GFreedom's Juke Box No.201

Hello all!
As many of you know already, on every Saturday morning I am posting here my weekly Top-5 song list, under the name 'GFreedom's Juke Box', and today is not an exception to that.
I listened to lots of music during this week, mostly new album releases, as you will understand by looking at my list.
There are some really great albums that has been released this year, and I am trying to catch up.
So, for this week, these are the songs that I chose as the best ones:
DRIFTING SUN: Twilight (Twilight - 2017)
MACHINES DREAM: Weimar (Black Science - 2017)
CAMEL: Nimrodel (Mirage - 1974)
STEVEN WILSON: Pariah (To the Bone - 2017)
THE SAMURAI OF PROG: Growing Up (On We Sail - 2017)
I will conclude this post as usual, by adding the YouTube links of the songs in my list, so you will be able to listen to them right away. (Assuming that you are interested of course).
I'm affraid that this time I wasn't able to find all the songs in YT, so two of them are missing.
Sorry for that.
Enjoy the music and have a beautiful weekend!
Thank you.
DRIFTING SUN: Twilight
CAMEL: Nimrodel
STEVEN WILSON: Pariah

GFreedom's Spot reached 1000 posts!

 This is the 1000th post!
 Hello everybody!
 When I begun this blog, on April 2012, never thought that it was going to reach that far.
  I started mostly because I wanted something to do; I was living away from my country, without friends, relatives etc, and without many things to deal with, except for my job and a few other things.
  So, I was thinking about creating something like a music site, but it was too hard for me. Then, I thought "why not a blog? It will be just for me. Who is going to read it anyway?"
Six years later, my blog had grown, and has reached at almost 77.000 views (so far).
For that, I would like to say a very big THANK YOU, for visiting my blog and reading my posts.
From my part, I will always try to do my best, for as long as I can continue...
Thank you all very much!
George

Prog & Roll radio show presents: Twilight by Drifting Sun

  I am writing this piece to inform you that, on Sunday the 17th of September, Prog & Roll will enter its 6th radio season, with a really special show, which will be including Pat Sanders (the leader of Drifting Sun) as co-host.
  During the show, we will present Drifting Sun's new excellent album Twilight, we are going to have 2 music quizzes with CD's as presents for the winners, and a great playlist filled with songs taken from new releases exclusively.
  A couple of days ago, I uploaded here a video teaser that we made especially for the occasion, so you can also check it if you want. (You will see it if you scroll down the page a little bit).
So, this Sunday at 20.00 UK time, tune in to Prog & Roll, for some good music and a very friendly company on the chatbox. Here is the link of the radio station: www.justincaseradio.com
Have in mind that, Prog & Roll is a bilingual live broadcast, and it lasts for 2 hours.
I hope to "see" you there!
Thank you!

STEVEN WILSON: To the Bone (2017). My point of view...

  Before anything else, I think I should write that I consider myself as a “fan” of Porcupine Tree, but not Steven Wilson as a solo artist. I have all the albums he released either with Porcupine Tree or Blackfield, together with his solo albums.

  When I heard the first rumours about his new album To the Bone, I must say that I was surprised. Steven Wilson will be releasing a Pop album? How is that even possible?

  Well, everything is possible you know, especially when some gifted and talented musician is fed up, and he wants to try something different. That’s not bad in my opinion, especially since he kept his usual high quality standards intact.

  Many people rushed to “bury” him, but I don’t understand why. David Bowie for example, was praised by doing the same thing. He never stood still, and for that reason he was called the “chameleon” of Rock music. He played many different styles, he changed his image I don’t know how many times, and he was worshiped for that. So, why are you accusing Steve Wilson for trying to do something like that? (I am not trying to compare these two musicians, I am trying to set an example).

So, To the Bone is really a Pop album? The answer is no! Is it a Prog album? Again, no!

  This time Steven Wilson tried to combine many different music styles, including Pop, Rock, Prog, etc. And the result is this really enjoyable album, easy to listen to, which is including some really fine moments.

  There are songs here that will remind you his days with Porcupine Tree, some others that sound like Blackfield, and some others that doesn’t sound like anything Steven Wilson did before. But they do sound like Peter Gabriel of the 80’s for example, or even Abba!

As you can probably understand, To the Bone is a music “salad” which is including some fine ingredients in it.

I don't believe that the “devoted” Progressive Rock fans will appreciate it a lot to be honest. But all the others will definitely find something that they will like in it.

Favourite songs: To the Bone, Pariah, Blank Tapes, and Song of Unborn.

                  My rating is 3.5 (out of 5.0) stars 

By clicking on the following YT link you will be able to listen ot Pariah, and get a first idea.

