Nightwish was (and maybe still is) one of the most beloved rock bands of the last 10 years. Their unique style that combines opera - represented by the beautiful Tarja Turunen (until 2007) and Anette Olzon and metal sounds - represented by the gothic-strange band-members.
Following in the footsteps of the Gathering and Lacuna Coil (goth-influenced "symphonic" metal bands with female vocalists), Nightwish was formed in Kitee, Finland, in 1997 by keyboardist Tuomas Holopainen. Initially attempting to create acoustic music, he recruited trained opera vocalist Tarja Turunen, but soon added full metal-band instrumentation in the persons of guitarist Emppo Vuorinen, bassist Sami Vänskä, and drummer Jukka Nevalainen. The band's demos landed them a contract with the Finnish label Spinefarm, which released their debut album Angels Fall First in late 1997 (it appeared in the rest of Europe the following year). The follow-up, Oceanborn, appeared in late 1998 and made Nightwish a bonafide mainstream success in their homeland; the album reached the Finnish Top Five and spun off three Top Ten singles. The band toured Europe heavily, consolidating their success, and in 2000 recorded their third album Wishmaster. Not only did it top the Finnish charts, but it also became the group's first album to be released in the U.S. (AMG)
In 2007 Tarja left the band for the disapontment of the fans, but Nightwish continued its existence by searching for a new female singer. After auditing several candidates, Annete was chosen as not only a replacer, but also as a step in the begining of a new era for the band.
This is Ever Dream and one of their most appreciated live performances: last concert with Tarja.
I couldn't let this November pass without its most representative song.
The albums Use Your Illusion I and Use Your Illusion II were released simultaneously. This was a bold move, but the band was huge and the albums both sold very well. When they were released, Use Your Illusion II was the #1 album in the US, followed by Use Your Illusion I. The last time an artist had the top 2 albums at the same time was in 1974, when 2 Jim Croce albums did it shortly after his death. The album was released in September 1991, but November Rain came out as a single in February, 1992.
The lyrics and the video are based on a short story by Del James called Without You. The story is part of a collection called The Language Of Fear, which was brought back to market in 2008 after being out of print. The new version of the book contains an intro by Axl Rose, who wrote: "Del James has a personal knowledge of most of the situations he writes about, and has a love of the gutter from having been there." James contributed lyrics to 2 Guns N' Roses songs: The Garden and Yesterdays and has directed several music videos.
The original version was 25 minutes long, and the song was edited down to 8:59. It is the longest ever Top 10 hit and contains the longest guitar solo in a Top 10 single - Slash actually plays 2 guitar solos in the song. Rose put the song's lengthy gestation period down to opposition from Slash and Duff McKagan. According to a reader-submitted poll for Guitar World magazine, Slash's guitar solo for this song is ranked #6 out of 100.
The video was a huge production and got a lot of play on MTV. It starred actress and model Stephanie Seymour, Axl Rose's girlfriend at the time. In the video, she and Axl get married with Slash serving as best man and the rest of the band in the front row. After the wedding, it starts raining and the next scene is Stephanie's funeral in the same church. The video cost over $1.5 million to make.
Slash (from Q magazine, July 2004): "We got into doing these huge production videos and by November Rain it was too much, just too involved. At the end of the day it was a great video but that's when I started realizing that it was getting out of hand."
This won for best cinematography at the 1992 MTV Video Music Awards, where it also received a Video Vanguard award. Guns N' Roses performed this at the end of the show with Elton John on piano.
Axl Rose was working on this as early as 1983. Former L.A. Guns guitarist Traci Guns said: When we were doing that EP for L.A. Guns, like in 1983, he was playing November Rain on piano. Way back then. It was the only thing Axl knew how to play, but it was his. He'd go: 'Someday this song is gonna be really cool.' And I'd go: 'It's cool now. But it's not done, you know.' And like anytime we'd be at a hotel or anywhere there'd be a piano, he'd just kinda play that music. And I'd go: 'When are you gonna finish that already, you know?' And he'd go: 'I don't know what to do with it.
Soft rock, also referred to as light rock or easy rock, is a style of music which uses the techniques of rock and roll to compose a softer, supposedly more ear-pleasing sound for listening, often at work or when driving. Soft rock is usually sung with higher-pitched vocals, and the lyrics tend to be non-confrontational, focusing in very general language on themes like love, everyday life and relationships. The genre tends to make heavy use of pianos, synthesizers and sometimes saxophones.
Soft rock as a genre distinction has come to refer specifically to a style of rock that emerged in the early 1970s, both as a reaction against the increasingly heavy music that dominated rock at the time, and also as a reflection of the changing priorities of the Baby Boom in the early 1970s. What set '70s soft rock apart from its '60s counterpart, which for lack of a better word is usually just called "pop", is that in the '60s pop existed for those who simply didn't like rock; the 1960s' pop artists usually were vocalists who were stylistic throwbacks to the pre-rock era. Soft rock developed organically to suit the needs of those who did have rock listening experience; as such, it can be considered a bona fide rock genre.
