HannushWeb
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Showing posts tagged hard
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MARS, THE BRINGER OF WAR - ELP
Ever wonder where Star Wars music came from? I know, John Williams…but who inspired him? Gustav Holst, of course with his orchestral masterpiece “The Planets.”
There are seven tracks for seven planets and each on has its own feeling and relates to the emotion given to the composer by each planet’s image.
The set opens with “Mars, The Bringer of War.” Now imagine, in 1905 when this was introduced to an audience…there was nothing of this power that had ever been played on stage from any mainstream composer. The first performance supposedly caused a riot and the music was terrifying to the crowd. If you’ve ever heard the rest of “The Planets” you’ll realize this is the hardest piece of music in the set and the rest is quite mellow. Just imaging the Mozart crowd listening to this pounding classical music.
Cozy Powell joined Keith Emerson and Greg Lake for this album and this song is a great way to introduce rock fans to classical music. You’ll be amazed that one keyboardist could create a whole orchestra…this is very close to the original classical piece. The ending is great by the way.
Rock on with some classical rock!
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ALDO NOVA - FANTASY
I didn’t see the guitar laser coming (he says sarcastically). But a great rock song from the early 80’s, don’t mind the leopard skin body suit. I find it funny that Aldo (who really wasn’t the best of singers but played every instrument on his albums) has gone on to write for Celine Dion in his post-stage career.
The thing I love about early 80’s hard rock is how it edged into hooks and was almost pop, but it never really crossed the line to be considered un-cool to rock fans.
Enjoy an 80’s classic.
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RUSH - SUBDIVISIONS
Neil Peart is incredible. That’s all I have to say. When I first heard this song on rock radio back in 1981, all I could hear were those crazy drum beats that weren’t doing what they were supposed to do in a mainstream rock song. The guy is all over the place…and he proves why he is one of rock’s greatest drummers.
As for Geddy Lee, he was much more than a lead singer who played bass…he was a bass player at heart. The funny thing is, Rush is the only band I can think of where the guitarist is virtually unknown but the bassist and drummer are both well known. And for good reason.
This song is fun for its 80’s keyboard and almost new wave Rush sound, and the video adds to that by showing us an 80’s video game…see how far we’ve come (those that are playing Black Ops today).
Enjoy the music…
