GFreedom's Spot has a new look!

Hello all!
As you already noticed I changed the look on my blog.
Although I realy liked the previous one with the sunset, the winter is coming and I thought of giving my blog a look that matches more with the change of the season.
The only thing I really hope is that I will be able to find the old template later on...
Because when spring comes I want to change it again...
But for the moment enjoy the rainy template.
I hope you'll find it nice... :)

Tribute to 'The Lords of the Rings' Radio show. The update...

Hello all!
Last night as you maybe know we tried on our Radio show to make a tribute to the bands that were inspired from the books of J.R.R Tolkien.
And here is the update of this show...
Speaking for myself only, the taste I got from this radio show was bitter.
Because although we were trying for 3 whole days to present something that would be perfect, finally they were very few people to appreciate it. I was expecting many friends to join us, and  altogether have a great radio show, but they didnt show up. An ammount of about 15-20% of them only logged in finally.
That put our morale really very much down. Because when you prepare a radio show, and especially when you are doing such big efforts, you are waiting at least from your friends to support you.
To be there for you. Well, in that case we were wrong obviously...
And except of that, 10 minutes before our broadcast start, my pc monitor freaked out, and started opening and closing by itself every 5 - 10 seconds.
Now imagine trying to read from the scripts the info you have, trying to put the background music right, trying to prepare the songs, and reading and writting messages on the chatbox, and all these with a monior that opens and closes all the time! Not the easiest thing eh?
But further than these problems, the main program was very good I believe.
We created some great atmosphere in some parts, and we played many songs from bands that we usualy don't play on our shows, like Black Sabbath, Blind Guardian, Led Zeppelin, etc...
I hope at least that the people who were listening had some nice time...
I want to thank all of you who showed up, listen to our show, and helped us overcome all the difficulties we were facing...
Thank you folks! :)

GFreedom's Juke Box No.19

Hello! :)
Very busy week this last one, trying to prepare 2 radio shows.
The good part was that I've listened to lots of music!
And here are my 5 songs:

Pavlov's Dog: Theme from Subway Sue (Pampered Menial) (1975)
Blind Guardian: Nightfall (Nightfall in Middle Earth) (1998)
Pendragon: Schizo (The Masquerade Overture) (1996)
Camel: Nimrodel (Mirage) (1974) 
Mostly Autumn: Mother Nature (The Last Bright light) (2001)

GFreedom Team Presents: A Tribute to "The Lord of the Rings"!

Hello everybody!
Last night's broadcast was very good, but our minds were travelling elsewhere.
As I mentioned in the previous post, our Radio Show changes its day & time.
Last night's broadcast was the last we did on a Thursday night.
From now & on, our show will be "on air" every Sunday night between20.00 - 22.00 GMT.
 (22.00- 00.00 Greek time).
First broadcast on this new timetable will be on next Sunday 28/10/2012.
And for this show we thought of making something really special.
So,we are preparing a tribute to The Lord of the Rings, and its influence on Rock music.
We are very excited for that, cause both (my wife and me) are great fans of Tolkien.
I'm pretty sure we will  make a very good job, and I really hope all our visitors will enjoy it to the most!
Since yesterday we started the preparations, because we want it to be just perfect! :)
I really hope that many people will join us on Sunday night and altogether will have
"A Night to Remember"! :)
You can listen to our show just by clicking here: http://www.justincaseradio.com/
Thank you all in advance...

GFreedom Team Presents:Prog & Roll Radio Show No.4...

Hello all!
 In exactly 4.5 hours from now it will be the time for our 4rth radio broadcast.
Tonight's broadcast will be the last we are doing on
this day and hour.
Our Radio show "Prog & Roll' will move on Sunday nights between 20-22.00 (GMT) (22.00 - 00.00 Greek Time).
Our first Sunday's broadcast will be in 3 days from now, on the 28th of October. Especially for this Sunday we are preparing a very nice show with a very nice (we hope) surprise. But more details on that later... :)
So, if any of you is in the mood for some good Rock music, please visit this link at the time I wrote above. http://www.justincaseradio.com/
There is also a chatbox in case you want to say a "Hello" or more...
Thanks in advance :)

THE PROGRESSIVE ROCK ENCYCLOPEDIA: C (Part.1)

                                                                   CAMEL

                                                   

   Camel is one of my favorite bands, and therefore I will make this post enough detailed. Not only for that, but also because I believe that this band deserved more success that it gained.
   Andrew Latimer (Guitar, flute, vocals) Andy Ward (Drums) and Doug Ferguson (Bass) had been playing as a trio called ‘The Brew’ in the late ‘60’s, around Surrey UK.

