Taking Inventory

Salutations to all my readers this evening. Tonights topic is more of just an observation on my music purchasing habits. As many of you know I am about to take a trip to the Greater Boston area. One of the great music towns in the United States and the World. So many great bands, such as Boston, Aerosmith, and of course, Dreamtheater, all started there. Not to mention their world class symphony that has been home to many of the worlds finest conductors, and defined the standard for a pops orchestra with Mr Arther Fiedler and his relation with Leroy Anderson. So needless to say, I'm excited.

In preparation for this trip, I have put in a rush job of getting just about every CD I own on to my iPod. This of course causes me to go through my CD collection and I noticed a few patterns.

First pattern is change. My CD collection has changed from being classically oriented to being rock oriented. I own more Pink Floyd than any other band, with a tie between AC/DC, The Killers, and Boston's own Dreamtheater. I must admit my connection to the public library is where a majority of my music on the iPod has come from. Which is why I actually have almost every AC/DC album on my iPod, and my dad has been the source of the Pink Floyd albums I don't personally own. For the record, between him and I, the only non-compilation album by them we don't own is Atomic Mother.

Second observation is that with a couple bands, I have copped and simply own "Greatest hits" albums. I am embarrassed that the only album by Judas Priest, Queen, and Nightwish that I have is a "greatest hits". I also own Journey's Greatest Hits and their newest album, Revelation. I am proud though these are not bands known for concept album work, so its not like a Pink Floyd greatest hits album that makes you pretty much miss the actual message of the band. I would consider these bands to be more fluff content, though very enjoyable.

The third thing that caught my attention was the size of my jazz collection currently. I have more than I thought, though again, a lot of it are bargain bin compilations, such as Sinatra's Capitol Record's years, and the greatest of Cab Calloway. I do own "Kind of Blue" but I have never listened to my copy of it. Theres a good chance I never will. I also owned "Time Out" at some point by Dave Brubeck Quartet, but I can't find it. I must say I have a taste for the latin jazz, as the genre shows up the most, with The Best of Perez Prado (the guy who wrote the real Mambo no. 5), Tito Puente "Live at Grossinger's", and Jesus Alemany's "Cubanismo".

The fourth and final main observation for the night is an odd one. My classical collection has some quirks. The most owned time period is actually French Impressionist Orchestral works. Saint-Saens, Dukas, Satie, namely. The next is actually the 1812 Overture, specifically. I have about 5 different recordings I believe, including one recorded with period muzzle-load cannons. The brands of choice are Deutsch-Gramophone and RCA Victor. My iPod though will probablt be the only one you find though that contains at least one Mahler symphony, and two Bruckner Symphonies. I love the brass. My most prized recordings are vintage re-masterings of the Dvorak's New World Symphony by the Chicago Symphony with Fritz Reiner at the helm, and the Pines of Rome with the same set up. Both are awe inspiring albums and every brass player should listen to. Every musician should take a listen, its something to aim towards one day.

I wish you kind folks good night and I leave you with this sad last short observation of my CD collection. I have at least one CD that has "A Fifth of Beethoven" by Walter Murphy (of Family Guy fame) but I do not own a single recording of Beethoven's Fifth Symphony in C minor. Sad.

Good night.

A Real Trooper

Hello folks. I hope this entry finds you guys in good spirits and the humidity hasn't gotten you yet for the summer. We all know what summer means for me. Musicals and outdoor rock concerts. Life doesn't get much better than that, and this summer opened with a big metallic bang. IRON MAIDEN. I must admit this was one of the most intense musical sensations in my life. Yes, in my LIFE.

The concert opened with Steve Harris' s (Bass-Iron Maiden) daughter, Lauren Harris. She has a band put together of what seems to be generic studio rockers putting on a stereotypical metal look for her. Their performances were nothing to write home about. Lauren Harris, I am not sure about. She has skills, and her stage presence is an Ozzy Osbourne derived "Stand and Deliver" style. The issue is that she hasn't settled on a style and I would have preferred her to be a screamer (hehe). She sang very low, in a tenor range. If she sang like an alto, even in falsetto, she would have been killer. In the range she sang it would have worked for her to go country, which would be a shame since shes a Brit. I mean, Iron Maiden's male lead singer sang two octaves higher than her at times. It was the first time I really felt bad for an opening act. The girl is very good looking and has talent and her songs weren't bad, just I think her vocal range needs to be thought about and she needs a real band with whom she has a bond.

