Back in what i assume was 2007 (i can not remember exactly) i acquired the album Beyond by Dinosaur Jr. The reason i am not sure of when it was is because it seems quite a while ago but the album was released in April 2007 from what my sources have told me so i have assumed it must have been there. Now there is nothing strange about me buying an album. In fact i have over 100 CD's which is quite a lot and a pain to store but i would not have it any other way. I am not a fan of downloading songs onto my computer legally or illegally. I like to have something tangible that i can touch and see. Something you do not get with MP3 downloads. Anyway i am getting off topic. The reason i am mentioning this is 1) i was listening to this album on my MP3 player on my way home from work and i realised just how much i love this album and 2) i came about this band and album in a different way to usual.
Over the course of 2006 and 2007 my friend introduced me to the internet radio station called Pandora. It was a free internet radio station based in America which was also available in the UK until sometime in 2007 when they enforced their serve users only in U.S a bit more strictly for what reason i cannot remember. At the time i was a bit gutted about this as i used to like listening to it. Pandora was created by the Music Genome project and when you signed up to the site it would ask you to enter the name of a band, solo artist or song you liked and then it would select songs that it considered to have the same sound or style of the song or artist you picked. And then it would allow feedback on the songs it played for you by giving you and thumbs up or thumbs down icon. It would then use this feedback to narrow it down your likes and dislikes so it could play music you would enjoy that you may never have come across before or otherwise would have never come across. This suited me because though i very much enjoy the music i have bought and listened to over the years there is nothing like hearing a good song for the first time i find.
Now for the majority of the time i was aware of the site i did just use it for this thinking that it would be around for a while i never really thought about getting any albums or exploring any of the bands i heard on their further musically. It was a nice alternative to putting on my music collection on the PC and to be quite honest although i liked a lot of what they played at me a lot of them were independent artists that never really stood out anymore than the others. However after i found out that they were going to be taking away the service from the UK through a very apologetic email i started to use it more as i knew it would not be around for much longer and i wanted to make the most of it. During this time certain songs i had heard before would be repeated because i had marked i had liked them and it would play them again whilst also searching to find new songs it had not shown me that i may like and i discovered that i liked some more than others. Now me being me meant that i ended up looking at HMV's website to see if i could find the album that these songs were on for sale. I was successful in my search and i bought two that i can remember to various degrees of success. The albums i bought were 'Beyond' by Dinosaur Jr which i mentioned earlier and 'Read Music/Speak Spanish' by the Desaparacidos. A band of which i am still not entirely sure how to pronounce the name of.
Now on first hearing them both i did like them but i was not wowed by them and so they got limited listening time and both eventually ended up back in or on the CD rack i had for housing my CD's. I would look at them both sitting there neither of them inspiring me to put them in my CD player and give another whirl. It had seemed to me as if the Pandora experiment had failed and i felt a little disheartened by it and as a consequence a little bit discouraged from impulse buying again because that is why i bought them really. However i consider myself a fair man even to my CD's and so on one or two occasions that i can think of if i could not think of a CD i wanted to listen to i decided to give both albums another chance to win me over. This had different outcomes for both CD's.
'Read Music/Speak Spanish' sadly could not do anything more to sway my opinion of it at the time and i am still not convinced by it today. It is not a bad album and obviously has at least one song on it i like otherwise i would not have considered it as one of the bands i wanted to explore further from Pandora. However as an entire album i do not like all of it as musically not all of it is to my taste. I can listen to it but it is not one i would choose personally. This i guess is the gamble you take when you buy any album but i believe the gamble is even greater when you have only heard one or two songs by the band ever.
In contrast 'Beyond' by Dinosaur Jr changed my opinion of it in a positive way. When i listened to it again i found that it was not as 'bad', for want of a better word as i never thought it was bad exactly, as i remembered. In fact i enjoyed it and decided that though still far from being a favourite in my collection it was definitely one album that i had misjudged and that i would play it more with less hesitation. However it was still one of the forgotten albums in my collection really and it was not until when i moved out of my parents home in September 2008 that the big breakthrough occurred.
Obviously when moving out you have to collect all your possessions together and put them in cardboard boxes that you have taken from your place of work so that you do not leave anything behind. So part of this involved me putting my CD's into a box and as a result i came across 'Beyond' again. Remembering that i now did in fact like this album rather than how i felt before i decided to listen to it again around that time and it was better than it was before and i decided that now i really very much liked this album and that it was worthy of MP3 player status. I only have limited space on my MP3 player so it has to be something i really like listening to otherwise there is no point really is there. Also as i listen to it on my travels to various different places that i go its always nice to listen to something you really enjoy because traveling can be rather boring at times.
Its one of those albums i have discovered that just gets better and better every time i listen to it. I just love the guitar work in the songs and i have also discovered i can relate to the lyrics more now. I do not know if this is because i am at a different stage in life or because i am older or what really but all i know now is this album has grown on me and i love listening to it. It restored my faith in Pandora even though i will not be able to use it. It was and is a great concept for both musical listeners and musicians because they did not discriminate against any musical artist based on how successful they were and so it could bring to your knowledge bands you would not have heard otherwise and it brings that band more fans which in turn could aid them in commercial success if that was indeed their aim. And based on my love of this album i have been listening to some of their other material via the wonders of YouTube and have decided that i like most of their stuff and may invest in their most recent album The Farm after Christmas when my money is less tied up in other things.
Now below i am going to post a few of my favourite songs from the album so that you can get a feel of the sound of it. Obviously it will not appeal to all and considering their lack of mainstream success it may not appeal to many but you never know.
There i hope you liked what you heard if not then that's life isn't it. As for me i better get to bed so goodnight thanks for reading.
Wednesday, 9 December 2009
Sunday, 22 November 2009
Reality vs Fantasy. And the winner is ....?
