I can't help myself thinking that some 15 years ago I was able to found many similarities between Aerosmith's way of singing and Guns n' Roses. Meanwhile, I discovered that there a big difference; rather a gap between one band that made history in only 5 years (Guns) and another that almost erased their history, even though it still performs today.
Then I listened to this classic and had a little useless regret on what they could have been.

In the video, Alicia Silverstone and Liv Tyler teamed up to be runaway school girls who have the time of their lives on the road. This won a Grammy in 1995 for Best Rock Performance By A Duo Or Group With Vocal. It was Aerosmith's third Grammy.

In the second half of this video, it can be seen that the movements of Liv Tyler (at the striptease bar) and Steven Tyler (in concert) are very similar. Like father - like daughter.

As the engine that drove the ultimate speed metal machine, Slayer, Dave Lombardo is regarded by fans all over the world to be the ultimate heavy metal drummer.

Trained on "house-made" covers on Led Zeppelin and Kiss and, after Slayer was created - Judas Priest and Iron Maiden covers - Lombardo, born in Havana, developed an unmatched combination of technical flair and outright speed.

Here is a sample of Dave Lombardo's capabilities, that makes us refer to him as more than a simple heavy metal drummer - he is rather a musician.

Thrash metal (not trash!!) is a subgenre of heavy metal music, one of the extreme metal subgenres that is characterized by its high speed and aggression.

The origins of thrash metal are generally traced to the late 1970s and early 1980s, when a number of bands began incorporating the sound of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal (NWOBHM), creating a new genre and developing into a separate movement from punk rock. This genre is much more aggressive compared to its relative, speed metal. There is often significant crossover from one metal category to another, and the influence of non-metal genres, including classical music and jazz, is not uncommon.

The genre features a number of fast and rapid tempos, low-register, quick, complex guitar riffs, and high-register guitar solos. Palm muting and staccato are used in these tightly controlled riffs to create a "chugging" sound. Thrash guitar solos are almost exclusively played at high speed, as they are usually characterized by shredding, and use techniques such as sweep picking, legato phrasing, alternate picking, string skipping, and two-hand tapping. As with many other metal subgenres, thrash lead guitarists are often influenced by outside musical genres too, such as jazz fusion (Ex-Megadeth guitarist Chris Poland and Alex Skolnick of Testament) and classical music, such as Marty Friedman, has a lead style that could be grouped in the neoclassical shred genre.

The speed and pacing of the songs is what defines thrash metal. The music tends to have a visceral, propellant feel to it due to the often intense drumming, most commonly utilizing the snare drum on the 1/2 beat, or the 2nd and 4th beats of the measure. Frantic bass drum use is also common. Thrash drummers often use two bass drums. Many thrash drummers, such as Dave Lombardo, Nick Menza, Jürgen Reil, Gene Hoglan, Igor Cavalera, and Charlie Benante are revered as some of the "best drummers in rock music" due to their ability with the double-bass as well as adequately keeping time. Due to the genre's high speed, many thrash bassists use a pick to keep up with the other instruments. However, a few prominent bassists in the subgenre including Carl Peterson, Frank Bello, Greg Christian, Robert Trujillo, and the late Cliff Burton have shunned the use of the pick. Distorted bass (popularized by Burton and Lemmy) is not uncommon.

Themes worked in the genre include gore, life and death, society, and an array of other themes. But perhaps what thrash metal lyrics most often include is a nihilistic view of the society and the human being in general, for it working with warfare, brutal feelings supposedly hidden into human unconsciousness and visions of a possible future collapse of civilization (which partially overlaps with punk ideas, as this movement began a decade before). In contrast to many extreme metal genres to follow, thrash metal often focused on positive social issues, for instance environmentalism as was in the case of the band Nuclear Assault.

Well known bands for their importance in thrash music: Metal Church, Metallica, Overkill, Venom, Slayer, Megadeath, Testament, Exodus, Anthrax and others.

I couldn't decide on what version of 'tallica's "Harvester of Sorrow" should i share today. The options were completely different, way apart one from each other not only by the 17 years between the two performances, but also by the change of course the band took in this period.
Not small was my surprise to discover that both versions, even though separated by so many things, emphasis that special artists are like wine: the older - the better; even tough it takes time to come to maturity, involving a agitated long process.

