Friday, November 2, 2012

Vol. 3 Episode 45



Foxes have been picked up by Sony Music Entertainment. There is a full album that will be released in the UK next summer. I will have to find a source to get a copy of this album because she has put out such great music so far. I will also have to hunt for a physical release of the first single from that album called Echo. I haven’t seen any released info about this single other than it is supposed to be released on the 11th of this month, November.

Because of the storm that happened on the east coast some of my favorite record companies are falling behind on releases. Devildance Records is finally going to get the vinyl edition of the new Let Me Run album, Mad/Sad, out but it has yet been delayed because of the storm. I can only assume that the Whirr/Anne split double 7” from Run For Cover Records is delayed for this same reason at the moment. I wish all those who have been affected by this storm the best and that they all get back on their feet quickly.

Something else that I didn’t expect was that last weeks review of the Graveface charity release came with MP3 versions of the records. I got the links in an email just a couple days ago. I was pleasantly surprised and did not expect this at all.

I have realized, a week later, that I did not put up a graphic or a purchase link for the Bob James album that I reviewed last week. If you are interested it has been corrected.

On with the show...

This is the first in a set of five 7” records that My Chemical Romance (MCR) are releasing as part of an unreleased album that they had been sitting on for a while. Originally they were not going to release this album at all. They instead released Danger Days: The True Lives Of The Fabulous Killjoys. They originally did not think that this album was good enough to release. The lead singer has been listening to the songs that are forth coming for a while now and made a decision to have the songs released in this special format, a 7” box set. These two tracks on this 7” are the first two to be released from the box set. The record itself is orange. I don’t have it yet so I couldn’t say if it was solid or translucent yet.

The first song from this released is called Boy Division. It is a fist pumping hard rock song that is classic MCR. It has flair of their second album, Three Cheers For Sweet Revenge. That was my introduction to the band this sits right for me in so many ways. I use to skateboard when I was in my twenties and this was the sort of motivating music that I would listen to in order to get me pumped up to attempt to do tricks that my anxiety would not let me attempt. It is one of those songs that makes you want to get up and do something physical. It is a really good lead off track for an album.

The second track is called Tomorrow’s Money. This track has the same type of driving beat as the first song but this one goes through some creative changes musically that differentiates it from the A side track. One of these things is a staccato break down that happens at the beginning of each of the choruses. The other is the bridge that has a upward moving chord progression just before the choruses. I also like the complete break down in the middle of the song with a slow build to a very cool guitar solo that then goes into the chorus again. All in all it is just as good of a song as the A side of this record.

I would recommend these two tracks to anyone who likes current hard rock.

This is Elton Johns’ Seventh album. It was released in 1973. I picked this record up over the summer. What I really want is the greatest hits CD but when you come across a rare gem like this how can you say no to just a couple dollars for a double album if good condition. Most fans regard this album at the top of his career as a musician. Personaly I would agree. Bernie Taupin, Elton Johns’ lyric writer, wrote this album in two and a half weeks, while John wrote the music in three days while staying at the Pink Flamingo Hotel in Kingston, Jamaca. The album was then recorded by the band at the Château d'Hérouville in France. There were so many songs that were good enough that the album became a double album.

There were multiple singles released from the album. The first single from the album is called Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting. This is truly a sweet rocking song. It is something that I would have never expected from Eldon John but it works so well. It is right next to the hard rocking, I want to be physical and do something kind of a song.

From Wikipedia: The song was one of the few John-Taupin songs that Elton said wasn't a "typical piano number." According to John's recollection in Elizabeth Rosenthal's His Song: The Musical Journey of Elton John, it may have been written on the piano at first, but the song ended up being recorded somewhat in reverse to the normal way he records, with the band putting their tracks down, and Elton overdubbing his piano afterward. (John's typical process at the time, and to a large extent before and since, was to either record the piano first or play along with the band. "Saturday Night ... " represented a departure from that process.) Elton called the song "hard to record."

Goodbye Yellow Brick Road is another great single released from this album. It was inspired by the 70s soft rock sound that was pushing its way through at the time. It was obviously inspired by The Wizard Of Oz as well. This movie was the first movie that writer Taupin had ever seen and is what the song is about to him. There is something special about this song to me but it is just that I have heard it so many times and I grew up during the time of soft rock in the 70s. I guess this song is comforting to me because of that.

The third single is called Candle In The Wind. It was written to honor Marilyn Monroe who had passed away eleven years prior. The lyrics of the song are a sympathetic portrayal of the life of Marilyn Monroe. (The song's opening line "Goodbye Norma Jean" refers to Monroe's real name.) Taupin was inspired to write the song after hearing the phrase "candle in the wind" used in tribute to Janis Joplin. During a concert on 7 April 1990, at Farm Aid IV, John dedicated the song to Ryan White, who had been suffering from AIDS. White died from AIDS complications the next day. This song has always been a very emotional song for me. It doesn’t matter if it is the original or the remixed version that was put out in the 90s. Because of the different dedications that have been done with this song it has so much meaning in so many different ways. It is usually to someone who has passed away though so it brings memories of old friends or famous people that have passed away. It is very hard for me not to tear up when this song comes on.