Reality, the life we live. Fantasy, the way to escape our daily life. Which one,if either, is better? In fantasy we can do and be anything we want to be. Have whatever we want as it is created by us. Reality we can only do what we are limited to do and can only have whatever we are allowed, as it is dictated by other people and rules which we cannot govern. Sounds like a easy winner doesn't it? However perhaps it is not as simple as it sounds.
I, when not here, work at a cinema, a place designed for pure escapism. Each and every screen offers a different adventure for you to engross yourself in for an hour or so and leave reality at the door which you can then pick up again as soon as you leave. It is just one of many things people do to escape their reality. Other such things are reading books, playing games, daydreaming, listening to music or even going to the extreme form of escapism here, taking recreational drugs. We all have our own ways of escaping the humdrum of everyday life by delving into our preferred forms of fantasy but why do we seek it out? Is the fantasy that much better than reality?
Well lets look at the reality of the world shall we. The world can be a rather unpleasant place at the best of times. People are rude and unpleasant to each other as they are only out for themselves and their interests, which sadly is the way they have to be because 90% (this is not an exact figure here) of the population are at it and you really can not trust anyone. Crime is at an exceptionally high rate and it is perhaps no longer safe to leave your house what with all the muggers, drug dealers, murderers, rapists and pedophiles out there. It may in fact not be safe to stay in your house either because if you won't go to them they will come to you. Unemployment is at an all time high recently due to the recession meaning people are struggling to meet their bills or are living on the streets which in turn leads people to crime. Countries all over the world are torn apart by war as the struggle for power and dominance continue. Due to some of these wars some of these countries are struck by extreme poverty and in turn this can lead to wide spread disease and starvation due to lack of food and clean water keeping the mortality rate far too high.
These are just the extremes and not everyone is affected or even worried by these things. I for example do not live in a war torn country. I am not disease ridden (i hope). I am not struck by poverty, I'm not rich but i get by. I am not unemployed. I am not a criminal and i don't worry that i am going to be murdered, mugged or raped every time i go to work. My reality can still be depressing however and this is because of everyday dramas. Everyone has them, whether it be incinerating the dinner or being told you're the ugliest and most worthless person in the world. On the flip side of this perhaps you do not get enough drama and excitement in your life and you feel bored and like you're not going anywhere in life. All these things can make you wish that your life was different and this is where people see fantasy as the better alternative. You can escape into a world where things are just to your liking and it can make you forget about your problems for a little while and this is good everyone needs to relax and chill out otherwise we just would not function properly. However the problem with fantasy is sometimes people forget where the fantasy ends and reality begins and elements of the fantasy start to blur in with the reality.
This can happen in various strengths with the weakest being the annoying but harmless group. These people are so into whatever fantasy they are into that they talk and get really excited about it as if it's real, which can be annoying to those of us who do not appreciate the fantasy as much but its perfectly harmless as they can still tell the difference between reality and fantasy even if the line's a bit blurred. An example of this I have seen recently is with the film versions of the Twilight Saga, of which the second book to film adaptation New Moon is currently showing at the cinema in which i work. I see people coming in all hyper and excited ,as they're going to see a film they expect to like, getting even more hyper and excited (to the point of squealing sometimes) as soon as they see any promotional stuff for it be it a banner, standee or even the posters we are selling. It is perfectly harmless as they're not hurting anyone (well occasionally the odd eardrum when the squealing starts) but it can be rather annoying sometimes. I for one can not fathom this reaction to a picture of Robert Pattison but then again I am not embroiled in this fantasy and as such i can find it to be a tad annoying.
You can also get the complete opposite of this where people become so immersed in their fantasy that their reality disappears and they start to live their fantasy as their reality. This can be dangerous depending on the fantasy. If their fantasy is that they can fly then it can be dangerous for them as they will jump off a building and find that they can't actually and will end up doing themselves some harm. If their fantasy is being a cat then they will probably pose very little danger to themselves or anyone else, it will just be a bit strange. These kind of people usually suffer from a psychological disorder and can often be spotted easily and will be sectioned for their own or others safety.
You also have the middle group where the person can still tell the difference but tries to use the fantasy to improve their reality. An example of this could be if you're playing a video game where you spend the levels wielding a gun and shooting people you don't like. Most of us would leave it there however others will use an element from the fantasy of the game (such as the wielding of the gun) to affect their reality in the same way. It is in these cases that the fantasy can negatively affect reality and it brings me onto my next topic of what effects reality and fantasy can have on each other.
As i have mentioned before people turn to fantasy as a way to escape the reality of their everyday lives. Something to break the tedium or relieve the stress of the everyday slog. The worse the reality the stronger the fantasy needs to be to help us ignore the reality. This is fine and it makes sense. However sometimes not only do we use fantasy for escapism but sometimes we look into the fantasy for a solution of some kind. Now we all sometimes imagine what we would LIKE to do sometimes to resolve a situation but very few of us do it as is not the done thing. For example sometimes when your boss is getting on your back you may feel like killing them however you never do as its not socially acceptable and it is just the stress of the situation making you think this way. However some people will occasionally cross those lines and these ways people have been wanting to resolve the unpleasant aspects of the reality in the fantasy make their way into the reality.
Now i have made an observation that the levels of violence and the like has gone up over the years and part of me thinks that the type of violence that has risen has stemmed from people deciding that they way they would like to solve their issue (e.g kill the person that's annoying them) in their fantasy is the way they are going to do it making it a reality. And the more people who do this kind of thing, the more violence appears in the reality making other peoples realities worse and so they need a stronger form of fantasy to get away from it and when that spills over into reality that can make reality worse again meaning the fantasy has to be stronger to cancel it out once again. So my point is that the strength of one can affect the other and that they can affect each other negatively sometimes and this what i feel may have happened today. This is why some of the fantasy we create is so fantastical because due to some of us allowing the less fantastical forms of fantasy into our reality (extreme forms of violence for example) in the past which has made our reality worse overall that we find ourselves needing more to escape it and find ourselves willing to immerse ourselves in it more than we ever used to.
