Goodies from GFreedom's Music Collection # 19

      BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: Everyone is Everybody Else (1974)
  Barclay James Harvest were founded in Manchester in September 1966 as a quartet.
Their first contract was with 'Parlophone' for just one single in 1968, and right after that they moved to Harvest'. Their debut album 'Barclay James Harvest' was released in 1970, received positive reviews, but failed reach a wider audience .Their second album 'Once Again' received again very good reviews, and the tour that followed was conducted with a full orchestra under the guidance of Robert John Godfrey. (Who later on formed 'The Enid'). Despite all that, the album's sales were very low once more.
 After the very good 'Once Again', the band released another very good album in the same year (1971), named 'Barclay James Harvest and Other Short Stories', which was the band's greatest achievement so far. In the meantime, Robert John Godfrey had been replaced by Martyn Ford. The pressure and the tiredness of the long tours started to have an impact on the band, and that became clear with the release of their fourth album 'Baby James Harvest', which was their weakest moment, and also was the last album they released for 'Harvest'.
 In 1973 they signed a contract with 'Polydor', and one year later they released the brilliant 'Everyone is Everybody Else' (1974). This album is considered by many, as their artistic high point, and it was produced by Rodger Bain, who had previously worked with Black Sabbath in producing their first three albums. At the same time, he was also the producer of Judas Priest and Budgie. The albums was including one of the band's most famous songs, 'Child of the Universe', which together with 'For no One' received a massive 'air play' by many Radio stations, and made Barclay James Harvest famous to a far wider audience.
  The album includes 9 songs, and has a total running time of almost 40 minutes.(In the original version).
Almost all the songs are great compositions, filled with the characteristic melodic and melancholic sound of Barclay James Harvest. Surely 'Child of the Universe' capture the listener's attention from the first time, but all the songs are almost equally good in my opinion. If I had to find the album's 'weakest' moment, I would say the song 'Mill Boys' which is a sweet ballad, but nothing more. All the other 8 songs are beautiful to say the least.
 I bought this album almost 27 years ago on vinyl, (later on I also bought the extended cd version), and during these years I have listened to it hundreds of times. As you can understand I know all the songs by heart, and I can't say that I'm bored of it. It's quite the opposite actually! Every time I'm putting it to play, I'm listening to it from the first till the last song.
 'Everyone is Everybody else' is without any doubt a wonderful album, which I strongly recommend.
Try it, and you will not regret it.
             As for my rating, I would give 4.50 out of 5.00 stars.
Thank you for reading... :-)
 

JustinCase Radio's birthday on Prog & Roll. (10/5/2015). A small review...

This was a difficult night...
  As I mentioned in a previous post, on last night's Prog & Roll we would celebrate the 3rd birthday of the radio station. Many of the producers gathered up in the studio, along with friends, girlfriends etc, and also musicians from some Greek bands, and altogether we had a party. At the same time, there was a radio marathon going on, since 17.00 UK time, and the chatbox was packed with people who logged in, and musicians from many countries who wanted to thank us for our support, and tell us their wishes. At some point must have been more than 40 - 45 musicians in the chatbox, which was really impressive.

 We arrived rather late at the studio, and I was kind of stressed about what was about to happen. Upon entering, we saw that a big crowd was already gathered up, eating, drinking, chatting, and having fun in general. A few minutes before the time of the show, we sat in front of the computers in order to make some final adjustments, and at that point the main computers crashed. I was panicked to be honest, because we tried to restart it and re-connect to the server, but it wasn't responding. Now, imagine having a very big crowd listening, many of them musicians, friends, etc, and suddenly there is quiet... We tried again and again, and finally after some time, everything seemed ok. So, Prog & Roll finally started with almost 20 minutes of delay.
 We tried to overcome the shock and get on with the show, hoping that there will be no more problems on the way, and thanfully everything went fine. Further than that, we had some fun during the show, but we were so busy with all the things we had to deal with, that at the end we were exhausted.
 During the show we were asking people from the next room (the 'party area') to participate, and say a few things on the microphone. Also, during the 2 hours of the show we gave almost 25 cd's as presents to our listeners, which were given to us by many bands and artists.
 At almost 21.30 (UK time) many people gathered up in the studio carrying a birthday cake, and altogether we sang 'Happy Birthday' on air, which must have sounded really horrible! :P
 Concluding this, I would like to thank all those who logged in last night, and I hope that they had some fun with the show. I want to apologize for the technical problems, but more than that because i wasn't able to participate in the chatbox as usual. Everything was difficult and stressful, so I missed some of you. I'm really sorry for that...
 Here you can check the songs we played on last night's show:

