Trollheart

The worm always liked this one from the Carpenters, a different sort of song to their usual lovesong fare, this was a tpo ten hit for them in 1977, it's called “Calling occupants of interplanetary craft”.

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Trollheart

One-hit wonders, ya gotta love 'em, eh? Well, sometimes. Maybe. This one the worm does love, not a classic by any means but he remembers listening to it when he was younger. Girl called Patsy Gallant, with “From New York to LA”.

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

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Trollheart: Signature-free since April 2018

Trollheart

Another new section to be implemented now, as first announced by Stacey-Lynn's NewsFoxes last month, this will feature collections of my favourite solos, mostly guitar but they could also be keyboard, piano, even drum if the fancy takes me (not bloody likely!), from across possibly a wide variety of genres, though chances are that rock and metal will feature quite heavily.

Thinking about how I was going to approach this, I didn't want to go through the hassle of creating a separate YouTube video for each solo, so instead I've cobbled together a file with all the solos for the first edition and added an admittedly boring title for them to run under. But you're not bothered about the picture, are you? It's the music we're interested in, yes? So let's get to it.

As YouTube restricts you to fifteen minutes per video, I decided to limit the selection to a total of ten minutes each time. Means I can't put in as many solos as I'd like --- some run longer than you might expect --- but I think we've picked out some pretty decent ones here, not to mention some you may not have heard, heard of, or considered would be included. The video is below, with the running order underneath.




First up we have Journey, who are not always thought of for their brilliant guitar solos, and this is a pity, as Neal Schon is one hell of a guitarist. A fact he proves ably here, with a track from the “Arrival” album, a great solo to close “World gone wild”.


His solo album “Sailing to Philadelphia” may have got its arse kicked only a few days ago in the Last Chance Saloon, but there's no doubting Mark Knopfler's expertise and artistry on the guitar, and here he is in his element with Dire Straits, on the closing track to “Love over gold”, a track called “It never rains.” Bit of organ and piano thrown in there for good measure too!


A real virtuoso on the guitar, this is John Sykes in action on Thin Lizzy's last studio album, the brilliant “Thunder and lightning”, with a scorching solo from “Cold sweat”.


One of my very favourite tracks from Frank Marino's 1982 album “Juggernaut”, this is the powerful and emotive solo that ends “Stories of a hero”.


There was absolutely no way we were ever going to leave Rory G out of this inaugural edition of “Fingers of fire”, but what track of his to pick? It could literally have been any one, and no doubt we'll be featuring him in future editions, but for now, I like this one from “Top priority”, it's “Wayward child”.


Not a band you would have expected to have been included in a selection of guitar solos? Well, just listen to the powerful one that ends their classic “Goodbye to love”, and ask yourself if the Carpenters deserve their place here?

Next time we may mix it up a little, or it may be all guitar solos again, I haven't really decided. Wow, I really plan ahead, don't I?

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Trollheart

Man! You learn something new, I tell ya... The worm always (and I mean always) thought this was a Tom Petty song! But it's not, it's by some crowd called Soul Asylum. Great song even so: this is “Runaway train”. Don't he sound like Mister Petty though?

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Trollheart

Made in Heaven --- Queen --- 1995 (Parlophone)


Posthumous albums by their very nature always come across as cheap, tawdry, disrespectful and an exercise in cashing in on the celebrity who is no longer with us. “Made in Heaven” is the exception to that rule, having been conceived while Freddie Mercury was still alive, but suffering badly from the effects of the AIDS-related condition which would soon claim his young life. Eager that he be working right up to the end, and wanting to leave as much new material as possible, with the eventual plan that it would be released as an album after his death, Freddie recorded as much as he could with his bandmates and the rest was tweaked, added to, in some cases changed completely, and put together with some other material to produce what is, essentially, a tribute to the man and his music, by the people he made that music with, his family in every other sense.

Getting weaker by the day, Freddie was unable to sing on every track he recorded, and here his teammates helped him out by adding their own vocals, overdubbing or supplementing his. Material was also chosen from Freddie's solo projects, as well as Queen material that never originally made the cut, and it was all put together two years after Freddie's untimely death at the age of forty-five, though it would be a further two years before it would see the light of release.