After about forty-five minutes since Lauren finished, and the sun has gone below the horizon, the lights go out. A video clip of the members of Iron Maiden boarding their private Boeing 757 (thats right, I can recognize some different models of commercial jets, my grandfather worked for the airlines), then a camera shot through the window of the cockpit and there sits none other than Bruce Dickinson, lead singer, airline pilot, DJ, and historian. Bruce Dickinson this evening demonstrated some amazing front-man skills, of keeping the crowd entertained while the set changed and the guitarists changed guitars or re-tuned. Combine that with one of the most recognizable voices and you have a Freddie Mercury of metal. Those of you who know me and read this, know how high I regard the late Queen lead-man. This is big for me to compare him. Bruce's voice was right on for being a live performance. A lot of bands, understandably, change the vocal lines some from the album for live performances. I heard maybe, MAYBE three instances of this at the concert. Very impressive considering they just played the night before in Philadelphia.

This concert was very special since Iron Maiden was not pushing a new album on this tour, and only had 14 shows in the United States on this massive world tour. The theme of the tour is "Somewhere Back in Time". They are basically touring their greatest hits from the years 1980-89. This means the set included hits like "Number of the Beast", "Run to the Hills", "The Trooper", and their 13-minute masterpiece based on Samuel Coleridge Taylors famous poem, "Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner". They were coming to rock, and melt your face. The shredding along with the pyro just did exactly that. After playing a set with those songs plus about 7 others, they leave the stage. The audience already running only on adrenaline and alcohol, screaming for more. They come out and perform three more songs as an encore, ending with their title song "Iron Maiden" which includes a giant walking and dancing Eddie (the zombie alien that appears in all the Iron Maiden logos and art). This was very amusing as the guitarists (all three of them, not including the bassist and band leader, Steve Harris, who is one of the best bassists in metal) formed together to battle Eddie with their guitars.

After three encores the audience seemed defeated, just rocked into surrender. Even after the lights came up you had to just stand there and catch your breath. This concert was a barn stormer and will be tough to beat, but with a line up of Rush on July 19th, The Masters of Metal Tour, featuring Judas Priest, Motorhead, a reunited Heaven and Hell, and Testament on August 7th, Journey, Heart, and Cheap Trick on August 27, and Several Species on September 20th, there will be ample opportunity for others to turn up the heat. Its going to be a hot summer. I leave you with a clip of "Number of the Beast" by Iron Maiden, performed live at Merriweather Post Pavilion. I was at this performance and I feel the clip demonstrates what I was talking about! I wish you guys peace and nimble fingers for your board tapping in your massive solos.

Never stopped believin'

Friends I write this blog to you in the light of the new word. This word is of Journey, the new lead singer Arnel Pineda, and their new album Revelation. I did not think this band would ever bring themselves back after Steve Perry leaving ten years ago. His voice and song writing skills were almost on a Freddie Mercury level. With Neal Schon now doing most of the songwriting, the guitar is a little heavier, and their sound has made the jump to the new millennium but they're still 100% Journey at heart. I found myself on the second listen singing along. The CD is a great investment as well. Disk 1 is new material, Disk 2 is Arnel singing classic Journey songs, and then the concert DVD. The DVD is an hour long and contains the new line up performing new and old Journey hits.

On a totally unrelated note, I did attend my first opera about 1 month ago. I saw the Baltimore Opera Company put on Madame Butterfly. I have to tell you I really enjoyed the multimedia experience. I have listened to many operas on the radio and CD but never seen one performed. Its quite an experience. But with that I must present my review.

I enjoyed the overall presentation. They used projections instead of a mostly real set. The projections went from being abstract, pseudo-Japanese art prints (tacky flowered wallpaper), to being overly blunt ( a ship sailing straight at the audience and Butterfly belts her heart out). I will not bash the end of the first act fading to a starry night as Pinkerton completes his seduction of Butterfly. The use of projection was not wise, though. The projections were projected from the house, meaning anyone who stood on the stage were covered by the images, wiping out the quite nice costuming. There were also numerous technical difficulties with the projector, which is not good considering its the last dress rehearsal before they charged ($125 I believe was the cheapest seat) people to see them.