On 1971 they recruited Peter Bardens (Keyboards), and changed their name to ‘Camel’.

Their first live show was in London on 4^th of December 1971 as an opening act for Wishbone Ash.

   On the summer of 1972 they signed a contract with MCA records, and 6 months later they released their eponymous debut album. The record was not a success, and they moved to Deram records, which was a part of the famous Decca records.

   In 1974 they released one of their most known records under the name ‘Mirage’. Although it failed to climb the charts in England, it gained fame and success in USA, and the band moved there for a 3 months tour.

   The next year Camel released the album ‘The Snow Goose’ that was inspired by Paul Gallico’s short story with the same name. This album was Camel’s breakthrough  for a wider attention, but at the same time they had problems with the writer of the book who was threatening to take them to the court because he thought that the band stole his idea, and also they were related to the famous cigarette company. Camel acted fast and solved the problem by adding the: ‘Music inspired by…’ to the album cover. The album’s success led to a sold out concert at The Royal Albert Hall in London, with The London Symphony Orchestra in October 1975.

   Their 4^th album ‘Moonmadness’ was released in 1976 and it was the last album featuring the original line-up. Andy Ward was pushing for a more Jazz direction, and this led to Ferguson’s departure on early 1977. They replaced him with Richard Sinclair from Caravan, and with this line-up they released ‘Rain Dances’ in 1977 and ‘Breathless’ in 1978. Breathless was the last album featuring Peter Bardens. He announced his departure after the release of the album, and before the supporting tour.

He was replaced by 2 keyboard players, both from Caravan. Dave Sinclair (the cousin of Richard), and Jan  Schellaas. The 2 Sinclair cousins left the band after the tour of Breathless, and were replaced by Kit Watkins and Colin Bass. With this line-up Camel recorded the more commercial ‘I can see your house from here’ (1979), an album which caused problems because of its cover. It was displaying a crucified astronaut looking at the Earth.

   In the early ‘80’s Camel released the concept album ‘Nude’. The story of this album is based on the true story of a Japanese soldier (Hiroo Onoda) that had been found on an island, many years after the World War II had ended and he had no idea about it.

   In the mid 1981 Andy Ward stopped playing drums because of his alcohol and drugs problem, and Camel was disbanded. Years later it became known that he also had attempted suicide.

From this point and on, Andrew Latimer released a couple of records under the name Camel  with different musicians each time, until 1985 when Camel dissapeared from the face of the Earth.

   In the ‘90’s Latimer revived the name Camel, releasing in 1991 the album ‘Dust and Dreams’, that was largely instrumental and inspired by John Stainbeck’s classic book ‘The Grapes of Wrath’.

In 1996 Latimer emotionally moved by his father’s death, released a new album under the Camel name again, with the title ‘Harbour of Tears’. (Harbour of Tears was the nickname for Cobh, a port in Ireland from which many ships sailed off to USA between 1845 and 1952 during the potato famine).

In 1999 Camel released ‘Rajaz’, a beautiful and melodic album that its sound resembles the sound of Camel’s records of the ‘70’s.

   In 2002 another album is being released with the title ‘A Nod and a Wink’, a rather mellow album that was dedicated to Peter Bardens who died on January 2002.

In 2007 Latimer’s wife announced that her husband was suffering from a progressive blood disorder, and therefore he needed heavy treatment such as chemotherapy and bone marrow transplant.

On September 2008 she reported that Latimer was gaining his strength, and he was thinking of releasing a new album in the following years.

In the first video you can watch parts of "The Snow Goose" performed live in BBC with a small orchestra, and in the second one you can listen to the beautiful "Air Born" from the album "Moonmadness"

 Enjoy!

