The Best I Can - Queensryche

Reading "an exercise of imagination" on "living life, step by step" about a single option left, this being "to be your best version of self, today", my mind went to Queensryche's Best I Can (album: Empire).

I won't be torn between

The man in the chair

And the man that's in my dream

I'm going to melt the two men into one

I won't let go, gotta make the grade I set

No, I won't let it go

To be the best man,

the best man that I can

http://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/queensryche/bestican.html

Shroud of False

We are just a moment in time,

A blink of an eye,

A dream for the blind,

Visions from a dying brain.

I hope you don't understand.

Song: Shroud of False

Band: Anathema

Album: alternative 4

The album title refers to the "Alternative 3" television programme and book. In interviews, the band mentioned they found "Alternative 3" too depressing so they came up with "Alternative 4", which is the album concept.

Encyclopaedia Metallum: The Metal Archives 

Soldier of Fortune

I've watched this clip of Soldier of Fortune a couple of years ago, and right now I am listening to it again. Back then I liked the nail clip idea, and now, after a few conversations on Ibanez guitars with a guitarist friend, I've noticed that the one in this clip is made by this manufacturer.



Music: Deep Purple
Album: Stormbringer (1974)
Song: Soldier of Fortune
Label: Warner Bros. Records
Lyrics:

I have often told you stories

About the way

I lived the life of a drifter

Waiting for the day

When I'd take your hand

And sing you songs

Then maybe you would say

Come lay with me love me

And I would surely stay

But I feel I'm growing older

And the songs that I have sung

Echo in the distance

Like the sound

Of a windmill goin' 'round

I guess I'll always be

A soldier of fortune

Many times I've been a traveller

I looked for something new

In days of old

When nights were cold

I wandered without you

But those days I thougt my eyes

Had seen you standing near

Though blindness is confusing

It shows that you're not here

Now I feel I'm growing older

And the songs that I have sung

Echo in the distance

Like the sound

Of a windmill goin' 'round

I guess I'll always be

A soldier of fortune

Yes, I can hear the sound

Of a windmill goin' 'round

I guess I'll always be

A soldier of fortune

Paranoid in the Sky

On a sunny summer day, the clouds surrounded the city, showing their power. Their shape reminded me of Paranoid's album cover (Black Sabbath). Well, it is not a perfect copy, yet the sword is there in the sky!

(c) Mihai Midus 2015

(c) Warner Bros., 1970

PR: Tarja announces new studio album to be released in August 2013

Great news in just a few words:

PR: Tarja announces new studio album to be released in August 2013

A Powerful Message

You think that life's all dollars,

Greed and lust and spite,

But I wasn't born to follow,

Like to get my sleep at night,

Just 'Cos You Got The Power,

That don't mean you got the right

Artist: Motörhead

Album: Nö Sleep At All

High Hopes

Pink Floyd (without Roger Waters) released "The Division Bell" back in 1994. The album is David Gilmour's version of some sort of battle between Gilmour and Waters, a battle of lyrics, a battle of musical notes and guitar tabs. It is a new version of Us and Them: Me and You, where "me" is Gilmour and "you" is Waters...

High Hopes is one of the tracks of this album, a track played in their own style by Nightwish some 11 years after. Both interpretations are shown below.

Chose the one you like, or play both and compare them. The choice is all yours!

As for me... I have tickets both for Roger Waters' The Wall (28th of Aug. 2013) and Tarja Turunen's Beauty and the Beat (11th of Apr. 2013)!

Strange World

The other day I was told by a mate that he doesn't listen to a certain kind of (foreign) music because he doesn't understand the lyrics. I think it was his excuse for not liking hard rock or heavy metal. I did not wanted, and I did not ask for, an apologize simply because I do not care what music my mates love or hate (as long as it is quality music), and they don't have to listen to the same kind of music I am listening to.

Anyway, even so, if one wants to understand the lyrics prior to feel the sounds of music, well then, he/she needs poetry, not music. Music is a particular feeling, no matter if supported by lyrics or not. Great lyrics behind the music gives even more power to the music, but the sound is the one which creates the music, not the lyrics!

Listening to Iron Maiden's homonymous album (1980), the sounds of Strange World captured my attention. This song sounds very psychedelic to me. There is another song with a very similar approach on this album: Remember Tomorrow.

More than lyrics, when a song is linked to a good movie, the inner feeling is complete. Searching for an appropriate video for Strange World, I have found one with scenes from Ladyhawke.

 

Bowie vs. Helloween - Space Oddity

Helloween's version is quite a perfect remake of David Bowie's Space Oddity!
What do you think?