LUCIFER’S FRIEND: Ride the Sky / BLACK SABBATH: Hole in the Sky / QUEENSRYCHE: Eyes of a Stranger / SAVATAGE: Strange Reality / GALAHAD: 21^st Century Painted Lady / ARENA: The Unquiet Sky / DRIFTING SUN: The Wizard / JUDAS PRIEST: Diamonds & Rust (music contest) / PAUL Mc CARTNEY & WINGS: Let me Roll it / LED ZEPPELIN: The Rover / THE KORDZ: Last Call / RENAISSANCE: Opening Out / GENESIS: Can Utility and the Coastliners / YES: America / MIKE OLDFIELD: To France / ELOY: The Light from Deep Darkness.

 Thank you all! :-)

GFreedom's Juke Box No.126

Hello all!
Her I am again on this fine Saturday morning, in order to write down my usual Top-5 songlist for this week.
During the week I listened to lots of music, and from many diferent styles and kinds, and that's why once more it was very difficult to choose only 5 songs to put on my list. Even now I'm not sure that these are the best 5 ones, but they are among the best for sure.
Without further ado, here's my Top-5 songs for this week:
THE DOORS: Spanish Caravan (Waiting for the Sun - 1968)
KING CRIMSON: In the Wake of Poseidon (In the Wake if Poseidon - 1970)
DRIFTING SUN: Trip the Life Fantastic (Trip the Life Fantastic - 2015)
JETHRO TULL: We Used to Know (Stand Up - 1969)
DONOVAN: Atlantis (Barabajagal - 1969)
I hope you'll like with my choices.
Here are the links for 2 songs from my list. Check them out if you want.
Jethro Tull: We Used to Know
THE DOORS: Spanish Caravan
Thank you for reading.

Just in Case Prog Radio's 3rd Birthday in Prog & Roll radio show.

Hello all!
 I'm very glad to announce that on this Sunday's (10/5/2015) Prog & Roll radio show we will celebrate the radio station's 3rd birthday. That's why we are going to have some surprises for our audience prepared, and of course we will have a playlist ready, special for the occasion. 
 As far as I know, many of the radio's producers will gather up for the event in the studio, and most probably some musicians from Greek bands. All together we will have something like a small "party" while Prog & Roll will be on air. So expect great music and lots of fun. Most probably we will also give some cd's as presents to some of our listeners, and that's maybe another reason you shouldn't miss the show.
 I would like to remind you that Prog & Roll is a "live" radio show, and the broadcast is in English & Greek.
It is online on Sunday nights at 20.00 UK time. (21.00 Italy, 22.00 Greece).
You can listen to Prog & Roll here: www.justincaseradio.com
 Thank you for reading this, and I hope to "see" you there! :-)

 

Prog & Roll radio show (3/5/2015). A review and the full playlist.

Hello all!
Here I am again with (one day delay), in order to inform you about last Sunday's Prog & Roll radio show.
There was an internet blackout here yesterday, that's why I couldn't log in and write this post.

