Trollheart

Thanks man! Nice to have someone else comment. We aim to please....

Just heading off to check out your own journal now, as I see you've started one. Keep in touch!

TH

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Trollheart

Hi Jack! I've actually already about twenty albums stacked up reviewed and ready for posting, but I'm thinking of adding "This is the sea" or maybe "Fisherman's blues" -- any ideas? Or should I go for "Dream harder"?

BTW keep an eye out for a review of a John Martyn album soon enough...

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Trollheart

As may have been already mentioned, the worm likes to rock! And what better way to do so than all over the planet? Yep, today the Daily Earworm brings you the mighty Quo, with “Rockin' all over the world”. Shake that head, baby!

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Random Track of the Day
Saturday, September 17 2011

As the vagaries of fate would have it, today's Random track comes from an album I already reviewed (and was less than impressed with), Snow Patrol's “Songs for polar bears”. The album was only selected for review by me as part of the “Spinning the wheel” section, where I promise to review the album that comes up randomly, no matter my feelings on it. Hey, if this music really is for polar bears, no wonder they're in danger of becoming extinct! This is one of the slightly better tracks on the album, but it sure doesn't make me no fan!

Starfighter pilot --- Snow Patrol --- from "Songs for polar bears" on Jeepster



Like most of the material on the album, this just did nothing for me. I begin to wonder if “Chasing cars” is one of those rare songs where it's the only good one by the band? This is a sort of indie-rock bopper, and if you want to read more about it check my review earlier, under “Spinning the Wheel”.

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It's the weekend, and it's raining outside, so time to cross the rickety rope bridge to that dark and foreboding castle on the hill, sidle past the three-headed guard dog (do you realise what it takes to feed a dog with three heads?) and enter the dark, dank vaults of my record collection, to see what other sort of weird and off-the-wall stuff I sometimes listen to. The management will not take responsibility for any nervous breakdowns which may occur as part of this section. You have been warned.

Let's have something really weird to start off. If you thought “Star Trekkin'” from the last edition was strange, you ain't seen nothin' yet! Here's my favourite character from the Simpsons (and, I suspect, most people's), the villianous Charles Montgomery Burns, and one of the very best Simpsons musical numbers, “See my vest”. With German subtitles: how's that for weird?!


My favourite song ever, full stop. I just love “Summertime”, and there have been so many, many versions of it down the years, but this is probably the most authentic and evokes the real feel of the song. It's two legends --- Louis Armstong and Ella Fitzgerald, from a simpler time...


Ooh, I really don't like Britney Spears! I hate everything her music stands for, but this song forces me to like it, so make of that what you will. I'm going to hide in a dark place now till you all go away....


This is just so weird! Whatever happened to Landscape? Here they are with their big hit, “Einstein a-go-go.”


You really can't get much weirder than Hawkwind, but this is just way out there. From the album “Church of Hawkwind”, this is “Fall of Earth City”. Freaky!


Okay, that's enough weirdness for one weekend. I'm off back to my home planet, but the journal will continue to be updated by my cyborg attendants. Until next time....

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Gary Moore

(Note: that image restriction thing again! Have to split this up into two sections once more. Apologies...)
Anyone who knows me will know I like to headbang with the best of 'em --- though I've considerably less hair these days! --- but I am also very partial to a nice slow song. And they don't just crop up on those “Love is...” type albums, either. Nearly every artist whose music I own has written at least one slow song, and the aim of this new section is to take a particular artist and give you an idea of the sort of slower, ballad-like songs they do. To present, as the title says, the softer side of that artist.

First up, it's the late Gary Moore, known for his frenetic guitar playing, rocking anthems and of course that solo from “Parisienne Walkways”. But that isn't the only slow song he possesses in his collection. Oh my, no.... Let's take a journey through his extensive catalogue and see what delights we come across.


Grinding stone (1973)
Technically released as “The Gary Moore Band”, this was nevertheless Gary's first real solo album, and has one good slow track on it, a really nice track entitled “Sail across the mountain”.



Back on the streets (1978)
Where it all began, really, with the solid gold classic “Parisienne walkways”, written by Gary and Phil, who are no doubt jammin' in Heaven right now.



Corridors of power (1982)
A great ballad from “Corridors of power”, this is “Always gonna love you”.


Another excellent ballad, one of three on this album, “Falling in love with you”.


Without question the best track on “Corridors of power”, this is the epic “I can't wait until tomorrow”.



Dirty fingers (1983)
There's only the one ballad on “Dirty fingers”, but it's a hell of a track. Here it is, the heartrending --- especially in the light of the loss of Gary --- “Rest in peace”.



Victims of the future (1984)
Gary's excellent 1984 album “Victims of the future” does however only contain one ballad, but it's a true classic, and one of his best: “Empty rooms”.



Run for cover (1985)
Really the closest Gary ever came to writing a pop song, and the closing track on the "Run for cover" album, “Listen to your heartbeat” really should have been a hit single. It wasn't, though.



Wild frontier (1987)
“Wild frontier”, in addition to being a rocker of an album, boasts no less than four slower tracks, and this is Gary's celtic-themed lament, “Johnny boy”.


The excellent “Crying in the shadows”


And the equally excellent “Strangers in the darkness”.


And ending up with the heartrending instrumental, “The loner”.



