth. It occurs to me this is the first actual birthday gift I have received probably since high school or earlier, but like I said its funny the things you don’t think about when they aren’t important to you, and I don’t see the big deal about birthdays. The Trans Siberian Orchestra lived up to all my expectation and was an amazing show, so thank you Craig, thank you very much for that.
The Trans-Siberian Orchestra as you may remember back in December 2007 music in review are awesome, almost unbelievably so. The general gist of the Trans-Siberian Orchestra was that Savatage lead man, Jon Oliva was struggling with the loss of his younger brother and Savatage band mate Criss’s death, wanted to find a way to embellish himself with work that was truly uplifting. Which is a far better solution to one’s problems then dwelling in misery. If you want to focus on something happy, what’s happier then rock and roll Christmas? So Jon teamed up with long time friends Paul O’Neill and Robert Kinkel and proceeded to rock the house.
To say the show was awesome would be a gross understatement, I’ve seen many musicians, bands, and groups, and I can honestly say if this was not the very best live performance I’ve ever seen then it was at least the most professional and worth while. Most groups will perform for maybe two hours, and you’re lucky to get two hours. Most groups make you sit through at least one opening group, which is almost never any, good. Most groups do very little other then simply play their songs and get out of there. Well the Trans-Siberian Orchestra didn’t do anything like that, they rocked out for nearly three hours, no breaks, no opening act, and a light show so brilliant the stage crew deserved an award.
The first act, a running story about Christmas, specifically, “An Angel Came Down,” which naturally was the opening song. Some gentlemen with a cool deep voice would narrate between songs giving us some explanation how this angel, watching mankind on Christmas Eve, was related to the various awesome Christmas rock songs we were privileged to hear. It was completely awesome, and I might dare say perfect.
Then act two decided to kick ass!
Not completely revolving around a Christmas theme anymore we are treated to dueling guitars which play Rush and Zeppelin! Dueling pianos which includes Beethoven’s “Moonlight Sonata.” At one point one of the four female vocalist just appears no more then ten feet behind Craig and me singing in naria. And one of the guitars and the spunky female violin player are running through the crowd giving people high fives. They played also Beethoven’s fifth and ninth, Tchaikovsky’s Nutcracker, and also Savatage classic “Hall of the Mountain King,” as an opening into what is best described as “Satanic Jingle Bells,” then back to “Hall of the Mountain King.” Just when I thought it was safe to stop being in awe, they did it, they played “O Fortuna.”
For those of you don’t know “O Fortuna” proceeded to stab yourself in the face with a pencil.
Carl Orf is my favorite composer, I really enjoy Mozart, and all the other classic geniuses, but I really like Orf, and primarily because of “O Fortuna.” As near as I know Orf only composed one solid piece of work the “Carmina Burana.” Carmina Burana is a collection of old Germanic, gothic, and other old folk music from Germany and surrounding area, and most of this music would probably have been lost to the ages if not for Carl Orf.
Carl Orf not unlike German philosopher and writer Neitzschen, in it that long after they were dead the Nazi’s used their work to show off how awesome Germans are. Using those works, there is a solid argument for the German ego, unfortunately that is a far away tangent as to why everyone else deserves to be conquered and/or slaughtered.
Anyway enough round about stories about how awesome my week has been, this month Carl Orf – “O Fortuna.” One of the greatest pieces of classical music every, and arguably these greatest.
I can assure you the Trans-Siberian Orchestra did Mr. Orf justice in their performance, in fact here are two videos I found on youtube of performance four days and three days prior to Craig and me seeing them.
The first one has better video of the group, and the second is a better quality recording of the sound, so do yourself a favor and watch both.
Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.
The Internet is a scary place sometimes. There are things I never knew existed and certainty never wanted to see that I am now completely desensitized too thanks to the Internet. Like any mixed blessing you have to live with some regret….
On the brighter side of things the Internet is a wonderful place to find music. Oh sure the record labels that try to convince you to buy third rate shit on the radio, they would go so far as to call it “pirating.” I’ll have you know all of the bands/music I’ve downloaded off the Internet I already possessed a physical copy, or do now, or am working on it. So basically they are saying, “screw a free market you are suppose to buy crap.” Screw you right back fat cats, long live technology.
