Genesis Live video from 1973

Hello all! :)
Lately I have found this great live video from back in 1973.
It's almost an hour long, and I believe it is worth watching it all!
That's why I'm posting it here for you to watch.
The songs that are been played here are the following:
1. Watcher of the Skies
2. Dancing of the Moonlight Knight
3. I Know What I Like
4. The Musical Box
5. Supper's Ready
So sit back, relax, and enjoy one hour with Genesis live! :)

                              

Prog & Roll Radio show: Last Night's Top-5

Hello all!
Last night we had one more radio show, the last one for January.
Which means that next Sunday we will have the big event: All together will chose the "Song of the month".
Last night's show went very well I think. This time we separated our show in 4 parts (half hour each), and in every part we played a different style of music. You can understand this better when you'll see the whole playlist at the end of this post. The chatbox was again on fire, and we had a good laugh from time to time.
As I have mentioned before, we are asking from our audience to grade the songs we play, so at the end of the night we make every show's Top-5. But the songs that achieve to have an average of 8.5 or more are going on a separate list, and they will be played on the first show of every month again. And there we will all vote on these songs (us as well), and the one that will have the higher average will be declared as "Song of the month".
Anyway, here are the Top-5 songs as were voted and grated from our audience last night: 
1. Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb (Live 1988)
2. Wishbone Ash: Throw Down the Sword
3. Camel: Straight to my heart
4. Transatlantic: We all Need Some Light
5. Magna Carta: Lord of the Ages
From these 5 songs only the 2 first achieved to have an average of 8.5 and more, therefore only these 2 are going to the final round that will take place on next Sunday.
And here is the whole playlist:
Part 1: Rainbow: Difficult to Cure / Dreamscape: Different / Riverside: I Turned You Down / Psychotic Waltz: I Remember / Black Sabbath: A National Acrobat
Part 2: Pentangle: Let No Man Steal Your Thyme / Angelo Branduardi: Alla Fiera Del' Est / Maddy Prior: Gutter Geese / Magna Carta: Lord of the Ages.
Part 3: Quartermass: Black Ship of the Family (Music Contest) / Lighthouse: Love of a Woman / Blood Sweat & Tears: Spinning Wheel / Chicago: 25 or 6 to 4 / Greatest Show on Earth: The Leader / Traffic: Pearly Queen.
Part 4: Transatlantic: We All Need Some Light / Camel: Straight to my Heart / Wishbone Ash: Throw Down the Sword / Manfred Mann's Earth Band: Questions / Pink Floyd: Comfortably Numb (Live 1988)
I want to thank everybody who joined in last night, listen to our show, participated and made us laugh a lot, and I hope you spend 2 joyful hours with us... :)

GFreedom's Juke Box N0. 30

Hello all! :)
This last week was really very busy for me, therefore I didn't had the time or the will to write many things on my blog as you saw. Just a couple of posts and that's all!
But despite the many things I had to deal with, I found the time to listen to some music. (I always do!) hehehe
And here are the 5 songs that I chose to put in my Juke Box series:

Mystery: Silent Scream (One among the living) (2010)
Pendragon: The Masquerade Overture (The Masquerade Overture) (1996)
Transatlantic: We All Need Some Light (S M P T) (2000)
Madrugada: What's on Your Mind? (Madrugada) (2008)
Pink Floyd: The Fletcher Memorial Home (The Final Cut) (1983)

Spotlights On: BIG BIG TRAIN

   BBT were founded in Bournemouth England, in 1990.

After many gigs and one demo, they released their first album ‘Goodbye to the Age of Steam’ in 1994 with Martin Orford from the band IQ being the co-producer. This album was well received, and it established the band’s melancholic sound that is deeply influenced from the English Progressive-Rock bands of the ‘70’s. (You know, there are enough bands that their sound reminds  one of Genesis in the P. Gabriel’s Era. Well, BBT is the only one that comes to my mind that their sound reminds the style of Genesis exactly after P.Gabriel’s departure. If you ask me to find an album of Genesis to compare BBT, I think I would say ‘Wund & Wuthering’).