Artist	Album
David Bowie	Man of Words/Man of Music
Helloween	Metal Jukebox

Where Are We Now - 2013

On January 8, 2013, quite without fanfare and out of the blue, David Bowie did something nobody really expected. He released a new single entitled 'Where Are We Now' and announced the release of a new album in March. The album, 'The Next Day' is Bowie's 30th studio album and his first new album in 10 years.

davidbowie.com

There are many great Bowie songs, but my all time favorite is Space Oddity. I wonder which is yours?

DREAMER DECEIVER

Tonight another "battle", a battle called: "Dreamer Deceiver".

He said in the cosmos is a single sonic sound
That is vibrating constantly

By chance, a few years ago, I've came over Dreamer Deceiver, a Judas Priest's cover (the third song from the album Sad Wings of Destiny) performed by Skyclad. The original sound of Skyclad, turned the original song into a much more powerful one. It is one of that few situations in which the cover is (way much) better than the original. Judas Priest's (and even metal ballads) fans might argue with my point of view. I am not questioning the undoubted value of Judas Priest, I am only put into the balance two version of the same song!

Geoff Tate - Queensryche Split

Geoff Tate talks frankly about Queensrÿche split in the following interview, but he also speaks about his new album, Kings & Thieves.

I am a big fan of Queensrÿche's Operation Mindcrime, but this isn't the reason I am posting these video clips. The main reason is the way Geoff Tate sees the relationship between him and Queensryche. I feel the same kind of relationship between myself and my job. I wonder what comes next with my company, considering its present situation, and what will happen with my career?

Anyways, enjoy the interview and the music!

♠ Motörhead ♠ Ace of Spades ♠

The single best expression of Motörhead's loud-fast-rules aesthetic, "Ace of Spades," also stands as one of heavy metal's all-time greatest anthems.

allmusic by Rovi 

The car chase from Bullitt (starring Steve McQueen) is an excellent choice to outline this powerful song. If you want to go further to the streets of San Francisco, then Film locations for Bullitt is the website to go next!

Us and Them

I just talked with an old school mate about "Us" and "Them". Regarding a particular situation we are facing nowadays (we are working at the same company, only at different branches), "Us" and "Them" sounded quite intriguing, and this kind of "sound" led me to the "sound" of Pink Floyd.

Whenever I start to talk about to music my mind floats away towards the waves of the song, the words vanishes, and the paper (screen) fade to white... So: no more words, just sound! The great sound of Pink Floyd's "Us and Them"!

SAVATAGE - Edge of Thorns

The other day a line from the lyrics of this song came into my mind, so I thought that Savatage deserves more than a post in my blog. This particular album, Edge of Thorns, is olso an excellent one! Enjoy!

And dreams that use to glitter
Safely now hidden under snow

Savatage - Edge Of Thorns Album Lyrics
1.	All That I Bleed Lyrics
2.	Conversation Piece Lyrics
3.	Damien Lyrics
4.	Degrees of Sanity Lyrics
5.	Edge of Thorns Lyrics
6.	Follow Me Lyrics
7.	He Carves His Stone Lyrics
8.	Lights Out Lyrics
9.	Miles Away Lyrics
10.	Skraggy's Tomb Lyrics
11.	Sleep Lyrics
12.	Labyrinths Lyrics
13.	Exit Music Lyrics

Savatage Lyrics provided by SongLyrics.com

Pink Floyd - The Animals

ALL ANIMALS ARE EQUAL
BUT SOME ANIMALS ARE
MORE EQUAL THAN OTHERS

How about it? While thinking about it, take a few minutes and listen to Pigs, from The Animals, a Pink Floyd album.

Three of a Kind

The other day I was listening to Last of a Dyin' Breed, the track that gave the name of Lynyrd Skynyrd's newest album (Roadrunner Records, 2012).
Starting from it, I've jumped to one of their classics: Free Bird. The way the sound "evolve" during the song made me search for Stairway to Heaven (Led Zeppelin), and, subsequently, for Child in Time (Deep Purple).

When I am talking about the "evolution" of the sound during each of these three songs, I mean that your ears will be "prepared" with a gentle sound at the beginning of the song.
Then, step by step the tempo and the intensity of the sound are increasing until it reaches the climax which lasts exactly how it should last: no less, no more.
In the end, you will be spared of a rough transition back to reality, the sound comes down at a level compared to the one it started. It is like the climber which is compelled to come back from the top of the mountain, after he/she enjoyed the view. The pace is a little bit faster to the way back than to the way to the top...

Now I am letting you to enjoy the sounds of these great classic tracks, by posting them in the above mentioned order.