Gettin’ in the mood for the new Megadeth album…
Wanna be doin’ it right here on Metal Mondays…
So here’s a Progarchy blast from the past for today’s metallic muse…
Big Big Train, “Judas Unrepentant” Live
From last August. Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous.
Brother, Can You Spare Another Note? Rush R40 Live
Rush, R40 Live (Anthem, 2015). 3CD/1BluRay. Too many tracks to list.
Nothing Rush does is unimportant. Whether it’s winning an award, appearing on the cover of a mainstream magazine, releasing an album, or playing a concert, Rush matters. They’ve never not mattered, but they probably matter now more than ever. They’ve weathered every wave of music, always done exactly what they’ve wanted, and they’ve survived as a band for forty-one years.
What’s not to celebrate?
They are the grand men of rock, the grey eminence overlooking, overshadowing, and influencing every rock band since—whether directly or indirectly. Perhaps most importantly, however, they have influenced countless men (and, now, it seems, lots of women, too) in North and South America for at least two generations. Most importantly, they taught us not to be them, but to be ourselves, each and every one of us. If another voice in western culture has promoted individuality and excellence more than the three members of Rush, I’m not aware of that voice.
When Rush announced they’d be touring again for the fortieth-anniversary of the band (dating from when Peart joined), speculation flooded the media that this would be Rush’s last big tour. Of course, they were a year off—the tour came after forty-one years, but who really worries about such things. Forty years. Forty-one years. Either way, amen.
As I have had the privilege of writing many times, Rush has been my band—my obsession—since junior high detention, March 1981. Thank the good Lord for Troy and Brad, my fellow detainees, encouraging me to pick up this great new album, “Moving Pictures.” While other bands have certainly attracted me, none have done so in the way Rush has. Not only did I listen to every note—how many times?—but I absorbed every lyric, chased every reference, and fell head over heals for three Canucks whom I’ve never met.
When Rush played in Lincoln, Nebraska, this past summer, my two oldest kids—Nathaniel (16) and Gretchen (14) drove with me across the Great Plains from Boulder. It was their first Rush concert, and we loved every minute of it. Indeed, this is an understatement. We hung on every word and loved every aspect of the films. With thousands of others, we sang, jammed, and pumped our fists in the air.
The 3CD/1BluRay set arrived at my house in Michigan on Friday. I’ve had a bit of time to immerse myself in it. In terms of sound and visuals, this is an extraordinary release that absolutely captures the spirit of the tour. There are a number of things I’d not noticed when sitting high in the bleachers in Lincoln. Peart has a World War I RAF roundel in his drum set; Geddy has rearview mirrors on his keyboards; and there are lots of plastic dinosaurs near Alex. Additionally, things on stage really never stop moving. Lights change, props arrive and disappear, and there’s constant motion
I do have one complaint. Possibly a first when it comes to my view of Rush. The packaging for R40 Live is simply of poor quality. Not the disks. They’re fine. But, the cardboard holding the disks together is flimsy, and, even with the best care, I doubt it will last long or wear well. This is unfortunate, and I’m sorry the record label chose to put such a masterful moment in Rush’s history in such an ephemeral box. Talk about incongruous.
Still, R40 Live is well worth owning, as it captures such a crucial celebration. The blu-ray, especially, sounds extraordinary. As well it should.
–Brad Birzer is a founding editor of Progarchy and author of Neil Peart: Cultural (RE)Percussions (WordFire, 2015).
OBSCURA Premiere Video For Title Track of New Album “Akróasis”
It has been five years since the release of Obscura‘s universally acclaimed Omnivium album. Now the progressive metal masters return with their strongest and most dynamic release to date. The aptly named Akróasis (Greek for “hearing” or “listening”) draws on all the various elements of Obscura‘s signature sound and combines those qualities into a cohesive…
http://www.prog-sphere.com/news/obscura-premiere-video-title-track-new-album-akroasis/
Megadeth — Dystopia
The new Megadeth looks — and sounds — like it is going to be a tremendous album.
Can’t wait.
Jan 22.
SALANDER: Fragility of Innocence Now Out
Great news from Dave Smith of Salander:
Salander are re-releasing The Fragility Of Innocence on November 20th. The album has been totally remastered and will contain three extra tracks that date back to 2005. These were the first tracks recorded by Dave Smith and Dave Curnow and sowed the seed of ideas that would later find the two Dave’s forming Salander. These tracks too have been remastered. Two are instrumentals and the other came about when Dave C discovered a Jon Anderson Lyric generator on the internet. All he had to do was enter a name, a place and a general item onto the site. He chose Floppsy The Bunny,Osnabruch, and a Pot Noodle. Thus, the words spat back to us became the song.
The Fragility Of Innocence will be available from www.salander.bandcamp.com as a name your price in order for people who bought the original to download the remastered version with bonus tracks for free.
There are no plans for any new Salander music in the near future as Dave Smith is now living and working in Lanzarote in The Canary Islands but he hopes to start writing in the new year.
Let me (Brad) just state: this is one of the single most powerful albums I have ever heard. I loved the first two Salander releases–CRASH COURSE FOR DESSERT and STENDEC–but this is even superior to those two. I’ve had a review copy for a while now, but I simply have not been able to write about FRAGILITY as it simply moves me so much, I can’t express my views in words. Strange, I suppose, but true. I’m going to keep trying, however.
Regardless, you need to BUY this album, and now.–BB
Rhys Marsh: News Re: New Solo Album
Excellent news from Rhys:
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Rush on TV: Chicago Fire (Season 4, Episode 6)
‘2112
Season 4
Episode 6
41:59
November 18, 2015
Chief Boden’s new neighbor asks him for a favor, while tension escalates between Severide and Captain Patterson. Meanwhile, Mouch and Herrmann receive tickets to see Rush.
