The Dresden Dolls - Sing

“There is thing keeping everyone's lungs and lips locked,
It is called fear and it's seeing a great renaissance.”

I want to take a quick moment to tip my hat in respect to, whatever his name is, that works “Legends’ Lunch,” every weekday at noon on Q107.

They had a Bowie marathon to celebrate David Bowie’s sixtieth birthday, and naturally it was great. The next day, this individual, whom I can’t recall the name of, made the comment, “we didn’t play the best song off of ‘The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust, and the Spiders from Mars,’ yesterday so I’m going to play it now.” He played “Five Years,” which if you remember back far enough was my forth ever music in review. I could only nod in agreement as the song played.

Two weeks ago, or so, he played the elusive original extended version of Led Zeppelin’s, “All My Love.” Which if you posses any short-term memory can recall that was last month’s music in review. Only two weeks after I declare that version of “All My Love,” as unknown to all but myself and the company to whom I have shared it, this guy comes out and proves me wrong. Well down, whatever your name is, and keep up the good work at Q107.

Roughly two years ago I was hanging out with this one girl at my place she walked in on me singing along to, Jeff Martin – The Kingdom, I believe that was the song. Being a rather easily assumed individual she thought it was very amussing that I was completely unembarrassed at the fact she had walked in on me singing along.

My explanation was simple; roughly three years prior to her and mine specific encounter, I had made up my mind at work I wasn’t going to be embarrassed by anyone when singing along with the radio. My mentality was, and still is, that everyone does it. We sing in the shower, we sing in the car, we sing at home, we sing while we study, and yes many people sing at work, why should I personally feel foolish for being apart of a phenomena that the majority of the populace of man is involved.

Deeper into the topic it takes very little reasoning to see why so many people do sing along to music, and are completely in the right to do so. Music moves us, and having worked a rotten job, with many rotten people (not everyone of course), for painfully long lengths of my life, I can attest that nothing can brighten your mood more then music you enjoy. There is something so profoundly human about wanting to be a part of the music. Since most of us lack the musically talent of my friend and yours, Tom Throux, and realistically we can’t play guitar or bass while occupied with the tasks already mentioned, it is the easiest solution to simply sing along to feel a part of the music.

So when someone walks into the prep hall and I’m along singing along to Tom Petty I only stop singing when they look at me and I wait for them to address me, and only then because it would be rude to cut them off with singing.

Apparently my lady friend was quite taken by this. Though I have not talked to her in a long time now one of the last things I remember her telling me was that she no longer let herself feel embarrassed in the least when others looked at her weird while she sang along to music.

Sometimes I wonder just how powerful my subtle influence is.

Regardless, a full year ago my big brother Sean, sent me an email with the video for the Dresden Dolls – Sing. Simplicity was the key to the glory of this song; I knew this right away. There are only two members of the band Amanda Palmer and Brian Viglione. She handles lead vocals and the piano, he at first plays guitar in the song then mid way through the piece he exchanges the guitar for drums. Simple, just a girl singing her heart out while playing piano, accompanied by her partner playing one instrument then another. There are no more then three sounds to take in at any time. But little did I realize initially just how true simplicity was the unique quality to this song.

On their first album The Dresden Dolls were all over the place. They had created a collection of tracks that were complicated and very difficult to perform. Basically they were showing off how raw talented they were, and while that album is decent no track on the album comes close to “Sing.”

For “Sing,” and presumably most of their second album the priority to create music had shifted from showcasing talented instrument playing ability to simply making a wonderful sounding song.

Sometimes I wonder just how powerful my quiet insight is.

Related thing back to my first point on this month’s review, let yourself sing, listen to the lyrics of Dresden Dolls – “Sing,” they are quite powerful words for this specific message.

“There is thing keeping everyone's lungs and lips locked
It is called fear and it's seeing a great renaissance.”

I think that sums it up rather nicely.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin

Led Zeppelin - All My Love

I’m not sure whether I should be impressed or disappointed in myself for managing to get through thirteen months, and subsequently thirteen songs, without mentioning Led Zeppelin.

I think I’ve waited long enough.

For anyone who actually loves music, opposed to just liking music, we all have a first love, not unlike adolescent drama actual love. The advantage of our first love of music is there is never awkward or embarrassing moments or heartbreak, only fond wonderful memories. For me Led Zeppelin was my first love, the first CD I ever owned was “Led Zeppelin 4”, the second album I owned was “Led Zeppelin 2”, the third “Led Zeppelin - Houses of the Holy,” the forth was “Pink Floyd - The Wall,” but now I’m clearly getting off topic.

