Art is the music we make from the bewildered cry of being alive. ~Maria Popova
06 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: still in love with you, thin lizzy
Thin Lizzy: “Still in Love With You” (1974)
Thin Lizzy didn’t chart an album or single in America until 1976, when Jailbreak and “The Boys are Back in Town” broke through. To many in the U.S. they are perceived as a one-hit wonder with a cool twin lead guitar sound, rather than the great, versatile rock band they truly were.
Here they show that a wistful melody and sweet chord progression were also among their bag of rock tricks.
02 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: ambrosia, lover arrive
Ambrosia: “Lover Arrive” (1975)
Ambrosia was a much different band in 1975 than they’d become later in the decade, when they’d honed their sound into the blue-eyed soul exhibited on such singles as “How Much I Feel”, “Biggest Part of Me” and “You’re the Only Woman”.
Their self-titled debut was a sprawling, eclectic, progressive work that saw them trying anything and everything. It also had moments of sheer beauty like “Lover Arrive”, a gentle ballad about the longing for new love and a new beginning.
02 Feb 2013 1 Comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: squeeze the day, the shazam
The Shazam: “Squeeze the Day” (2002)
Nashville power pop band The Shazam is led by gifted guitarist/vocalist/songwriter Hans Rotenberry, whose stuff shows a love for classic melodic 70’s and 80’s rock, with a certain element of British-ness in the mix.
Unfortunately, the record sales have never been on the level of the critical acclaim for these guys. Their excellent Godspeed the Shazam and Tomorrow the World records had me waiting for the true classic album I believed they had in them.
With Rotenberry currently working on side projects, I’m wondering if that ship has now sailed.
Nevertheless, they carried the power pop torch as well as any band of their time.
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/02/11/songs-you-may-have-missed-10/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/09/19/songs-you-may-have-missed-475/
02 Feb 2013 1 Comment
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: pat donohue, would you like to play the guitar?
Pat Donohue: “Would You Like to Play the Guitar?” (2011)
One of the world’s great finger picking guitarists relates a cautionary tale for would-be professional guitarists. As with the previous Donohue song I posted, this is a parody of decades-old song (“Swinging On a Star”, popularized by Bing Crosby).
Sadly, many younger listeners don’t know the older source music. In the case of parody, this means they might fail to fully appreciate the art of the parodying artist. In the case of sampling, it means they might fail to appreciate the lack of art in the sampling artist. (Jay-Z and Kanye are counting on it.)
I can’t resist Pat Donohue’s topical novelty songs, but if you want more of a taste of the kind of stuff he plays (and how he does it) check out the video below. It’s the kind of thing Steve Howe likes to do in his mid-Yes concert solo acoustic sets:
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2012/11/08/songs-you-may-have-missed-215/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2013/08/21/songs-you-may-have-missed-466/
See also: https://edcyphers.com/2026/01/11/recommended-albums-105/
01 Feb 2013 Leave a comment
in Best of the Blog, Songs You May Have Missed Tags: full circle poetry, magic pie
Magic Pie: “Full Circle Poetry” (2005)
Reason number one to either love or hate prog rock: songs that don’t even get to the chorus for seven minutes. As much as I appreciate epic ambition, concept albums and the like, it’s a rare 14-minute song that I really enjoy. This is one.
These Norwegian proggers aren’t cutting edge innovators of the genre. Rather they tend to construct their epics from pieces nicked from classic-era bands such as Yes, Kansas and Gentle Giant.
Which is okay by me. Hardcore progressive rock fans are notoriously immoderate in their criticisms of derivative bands, concepts and sounds–as if the genre should reinvent itself every time a band releases an album. Sometimes it should be enough to simply appreciate an artist rearranging the existing pieces into something agreeable. The vocals, the musicianship and the song craft here are exemplary. It’s okay with me that I hear echoes of more original bands from a past era. In fact, it’s kind of comforting. Most of the time I don’t require music to challenge me, only to please me.
What a concept.
31 Jan 2013 4 Comments
in Songs You May Have Missed Tags: beautiful pain, rosanne cash
Rosanne Cash: “Beautiful Pain” (2003)
A typical Rosanne Cash album can be counted on to contain a mix of her insightful, personal originals and well-chosen material from other writers that sounds as though she could have written it.
“Beautiful Pain”, penned by Craig Northey and featuring backing vocals from Sheryl Crow, leads off her excellent Rules of Travel album and perfectly sets the tone for her first release in roughly seven years, which is a typically soul-baring rumination on the nature of long-term committed love.
Rosanne’s husband John Leventhal produced the album with meticulous sonic detail. Given that he’s known to be a huge Beatles fan, I can’t help wondering if that accounts for the drum sounds in the instrumental break, which seem to mimic the sound Ringo got by slackening his drum heads for a deeper “thump”.
Every Moment Has A Song 