The Progressive Rock Encyclopedia: C (Part 5)

It's been sometime I haven't posted anything in these series of posts, so I decided to close the month with it.

                                                     CLEPSYDRA
   A rather unknown band outside the hard-core progressive circles, is the Neo-Prog band Clepsydra.
Although they come from Switzerland they have a totaly Greek name. (Clepsydra is a Greek word that means hourglass)...

   They were formed in the end of '80's and they released their first record in 1991. Their sound is the typical sound of the Neo-Prog bands, meaning that they have strong influences mostly from Marillion, but also from bands like Pendrgon, IQ etc...
All the members of the bands are very skilled musicians, and they also have a very good singer in their ranks, which fits perfectly the very well structured instrumentation.
   They were active for almost 12 years, and during this period they released 4 albums in total, with their last release being the album 'Alone' (2002). Truth is that there is no announcement concerning the band's fate, but it seems they are  unactive since 2002.
   They are highly recommended to the fans of the Neo-Prog scene, but also to the fans of Prog-Rock as well.
If I have to suggest a starting point to their music, I would recommend their last 2 records named 'Fears' (1997) and 'Alone' (2002).
   And personally I only wish they had better record covers. (Especially the cover from 'Alone' is a very bad one!)
In the following video you can listen to the song 'Into my Cartoon' from the album 'Fears'.

                                                         
                                                            CRESSIDA
   Cressida was short-lived a British band that released only 2 albums in the early '70's.
A very good band in my opinion, and they definetely deserved more success and fame.
  Their sound is the typical Mellotron-driven sound of British bands of this era, with beautiful melodies and very interesting instrumental pieces. Also you can find some Jazz-Rock elements, especially in their second album. The band actually split up just before the release of their second record, and that was really pitty because it seemed they found a very good musical direction with that album.
After the band split up, their drummer (Lain Clark) would join Uriah Heep for a year or so, while guitarist John Culley would join Black Widow.
   Although I like both their albums, their second one mamed 'Asylum' (1971) is more 'mature', and it is the one I would recommend to those who want to give them a try.
In the following video you can listen to the song 'Munich' from the record 'Asylum'...

                                             

PROG & ROLL Radio Show: 'Song of the Month' contest & Rock Opera presenation.

Good morning!

As I have mentioned in a previous post, on last night's show we had a Rock opera presentation during the first hour and our contest for 'The Song of the month' during the second hour.

 The Rock opera was no other that the famous 'Jesus Christ Superstar' by Andrew Lloyd Webber & Tim Rise. We had also the libretto online, so the people were able to read the lyrics. We played a compilation of songs from both version of this opera. The theatrical version and the movie version. 

(Just for the record I have to mention here that the original and first version was the theatrical one (1970), with Ian Gillan playing the role of Jesus. 3 years later the movie came out, with a totally different cast. The only exceptions were Yvonne Elliman in the role of Mary Magdalene, and Barry Dennen in the role of Pilate).

   The presentation lasted for almost 65 minutes and I want to believe we did some great job!

After that, we reached the second part of our show, and it was time for the big contest.

From all the songs we played in April, we had 9 that achieved a really high average in points, (according to our audience's grades), and we played these songs again, so our listeners had to grade them once more.

   I was almost sure about the winning song, but this time I was wrong! The song I had in mind didn't win, and came second finally.

So, Prog & Roll's song of the month for April is: 'Of a Lifetime' by Journey!

Here I will post all 9 songs that were participating in the contest, after having calculate the points they received. You can see next to each song the average number of points it achieved.

1. Journey: Of a Lifetime   (9.40)  (winner)

2. Genesis: The Dancing of the Moonlight Knight   (8.75)

3. Fish: The Company   (8.65)

4. Chris De Burgh: Spaceman Came Travelling   (8.60)

5. Wishbone Ash: The King will Come   (8.16)

6. Queensryche: Eyes of a Stranger   (7.71)

7. Pink Floyd: Hey You   (7.57)

8. Jethro Tull: We Used to Know   (6.85)

9. Therion: Midgard   (6.80)

Once more I want to thank all those who joined us last night, and I hope they enjoyed the show.