One particular evening I was viewing some flash animation by artist David Firth. You might, and probably should know him for his “Salad Fingers” series, Salad Fingers is really freaking weird. I mean it when I say really freaking weird, that Firth guy knows horror.
As I browsed through David Firth’s site http://www.fat-pie.com/ I came across his music section, since he creates his own music for his own flash animations. I quite enjoyed the heavy intense atmospheric music that so well fit some of his freakier shorts, I thought I’d have a look. Unbeknownst to me, he actually has something of a rock group with a couple of friends, and to stay of the course of being weird they named themselves; “Grape Digging Sharon Fruits,” or just “Grape Diggers” for short. They are actually quite good, and more importantly they are very different from anything you or I have ever heard before.
We would never know about these talented weirdoes if not for the Internet, so once again screw you fat cats.
The one song that I particularly liked is harder to find now that I look again, so lucky all you that I’m sending it to you know. The title of the song says a lot but doesn’t necessarily say it all; “Chasing Butterflies (Bionic Commando version).” It is hard to describe so I’ll just let you listen and absorb it as best you can. One thing I think we will be able to agree on is that this is quite a unique and enjoyable song.
If you are as intrigued as I was then here are the links you need to know to download more Grape Digging Sharon Fruits:
In fact there appears to a lot of new material since last I checked over a year ago, so I got some downloading to do too.
Since Halloween is coming up you might want to check out Firth’s site http://www.fat-pie.com/ there is some scary shit on there, the kind of stuff that makes you go “woah, that’s intense….” There is also some really funny stuff too, so enjoy, enjoy.
Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.
Which is great, because I do it a lot, and this way I know I’m not driving everyone around me crazy. They enjoy my ranting and raving about how fucked up everything is, and that’s good to know. Really good to know because I am unhealthily paranoid about such things.
I like making light of negative situation, my attitude has always been if I can laugh about it, then it is not as bad as it seems. If I can get others to laugh at it, then it is probably no big deal. I got a lot of problems, really who doesn’t, and I don’t mean to bitch and complain but rather point out how silly things are.
The world around me and all its problems, are just silly little flaws of complex human socialization. Maybe if I can point out how stupid and crazy we are sometimes, maybe we will laugh at ourselves and maybe even change ourselves for the better, because it is probably true that things are never really as bad as they seem. Myself as well, I’m quick to criticize myself when I know I’m wrong, trying to convince myself any and all of my emotional and psychological problems are not as bad as they seem, they are just silly little flaws, that can be fixed in time.
I’m a comedic bearer of bad news, trying to soften the blow of brutal reality. I try to make everyone look themselves in the mirror with the same sort of honesty that I do. I try to make everyone else look at the world around them with the same acceptance of waking human reality that I do.
That’s who I try to be. Unfortunately a lot of people don’t like the truth, so in turn, they don’t like me. They try to run away from reality and turn me into some kind of villain. Truth is I am a good guy I just behavior badly, it is what you do and not what you say, me speaking your evil is far less evil then you doing it in the first place.
I don’t like bitching and complaining and I hope that’s not how I am received. I have a brain that doesn’t rest and I observe things at a level of depth that few every do, because most would never bother. I see the bad in the world, but I can also see the good, the problem is, it is always easier to criticize.
A reoccurring rant of mine is that 'I don’t do happiness,' or 'happiness is for wimps.' If you possess any insight into people at all you might have guessed that I am trying to laugh off how generally unhappy I am with my life.
Don’t get me wrong I know its not that bad, I’m in school and doing okay. I have the financial wherewithal to never be bound paycheck to paycheck allowing me the freedom to quit any job I dislike at any time. I have an apartment downtown Calgary that rents out to me relatively cheap because I’ve lived there so long, plus I have a roommate that I have no problems whatsoever living with. I’m not diseased, I’m not crippled, I’m not stupid, I’m not starving, I’m not broke, I’m not dying, no major crisis whatsoever.
But still I am never satisfied with myself.
The self-labeling theorem (or self-fulfilling prophecy) is a concept in psychology that states if you continue to label someone as something; they will undoubtedly in time become the labels you gave them. I see this everywhere, and it is frightening to think of the consequence it entails. Stereotypes of all kinds are reinforced by this sort of dilemma, also people with darker disposition can almost never break free of their downward spiral once the rest of humanity begins to treat them differently. Know this, no one unhappy wants sympathy, they want empathy, they don’t want you to share in their pain, they just want you to understand theirs’.
