Pink Floyd - High Hopes

“The grass was greener,
The light was brighter,
The taste was sweeter,
The nights of wonder,
With friends surrounded,
The dawn mist glowing,
The water flowing,
The endless river,
Forever and ever.”

The upside to being dead is people finally start appreciating you. Syd Barrett, a mess of a man and not a great song writer, but he’s dead so people really think he’s great. Dave Gilmour, amazing song writer, fantastic musician, still alive, no one spares a word of praise. It’s not fair, and honestly I think it’s cruel as well as stupid.

I have always lived by the philosophy that if you want to be honest with the world that means two things, saying both the complementary and condescending things about people and things, and I would consider it rude to wait until Dave Gilmour passes away before I gave him the credit he so richly deserves.

Most anyone will tell you the driving force behind Pink Floyd was Roger Waters, and they’re right, Waters was without question the most talent musician and song writer in Pink Floyd, but the second man was clearly always Gilmour.

I always felt sorry for Gilmour, he played lead guitar (arguably the most important role), he sang vocals, and was strong in the song writing process for Pink Floyd, but people tend to remember Waters more so as the lead man of Pink Floyd, but that is fair, Waters was huge in song writing, bass guitar, and vocals, involved so much he did somewhat eclipse Gilmour’s awesome contributions. That’s not what upsets me, what upsets me is something else.

You see Pink Floyd hates each other. Most of the animosity seems to be between the two champions of the band Waters and Gilmour. Now think of this, how many songs did Pink Floyd write about missing Syd Barrett? The answer is like ten or twelve, including an entire album titled, as you know, “Wish you were here.” As history will remember when Syd Barrett destroyed his brain it was Dave Gilmour who stepped in and replaced him, and that single key element, changed everything; Pink Floyd was Waters, Mason, Wright, and Gilmour, not Waters, Mason, Wright, and Barrett, but on numerous occasions Waters was quoted saying how much he wished Barrett was there... you know instead of Gilmour. Gilmour even had to sing songs about how the rest of the band “Wish you were here,” he basically had to sing songs about how the rest of the band indirectly wished he wasn’t there. I always thought that was really sad, it seemed like the rest of the band never appreciated Gilmour as the talent and friend he was, at least that’s now it always seemed to me at this long distance from musicians to fan.

I got some feedback from March’s part 1, Music in Review, mentioning albums like “Animals,” which is a good album, but I never really got into it. If I had to pick a fourth best album for Pink Floyd, after the obvious three, it would have to be “The Division Bell.” It seems like no one agrees with me on this and the albums of choice for Floyd these days are “Animals,” and “Meddle,” but I stand by my choice. What I never realized until recently is that Roger Waters left Pink Floyd in the 1980’s and Pink Floyd carried on as a three piece band without him, recording their last two studio albums “A Momentary Lapse in Reason,” and “The Division Bell,” both of which were heavily written by Dave Gilmour. That was the final reason for me to take a step back and give a shout of admiration and respect to Mr. Gilmour, those were really good albums, all the more impressive knowing how late they were created in Gilmour’s life, as I have stated before it gets harder to write really good music as you get older, as eventually you run out of ideas.

Maybe it has something to do with the time I got into Pink Floyd, around 1995 or so, and “The Division Bell,” came out in 1994, so I was exposed to several of the tracks when I bought their live album “Pulse” (1996), several of the tracks performed were from Floyd’s last two albums, and damn I really liked them, especially “High Hopes.” I played “High Hopes,” at work, and as am I constantly disappointed with people not a single person had idea what song it was, even other Pink Floyd fans. Now, you, my friends, will know and remember this great track, and do yourself a favour and listen to “The Division Bell,” its Pink Floyd’s fourth best album, I swear.

Just listen to “High Hopes,” and you can hear the bitterness and sadness in Gilmour’s voice. Being a rock star never ended up being glamorous and sweet for Pink Floyd, they lost a close friend, struggled for a long time to get support from critics and fans alike, refused to sell out and were punished for it, and in time they even grew to hate each other. It’s amazing that music so beautiful could come from such anguish; there are no words to describe it really.

