GFreedom's Juke Box No. 129

  All those who are following or checking my blog from time to time should know that on every Saturday morning I'm writing this "Juke Box" post, which is my weekly Top-5 songlist.
  I listened to lots of music during the week, and from many different styles and genres, that's why my Top-5 is kind of mixed up once more. It wasn't easy to choose only 5 songs, but I think these are the  best ones for this week:
KARNATAKA: Road to Cairo (Secrets of Angels - 2015)
GREEN ON RED: Time ain't Nothing (No Free Lunch - 1985)
DAVE KERZNER: Stranded (Parts 1-5) (Now World - 2014)
METALLICA: Master of Puppets (Master of Puppets - 1986)
NIGHTWISH: Elan (Endless Forms Most Beautiful - 2015)
I'm also adding here the links for the songs in my list, so you can listen to them right away.
Enjoy your weekend everybody! :-)
KARNATAKA: Road to Cairo
GREEN ON RED: Time ain't Nothing
DAVE KERZNER: Stranded
METALLICA: Master of Puppets
NIGHTWISH: Elan

TV Series: BLACK SAILS (Seasons 1 & 2)

 Now, that was something really different!
  I had the 1st season in my hands for almost 8 months now, but I decided to start watching it as soon as the 2nd season finished.
   I'm not going to try to write a proper "review" on the subject, just my personal opinion instead. (You can find lots of "reviews" on the internet after all).
 As the title implies, 'Black Sails' is all about pirates. The scenario is based on the (fictional) character of Captain Flint (and his adventures along with his shipmates). The story takes place in the Caribbean of the early 18th century, and seems like it was in a way "inspired" by Robert Louis Stevenson's book 'Treasure

Island'. (On which Captain Flint and Mr. Silver are present as well).
 As it happens in almost all series, there are some "good" and some "bad" elements here as well.
(Always according to my opinion and taste), some of the good things are:
 1. A "unique" and different story, in comparison with the other series I have watched lately. 
 2. A rather interesting scenario, which makes you want to see the one episode after the other.
 3. Wonderful mise en scéne, especially in combination with some really impressive scenes and exotic places.
 4. The rather "different" point of view of the pirate captains and their crews. Not all of them are scumbags making rounds with a knife in their mouths. There are many who are polite and gentle. (But there are also many who are the typical brutes).
 There are also some things that I found annoying, and here's some of them:
1. There are some "cliché" here, specific to the series of recent productions.
2. There are many side stories (as usual), and some of them are kind of boring ones, only employed as space fillers.
3. Although the pace of the plot goes usualy fast, there are some times that it slows down terribly due to space filler mentioned above.
4. On most occasions the alignment of the characters is not clear. There are some "good" characters who as the story continues are doing some terrible things, and some "bad" characters who are doing exactly the opposite. It makes it hard for the viewer to empathize with them from time to time.
  Season 1 starts in a such a way, that during the first 2-3 episodes I wasn't sure if I liked it or not, but after the 4rth episode everything becomes all the more intriguing. As for the 2nd season, it is a far better one in my opinion, and it ends with a breathtaking last episode.
 Season 1 consists of 8 episodes and season 2 of 10. Each episode has a running time between 52-58 minutes in length. (So have in mind that you're going to need almost 16 - 17 hours in total in order to watch all 18 eisodes).
 Trying to be objective, I want to say that I would recommend 'Black Sails' without a second thought. Many people might find things they will not like here, but I believe the overall outcome is a very good one.
 In IMDB, 'Black Sails' has 8.0 as rating for both seasons.
My rating would be: Season 1: 7.5
                                    Season 2: 8.0

The Black Keys live in Athens. (30/5/2015) The concert's setlist.

  A few days ago 'The Black Keys' gave a live performance in Athens as headliners during the 1st day of 'Rockwave Festival'. I didn't go to that concert because I don't care much about them to be honest, but a made a small research in order to provide you with the concert's setlist.
  I'm guessing that many people are planning to go and see them live this year, so if you are wondering about their setlist, here you can check which songs they played in Athens:

Dead And Gone
Next Girl                                                              

Run Right Back
Same Old Thing
Gold On The Ceiling
Strange Times
Nova Baby
Leavin' Truck
Too Afraid To Love You
Howlin' For You
I Got Mine
Money Maker
Gotta Get Away                                              
She's Long Gone
Fever
Tighten Up
Your Touch
Lonely Boy
Little Black Submarines

The last Prog & Roll radio show of Spring. the full playlist.