It opens with “It's a beautiful day”, heavy synth and some twiddly guitar before Freddie begins singing, accompanied by himself on the piano, with a sudden surge of powerful guitar and keys from behind. This song was originally recorded by Freddie solo, just messing around, and was rearranged by the band after his death. It highlights Freddie's love of life and the simple things, and is a good track to begin the album with. The title track, then, is taken from Freddie's solo album “Mr. Bad Guy”, again rearranged by Queen for release on this album. It's a powerful, very Queenesque song, with a soaring chorus and powerful guitar from Brian May, great keyboard lines and Freddie singing at his best and most strongest, and a fitting legacy to the man. The usual Queen choral vocals are in the song, and a great little solo by May completes a great little song.

There's a huge gospel feel to “Let me live”, introduced on those familiar vocal harmonies, then it becomes a mid-paced ballad, with the vocal harmonies coming in again from time to time, Freddie's piano tinkling as Brian's guitar matches him, and considering what Freddie was facing, the lyric, indeed the title, take on a particular poignancy. But then, if you want poignancy, the next track is the last Freddie sung on prior to his death. “Mother love” is a slow, moody song, mostly guitar driven with stabs of synth punctuating the melody The lyric paints a heartbreaking story, running parallel to Freddie's struggle against the darkness reaching out to claim him: ”I'm a man of the world/ They say that I'm strong/ But my heart is heavy/ And my hope is gone.” In times of extreme terror, pain or despair, we all reach out to our mothers, be they alive or dead, and so here, Freddie declares ”Got such a feelin'/ As the sun goes down/ I'm comin' home to my/ Sweet mother love”, and the song ends, extremely appropriately, on a baby's cry.

Another ballad then in “My life has been saved”, very keyboard-centric, with what sounds like strings and some tasteful guitar from May polishing the corners, it's an uptempo song with a really nice hook. Again taken from his “Mr. Bad Guy” album, “I was born to love you” is flamboyant Freddie at his most outrageous, a hard rocker with plenty of sass and street-cred, and a new Queen sound for the re-recording released on this album, including May's signature guitar sound. In fact, in many ways May takes over the track, solos and riffs all over the place, and a very good job he makes of it too. Not to be outdone, even as his life began to ebb away, Freddie ad-libs the vocal from “A kind of magic” as well as “Living on my own”, just to add his own touches to the song. What a showman!

“Heaven for everyone” is a more downbeat track, despite the upbeat message. Almost a blues track, it features a change of tempo to make it a boppier, rockier song but then slips back to the low-key mood, almost giving the impression that Heaven is attainable if we would only try, but that we can't see that far and so fail to reach it. It gets powerful and insistent in the middle as May goes off on something of a frenzy with the guitar, but drops back to the laidback, blues approach for the fadeout ending. A song that featured on May's solo album, “Back to the light”, and was also one of his biggest hits, “Too much love will kill you” could be seen as a tribute to Freddie, though it was composed before his death, but it was written by Brian and played at his tribute concert. It's a slow, stately and powerful ballad played on keyboards mostly, almost in the mode of Labi Siffre on “Something inside so strong”. Not surprisingly, May's guitar comes in with a dramatic and emotional solo, almost as if his instrument is crying for the loss of the great man.

Going back to the disco style of “Hot space”, “You don't fool me” is a dancy track with stabs of guitar from May, but very much reminiscent of the sound that almost alienated a lot of Queen fans on that album, and so perhaps an odd choice for selection. Although in fairness they do “rock it up” here much more, with a frenetic guitar solo by May halfway through, but most of the time it comes across to me as Chic's “I want your love”. Weird. The final ballad on the album, “A winter's tale” was composed entirely by Freddie, the last song to have that distinction. Carried mostly on keyboard and synth, it has a really nice fireside feel, almost Christmassy. The instantly recognisable Queen multi-vocals feature in the song, as does a fine little solo by Brian May, and then we're into what is essentially the closer, a retreading of the opener in fact, called “It's a beautiful day (reprise)”, which I have to say sounds exactly the same... until the guitar winds up and the drums come in and the whole thing begins to take off in a much rockier, faster, heavier vein. Yeah, this is different. Eastern vibe on May's guitar adds just that touch of mystery to the song, and it's really more a continuation, even a remix of the original track.

There is one more track. It's called “Yeah” and actually closes the album, but it's literally Freddie yelling the word, and last only a few seconds, so I couldn't really call it a track per se. Nevertheless the word constitutes Freddie's last public words, so I guess for that reason we should allow it.