If I remember correctly I fell asleep every night listening to Led Zeppelin between the ages of thirteen to sixteen, and listened to an average of seven hours of Led Zeppelin every day in that time. I would have listened to them more but I had to sleep sometimes and school often got in the way too.

Back when the Internet was a new place for me one of my first endeavors was to get my hands on any song on the radio I liked but did not posses. In that effort there was Napster, which was near dead by the time of my arrival on the web, so the first program I ever really used to download mp3s was Alakazam, if anyone remembers that?

Soon after accumulating a few hundred songs and thinking I had an impressive number of songs, the songs I knew by title and wanted to download was becoming a slimming list. So to avoid the evil that is boredom I begun to download hordes of Led Zeppelin songs, live, rare, demos, whatever I could find. Among my greatest find was the original uncut version of “All my Love,” off of the album “In Through the Out Door.” “All my Love,” was then, and probably still is one of my twenty or so favorite songs. As you can imagine having a version that was one minute and fifty-one seconds longer was simply all the better.

You have heard this song on the radio, or you have been doing something very impressive to keep yourself ignorant. There is an additional moment at the beginning with the band fooling around with the opening notes before they stop laughing and actually start playing the song as we know it. But, we get at least a full minute after the song usually fades out.

I always say, you know, you know a song really well, when you can sing along with gibberish at the end. Now every time I hear “All my Love” on the radio not only do I sing along with the entire song, but also always after the song has faded out I keep singing the rest of the virtually unknown remainder of the original version. The extended ending mostly consists of various forms of the chorus and gibberish with Robert Plant showing off how he can sing the same lyrics under a variety different tempos and still keeps within the melody of the baseline. He does that a lot, and I mean a lot, in the song “Tea for One,” off the album “Presence,” if you ever heard it.

Ever since that fateful day I found the original extended version of “All my Love,” I never heard of any mention of such a version anywhere, and its not as if I haven’t been looking. I’m always on the lookout for anything remotely new (to me) by Led Zeppelin. Sometimes I think I’ve grown more fond of something other then Zeppelin but every time I put a CD in, I have too listen to the entire album, beginning to end, knowing every last word. It’s like visiting an old friend and all the little details I nearly forgot come back to me like memories relived.

I doubt it will be long before I review Led Zeppelin again. I have yet to review my all time favorite song, and no it’s not “Stairway to Heaven,” but something as beautiful.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin

Arcade Fire - No Cars Go

Happy New Year, I hope everyone enjoyed they’re excuse to get drunk yesterday.

A murder took place ten feet in front of me yesterday, well ten feet in front of, and thirty-two stories down from myself. At 10:00am or so I was sitting at my computer working on schoolwork when I heard a gunshot. I’m used to hearing gun shots, what with living down town and all, but in broad daylight? Sure enough five more consecutive shots rang out, and what do you know a drug deal gone wrong happened right out side of my building. Given where my apartment is, it would have happened right behind my bedroom wall facing me, and down roughly three hundred feet. Makes you think.

I guess I’m an unusual person, did not phase me in the least. I know I’m safe.

Anyway enough of that, lets talk about music. I guess I should try to keep up with the times a little better. It is difficult for myself since I wholly distrust the musical opinions of modern radio and music television, and frankly who can blame me? Cult, or Indie, or underground, or whatever losers who desperately want to believe they are unique call themselves, I often find some selectively good music still in this day and age. However word takes time to reach me since I do not spend an obsessive amount of time researching every last note of music that hits the stands. Nonetheless I do what I can and try to keep up with the times the best I can. Whatever month it was I talked about Interpol would have been an attempt at such.

The point is, since I’ve had a whole year to look back upon, I feel confident I can find something through the entire year of 2007 that I can preach as being great. In all fairness it was far from the worst year I’ve seen for new music radio programming, though in truth nothing truly spectacular steeped out and slapped me in the face boldly screaming “THIS IS AWESOME!” Nothing except for one album; Arcade Fire – “Neon Bible.”

Now since I don’t feel the need or in possession of the right to mail out an entire album, I will be forced to choose one song, which is unfortunate since the album, as a whole, is truly awesome.

For those of you who couldn’t fight your way through the masses of crap that came out this year to discover Arcade Fire, allow me to give you a crash course of what I know.