Hello all, and have a nice month!
Last night one more Prog & Roll radio show was online, which was the last one of Spring. So we dedicated the first part to songs that have to do with Summer. We started the show with a song for 'The last days of May', and continued with songs that they have something to do with Summer.
Once more we had a music contest, and for the first time after all those years there was no winner! We couldn't believe it!
 As for the songs we played, we tried to combine songs from many different musical genres, as you will see in the list below:

BLUE OYSTER CULT: Last days of May / THE WHO: Summertime Blues / IT’S A BEAUTIFUL DAY: Hot Summer day / THE LOVIN’ SPOONFUL: Summer in the city / JANIS JOPLIN: Summertime / PSYCOTIC WALTZ: I Remember / NOSTRADAMUS: Divine comedy / PATCHWORK CACOPHONY: No U-Turn / DISCIPLINE: Circuitry / THE PINEAPPLE THIEF: Simple as that / GAZPACHO: The Cage / RUSH: Not Fade away (music contest) / JOHN LORD: Caprice / DEEP PURPLE: Kentucky woman / TED NUGENT: Stranglehold / BLACK SABBATH: Hole in the sky / STRAWBS: Benedictus / THE MOODY BLUES: New horizons / ILLUSION: Beautiful country / BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: Ursula.

"Epic" song: STEVE HACKETT: Shadow of Hierophant.

 On behalf of GFreedom Team, I would like to say a very big thanks to all those who logged in last night. I hope you had some nice time.

Thank you very much!

GFreedom's Juke Box No. 128

Hello everybody!
Since it is Saturday once more, here I am in order to write down the usual 'Juke Box' post, which is
actually my weekly Top-5 songlist.
 Despite my very busy schedule, I found the time to listen to some music during the week, and the songs that I chose as the best ones are the following:
CURVED AIR: Easy (Air Cut - 1973)
GAZPACHO: The Cage (Demon - Deluxe Edition - 2014)
JANIS JOPLIN: Summertime (Cheap Thrills - 1968)
STEVE HACKETT: The Shadow of Hierophant (Voyage of the Acolyte - 1976)
GREEN ON RED: 16 Ways (Gas Food Lodging - 1975)
I'll add a couple of YT links with songs from my Top-5 list, so you can listen to them if you want to.
Enjoy your weekend!
Thank you for reading.
GREEN ON RED: 16 Ways
GAZPACHO: The Cage


 

The STRANGLERS live in Athens. The setlist...

  A few days ago (23/5/2015) the legendary Stranglers gave a live performance in Athens, and here I am in order to inform you about the setlist they played.
  I didn't go to see their performance, because first of all I am not a fan of them, and secondarily because I was lucky enough to watch them on stage before almost 25 years ago twice. So, what's the point of going now?
  But because some of you might be interested, I thought of providing you with the setlist.
 As far as I read, they played for almost 2 hours, and their performance was a very good one. So, if you are thinking of going to see them live, I think you don't have to think about it twice. :-)
Here is the concert's setlist:

Toiler On The Sea
Straighten Out
(Get A) Grip (On Yourself)
I’ve Been Wild
Relentless
Nice 'N' Sleazy
Golden Brown
Always The Sun
Five Minutes
Freedom Is Insane
Time To Die
Norfolk Coast
I Feel Like A Wog
Skin Deep
Peaches
Time Was Once On My Side
Lost Control
Duchess
Hanging Around
Encore:
Walk On By
Encore 2:
All Day And All Of The Night
No More Heroes

PROG & ROLL radio show (24/5/2015). The full playlist.