Available without sign-in until: November 25, 2015
Sign in to watch until: July 7, 2016
The Album is Alive and Well with Adele
Props to Adele for keeping the album alive.
Every musical artist has at least one killer single inside them, but it takes real talent to pull off a totally killer album.
And everybody wants to own a totally killer album.
Say what you want about Adele, she is at least keeping the album alive in an age of pop music decadence that is streaming us to death.
Is that prog enough for y’all?
Even as $10-a-month streaming services multiply, YouTube’s free offerings proliferate and record sales flag—to 257 million albums in the U.S. last year from 785 million albums at their peak in 2000—Adele’s fans don’t appear to have gotten the memo. They have snapped up 14 million copies of her albums in the U.S., according to Nielsen, and 33 million of her digital singles. Her debut album, “19,” sold 2.7 million copies and her sophomore blockbuster, “21,” sold 11.2 million—the only album ever to be the biggest seller two years in a row.
With such massive sales, the conventional wisdom has been that the singer appeals to all types. But a Nielsen analysis of her fans reveals a distinct profile: They are 62% female, most between 25 and 44 years old, with children.
…
Adele’s full album won’t be available immediately on streaming services, streaming companies say, and they don’t know if or when it might be. Stars such as Beyoncé and Ms. Swift have held albums from streaming to spur sales.
While Adele’s older, female-leaning fan base likely boosts her CD sales, given their music-buying habits, Music Watch managing partner Russ Crupnick said that their deep “emotional engagement”with her sentimental ballads probably matters as much. They think: Adele’s music “is important enough for me that I want to own it. Even though I may be able to stream it or watch it on YouTube, I want to possess it,” Mr. Crupnick said.”
When we were young, we bought albums.
Glass Hammer: Double Live
A review of Glass Hammer, DOUBLE LIVE (deluxe edition, Sound Resources, 2015).
2 CDs/1 DVD. Tracks: Nothing, Everything; So Close, So Far; Mythopoeia; Third Floor; The Knights of the North; If the Stars; and Time Marches On. The DVD consists of the 1.5 hours of the show at RosFest, May 3, 2015.
Glass Hammer: Steve Babb; Susie Bogdanowicz; Carl Groves; Aaron Raulston; Kamran Alan Shikoh; and Fred Schendel.
For a band that specializes in writing studio masterpiece after studio masterpiece, it’s somewhat surprising to find that Glass Hammer has released six live albums (albums defined as CDs and/or DVDs): LIVE AND REVIVED; LEX LIVE; LIVE AT NEARFEST; LIVE AT BELMONT; LIVE AT THE TIVOLI; and, now, DOUBLE LIVE. Two live songs also appear on 2007’s COMPILATIONS. The band doesn’t even tour that much, but, when it does, it’s something mightily special.
Additionally, the band has over twenty years of material to choose from. Not surprisingly, three of the seven live tracks on DOUBLE LIVE come from the band’s last album, but the selections reach all the way back to 1995. “Nothing, Everything,” “Mythopoeia,” and “Third Floor” come from THE BREAKING OF THE WORLD (2015). “If the Stars” from IF (2010). “The Knight of the North” from INCONSOLABLE SECRET (2005). “So Close, So Far” from SHADOWLANDS (2004). And, “Time Marches On” from PERELANDRA (1995). I was a bit surprised by the last selection as it appears three other times on Glass Hammer releases. Still, of the four versions, this is by far the best.
Coming off what is arguably their best album to date, THE BREAKING OF THE WORLD, the six members on stage look as happy and as confident as can be. It’s an absolute joy to watch them perform on stage even though the camera work is a bit stiff compared to, say, the visually fluid LEX LIVE. Clearly, they love each other, their music, and their ability to perform their art together and for others. Joy simply exudes from the screen. Babb grooves, Schendel glides, Raulston pounds, and Shikoh soars. And, sheesh, are these guys tight. I could probably watch the interaction of bass, drums, guitar, and keys in “Time Marches On”—especially beginning at the the 1:23:34 mark. Holy Moses, these guys are amazing. All of them. I’d love to just tell each one of them individually—”you are doing what you were meant to do on this Earth!!!!”
Though I adamantly love the Glass Hammer albums fronted by Carl Groves and Susie Bogdanowicz (CULTURE OF ASCENT, ODE TO ECHO, and THE BREAKING OF THE WATER), I had no idea what kind of a frontman Groves would prove to be on a live stage. I had no worries about Bogdanowicz.
She possesses one of the two best voices in rock today, and I’ve said this and written this repeatedly. She’s also gorgeous (her all black outfit makes her look like a superhero), and it’s quite clear that she gives every aspect of her soul to this music. Unlike so many in the world of music, she also conveys all of this power on stage as a person and an artist with a clearly good and gentle soul. It’s a fascinating paradox.
Groves, though, clearly proves his mettle on this live album. He’s absolutely fun to watch. I wish I had better descriptives coming to my tired mind at the moment, but the word that keeps coming to me is “fun.” And, I mean this in the best sense. He’s playful and mischievous, but not at all self centered. He’s the front man, but he leads as one of equals not as the cock on parade.
While I noted above that this is one very tight band, I also have to say this: while the band celebrates its friendship and art, we, too, should be celebrating. It’s an honor, a privilege, and an inspiration to look at what Babb and Schendel have accomplished over the past two decades. I could never even count how many hours of sheer pleasure they’ve given me, how many times they’ve inspired me, and how often they’ve demonstrated that good and light can exist in a world of darkness and chaos.
Progarchy 