So which one is is better? Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Reality can be pretty rubbish and hard work sometimes but is necessary as its the world we live in and when it has good moments they are better and mean more as they are real. Fantasy is a great way to keep us from being bored when reality isn't great but it can occasionally get out of control when we forget that it isn't real. The choice is entirely yours on which you prefer
I, when not here, work at a cinema, a place designed for pure escapism. Each and every screen offers a different adventure for you to engross yourself in for an hour or so and leave reality at the door which you can then pick up again as soon as you leave. It is just one of many things people do to escape their reality. Other such things are reading books, playing games, daydreaming, listening to music or even going to the extreme form of escapism here, taking recreational drugs. We all have our own ways of escaping the humdrum of everyday life by delving into our preferred forms of fantasy but why do we seek it out? Is the fantasy that much better than reality?
Well lets look at the reality of the world shall we. The world can be a rather unpleasant place at the best of times. People are rude and unpleasant to each other as they are only out for themselves and their interests, which sadly is the way they have to be because 90% (this is not an exact figure here) of the population are at it and you really can not trust anyone. Crime is at an exceptionally high rate and it is perhaps no longer safe to leave your house what with all the muggers, drug dealers, murderers, rapists and pedophiles out there. It may in fact not be safe to stay in your house either because if you won't go to them they will come to you. Unemployment is at an all time high recently due to the recession meaning people are struggling to meet their bills or are living on the streets which in turn leads people to crime. Countries all over the world are torn apart by war as the struggle for power and dominance continue. Due to some of these wars some of these countries are struck by extreme poverty and in turn this can lead to wide spread disease and starvation due to lack of food and clean water keeping the mortality rate far too high.
These are just the extremes and not everyone is affected or even worried by these things. I for example do not live in a war torn country. I am not disease ridden (i hope). I am not struck by poverty, I'm not rich but i get by. I am not unemployed. I am not a criminal and i don't worry that i am going to be murdered, mugged or raped every time i go to work. My reality can still be depressing however and this is because of everyday dramas. Everyone has them, whether it be incinerating the dinner or being told you're the ugliest and most worthless person in the world. On the flip side of this perhaps you do not get enough drama and excitement in your life and you feel bored and like you're not going anywhere in life. All these things can make you wish that your life was different and this is where people see fantasy as the better alternative. You can escape into a world where things are just to your liking and it can make you forget about your problems for a little while and this is good everyone needs to relax and chill out otherwise we just would not function properly. However the problem with fantasy is sometimes people forget where the fantasy ends and reality begins and elements of the fantasy start to blur in with the reality.
This can happen in various strengths with the weakest being the annoying but harmless group. These people are so into whatever fantasy they are into that they talk and get really excited about it as if it's real, which can be annoying to those of us who do not appreciate the fantasy as much but its perfectly harmless as they can still tell the difference between reality and fantasy even if the line's a bit blurred. An example of this I have seen recently is with the film versions of the Twilight Saga, of which the second book to film adaptation New Moon is currently showing at the cinema in which i work. I see people coming in all hyper and excited ,as they're going to see a film they expect to like, getting even more hyper and excited (to the point of squealing sometimes) as soon as they see any promotional stuff for it be it a banner, standee or even the posters we are selling. It is perfectly harmless as they're not hurting anyone (well occasionally the odd eardrum when the squealing starts) but it can be rather annoying sometimes. I for one can not fathom this reaction to a picture of Robert Pattison but then again I am not embroiled in this fantasy and as such i can find it to be a tad annoying.
You can also get the complete opposite of this where people become so immersed in their fantasy that their reality disappears and they start to live their fantasy as their reality. This can be dangerous depending on the fantasy. If their fantasy is that they can fly then it can be dangerous for them as they will jump off a building and find that they can't actually and will end up doing themselves some harm. If their fantasy is being a cat then they will probably pose very little danger to themselves or anyone else, it will just be a bit strange. These kind of people usually suffer from a psychological disorder and can often be spotted easily and will be sectioned for their own or others safety.
You also have the middle group where the person can still tell the difference but tries to use the fantasy to improve their reality. An example of this could be if you're playing a video game where you spend the levels wielding a gun and shooting people you don't like. Most of us would leave it there however others will use an element from the fantasy of the game (such as the wielding of the gun) to affect their reality in the same way. It is in these cases that the fantasy can negatively affect reality and it brings me onto my next topic of what effects reality and fantasy can have on each other.
As i have mentioned before people turn to fantasy as a way to escape the reality of their everyday lives. Something to break the tedium or relieve the stress of the everyday slog. The worse the reality the stronger the fantasy needs to be to help us ignore the reality. This is fine and it makes sense. However sometimes not only do we use fantasy for escapism but sometimes we look into the fantasy for a solution of some kind. Now we all sometimes imagine what we would LIKE to do sometimes to resolve a situation but very few of us do it as is not the done thing. For example sometimes when your boss is getting on your back you may feel like killing them however you never do as its not socially acceptable and it is just the stress of the situation making you think this way. However some people will occasionally cross those lines and these ways people have been wanting to resolve the unpleasant aspects of the reality in the fantasy make their way into the reality.
Now i have made an observation that the levels of violence and the like has gone up over the years and part of me thinks that the type of violence that has risen has stemmed from people deciding that they way they would like to solve their issue (e.g kill the person that's annoying them) in their fantasy is the way they are going to do it making it a reality. And the more people who do this kind of thing, the more violence appears in the reality making other peoples realities worse and so they need a stronger form of fantasy to get away from it and when that spills over into reality that can make reality worse again meaning the fantasy has to be stronger to cancel it out once again. So my point is that the strength of one can affect the other and that they can affect each other negatively sometimes and this what i feel may have happened today. This is why some of the fantasy we create is so fantastical because due to some of us allowing the less fantastical forms of fantasy into our reality (extreme forms of violence for example) in the past which has made our reality worse overall that we find ourselves needing more to escape it and find ourselves willing to immerse ourselves in it more than we ever used to.