On next Sunday 5/4 we will not have a radio show, therefore the next 'Prog & Roll' will be on Sunday 12/5 at 20.00GMT as always...
Thank you! :)
In the following video you can listen to the winning song...

                                                 

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.43

Today it's Saturday, and as usual I'll post here last week's top-5 songs.
For those who aren't familiar yet with these series of posts, I should say that every Saturday I write here the 5 songs that in my opinion are the best from all the songs I have listened through the past week.
And usually I'm listening to lots of music throughout the week, so sometimes is very hard for me to choose only 5 songs. But that's my personal challenge I guess... :)
So, here is my Top-5 for this week:

Transatlantic: We all need some Light (SMPT) - 2000
David Gilmour: Murder (About Face) - 1984
Black Sabbath: The Sign of the Southern Cross (Mob Rules) - 1981
Fields of the Nephilim: At the Gates of Silent Memory (Elyzium) - 1990
Arena: Sirens (Pride) - 1996 

This time as you can see, my Top-5 doesn't contain any songs from the '60's or the '70's, and this look kind of weird even to me! :P
Anyway, I strongly encourage anyone who is interested to write his/hers Top-5 songs (or records) for this week as a comment here on this blog, or at G+. It's interesting and fun to see which music other people are listening at their homes.
As for myself, I'm working a lot in order to have everything ready for tomorrow night's special Prog & Roll radio show. I want everything to be perfect!
That's all for now, and I'm wishing you all a great Weekend! :)

Prog & Roll Radio Show presents: 2 special themes in 1 show!

Hello everybody!
I'm writing this post in order to inform you about the upcoming Prog & Roll  radio show.
This Sunday 28/4 at 20.00GMT we decided to make something unique. As many of you know already we make some special 'theme' shows from time to time, and they take place on the second hour of our show.
On the first hour we have our regular program. But this time we will make both hours special!
So, here are some info about that...
  Between 20.00GMT and 21.10GMT we will present a rather famous Rock Opera to our audience. We made a lot of preparations for this presentation, and I believe it will be a very good one! And although we will be explaining many things between the songs, we also found the Libretto of this opera and we wıll post it at the time of the show. Which means that if someone wants, he/she can read it in order to understand who is singing and what is going on.
  After that, we will continue with the second hour of our radio show, and we will have our big contest for 'The Song of the Month'. We have a list of 10 remarkable songs, which are the ones that won the highest ratings from our audience, and we will play them again in order for the people to grade them. And in the end of the program, (at about 22.15GMT) we will announce which song will win the title as 'The Song of the Month' for April.
   As you can see we are preparing many nice things for this Sunday's Prog & Roll. On next Sunday 5/5 we will not have a radio show, that's why we thought to make this one really special!
   We only hope that some of you will find it interesting and join us.
Don't forget that Prog & roll is a live radio show, and the broadcasting is in English & Greek.
If you want to log in and join our nice company, you can click on this link:
 JustIn Case Prog Radio
Thank you in advance, and I hope to see you on Sunday night! :)

Siena Root live in Athens 18/4/2013

   It’s almost a week ago since Siena Root played live in Athens at the ‘Αν Club’, and here is a small review concerning that event.

Before Siena Root a Greek support band from Thessaloniki got on the stage, named Mother Turtle. They played for sometime, and they were really good. Their style was progressive rock, and their sound is surely influenced by some bands of the ‘70’s, like Camel or Genesis just to name a few. They seemed to enjoy their appearance before the main band, and I think they warm the audience a bit. Speaking about the audience I have to say that the place was not so crowded despite the cheap price of the tickets.

   After Mother Turtle, it was the time for Siena Root to occupy the stage. The band surprised everybody who was there, because first of all they were only four people, (the keyboard player was not with them), and they played a set based almost entirely on their first record.