For so long most of the respect and interest from others I received in my life has come from when I work at a job. After a while I started feeling more like a worker drone then anything else. I am damn good for something and that something is work. No one, and I am going to allow myself this statement of arrogant confidence, no one out works me. I am the hardest worker any of you know, because that’s all I got. It has gotten so bad that even when I’m relaxing I systematically change what I’m doing into some form of work.
There are times to this day that I do not feel like a man whatsoever. Now I am a man biologically, but not always emotionally, I feel like I identify more with a working robot, or perhaps some strange force of nature that just runs over everything that gets in its way. I get unnerved when people ask me how I am, because I have this nagging feeling that such a state of good or bad is completely irrelevant, because I don’t feel. I am not suppose to feel, and though generally unhappy, I am perfectly content with my gloomy little world, and as strange as that sounds, it is how I feel about myself. I am perfectly comfortable being unhappy because it is familiar territory and in the end I feel absolutely neutral. If I woke up tomorrow suddenly feeling happy it would scare the shit out of me, I honestly wouldn’t know what to do. They labeled me as a working maniac, and that’s what I become!
This is ridiculous! I am ridiculous! But even I have to admit to myself that this is pretty fucking funny. Hence how happiness is for wimps. And as long as I can laugh about being a miserable bastard one-day I just might turn it around on myself and that would be great, because unlike moron goths and emos who try to glorify their unhappiness, I want mine to end. I shouldn’t be so down on myself anyway, I really don’t deserve it.
Some of you told me you wanted a rant this month and I felt this was a good one, makes me laugh anyway, and the subject matter can only be offensive to me… I think.
The song in question that I think best captures this psychological problem of mine is actually kind of a happy song; Rush – 'Working Man.'
Surely you can see the relation to my madness in the chorus:
'It seems to me
I could live my life
A lot better than I think I am.
I guess that's why they call me,
They call me the working man.
They call me the working man.
I guess that's what I am.'
I do not know if it is charming of me to be so open and honest with everyone who dares listen to me, or perhaps I am an annoying pessimist. I assure you at least I try to be funny and charming, I like to believe there is a very enduring quality to such honesty. Then again I also know that sometimes the brutal truth is far more brutal then it is true, even when it’s perfectly true.
But there is something to feel good about and that is Rush!
These guys have always rocked, and they always will, Canada’s greatest rock group of all time. Sorry Guess Who, guess again. Rush have a whole library of awesome music but I think I’ve made my attachment to 'Working Man' very clear. It is one of my favorite songs of all time.
I have a lot of respect for the working men of real life, many of my closest friends are the ones I can identify with in discipline and work ethic. The only thing you can respect in this world is ability, and hard work is the greatest ability of them all. The greatest force there is, is indomitable spirit of man, and as long as we stay true to ourselves and work towards our goals and dreams with constant vigilance, impossible is nothing. Laziness and cowardice are the bane of humanity; hear my mantra; 'Victory always goes to those with courage!'
See that last paragraph was rather uplifting wasn’t it? I’m not all bad.
I hope everyone enjoys my music in reviews, at times I really feel like I’m putting myself out there, maybe embarrassing myself even. I only aim to please, tell you about some awesome music, maybe make you laugh. Hell I’m a good sport about it, go ahead and laugh at me. I am ridiculous, and now you know why.
Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.
This month it is time to do something obscure and classic.
If you lived in Switzerland or Denmark there is a decent chance, though not necessarily a very good chance you know the group I’m going to talk about. If you listen to a lot, and I mean a lot of classic rock you might know them as well. They are Uriah Heep, and unknown to most of the world they are living legends.
Uriah Heep started out in England as another rock group of many during the seventies, the critics never gave them any credit, and frankly their record sales left a lot to be admired. Then again it was the early seventies, you try competing with Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd, The Who, The Eagles, Rush, Alice Cooper, David Bowie, KISS, and others and tell me how many people notice you even exist.
Uriah Heep was a progressive rock group, which in laymen’s terms means they experimented a lot with new sounds. What perhaps set them apart form other progressive rock groups, was their highly fantasy influenced lyrics and sounds. They had a lot of songs about wizards, time travel, and other fun stuff like that.