Arcade Fire is a Canadian group out of Montreal. They have several members, more then five at least, but I do not know the exact number. They are very unique in sound and style, which says a lot now of days primarily because there appears to be a stagnation of creativity for the last two decades. Also it should be noted the more music that is created the harder and harder it becomes to find something “else” that still qualifies as “new.” Regardless Arcade Fire can rightfully carry the moniker of original with them; they’ve earned it.

A year, or perhaps two years ago, Ed the sock gave Arcade Fire a hard time for their video of the song “Rebellion (Lies)” off of the album “Funeral.” I suppose the video is nothing special, in Ed’s defense, however the usually hilarious Ed the sock went on how Arcade Fire was the biggest bunch of assholes in the entire Canadian music industry. Apparently when they went to the Junos they badmouthed every other group as being shit and being recognized only because they were Canadian charity cases.

I guess that is kind of a dick move, but when you’re right, you’re right.

As far as I’m concerned you can be the worst human being imaginable as long as you do your job well I will respect you. Often times at work I will tell people, “The new guy can be a coke-addicted, neo nazi, ex-convict murderer, Satanist, as long as he shows up for work and works hard I will respect him. I won’t fucking like him, but I will respect him.” Put a little more poetically, there is a saying in a book that I once read, “The only thing you can truly respect is ability,” and I whole heartily agree.

So, boo hoo, Canadian charity case musicians, Arcade Fire is a bunch of jerks, well I think the real problem is everyone else sucks. I’ve been saying this a lot lately, “Why should I change, they’re the ones who suck,” which is actually a line from the movie “Office Space,” Craig being a huge movie buff caught it right away. Arcade Fire doesn’t need to change, whatever they are doing is; AWESOME!

Anyway since I had to choose one song from the new album I’m going to go with “No Cars Go.” It seems to me the catchiest, easiest to quickly fall in love with song off the album, a good introduction to the album “Neon Bible,” and Arcade Fire. But seriously heed my words, go download or buy more Arcade Fire and support something fresh and new and worth it. In my humble opinion “Rebellion (Lies)” is their best song, so check that one out at least.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin

The Trans Siberian Orchestra - Wizards in Winter

December… Well Christmas must be the first thing most people think of when December rolls around, so I might as well embellish this common thought pattern.

Now as a cynical, miserable person it would be unnatural of me to say anything positive about a commercialized, Christianized, pagan holiday originally celebrating the coming of winter as you may have noticed December 25 is awfully close to the winter solstice which occurs every 21st or 22nd of December. I’ll spare you my negativity on this matter since this has nothing to do with music.

I suspect I am not wholly alone in my general dislike of Christmas carols and Christmas music in general. For the most part most songs written for Christmas are obvious attempts at cashing in on the finical feeling of season, which is consumerism. Furthermore any song written that can be credit as ‘good’ on its own merits usually suffers from being produced for the wrong reasons, naturally, once again commercialism. Overall I have grown extremely weary of any music in association with Christmas.

You can probably guess where this is going.

In 1979 a virtually unknown progressive rock group known as Savatage began their career. They would found no success until their 1987 album “Hall of the Mountain King,” which I have never heard, and never heard of until I looked it up. Supposedly they have experienced a relatively successful career since then but I could not possibly tell you any of their songs, they are a complete mystery to me. Founded by the Oliva brothers Criss and Jon, Jon would feel the need to change his career and life altogether after the death of his brother Criss in 1993. So that’s where we get Jon.

Paul O’Neill was originally a guitarist, whom toured with such musical as “Jesus Christ Superstar” and “Hair,” you just might have heard of those. He went on to be a legendary manager in the music industry producing such groups as Aerosmith, AC/DC, Def Leppard, Ted Nugent, The New York Dolls, and the Scorpions. An impressive list to say the least. In 1991 he would team up the Oliva brothers to create the rock opera “Streets” which I have never seen or heard of before today. Anyway that is where we get Paul.

Robert Kinkel is a keyboardist who played with Savatage after Criss’s unfortunate death. That’s all. Robert is apparently the easy one to explain.

These three men, working in, and living in New York decided to combine their glorious efforts to create something very different; The Trans-Siberian Orchestra.

The concept for The Trans-Siberian Orchestra was Christmas songs done in a rock opera style. I think its safe to say nothing like this has been done before.