   Despite their headstart in their musical career, in the following years they released 2 records not really worth mentioning, whilst at the same time the band members were changing often. Their 4rth album ‘Gethering Speed’ (2004) was a concept one and a good effort. Three years later they released the album titled ‘The Different Machine’ with many guest musicians participating, such as: Nick D’Virgilio (Spock’s Beard, Genesis, Tears for Fears), Dave Meros (Spock’s Beard), and Pete Trewavas (Marillion,Transatlantic).

But in my opinion their best albums in general are the next two that were released. ‘The Underfall Yard’ (2009), and ‘English Electric Part.1’ (2012)

Both records are really very good works, and received very positive reviews. It could be safe to say that if anyone is interested to listen to BBT’s music, these two albums should be the first to look for. ‘English Electric’ is supposed to be a doudle album, but finally it became two parts. The second part is scheduled for release within the next few months. (On March I’m not mistaken).

   And on the following video you can listen to the song 'Winchester from St.Giles Hill' taken from the album 'English Electric'...

                                              

Prog & Roll Radio Show: Last night's Top-5 & more.

Hello everybody!
Last night we had our usual Radio show.
Everything was fine, and we all had some very nice time.
I'm very pleased to see that lately our show has a very solid base of listeners, that is slowly expanding.
More and more people are joining our show, and they are returning again and again. For me that is really important. Shows that they like our show, and they enjoy the musıc and the fun environment.
   As for last night, we had the usual songs grading, and until now we have gathered some very good songs that are the contestants for the 'Song of the Month'. Actually I'm waiting to see what is gonna happen on the first show of February. Because on that show it will be the final grading of the very best songs from all January, in order to choose the 1 song that it will be the Song of the Month!That one will very tough, but very interesting as well!
So, here is last night's Top-5 songs as were voted from our audience:
1. Renaissance: Opening Out
2. Van Morrison: Moondance
3. Procol Harum: A Whiter Shade of Pale (2008 Live, with the Danish Concert Orchestra & Choir)
4. Aphrodite's Child: Rain & Tears
5. Psychotic Waltz: Faded
From these 5, only the first 3 gathered the 8.5 average points that is needed in order to be in the final draft for the 'Song of the Month'. We have 9 songs so far on that final list, and 1 more show left for January.

And here you can see the whole playlist from last night's Prog & Roll:

YES: America / SPRINGUS OF TOLGUS: Let No Man Steel Your Thyme / LED ZEPPELIN: Bron Y Aur Stomp / STRAWBS: Burning For Me / GENESIS: I Know What I Like / PSYCHOTIC WALTZ: Faded / ASHBURY: Vengeance / ARCADIUM: Poor Lady / KANSAS: Belexes / JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: Milk Train / ULTIMATE SPINACH: Jazz Thing / VAN MORRISON: Moondance / PALLAS: Ghost Dancers / MARILLION: Lucky Man / MOSTLY AUTUMN: Spirit of Autumn Past / IAN ANDERSON: Banker Bets, Banker Wins / PORCUPINE TREE: Sentimental / ILLUSION: Roads to Freedom / RENAISSANCE: Opening Out / APHRODITE'S CHILD: Rain & Tears / PROCOL HARUM: A Whiter Shade of Pale (Live).

GFreedom's Juke Box No.29

Hello all and welcome to another week's Juke Box!
This last week I was kind of fed up with Prog-Rock, so I thought maybe I should listen some other stuff for a change.
Well, it was a nice change I have to admit! :)
I listened to many songs from different music styles, and that is why this Top-5 is SO mixed up!
And here are the best 5 songs:
Bauhaus: Bela Lugosi's Dead (Maxi Single) - (1979)
Rhapsody (Of Fire): The March of the Swordmaster
   (Power of the Dragonflame) - (2002)
Rammstein: Fruhling in Paris (Liebe Ist Fur Alle Da) - (2009)
Metallica: One (And Justice for All) - (1988)
The Who: We're not Gonna Take it (Tommy) - (1969)

TV Series: COMMUNITY (Season 1)

   Very recently I watched the first season of this American Sitcom comedy series, and I wanted to write a review. Well, the whole thing was kind of weird. What that means?

 I started watching it, and after 2-3 episodes I left it aside. I found it not worth my attention and my time. But a few days later I started watching it again, and then I found it better. Maybe because it needs some time for one to get to know the characters, the environment, the way of humor, and so on.