                                              

                                         

                                         

GFreedom's Juke Box No.18

Hello everybody!
After a short break that I wasn't able to post anything here,
I am back! :)
And since it's Saturday, it is the time for my Juke Box post.
Well, in this last week I must admit that I haven't listen
so much music as usual, therefore my options are limited.
And here are my best 5 songs:

ASTRA: Drift (The Black Chord) (2012)
BLACKFIELD: Cloudy Now (Blackfield) (2004)
KREATOR: Enemy of God (Enemy of God) (2005)
THE GATHERING: Eleanor (Mandylion) (1995)
FIELDS OF THE NEPHILIM: 
At the Gates of Silent Memory (Elizium) (1990)

GFreedom Team Presents:Prog & Roll Radio Show No.3

Hello everybody!
I want to inform you that tonight between 21.00 - 23.00 GMT is our 3rd radio broadcast. (23.00 - 01.00 Greek time)
And because next week's show will be cancelled, due to a travel we have to do, we will try to make this one really special!
So If you are in the mood for some good Rock music, please visit: http://www.justincaseradio.com/
We have also an active and very lively chatbox, in case you want you can say a 'hello' as well.  :)
Thank you all in advance, and I hope you'll have some nice time with our broadcast...

Greatest Rock albums of all times. The Summary!

   A few months ago I started these series of posts.

   The main idea was to present some albums that in my (and not only) opinion can be considered some of he best in rock music. And that's for many reasons: Because they are considered very influential for the next generations of musicians, because they were really very good, because they invented new forms and music ideas, etc etc...
Of course each one of you can have his/her own opinions on that subject, but I really tried to be objective here the most I could.
I could continue this list further more, but then it would lose its meaning.
So I am stopping it here, on the 20th post.
   In these 20 posts I wrote about many bands and many records, and now is the time to make a small summary. I will write the bands, the records, and next to them the month that you can fınd the post, in case someone wants to take a look. Some of these bands or records officially should had been placed under the progressive rock categories. But I didn't do it because these specific records are so widely famous and acknowledged, that I decided to put them here.
After all, despite the sub-categories, they are Rock music.
So let's see the summary:

THE BEATLES: Sgt.Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (8/4/2012)
                              White Album (4/10/2012)
                               Revolver (27/8/2012)
PINK FLOYD: The Dark side of the Moon (9/4/2012)
                            The Wall (24/4/2012)
DAVID BOWIE: The Rise and Fall of Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars (9/4/2012)
LED ZEPPELIN: I (10/4/2012)
                               II (10/4/2012)
THE ROLLING STONES: Let it Bleed (10/4/2012)
                                                Sticky Fingers (10/4/2012)
VAN MORRISON: Astral Weeks (12/4/2012)
                                  Moondance (12/4/2012)
THE WHO: Who's Next (16/4/2012)
                     Quadrophenia (16/4/2012)
QUEEN: A Night at the Opera (18/4/2012)
JETHRO TULL: Aqualung (21/4/2012)
WISHBONE ASH: Argus (26/4/2012)
JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: Surrealistic Pillow (6/5/2012)
DEEP PURPLE: Machine Head (31/5/2012)
BLACK SABBATH: Black Sabbath 1/5/2012)
THE DOORS: The Doors (13/6/2012)
LOVE: Forever Changes (4/7/2012)
JIMI HENDRIX: Are You Experıenced 23/7/2012)
BOB DYLAN: Bringing it all Back Home (7/8/2012)
                          Highway 61 Revisited (7/8/2012)

So, in these 20 posts I presented 17 bands or artists, and 25 albums in total.
I tried to put the most information I could, I posted pictures of the albums and some times from the bands, and in most cases 1-2 videos that you are able to watch some songs.
I hope that many people found these posts interesting, and informative.
Here is officially the end of 'The Greatest Rock Albums of all Times'.
Thanks everyobdy for reading them and commenting in some cases. :)

GFreedom's Juke Box No.17

Hello all!
It is Saturday and therefore it is time to post my Top-5 songs for the last week.
With all the preparations for the radio show I listened to a lot of Progressive Rock once more.
 But when I wanted to escape a bit I tried to listen totally different things.
So these were my 5 most beloved songs for the last 7 days:

Riverside: The Same River  (Out of Myself ) (2003)
Chris De Burgh: Crusader (Crusader) (1979)
Annie Haslam: Still Life
('Air' from suite No.3 in D Major - J.S.Bach) (Still Life) (1985)
Alice Cooper: Pass the Gun Around (DaDa) (1983)
The Stranglers: Nice & Sleazy (Black & White) (1978)

Prog & Roll Radio Show No.2 an Update..