With the absence of any keyboards (and also sitar), the band played a set totally Hard-Rock like, with very powerful adaptations of their songs. So all those who went to see them waiting to ‘trip-out’ I guess they left disappointed. But the truth is they gave a remarkable show by playing a pure Hard Rock set.

The new vocalist seemed to fit perfectly in the band with his voice, but also his hippie-like look. They played also a new song from their new forthcoming record, and that came as a nice surprise. The show lasted for about 75 minutes (which is not much of course), but I think it’s safe to say that the majority of the audience left the club with a smile on their faces.

And here you can see the playlist:

Dreams Of Tomorrow (from "Far From The Sun")
Trippin (from "A New Day Dawning")
Little Man (from "A New Day Dawning")
Words (from "A New Day Dawning")
Rasayana (from "A New Day Dawning")
Into The Woods (from "A New Day Dawning")
Conveniently Blind (new song)
Until Time Leaves Us Again (from "A New Day Dawning")

Encore:
Coming Home (from "A New Day Dawning")
Shine (from "A New Day Dawning")
Jungle Funk Station (from "Demo IV")

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

Good morning!
Last night we had one more "Prog & Roll" radio show, as we usual  do on Sunday afternoons.
This time we thought to change the program a bit just for fun. We arrange to play more Hard and Heavy songs, and some of them were dedicated to certain people from our audience that we know they really like them. And it was really fun! The chatbox almost exploded! hehehe
We started our show with medium and slow songs, but after that we played many classic hard and rock songs. The next part was the 'Heavy' one, and we closed out program as usual with mostly melodic songs.
   Many people seemed to appreciate the gesture, while others were annoyed I think. In one certain song we said that they can vote whatever they like, but it will be out of contest. Because we play it mostly for fun and in order to see the people's reactions. (And this specific song was the one we dedicated to some people).
As for the Top-5? Well, we were sure from the beginning for the song that it would be the first, but we had to idea about the rest. Here you can see the Top-5 songs from last night's program as were voted  from our audience:

 1. Pink Floyd: Hey You
 2. Journey: Of a Lifetime
 3. Wishbone Ash: The King will come
4. Chris De Burgh: A Spaceman came Travelling
 5. Within Temptation: Stand My Ground

If you wanrt you can see the whole playlist here:

First Half Hour: ΧΙΙ ALFONSO - Εarliest Recollections / RENAISSANCE - Cry to the World / ILLUSION - The Revolutionary /CAMEL - Never Let go 

Second Half Hour: RUSH - A Farewell to Kings / URIAH HEEP - Sunrise (Live) / JOURNEY - Of a Lifetime / WISHBONE ASH - The king Will come / DEEP PURPLE - Burn 

Third Half Hour: FACTORY OF DREAMS - Back to Sleep / WITHIN TEMPTATION - Stand my Ground / AFTER FOREVER - Discord / IRON MAIDEN - Quest for Fire / MANOWAR - Battle Hymns (Out of Contest) HEAVEN & HELL - Atom & Evil 

Fourth Half Hour:  SUPERTRAMP - Ain’t nobody but me / PAVLOV’S DOG -  Gold Nuggets / COCKNEY REBEL - Tumbling down / CHRIS DE BURGH - A Spaceman came travelling /MOODY BLUES - Lazy Day / PINK FLOYD - Hey You.

A very big thanks to all those who joined our show and with their participation helped us put out a nice show once more!

As for next Sunday, we are planning a really special show! But more on this later... ;)

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.42

Hello everybody!
Today it is Saturday again, therefore it is time to post here my top-5 from all the songs I've listened in this last week. Many nice songs this time, and some from the upcoming radio show. (I already know the playlist you see...) :)
I was thinking that since Google decided to connect G+ with Blogs, it would be interesting if any of you is in the mood to write as a comment (here or at G+) his or her's top-5 songs from this last week.
I think it would be nice to see what kind of music you like and you prefere to listen... ;)
And as for me, here is my Top- 5:

Wishbone Ash: The King Will Come (Argus) - 1972
Rush: A Farewell to Kings (A Farrewell to Kings) - 1977
Metallica: Sad but True (Black Album) - 1992
The Who: Won't Get Fooled Again (Who's Next) - 1971
Arion: Every Way (Arion) - 2001

I hope that some people will respond and write their top-5 (or more) songs for this week.
And don't forget, tomorrow night it is our radio show on JustIn Case Prog Radio
You can listen to our show (named Prog & Roll) at 20.00GMT. Tomorrow's playlist is one of the most Rock & Heavy ones we ever made.
Have a great Weekend! :)

GFreedom Team presents: "The Ghost Moon Orchestra".

Good morning!
   I'm writing this post in order to inform you that tonight on Just In Case Prog Radıo, GFreedom Team will have a presentation of the album 'The Ghost Moon Orchestra' by the English band 'Mostly Autumn'.
At 21.00GMT in the 'Full Album Hour' of the radio station we will present this wondeful album that was released last year.
(Mostly Autumn is a very good band that plays a unique Neo-Prog style mixed with Folk and Celtic influences. Their sound can be characterised as powerful atmospheric Rock with beautiful melodies).
   But before that, at 20.00GMT our playlist will be 'On Air' with the theme: 'The new generation of Prog'.
   To summ up, from 20.00GMT - 21.00GMT the ones that will log in will be able to listen to our playlist, and exactly after this, at 21.00GMT you can listen to the whole album of Mostly Autumn.
We will be on the chatbox, giving info, chatting with you, and in general it will be a relaxing evening full of nice music.
I hope some of you will find that interesting and join us, so altogether will spend 2 beautiful hours...
Thank you in advance! :)
In the following video you can listen to the first song from 'The Ghost Moon Orchestra', so you can have a small idea...

                       

Spotlights on: THE WISHING TREE

This is Steve Rothery's (Marillion) side project, together with his buddy Pete Trewavas (from Marillion as well). The band also features the gifted singer Hannah Stobart, and Paul Craddick on drums.
Steve Rothery here uses mostly acoustic guitar, that fits perfectly with Stobart's beautiful voice. But of course there are parts that he is showing how skilled guitarist he is, especially when he uses electric guitar. The band has released 2 albums so far, the first one in 1996 and the second one in 2009.
The music here is nothing like Marillion, and that is among the positives. Their sound is soft, melodic, with many folk influences. They are surely recommended to the fans of folk ballads, and to those who are fond of  Neo-Prog bands.
In the following videos you can listen to the song "Evergreen" from their first record named "Carnival of Souls", and you can watch them performing live the song "Fly" from their second record named "Ostara".
I hope many of you will find them interesting.
Enjoy! :)

                                                                    

                                        

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

Have a great week everybody!
Last night we had one more Prog & Roll radio show, and here I will write the whole playlist and the top-5 songs as they were voted from our audience.
I'm very pleased with last night's show, because for the first time something amazing happened! All the songs in the Top-5 achieved to gather the required average in order to participate in the 'song of the month' contest. And not only those 5, but one more song as well. So 6 songs in total achieved to have an minimum average of 8.5 points out of 10. As you can easily understand the competition was really hard! And I can't think of what's going to happen in the final stage of the competition where there will be all those hi-rated songs alltogether! That will be very interesting! hehehe
Without further delay I give you the Top-5 songs from last night's playlist according to our audience's likings:
(And allthough I never do that at this stage, I will put next to each song the average points they achieved to gather, so you will see by yourselves how hard was the competition).

1. GENESIS: The Dancing of the Moonlight Knight ........  8.95
2. QUEENSRYCHE: Eyes of a Stranger .........  8.90
3. FISH: The Company ............. 8. 87
4. JETHRO TULL: We Used to Know ............  8.63
5. THERION: Midgard ............  8.59
   (The sixth song was 'Hall of the Mountain King' by Savatage that had a 8.56 average.)