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

- Colin Kelly

Pink Floyd - Shine on you Crazy Diamond

“Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.”

I grow up listening to Pink Floyd and Led Zeppelin; these were by far my two favourite bands.  I started listening to Pink Floyd when I was in the sixth grade or so around 1996.  The general consensus among everyone, radio DJs, music critics, casual fans, hardcore Pink Floyd fans, and me, was that there were three pinnacle albums to own by Pink Floyd “Wish you were here,” “Dark Side of the Moon,” and “The Wall.”  I was always curious about their other eleven albums but with few exceptions I never really got into them.  One day I had the mixed fortunate of catching “Piper at the gates of Dawn,” on much music retro, and all I could think was “what is this shit?”  I then learned that the general consensus was also that, Syd Barrett sucked.

When Pink Floyd started out they did not have David Gilmour as lead, they had a drugged up idiot named Syd Barrett.  Syd Barrett went on to do acid every day for a year and after guess what, brain damage.  Roger Waters, Richard Wright, and Nick Mason really missed their friend but carried on with Gilmour anyway.  Everything made sense, Syd Barrett did drugs and wrote bad music and as soon as he was gone the rest of Pink Floyd got their act together and produced three of the best classic rock albums of all time, makes sense right?

Then Syd Barrett died.

Barrett managed to live to the age of sixty 1946-2006, and at the time of his death humanity being the shallow petty creatures we are for some reason had to pretend that Barrett’s life meant more than a stupid ass who destroyed his brain with drugs, idiots started to believe he was a genius, and slowly but surely I started to hear people say that Pink Floyd was nothing without Syd Barrett.

How could anyone possibly believe that?  Pink Floyd without Syd Barrett became arguably the second greatest rock band of all time, how could the junk produced beforehand even be compared to the powerhouse triptych of “Dark Side of the Moon,” “Wish you were here,” and “The Wall.”  It’s amazing the lies people tell themselves to feel better about death, even the death of a man they never knew and had no reason to like.  But the story gets worse; I slowly realized that Pink Floyd took a long time to get their act together after Barrett’s demise, three albums to be exact.  You see Syd Barrett’s involvement in Pink Floyd really only existed on their first album “Piper at the gates of Dawn.”  He was sort of around for the second album “A Saucerful of Secrets,” but by that point he was brain dead.  So when people kiss dead people’s asses and tell you Syd Barrett was the real genius of Pink Floyd they are indirectly telling you that “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” is a better album than “Wish you were here,” “Dark Side of the Moon,” and “The Wall,” combined, and seriously how is anyone that stupid?

To be perfectly honest, “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” isn’t terrible, but that’s the problem with greatness, we aren’t comparing “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” to the average musical album, or even the average classic rock album, if we were it would be below average and we would be done with it, but we have to compare it to the rest of Pink Floyd’s discography and compared to everything past “Meddle,” “Piper at the Gates of Dawn,” is garbage.

Something good did come from Barrett’s existence however, and that was the positive impression he left on Roger Waters.  Waters is inarguably the main man behind Pink Floyd and apparently he really loved his friend Syd, not only does Waters constantly give Barrett credit for lots of his own hard work, but wrote multiple tributes to his friend. 

The most memorable tribute to Syd Barrret was the album “Wish you were here,” with the title track quite point blank referring to Barrett.  The cover art should have given away something as well, two men shaking hands goodbye, one of them on fire. 

Pink Floyd’s music was always psychedelic, long adventures into the minds of calm madness, and the best song on “Wish you were here,”  to capture that is “Shine on you Crazy Diamond,” another song about Syd. 

Thanking Syd Barrett for Pink Floyd is like thanking anthrax for Louis Pasteur, or thanking slavery for Mark Twain.  While the members of Pink Floyd may hold Syd Barrett and all they shared with him dear it was not Syd Barrett who was a friend to them, rather Pink Floyd was the best friend of Syd Barrett, we would have no idea who Syd Barrett was if it wasn’t for them, they also loved him so much they wrote some of the greatest classic rock music ever about him.