Enjoy!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cNTaFArEObU 

Prog & Roll enters its 6th radio season with a special show...

                       Ladies and Gentlemen, fasten your seat belts!
After a long Summer break, Prog & Roll enters its 6th radio season, with a special show, that will be including 3 (!) hosts, 2 music quizzes, (with prizes for the winners), musicians as special guests on the chatbox, and a presentation of a very good new album.
Well, what else can you ask for?
So, this Sunday the 17th of Septemeber, try to tune in to Prog & Roll! 
The show begins at 20.00 UK time.
The only think you have to do is to click on the following link: www.justincaseradio.com
I hope to "see" you there.
Thank you!

GFreedom's Juke Box No.200

Hello all!
After almost 2 months, my usual weekly Top-5 song list is back!  
I listened to lots of music during this week, so it wasn't very easy to pick only 5 songs.
But I think that the ones I added on my list are some of the best.
MACHINES DREAM: Heavy Water (Black Science - 2017)
ROGER WATERS: Picture That (Is This the Life We Really Want? - 2017)
GARY MOORE & PHIL LYNOTT: Out in the Fields (single - 1985)
BIG BIG TRAIN: The Second Brightest Star (The Second Brightest Star - 2017)
BLACK SABBATH: Lonely in the Word (Heaven & Hell - 1980)
I will conclude this post as usual, by adding the YouTube links for the songs in my list. So, if you want to listen to them, just click on the following links.
Enjoy!
MACHINES DREAM: Heavy Water
ROGER WATERS: Picture That
GARY MOORE & PHIL LYNOTT: Out in the Fileds
BIG BIG TRAIN: The Second Brighter Star
BLACK SABBATH: Lonely in the Word

Prog & Roll's Top-10 song list is uploaded as a podcast (radio season 2016-2017)

Hello all!
  After a long Summer break, it is almost time for the new radio season to kick in. But before that,
I thought of sharing with you the show that was including the Top-10 song list of the previous season. The really interesting thing is that, the list was built month after month, by our listeners and not by us.
  As some of you know already, during the last season we were playing the "Grade the Song" game with our audience, and at the end of each month, we were having the "Song of the Month" contest. There, we were playing the 3-4 songs that gathered the highest average rating during the month, and our listeners were grading them once more, but in a more serious manner so to say. And finally, the song with the highest average rating was announced as The Song of the Month.
  Now, knowing that Prog & Roll was on air for 10 months, you can understand where this Top-10 list came from. (1 song for each month X 10 months).    
  So, at the end of July, we had the final show of the season, where we presented the Top-10 list to our listeners. They did deserve it after all!
 And now, a few days before Prog & Roll's new season, I decided to upload on our page on Mixcloud that show, for you to listen and enjoy!
 Have in mind that I uploaded the 3 (out of 4) parts of the show, which are the ones where we presented the Top-10 list.
Also, you should know that the broadcast is in English and Greek.
 If you visit our page on Mixcloud you can listen to some other shows that are uploaded there as well, if you are interested of course.
Just click on this link: https://www.mixcloud.com/ProgandRoll/prog-rolls-top-10-song-list-for-the-radio-season-2016-2017/
 I hope you will like it!
Thank you!

DRIFTING SUN: Twilight (2017). A review...

  Twilight is the brand new album by Drifting Sun, that was released a few days ago, on September 1st, 2017. It is the band’s 5^th studio album, and I dare say that, it is their best work so far. 
  I was lucky enough to have the digital version in my hands, almost 2 weeks before the album’s official release, and I listened to it lots of times. I am not going to present the album song by song here, but I will try to give you the general “picture”.

   Twilight is Drifting Sun’s 3^rd studio release in the last 3 years. (And as I wrote above, the 5^th overall). After a long break, Pat Sanders reformed the band and released Trip the Life Fantastic in 2015 that was their first album of the new period, followed by Safe Asylum, one year later.

If you are interested to read my reviews on those albums, you can find them here: 

Trip the Life Fantastic

Safe Asylum

  In comparison with the two previous albums, Twilight is better in every aspect. Further than the top notch musicianship, there is a great improvement when it comes to the compositions. Twilight is not as dark as Safe Asylum, or so “easy going” like Trip the Life Fantastic.

  Here, the compositions became better and more complicated, without becoming boring or tiring for the listener. The band kept its unique sound, which is driven by the wonderful – once more – keyboards of Pat Sanders. Also, Mathieu Spaeter’s performance on guitar is really good, and it is adding many points to the final outcome! (Mathieu Spaeter is the band’s new guitar player, who came as a replacement of Dan Storey).