So which one is is better? Both have their strengths and weaknesses. Reality can be pretty rubbish and hard work sometimes but is necessary as its the world we live in and when it has good moments they are better and mean more as they are real. Fantasy is a great way to keep us from being bored when reality isn't great but it can occasionally get out of control when we forget that it isn't real. The choice is entirely yours on which you prefer
Tuesday, 17 November 2009
Number of the Beast - Im only 27 years too late
27 years ago on the 29th of March 1982 an up and coming heavy metal band called Iron Maiden released their third studio album called Number of The Beast. This album was different to their previous two albums (Iron Maiden and Killers) as it debuted their new singer Bruce Dickinson (who would be a mainstay of the band for years to come) and it involved songwriting from their drummer at the time Clive Burr for the first time along with songwriting from Adrian Smith, a guitarist, as well. Though it was not initially received fantastically by the mainstream media as time passed peoples opinions of the album changed and it became one of the most critically acclaimed metal albums of all time and cemented Iron Maidens status as one of the biggest metal bands on the planet.
This also happens to be one of my favourite albums of all time too done by one of my favourite bands. However it wasn't always so. When I was younger I was not really into heavy metal as i found it too noisy and was caught up with the preconception made by a lot of the popular media that heavy metal was just thrash and noise and was a general offense to the ear drums. To be fair they had a point when heavy metal is done badly it can be all those things I mentioned but I hadn't given this band much of a chance despite the fact they were also one of my fathers favourite bands too.
Then one day I gave them a chance and i found that i did like their music and that i did like heavy metal music when it was done well. I sat there and played their 'greatest hits' or 'best of' album and found that i loved the squealing guitar solos and the lyrics that weren't about love and heartbreak like all pop music i had ever listened to but of other things that i hadn't heard a band sing about before and I loved it. It was this that got me to ask my father if he had any other albums by Iron Maiden that i could listen to and it was one of these times that he produced an old cassette of the album Number of the Beast. Now i had heard three of the songs already as they were on the greatest hits album but it was great to hear the other songs on this album from an early point of their career (a point that was before i was even born) as their style changed over the years as various changes to the band line up occurred and they got older. I quickly became a big fan of this album and despite getting other albums by Iron Maiden I found I would always be coming back to this album which lead me to believe that this along with another of their albums Powerslave was some of their greatest work.
And now i plan to share it with you. It may not necessarily be your type of music and I am not trying to convert you. I am just putting it forward so as you can form your own opinion on it and I hope you can keep an open mind. Through the magic of YouTube i shall be putting in videos of the songs from the album, including one that was not on the 1982 original but instead on the 1998 remastered version, in track listing order. Where possible i will have a video with lyrics included and i will offer an explanation of the song along with why i like it.
Track One - Invaders
This first song called Invaders is strangely enough about an invasion. It like many other Iron Maiden songs focuses on a period of history , in this case the period of Saxons in England. It is about the invasion of the Vikings and their take on the battle and experiences that would have taken place as the Vikings drew nearer in their Longboats before arriving on shore and attacking the locals.
Now i like this song as it has got a good pace to it giving you the impression of how quickly things were happening there. Also when i first listened to it it was different to the songs i was used to listening to as it was a bit more graphic near the end in the final verse or two where he describes the fighting and the wounds. Completely different to the lovey dovey lyrics to pop songs of the late 90's early noughties. The guitar solos are also one of my favourite parts of this song and a lot of Iron Maiden songs. I could mention it in every song but i won't as it would get tedious so i shall make a point of saying it here.
Track Two - Children of The Damned
This one i find more complicated to explain as its mostly in the title really. The song starts off by describing this individual who is quite clearly not ok. He is not moving properly and he stares right through you. He then dies engulfed by flame as if by spontaneous combustion. Here its revealed this was meant to happen and therefore making him a member of the damned and it ends by saying we are children of the damned.
This has to be one of my top three favourite songs off this album. Its a bit slower than most Iron Maiden songs and i have heard it described by members of the band that it was the slowest song they've ever done. Lyrically i love it. The description and imagery created here, while others may find it gross and a bit graphic, fascinates me. From my years of reading many books i have always enjoyed good description and this song gives me a perfect image in my head of what this guys going through.
Track Three - The Prisoner
The third song of the album the Prisoner is based on the TV series of the same name which was broadcast from September 1967 - February 1968. The spoken extract at the beginning was taken from the TV series after the manager of Iron Maiden phoned the writer of the show to ask his permission. For those of you who haven't heard of the show it was about a guy held captive against his will in a society where you had no individuality and were just given a number and his attempts to escape.
This song I like because of the message of the lyrics. The message that "I'm not a number, I'm a free man, Live my life where I want to". I believe in that and believe we should live like it. Also again i cannot fault this song musically.
Track Four - 22 Acacia Avenue
The fourth song is a continuation of the "Charlotte the Harlot" saga started on one of the earlier two albums and is the second in the saga. Charlotte by her very title as a harlot is a prostitute who resides at 22 Acacia Avenue (I do not know how factually accurate that is) and the song starts off by suggesting if u feel lonely why not go and see this lady at this address. It then switches to trying to suggest to Charlotte that should stop what shes doing before switching back to encouraging you to see her before switching back to trying to get her to stop again before he says basically sod it I'm taking you away from all this.