And here is the whole playlist:

SAVATAGE: Hall of the mountain king / QUEENSRYCHE: Eyes of a stranger / RAINBOW: Eyes of the world / QUEEN: Tie your mother down / ATOMIC ROOSTER: Break the ice / WHO: Love Reign O’er me / JEFFERSON AIRPLANE: Aerie / JETHRO TULL: We Used to know / SIENA ROOT: Nightstalker / CARAVAN: Golf girl / GENESIS: Dancing with the moonlight knight / PALLAS: Ghost Dance / DUNWICH: Cassa Dell Alcimista / THERION: Midgard / DULCIMER: Sonnet to the Fall / DODSON & FOGG: The Leaves they Fall / INCREDIBLE STRING BAND: Sailor & the Dancer / VAN MORRISON & THE CHIEFTAINS: Irish Heartbeat / FISH: The Company / ARENA: Tears in the Rain / VDGG: Still life.

This was maybe one of the less-prog programs we ever did! 

But the people seemed to enjoyed it a lot! So everything is fine... :)

Thank you very much for logging in, and supporting out radio show.

We always try to become better...

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.41

Another Saturday came, and as you know already I will post here the best 5 songs I've listened this last week.
Again I listened to many different kinds of music, and once more my top-5 will be kind of mixed as usual...
Without further delay, here is my top-5 for the previous week:

Eric Burdon: As the Years go Passing by (Love is) - 1968
Led Zeppelin: Kashmir (Physical Graffiti) - 1975
Dulcimer: Sonnet to the Fall
                  (And I Turned as I had Turned as a Boy) - 1970
Motorhead: Iron Horse/Born to Loose (Motorhead) - 1977
Genesis: The Dancing of the Moonlight Knight
                (Selling England by the Pound) - 1973

Have a great weekend everybody! :)

Siena Root & Riverside live in Greece!

Today I got some great news for the Rock fans in Greece. (And maybe elsewhere as well).
Two very good bands will perform live in Greece in the near future.
                                             

   Fist, the Swedish Siena Root with their '70's heavy sound will give one live preformance at the Aν club in Athens next week, and to be more specific of the 18th of April. It 's a concert that none of the fans of Rock music should miss in my opinion. The tickets are in sale already, and the prices are 12 & 15 Euros. Many months ago I wrote a post about Siena Root in this blog, and if anyone is interested of reading it you can find it here: https://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=7320831500150546160#editor/target=post;postID=6915959699721279638
In this post there are also a couple of songs that you can listen, so if you are interested click on the link.

   Second really interesting events are the two concerts from the Polish band Riverside. One of the hottest names in the new Prog-Metal scene right now. A few months ago they released their new album, and now they are on tour. Thankfully they will visit Greece this time for 2 concerts. One in Thessaloniki on the 1st of June, and one in Athens on the 2nd of June. The concert in Thessaloniki will take place in the Eightball club, and the one in Athens in Gagarin 205. I have no information about the tickets and their prices yet though.
As for myself, it is impossible to catch the concert of Siena Root, but I hope to be able to see Riverside at least, on the 2nd of June in Athens.
Here I'm posting a couple of songs from Riverside so you can listen their music in case you never heard of them 'till now.

                                         

                                         

LOTRO 6th Birthday's fan made video...

This video is espesially made by my wife for the celebrations of the 6th birthday of LOTRO.
(Lord Of The Rings Online).
It was a very demanding and tiring job, but I believe the result is excellent!
If you want take a look at the video, and if you like it please promote by sharing it.
Thank you in advance! :)
P.S: If you want you can set it in HD, it's delaying the loading a bit, but it is far better...

                               

Game of Thrones TV Series...

                Watch the first 2 episodes online...