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

- Colin Kelly

Arcade Fire - Sprawl II

This month the Grammys happened. While all the fake musicians patted themselves on the back for doing a terrible job, doing their best to convince themselves that they were more than just corporate prostitutes, something interesting happened, “The Suburbs,” won the album of the year.

Because of this development I gave a closer look. After looking over all the nominees for this year’s “best album,” all I can think is now could anything but “The Suburbs,” win? It was the only remotely good album nominated. All insults towards popular culture aside, I’m just happy someone artistic, creative, and good is beating the odds and getting the recognition they deserve, way to go Arcade Fire, you’re so damned awesome that even the brainwashed can’t ignore how great you are, and for that I applaud you.

“The Suburbs,” is fantastic, and worthy of album of the year, I mean no one is going to nominate “The Wicked Symphony,” so I’ll never be completely satisfied, but I’ll take what I can get, and if I had to pick a close second it would have been “The Suburbs.”

“The Suburbs” flows like “Funeral,” something that was lost somewhat in “Neon Bible,” so this again makes picking out an individual song difficult, but that’s not the only thing it has in common with “Funeral,” the narrative content is very similar in many ways. Remove the fantastic element of the frozen post apocalyptic world, and you have “The Suburbs.” A much more realistic story emerges, with the element of children growing up and feeling alone a returning theme. One critic stated that Win Butler’s musings on the topic of growing up in “The Suburbs,” doesn’t yield enough content to fill a sixteen track concept album, and all I have to say to that critic is, listen to the album, clearly no problem. If something more is being said in the narrative then just Win’s reflection of his youth it eludes me, this seems an album of self reflection on one’s own childhood and nothing more. Growing up is something we all do, so unsurprisingly, there is plenty content within the album we can all relate too.

I was very impressed with Regina Chassagne on this album. The wife of Win Butler and backup singer for the group, (I’m pretty sure she plays piano on some songs as well), she really steps up in my opinion. On “Funeral,” she was very much a backup singer, but her involvement has been growing, and I thought it was something to note on “The Suburbs” that two of my favourite songs on the album had her taking the lead vocals.

I really like the beat and feel of “Sprawl II (Mountains Beyond Mountains),” a really good song about not fitting in, and an interesting celebration therein. So that is my song to represent “The Suburbs,” it was a hard choice, but I really like this song, especially the childlike view of the city and the people in it, it is one of the things Arcade Fire does best, remembering the awe and wonder we felt when we were young.

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

- Colin Kelly

Arcade Fire - Rebellion (Lies)

I should have started the double feature a long time ago, because now I kind of feel like I’m stating the obvious, The Arcade Fire – “Funeral,” is a really good album. In January 2008 I reviewed Arcade Fire – “No Cars Go,” I wanted to talk about “Funeral” but “Neon Bible” had just come out and it felt more relevant to talk about that album. Now I know I should have done both, because that’s what I’m doing now.

For those of you who live under a rock “Funeral” is one of the best albums to come out in the last twenty years. In a rare moment of human intelligence it is actually agreed upon by many that The Arcade Fire is an amazing musical group, critics love them, they have a very strong fan base, and they are winning awards all the time. Rarely both the critics and the popular consensus get it right, but they seem to have pulled through this one time.

So what is there for me to say really, Arcade Fire are awesome? You should already know that.

Arcade Fire’s first album “Funeral” was a true masterpiece, their best album to date in my opinion. Rich with fantastic musical content, but also tell something of a narrative from song to song. There is something beautiful about the childlike imagination that goes into albums like “Funeral” that I truly adore. What if a snowstorm caused the end of the world, killing off all the parents, leaving only the children to rebuild? They would delight in the freedom and winter fun at first, and slowly realize the gravity of the situation. It’s a lot of heavy ideas especially when considered from the point of view of children, would they really appreciate what had happened, and when things got ugly in the post-apocalyptic society how would they cope? Well listen to the album and find out. You can appreciate the inspiration for the album from lead man Edwin (Win) Butler, being from Texas, where I’m sure he never fit in, moving to Montreal, and seeing snow for the first time, he may have thought, “Holy crap this could destroy civilization!”