After the war (1992)
Sounding very like “The loner”, and with definite elements of “Parisienne walkways”, this is “The Messiah will come again”, an excellent instrumental taken from the album “After the war”.



Still got the blues (1990)
The title track from this album is a total classic blues ballad.


And this is a track I featured in my recent 9/11 anniversary tribute, another great blues track, “As the years go passing by”.


And let's not forget “Midnight blues”...

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After hours (1992)
From “After hours”, this is a great little blues number, rather appropriately titled “The story of the blues”.


And another great ballad, with some cool horns, this is “Separate ways”.


Another great blues track, this is “Jumpin' at shadows”.


Probably the best slowie from “After hours”, the lovely “Nothing's the same”.



Dark days in Paradise (1997)
A beautiful track from “Dark days in Paradise”, truly magnificent. “Like angels.”


A powerful ballad from “Dark days in Paradise”, this is “Where did we go wrong?” Very Heart-like vibe to this. Fan-tastic solo at the end!


The epic closing track from “Dark days in Paradise”, it's called “Business as usual”. I think this has to qualify as one of, if not the longest Gary Moore tracks, clocking in at a massive 13:30!



A different beat (1999)
Gary Moore in a cool, funky mood for “Surrender”. Oooh yeah!



Back to the blues (2001)
A real blues tune from “Back to the blues”, called “Stormy Monday”. Can't find a studio version on YT, so this is live from the Montreaux jazz festival.


Another great blues track, with melodies very reminiscent of his huge hit “Parisienne walkways”, this is “Picture of the moon”.


And a great instrumental called “The prophet”.


A nine-minute epic, total laid-back ease and grace in “Drowning in tears”.



Power of the blues (2004)
If you had asked him when he was alive, Gary would have told you “That's why I play the blues”.



Old, new, ballads, blues (2006)

If nothing else, this proves Gary was an Irishman! “Gonna rain today”.


A beautiful little ballad, sounds like it was written for his daughter, this is “Flesh and blood”.


Perhaps a message to his heartbroken fans? “No reason to cry”, though we did.


Cool with a capital “C”, it's “I'll play the blues for you”.



As close as you get (2007)
Another great blues track, this time from “As close as you get”, some great organ work too on “Have you heard”.


Another from “As close as you get”, this is called “Evenin'”.


The truly excellent “I had a dream”.




Bad for you baby (2008)

Gary's final album before his untimely death earlier this year, “Bad for you baby” features some good slow tracks, including this one, “Holding on”.


This amazing ten-minute blues slowburner, a cover of the old Blood, Sweat and Tears classic, “I love you more than you'll ever know”...


… and this one, another blues ballad, this is “Did you ever feel lonely?”


The last track on the album, so technically the last studio song Gary Moore ever recorded, and man is it a good one! “Trouble ain't far behind” is a fitting legacy left by a man who lived, ate, drank and slept the blues.

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Random Track of the Day
Sunday, September 18 2011

Ah, like I said with Queen a few days before, you can't keep true class down! Our last RTOTD for this week comes from just the sort of band you want to listen to on a quiet, peaceful Sunday afternoon. Yeah, it's what Sundays are made for! Iron Maiden, from their second album, “Killers”, with “Wrathchild”.

Wrathchild --- Iron Maiden --- from "Killers" on EMI


The only thing about it is that it's Paul Di'Anno on vocals, and while he's good, he's nowhere as good as Bruce Dickinson. But this is from “Killers”, the second Iron Maiden album and the last to feature Di'Anno, and one which really put them on the metal map during the eighties. Songs like “Murders in the Rue Morgue”, “Drifter” and of course the title track all helped earn Maiden a whole legion of fans, and lift them to superstardom among heavy metal acts. “Wrathchild” is typical of the Maiden songs of that period, before they extended themselves into more progressive areas with deeper and more thoughtful themes on albums like "Number of the Beast", "Piece of mind" and "Powerslave", but this is a good, heads-down, out-and-out rocker.

Watch for an in-depth feature on Maiden soon...

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The worm, having rocked till he dropped for the last few days, goes all electronic pop today, with the great Eurythmics (probably one of the most misspelt band names since Lynyrd Skynyrd!) and a track that although it didn't feature in the film, was shown before it (at least on the video I watched), “Sexcrime (Nineteen eighty-four)”.

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(Disclaimer: anyone under 30 years old will not get the following reference...)
Who loves ya, baby? Everyone, apparently. Although surely one of the worst choices for a cover version ever, Telly Savalas' version of David Gates' “If” reached number one, higher in fact than the original version by Gates' own band, Bread! But here's the kicker: Savalas' version was spoken, not sung!

Now, I love “If”. It's a great, great love song and one of my favourites, and it has been covered many times. The version by TV's “Kojak”, Telly Savalas, was in fact the first time I heard the song, and so I was completely blown away when I heard Bread's version, and realised it could be sung! Retrospectively, Savalas' version is terrible: he sounds bored, half asleep, and reading from a cue card. There's no emotion in the song (such as it can be called a song), and though the instrumentation is great, it does a huge disservice to a major classic love song.

I can only assume that with “Kojak” popular on TV around the mid-seventies, people bought this as a novelty record, wondering if he could sing. On the basis of this cover version, no he can't, or if he can, he doesn't here.

Anyway, here are the two versions, original first. Make up your own mind as to whether or not Kojak committed a crime...

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