So, let's see what happened...
 This time we didn't have any musicians as "guests" on the chatbox, that's why we were completely free to prepare a playlist as we wanted to. There were some musicians who logged in and listened to the show as usual, but they weren't our "official" guests.
 As for the songs we played, once more we divided the show into 4-half hour parts, and on each part we played different kind of music. At the first half-hour we played classic Heavy Metal and Prog Metal, during the 2nd half-hour we played songs from new releases, and on the 3rd part we played songs exclusively from the '70's. As for the end, we had a "heroic"- theme half hour prepared, including songs with Kings, warriors, castles, ancient cities etc. 
 At the end of the show we played the "epic" song as usual, which was fitting perfect I believe, because of the whole "heroic" theme of the last part. Near the end, people were asking if we are going to do an "encore", so we decided to give them 4 options and let them decide on the song we were going to play as "encore". For the first time ever, we had a 4-songs tie, because all the songs received the same amount of votes. That was a pickle, so we decided to play 2 songs instead of one. We picked the one for which there was too much "noise" on the chatbox, and we made them vote again for the 3 remaining. After the second voting we played the one which received the most votes. (No tie this time).
 Here you can take a look at the whole playlist:

Part. 1: OZZY OSBOURNE: Mr. Crowley / IRON MAIDEN: Where Eagles Dare / DREAM THEATER: Another Day / FATES WARNING: Pieces of Me / ARCHONAUT: Last March of the Swarm. 

Part. 2: THE GRAND TOUR: The Horn of Plenty / STEVE HACKETT: Love Song to a Vampire / ANEKDOTEN: If it all Comes Down to You / CICCADA: A Night’s Ride.

Part. 3: LOVE SCULPTURE: In the Land of the Few / CRESSIDA: To Play Your Little Game / JOURNEY: In My Lonely Feelings / LED ZEPPELIN: No Quarter.

Part. 4:  FOCUS: House of the King / RUSH: A Farewell to Kings / WISHBONE ASH: Warrior / EMERSON LAKE & PALMER: Jerusalem. 

"Epic" song: CHRIS DE BURGH: Crusader.

Ecore #1: THE WHO: The Real Me.

Encore #2: CAMEL: Never Let Go. 

  I would like to thank all those who joined our show, hoping you had some nice time.

 On next Sunday's Prog & Roll we are going to celebrate Just In Case Radio's 3rd birthday, so we are preparing a magnificent "theme" show which you shouldn't miss. I already started working on it, and I believe it will be a wonderful show!

  Thank you all! :-)

STEVE HACKETT: Wolflight (2015)

 Steve Hackett needs no introduction. He is one of the finest guitar players of the last decades. He was present in the first and most important period of Genesis before quitting the band and follow a solo career. As a solo artist, he released not less than 24 studio albums, with 'Wolflight' being his latest one.
 I'm not a music critic, so I will try to approach this album from the side of a music lover and a fan of Rock & Progressive Rock.
 For starters, I would like to say that in my opinion 'Wolflight' is probably his best work since 'Voyage of the Acolyte' (1975) and 'Spectral Mornings' (1979).
   I have listened to the album 3-4 times so far, and every time I discover something new which I hadn't noticed before. The compositions are of high standards, the production is excellent, and the participating musicians are extremely talented ones.
  The album's main "theme" is the relation between a man and a wolf. So we can say that it is a 'concept' album in a way. 
 Let's take a look at the music now: What Steve Hackett is presenting here, is a mixture of many different styles of music styles, including Rock, Ethnic, Flamenco, Jazz, Classical etc, blended altogether in a beautiful way, and underlined with his wonderful guitar playing. What I enjoyed the most is the changes of music styles within the songs. For example, a song can start with an acoustic guitar playing a flamenco-based tune, which is turning into a classical inspired music theme, and suddenly an electric guitar appears playing wonderful melodies, changing the style of the song completely.
 (The first time I listened to the album I wasn't so much impressed I must say, but when I started listening to it over and over again it started revealing its musical beauty to me).
   The musicians who are participating are all very talented ones as I mentioned above, and further than the 6 standard ones, there are 4 more participating as guests, with Chris Squire of 'Yes' being one of them.
  The album consists of 10 songs, and has a total running time of almost an hour. As for my favorite songs, these are: 'Love Song to a Vampire', 'Corycian Flame' and 'Dust and Dreams/Heart Song'.
 Concluding this post I would like to mention that 'Wolflight' is one of these - rare in our days - albums which you can listen from the start 'till the end, without having to skip not even one song. Of course there are 'stronger' and 'weaker' moments, but the overall quality is a very high one!
  The album is available in MP3 and CD version, and as a double vinyl album. (On which an MP3 version is included). Speaking for myself, I have the MP3 version so far, but I'm going to buy the vinyl version very soon. :-)
 I totally recommend 'Wolflight' to all those who are fans of Rock or Progressive Rock music. I'm sure you will not regret buying this album!
           As for my rating, this would be 4.00 out of 5.00 stars.