It’s hard to pick a favourite song from the album since, they are all so good, and also, the songs flowing from one another creates a connection between songs making them harder to disassociate. Like any great story you need an intriguing beginning, “Neighbourhood #1,” and climatic middle, “Rebellion (Lies),” and a gripping end, “The Backseat.” I could just as easily do three music in reviews dissecting each song, but for the sake of your reading convenience I’ll pick just one. While I have always believed in breaking traditional story telling habits and feel a strong end is the most important part of your story (leave them wanting more right?) it is much easier to pick the middle in this example, the classic climax of any story, and also there is less back story to absorb.

“Rebellion (Lies)” stands alone fairly well, as it is a song that is about death and loss in general, rather than any particular specific death or loss. Opening lyrics “Sleeping is giving in, no matter what the time is. Sleeping is giving in, so lift those heavy eyelids.” I challenge you to find a more poetic way to say “don’t die.” Of course the song takes on a whole new level of significance once you remember the setting, children coming to terms with death. Another lyric I particular like is the chorus “Every time you close your eyes (lies lies)” there could be something being said about objective reality there, I have felt for a very long time children (and idiots) struggle to differentiate dreams from reality, the appeal to believe our dreams are more than just images in our heads but really real exists, but it takes some measure of maturity to accept waking life as rigid reality.

“Funeral” is a great album we are all richer for it.

Until tomorrow, keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly

Uriah Heep - Only Human

Uriah Heep may have a relatively small following but a very dedicated one, and it must be nice having that to fall back on. Whenever they feel like releasing a new album they know it well sell well enough to make a profit, and, more importantly, get the attention they desire to share whatever message they want with an audience who are sure to appreciate it. That sounds like a good life.

Uriah Heep has existed for forty years now. Considering the band has gone through seven drummers, six vocalists, six bass players, and five keyboard players, it is impressive that guitarist Mick Box hung in there and really stuck to the name Uriah Heep for forty years.

To “Celebrate” the forty year voyage, Uriah Heep released a fortieth year anniversary album called “Celebration.” It was a fourteen track album consisting of twelve classic songs from their early years and two original songs. All twelve reprised tracks, including last month’s music in review “Lady in Black” sound as good as or better than the original recordings. Every track is more refined largely due to the fact that the overall quality of production is better, which makes sense; recording technology has improved dramatically in the past forty years. Also it is nice to hear the modern line up record studio versions of the classics they have been performing live for years.

The first track on the album is “Only Human,” and predictably it was the first track I heard on the new album. It was a catchy song, simple in design like most of the Uriah Heep classics, and thoroughly pleasant. The chorus runs smoothly and upon the third listen, or so, I started hearing the verses more explicitly. I had heard many of these phrases before and at first I dismissed them as coincidence until they ran together in a way that was clearly a message I had heard from someone before, and that really meant something to me. I couldn’t help but fall in love with the song.

This is one of those feel good about your life songs, strength comes from within, and your dreams can come true, kind of songs. It’s a very good and pretty damn rocking for a bunch of guys in their sixties. I was impressed, not a lot of bands can produce really good material after forty years. Most people just run out of ideas... they’re “only human after all.” Being able to create even one new gem to the hit list is very impressive for a band as old as Uriah Heep it’s almost worth celebrating over. All in all “Celebration” was one of my favourite albums of 2010, very well done you old rock and roll souls, very well done.

Until next month keep on rocking in the free world.

- Colin Kelly

Uriah Heep - Lady in Black

Original:

Celebration:

If a respected rock and roll magazine were to publish a list of the top 100 songs of all time, what would you expect to see at the top? Led Zeppelin - Stairway to Heaven, Neil Young – Keep on Rocking in the Free World, Black Sabbath – Paranoid, Aerosmith – Dream On, stuff like that right? Well it depends where you live.