The name of the group comes from the Trans-Siberian Railway in Russia, which Kinkel says connects many cultures otherwise isolated, much like music. With such a name like “The Trans-Siberian Orchestra” you would think they are Russian, I know I did, but apparently not. Near as I can tell they are all American. Although with a name like Kinkel, we can assume some Russian heritage from Robert.

Studios, not surprisingly did not care much for the idea of Christmas rock operas, and I can’t say I blame them. However after the Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s first release “Christmas Eve and Other Stories” in 1996 they became an immediate success, subsequently proving there is indeed a market for holiday music that rocks.

Recently the Trans-Siberian Orchestra has obtained some internet fame through Christmas lights maniacs setting their very elaborate and very, very, impressive Christmas lights to the song “Wizards in Winter.”

Have you seen it? I know this is old news to most people, but wow! If you haven’t make sure that you do:

Can you imagine living next to that? I really like how he has different sets of lights dedicated to different instruments.

EDIT:

It has been six years since I wrote this review, and since that time there have been many other efforts by enthusiastic Christmas lovers to set their lights to "Wizards in Winter"

2010

2010

2011

2012

Who knows what is going to happen in the future.

You got to admit it is a pretty sweet song, but what do you expect from a sixty-piece rock orchestra?

So this month “Wizards in Winter” is my song of choice. You can download the attached file and rock out this Christmas or you can do what I did last year and watch that video over and over again. I recommend both.

Until next year, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin

The Seatbelts - Blue

I’m getting sloppy, it’s the seventeenth and I haven’t already sent out my monthly endeavor.

I had a certain plan set out for the next few months of what I wanted to do, but I like surprises, so I try to even surprise myself when I can, so lets shake things up a little.

I planned on waiting a full year to win over any doubtful minds that my messages of musical importance are in fact in good taste and possessed intellectual content. I figured I would play it safe with my song choices, the songs I have already gone through leave little doubt in the minds of rational people that I am obviously right to preach about their artistic wonder. But I am a man that likes to stand out, and since I already worry the risk running dry and boring it is high time I shook things up a little with a song a little more out of the ordinary.

Seatbelts is a musical group that is more or less out of Japan, though there members are many and from all over the world. Headed by Yoko Kanno they consist of somewhere between thirty to forty members, maybe more. The name “Seatbelts” came from the somewhat humorous express quoted by Miss Kanno herself, “we have so many styles within the band, you’d better strap on your seatbelts.”

Naturally like nearly everything out of Japan these days commercialism is how I came to know of Seatbelts. A lot of groups in Japan only really make it big do to their influence on soundtracks for animated series. You may have noticed the obnoxious amount of anime on television in the last five years. Well I liked Japanese animation before it was cool, way back in grade school, when I was still a kid and ironically anime for the most part was far more mature. Animation when done well is really nothing less then video art, and back ten plus years ago if I wanted to see something that actually contained subject matter that didn't completely insult my young intelligence I needed to look to Japan, or Fezetta and Bakshi but there movies were few.

Two of my favorite animes were hosted with the works of Yoko Kanno and her crew, “Macross Plus” and the now famous “Cowboy Bebop.”

Commercialism leads to second rate garbage, usually. The integrity to make music can easily be jaded when a pressure from outside money based influences push along the artistic project. However, as I am often caught saying, restriction often breeds true creativity. Anyone can create art if they throw random color on a canvas, and then lie about the meaning behind it all, but given a strict ridged objective and then finding a means to convey that message, meaning, or emotion is not only more challenging but often offers the greater creation. Who says creativity lacks structure, balance, and logic? Go back to hell with your random garbage. It comes out of you involuntarily, much like vomit and it shares the same value.

Macross Plus was a sequel to the infamous, “Macross, Super Dimensional Fortress” also know as “Robotech” in North America. Macross Plus however easily stands alone since any continuity that lays in mystery from original to the new is of such little importance the plot and characters remain wholly intact in the eyes of the viewer who does not know. The overall four part series is about rivaling test pilots that also share a common love interest, the fight each other in their transforming jets that take the form of humanoid battle suits. Obviously Macross Plus lies in the genre of science fiction. The music chosen is thus created appropriately, very techno and pop based are all the tracks, not my style of music at all, but as far as music of that sort goes I have to admit Macross Plus has a decent soundtrack.

Cowboy Bebop is where Seatbelts really shinned him my eyes.

