This is hilarious. AI has been perfected when it can make you laugh.
Turing test question: Did the AI intend to make us laugh?
Author: Time Lord
progarchy.com
Van Weezer: “Hero” (Zoom Era Anthem)
This one is for the stay at home dreamers, the zoom graduators, the sourdough bakers, and the essential workers.
“Hero” — the new single from Van Weezer — is out now.
Pass it on: https://Weezer.lnk.to/hero
Alex Lifeson on Big Sugar’s “Eternity Now”
Alex Lifeson plays on the title track of Big Sugar’s new disc, Eternity Now.
Gordie Johnson gives the details in one interview:
ME: How did the collaboration with Alex Lifeson of Rush come into fruition?
We’ve been pals for decades so all I did was call him. The title track ETERNITY NOW was heavily influenced by my love of Rush so it seemed like the time to make the call. I figured if he was involved I wouldn’t have to explain myself later. I asked him to play a guitar solo (he agreed) but he also sent a number of overdubs that made the song even Rush-y-er(?) He’s a total sweetheart and a mentor. We love Lerxst!
And also in another:
AC: I put the record on the other day and I thought I made a mistake. It sounded like I’d grabbed a Rush record from 1988.
GJ: [Laughs] Make no mistake, my friend. That was not an accident! [Rush guitarist] Alex Lifeson is on the title track. He’s on the title track of my life and career trajectory. He was one of the first supporters of Big Sugar and one of the greatest mentors that I’ve had. And he’s such a down-to-earth chill guy. He saw us coming up, liked our music, and would do things like “Hey, man, here’s a double-neck guitar. Why don’t you take the Xanadu guitar and use it for a while?” Like, who does that?
So I texted him and I had to explain myself because it’s such a Rush knock-off. I got the Taurus Moog pedals in there and gave it the full Moving Pictures treatment. But he not only sent me a wicked guitar solo but a bunch of overdubs–acoustic guitars and banjos and all kinds of other production to put in the track. It got way Rushier. And I’m good with it.
Classic Metal Class – Episode 1
This video is an excellent meditation on classic heavy metal and it is well worth your time.
Like any serious course of study, it comes with significant homework: namely, this truly excellent discography, compiled by Gregory B. Sadler, Ph.D:
Black Sabbath
• Black Sabbath (1970)
• Paranoid (1970)
• Master of Reality (1971)
• Vol. 4 (1972)
• Sabbath Bloody Sabbath (1973)
Deep Purple
• Deep Purple in Rock (1970)
• Fireball (1971)
• Machine Head (1972)
• Who Do We Think We Are (1973)
• Burn (1974)
• Stormbringer (1974)
Led Zeppelin
• Led Zeppelin II (1969)
• Led Zeppelin III (1970)
• Led Zeppelin IV (1971)
• Houses of the Holy (1973)
UFO
• UFO 1 (1970)
• UFO 2: Flying (1971)
• Phenomenon (1974)
Uriah Heep
• Very ‘Eavy …Very ‘Umble (1970)
• Salisbury (1971)
• Look at Yourself (1971)
• Demons and Wizards (1972)
• The Magician’s Birthday (1972)
• Sweet Freedom (1973)
• Wonderworld (1974)
Budgie
• Budgie (1971)
• Squawk (1972)
• Never Turn Your Back on a Friend (1973)
• In for the Kill! (1974)
Judas Priest
• Rocka Rolla (1974)
Scorpions
• Lonesome Crow (1972)
• Fly to the Rainbow (1974)
Flower Travellin Band
• Satori (1971)
• Made in Japan (1972)
• Make Up (1973)
Sir Lord Baltimore
• Kingdom Come (1970)
• Sir Lord Baltimore (1971)
Bang
• Bang (1972)
• Mother/Bow to the King (1972)
• Music (1973)
Alice Cooper
• School’s Out (1972)
• Billion Dollar Babies (1973)
• Muscle of Love (1973)
Blue Oyster Cult
• Blue Öyster Cult (1972)
• Tyranny and Mutation (1973)
• Secret Treaties (1974)
Granicus
• Granicus (1973)
Montrose
• Montrose (1973)
• Paper Money (1974)
Amboy Dukes (with Ted Nugent)
• Call of the Wild (recorded 1973)
• Tooth, Fang, and Claw (1974)
Aerosmith
• Aerosmith (1973)
• Get Your Wings (1974)
KISS
• KISS (1974)
Rush
• Rush (1974)
Pentagram
• First Daze Here (2001 release of 70s material)
Now, go do your homework! (Thus spake Progarchy.)
After you watch the above video, here’s a summary of the first lesson (also compiled by Gregory B. Sadler, Ph.D):
1970 – A Seminal Year For Heavy Metal
February 1970
Black Sabbath release Black Sabbath
June 1970
Deep Purple release Deep Purple In Rock
Uriah Heep release Very ‘Eavy Very ‘Umble
September 1970
Black Sabbath release Paranoid
October 1970
Led Zeppelin release Led Zeppelin III
UFO release UFO 1
September 1970
Sir Lord Baltimore release Kingdom Come
Other important developments and processes:
- Jimi Hendrix dies, and Jimi Hendrix experience dissolves.