Hello all!
I'm posting this in order to inform you that I found a site that you can watch the episodes of the 3rd season of Game of Thrones online. For those who don't like downloading, or for those who can't download the episodes, this is ideal!
I watched the first 2 episodes there myself and I'm rather pleased.
They appload each episode usualy the day after, so it is rather quick as well.
I will post here the links for the first 2 episodes, and I have them ready for you to watch. I arranged to include English subs, so the only thing you have to do is to just click on the links.
This site contains numerous series that you can watch, but there are very few that incude subs.
Thankfully GoT is one of them.
Now, for you that you are interested for further use of this, here are some tips. The site is Turkish so here are a few words you might need to know: Bölu (episode) Kapat (close) Aç (open).
In the main page you can see all the series that are included there. In some cases on the right side of the frame of some series you will see an English flag. When you click on the flag it will contain English subs.
If you need anything else to ask, feel free to do so.
Here are the links:
Season 3 Episode 1: http://www.yabancidizi-izle.com/altyazili/game-of-thrones-3-sezon-1-bolum.html
Season 3 Episode 2: http://www.yabancidizi-izle.com/altyazili/game-of-thrones-3-sezon-2-bolum.html
I hope some of you will find those infos interesting and helpfull...
Have a nice day! :)

Last night's Prog & Roll special show...

                               And the song of the month is..... 
   Good morning everybody and have a nice week!
Last night we had the special radio show I am mentioning in the previous post.
We had the big event of choosing the "Song of the Month".
It was a nice night and I believe the program was good in general.
Many people gathered and participated in the contest, and that made us happy.
I mean we are working a lot during every week in order to present a nice show, and is always good to know that our efforts are appreciated.
   Anyway, let's go to the program. Our show lasts for 2 hours, and yesterday was separated in two uneven parts. On the first part which lasted almost 45-50 minutes we had our normal program. On the second part that lasted almost 70 minutes we had the contest.
In the 5 radio shows we had in March we played about 85-90 songs in total. And according to our audience's votes those were the best 12 that reached this final stage. (Finally we played only 11 cause of sortage of time). Also, on March we played many songs that don't fall under the category of Progressive, because we wanted to widen our musical horizons a bit. And it seems we did the right thing, because most of these songs were highly rated. So, we played all those 11 songs, but this time the competition was not so fierce.
We knew beforehand that there was one song that most propably will win. And it did!
So, the 'Song of the Month' for March is: Iron Maiden's 'Phantom of the Opera'
And in the sametime it is the 3rd song that enters in our annual Top-12.
The big surprise of last night's contest for me was not the winning song, but the second one! Although I truly love Galahad's 'Empires Never Last', if I have to be honest I wasn't expecting it to reach the second place no way. Especially if you look the bands and the names of the songs in 3rd 4th and 5th place...
   And here I give you the final score of those 11 songs after last night's grading by our audience. The number next to each song is the average points they achieved.

1. IRON MAIDEN: Phantom of the Opera (Winner) ........ (9.18)
2. GALAHAD: Empires Never Last ....... (8.50)
3. BLACK SABBATH: Children of the Sea ........ (7.74)
4. CAMEL: Air Born ...... (7.71)
5. ELOY: Inside ........ (7.54)
6. TARNATION: Your Thoughts & Mine ......... (7.38)
7. RUSH: The Trees ....... (7.36)
8. KANSAS: The Wall ......... (7.35)
9. DONOVAN: Atlantis ........ (6.90)
10. STRAWBS: New World ..... (6.70)
11. GALAHAD: Richelieu's Prayer ......... (6.60)

GFreedom Team thank you all so very much that you are logging in at Sunday nights, and together we spend 2 very nice hours. Be sure we will try to improve our shows in every way possible!

Prog & Roll Radio Show presents: 'The Song of the Month' contest...

Good morning!
With this post I would like to inform you that on tomorrow night's 'Prog & Roll' we will have our big contest for 'The Song of the Month'.
In all 5 radio shows we did in March we have played about 85-90 songs in total. And according to our audience's grades, we have a list with 12 songs that achieved an average of 8.5/10. Which means that these 12 songs are considered as 'the best of the best' for this month.
So, tomorrow night our radio show will have two parts. In the first one that will last about 50 minutes, we will have our regular program. During the second which will last about 70 minutes, we will have the contest.
We will play all these 12 songs, and the people who are listening will put their grades on each song at the time we play it. The scale is from 1 to 10. (10 is the highest).
And at the end of the night we will find out which song will win the title as 'The Song of the Month' for March, and in the same time will be the third in our annual Top-12.
Just for the record I want to remind you here the winners of the first two months of 2013:
January: ELOY - The Sun Song
February - QUEEN - Death on two Legs.
And tomorrow we will find out which will be the third song in this list...
So, if tomorrow afternoon/night you are in the mood for some good music, and some fun, join us here:
www.justincaseradio.com
Our show starts at 20.00GMT (22.00 Greek time), lasts for 2 hours, and the broadcasting is in English and Greek language.
We will be very glad see some of you joining the warm and funny company we got there.
Thank you in advance! :)

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.40

Here I am again with the usual 'Juke Box' post that I'm posting here every Saturday, on which I'm writing the best 5 songs I've listened through the week.
This time I had a problem choosing only 5 songs, and I was in a dilemma.
I mean it would be easier to make a top-10.
But that's the challenge I guess...
So, after I gave a good listen to the songs I had in mind, I decided on the final Top-5 songs, which are the following:

Iron Maiden: Phantom of the Opera (Iron Maiden) - 1980
The Doors: Spanish Caravan (Waiting for the Sun) - 1968
Galahad: Richelieu's Prayer (Beyond the Realms of Euphoria) - 2012
Porcupine Tree: How is your life Today? (Lıghtbulb Sun) - 2000
Phil Ochs: Too Many Martyrs (All the News that Fit to Sing) - 1964

GFreedom Team Presents: English Electric Parts 1&2...

Hello!
   I just want to inform you that tomorrow afternoon Gfreedom Team will present the last 2 albums of the English band 'Big Big Train', in the 'Full Album Hour'...
Especially for this Saturday we chose to play these two wonderful albums the one after the other.
'English Electric Part.1' was released about one year ago, and 'Part.2' about a month ago.
   The presentation will start at 18.00GMT (20.00Greek time) and it will last for almost 2 hours. (That is the length of the 2 albums actually).
So, tomorrow afternoon if you are in the mood to discover the beautiful melodies of 'Big Big Train', join us in the 'Full Album Hour' on 'JustIn Case Radio.
   I have to inform you that this will not be a live broadcast.
We will just play the records, and we will be chatting through the chatbox with the people that will be there.
Thank you in advance! :)

P.S: I'm posting here a couple of YT videos as well, in order for you to have a small idea about the band and their music...

                                           

                                       

My Blog's first birthday...

Good morning everybody!
Today is my Blog's first birthday!!! Yeah! :)
It was exactly one year ago, that I sat down and try to start this new thing, see how it works, and learn whatever I could from it.
Starting this, I had no idea how long it would last, and to be honest I still don't.
I remember that on the the first day I wrote 3 posts (!) because the main page seemed sooo empty. hehehe
In this last year I posted 250 posts, and the blog achieved almost 12.000 pageviews, which is very good number in my opinion. I hope I will continue writing posts, and people will continue visiting, reading, commenting etc.
I want to thank all of you who are visiting here and reading the things I'm posting.
Be sure I will continue doing whatever I can to keep this place interesting, nice and friendly...
And since I'm writing about this blog, here are a few hints:
1. You don't have to be a member in order to write a comment. Anybody can leave a comment here, and it is easy and quick.
2. On the left side you can see a small panel with the 'labels' I put on the posts. By clicking on a specific label, you will be able to see only the posts of this category.
3. If any of you has any suggestions, recommendations etc, please send me an e mail here: giwrgospagrati@gmail.com
Thank you very much again for visiting this blog because otherwise it would be meaningless to write here.
If nobody is reading it, what's the point of writing, right?
HAPPY BIRTHDAY GFREEDOM'S SPOT!

Anthony A. Goodman: The Shadow of God

   This is a book I read since sometime ago, and I always wanted to write a post about it.

The book is a novel, but it is based on real historical events.

The story is about the siege of the fortified city of Rhodes from the huge army of Suleiman.