   The series is about a community college and what is going on with a certain company there. This company consists of an ex-lawyer, (that was kicked out when they found that his diploma was fake), and now he is attending this university in order to take an original diploma, a former drug addict, a former quarter-back, a single mother, a film student, and a so-called millionaire. (The pleasant surprise is that Chevy Chase is playing the role of the millionaire). Starting the first year, Jeff Winger (the former lawyer), starts a study group with the people I just mentioned, only because he wants to be close to a beautiful student. (Brita Perry). That of course is only the main idea, and as  the episodes commence more and more characters are slowly slowly added. 

   This first season consists of 25 episodes of an average 20 minutes each. It is a light comedy, and it gets better as the episodes goes by. The rating that it has in IMDB is 8.8, but my opinion is that it has been much too overrated. I wouldn’t give more than 7.00, no way!

In this video you can watch the trailer for the first season.

                         

                                                

             

100 Rock Guitar Riffs in One Take!

Hello all!
A few days ago I found this video posted in a community in Google+, and I found it very interesting.
So I'm posting it here as well, for you to watch it.
It is a video of a guy playing in one take 100 most famous guitar riffs in Rock music, combined.
Ok, for my taste the video was very interesting up to 75th song or something like that. But still. He does a great job I think.
I believe it is really worth to spend a few minutes from your time in order to watch it.
Enjoy! :)

                                           

Prog & Roll Radio Show: Last night's Top-5...

Good morning everybody!
Last night we had our radio show again as many of you know already.
There were many people participating, and many more listening.
As I have mentioned already, our audience grades the songs we play on each show, and we collect the best of them. We announce the Top-5, but the ones with an average of 8.5/10 and higher are kept separately. The main idea is that on the first show of each month, we will play again only these songs, and our audience will vote again. And they will actually choose the song on the month.
That will be happening on every month of the year, and on the end of the year we will announce Prog & Roll's Top-12. (1 song each month, for 12 months, total 12 songs).
Here are the best 5 songs from last night, as were graded by our audience:
1. THE BEATLES: Let it be
2. SUPERTRAMP: Crime of the Century
3. BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: She Said
4. AYREON (Feat. Annekke): Valley of the Queens
5. MADDY PRIOR (Feat. Jethro Tull): Woman in the wings
From these 5 songs, only the first3 have an average of 8.5, therefore are kept aside.
And here is the whole playlist of last night's show:
Angel: Long Time / Triumph: Lay it on the line / Galahad: Empires Never Last / Pendragon: The Pursuit of Excellence / David Gilmour: There is no way out of Here / RPWL: Unchain the Earth / The Flower Kings: Train to Nowhere / ELP: Still You Turn Me On / Tempus Fugit: The Princess / Jethro Tull: Steel Monkey / Bryan Ferry: A Hard Rain's A-Gonna Fall (Music contest) / Cromwell: The Crow / Maddy Prior: Woman in the Wings / Arena: Tears in the Rain / BJH: She Said / Pavlov's Dog: Valkerie / Procol Harum: Beyond the Pale / Supertramp: Crime of the Century / Ayreon: Valley of the Queens / Santana: Samba Pa Ti / The Beatles: Let it Be.
 I want to thank all of you that were listening, participating, grading, and in general helped us make a nice show. :)

GFreedom's Juke Box No.28

Hello folks!
As you know already, every Saturday I'm posting here my Top-5 songs of the last week.
From the many songs I usually listen, I chose the best 5.
And here they are:

Ayreon: Valley of the Queens (Feat.Annekke)
(Into the Electric Castle) (1998)
Pendragon: The Pursuit of Excellence
(The Masquerade Overture) (1996)
Trees: Murdoch (On the Shore) (1970)
Wolf People: Silbury Sands (Steeple) (2010)
David Bowie: Time (Alladin Sane) (1973)

I hope you know them, and you agree that they are great songs!
Have a nice weekend! :)

PSYCHOTIC WALTZ: My Grave (video)

Hello folks!
Here is a video of a song that I had no idea about it 'till this morning.
Today someone posted it on my community on Google+, and I found it very good. (Thank you Pavel!).
 That's why I thought of posting it here for more people to watch maybe. It is from an American Progressive-Metal band called Psychotic Waltz and they are not so famous. They began their career in 1988 in California, and they were disbanded almost 10 years later. I think they were reunited a couple of years ago, but I have no information on that matter.
Anyway, the song is called 'My Grave' and it is from their album 'Bleeding' that was released in 1996.
I hope you'll like it...