Hello everybody!
   Last night was our second broadcast in the internet radio I have already informed you about.
I must admit it was a good show again! People seemed to enjoy the music, we enjoyed their comments on the chatbox, and at some point we were laughing a lot with some crazy comments.
Near the end of our show we even had a message straight from the NASA base in Houston, concerning an Irish band we played at our first broadcast! (I'm kidding of course! It was just one of these crazy comments I was talking about) :)
   Anyway, in this second broadcast we played a bit more 'Progressive' and long songs than in our first show one week before. That's why we played 14 songs instead of 18 which we had played last week.
Some of the bands we had on our playlist last night were: Camel, Riverside, Tool, Curved Air, String Driven Thing, Van Der Graaf Generator, Rush etc...
Now we have one week in front of us to prepare our next show, and try to make it better!
Thank you all who logged in last night, and became a part of our company! :)

Greatest Rock albums of all times Part. 20

                               THE BEATLES: WHITE ALBUM (1968)

   The album 'The Beatles' or 'White Album' as it is widely known, was the 9th official album by The Beatles, it was released in 1968, and it was a double one.

This album was recorded in a very weird period for the group. They had just returned from India after spending the last few months with Maharishi Mahesh Yogi with meditation and song-writing.

But upon their arrival back to UK, many problems showed up among the 4 Beatles. As a result Ringo Star quit the band for a while, and Paul Mc Cartney played drums in his place in a couple of songs. Many of the songs in this album were 'solo' recordings, as each individual member of the band began to explore his own talent. 

   Musically this record is more 'electric' that any other record they had released so far, and it is a musical puzzle. Meaning that it contains for the first time many different styles of music gathered all together in one record. From Blues, Country, Pop - Rock, Jazz - Rock, even a primitive form of Heavy Metal, allthough this term had not been invented yet.

   The album's original title was supposed to be 'A Doll's House', but the idea was abandoned after Family's release 'Music in a Doll's House' earlier that year.

   Now, some known or unknown information for this album:

Allthough it is not credited in the album notes, Eric Clapton played lead guitar  on Harrison's song 'While my Guitar Gently Weeps'. Also, Lennon's song 'Sexy Sadie' is about Maharishi and the rumouırs the he made sexual advances to Mia Farrow's sister Prudence, while they were alltogether in India. For her is the song 'Dear Prudence' as well.

This record is the first The Beatles released in their own record company 'Apple', and it is the first that followed the death of their manager 'Brian Epstein'

   As for the reception of the album, it was a great success! 

Upon it's release it received largely positive reviews, and reached at No.1 in the charts both in UK and USA. The 'White Album' has sold over 30.000.000 copies worldwide, and it is listed at No.10 on Rolling Stones' magazine list with the '500 Greatest Albums of all Time'.

   In the following videos you can listen to the songs 'Sexy Sadie' and 'Yer Blues'

                                       

                                        

GFreedom's Team Presents: Prog & Roll Radio Show No.2

Hello All!
Tomorrow night is our second broadcast as some of you already know.
The first one I believe it went pretty good, and I hope we will make this second one better.
We have many nice songs ready for you to listen.
Many famous and known ones, and some, kind of unknown...
And that's because the meaning of radio is not only entertainment in my opinion, but also knowledge.
The point is to enjoy the songs you already know, but also to expand your musical horizons.
Anyway, I hope many people will join us to this second broadcast, and all together we will have a very nice night.
Don't forget that we have also a chatbox, and through it we can communicate, or just have some fun!
Our show will start at 21.00GMT, and it will last until 23.00GMT.
So tomorrow night log in here  http://www.justincaseradio.com/ and get ready for some nice music!
Thank you all in advance! :)

TV Series: HOMELAND (Season 1)

   One of the best and well structed series I have watched in the last years.

When they told me about the story, I thought ‘Ah ok I’m not gonna watch that’.

But one night I thought to give it a try. And I didn’t stop watching it like insane until the season finished. I was counting the days for season 2, which started yesterday I think.

The first season consists of 12 episodes, and each episode lasts for an hour.

   There are two main characters here: The CIA female officer Carrie Mathison (Claire Danes), and the Marines Sergeant Nicholas Brody (Damian Lewis). (Damian Lewis held the basic role as Sgt. Winters in the TV series Band of Brothers).

   The story starts when Sgt.Body returns to USA from Iraq, after having gone missing for eight years.  C. Mathison has some informations about an American ‘sleeping’ agent, and she suspects him from the start.

In these 12 episodes you will see the plot turning many times, as if almost nothing is as it seems…

   It is important to pay attention when watching, so you will not miss some clues that are given as the story continues. The structure of the two main characters is very strong, and both actors are giving great performances.

‘Homeland’ series won 2 Golden Globe awards, and they have a rating of 8.6 in IMDB…

In the following video you can see a trailer of the first season...