I like the song because of the way the lyrics switch from both different view points. The view point promoting it (and the lyrics for this i like) and the other view saying that she should stop. The conflict is something I don't see in songs too often and i found it to be rather original when i first heard it. Also being one of the longer songs on this album gave it greater scope melodically as it kept changing pace and this keeps me interested in it as a song as it doesn't get repetitive.
Track Five - The Number of the Beast
Track five is the title track of the album. It opens with an actor called Barry Clayton reading a passage from Revelations. And although originally thought by people to be a song written by a bunch of satanists it turns out the song was based on a dream the bassist (Steve Harris) had after watching Damien: Omen II late at night. So that is what is all about. The lyrics are related to what Steve Harris saw in his dreams and how he felt about them.
This was one of the first Iron Maiden songs i ever heard and as such its become a favourite over the years. I like the mythology of it and the way the song opens which again was a first for me really when i heard it. Its got a good pace to the song and i find it easy to sing to.
Track Six - Run to the Hills
This has got to be the most famous Iron Maiden song of all time. It was one of their biggest hit singles charting at number 7 in the UK chart. It also earned them one of their first if not first appearance on Top of the Pops. If you follow this kind of music you have probably heard this song even if you didn't know who it was. The song in itself goes back to the period of time in history where the U.S army were forcing the Native Americans to move to the western United States. This song is from the Native Americans perspective and how they may have seen the actions of the U.S Army.
Now this song isn't one of my favourites but that is not because i dislike the song. It is just being one of the most popular Maiden songs I feel it has been overplayed to me and so I prefer to listen to other songs by them. However I think it has good subject matter and you can learn something about that time period if you knew nothing about it.
Track Seven - Gangland
Gangland, from my interpretation of it at least, seems to be about an area rife with gang activity, possibly from a mob like time, and the character in the song has crossed one of these gangs and is now on the run and hiding from them as he is a dead man in the gangs eyes and dead men tell no tales.
Another good song of this album that i thoroughly enjoy listening to even if its not my favourite song on the album. Its got a good quick pace on it which works for the song as the guys on the run from the gang and there is no letting up as you are being hunted down by someone who is trying to kill you.
Track Eight - Total Eclipse
This song was originally not on the album and was put on the 1998 remastered re-release of the album. It was originally the B-Side to Run to The Hills but the band felt that it was too strong a song to miss off the album so that is why they put it on in this version. Now this song being about the total eclipse to me suggests that this song is about the Sun going out for good and how people would react to that. People stopping what they are doing as an eternal winter falls.
Now this song wasn't on the original cassette version that my father gave me so was a surprise to me when i went out and bought my own version on CD. Its a good song again, interesting subject matter, although perhaps not their best musically as i found it a bit rough around the edges but it has grown on me the more i listen to it.
Track Nine - Hallowed be Thy Name
The final song on the album Hallowed be Thy Name is a song which depicts a mans thoughts just before he is taken to the gallows to be hung. It is about how a man finds that despite his belief that he wasn't afraid to die that perhaps he was after all. He then comes to terms with it as he then believes that his soul will live on and that he is going to find the truth. With this i am guessing he means the truth in what happens to you after you die.
Now this has to be my favourite song on the album. I think it is a brilliant way to end the album what with it being the longest song and even considering the subject matter. The song is about the end, albeit of a mans life, and its the end of the album. Lyrically i really like it. The subject matter and the way it is written really engrosses me. Musically again i think it is brilliant. It is over seven minutes long and the way they change the pace of the song keeps you interested and the guitar work i find immense. This is by far one of the best songs Iron Maiden have ever done in my opinion.
Well that is it. I hope you enjoyed reading and listening to the music if indeed you did. As i said near the beginning i know it is not to everyone's taste but i hope you can see why i like this album as much as i do. I would rather no one commented saying how rubbish they think this album is if you indeed feel that way. It is your own opinion but i would rather you keep it to yourself rather than just writing here to slag it off. I wouldn't do it to you so i rather you didn't to me. Other than that thank you and goodnight.
This also happens to be one of my favourite albums of all time too done by one of my favourite bands. However it wasn't always so. When I was younger I was not really into heavy metal as i found it too noisy and was caught up with the preconception made by a lot of the popular media that heavy metal was just thrash and noise and was a general offense to the ear drums. To be fair they had a point when heavy metal is done badly it can be all those things I mentioned but I hadn't given this band much of a chance despite the fact they were also one of my fathers favourite bands too.
Then one day I gave them a chance and i found that i did like their music and that i did like heavy metal music when it was done well. I sat there and played their 'greatest hits' or 'best of' album and found that i loved the squealing guitar solos and the lyrics that weren't about love and heartbreak like all pop music i had ever listened to but of other things that i hadn't heard a band sing about before and I loved it. It was this that got me to ask my father if he had any other albums by Iron Maiden that i could listen to and it was one of these times that he produced an old cassette of the album Number of the Beast. Now i had heard three of the songs already as they were on the greatest hits album but it was great to hear the other songs on this album from an early point of their career (a point that was before i was even born) as their style changed over the years as various changes to the band line up occurred and they got older. I quickly became a big fan of this album and despite getting other albums by Iron Maiden I found I would always be coming back to this album which lead me to believe that this along with another of their albums Powerslave was some of their greatest work.
And now i plan to share it with you. It may not necessarily be your type of music and I am not trying to convert you. I am just putting it forward so as you can form your own opinion on it and I hope you can keep an open mind. Through the magic of YouTube i shall be putting in videos of the songs from the album, including one that was not on the 1982 original but instead on the 1998 remastered version, in track listing order. Where possible i will have a video with lyrics included and i will offer an explanation of the song along with why i like it.
Track One - Invaders
This first song called Invaders is strangely enough about an invasion. It like many other Iron Maiden songs focuses on a period of history , in this case the period of Saxons in England. It is about the invasion of the Vikings and their take on the battle and experiences that would have taken place as the Vikings drew nearer in their Longboats before arriving on shore and attacking the locals.