You may, maybe, just maybe, may have heard “Easy Living” on the radio, I have once. That’s Uriah Heep.
I got into them via the Internet and discovered they had several songs that were actually very good. Not to banter on and on about how several different songs struck me with powerful symbolic meaning and great rock and rock sound, but yes, many songs were A grade.
I bought a couple of their albums, and so on, they’re great, they really are.
While I feel the need to choose one song I want to make it perfectly clear they have several very awesome songs, nonetheless I believe I will tell you about “Rainbow Demon.”
“Rainbow Demon” is not one of their bigger hits, it’s a cult hit among fans. A cult classic song from a cult classic rock group makes a lot of sense to me. Obvious fantasy based lyrics with the whole demon angel but there is a unique sound that makes this song different form any other. Once familiar with the general sound of Uriah Heep this is clearly a Uriah Heep song, but a strange and different Uriah Heep song, one of their best in my opinion. I particular like the retro sound combine with what I feel sounds like a western twang. I always invision the Rainbow Demon as some king of multicolored sword wielding cowboy from hell. King of like the gunslinger, only on acid.
Perhaps it is just me and my dark ways but I feel a great dread in this song, a song about some horribly heart broken demonic warrior;
"There rides the rainbow demon On his horse of crimson fire. Black shadows are following closely On the heels of his desire. Riding on in the mist of morning No one dared to stand in his way. Possessed by some distant calling. Riding on through night and day. Rainbow demon - Pick up your heart and run. Rainbow demon - Looks for his sword and is gone."
And now all you know about Uriah Heep, and my work is done for another month. So until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.
July… that could only mean one thing; the Calgary Stampede.
When most of you think of the Calgary Stampede you may think about time off work, seeing some rodeo events, riding some amusement park rides, getting drunk, and other fun stuff, but me and everyone who works downtown in the commercial sector knows better. Calgary Stampede teaches a man to hate.
The Stampede is a very country event; obviously, so a country song should be appropriate.
Of course being a pub cook for six years now, I know the Calgary Stampede is a drunken debauchery of business nuts, and tourist, throwing money at girls, who are barely dressed at all, severing way over priced alcohol.
So a song about drunkenness should be in order here. Fortunately I have just the song.
A long while ago I was hanging out with my good friend Craig, and we were at InKahoots, in Okotoks, Craig introduced me to former DJ and all round good guy named Ed… I think he’s name was Ed, I’m not so sure anymore. Anyway he was a cool guy, gave Craig and myself a couple free drinks and we talked about music. One group he mentioned to Craig was the Drive by Truckers, a hybrid group of rock and roll and country, and according to Ed, they are amazing.
As I always try to heed the advice of others, I went home and downloaded a bunch of songs by the Drive by Truckers. I don’t know if I would go so far as to say they are amazing, but they are very good.
My favorite song by them, is “Dead, Drunk, and Naked.” By now you can see the full circle of this month’s review.
“Dead, Drunk, and Naked,” is a charming song about overcoming addiction and growing up. There are some very comedic lines that make me laugh, and I’m sure you’ll enjoy them too.
Even though the mood of the song is a very lighthearted and joyful, there is one moment that strikes a note with me. A sad somber tone emerges in one of the later verses,
"Daddy used to tell me,
Everything comes down,
To what they say about you,
When you’re not around.
And I wish that he was here now,
I’m sure he would be proud,
No one talks about me now…."
That verse really gets me. As those who knew me when I was younger I was quite the party animal, but when I went to University I toned it down a lot. I may party stupidly on rare occasion now and then, but I barely party hard at all anymore, not unlike the narrative in the song. Granted, unlike the narrative in the song, I never sniffed glue. Who does that really?
It’s funny, I got a lot of attention when I was crazy and destructive, but then I grew up, and now I have very few immediate friends. I work hard, study hard, and save money, and it seems like no one really cares about a responsible good guy. Sometimes I feel altogether forgotten, like no one talks about me now…
This is just me being sentimental of course, though there is probably some truth to this, I’m likely making things out to much more dramatic then they really are. Nonetheless you can see how this song really has some depth to it.
Enjoy the Drive by Truckers, and try to enjoy the Stampede, those of us who have to work it, it may not be so easy.
Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.
