Thursday, November 29, 2012

Rolling Stone Magazine: Best Metal Album!

Some time ago, Rolling Stone magazine asked its readers to vote for the best Heavy Metal album of all times! As usual the results were kind of weird.
 I believe that all these on-line polls are most of the times crap, but I'm having fun reading them.
So here's is the list of the Top-10 Heavy Metal albums of all times, according to the readers of Rolling Stone magazine:


01. Metallica - Master Of Puppets
02. Black Sabbath - Paranoid
03. Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
04: Iron Maiden - The Number Of The Beast
05. Metallica - ...And Justice For All
06. Slayer - Reign In Blood
07. Guns N' Roses - Appetite For Destruction
08. Metallica - Black Album
09. Led Zeppelin - Led Zeppelin II
10. Metallica - Ride The Lightning
  I will not write my opinion about this list at the moment, but I have one question: What is Led Zeppelin doing among Metallica, Slayer, Guns n' Roses etc? I really can't understand!
And I'm sorry, but where is 'Sad Wings of Destiny'? (Judas Priest). And that's just the first album that came to my mind when I saw the list.
Anyway, I just posted here for you to see and you can judge by yourselves...
Have a nice day! :)

Monday, November 26, 2012

Prog & Roll Radio Show #9: Last Night's Playlist..

Hello everybody!
Last night we had our Radio show on the internet radio that many of you probably know already.
This time we tried to play some bands that we never played before, and also mix up the music styles a bit. I believe that the result was good. People seemed to enjoyed it at least...
As for next Sunday (2/12), we are preparing the second tribute to The Lord of the Rings as we had promised a couple of weeks before. I hope it will be a good show like the first one...
And here is the playlist from last night's broadcast:


THERION: Midgard / SHADOW GALLERY: Ghost of a chance / ECHO: The Illusion / PINK FLOYD: Dogs of War / BLACK MOUNTAIN: Angel / QUEEN: Innuendo / RENAISSANCE: Ocean Gypsy / STRAWBS: Tears & Pavan / VDGG: Wondering / HAYWARD-LODGE: Maybe / CHICAGO: Questions 67&68/ BLOOD SWEAT & TEARS: Spinning Wheel  / BABE RUTH: The Mexican / SANTANA: Oye Como Va / TRAFFIC: Glad / BIG BIG TRAIN: Last Train / GENESIS: Afterglow / MOSTLY AUTUMN: We come and we go / MOODY BLUES: The Land of Make Believe / SUPERTRAMP: A Soapbox Opera / MERCURY REV: Tonight it Shows.


Saturday, November 24, 2012

GFreedom's Juke Box No. 23

Hello everybody!:)
Another Saturday came, and I'm here in order to post my Top-5 songs for the week that just passed.
This time it was kind of difficult to choose, because I listened to lots of music and many different kinds and styles.
Without further delay, here's my top-5:

Pink Floyd: Dogs of War (A Momentary Lapse of Reason) (1987)
J.Hayward - J.Lodge: Maybe (Blue Jays) (1975)
Led Zeppelin: No Quarter (Houses of the Holy) (1973)
Solaris: Book of Prophecies (Nostradamus: Book of Prophecies) (1999)
Bauhaus: In the Night (The Sky's Gone Out) (1982)

Thursday, November 22, 2012

Michael Dunford of Renaissance Passed Away...



Hello all!
Another brilliant musician passed out a couple of days ago. Michael Dunford from Renaissance. 
Here I'm posting some things about him that I found on the Internet and copied them here for you to read...
R.I.P 

Michael Dunford, musical composer and guitarist of the progressive rock band Renaissance passed away on Tuesday, November 20, 2012. He had just returned home from the first leg of the band’s North American tour and suffered a massive Instantaneous Cerebral Hemorrhage while dining at his home in Surrey, England Monday night. He was rushed to hospital where doctors declared his condition irreversible and terminal. He passed away at 11:06 pm GMT, surrounded by his family without having regained consciousness.
The fairly reclusive and soft-spoken composer, a mainstay in the world of progressive rock, was born, raised and educated in Surrey. His first job was selling clothing in a local shop followed by a stint as an airside driver at Heathrow Airport which enabled him to form a “skiffle” group which lead to his first rock band called Nashville Teens in the early 1960s. Nashville Teens reached #6 on U.K. singles charts with their version of Tobacco Road. On leaving them, he formed several other bands including The Pentad and The Plebes. One night he went to see the original band Renaissance perform locally and ended up joining them in the early 1970s. The original band members were Jim McCarty, Louis Cennamo, John Hawken, Keith Relf and Jane Relf.