Now i like this song as it has got a good pace to it giving you the impression of how quickly things were happening there. Also when i first listened to it it was different to the songs i was used to listening to as it was a bit more graphic near the end in the final verse or two where he describes the fighting and the wounds. Completely different to the lovey dovey lyrics to pop songs of the late 90's early noughties. The guitar solos are also one of my favourite parts of this song and a lot of Iron Maiden songs. I could mention it in every song but i won't as it would get tedious so i shall make a point of saying it here.
Track Two - Children of The Damned
This one i find more complicated to explain as its mostly in the title really. The song starts off by describing this individual who is quite clearly not ok. He is not moving properly and he stares right through you. He then dies engulfed by flame as if by spontaneous combustion. Here its revealed this was meant to happen and therefore making him a member of the damned and it ends by saying we are children of the damned.
This has to be one of my top three favourite songs off this album. Its a bit slower than most Iron Maiden songs and i have heard it described by members of the band that it was the slowest song they've ever done. Lyrically i love it. The description and imagery created here, while others may find it gross and a bit graphic, fascinates me. From my years of reading many books i have always enjoyed good description and this song gives me a perfect image in my head of what this guys going through.
Track Three - The Prisoner
The third song of the album the Prisoner is based on the TV series of the same name which was broadcast from September 1967 - February 1968. The spoken extract at the beginning was taken from the TV series after the manager of Iron Maiden phoned the writer of the show to ask his permission. For those of you who haven't heard of the show it was about a guy held captive against his will in a society where you had no individuality and were just given a number and his attempts to escape.
This song I like because of the message of the lyrics. The message that "I'm not a number, I'm a free man, Live my life where I want to". I believe in that and believe we should live like it. Also again i cannot fault this song musically.
Track Four - 22 Acacia Avenue
The fourth song is a continuation of the "Charlotte the Harlot" saga started on one of the earlier two albums and is the second in the saga. Charlotte by her very title as a harlot is a prostitute who resides at 22 Acacia Avenue (I do not know how factually accurate that is) and the song starts off by suggesting if u feel lonely why not go and see this lady at this address. It then switches to trying to suggest to Charlotte that should stop what shes doing before switching back to encouraging you to see her before switching back to trying to get her to stop again before he says basically sod it I'm taking you away from all this.
I like the song because of the way the lyrics switch from both different view points. The view point promoting it (and the lyrics for this i like) and the other view saying that she should stop. The conflict is something I don't see in songs too often and i found it to be rather original when i first heard it. Also being one of the longer songs on this album gave it greater scope melodically as it kept changing pace and this keeps me interested in it as a song as it doesn't get repetitive.
Track Five - The Number of the Beast
Track five is the title track of the album. It opens with an actor called Barry Clayton reading a passage from Revelations. And although originally thought by people to be a song written by a bunch of satanists it turns out the song was based on a dream the bassist (Steve Harris) had after watching Damien: Omen II late at night. So that is what is all about. The lyrics are related to what Steve Harris saw in his dreams and how he felt about them.
This was one of the first Iron Maiden songs i ever heard and as such its become a favourite over the years. I like the mythology of it and the way the song opens which again was a first for me really when i heard it. Its got a good pace to the song and i find it easy to sing to.
Track Six - Run to the Hills
This has got to be the most famous Iron Maiden song of all time. It was one of their biggest hit singles charting at number 7 in the UK chart. It also earned them one of their first if not first appearance on Top of the Pops. If you follow this kind of music you have probably heard this song even if you didn't know who it was. The song in itself goes back to the period of time in history where the U.S army were forcing the Native Americans to move to the western United States. This song is from the Native Americans perspective and how they may have seen the actions of the U.S Army.
Now this song isn't one of my favourites but that is not because i dislike the song. It is just being one of the most popular Maiden songs I feel it has been overplayed to me and so I prefer to listen to other songs by them. However I think it has good subject matter and you can learn something about that time period if you knew nothing about it.
Track Seven - Gangland
Gangland, from my interpretation of it at least, seems to be about an area rife with gang activity, possibly from a mob like time, and the character in the song has crossed one of these gangs and is now on the run and hiding from them as he is a dead man in the gangs eyes and dead men tell no tales.
Another good song of this album that i thoroughly enjoy listening to even if its not my favourite song on the album. Its got a good quick pace on it which works for the song as the guys on the run from the gang and there is no letting up as you are being hunted down by someone who is trying to kill you.
Track Eight - Total Eclipse
This song was originally not on the album and was put on the 1998 remastered re-release of the album. It was originally the B-Side to Run to The Hills but the band felt that it was too strong a song to miss off the album so that is why they put it on in this version. Now this song being about the total eclipse to me suggests that this song is about the Sun going out for good and how people would react to that. People stopping what they are doing as an eternal winter falls.
Now this song wasn't on the original cassette version that my father gave me so was a surprise to me when i went out and bought my own version on CD. Its a good song again, interesting subject matter, although perhaps not their best musically as i found it a bit rough around the edges but it has grown on me the more i listen to it.
Track Nine - Hallowed be Thy Name
The final song on the album Hallowed be Thy Name is a song which depicts a mans thoughts just before he is taken to the gallows to be hung. It is about how a man finds that despite his belief that he wasn't afraid to die that perhaps he was after all. He then comes to terms with it as he then believes that his soul will live on and that he is going to find the truth. With this i am guessing he means the truth in what happens to you after you die.
Now this has to be my favourite song on the album. I think it is a brilliant way to end the album what with it being the longest song and even considering the subject matter. The song is about the end, albeit of a mans life, and its the end of the album. Lyrically i really like it. The subject matter and the way it is written really engrosses me. Musically again i think it is brilliant. It is over seven minutes long and the way they change the pace of the song keeps you interested and the guitar work i find immense. This is by far one of the best songs Iron Maiden have ever done in my opinion.