If you lived in Finland you would swear up and down 80’s one hit wonder Europe (The Final Countdown) was actual a fantastic rock band with a must have discography. If you live in Romanian you probably consider Isis to be gods. If you lived in Japan you may consider songs about “Super Robots” an appropriate sub genre of rock and roll. If you live in Canada you actually know who the Tragically Hip are. If you live in central Europe you would consider Uriah Heep one of the greatest bands of all time.

I was watching Uriah Heep videos on youtube and started reading the comments left by others. In the live video for “Lady in Black” there was a long conversation between people from Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Hungary, and Denmark, going on, and on, about what they considered the three greatest songs of all time. Reoccurring songs included, Led Zeppelin – Stairway to Heaven and Black Sabbath – Paranoid, makes sense so far right? Also Nazareth – Holy Roller and of course Uriah Heep – Lady in Black. I’ll talk about Nazareth some other time.

I knew Uriah Heep was popular in places like Denmark and Switzerland, that’s how I discovered them, but I never really appreciated how popular they were. Uriah Heep is only kind of know in their home country of England, but is considered one of the greatest rock bands of all time in central Europe, right on par with Led Zeppelin and Black Sabbath, crazy right? On top of that “Lady in Black” is considered one of the greatest songs of all time and has been covered by other rock groups in multiple languages, even by a group of monks who performed a strange chanting version of the song.

You know what? They’re right, Lady in Black is one of the best songs of all time, and no one in North America knows it; that is until now, now about forty of you know it.

It is a very simply song from a performer’s point of view, there is only like three cords for each instrument within the song. If I had a better ear or perhaps I better understanding of the actual workings of music I could probably pick out the specific notes and give an exact calculation of just how simple the song is, but you don’t need that to hear what I’m talking about. Actually it is very similar to the Canon in this regard now that I think about it.

Lastly, the lyrics, the lyrics in Lady in Black are superb, so good in fact I’m just going to give them to you; I haven’t done that in a while;

She came to me one morning
One lonely Sunday morning
Her long hair flowing
In the midwinter wind
I know not how she found me
For in darkness I was walking
And destruction lay around me
From a fight I could not win
Ah ah ah ...

She asked me name my foe then
I said the need within some men
To fight and kill their brothers
Without thought of love or god
And I begged her give me horses
To trample down my enemies
So eager was my passion
To devour this waste of life
Ah ah ah ...

But she wouldn’t think of battle that
Reduces men to animals
So easy to begin
And yet impossible to end
For she’s the mother of our men
Who counselled me so wisely then
I feared to walk alone again
And asked if she would stay
Ah ah ah ...

Oh lady lend your hand outright
And let me rest here at your side
Have faith and trust
In peace she said
And filled my heart with life
There is no strength in numbers
Have no such misconception
But when you need me
Be assured I won’t be far away
Ah ah ah ...

Thus having spoke she turned away
And though I found no words to say
I stood and watched until I saw
Her black coat disappear
My labour is no easier
But now I know I’m not alone
I find new heart each time
I think upon that windy day
And if one day she comes to you
Drink deeply from her words so wise
Take courage from her
As your prize
And say hello from me
Ah ah ah ...

It’s a perfect piece of music, give it a listen and you will hear a perfect sound for a perfect moment, Uriah Heep’s Lady in Black really is that good.

Uriah Heep did a fantastic retooled version of Lady in Black on their “Celebration” album, but that is a conversation for part two of this music in review.

Happy New Year.

- Colin Kelly

Avantasia - Journey to Arcadia

"This plane, with whom I have shared joys and sorrows, is the Arcadia of my youth. I kept flying, believing in myself. I have no regrets about my life. Dreams do not vanish, so long as people do not abandon them.” – Captain Harlock

Space Pirate Captain Harlock and his ship the Arcadia

Arcadia is a province in Greece, in poetry it is a peaceful land of natural beauty. The fall of Rome caused the majority of territories within the Roman Empire to experience a throw back in technology, resulting in what people who are not historians like to call, “the dark ages.” Unlike the majority of Europe, hidden away in the Greek Peloponnesian region rests Arcadia, Arcadia avoided the darkness of the era and had a rebirth of quiet agricultural living. To escape to Arcadia was to escape to peace.