Dunford and vocalist Annie Haslam took over Renaissance’s reins in 1971 and soon had established the group as a world class recording and touring act, selling out venues like New York’s Carnegie Hall and The Royal Albert Hall in London. They would go on to release over a dozen albums before eventually parting ways in the mid-1980s. However, they would continue to write new material together and in 2001 reunited the band to record a new studio album, tour the following year, and release a live album. After another sabbatical, the refreshed line-up was introduced to the world and captured for posterity on Turn of the Cards and Scheherazade and Other Stories Live 2011.
Earlier this fall, Dunford and the band completed recording their first new studio album in twelve years. Grandine il Vento was recorded at Studio X in Ridgewood NJ, USA. All the music on the new album except for one track was composed and arranged by Dunford and features him on acoustic guitars and backing vocals.
Michael Dunford is survived by his wife Clare, sons William (13) and Oliver (10), and sister Judy Kendall. Services will be held at Woking Crematorium at a date to be announced.


Tuesday, November 20, 2012

'THE WALL LIVE'. The Return...


Great news for the fans of Pink Floyd  (and not only them)!
After finishing his almost 1 year worldwide tour presenting 'The Wall live', Roger Waters decided to return to Europe in order to present 'The Wall' again, but this time in big stadiums.
For the purposes of these concerts, the whole show changed & many new elements are included, in order to fit well the huge stage they are preparing for these shows.
The 2013 tour starts on the 20th of July from Belgium, and it finishes on the 21st of October in Paris. During these months Roger Waters will give 25 concerts in many European cities, including Athens. The concert in Athens will be on the 31st of July at the Olympic Stadium.
The tickets pre-sale for the Athens show will start on the 18th of Devember 2012, and the prices are between 28 - 59 Euro. Very good prices in my opinion.
I watched 'The Wall Live' almost 1.5 year ago, I have to say that is an absolutely wonderful experience! I strongly recommend it to everybody! As for me, I'm already trying to find a way to be there this summer. I will try to watch it in Athens, or otherwise a few days later in Istanbul.
Here are the tour dates that have been announced so far:
 July 2013
2013-07-20 - Werchter Festival Site - Werchter – Belgium
2013-07-23 -  Stadion Poljud - Split – Croatia
2013-07-26 -  Stadio Euganeo - Padua – Italy
2013-07-28 -  Stadio Olimpico - Rome – Italy
2013-07-31 - TBC - Athens – Greece
August 2013
2013-08-03 - ITU Stadium - Istanbul – Turkey
2013-08-07 - Synot Tip Arena - Prague – Czech Republic
2013-08-09 - Commerzbank Arena - Frankfurt – Germany
2013-08-11 - Parken (Copenhagen) - Copenhagen – Denmark
2013-08-14 - Telenor - Oslo – Norway
2013-08-15 - Telenor - Oslo – Norway
2013-08-17 - Ullevi Stadium - Gothenburg – Sweden
2013-08-20 - Stadion Narodowy - Warsaw – Poland
2013-08-23 - Ernst-Happel Stadium - Vienna – Austria
2013-08-25 - Puskás Ferenc Stadium - Budapest – Hungary
2013-08-28 - Piata Constitutiei - Bucharest – Romania
2013-08-30 - Vasil Levski Stadium - Sofia – Bulgaria
September 2013
2013-09-01 - Usce Park - Belgrade – Serbia
2013-09-04 - Olympiastadion - Berlin – Germany
2013-09-06 - Esprit Arena - Dusseldorf – Germany
2013-09-08 - Amsterdam Arena - Amsterdam – Netherlands
2013-09-09 - Letzigrund Stadium - Zurich – Switzerland
2013-09-14 - Wembley Stadium - London – England
2013-09-18 - Aviva Stadium (Dublin) - Dublin – Ireland
2013-09-21 -  Stade de France - Paris – France