Well that is it. I hope you enjoyed reading and listening to the music if indeed you did. As i said near the beginning i know it is not to everyone's taste but i hope you can see why i like this album as much as i do. I would rather no one commented saying how rubbish they think this album is if you indeed feel that way. It is your own opinion but i would rather you keep it to yourself rather than just writing here to slag it off. I wouldn't do it to you so i rather you didn't to me. Other than that thank you and goodnight.
Friday, 13 November 2009
We Are Friends - Why?
Friendships can be formed to various different strengths and in various different situations. I have noticed several types of friendship types. First up and perhaps the weakest form of friendship is called acquaintance. These are people u meet via other people u know and as such when u see them in the high street u feel u have to say hello and take an interest in what they're up to and how they are regardless of whether you're actually interested as it would be rude not to. Family friends can also fit into this category as well because you may not actually see them that often and they may not be your friend directly.
Next up i would say would be old friends that you don't see very often. These are people that you once knew and perhaps at one point you were good friends but have lost contact over the years and see each other once in a blue moon. Now in this case i can imagine as they were once important to u that u do actually have a genuine interest into what they are up to these days and actually care about their well being. However due to whatever reason it was you lost contact u eventually lose interest and you become estranged again.
Further up the scale you have the work friend. This is someone u speak to at work regularly as it helps to brighten up a rather boring day usually as very few people actually enjoy going to work as very few people actually get a job doing something they actually wanted or enjoy doing. This is however about as far as it goes. You may go out occasionally for a works do or a bit of r&r but you never take any interest in their life outside work and they none in yours and when or if one of you changes jobs you don't keep in contact and that chapter in each others lives is closed.
Of course if things do go well you can find that in each of the categories i have mentioned above you can get that friendship upgraded up to being a regular social friend. Things that can make this happen are you actually find that you do actually quite like this persons company and don't mind seeing them on a regular basis so you decided to hang out more and invite them to social dos you may host or go to activities you like doing as long as they like them too. If this goes on for a while you may find that you do actually care about this person and this can lead to the type of friendship, close friend.
A close friend is someone you turn to when you perhaps need advice or somethings upset or bothered you and you need someone who you believe cares about your feelings and interests as much as you do about theirs. You trust this person to help you out in these difficult times and be there when you need them in whatever capacity you do at that time. You also expect them to give you their honest opinion especially when you yourself are doing something that is not in your best interests. This can be difficult to maintain as people by their very nature do not agree all the time and this can lead to conflict which can not always be negotiated successfully without fallout. However if you can do this and maintain it for many years then you find yourself in the final and strongest form of friendship category which is, friends for life.
These people are those that will be with you through thick and thin. They will always be there when called upon and people have even go so far as to say that these people are to them like unofficial family members. These are the people you reserve the most important of responsibilities for. Such as being best man or maid of honour at your wedding. Or someone to leave the kids with on a night out or if you get called away on an emergency. To hopefully not be overly dramatic here but these are the friends that are so important to you and each other (because i am assuming mutual feelings and respect here) that they are willing to perhaps even put their own life on the line if the situation demanded it.
Of course not everyone or their friendships are going to be the same but this is the basic outline for the various strengths of friendship that exist in the world. My thoughts and queries here is to how and perhaps most importantly why certain people can go from the weakest group of friendship and work their way up to a stronger if not quite the strongest form of friendship and why others can't. Do we need to have these friendships? If so why? Is it an innate instinct to make some friendships for life and perhaps some just for the time being to get by and then ditch them when we don't need them.
Human beings by their very nature have always been social creatures. Right from the days when we were just a primitive ape like creature to the sophisticated (well some of us anyway) and complex creatures we are today. It has been through our social skills and ability to communicate that we have become the most dominate species on the planet. We have learnt that working with each other has its benefits and as such business like friendships have been forged to allow the human species to go forwards. Now I'm not saying that all friendships we forge are like this but human instinct has forced us into making friends to help us get through life in general. This is what has made me think that deep down on some level that we don't just make friends because we want to but because we are driven to by our very nature. This means you can shove us into any given situation and we will make friends with whoever is there. This could therefore make us question the validity of certain friendships we have made because when looking at the friend you have made you end up looking at the circumstances in which the friendship is forged rather than the characteristics of the person that made you want to be friends with them.
Now I am not saying that all the friends we have made are down to instinct. A certain amount of the reason we make friends is because its part of our nature as human beings but when making friends for a longer period of time a lot more of it is down to conscious decision on our part based on what we need as individuals. Whether we need someone who can keep us amused or entertained or someone who can get us through the bad times as you can not quite deal with it by yourself. I feel when making a friend then the type of person we are determines what type of person we make friends with.
Perhaps it is this need for certain characteristics in our friends is what can determine how long we remain friends with them and the type of friendship you have. People are constantly changing throughout their lives and what maybe one of you needed at one stage in your life you grow out of and don't need anymore. You then find you need something else and that person you needed for the thing you used to need them for can not fulfill what you need now from them. Now this may not end a friendship but it can change the strength of it if it does not.
The ever changing nature of a person is what can drive us on through life making new friends to replace the ones we lose. Whether it be to drifting apart due to the fact you don't need them anymore or whether it be a falling out or even moving away, friends get lost and we then need to fill the void that that person, if they were that important to you, leaves behind. Friends are like a family for us when we are away from the one we grew up with. Each one serving a purpose to you and giving you the love and comfort that you get from your family in your formative years as an infant.
Making friends it would seem is down to a combination of both instinct and conscious choice. As social creatures human beings naturally seek out others to interact with be it for business like reasons or recreational ones because that is what we are programmed instinctively to do. A need to create a family wherever we are as our own can not always be there for us. It is however a mainly conscious decision on what type of person we choose to become friends with, as we all need certain things from people to make up for any failings that we as individuals possess because lets face it none of us are perfect. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and each of us possess different ones. What we may perceive we have a weakness in we may see a friend of ours has a strength in and as such we draw on their strength to help make up for our weakness in this area.