As you can see Arcadia is actually a real place.

Happy Arcadia by Konstantin Makovsky
Arcadia for generations has been thought of a hidden paradise.

I could have focused on the whole escapism angle in my last music in review; “Runaway Train,” clearly is a song suggesting some escape, but I had something else/more to say about that song, so let’s talk about, “Journey to Arcadia.”

I picked up “The Wicked Symphony” and loved it, but I was confused that I could not find part three of the Scarecrow epic, “Angel of Babylon.” They released both albums at the same time in Europe, so why here in Canada did we only get one of the two albums? I looked it up, and apparently I was not the only one surprised by this development, other Canadian Avantasia fans along with HMV employees could not explain the reason why only one of the two albums was made available here. As annoying as that was, this is 2010 and it was easy enough to buy “Angel of Babylon,” at amazon.com. So let us conclude the Scarecrow trilogy by talking about a third song by Avantasia on their third album in the set.

There is a reason at the age of twenty-seven I can still sit through “Wizard of Oz,” in its entirety, it is captivating; the childlike imagination captured there within does an amazing job of saying profound things about life and dreams. Most of us end up trading one for the other; it takes a lot of hold on to both. There is something about dreams of escape, as cliché as it is, be careful what you wish for, a magical world may be far from what you were hoping for, or it may be just too damned weird to enjoy. In time we all learn to trade youth for wisdom, but we shouldn’t have to let our dreams die by the wayside, we can have both.

I like the sounds of Arcadia though. It’s not my dream world by any means, but simplicity, is something I have longed for, for a long time. That is the thing about Avantasia, there is no clear picture of a linear story. There is a great provocation to use your own mind to see it your own way. “Journey to Arcadia,” is one of the softer songs on the album, but I believe it is the best. “The Scarecrow” set an unbelievable standard of quality, “The Wicked Symphony,” was in so many ways the most exciting and intense of the three albums, the conclusion “Angel of Babylon,” is lighter and gentler. Our signature character was so hopeless in searching for a kinder peace of heart, and here at the end waiting both the Scarecrow and us we find the joy of Arcadia. How appropriate “Journey to Arcadia,” is the last track on this journey, it was the light at the end of the tunnel.

Until next year my friends, hang on to a runaway train.

- Colin Kelly

A lonely boy, a handful of dreams
Cold wind blows through a heart wired-in
Open skies he would explore
No there ain't no mastery
Of a passion and a deep blue love

Yearn to see far away places
One day he'd feel two hearts collide
In his eyes tears and desire
But he prays and he swears every night
One day scales will fall from her eyes

Just with a dream
Just with a dream and with a song
On my own I may stumble and fall
It don't matter at all when you're blessed with
Just what's yet to come, what's yet to come

When dogs run barking
And I don't hear no sound
And the sky is as blue
As eyes have never seen it
Then I remember
What I'd have been dying for
Faith rescue my dream
From a role that I've been put in
On their screen

Your eyes, and as I'll look into your eyes
We're at the crack of dawn
Life will stop telling lies
And destiny will know
It's just you and I

Burning feet on the ground
Got my head in the clouds
Journey to Arcadia
And I know I will stand
What I can't comprehend
Journey to Arcadia

The more we see we understand
That there's a lot that we don't know
As you awake on padded ground
The final curtain of the show

Far from the eye but close to heart
No matter how we try
Can't repel the counterpart
Our common bond we can't defy

I've seen them standing at the crossroads
When they were waiting for a sign
And they unlearned to face the silence
As they unlearned to turn inside

You're turning to the sky
And you're dying for an angel
If you want it bad enough, see those eyes
That's where two glances collide

Learn to breathe, learn to crawl
Learn to stand, walk and fall
Learn to lose and to love, to believe, to rise above
Love is more than to love

Burning feet on the ground
Got your head in the clouds
You're out to find Arcadia
And you know you will stand
What you can't comprehend
Journey to Arcadia

The more I've seen I understand
That there ain't nothing that I know now
As I awake on padded ground
The final curtain of the show