Prog & Roll radio show (26/4/2015) with 'Mother Turtle' as guests on the chatbox.

Hello everybody!
  Last night one more Prog & Roll radio show was online, and here I am today in order to write a few things about it, together with the full playlist.
  On last night's show we were very happy to have as "special guests" on the chatbox 2 members from the very good and promising Greek band 'Mother Turtle' among our listeners. Further than that, we had a whole community of French people, and that's because one of our listeners (Florian Decros) advertised our show to a French Prog forum. We want to thank him for that, hoping that all those who logged in enjoyed it. (As it seemed they did though).
 Once more we had listeners from many countries, like for example England, Greece, Mexico, France and India. We are very happy  and honored to see that Prog & Roll has become a rather "international" show, and our audience is increasing show by show.
 As for the music, we played songs from many different musical genres once more, we had our music contest once more, we played the "epic" song at the end of the show once more, and we also played an "encore" song, because the people were asking for it.
Here you can check the whole playlist from last light:

SCALE THE SUMMIT: Colossal / INDUKTI: Shade / SUBTERRANEAN MASQUERADE: Early Morning Mantra / BLACK SABBATH: Lonely is the Word /  MOTHER TURTLE: The Elf / MAGIC PIE: The Clown / KAYAK: Merlin / DAVID BOWIE: I Can’t Explain (Music contest) / MOTHER TURTLE: Bridge / STRAWBS: Stormy Dawn / FAIRPORT CONVENTION: Farewell Farewell / GENESIS: Visions of Angels / MIDLAKE: Acts of Man / MOTHER TURTLE: Mother Turtle & the Evil Mushroom / SALANDER: Aldri Sakleysi Er Farinn / THE KORDZ: Save us.   "Epic" song: PORCUPINE TREE: Arriving Somewhere  

"Encore"  song: RORY GALLAGHER: Moonchild.

  I would like to thank all those who logged in and listened to the show, participating or not in the chatbox. A special thanks to the guys of 'Mother Turtle', and Florian Decros for advertising Prog & Roll, and for being a faithful fan.
Thank you all! :-)

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.125

Hello all!
 All those who are following my blog know that on every Saturday morning I'm posting the "Juke Box" series post, which is my weekly Top-5 songlist.
 So, since it's Saturday again, here I am! :-)
 I listened to lots and lots of music during this week, and it wasn't easy to decide which songs I'll put on the list. After listening to some of them again, I decided that the best 5 songs are the following:
LOVE: Always See Your Face (Four Sail - 1969)
FOCUS: Focus III (Focus III - 1973)
MIDLAKE: Acts of Man (The Courage of Others - 2010)
ROY BUCHANAN: Sweet Dreams (Roy Buchanan - 1972)
TIM BUCKLEY: Once I Was (Goodbye & Hello - 1967)
I use to upload a couple of videos on each of those posts for you to listen to, but something is happening and YouTube doesn't seem to let me do it. I don't know what's going on, but this time I will not add the usual 2 videos as it seems.
I'm sorry for that...

GFreedom's channel in youTube: the 1st birthday.

