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

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Random Track of the Day
Monday, September 12 2011

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

Resurrection time --- Anubis Gate --- from “Andromeda unchained” on Locomotive



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

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

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

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

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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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


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

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Random Track of the Day
Tuesday, September 13 2011

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

Melody, Op 38 No. 3 --- Edvard Grieg --- from “Lyric pieces, Book II ”



I've always loved Grieg's work, ever since I heard “Peer Gynt”, especially “Morning” and “In the hall of the Mountain King”, but this is a short little piano piece, somewhat reminiscent, I believe, of Chopin's work, but then what do I know? Nice little piece though, very relaxing, and check out the pianist in the YT! She looks about twelve! Hey, the way these people practice from age zero, I guess she could be! Her name's Marusia Petrova, so I guess she's from Russia or some eastern bloc country. Wish I could play like that. Wish I could play....!

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Listen without prejudice, volume 1 --- George Michael --- 1990 (Columbia)


Let's be clear on one point: I was never into Wham! Few guys I think will admit they were, but I genuinely hated the band, and I use that term very loosely and grudgingly. They stood for everything I despise about music, and I was glad when they broke up. I had to amend my opinion though when George Michael went solo. There was a lot of his work I didn't like --- mostly the dance stuff --- but by gum he knew how to write a ballad! So although “Faith” passed me by, I decided to take a chance when his second solo album came out, mostly on the recommedation of my boss at the time.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRACKLISTING

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

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

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Is feidir linn! Yes we can! Feature another Irish album, that is! Been a while now, so let's have a look at what my homeland, the emerald isle, the land of saints and scroungers --- sorry, scholars! --- has produced over the years that you may have missed hearing, or even knowing about.
Stuck together with God's glue --- Something Happens! --- 1990 (Charisma)


Another great Irish band, who could have been the new U2 perhaps, but it just didn't work out. This was their second album, and four years later they had essentially broken up. They still reform to play the odd gig but are not officially a band anymore. If nothing else, they've left us with the best ever acronym for a tour, with the Something Happens Irish Tour!

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRACKLISTING

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

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THIRD SPIN

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

Icon Acoustic TV Broadcast --- Wetton/Downes --- 2008 (Frontiers)


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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

TRACKLISTING

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

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

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

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


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

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

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


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


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

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