                                   

David Bowie is back...

                        DAVID BOWIE: Where are we now?

Yesterday it was David Bowie's 66th birthday. And he chose this day to let us take a small taste of his forthcoming new album, after almost one decade. The first single is called 'where are we now", and is a ballad-like song that it reminds me the style of his record "Hours", but in a more melancholic way, mostly because of the lyrics. In the video you can see some parts of D.Bowie's beloved city (Berlin), that is also mentioned in the lyrics.
  Although I consider myself as a fan of D.Bowie (having 19 records of him so far), I can't say that I really liked that song. But that's only the first taste. Let's wait and see...
In the following video you can see this new song I'm talking about...

                                           

Prog & Roll Radio Show 06/01/2013. The review...

Hello all!
Last night was our first radio show of 2013 as I have mentioned already a few days ago.
Well, it was a nice one I have to say. Not so many people logged in (like for example in the last show of 2012), but they were not few also.
For the first time we tried to make our audience grade each song we played on the time it was played, and through the points they gave we will make each show's Top-5. And further than that, the songs that have an average of 8.5 and higher, are kept aside, and slowly slowly we made a list of the most favorite songs that we have played. And at some point we will make some special shows that we will play only these songs, in order to make Prog & Roll's absolute Top-10.
I hope this thing will work... :P
I will put here the whole playlist from last night's show, but first I have to mention the best 5 songs, as they were voted by our listeners. And here they are:
No.1 ELOY: The Sun Song + 
No.2 STRAWBS: Autumn + 
No.3 BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: Paper Wings  (Live version) + 
No.4 PINK FLOYD: Brain Damage / Eclipse
No.5 KING CRIMSON: Epitaph.
The ones that have the small cross (+), are the ones that had an average of 8.5 and higher. Therefore, these 3 are going on the "Most favorite Songs" list for a later use.
And here is the whole playlist of last night's Prog & Roll: 
WITHIN TEMPTATION: Frozen / RUSH: Cinderella Man / ARRAKEEN: Le nouveau Monde / CRIPPLED BL.PHOENIX: The Heart of Every Country / BJH: Paper Wings / ECHO: Moon / THERION: Secret of the Runes / VIA OBSCURA: Schicksal / ELOY: The Sun-song / PAVLOV’S DOG: Today (Music Contest) / WISHBONE ASH: Errors of my Way / URIAH HEEP: Wise Man / ANYONE’S DAUGHTER: Swedish nights / STYX: Crystal Ball /  STRAWBS: Autumn / VDGG: Wondering / PINK FLOYD: Brain Damage / Eclipse / KING CRIMSON: Epitaph.

TV Series: HOMELAND (Season 2)

   Some time ago, I wrote in this blog a review about season 1, and now it is time to write about season 2. (For those who are interested to read this review, you can find it here:  http://gfreedomathina.blogspot.com/2012/10/tv-series-homeland-season-1.html

  I started watching this last season 4 days ago, and I finished it last night. The basic things that I saw in the first season are also present here. That means: The same characters, the same plot twisting, the stress, the very fast pace from time to time etc. The actors that hold the main roles are acting superbly again, and mainly Claire Daines and Damian Lewis. These 2 are the best by far in my opinion. (But not only in my opinion, because they both have won awards for their acting in these series).

As for the scenario, sorry but I can’t write anything because I can’t even if I wanted to! It changes so many times, and it contains so many side stories, that I should write a book…

   I really enjoyed this second season as much as the first one, but I have to say that I’m not sure about the end of it. I’m not sure if I liked the way it ends. I think that the producers of these series tried to put the most action possible inside, and in some cases they took it too far. The result of this was that in the end they tried to wrap things up, and have everyone satisfied.

I don’t know if they succeeded  finally though.

   But further than that, I have to say that I enjoyed both seasons to the maximum, and now it gets on my nerves that I know I have to wait almost 10 months to see the continue, although I’m almost sure that it’s not going to be so good as the first two.

Homeland gained many awards in many different categories. Among them the awards for best male and best female actor, and best TV series.  As for the rating, in IMDB it has a 8.6.

And here is the trailer for the second season…