Now anyone, who says to me, “I know about Cowboy Bebop, I saw the movie,” spare me your ignorance. The movie was nothing more then one long episode, and not a particularly good episode. Not bad, but not great.

The last anime I truly enjoyed, was naturally created back 1997, of course I wouldn’t see it until 2001-2002 when it finally came to late night cartoon television. It was also the last time I would dare say this about a TV show; “The entire project was a piece of art.”

Cowboy-Bebop, country-hip hop, a clash of styles. Well the entire series carried that subtle and simple side factor through beginning to end. The TV show was a western sci-fi about two bounty hunters living in a big ship in space, one was an older retired cop who was patient and responsible, the other a younger hot headed former Mafia hit-man that never, and I mean never, talked about his past. I’ve seen many a western television show try to rip off Bebop since 97 but they all pale in comparison.

The art style for each episode varied appropriately, from comedic, to jazzy, blues, western, samurai, heavy metal, drugs, mobster, and outer space. Every fight scene was in sync with the music, characters actually moved to music, and painfully subtle hints were given out to the main overall plot though never clearly stated. It was a show that rewarded the viewer who paid attention and further awarded the viewer to have the insight to connect the dots. They never really explain why Spike and Vicious hated each other so much; but you knew they really hated each other.

You can understand why I am so taken by Yoko Kanno can’t you? Each episode needed a different song to go with a clashing style of genres and themes, who else could do it except a group with forty members ranging from pop singers to opera singers, blues guitar players, to orchestra piano players, heavy synthesizer to Austria choir.

I am no big fan of jazz but they wrote some great jazz for the opening theme.

I like the blues a little and you might have guessed a moody show like Bebop contained a lot of blues.

The overall “cowboy” theme with the bounty hunter being named “cowboys” forced some country into the mix.

Lighthearted episodes were more techno and pop oriented, highly experimental… and not always for the best.

Do I need to explain the significance of an episode titled “Heavy Metal Queen”?

What they did with the Cowboy Bebop score was nothing shy of impressive. The final episode came so fast that to do this day there is an army of angry, nerdy, fans that are pissed about how it ended and that it did end. Frankly I couldn’t be happier with how it ended. It was powerful; it left me wanting more but excepting I couldn’t have more.

I don’t think I would dare describe in full the intricacies of the ending, why ruin it, and why ramble on more then I already have? But the final song for the ending credits for the last episode stung with power that is rarely obtained in anything.

The song “Blue.”

Simple enough name isn’t it. Holds only little literal meaning, symbolically, zounds.

I’m not sure I can describe Blue, but I’m going to try. It would be a pop song… it would be if not for the presence of the choir. It is fairly electric, with heavy synthesizers, but it is light and easy listening. A really, really, good pop song? I would almost say so, if not for the choir, it adds such a unique element to the song, the young voices… so beautiful, yet so haunting. The somber tone in the singer’s voice so morbidly depressing yet so hopeful and uplifting. It is such a brilliant clash of styles.

Never seen a bluer sky,
Yeah I can feel it reaching out,
And moving closer.
There's something about blue.
Asked myself what it's all for,
You know the funny thing about it,
I couldn't answer.
No I couldn't answer.

Things have turned a deeper shade of blue,
And images that might be real,
May be illusion,
Keep flashing off and on.

Free. Wanna be free.
Gonna be free.
And move among the stars.
You know they really aren't so far.
Feels so free.
Gotta know free.

Please Don't wake me from the dream.
It's really everything it seemed.
I'm so free.
No black and white in the blue.

Everything is clearer now.
Life is just a dream you know,
That's never ending.
I'm ascending

If you know Cowboy Bebop well enough you know those lyrics are very appropriate which means all the more Yoko Kanno and Seatbelts took the subject matter of the series into consideration when creating the perfect soundtrack. It may not be the best music ever, but it is the very best music for Cowboy Bebop. Then again a song like Blue, it is pretty awesome. It is really like nothing I have ever heard before. Blue is something so rare now of days, something truly original.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin

A great live performance:

The Scorpions - Crossfire/Deadly Sting Suit

It was the year 1999. Klaus Meine and Rudolf Schenker wanted to do something special for the turn of the millennium. For years they had thought about applying their music to an orchestra combining hard rock with a classical touch. Unfortunately, in a way, Metallica beat them to the punch, for even though Klaus and Rudolf had thought about such a concept album well before the fated S&M album was recorded, Metallica was much faster at producing a final product. Still there is no reason why two rock legends can’t do something similar.