- Budgie, Iron Claw, Thin Lizzy, Judas Priest, Blue Oyster Cult, Flower Travellin’ Band, Scorpions, Alice Cooper, Amboy Dukes are all playing and producing music, some of which is heavy metal.
- Aerosmith, Necromandus, and Bang formed.
If you want to write a midterm exam, Progarchy invites you to reflect and then answer these two difficult questions:
- What is the definition of heavy metal?
- Where is the origin of heavy metal to be found?
On the latter question, Progarchy recommends that you also read the excellent essay over at Angry Metal Guy about the first Black Sabbath album, which begins thus:
Black Sabbath‘s eponymous 1970 debut might well be the ultimate Yer Metal is Olde entry. Besides being unquestionably metal, it’s also as Olde as Yer Metal can possibly get. Because, despite what a small minority of Coven and/or Blue Cheer fans might say, the release of Black Sabbath marks the birth of heavy metal itself as both a sound and a fully-formed aesthetic. (Some argue High Tide‘s 1969 debut, Sea Shanties is the actual birth of metal, and there is a wicked guitar tone on that album.) Infamously recorded in a single day, the album is more or less a live performance by a young band that was just starting to discover its own power.
If you doubt this album’s influence, just take a listen to the opening title track. That initial three-note riff — you’re hearing it in your head right now — informed everything that would follow, from Judas Priest to Metallica to the entire “doom” subgenre. Vocalist John “Ozzy” Osbourne then enters with an anguished vocal counterpoint, which completely separates this track from any blues or jazz that preceded it. The faster section of this song could be considered a precursor to NWoBHM and eventually thrash metal, although Sabbath would pioneer that more thoroughly with songs like “Symptom Of The Universe” later on. I don’t even need to mention that the song literally mentions Satan by name, decades before black metal bands were casually name-checking the big red guy.
The rest of the album, while not quite as terrifying, is still a fascinating listen. …
And here’s a link to the book discussed in the video above that approaches the subject with academic rigor:
Rock on, children of the grave!
Pallbearer, Heartless @pallbearerdoom
While you are on a spending spree over at Bandcamp today, be sure to pick up a copy of Pallbearer’s amazingly proggy doom rock masterpiece, Heartless.
I love this album and have listened to it far more than most other albums I own. Everything about it is artistic perfection. Don’t miss it.
“Bread and Yarn” @District97 & a Progarchy video essay
“Bread and Yarn” is my favorite track from District 97’s Screens album.
Just now they have released a killer high-concept video to complement it.
As a live band, District 97 is a riveting thrill ride, always fully seizing your attention.
For example, check out this tight and nimble cover of Genesis at RoS fest:
Just like all the best bands (for example, Rush, Yes, Genesis, etc.), District 97 is so skilled as musicians that they will impress you equally both on disc and live in concert.
For example, “Snow Country” is a brilliant track, whether you listen to a live version or to the studio version on In Vaults.
Then again, you may just say of anything by them that you love it even better live, because of the breathtaking musicianship wondrously displayed in real time.
Whether they are covering King Crimson, or anything by Bruford, you are presented with definitive proof that District 97 is today’s upper-echelon prog band.
Leslie Hunt’s vocals are always stunning, as she is consistently one of the best rock and jazz singers on the planet.
Thankfully, District 97 leaves plenty of room for her to rock hard.
Open you eyes, and open your ears, to one of today’s greatest bands.
Prog on, District 97.
You are truly contemporary prog’s rara avis.
Glass Hammer, “The Dreaming City” @GlassHammerProg
This new track from Glass Hammer is freakin’ awesome…
Don’t miss their amazing new disc Dreaming City, to be released during Easter Week (and now shipping).
If you loved Chronomonaut, then this new album is definitely also for you.
Man, I totally loved Chronomonaut, and in my review I pronounced it their finest album ever.
Glass Hammer amazes by constantly taking things to a whole new level with each new album.
The heaviness promised on Dreaming City thrills my prog metal heart, so stay tuned and get ready to rock 2020 with me at maximum volume…
Are you ready for… Jazz Sabbath?
Are you ready for… Jazz Sabbath?
Groovy tunes for chillin’ inside during a pandemic…
Check out the hilarious documentary too…
Bob Dylan: “Murder Most Foul”
What the fork?? Bob Dylan releases a song 17 minutes long… “Murder Most Foul“… Holy prog, Batman!
BTW: You can assemble the original “Blood on the Tracks” from “More Blood, More Tracks”: select tracks 69 (CD5, No.3), 71 (CD5, No.5), 34 (CD3, No.3), 76 (CD5, No.10), 48 (CD4, No.2), 16 (CD2, No.5), 11 (CD1, No.11), 59 (CD4, No.13), 46 (CD3, No.15), & 58 (CD4, No.12).
Get ready for @WhiteCrone on 22/02/2020!
Great sounding tracks below from White Crone!
No hype, definitely as advertised: ‘White Crone’s The Poisoner delivers Traditional Heavy Metal, with traces of prog, proto & doom. Featuring soaring Dickinsonian female vocals, epic dual guitars, thunderous drums & (most especially) iron-fisted bass guitar, The Poisoner will take you “back to the day.”‘
Progarchy 