It was 20 Years Ago Today... (Parts 3 & 4) (1987 documentary)

As far as I saw yesterday, many people visited my blog and most probably watched the first 2 parts of this very interesting documentary, so today I'm posting the next 2 parts. (3 & 4)
I hope you will find it enjoyable and informative...
Enjoy! :)

                                       

It was 20 Years Ago Today... (Part.1+2) (1987 Documentary)

Hey all!
Last night came to my mind a very interesting documentary I watched many years ago, named 'It was 20 years ago today'. So today I decided to try to find it, in order to post it here and share it with all of you. And I found it! Because of its length, it's separated in 8 parts, so I will be posting 1 or 2 parts every few days in this blog. My suggestion is to watch it, because it is really very interesting!
The documentary starts with the release of the legendary album 'Sgt. Peppers Lonely Hearts Club Band' by The Beatles, but that is only the beginning. Further than that you will be able to watch what happened between 1965 - 1970 in both sides of the Atlantic, (UK & USA), during these 5 years.
 You will be able to see many very famous musicians speak about their music and see how Rock music developed into a massive movement.
 I don't want to write more on the subject, because it's all in there! Just press 'Play' in the video below and you can see what I'm talking about yourselves. The quality is not so good, because it is from video most probably, but it is surely worth your time. Every part is about 5 to15 minutes long.
So, sit back, relax, and enjoy the first 2 parts...  :)

               

            

PROG & ROLL Radio Show on 23/2/2014 (The Full Playlist)

Good morning all!
 Last night we had one more Prog & Roll radio show as usual, and this time GFreedom Team was complete.
My co-host returned from her travel, and from now now we will be presenting the show together as always.
On last night's show we had 4 different 'theme half-hours' once more. On the first half-hour we played 3 'classic Prog' bands, on the second half hour we played Prog Metal and Heavy Metal, on the third Folk & Prog-Folk, and at the fourth and last one we played only British bands from the '70's.
 Judging from the audience's reactions we did a good job, and everybody seemed pleased with the music in general.
As for the complete playlist, you can see it here:

TRIUMVIRAT: The School of Instant Pain / YES: Going for the One / VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR: Killer / HAGGARD: La Tera Santa / (RHAPSODY OF) FIRE: March of the Swordmaster / TRIDDANA: Men of Clay / NIGHTWISH: Over the Hills and far Away / IRON MAIDEN: Alexander the Great / MOSTLY AUTUMN: Which Wood / ESPERS: Rosemary Lane / MAGNA CARTA: Lord of the Ages / THE INCREDIBLE STRING BAND: Ithkos / CURVED AIR: Metamorphosis / CRESSIDA: Winter is coming again / CARAVAN: Place of my Own / BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: One Night / TRAFFIC: Evening Blue.

Thank you all for listening, and we hope to see you again on next Sunday night.

Have a nice week folks! :)

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.81

Hello all!
This has been a really very busy week, which is the reason whyI had no time to write my blog, and to save aside the usual amount of time to listen to music.
But in spite of that, I was able to determine my best 5 songs of this week's listening.
And here they are:

Kaleidoscope: Please (Side Trips - 1967)
Madrugada: What's on your mind? (Madrugada - 2008)
Magna Carta: Lord of the Ages (Lord of the Ages - 1973)
Jefferson Airplane: Aerie (Long John Silver - 1972)
The Incredible String Band: Ithkos (Hard Rope & Silken Twine - 1974)

And as usual, I'll conclude this post, by adding a couple of songs from this week's Top-5 songlist.
Enjoy the music, and have a great weekend!
Thanks for reading...