I can think of no better way that Freddie Mercury's bandmates and friends could ease his passing and allow him to leave this world with the dignity he maintained while on it, than to help him record and sing his last few songs with them, to be released after his death. It could seem ghoulish to some, but I see this as a labour of love, a final wish granted, in essence, the last will and testament of Farrokh Bulsara, whom the world knew and loved, and will always miss, as the one, the only, the irreplacable and the inimitable Freddie Mercury. May he rest in peace.

TRACKLISTING

1. It's a beautiful day
2. Made in Heaven
3. Let me live
4. Mother love
5. My life has been saved
6. I was born to love you
7. Heaven for everyone
8. Too much love will kill you
9. You don't fool me
10. A winter's tale
11. It's a beautiful day (reprise)
12. Yeah

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starrynight

The march from the Marriage of Figaro is alright but I think Mozart did better ones. And from that opera the overture is very famous and the finale to the work is a nice dramatic interweaving of voices and tempi.

I've always like On The Wings of Love by Jeffrey Osborne, it was a hit in Britain at the time. Stay With Me Tonight is good too, though a dance track and not a romantic ballad.

With All About Eve I've liked their famous track for a while, and more recently I discovered Lady Moonlight. Those are the 2 that made a big impression on me. Apparently the performance of Martha's Harbour was messed up on Top of the Pops as she couldn't hear the music, but they had her on the next week to do it properly. Don't think I've heard their last two albums.

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Trollheart

Absolutely the March is not great, but then that's the nature of Random Track of the Day: I have to take whatever comes out. I'm not a huge Mozart fan (my sister is) but even I know that would not be something chosen to showcase the guy. It's just the luck of the draw.

I don't actually know any other Jeffrey Osborne: the worm just needed some artiste beginning with O that wasn't Oasis!

I've spoken at length about AAE; all I have to say is first album great, second album bad, after that I lost interest, which is a pity. Maybe they made better albums, but S&OS bugged me so much that I wasn't prepared to check them out. Yes, I heard the story too: bloody TOTP!

Thanks for commenting!

TH

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starrynight

84 is a bit of a nostalgic year for music for me, I loved some songs a lot from then. Jump by The Pointer Sisters is another of those. As is Sade's Smooth Operator. I remember when I first heard it, I was listening to Radio Luxembourg and I knew it would be big straight away, as did the DJ Andy Hollins. The whole Diamond Life album is great though and it just shows that records that sell huge can also be very good, people don't have to be snobby and ignore them later. Music that you have lived with for a long time becomes part of people's shared memories. I'm not sure I ever go off music that I truly love.

Laura Brannigan herself met an early death, both Gloria and Self Control were covers of Italian songs, the second song having a typically extravagant and inventive 80s video (which may remind some of Eyes Wide Shut, the Kubrick film).

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Trollheart

Would you believe, it's been six months since I last hit this section? About time I threw a few more recommendations your way, wouldn't you say?

Let's kick off with this then: this is from the Gaslight Anthem, from an album of theirs I reviewed a while back and was very impressed with. To be fair, just about every track on it is great, but this is one of the ones I didn't feature in the review. It's called “The spirit of jazz”, and if you don't hear the Springsteen influences in this track, then there's no hope for you (or you've never heard a song by the Boss)...

The spirit of jazz (The Gaslight Anthem) from “American slang” on SideOneDummy


An album I have yet to review, but will, is “The quiet resistance” by Nemesea. Here's a taster from it.
High enough (Nemesea) from “The quiet resistance” on Napalm


One for my mate Ki, from an album he's been listening to recently (or a band at any rate); a short little piece but definitely recommended, from The Reasoning, this is the aptly-titled “Serenity”.
Serenity (The Reasoning) from “Dark angel” on Comet


And one I've just totally fallen in love with, from the latest Stevie Nicks album, this is called “Italian summer”.
Italian summer (Stevie Nicks) from “In your dreams” on Reprise


An album that often gets a little overlooked, because it sort of straddles the transition from prog rock band to pop/rock band, I still think “Duke” by Genesis is among their best. This is the closing track from it --- well, two really, but they flow together as one and end the album really well.
Duke's travels/Duke's end (Genesis) from “Duke” on Charisma


And finally, from another metal band who have really impressed me recently and who I will be reviewing soon, this is Crystal Eyes, who hail from Sweden, with a great track called “The fire of Hades”.
The fire of Hades (Crystal Eyes) from “Chained” on Heavy Fidelity

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