Hello all!
  I'm writing this post in order to inform you that today my channel on YouTube has its 1st birthday.
Exactly one year before, on the 22nd of April 2014 I uploaded the first video.
Today, after one year, here I am again writing down a few things about it.
  So, during this year I uploaded 297 songs in total from many different musical genres. Lately I don't upload so many videos like before, because I received 2 warnings. Which means that if I will receive 1 more, they will shut it down. So, I'm waiting for the penalty period to end, and I will start again. :-)
Let's take a look at some stats now:
 During this 12 months my channel had 186 subscribers in total, and the number of total views is almost 200.000. The total number of 'likes' is 1216, and of 'dislikes' is 11. That means most of the people are really enjoying the songs they find in there. Also, the number of 'shares' is 2120 in total.
  I have to say that I'm very pleased with these numbers, and also with the increase in the number of visits.
 You should know that in order to make it easier for you, I have created 5 playlists which are actually musical categories. 
 The playlists are:
Rock in General: Including 94 videos
Progressive: Including 170 videos
Hard & Heavy: Including 33 videos
Folk Rock: Including 25 videos
Other: Including 12 videos
In order to be able to locate my channel on YouTube, go to "channels search", and write George Eleftheriou. Mine is the one with the 'Jester' as an avatar.
Concluding this post, I would like to say a very big thanks to all those who subscribed, commented, shared and visited my channel. I hope you are enjoying the music I'm uploading.
Be sure I will continue doing so, and I will always try to improve it.
Thank you all very much! :-)

DRIFTING SUN: Trip the Life Fantastic (2015)

      Drifting Sun were formed in the early '90's after the French musicians Pat Sanders (keyboards) and Manu Sibona (bass), who left France and moved to England in order to start a band and follow their dream.       
There, they met with the American singer Rafe Pomeroy, and the new band started to take its shape. After a couple more members additions, Drifting Sun released their first eponymous album in 1996. Two years later they released the very good 'On the Rebound', and then disappeared.
 Now, almost 17 yeas later, they re-appeared again, with a brand new album which is a true jewel!
 From the old members only Pat Sanders is remaining, who found new members and decided to start all over again.This new line up sounds so fresh, and it includes some very good musicians.
 (I had the pleasure of having Pat Sanders and Dan Storey (guitars & bass) on my radio show Prog & Roll as guests on the chatbox two days ago, and we spend two hours chatting as we were listening to some songs from their new album. Both were very friendly and cool guys, but above all they are very good musicians, and that's what matter the most).
 Now, let's take a closer look on the album, shall we?
 'Trip the Life Fantastic' includes 10 songs + 1 demo, and has a total running time of almost an hour.
The album opens with the title song, which is one of the best moments of the album. It's a typical Neo - Prog song, with the keyboards having the leading role before the 3rd minute on which guitar takes over.  'Trip the Life Fantastic' is followed by the (2 -minute long) beautiful and melodic instrumental 'Peach Blossoms'. 
 Next comes 'The Wizard' which is another typical Neo - Prog song, with melodic and mellow passages and very good guitar riffs.
 Another small instrumental piece comes next, the melodic and mellow 'Sunsets' with keyboards and acoustic guitar.
 (I must say that I really enjoyed the idea of putting small instrumental pieces among the songs, because they seem to "bind" the songs together).
  The album continues with 'Lady Night' another beautiful composition, which includes some excellent guitar work. I'm not going to continue writing for each one of the songs, but I would like to say which are the best ones here in my opinion:
 Trip the Life Fantastic, The Wizard, Tormented, and Last Supper. Especially 'Last Supper' is the "progiest" track of the whole album.
 But the most important thing is that 'Trip the Life Fantastic' is one of those albums which you listen from the start 'till the end, without having to skip any of the songs. Surely there are stronger and weaker moments, but all the songs are of high synthetic standrads.
 I strongly recommend this album to all those who are fans not only of Progressive Rock or Neo - Prog, but Rock in general. It is a really wonderful album!
 You can find it for downloading in various online shops, such as amazon for example.
                As for my rating, this would be 3.5 out of 5.00 stars