                                      

Goodies from GFreedom's Music Collection #11

                               GALAHAD: Empires Never Last (2007)
Galahad is one of the many bands of Neo-Prog. They were formed in 1985, and they have released 8 studio and 4 live albums so far. Their first albums were typical Neo-Prog style, with their sound being similar to Marillion, IQ, etc...
 But in 2007 the band made a very big change in their sound. The release of 'Empires Never Last' was the turning point for the band, and it's still considered as their best album so far.
 The keyboardist Dean Baker participated more in the songs, and at the same time the guitar riffs became stronger & faster. The result was a powerful album which is kind of flirting with Prog-Metal on some occasions. Stuart Nicholson's voice is in a great form, and almost all the songs are worth listening to say the least. This was the first Galahad album which I listened as a whole, and I was very surprised by the mature sound, the very well made compositions, and the powerful sound.
The album includes 7 tracks, and has a total running time of almost an hour.
There is a good balance between the powerful and melodic moments, which is another very important fact in my opinion. As for the best songs here? Well... 5 of the 7 songs are really very good.
My suggestion would be: Termination, I could be God, Memories of an African Twin, and the 2 dynamites Empires Never Last and This Life could be my Last.
Here you can listen to a couple of songs from the album...

                                       

PROG & ROLL Radio Show on 16/2/2014 (The Full Playlist)

Hello everybody!
Last night I had one more Prog & Roll Radio show, but this time I had to run the show all by myself.
My co-host is still away, and I wasn't in the mood for inviting guests.
I tried to play mostly old stuff with the addition of a few new ones, and I think the result was fine. I had in mind to present a more melodic and mellow playlist, and that's exactly what I did. The result was 2 very pleasant and relaxing hours, with nice music and cool chating on the chatbox.
Here you can see the whole playlist from last night:

THE ALAN PARSON’S PROJECT: The Gold Bag / EYE IN THE SKY: City of Sun / DAVID BYRNE: Independence Day / SANTANA: Oye Como Va / ROXY MUSIC: Street Life / DAVID BOWIE: Black Country Rock / STYX: Suite Madame Blue / SPIRAL KEY: Colder than Heaven / PALLAS: The Bringer of Dreams / GENESIS: Twilight Alehouse / FISH: High Wood / SPOCK’S BEARD: On a Perfect Day / PAVLOV’S DOG: Did you see Him Cry? / BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: Paper Wings / RENAISSANCE: Kiev / STRAWBS: Witchwood / GARY BROOKER: A Salty Dog (Live).

Thank you all for joining the show last night, and I hope you enjoyed it.
GFreedom Team will be again with you very soon, starting from next Sunday...

GFreedom's Juke Box Nο.80

Hello folks!
Today it is Saturday again, therefore it's time to write here my best 5 songs for the week.
I think I have a very interesting list this time, so without further delay here it is:

Galahad: Richelieu's Prayer (Within the Realms of Euphoria - 2012)
Jethro Tull: Home (Stormwatch - 1979)
Lisa Gerrard: Largo (The Mirror Pool - 1995)
Fruupp: The Perfect Wish (The Prince of Heaven's Eyes - 1974) 
Gary Brooker: A Salty Dog (Live) (Within our House - 1998)

And as usual, I'll add here 2 videos with songs from my Top-5 list for you to listen.
First is the magnificent 'Largo' by Lisa Gerrard, (the original composition belongs to Handel), and on the second video you can listen to 'home' by Jethro Tull.
Enjoy the music, and I'm wishing you a wonderful weekend!
Thanks for reading :)

        

                                

BLUE OYSTER CULT Live in Athens (6/2/2014) A small review & the Playlist...

This must be the 5th time that the famous American band in visiting Greece.
I had the chance to see them on stage 3 times so far,and all the times they were excellent. My only

complain is that they never played 'Astronomy'. And maybe that was the reason that made me go once more. And I didn't regret it!
The band appeared on stage, and from the first song it seemed they are in great shape, despite their age. Their music driven by the leading duo of Eric Bloom and Buck Dharma was powerfull, and very well performed.
 The first part of their setlist was based in the years between 1979-1983, but later on they returned to the 70's for good and played some of their greatest songs.
(Here I HAVE to mention the unbelievable 10-minute-long performance of 'The Last Days of May' with an extended breathtaking solo on guitar).
  When they left the stage after almost 90 minutes, everybody (including me) was wondering if this time they will include 'Astromy' in the encore. After the first two songs of the encore, Eric Bloom is

reaching the microphone saying that 'now we will play a very old song, and we will try to do our best because we haven't done not even one rehearsal'. And at last it was the time for 'Astronomy'! Well, maybe it wasn't the best version I've ever heard, but only the feeling that you can see and listen (at last!) this song performed live in front of you it was enough.
  When they left the stage for good after almost 2 hours, I think that almost everybody was satisfied to say the least.
 Here you can see the whole playlist from the concert:

This Ain't The Summer Of Love
Golden Age Of Leather
Burnin' For You
Dancin' In The Ruins
OD'd On Life Itself
Shooting Shark
The Vigil
ME 262
(Then Came The) Last Days Of May
Godzilla
(Don't Fear) The Reaper
         Encore:
The Red & The Black
Hot Rails To Hell
Astronomy
Cities On Flame (With Rock Αnd Roll)

RIOT Live in Greece (9/2/2014) (The Playlist)...

A few days ago te American Power-Metal band Riot gave a live performance in a club in Athens.
Infortunately I wasn't able to be there and I can't give you a personal review of their show.
I read a few reviews, and as it seemed it was a really good concert.
Riot gave a very proffesional performance, and they played many of their old songs. They had a new singer which was excellent.
As for the songlist, you can see it here:

Narita
Fight Or Fall
On Your Knees
Metal Soldiers
Wings Are For Angels
Johnny's Back
Hard Loving Man
Fire Down Under
Metal Warrior
Sign Of The Crimson Cross
Angel Eyes
Still Your Man
Altar Of The King
Flight Of The Warrior
Bloodstreets
Road Racin'
Swords And Tequila

Encore 1:
Warrior
Thundersteel    

Encore 2:
Fight Of Fall

 

Special PROG & ROLL Radio Show on 8/2/2014. The Full Playlist...

Hello folks!
Last night I had one more Prog & Roll Radio Show on the internet radio station Just In Case Prog Radio.
   Because my wife and co-host of the show is away for the moment on a trip, I thought of inviting some of the listeners to make the show together. I did it a couple of weeks ago, and it was a big sucess, so last night I did it again. I had two listeners as guests, known by the nicknames 'Bets' and 'Filaraki'. They picked most of the songs in the show, but further than that we played some parts from the special DJ Set named 'The 5 Ages of Rock' which I presented on Saturday's event in bar 'Aitna' in Athens. (I wrote about that event a post a couple of days ago).
  By the name 'The 5 Ages of Rock' I meant the 5 decades of Rock music from 1964 until today. So I played songs from those 50 years, and from many different sub-categories of Rock music. (Psychedelia, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Progressive Rock etc).
 On last night's show I played 4 parts of this DJ Set which was recorded... ;)
 So, without further delay here's the full playlist from last night's Prog & Roll:

VERBAL DELIRIUM: Dancing Generation – THE 5 AGES OF ROCK DJ SET: (Intro +  PINK FLOYD: In the Flesh / GALAHAD: Termination / PURESSENCE: India) – NIGHTWISH: Nemo – DANTE: More or Less a Man – THE 5 AGES OF ROCK DJ SET: (QUEEN: Tie your mother Down / SIENA ROOT: Coming home / THE TEA PARTY: the River / IRON MAIDEN: Wrathchild) – SCORPIONS: They Need a Million – URIAH HEEP: Echoes in the Dark – THE 5 AGES OF ROCK DJ SET: ( THE MOODY BLUES: In the Beginning / PINK FLOYD: One of these Days / CRIPPLED BLACK PHOENIX: Stand up & Fight / MADRUGADA: Blood Shot Adult Commitment) – JETHRO TULL: Cross Eyed Mary – THE 5 AGES OF ROCK DJ SET: (LOVE: Between Clark & Hilldale / THE ROLLING STONES: Mother’s Little Helper / THE WHO: I’m Free / JETHRO TULL: Nothing to Say) – BARCLAY JAMES HARVEST: May Day.

 I want to thank all of you who joined my show last night, and all those who showed up in 'Aitna' on Saturday night, and alltogether enjoyed a great night! 

Thank you very much!