And if u get a group of friends then you may, if all works well as a unit, form one perfect human being with no flaws or weaknesses. And if this can continue to be the way over the years then perhaps you have managed to work your way up through the friend groups until you reach the final and strongest group, the friends for life
Next up i would say would be old friends that you don't see very often. These are people that you once knew and perhaps at one point you were good friends but have lost contact over the years and see each other once in a blue moon. Now in this case i can imagine as they were once important to u that u do actually have a genuine interest into what they are up to these days and actually care about their well being. However due to whatever reason it was you lost contact u eventually lose interest and you become estranged again.
Further up the scale you have the work friend. This is someone u speak to at work regularly as it helps to brighten up a rather boring day usually as very few people actually enjoy going to work as very few people actually get a job doing something they actually wanted or enjoy doing. This is however about as far as it goes. You may go out occasionally for a works do or a bit of r&r but you never take any interest in their life outside work and they none in yours and when or if one of you changes jobs you don't keep in contact and that chapter in each others lives is closed.
Of course if things do go well you can find that in each of the categories i have mentioned above you can get that friendship upgraded up to being a regular social friend. Things that can make this happen are you actually find that you do actually quite like this persons company and don't mind seeing them on a regular basis so you decided to hang out more and invite them to social dos you may host or go to activities you like doing as long as they like them too. If this goes on for a while you may find that you do actually care about this person and this can lead to the type of friendship, close friend.
A close friend is someone you turn to when you perhaps need advice or somethings upset or bothered you and you need someone who you believe cares about your feelings and interests as much as you do about theirs. You trust this person to help you out in these difficult times and be there when you need them in whatever capacity you do at that time. You also expect them to give you their honest opinion especially when you yourself are doing something that is not in your best interests. This can be difficult to maintain as people by their very nature do not agree all the time and this can lead to conflict which can not always be negotiated successfully without fallout. However if you can do this and maintain it for many years then you find yourself in the final and strongest form of friendship category which is, friends for life.
These people are those that will be with you through thick and thin. They will always be there when called upon and people have even go so far as to say that these people are to them like unofficial family members. These are the people you reserve the most important of responsibilities for. Such as being best man or maid of honour at your wedding. Or someone to leave the kids with on a night out or if you get called away on an emergency. To hopefully not be overly dramatic here but these are the friends that are so important to you and each other (because i am assuming mutual feelings and respect here) that they are willing to perhaps even put their own life on the line if the situation demanded it.
Of course not everyone or their friendships are going to be the same but this is the basic outline for the various strengths of friendship that exist in the world. My thoughts and queries here is to how and perhaps most importantly why certain people can go from the weakest group of friendship and work their way up to a stronger if not quite the strongest form of friendship and why others can't. Do we need to have these friendships? If so why? Is it an innate instinct to make some friendships for life and perhaps some just for the time being to get by and then ditch them when we don't need them.
Human beings by their very nature have always been social creatures. Right from the days when we were just a primitive ape like creature to the sophisticated (well some of us anyway) and complex creatures we are today. It has been through our social skills and ability to communicate that we have become the most dominate species on the planet. We have learnt that working with each other has its benefits and as such business like friendships have been forged to allow the human species to go forwards. Now I'm not saying that all friendships we forge are like this but human instinct has forced us into making friends to help us get through life in general. This is what has made me think that deep down on some level that we don't just make friends because we want to but because we are driven to by our very nature. This means you can shove us into any given situation and we will make friends with whoever is there. This could therefore make us question the validity of certain friendships we have made because when looking at the friend you have made you end up looking at the circumstances in which the friendship is forged rather than the characteristics of the person that made you want to be friends with them.
Now I am not saying that all the friends we have made are down to instinct. A certain amount of the reason we make friends is because its part of our nature as human beings but when making friends for a longer period of time a lot more of it is down to conscious decision on our part based on what we need as individuals. Whether we need someone who can keep us amused or entertained or someone who can get us through the bad times as you can not quite deal with it by yourself. I feel when making a friend then the type of person we are determines what type of person we make friends with.
Perhaps it is this need for certain characteristics in our friends is what can determine how long we remain friends with them and the type of friendship you have. People are constantly changing throughout their lives and what maybe one of you needed at one stage in your life you grow out of and don't need anymore. You then find you need something else and that person you needed for the thing you used to need them for can not fulfill what you need now from them. Now this may not end a friendship but it can change the strength of it if it does not.
The ever changing nature of a person is what can drive us on through life making new friends to replace the ones we lose. Whether it be to drifting apart due to the fact you don't need them anymore or whether it be a falling out or even moving away, friends get lost and we then need to fill the void that that person, if they were that important to you, leaves behind. Friends are like a family for us when we are away from the one we grew up with. Each one serving a purpose to you and giving you the love and comfort that you get from your family in your formative years as an infant.
Making friends it would seem is down to a combination of both instinct and conscious choice. As social creatures human beings naturally seek out others to interact with be it for business like reasons or recreational ones because that is what we are programmed instinctively to do. A need to create a family wherever we are as our own can not always be there for us. It is however a mainly conscious decision on what type of person we choose to become friends with, as we all need certain things from people to make up for any failings that we as individuals possess because lets face it none of us are perfect. We all have our strengths and weaknesses and each of us possess different ones. What we may perceive we have a weakness in we may see a friend of ours has a strength in and as such we draw on their strength to help make up for our weakness in this area.
And if u get a group of friends then you may, if all works well as a unit, form one perfect human being with no flaws or weaknesses. And if this can continue to be the way over the years then perhaps you have managed to work your way up through the friend groups until you reach the final and strongest group, the friends for life
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