A Circus Full of Freaks and Clowns

You have to see the world for what it is:

a circus full of freaks and clowns

and you'll never please everybody,

it's a well established fact',

he said, 'I recommend a fifth of Jack

and a bottle of Prozac.'

ProzaKc Blues - King Crimson

Changes

I've received the other day an email related to a certain situation in my country. This situation is presented as new each time it comes into discussion. It is always about changes, but those kind of changes seems to be perpetual, and every time they start from the very same spot they've previously started...

Speaking of changes, here are two versions of Black Sabbath's song: the one played by the band, and another one performed by Ozzy Osbourne and his daughter Kelly Osbourne. You might want to listen to them on a rainy day...

Considering that Ozzy is the main voice in both versions, which is your favorite one?

Enjoy!

Child in Time

There were LPs, then cassettes and video tapes. A major change in sound quality was brought to us by compact discs (Philips and SONY), the famous CDs!

The very first song that I was listening to, played on a CD player, and using headphones, was Deep Purple's Child in Time. It was, and will be an everlasting experience!

Do you remember your similar experience?

Many of my posts on this rock blog bring together different performances of the same song, and this is no different. You'll find, below the original, Yngwie Malmsteen's cover with a homonym name in a characteristic (guitar) interpretation. Enjoy!

Avantgarde Acoustic

In order to experience at home a concert alike feeling, one may need some speakers. Well, not any speakers! Some Avantgarde speakers, where purity meets performance!
My mind is blown by this unique horn design, and as soon as my thinking was restored, I was willing to share this information with you!
Read more about Avantgarde Acoustic ™ Hornloudspeaker GMBH. You'll be surely amazed!

PURITY – Our mindset

PERFORMANCE – Our passion

Roger Waters - The Wall, Bucharest, August, 28, 2013

Some more pictures here: THE WALL

And here are some older (2007) pictures from DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

To France

Years ago, a colleague of mine used to listen to Mike Oldfield.
Nowadays, listening to Blind Guardian, I came across one of Oldfield's songs, To France, played by this German power/heavy metal band.
Mike Oldfield's version was interpreted by Maggie Reilly, and Blind Guardian's one by Hansi Kürsch (Demons & Wizards).
Usually the original is far better than the remake, only this case is some sort of a new interpretation, so I would say that both versions worth attention!

Demons and Wizards

Demons and Wizards is a power metal band, formed by the vocalist Hansi Kürsch from Blind Guardian and the guitarist Jon Schaffer from Iced Earth.

I have reached their song Fiddler on the Green while searching something related to folk metal.

Blind Guardian - The Bard's Song

Iced Earth - Anthem

Dropkick Murphys

I "discovered" the powerful sound of Dropkick Murphys while watching Martin Scorsese's "The Departed".

At first, Dropkick Murphys reminded me about Skyclad, then, some of their songs, about The Clash. Being from Quincy, MA, so Americans, results quite a mix: American Celtic punk!

Beauty and the Beat, Bucharest - postponed

We've received that sad news about Tarja's severe case of laryngitis in front of Sala Palatului, Bucharest, when we expected to enter to the show. Now we have a video confirmation from Mike Terrana. Fortunately this illness is temporary! I am glad that the show was postponed and not cancelled!

We are barely wait for The Beauty and The Beat, so get well soon, Tarja!

See you on the 7th of May!

Best health wishes to both of you!

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

Politicians vs. Musicians: 1 - 0

No matter how powerful musicians' messages are, the politicians' ones seem to resonate better with the masses. Ronnie James Dio and Ozzy Osbourne duet along with Black Sabbath are performing War Pigs with such kind of message.

Politicians hide themselves away

They only started the war

Why should they go out to fight?

They leave that all to the poor

I also posted A Powerful Message a week ago, the one sent by Motörhead to politicians:

Just 'Cause You Got The Power, that don't mean you got the right!

Useless to translate it, just pass it on! \\m//

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.

 

History of The Eagles

The new two-part documentary, HISTORY OF THE EAGLES - The Story of an American Band, will make its television debut on Showtime.

Part One: Friday, February 15, at 8 PM ET/PT.

Part Two: Saturday, February 16, at 8pm ET/PT.

A documentary by Oscar, Emmy, and Grammy Award-winning producer, Alex Gibney.