Soft rock became hugely popular later in that decade. By 1977, some radio stations, like New York's WTFM and WYNY, had switched to an all-soft-rock format. Around that same time, Chicago, which had previously been a jazz-rock band, switched to soft rock and reached their biggest commercial successes. British blues band Fleetwood Mac achieved its greatest success after adopting this genre. Their success was further solidified after they had the highest selling soft rock album ever, Rumours. Even Led Zeppelin, considered by some to be standard bearers of hard rock, flirted with the genre at the time in songs like 1979's "All My Love". By the 1980s, tastes had changed and radio formats reflected this change; the genre evolved into what came to be known as "adult contemporary", a pop categorization that bore less overt rock influence than its forebear. (Wiki)
This song is called "The Chain", sang by Fleetwood Mac on their 1977' album "Rumours".
The Smashing Pumpkins are an American alternative rock band that formed in Chicago in 1988. While the group has gone through several lineup changes, The Smashing Pumpkins consisted of Billy Corgan (vocals/guitar), James Iha (guitar/vocals), D'arcy Wretzky (bass/vocals), and Jimmy Chamberlin (drums/percussion) for most of the band's recording career. (Wiki)
In 1990, the Smashing Pumpkins released their debut single, "I Am One," on the local Chicago label Limited Potential. The single quickly sold out, and in December, the band released "Tristessa" on Sub Pop. By this point, the Smashing Pumpkins had become the subject of a hot bidding war, and the group latched on to a clever way to move to a
major label without losing indie credibility. They signed to Virgin Records, yet it was decided that the group's debut would be released on the Virgin subsidiary Caroline, then the band would move to the majors. The strategy worked; Gish, a majestic mix of Black Sabbath and dream pop produced by Butch Vig, became a huge college and modern rock hit upon its spring 1991 release.
Working with producers Flood and Alan Moulder, the Smashing Pumpkins recorded as a full band for their third album, which turned out to be, as Corgan predicted, a double-disc set called Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness. Although many observers were skeptical about whether a double-disc set, especially one so ridiculously named, would be a commercial success, Mellon Collie became an even bigger hit than Siamese Dream, debuting at number one on the charts. On the strength of the singles "Bullet with Butterfly Wings," "1979," "Zero," and "Tonight, Tonight" it sold over four million copies in the U.S., eventually being certified platinum over eight times (each disc in the set counted separately toward certification). (All Music Guide)
"1979" was written by the lead singer Billy Corgan and it's about making the transition out of youth and into adulthood. He remembered being in high school and having adult responsibilities like a car and job, but still being very much a youth and dependent on his parents.
The video took 3 days to shoot and included a scene where a bunch of kids are at a party, and The Smashing Pumpkins are the house band. The original tape of this scene was lost after a crew member forgot that had placed it on top of his car and drove away. A new video was cobbled together with unused footage, plus new footage shot by the group. The production assistant who drove off without the tapes was sentenced to stand in the city center with a sandwich board that said: "Lost Tapes, reward for return" on it.
The Doors, one of the most influential and controversial rock bands of the 1960s, were formed in Los Angeles in 1965 by UCLA film students Ray Manzarek, keyboards, and Jim Morrison, vocals; with drummer John Densmore and guitarist Robby Krieger. The group never added a bass player, and their sound was dominated by Manzarek's electric organ work and Morrison's deep, sonorous voice, with which he sang and intoned his highly poetic lyrics. The group signed to Elektra Records in 1966 and released its first album, The Doors, featuring the hit "Light My Fire," in 1967 (All Music Guide).
Break On Through (To The Other Side) was the first song on The Doors first album, and also their first single. It got some airplay on Los Angeles radio stations after their friends and fans kept requesting it. The original line in the chorus was "She gets high." Elektra records censored "high," making it sound like, "she get uuggh," but the "high" line can be heard in live versions.
Jim Morrison got some of the lyrics from John Rechy's 1963 book "City of Night." The guitar melody was inspired by Paul Butterfield's "Shake Your Money Maker." John Densmore added the knocking drum sound by hitting his drumstick sideways across the snare. This was one of 6 songs The Doors recorded for a demo on Aura Records while they were trying to get signed in 1965. Robbie Krieger was not yet with the group. The vocals are a mix of 2 of Morrison's takes.
In year 2000, the surviving members of The Doors taped a VH1 Storytellers episode with guest vocalists filling in for Morrison. Scott Weiland from The Stone Temple Pilots sang on this.
This was included on the Doors tribute album Stoned Immaculate, with Scott Weiland on vocals. As John Densmore states in The Doors Box Set, the beat of this song was inspired by Brazilian Bossa Nova like Joao Gilberto and Tom Jobim.