  Last night one more Prog & Roll radio show was online, as usual.
  This time the chatbox wasn't so crowded like other times, and it was more relaxing. The truth is that when the chatbox is very crowded it's hard to understand what's going on, because there are lots of conversations going on at the same time.
  During the week, we prepared a more "Rock" playlist, and I hope everybody had some nice time with the songs we chose to play. As far as I know, many people during the show raised the volume lots of times, and that's a good sign, right?
  Here you can see the whole playlist from last night's show:

AC DC: You shook me all night long / THE CULT: Spiritwalker / IRON MAIDEN: Hallowed be Thy name / JUDAS PRIEST: Beyond the realms of death / THE WATCH: Devil’s bridge / UNITOPIA: Nothing lasts forever / BIG BIG TRAIN: Swan Hunter / KARNATAKA: Because of you / YEAR OF THE GOAT: For the King / CLEPSYDRA: The Witch / SIENA ROOT: Between the lines / GRAVEYARD: Slow motion countdown / BLUES PILLS: No hope left for me / THE BRIAN JONESTOWN MASSACRE: Anemone / VAN MORRISON: Checkin’ it out / SUPERTRAMP: A soapbox opera / BLONDE ON BLONDE: Candles in the sky / GENTLE GIANT: Wreck.

"Epic" song:  GENESIS: Firth of fith 

"Encore": VAN HALEN: Running with the Devil.

  I would like to say a very big thanks to all those who are supporting our show, and they are showing their love and friendship in every given occasion. We always try to do our best, and we are very pleased and honored to have such a lovely audience.

Thank you all! :-)

GFreedom's Juke Box No. 127

Here I am again on this fine Saturday morning, in order to write down my weekly top-5 songlist.

I listened to lots of music during this week, and once more it wasn't easy to decide which songs I'll add to this list.
 After listening to a few songs over and over again, I decided that the best 5 songs for this week are the following ones:
BIG BIG TRAIN: Swan Hunter (English Electric Vol.2 - 2013)
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: Wooden Ships (Volunteers - 1969)
GENESIS: Firth of Fifth (Selling England by the Pound - 1973)
IRON MAIDEN: Hallowed be Thy Name (The number of the Beast - 1982)
GALAHAD: Mein Herz Brennt (Mein Herz Brennt EP - 2014)
Because YouTube isn't allow me to add videos, I'm adding a couple of links with songs from my list, in case you would like to listen to them.
Have a nice weekend! :-)
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: Wooden Ships
GENESIS: Firth of Fifth

KARNATAKA: Secrets of Angels (2015)

  Following in the wake of ‘Mostly Autumn’, ‘Karnataka’ tried to blend the traditional Celtic music with melodic Progressive Rock. The band was formed up in Swansea (Wales), in the mid ‘90’s, and their discography consists of 5 studio albums so far.

  Their latest release is the album ‘Secrets of Angels’ which is one of their best works so far.

  The album includes a rather mixed variety of different music styles, and that is something very interesting in my opinion. There are some Pop-like songs for example, and there are some others which are flirting with Heavy/Epic Metal, mostly because of the strong guitar riffs. (On some occasions they remind me of a lighter version of ‘Nightwish’).

  The album’s opening song is the wonderful ‘Road to Cairo’ with the obvious Anatolian influences, which is one of the album’s best songs without a doubt. The second track ‘Because of you’ is another very good song with an “epic” refrain, and strong guitars in some parts. ‘Poison Ivy’ which comes next, continues in the same style as ‘Because of You’, and it is followed by the beautiful and melodic ‘Forbidden Dreams’. With ‘Borderline’ the rhythm becomes faster, before going down again, with ‘Fairytale Lies’ which is the most “Pop” song of the album. ‘The 7^th track ‘Feels Like Home’ is another melodic piece, longer than the previous ones, and a very good one. The 8^th and last track is the 20 minute-long ‘Secrets of Angels’ which is the only true Prog-oriented song of the album. But in my opinion, it is longer that it should have been, so it becomes kind of boring after some time.

 ‘Secrets of Angels’ is a very good album in general, which will satisfy listeners with different music tastes. Almost everybody will find some songs of his/her liking, and that is one of the album’s advantages. As for myself, I found it very interesting and pleasant to listen to, and that’s why my rating will be 3.5 - 4.0 out of 5.0 stars. 

 Thank you for reading... :-)