The Scorpions are the most successful rock group to ever come out of Germany, and easily, believably the greatest. Founding members Rudolf Schenker (lead guitarist) and Klaus Meine (lead vocals) are the only two original members of the band left and as well, as I am sure you could have guessed the visionaries and leaders of what is The Scorpions.

Despite the massive success The Scorpions have had worldwide they are, tragically, mostly known only for their overplayed single “Rock you Like a Hurricane.” Still I am sure most of you have heard many of their other excellent singles such as “Wind of Change,” “No One Like You,” “The Zoo,” and “Can’t Live Without You,” just to name a few. However few of us here in North America realize just how successful and respected The Scorpions are. Not just within Germany but all across Europe and likely other locations across the earth The Scorpions are considered one of the greatest classic rock groups of all time. Usually they are held on accolades comparable to “The Who,” or even “The Doors,” which in my humble opinion is about as great as a compliment as one could ever receive. As far as musical ability and progression of the fine art of rock and roll I feel these standards The Scorpions are held too are perfectly justifiable.

It was the year 1999. The two leaders and visionaries of The Scorpions decide their special project for the new millennium should be their long dreamed project of teaming up with The Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra and kicking ass.

Honestly I was never very impressed with Metallica’s S&M album. It seemed like a great idea for a great band but when I actually listened to the album after it came out, it seemed like nothing more then a sub-par live album that happened to have some violins added into the mix. I believe a lot of the implementation of the orchestra felt forced and unnatural. There was so much potential with the concept of adding an entire orchestra with classic rock songs, but when it came to putting the parts together I have to say I believe Metallica failed. S&M is still a really good album, because even a sub-par live Metallica album is pretty good.

“The Scorpions live with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra; Moment of Glory 2000” would be the album to rock my socks off. It may be the single greatest live performance by The Scorpions and they also happened to have a highly skilled and highly talented orchestra with them. They redid classics like “Hurricane 2000,” “Wind of Change,” “Still Loving You,” “Big City Nights,” and “Send Me a Angel,” and for the most part made them better then the originals. There are two original songs for the album “Moment of Glory” which is sadly a pretty bad song no matter how you look at it, and the best song off the album “Deadly Sting Suite.”

“Crossfire” was a little virtually unknown track off their album “Crazy World,” they decided to redo this song in a big way. The simplistic drumbeat of the original version yielded itself perfectly to experimentation. They dropped all the lyrics out of the song reducing Klaus Meine’s role to playing one of the eighty instruments in the song, which somehow I just know didn’t bother him too much. “Crossfire” plays into the track “Deadly Sting Suite,” thus why I have ripped a mp3 of both tracks as one for this month’s review. Where “Crossfire” is an excellent example of taking an old song and making it into something new and mind boggling awesome, “Deadly Sting Suite” is the powerhouse of the album. All of a sudden the trumpets are roaring, the violins are spindling, and the glockenspiel steals the show with fast paced precision. Never thought I would be talking about a glockenspiel in such a manner and frankly I never get bored of talking about it, as funny as this is, this is no joke, that glockenspiel is wicked.

To this day “Crossfire/Deadly Sting Suite” is my favorite instrumental. Rudolf Schenker shows off some of his best work in his career with a rapidly changing tempo and style through out the song. The song builds up gradually, allowing the listener to fully appreciate the implementation of every instrument and the crucial role they play in making the greatest effort off the album. It feels like a journey well worth taken as the song grows towards a complex and extraordinary epoch.

You can’t buy “Moment of Glory” in North America, but HMV will gladly ship a copy in for you, that’s how I got mine. It is one of those albums that is so meaningful to me, not only because it is a phenomenal album that ranks among my ten albums on a deserted island list but it is like a diamond that I discovered. No one had any idea The Scorpions did this project here in Canada, just me online one day screwing around, and I found gold among a pile of rocks. Albums like “Moment of Glory” and songs like “Crossfire/Deadly Sting Suite” are why I started to do the monthly music in reviews, so much godly awesome music is out there and someone has to find it. Might as well be me, when I fall in love with something I learn every last detail there is to know, so I make a pretty good musical fanatic. I like it. I consider it an honor.