First version: performed at "Monsters of Rock" festival, in Russia, in 1991. This song includes all frustrations and desires of a closed society, trying to "make eyes". Ulrich hiding behind those butt-sized drums and Newsted banging his had virtuously. Metallica at their best.

Second version: "Rock am Ring", 2008. Perfected guitar riffs and solos, good vocals and back up vocals (without Newsted) and a lot of energy. Almost without mistake.

Combined, this two versions express dynamics, evolution, an unexpected joy of singing, a lot of energy invested (not consumed) and a little bit of history. Being in the crowd listening to the first very hard riffs it gives you thrills of pleasure and an unforgettable sentiment of relaxation and satisfaction.

However weak would seem Hetfield's voice sometimes during this "live", the energy and inspiration of this song compensates and moreover, makes it a classic. "And justice for all" is as actual as it can, combining - on one hand - the vulgarity of metal screaming on and off-stage and - on the other hand - the musicality of the guitar bass and speedy drums. Ironic.

"...And justice for all" are the last words of the Pledge of Allegiance, which is commonly said in American schools at the beginning of the day.

There is a 1979 movie called ...And Justice For All starring Al Pacino and Jeffrey Tambor that may have inspired this song. Pacino plays a lawyer who realizes that the justice system is full of corruption and favoritism.

This album showcased some of Metallica's most complex music. Some of the songs were so complex that the band had a difficult time reproducing the sound for their tour in support of this album. This also might have something to do with why they used many more simplistic rifts on their next album, Metallica (more known as The Black Album). Kirk Hammett stated in an interview that once the band had finished playing this song, one of them up and said, "We're never playing that f--king song ever again."

On June 28th 2007, Metallica finally played this song live. It was the first time the band had performed this song in over 20 years. During the "Sick of The Studio" tour, this song gained a spot on the setlist.

Famous for their weak live performances, Metallica had at least one good constant piece since 1985 until today.

Metallica wrote this after their equipment was stolen in early '84 and they had to start all over again. More specifically, James Hetfield wrote the lyrics in response to one of his amps being stolen. Not only was this amp his favorite, but it was also the first amp he ever owned so it had a lot of sentimental value to him. The song is about losing everything and wondering if it is worth going on.

This was the first ballad Metallica released. In an MTV interview with James Hetfield on the set of their MTV Icon special, he explained that he and Lars Ulrich were obsessed with death at the time.

This show is from 1989, in Seattle.

Beautiful performance from Nightwish (with Tarja ;) ).

The song is the longest one-parted song in Nightwish's history and third longest of all of their songs, after "The Poet and the Pendulum" and "Beauty of the Beast", it is also regarded as one of the most epic pieces of their oeuvre.

This live performance is part of "End of an Era" album, released in 2006. An orchestral version of the song was added to the single Wish I Had an Angel, which lasts 44 seconds longer than the album version and does not fade out in the end.

In 2004, lead singer Anthony Kiedis released his autobiography, which was titled Scar Tissue. In the book, he explained some of the lyrics: "Sarcastic Mr. Know-it-all" is Dave Navarro, whom Anthony refers to as "the King of sarcasm." "With the birds I'll share this lonely view" was inspired by birds that Anthony saw while he was singing outside of Flea's house, and he also says that the line has to do with how he felt like an outsider, looking in. Anthony was introduced to pot when he was 12, but he first got high when he was 4. He was walking down the street with his dad, and his dad blew pot smoke in his face.

The video shows the band driving through a desert. It was directed by French director Stephane Sednaoui, who also directed the videos for "Around the World" and "Give it Away." In the video, the band members are all battered and bruised and the neck of John Frusciante's guitar is broken. Also, John is seen driving; the irony being that he can't actually drive.

This song was released in 1999 (Californication album). For many it is considered to be one of the best songs of RHCP, wining a Gramy award for best rock and remained on the first place on Billboard Modern Rock Chart for 16 weeks.

Some say it reminds a little bit of Guns n' Roses, others that this was one of the last "romantic rock" hits. I say it is simply too short.

Coming from two completely different generations, George Benson (b. 1943) and Jill Scott (b. 1972) performed this jewelry version of "Summertime" somewhere between the purest blues and the coolest R&B rhythms, spiced up with the unpredictability of a very inspired jazz band.

One of the most "live" summertimes....

This is closer to the original piece. From this version to Janis' may be a huge difference; but if you take a deeper look - the message is the same...

Summertime...and the living is easy

Nick Heyward wrote the lyrics and the Gershwins are credited for the music. The Gershwins wrote several plays together and wrote many popular songs, including "I Got Rhythm," "The Man I Love," "Someone to Watch Over Me and "They Can't Take That Away from Me."

Summertime is one of the most covered songs in history, with well over 2000 official recordings. Janis Joplin's Blues-Rock version with Big Brother & the Holding Company is probably the best known, but other notable covers were recorded by Nina Simone, Billie Holiday, Sam Cooke, Miles Davis, John Coltrane and Frank Sinatra. Fantasia from American Idol performed it twice on the show when she won in 2004, which introduced the song to a new audience.

Summertime was used in the Folk Opera Porgy & Bess, which started as a 1924 novel by DuBose Heyward called Porgy. The novel is about a black community in South Carolina, and George Gershwin thought it would make a great stage production. Along with his brother Ira, Gershwin collaborated with Heyward and brought the novel to the stage in 1935. This is the most famous song from the musical and appears 4 times in the production, most notably as a lullaby to help put a baby to sleep. The lullaby style became very popular and many children grew up hearing this song from their parents.

Porgy & Bess had a test run in Boston and had a disappointing stint in New York in 1935. It was performed in Russia in 1955 and made into a movie in 1959 starring Sidney Poitier, Dorothy Dandridge, Sammy Davis Jr. and Diahann Carroll, who performed the song. After the movie came out, the Opera became much more popular and it continues to be performed as a stage production. George Gershwin didn't get to see his play become a big success - he died in 1937.

An international group of collectors of recordings of Summertime exists under the name The Summertime Collection. At 07-07-2007 they know of almost 19,500 performances, out of which about 13,325 have been recorded and of which 8,151 are in the collection of the group.

Joplin performed this at the Woodstock festival in 1969.

Hot, sunny, irresistible, yellow, sweaty, naked, sandy, too-short summer bluesy notes.... from Janis of course.

Whitesnake is in fact David Coverdale, a former group member of the famous Deep Purple ('73-'77). As the band changed several members within its existence (since '77), David Coverdale remained the leader of the group.
In its 30 years the band went from pure Deep Purple rock style, through blues and rock-blues up to pop metal. All these genres are included in 12 studio albums and 4 live albums.
The band was temporary dissolved and Coverdale developed a project with Led Zeppelin's lead guitarist Jimmy Page, resulting an anticipated Whitensake/Led Zeppelin combination.

PS: Yesterday, 3.07.2008, Mel Galley (Whitesnake guitarist since '83) died of cancer at the age of 60.

On the Black Sea' costs from Bulgaria there is a custom, dating from the beginning of the '90s: in the first morning of July people gather to admire the rising of he sun. Of course the emblematic song for this event is Uriah Heap's - July Morning.

This tradition has an interesting meaning, as young and older people today try to remember the communist mornings from the 70's and 80's, when people couldn't enjoy this kind of music as much as they wanted.

Uriah Heep is a character in the novel David Copperfield by Charles Dickens.
"probably the most consummate villain that has ever existed..." It was first published in 1850.
1969 was the year of Delbert Mann's TV Movie of David Copperfield in which Uriah Heep was brilliantly portrayed by Ron Moody, however the 1935 Hollywood movie version in which Roland Young plays Heep won a Oscar Nomination for best Film.

Uriah Heep's by-the-books progressive heavy metal made the British band one of the most popular hard rock groups of the early '70s. Formed by vocalist David Byron and guitarist Mick Box in the late '60s, the group went through an astonishing number of members over the next two decades -- nearly 30 different musicians passed through the band over the years. Byron and Box were members of the mid-'60s rock band called the Stalkers; once that band broke up, the duo formed another group called Spice. Spice would eventually turn into Uriah Heep in the late '60s.

Their best years were between 1972 and 1975, releasing 5 albums in this period and touring with the best lineup of their history. After 1975, the band's popularity began to slip, yet Uriah Heep soldiered on until today.

Their discography includes 20 studio albums, 20 live albums, 24 compilations, several special releases, singles and videos.
Sources: All Music Guide, The Definitive Guide to Popular Music, 4th edition; Uriah Heep's official website.