And here you can read a small preview of this wonderful book:

   [The year is 1522. Two great leaders, twenty-five-year-old Suleiman the Magnificent, the absolute ruler of the mighty Ottoman Empire, and Philippe de L'Isle Adam, the grisly, fifty-eight-year-old Grand Master of the Knights of Rhodes, come to war on the Greek island of Rhodes. For 145 days, Philippe and 500 European Knights fight to protect their fortressed city and withstand an assault of nearly 200,000 men from Suleiman's army, in a battle that becomes the historic hallmark for siege warfare.

Authentic in all its historical detail, The Shadow of God evokes a seismic clash of cultures: Muslim versus Christian, the Ottoman Empire versus the last remaining Knights of the Crusades and, most important, two of the most powerful men of their time. Embedded in this fictional account is the secret marriage of a lovely Jewish nurse to her Christian French Knight, as well as the forbidden love of the Grand Master for the beautiful Helene. An epic of bravery and courage, The Shadow of God weaves a tapestry of beauty, terror and triumph set in a forgotten time of brutality and courage, loyalty and honor].

   It is a book I strongly recommend to all those who enjoy reading Historical Novels, and are intrigued by mighty battles.

PROG & ROLL: Fantasy Fiction Special show...

Have a nice month everybody!
Last night was the premiere of the 3rd season for The Game of Thrones TV Series, and that inspired us in order to prepare a special 'Fantasy Fiction' radio show. During the week we worked a lot for that show, but I think it worth it.
So, last night on the first hour we had our normal program, and on the second hour we had the special one.
Many people logged in, and as it seemed they enjoyed it a lot.
We had once more the usual 'game' we play, by asking our audience grade the songs we play, but only during the first hour. The second one was 'out of contest and context'.
So according to our audiences' grades, these are the top-5 songs from last night:

1. Black Sabbath: Children of the Sea
2. Strawbs: New World
3. Dodson & Fogg: Nothing at all
4. Uriah Heep: Rainbow Demon
5. Mostly Autumn: Evergreen
From these 5 songs, only the first 2 achieved an average of 8.5 or higher, so only these 2 songs are entering the list with the songs that on next Sunday will fight for the title of 'The Song of the Month'.
   During the second hour of our program we played songs and music themes from movies, from TV series, and even games. Some of those 'songs' we played were widely known, and people seemed very enthusiastic, but on the other hand there were some other less famous tracks, that many people seemed to be pleasantly surprised.
Here is the whole playlist from last night's radio show:

First Part (Normal Program):
Eye in the Sky: City of Sun / Can: Vitamin C / Babe Ruth: The Duchess of Orleans / Magic Pie: The Clown / Styx: Boat on the River / Mostly Autumn: Evergreen / Dodson & Fogg: Nothing at all / Strawbs: New World / Ayreon: Time Beyond Time / Deep Purple: Gypsy / Uriah Heep: Rainbow Demon / Black Sabbath: Children of the Sea.

Second Part (Fantasy Fiction special) :
(TV Series) Game of Thrones: Main theme / (MMORPG) Age of Conan: Dreaming / (Movie) Conan the Barbarian: Riders of Doom / (Movie) The Hobbit: Misty Mountains Cold / (PC Game) Morrowind: Morrowind Theme / (Movie) Star Wars: Star Wars Theme / (Movie) Nightmare Before Christmas: Jack's Lament / (PC Game) Baldur's Gate: Main theme / (PC Game) Skyrim: Dovahkiin / (PC Game) Dragon Age Origins: Lelianna's Song / (MMORPG) The Lord of the Rings: Legacy / (Movie) Conan the Barbarian: The Kitchen - The Orgy / (Movie) Star Wars: The Battle of Heroes / (Movie) Scissorhands: Grand Finale / (Movie) The Fellowship of the Ring: May it be.

I want to thank all of you who logged in last night, and helped us put out a very nice show!
Hope to see you again on next Sunday's Prog & Roll for the big contest for 'The Song of the Month'...