In The Doors Box Set, Ray Manzarek said Break On Through (To The Other Side) was the last song they played live. It was during the Isle of the Wight Festival in the summer of 1970. The festival occurred while Morrison was on trial in Miami, and the band got a special 5 days of recess to be in England and get back to US. "This was to be the first gig of an European tour just as Miami was to be the first gig of a 20-city US tour. We never got beyond the first date of either one," said Ray.
The Doors managed to turn out a series of successful albums and singles through 1971, when, upon the completion of L.A. Woman, Morrison decamped for Paris. He died there, apparently of a drug overdose. The three surviving Doors tried to carry on without him, but ultimately disbanded. Yet the Doors' music and Morrison's legend continued to fascinate succeeding generations of rock fans: In the mid-'80s, Morrison was as big a star as he'd been in the mid-'60s, and Elektra has sold numerous quantities of the Doors' original albums plus reissues and releases of live material over the years, while publishers have flooded bookstores with Doors and Morrison biographies. In 1991, director Oliver Stone made The Doors, a feature film about the group starring Val Kilmer as Morrison (All Music Guide).
On 12 of November 1970, The Doors made their last appearance with Jim Morrison, in New Orleans.
"Singin' in the Rain" (1952) influenced generations of musicians, dancers and singers as more than a simple musical, but rather closer to movie-art.
What comes across as carefree hoofing on film was actually days and weeks of grueling physical work. Debbie Reynolds, a 19-year-old Miss Burbank winner handpicked by Louis Mayer, was a true amateur among professionals. She endured weeks of training sessions under the scrutiny of Gene Kelly to prepare herself for the role. Her most difficult task was the "Good Morning" number, in which she had to keep up with co-stars Kelly and Donald O'Connor. Shooting went late into the evening, and when it was all over, Debbie fainted, having burst a blood vessel in her foot. She received doctor's orders to stay in bed for three days. Debbie wasn't the only one who ended up bed-ridden. Donald O'Connor needed a full three days rest after his solo number, "Make 'Em Laugh."
In the famous dance routine in which Gene Kelly sings the title song while twirling an umbrella, splashing through puddles and getting soaked to the skin, he was actually dancing in water with a little bit of milk added, so that the water puddles and raindrops would show up in the filming. Kelly was sick with a 103-degree fever at the time.
Debbie Reynolds was not a dancer at the time she made Singin' in the Rain — her background was as a gymnast. Kelly apparently insulted her for her lack of dance experience, upsetting her. Fred Astaire was hanging around the studio and found Reynolds crying under a piano. Hearing what had happened, Astaire volunteered to help her with her dancing. Kelly later admitted that he had not been kind to Reynolds and was surprised that she was still willing to talk to him afterwards.
Singin' in the Rain has appeared twice on Sight and Sound's list of the ten best films of all time, in 1982 and 2002
In 1989, Singin' in the Rain was also deemed "culturally, historically or aesthetically significant" by the United States Library of Congress and selected for preservation in the National Film Registry.
Recorded in 1971 and released one year later, "Highway Star" is part of the "Machine Head" LP. This song was born on a tour bus going to Portsmouth in 1971 when a reporter asked the band how they wrote songs. To demonstrate, guitarist Ritchie Blackmore grabbed an acoustic and began playing a riff consisting of a single "G" repeated over and over, while vocalist Ian Gillan improvised lyrics over the top. The song was refined and was performed that same night.
The track remains one of the band's staple live performances, and was the set opener for many years. These days the song is usually an encore. Two live versions of this song can be heard on the Deep Purple-Extended Versions Live Compilation CD. The version from the live album "Made in Japan" is one of their best "lives", containing a guitar solo (Ritchie Blackmore) which was considered revolutionary at that time, especially for a hard rock band (Jimi Hendrix was already in its tremendous guitar solos times). This solo is in the second part of the hit (after 4:30 min in this version), imitating the organ solo (Jon Lord) in the first part of the performance. Deep Purple is considered to be one of the greatest bands in the history of music because it unites singers with approximately equal talent and high artistic value on each of their domain: Ian Gillian (vocals), Roger Glover (bass), Ian Paice (drums), Ritchie Blackmore (guitar), Jon Lord (organ) - the members in their most successful period (1968-1975).
This version is most likely to be from one of their concerts in Paris, from 1972.
It seems almost ridiculous now, but at one point all mass-produced music sold at retail had no cover art. They were sold much the way that white label test presses arrive at radio stations. Except instead of blank glossy white sleeves they sold in plain brown sleeves. Alex Steinweiss put an end to that. Seems like a no-brainer now.
The first album featuring actual cover art was “Smash Song Hits by Rodgers and Hart” sold records. That sealed the deal.
Eight years later Steinweiss invented the paperboard jacket that protected vinyl records from scratches and chips. it also made a more robust canvas for the artwork. The previous paper sleeves were too delicate. His innovation has been the industry standard for half a century. He often signed his work, something that rarely happens now.
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