This month I’ve added several more emails to the monthly music in review mailing list, as I suddenly recall I have more friends then I previously thought. As always if you are one of my new listeners and are dissatisfied with your free service, or simply don’t want a smart-ass brain-lord shoving his opinions, rants, and ravings down your throat every month just let me know and I’ll leave you alone. I’m very negotiable that way.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin “The Brain-Lord” Kelly

John Lennon - Working Class Hero

I remember back in Cayley grade school. That’s where I was when “alternative” music became main stream. It took little thought on my behalf to recognize that ‘alternative’ would mean more often the not an alternative for rock music, or put more bluntly it was an alternative for good music. So I spent the majority of my teen years listening to Led Zeppelin, Pink Floyd and The Who, when life gives you lemons….

Back then Greenday was just a new and untalented punk band. They became popular because the sound they accidentally created could be credited as somewhat original and also it fit in with the new wave of alternative music. Furthermore angsty teens at the time identified with them since both were deliberate attempts to break away from the norm for no reason at all. Sadly those were the good days….

Back then Greenday was nothing more then a sub par group that could easily be ignored and just as easily forgotten. But now, with their aggressive selling out they are hard to stomach even in small dozes.

Greenday sold out.

Don’t listen to Greenday, their dumb ass fans, or the liberal thinkers of North America who praise Greenday as a politically and socially aware group with something to say. Nothing could be further from the truth. Telling everyone how dumb George Bush is after he has an approval rating below 30% is not controversial; it’s safe. Pretty easy to be daring when you know at least two thirds of the country agree with you, or more accurately put when you agree with two third of the country you can be sure whatever you say will be well received.

Don’t get me wrong, I am against George Bush and his cabinet as much as the next person is. I was one the first people I personally know to say out loud that I thought the Iraq war was stupid, but unlike the current drama queens at the time I was optimistic. I hoped America went in got Sadam and got out. Made no sense why they were targeting him, sadly he was the lesser of evils in the Middle East compared to Iran and Saudi Arabia’s dictatorships, but still Sadam is easily evil enough to warrant execution. My optimism evidently failed, and now the war is a shit show and I keep wondering why they continue to damage their already tarnished reputation by staying where they are clearly not wanted, not by the Iraqis or even their own American populace. I fully agree with Eddie Vender when he said, “When you start a war for reasons that turn out to be false you deserve to lose you job.” Well done Eddie, you are a politically and socially aware musician.

I was swearing mad when I saw Greenday’s latest music video. Like most untalented musician after getting lucky with a few poorly written accidental hits they can’t come up with much more they just take from someone else. It is called a cover song, and frankly if you were going to cover a song wouldn’t you want to do something new with it, make it your own? Apparently not, since nothing innovate or creative was done whatsoever with Greenday’s John Lennon cover of “Working Class Hero”.

Have you seen the video? Could you literally feel yourself becoming stupider for having watched it? Or like me where you so enraged you were ready to take a flight to Los Angeles just so you could pick a fight with Greenday? The video depicts the current problems in Durfar, which is to my limited knowledge is a brutal civil war, fought primarily due to ethnic differences. The video shows victims who have seen the horrors of ethnic cleansing and genocide. There are many mentions of rape and murder of young people. Terrible stuff, absolutely horrible, and nothing to do whatsoever with the song “Working Class Hero.”

Working Class Hero is a song that describes the feelings of dread in the hearts of youth when they live within a structured society based on class. Massive amounts of information are thrown at you when you are young as well as the demanded importance of discipline. After they have broken your spirit with fear and anxiety then they expect you to be a normal person and think rationally enough to make big decision about what to do with yourself and your life. However John was quick to put a sliver lining in the song, because despite your fears and all the terror society has put in you, you can always be a ‘working class hero’. Just be yourself, work hard, and everything will be alright. It is a very meaningful song. It has nothing to do with genocide or civil war or anything like that. At the same time the crisis in Durfur has nothing to do with working conditions or the class structure.

Sadly Greenday is not wholly to blame for this act of de-evolving human intelligence, “Instant Karma: The Amnesty International Campaign to Save Darfur” is a whole compellation of John Lennon covers that have nothing to do with the tragedy. At least, the profits in theory are going towards benefiting Amnesty International’s campaign to help alleviate the crisis. But if you have any kind of a mind you should know by now that must acts of charity like this are usually just excuses to make money, and this has Yoko Ono written all over it. What do you do when your genius husband dies? Just keep making money off his incredible talent. Sigh.

I got into another rant this month sorry. Don’t compromise your taste with un-innovate modern bands, when in doubt remind yourself how wonderful the classics are.

Until next month, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin