B-A-B-E is a Belgian/Dutch girly formation formed by 3 blondes with some background in the world of showbiz. First of all there’s Tanja Dexters, an ex-Miss Belgium, presenter of different events and free lance singer (not the best voice though). Second we have Lesley-Ann Poppe; a big breasted sort of Pamela Anderson wannabe look-a-like who got her ‘fame’ from participating in culinary tv-shows. And Finally there’s Griet Van Hees, who reads the news at a regional tv station. She’s also a model and fashionista. Three blonde bimbo’s who want to be in the spotlights for sure. The singing isn’t even what it’s all about in my opinion. I wish them luck with the group.
Anyway, I know of 2 singles they recorded and some covers. I’ll give you one of the singles so you can judge for yourselves.
B-A-B-E doesn’t even exist at the moment anymore under this name since they got into a fight with the management team. Tanja and company quit with the management and restarted the same band under a different name. Pretty sure I don’t need to look up the name for anyone.
Anyway, Enjoy this beautiful music.
Oh the link is a bit far fetched -> LeAnn -> Lesley-Ann. Sorry.
Sorry I'm a bit late with the next link but then I've been picking music for a different cause this week. Anyway here we go.
Quutamo is Finnish for Moonlight and since I thought Coyote Ugly is quite an ok movie it reminded me this song fits in perfectly. i'm quite disappointed though that none of my readers/listeners knew any Finnish. shame on you people !!!
LeAnn is an American country singer who started her career at the age of thirteen. Quite young and so she made a numerous number of albums so far in her career. Her first fame came with the song How Do I Live from her third album. This song was actually recorded for the movie Con Air with Nicolas Cage and it was written especially for LeAnn. But her version of the song didn't fit the movie and so Trisha Yearwood re-recorded the same song for the movie and was released back in 1997. LeAnn got wind of the release and released at the same time her recording of the same song. Both became succesfull but LeAnn's was more succesfull than Trisha's. Her name was set.
After this first succes she disappeared from the spotlights. Her fourth album wasn't all that succesfull but she struck back in 2000 with the Coyote Ugly song which you can find here. It was a major over the whole world.
She was a star in country mids but felt a bit compromised in that same scene and tried to change her sound with her following album Twisted Angel. Most songs were written by herself and from this moment on she developed her talent as a song writer. Twisted Angel is her most poppy album and by fans mainly considered as her best album but it didn't get the success it deserved.
Success left the building with little steps for LeAnn and she returned to her country roots with her 2005 album called This Woman. The success returned. Only 29 years old she produced about 15 full albums so far and I'm pretty sure more will follow.
"Contemporary Cello Music Form Finland". This is how Eicca Toppinen once described his band during a concert I attained. Don't really remember which of the four concerts it was but I can tell you that I've enjoyed every one of them. Apocalyptica is special, it's rare and it's difficult if you don't like it with the first notes you hear.
Seven albums the Fins have already. It started off in 1993 when four cellists tried to translate well known metal and rock song to four electrical cello's. Eicca (the big one with the long blond hair), Perttu Kivilaakso (the small one usually playing without a shirt, Paavo Lötjönen (the black haired dude with the slick haircut) and Mikko Siren (on drums) are the current members. I did say FOUR cello's because it started of as a quartet of cello players but evolved to a fourtet of 3 celllo musicians and someone on drums.
Perttu only joined in around 2000. Before him Max Lilja played in the band untill 2002. I used to call him the assasin cellist since he always wore John Lennon sunglasses on stage and always sat still as a statue on his chair. Antero Manninen is the other fprmer member but I never seen him perform. Antero was replaced by Perttu and Max was replaced by the drums.
Apocalyptica created their fame when producing a first album called 'Apocalyptica Plays Metallica By Four Cello's'. This album contained contemporary versions of Enter Sandman, Master Of Puppets and The Unforgiven. They continued with their second album called 'Inquisition Symphonie' which also contained music from other metal band than Metallica's. On this album you'll find a great translation of One (Metallica), Refuse/Resist (Sepultura) or Domination (Pantera).
In 2003 their first album with self written compositions would mean their biggest breakthrough. 'Reflection' is a beautifull album filled with cello music. No more but certainly no less. Two years later they continues producing self composed songs but the drums kicked in on this album. This album called 'Apocalyptica' contains a first song with lyrics. The Apocalyptica lyrics are always sung by guests but amongst these guest we have some really big names such as Nina Hagen or Gavin Rossdale.
In 2006 the boys released an album called 'A Decade Of Reinventing The Cello' with their best works so far. this album was followed by the utterly awesome 'Worlds Collide'. Dave Lombardo and Corey Taylor performed on this album. Then it took them 3 years to created a complete symphony and although released last year I must admit I haven't heared it yet. But I've been told it's not a cd with separate songs but it's more like a true Symphonie all together. My guess it's probably another great shot at bringing classical instruments into the rock and metal scène.
So I've seen them perform four times already and I am kind off looking forward to see them a fifth time this year at Pukkelpop. They're not really a festival band in my opinion but then again I won't miss out on them and I'm pretty sure I will enjoy them as I did with their previous gigs. I hope you'll enjoy this video as well:
Oh and if anyone understand what Quutamo means in Finnish you might start think about the next link. I didn't knew what it meant (thank you google) since the ony Finnish I speak is the translation of the Metallica song 'One', once annouced by Eicca as 'Uutse'.
I promised to introduce to you all, my all time favorite band and here they are. METALLICA !!!!!! The best metal band ever and there’s no discussion in that. You can try but you can’t win, it’s as simple as that. Ok they’re one of the most mainstream Metal bands in the world maybe but if you like metal, you definitely like Metallica. Actually I’ve been wondering what took me so long to bring them into the list.
James Hetfield (lyrics and lead guitar), Kirk Hammett (lead guitar and solo’s), Lars Ulrich (drums) and Robert Trujillo (bass) are the current members but we can’t miss out on the former crew as well since they are also part of the rise of Metallica. David Mustaine (lead guitar from 1980 to 1983), Jason Newsted (bass from 1986 to 2001) and the inevitable Cliff Burton (1980-°1986) are forever connected to the band.
James and Lars were the actual founders back in 1980 and they contacted each other through a magazine advertisement by Lars himself to form a metal band in Los Angeles. Dave Mustaine was added to the band in 1982 and Cliff Burton joined in November of that same year. Cliff used to play base for another band called Trauma but Lars and James knew he was a master bass player and wanted him in the band. Metallica was born. In 1983 Dave Mustaine was kicked out of the band due to excessive alcohol and drug use and is replaced by master guitar soloist Kirk Hammett. Now the band had its first complete setup with James, Lars, Cliff and Kirk. This would remain so until 1986.
The Kill’Em All album was recorded by these four men back in 1983 at the beginning of the year. Later that year Metallica would start recording their second album already called Ride The Lightning. Both albums contain great up tempo metal songs which are still favorites amongst many Metallica fans. In 1986 Master Of Puppets was recorded in Denmark; Lars’ country of origin. Their popularity grew fast and early that year they would perform for the last time ever as a concert opener. After touring with Ozzy Osbourne they would only be performing as headliners themselves. Unfortunately later that year tragedy came by.
When touring in Sweden master brain Cliff Burton died when one of their tour busses got caught in an accident and flipped over. Everyone survived except Cliff. Until today Metallica and their fans honor Cliff for his contribution on the early albums. Especially when the instrumental song Orion which is mainly written by Cliff) is played, James usually refers to his compatriot in heaven. I’ve seen my metal friends perform on five different occasions and only their last show they performed Orion. All I can say is ‘chicken skin’ and I wasn’t even a fan yet back in these days since I got to know them during their Black Album days in the nineties.
Metallica opened auditions for a new bass guitar player and late 1986 Jason Newsted, who was a huge fan, was chosen to join them. Unfortunately Jason was never financially accepted as a complete member which would later cause his split with the band. When Jason joined the band released a cover album to make Jason’s integrating go smoother. Two year after Cliff’s death the band releases …And Justice For All with the sublime ‘One’ on it. It would be their last album with that specific Metallica sound.
Bob Rock produced their 5th album and in 1991 the album Metallica (later known as The Black Album because of its cover) was released. This is where I joined in and discovered their great powermetalmusic. Off course this is THE album which created the big vibes with a greater audience since the music is a bit less complicated and up to speed as with the previous four albums. If you listen to, let’s say The Unforgiven (Black album) or Motorbreath (Kill ‘em All), you’ll hear the big difference. The Black Album also contains their biggest hit ever in the charts: Nothing Else Matters. A song which has different meaning to different people and that’s actually why it’s been written. It must be the only one I truly don’t like only because this is the song every nitwit actually knows. Every time I hear this song on the radio I think ‘If you want to play Metallica, play them right and put Battery on or something but not that one song over and over again’. I also admit that I can enjoy the live performance of it but that’s different since the band is playing it live in front of you. Then I can appreciate it. Crazy huh ?
The in between period from 1996 to 2000 is for fans ‘the years back’. In 1996 and 1997 Metallica released back to back their Load and Reload albums. Both were recorded at the same time but their studio work contained to much usable material they decided to use it for two albums. Again Bob Rock was the producer and if Metallica went a little softer on their Black Album they’d become ultra soft on these two releases. Ultra soft for a metal band that is, because they contain more modest and easier songs than on all albums before. Off course the tracklist also reads with beauties as Fuel, The Memory Remains, Fixxxxer and Ain’t My Bitch. Some fans cut their strings but most of them kept up the faith in Metallica.
ReLoad was followed by a compilation album called Garage Inc. and the fantastic S&M album in 1999. S&M (which means Symphony & Metallica) is an album with Metallica performing supported by Michael Kamen and his San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. It was a onetime thing and a hard thing to do for the band. They were used to simply play riffs and never wrote down any of the music notes on paper. I don’t even think either one of them can read music. This meant all of their music had to be translated onto paper so the orchestra could actually play Metallica. Hard work for sure but Metallica proved with this album that their music was geniously written and can be performed in almost any genre with any instrument. More about this in my next link actually! Metallica could use the boost after the less tasted Load and ReLoad albums and the fans loved it.
The new decade caused trouble for the band. In 2000 they brought Napster down when filing a law suit against them. Metallica only wanted to protect the rights to their music and the upcoming trend of downloading music could mean that their incomes would drop back. Napster down = many disappointed people throughout the world = a scary future. Years later, James and his crew would change his mind about the new downloading culture but it’s at least a bit understandable it scared them off at first. Jason also leaves the band. He can’t stand the drinking culture of front man James and they also don’t agree on Jason’s side project EchoBrain. Jason also got the rights on only three songs during his Metallica period and that frustrated him very much not to be treated as a complete group member. The disagreements between James and Jason would later be set aside and when Metallica was added to the Rock ‘n Roll Hall Of Fame in 2009 they played again with Jason on bass since a very long time. A onetime thing unfortunately.
A new studio album called St. Anger is being recorded over a period of 3 years (2001 throughout 2003) and a documentary is filmed at the same time during the whole process. Metallica is struggling to survive. They have no bass guitar player (Bob Rock, the producer, is playing the bass on this album), James needs to kick off from his alcohol problem and the 3 of them need many talking sessions to point their noses into the same direction. James kicks off in a clinic which is where he writes most of the lyrics for St. Anger. Unfortunately it’s clear he did so since the album sucks like hell to me. It contains great riffs but that’s that. A few good songs maybe and all the rest is pure bullshit. And there’s no Kirk Hammett guitar solo …. none. It’s hell. I’ve seen them live twice after this album and they hardly play anything from this album. It’s like they’re ashamed of it. But as a Metallica fan I think this is what they actually needed. A period of struggling, a refocus on what they actually achieved in the past and can achieve in the future. Robert Trujillo joined in when the album was finished and while he was still studying the bass riffs Metallica finally started touring again. Back then I’ve seen them twice I guess and they blew my socks off the first time and they kind of sucked the second time.
Metallica kicked out softy producer Bob Rock and reconnected with their roots on their latest album called Death Magnetic. The fans begged for Kirk’s solo. They screamed for Lars to back to his normal drums and shouted at James to start drinking again and write great lyrics instead of the loose ends from St. Anger. When I heard the Death magnetic tracks for the first time it made me happy. The songs were no classics yet but once more they found their roots in the up to speed metal from the early days. The lyrics are here and there sublime and for all I care I think a few of these tracks could become Metallica classics. I looked forward to the day they played at Pukkelpop in 2008 since they promised to lift a tip of the veil of their new album that day. Early 2009 in Antwerp on tour once again I went home with a happy smile. The new album played live is pure metal (and they played Cliff Burton’s tribute Orion for the very first time to me).
As said Metallica is my all time number one favorite band and there’s no way you’ll win a discussion with me saying otherwise. I’ve supported them through thick and thin and will do so in the future and whenever they come to Belgium for a live gig no one can stop me from going.
METAL(lica)FOREVER
P.S. The video is a live gig in Copenhagen during their World Magnetic tour in 2009. Great footage by the way from Kirk's solo starting at 4.40 !
He’s an 83 year old Italian classic music composer who created beauties as the one I’m posting here below. Ennio is widely know as the musical master brain of Enrique Leone’s spaghetti western such as For A Few Dollars More, Once Upon A Time In The West or The Good, The Bad And The Ugly. What most people don’t know is that he contributed to many more Hollywood films. Bugsy and The Untouchables in the mafia genre. The Mission, Disclosure and Exorcist II: Heretic are some of the other movies.
Off course he’s eternally connected to the spaghetti western as we know them, most of them with Clint Eastwood in the lead character. But what most people don’t know is that he wrote the music for a huge amount of Italian, French and Spanish films. In fact these movies hold most of his filmic art work.
Besides uplifting different movies with his music he also composed his own classical music concerts. He started this after ‘retiring’ from creating film music somewhere around the nineties and he does so even at the age of 83. It’s been said that he’s still working seven days a week for nine straight hours. Not many of his age will do that nowadays. Retiring by the way is a harsh word since he’s still composing the music for different movies but he switched his focus more between that and his concerts.
Ennio won many prices throughout in his career but there’s one still missing and that’s an Oscar. Although nominated five time he never got to chance to hold that one statue. He might do so in 2013 for “Capone Rising”; the new Brian De Palma movie which is scheduled to be released in 2012. For all I care the man deserves at least one Oscar.
I chose The Ecstasy Of Gold for two specific reasons: First, it ties great into my next link which you’ll get next Saturday and all I can tell you now is that these guys are my favourite band all time … Second, I love the shots when The Ugly runs around the graveyard in desperation to find that one grave in which lies the treasure he’s seeking. I love the film. I love the music. I love Ennio for his lifetime contribution to film. Thanks Mr Morricone !!!!
Let's pick a band that doesn't exist. You don't have to believe me but it's actually true. They're virtual and started of as a media project of 2 British wiz-kids. The band consists of 4 virtual characters called 2-D (they're drawn in 2D !), Russell Hobbs, Murdoc Niccals and Noodle (probably because he likes the food).
They're a great mix of comic art talent and a musical mixture of hip-hop, rock and pop music. Damon Albarn does the music and lyrics and Jamie Hewlett draws the little monsters and makes them move on screen. Their best known song must be the one I posted. At least I got to know them by it and I believe it came of their first album named after the band. (actually after checking it, it was their second !!!)
In a timespan of a little over ten years now they've created 5 extremely good albums but still I like the Gorillaz album the best. As with Arctic Monkeys (here you've got the link) they released their latest album this year but I haven't had the chance yet to even listen to it. I guess I've got to go and look for it and give it a go. I do know their most recent single from that album (the album is called The Fall and so is the single) and it's quite promissing. Makes me curious about listening to the rest of the tracks.
Let's introduce the characters:
2-D: Lead singer and guitar player. Ex thief.
Noodle: Female and also guitar player. She's Japanese by origin and arrived in England in a Fed-Ex container.
Murdoc: Bass player and musical brain of the group. Addicted to about anything.
Hobbs: New Yorker and self proclaimed posessed by demons.
Albarn is project leader of the musical part of the band but still he has loads of famous co-workers in the name of Snoop Dogg, Neneh Cherry, Ike Turner, Lou Reed, Paul Simon, .... just name them.
Africa by Toto was an option but I’m kinda tired of that song so let’s give a hip British indie band a shot. I didn’t knew Arctic Monkeys until last year when I discovered their very first album ‘Whatever People Say, That’s What I’m Not’ through the single ‘I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor’. The album went on repeat and I liked it a lot so I got to know their music a bit better with their more recent albums ‘Favourite Worst Nightmare’ and ‘Humbug’. And let’s not forget their 2011 album ‘Suck It And See’.
I chose a song from this recent album just because at first I thought the title was funny but while listening to it, as with their first album, I started to like it more and more. Off course I could have chosen ‘I bet you look good …’ song but then I recommend all of you to youtube it. Well maybe it might appear later in the list.
A quick in between by the way. I’ve been setting up a simple extra rule into the link: No artist can return within 100 songs from each other. Eg. N°1 started of with Triggerfinger so they can reappear earliest at N°101.
Back to the Monkeys. In 2002 they formed the band as two neighbour kids (Alex Turner and Jamie Cook) together with high school friends (Andy Nicholson and Matt Helders). Also a 5th member was present but he quit the band pretty quick.
Their first few gigs were small successes and Arctic Monkeys started to distribute free demo tapes to their closest fans. Soon they’d appear on the internet to become world wide known … in England. A very limited first EP existed of only two songs. They filled their first shows with covers of The White Stripes and other British Rock Bands. Their first full album in 2006 reached success followed by lots of great critics.
On tour the Monkeys came up with a problem with Nicholson and he was being replaced by current band member Nick O’Malley. Apparently Nicholson got tired of touring and the rest wanted to move on and start working on a new album. Ever since the band reached greater heights than before. They would play the biggest festivals, the best shows like Top Of The Pops and they sold out the Manchester Cricket Ground 2 nights in a row (50.000 people per night) in 2009.
I haven’t heared the new album yet (apart from the song I’m posting here) since it’s going to be released in five days (June 6is the official release date) but I’m kind of looking forward to it.
