So here's the thing. I have just about zero self-control. I think of something I want to blog about, and I have to do it right then or else it won't happen. And I can't wait to edit the thing before I post, I just post, and if I catch an error later I'll correct it (or I might not, there are plenty of errors all over this place).
Anyway, this gaping hole in my blog has struck me several times. I haven't written a thing about what may well be my favorite song ever. And I'm not kidding either. This song made it up to about a hundred and twenty listens without me thinking about it. It's that good.
Story time! (It's always story time around here, have you noticed? And strangely, they're all about me . . .) So, a couple of birthdays ago, I got a Heart 2-Disc compilation. My birthday is in the summer, and in the summer for my job I walk around all day mowing lawns and listening to my iPod. For convenience I just have it shuffle through all the songs so I'm not just messing around with what I'm listening to. Anyway so I'm listening and a song from the Heart compilation comes up. I know this song. I've heard it before. But the version I've heard was done by a German Power Metal Band, Blind Guardian. This was an acoustic live set by Heart. What gives?
So, when I get the chance I ask the Wizzard, he of all knowledge obscure and otherwise (it occurs to me now that this was actually just last summer. It seems like longer I guess). He didn't know anything about the song, even though it was his disc I'd originally heard the song on. Well, what do you do when the Wizzard doesn't know something? You go to the source of his knowledge!! To Wikipedia!!
The rest is, of course, history. Because it was then that I was introduced to that marvelous singer, John Farnham, the original singer of that wonderful song You're the Voice. John Farnham is about the biggest pop star there is in Australia, though as far as I know he isn't well-known in the US. Man that guy can sing. And as great as this song is (I'm writing this as my iTunes cycles through 4 versions of the song: Blind Guardian's Radio Edit from At the Edge of Time, Heart's Live Version from the Essential Heart Disc 2, John Farnhams Live version from Full House, and John Farnhams studio version from Whispering Jack) it doesn't really showcase the mans mad skills.
Story time again. The other night, I'm on Youtube, using it for about the only use I ever do: looking up music videos and live performances of songs I like. So I listen to a few live versions of You're the Voice, when I see a link for a video claiming to be of John Farnhams best vocal performance. Intrigued I investigate, and find the video to be about 15 seconds of what is seemingly him screaming. Well that's not helpful, is it? So I figure out what song this comes from, and find a video of the full song for some needed context. Well, uh wowsers. What can I say. It's a cover of that well-known Beatles song Help! I must say, I couldn't have ever recognized the song from those 15 seconds. The arrangement is amazing--I think. What they've done is take the song from 60's Beatle pop to 80's Adult Contemporary (Apparently I just love Adult Contemporary. Clay Aiken rocks, and I love Christopher Cross too--though that might just be his name. I mean Chris Cross, really? Sweet!), and the result is good. It's way good. Watch, listen, enjoy, be blown away. (Bah, I just realized all my Beatles tracks are still mislabled)
Anyway, what else do I listen to? I know you are all just waiting to know. There's a movie I'm kinda obsessed with, a movie I was brought to by my obsession with some Steve Perry character . . . . Anyway, I've checked out the Quest for Camelot soundtrack from the library. Twice. It rocks. A few notes however. Brian White's version of I Stand Alone is better than Perry's (sorry Steve). I think it's mostly just the stylistic difference. Also the track United We Stand is way good, and that is credited as a Perry number. Interestingly he doesn't stand out much on the track, and it's hard for me to recognize it's even him, since he's not belting it out in an obscene register. Anyway, that track is probably 80% of the reason I checked out the soundtrack again. Not only are those two tracks good, but there really isn't a bad track on the whole disc, except perhaps for Rubers number, but oh well.
Ah, music. A magic far beyond all we do here!--Albus Dumbledore
Anyway, this gaping hole in my blog has struck me several times. I haven't written a thing about what may well be my favorite song ever. And I'm not kidding either. This song made it up to about a hundred and twenty listens without me thinking about it. It's that good.
Story time! (It's always story time around here, have you noticed? And strangely, they're all about me . . .) So, a couple of birthdays ago, I got a Heart 2-Disc compilation. My birthday is in the summer, and in the summer for my job I walk around all day mowing lawns and listening to my iPod. For convenience I just have it shuffle through all the songs so I'm not just messing around with what I'm listening to. Anyway so I'm listening and a song from the Heart compilation comes up. I know this song. I've heard it before. But the version I've heard was done by a German Power Metal Band, Blind Guardian. This was an acoustic live set by Heart. What gives?
So, when I get the chance I ask the Wizzard, he of all knowledge obscure and otherwise (it occurs to me now that this was actually just last summer. It seems like longer I guess). He didn't know anything about the song, even though it was his disc I'd originally heard the song on. Well, what do you do when the Wizzard doesn't know something? You go to the source of his knowledge!! To Wikipedia!!
The rest is, of course, history. Because it was then that I was introduced to that marvelous singer, John Farnham, the original singer of that wonderful song You're the Voice. John Farnham is about the biggest pop star there is in Australia, though as far as I know he isn't well-known in the US. Man that guy can sing. And as great as this song is (I'm writing this as my iTunes cycles through 4 versions of the song: Blind Guardian's Radio Edit from At the Edge of Time, Heart's Live Version from the Essential Heart Disc 2, John Farnhams Live version from Full House, and John Farnhams studio version from Whispering Jack) it doesn't really showcase the mans mad skills.
Story time again. The other night, I'm on Youtube, using it for about the only use I ever do: looking up music videos and live performances of songs I like. So I listen to a few live versions of You're the Voice, when I see a link for a video claiming to be of John Farnhams best vocal performance. Intrigued I investigate, and find the video to be about 15 seconds of what is seemingly him screaming. Well that's not helpful, is it? So I figure out what song this comes from, and find a video of the full song for some needed context. Well, uh wowsers. What can I say. It's a cover of that well-known Beatles song Help! I must say, I couldn't have ever recognized the song from those 15 seconds. The arrangement is amazing--I think. What they've done is take the song from 60's Beatle pop to 80's Adult Contemporary (Apparently I just love Adult Contemporary. Clay Aiken rocks, and I love Christopher Cross too--though that might just be his name. I mean Chris Cross, really? Sweet!), and the result is good. It's way good. Watch, listen, enjoy, be blown away. (Bah, I just realized all my Beatles tracks are still mislabled)
Anyway, what else do I listen to? I know you are all just waiting to know. There's a movie I'm kinda obsessed with, a movie I was brought to by my obsession with some Steve Perry character . . . . Anyway, I've checked out the Quest for Camelot soundtrack from the library. Twice. It rocks. A few notes however. Brian White's version of I Stand Alone is better than Perry's (sorry Steve). I think it's mostly just the stylistic difference. Also the track United We Stand is way good, and that is credited as a Perry number. Interestingly he doesn't stand out much on the track, and it's hard for me to recognize it's even him, since he's not belting it out in an obscene register. Anyway, that track is probably 80% of the reason I checked out the soundtrack again. Not only are those two tracks good, but there really isn't a bad track on the whole disc, except perhaps for Rubers number, but oh well.
Ah, music. A magic far beyond all we do here!--Albus Dumbledore
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