The fourth single that was released from this album was Bennie And The Jets. The song tells of "Bennie and the Jets", a fictional band of which the song's narrator is a fan. In interviews, Taupin has said that the song's lyrics are a satire on the music industry of the 1970s. It is about the greed and glitz of the early '70s music scene.

From Wikipedia: After recording the song in the studio, John and the band worried that it was too plain and unoriginal. In the Eagle Vision documentary on the making of "Goodbye Yellow Brick Road," John himself recalled, "I fought tooth and nail against 'Bennie' coming out as a single." According to guitarist Davey Johnstone, "'Bennie and the Jets' was one of the oddest songs we ever recorded. We just sat back and said, 'This is really odd.'" While mixing the album, Dudgeon came up with the idea of creating a "live from Playhouse Theatre" sound for the track. He added reverb effects, applause and other audience sounds from John's previous concerts and a loop from the Jimi Hendrix live album Isle of Wight, plus whistles, giving it the "live concert recording" feel that has since become a sort of trademark.

Harmony was supposed to be the fifth single released from this album but because it was getting close to the released of the next album the song was never released as a single. It was released as the B side to Benny And The Jets so it did get some air play from radio stations still.

This is the thirteenth album from Genesis. It was released in 1986. This is an album that I had never thought of purchasing but I always thought that the singles from it were fantastic. I have never really been a Genesis fan either but liked most of their singles still, especially those that had an associated video, me being a part of the 80s video generation.

There were five singles released from this album. The first of which is the title track, Invisible Touch. This is the most successful single in the band's lengthy history. The Song came about during a jam for the second part of the song Domino, Rutherford playing a riff while Collins improvised the line "She seems to have an invisible touch".

The second single is called Throwing It All Away. The song is a soft rock ballad. It is structured around a guitar riff by Mike Rutherford, who also wrote the lyrics. I have never really been a fan of ballad rock songs. There are a few exceptions but this is not one of them. It is a good song but it just doesn’t do anything for me. The video wasn’t even that great, it was just footage of the band on the Invisible Touch tour.

The third single released from this album is called Land Of Confusion. This song was very good but the video was what was really important with its politically charged stance. The song's video featured puppets from the 1980s UK sketch show Spitting Image. After Phil Collins saw a caricatured version of himself on the show, he commissioned the show's creators, Peter Fluck and Roger Law, to create puppets of the entire band, as well as all the characters in the video. The video is paramount to the 80s MTV generation.

The next single released is called In Too Deep. This is another slow song from the group. I was not a fan of the song but the chorus is very catchy. Even though I hated the song the chorus was so easy to memorize because it was catchy. The video for this one was simple. It was the group on a set with multiple platforms and a grand piano. Tony Banks plays the piano even though the song features an electric piano sound. The other members of the band mime the other instruments that are played in the song. There is nothing special about this song to me.

The last single released from this album is called Tonight,Tonight, Tonight. The song is one that I remember very well. I think that it may have been because of the synth sound that was used over the top of the song. I have always had a thing for synth sounds whether they be standard piano sounds or bizarre electronic sounds. The vocals for the chorus are very catchy on this song as well making it easier to listen to than most of the slower songs on this album.

This is one of Genesis’ better albums and I recommend it with all my heart.

This is the sound track to the movie Xanadu. It was released in 1980. The album features songs from both Olivia Newton-John and the group Electric Light Orchestra (ELO). The original LP version has Olivia Newton-John songs for the movie on the A side and the ELO songs on the B side. Although the movie was a big flop the sound track had some of the greatest singles on it.

The first single released from the album was Magic from Olivia Newton-John. The song has a special place in my heart with the synth keys and her smooth vocals. That combined with the talk of magic, which has always interested me even though I know that magic doesn’t exist in this world. It is still nice to dream of such things making life easier and harder at the same time.

The second single released is the title track for the album/movie, Xanadu. It is a collaboration between Olivia and ELO. It is the song that was on the end credits of the movie. It is essentially a disco track with a great beat. It is not my favorite song from the album but it is up there with the best from the album.

The next single from the album is called I’m Alive From ELO. There is a super cool spacy intro on the beginning of the song that has nothing to do with it. When the song kicks in it smoothes out like crazy and becomes something warm and 70s like. The song is used in the movie as the muse, Olivia’s character, comes out of the painting that she was in.

The last single released from this soundtrack is called AllOver The World. It is another disco infused song that features vocals from Olivia, Gene Kelly and Michael Beck. It is another great song that The New Radicals took ideas from with their hit single, You Get What You Give. This is another great single from this soundtrack.

This soundtrack is really amazing and is something that I think should be heard by everyone at least once to make your own decision.

That is all I have for now...

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