The orchestra, overall, was quite good. There were times where the phrasing could have been slowed for dramatic pause and more chances to allow applause would have been nice. Some tempi seemed rushed. I also had huge issue of only one intermission. They took the intermission after act 1, but not after act 2, and they proceed to still play the prelude to act 3, which felt like an out of place intermezzo for 15 minutes of serious music. It took me about 6 minutes into it to recognize that this is what they did. I did not like that at all.

The blocking of the production was quite awkward as well, sometimes there were extras on stage you couldn't quite understand what they were still doing there and looked bored on stage. Then you had off stage singing when the character should have been on stage. Worst of all, Butterfly tells her son to go play in the garden so she can kill herself. He goes to the opposite side of the stage from Pinkerton's American bride who is waiting in the garden. He then proceeds to walk in a circle waving an American flag while his mom kills herself with the same sword her father used to kill himself. It was very uncomfortable to watch.

Though my review sounds negative, it was a positive musical experience for me to witness how an opera is put on live and the singing, overall was quite nice. Just a lot of the issues I had were things that a group with such high standards should have taken care of, since they charge so much. This isn't a community group putting on Gilbert and Sullivan, this is a city's representation and contribution to the arts. I may have too high of standards since i do like to watch the Metropolitan Opera on public television.

I must discuss one more thing. The other night I was giving my close friend Steve a ride home from a party and he asked me a very difficult question, which in the 10 minute ride home I could not fully answer. Since Steve recently embarrassingly admitted to reading my blog, I feel I should use this space to answer him.

Steve asked me, basically, why do I listen to what I listen to? With my odd taste in bands, what draws me to them and not others. Why metal? why progressive symphonic metal? Why AC/DC? Why Journey? There is no simple answer to this complex question and I know he understands this. I will try my best to explain. My love of metal is connected to my love of Romanticism and virtuosity. There is a certain virtuosic thing in symphonic metal combined with a composition level not found in much of pop music. Prog and symphonic metal satisfies the classical music lover in me in a rock 'n' roll way. I hear Wagner, Strauss, and Mahler in the long compositions of Dream Theater and Rush. My enjoyment of AC/DC, Judas Priest, and Iron Maiden, and those types of acts, such as Ozzy Osbourne, comes from the ability to listen and enjoy myself without the analysis stage of listening occurring. They're fun acts that have some exact musical influence that hits me deep. For example, AC/DC's guitar riffs are straight out of standard blues riffs but are put in a straight, in your face chest thumping way, along with a very distinct vocal style. Judas Priest touches on the rebellious spirit that I find myself also relating to in the music of The Clash and The Ramones. There are also bands that I listen to because I feel a certain member's talents combined with excellent songwriting skills makes them a must listen. Journey, with Steve Perry's "pipes", as my friend Andy has dubbed them, combined with their song writing and expansive chordal vocabulary makes them a group that you must at least own their greatest hits album. Iron Maiden's bass player, Steve Harris, is a fantastic bass player and does some really cool things you won't hear in other rock bands, such as small bass fills and even sections where the bass is busier than the lead guitar. That combined with some really kick ass lyrics with an in your face approach and beat, and some epic composition skills, makes them worthy of listening and mild fanaticism. These reasons I listed cover pretty much why I like every band that I do like. So to finish that off I will list for you my top 10 favorite bands, in order, for now at least.


10. Judas Priest
9. Black Sabbath (with Ozzy and Dio, but preferred Ozzy)
8. Ozzy Osbourne (solo, with Randy Rhodes, and with Zakk Wylde)
7. Iron Maiden
6. Dream Theater
5. Journey
4. Queen
3. AC/DC
2. The Killers
1. Pink Floyd
Honorable Mention: The Beatles, UFO, The Ramones, The Clash, Deep Purple, Rush, Airbourne, Avenged Sevenfold, The BeeGees, Boston

Another thing I do take into consideration is the use of concept albums, and in my opinion, Pink Floyd combines that with all the items I mentioned above; great composition skills, overflowing virtuosity, driving beats, with a rebellious and independent spirit. And as a side note, on that list, after this summer, I will have seen 6 of those top 10 bands live. I just had to rub that in.

With that my friends I bid you a good night. Remember your blanket for those lawn seats and enjoy the second hand pot.