  When I listened to the album for the first 1-2 times, I realized that was a good one, definitely better than the previous ones, but that was it. But with every new listen, I was discovering more and more things I loved in it. And believe it or not, finally I was listening to it almost 2-3 times a day. For that reason, I strongly recommend that you pay some extra attention to it and you will be rewarded.

Now that I know the album really well, I can say that I love almost every moment in it, starting with the opening song, which is one of my most beloved ones.

  Speaking of beloved songs, here’s my list: Twilight, Wings of Hope, Soldiers and Remedy.

Because I like all the songs in this album, I usually put it in my CD player, I press “play” and I am listening to it without a break; which is something very important for me.

  If you know Drifting Sun, have in mind that this is their best work so far, so do not hesitate to go and buy Twilight. If you don’t know them so well, this a very good starting point. If you know them, but you don’t like them, well, there’s nothing I can do about that, can I?

In my opinion this is one of the best releases of 2017, so far at least.

    Congratulations, this is an excellent job!

                            Highly Recommended!

                My rating would be 4.5 out of 5.0 stars

In case you are interested, here’s a couple of links to the band’s official site and Bandcamp page, where you can order and/or download Twilight.

http://www.driftingsun.co.uk/ 

https://driftingsun.bandcamp.com/ 

If you want to listen to a sample from the album, just click on the following YT links:

DRIFTING SUN: Twilight 

DRIFTING SUN: Remedy

MACHINES DREAM: Black Science (2017)

  I discovered Machines Dream recently and I was very surprised by the quality of their music. They are Canadians, and their discography consists of 4 albums so far.

In 2017 the band released their latest work, named as Black Science, which can be found in digital or physical (CD) version.

     Black Science is dark; dark and wonderful…

  The lyrics of the album are focused on the 20^th Century, and especially to the  2 great wars; WW1 and WW2. As for heir sound, is solid, powerful, heavy and dark. (I will probably use the word 'dark' a lot in this piece).

The strong Pink Floyd influences (among other bands) can be found everywhere, but that is not a problem at all.

  The album opens with the short intro Armistice Day, followed by Weimar, which is the album’s longest track and one of the highlights without a doubt.

After I listened to Weimar for the first time, I stopped listening to the rest of the album, and listened to it twice before deciding to continue. Yes, it's that good!

The Cannons Cry which comes next, is a more powerful tune, but also dark and heavy.

Then, Heavy Water enters, which – if I’m not mistaken - is about the efforts both sides did in order to create first the A-Bomb. Another excellent tune!

Airfield on Sunwick is the album’s 5^th song, a melancholic but lighter tune, very beautiful as well.

The 6^th track is the title song, which points out some of the worst things that humanity did during the 20^th Century, further than the 2 great wars. Another highlight here.

As I was reaching towards the end, I discovered the first song I didn’t like, which is UXB. It is not bad, but is nowhere near the previous ones.

The last song is Noise to Signal which is the second song I didn’t like so much. Again, it’s not bad, but nothing special either. (But it is better than UXB, especially during its 2^nd part).

  So, to sum up, Black Science is a really good album, not very easy to listen to, and certainly not so enjoyable or fun. It is heavy, dark, serious, melancholic, and… great!

It is a really interesting, not to say unique release.

Highly recommended, but you must consider the things I wrote above. Also, have in mind that it will take some time and a few listens in order to really appreciate it.

If you think that the things you just read sounds interesting, then go for it! You will not regret it.

                           4 solid stars from me

 If you click on the following YT link, you will be able to listen to Heavy Water.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tw656baIV2o 

DRIFTING SUN: Twilight (September 1st, 2017)

Hello all!
  I am writing this piece in order to inform you about the forthcoming release from the very good English Neo-Prog band Drifting Sun.

  The band's new album is Twilight, and it is going to be released on the 1st of September. It is the band's 5th studio album, which is including Mathieu Spaeter on guitars, who joined Drifitng Sun as a replacement of Dan Storey.
 I already have in my music library the digital version of Twilight, and I listen to it every day. (In the meantime, I am also waiting for the psysical copy to arrive).
  In comparison with the band's two previous albums (Trip the Life Fantastic and Safe Asylum), I really think that, this is their best work so far. It is more "mature" than Trip the Life Fantastic, and less dark than Safe Asylum. 
  I am not going to write a review here, because the album is not officially released yet. I will write one though, in the following weeks.
  So, in case you are interested, you can pre-order the album (the digital or the physical version) from many online shops, but I would recommend Drifting Sun's Bandcamp page, or their official site.
Here's a few links to take a look if you are interested: https://driftingsun.bandcamp.com/
http://www.driftingsun.co.uk/shop/
 I really believe that this band deserves more attention, and Twilight is a very good starting point.
Thank you!