Archive for jeff lynne

Some Metal and Rock ‘N Roll Thoughts – Sunday, November 4th, 2012

Posted in classic rock, Hard Rock, Heavy Metal, Metal, Music, rock music, rock music news, weather with tags , , , , , on November 4, 2012 by Metal Odyssey

Last week was bizarre and filled with one reality check after another, for me. I live in Eastern Pennsylvania and lived most of my life in (very expensive) Connecticut; therefore my respect and fear of hurricanes is without question real. Our region of the country already suffered through a storm of the century, during the very end of August 2011. A vicious ice storm followed in late October of 2011. Of course, many (if not all) of you know that Hurricane Sandy made her presence felt on the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic.

October 29th and 30th were grueling days, while waiting out this super storm. The biggest fear was waiting out this hurricane Monday night. Looking out the windows, all I or my family could see was total blackness. All we could hear was wind that sounded like freight trains speeding around and on top of our house. This entire experience was all a reality check, once again. We were fortunate to have not been harmed and our house was not damaged. Our power was on again/off again during the first 48 hours; still we never lost power permanently. Call it luck and luck is never a guarantee in life.

NASA satellite imagery of Hurricane Sandy

Our city still has tens of thousands of families without power, as I write this (Saturday at 7:31 pm EST). The New Jersey and New York citizens that have suffered from Hurricane Sandy reminds me of just how lucky my family and I are… this time. I  posted about the charitable organizations that are currently helping in the aftermath of this hurricane. In case you missed it, you can read about it by clicking the link below:

Hurricane Sandy – These Charitable Organizations Are Providing Relief During The Aftermath

On to another reality check. To add more sadness to this Halloween season, on our school district’s designated Halloween night, a classmate of my daughters was struck by a passing car, while trying to cross a street. This innocent young lad passed away from the injuries he sustained. My daughters knew this young lad and have been coping with this tragedy through an open-door policy of discussion within our family. I pray that this young lad finds peace in heaven.

The reminders that keep knocking on my brain’s door these last several days are: life is precious, our time on Earth is not predictable nor guaranteed and material items are worthless compared to being alive. Yes, the comforts of a car, cell phone, laptop, electricity, house and personal items makes life easier; only these things truly are secondary to being alive. Family, friends, Metal Buddies, my faith and music are what matters most to me. Since Metal and Rock ‘N Roll are imbedded in my soul, they’re no longer material items to me. Metal be thy name.

And yet another reality check…

Recently, Metal Buddy and Witch Cross vocalist, Kev Moore, informed Metal Odyssey readership and I the following:

“I want to give a ‘head’s up’ to KING’S X drummer Jerry Gaskill and his wife who’ve lost their NJ home and all their possessions. Jerry also had to contend with a heart attack in February. This year really sucks for him. Buy their albums people! They rock! Friends and family have also launched a campaign to help them rebuild from this second tragedy to blight their lives:”

http://www.giveforward.com/jerrygaskill

You can get more info on Jerry Gaskill’s music here: http://www.jerrygaskill.com

 Jerry Gaskill 

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W.A.S.P. has been celebrating their 30 Years Of Thunder in 2012, coinciding with straight-from-the-heart written installments from the legendary Blackie Lawless (founder, vocalist and guitarist of W.A.S.P.). These 30 Years Of Thunder installments can be read here: http://www.waspnation.com

Installment #14 from Blackie Lawless is… you’ve guessed it… one more reality check. I express my condolences to Blackie Lawless for his personal loss.

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Of course I turned to Metal for soothing away my worries all last week. Funny thing is, the one song that really seemed to cheer me up and inspire me in ways I cannot explain was originally co-written by Charlie Chaplin. Yes, the silent film icon known as Charlie Chaplin.

The song is Smile and it is a cover version from the legendary Jeff Lynne (of Electric Light Orchestra fame). Smile is among 11 cover songs from Jeff Lynne’s solo album Long Wave. All 11 songs are Pre-Rock classics that Jeff Lynne has turned into magic for my ears. The melody and lyrics of Smile simply moves me. Unreal.

JEFF LYNNE – LONG WAVE 

Released on October 9th, 2012, via Frontiers Records.

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LONG LIVE METAL & ROCK ‘N ROLL.

LONG LIVE JERRY GASKILL.

LONG LIVE BLACKIE LAWLESS & W.A.S.P.

LONG LIVE JEFF LYNNE.

HURRICANES REALLY, REALLY SUCK.

Stone.

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JEFF LYNNE – Rock Music Legend Returns In October With Two Albums; Releasing On Frontiers Records

Posted in classic rock, classic rock albums, Music, rock albums, rock and roll, rock music, rock music news with tags , , , , , , , on August 27, 2012 by Metal Odyssey

Photo Credit: Martyn Atkins

“It all comes down to what you truly love doing, and what I love doing is overdubbing and making new sounds out of things that are sometimes quite ordinary on their own, but when you put them together, they make something new–or something that sounds new. Just discovering things like that musically is a pleasure.”  – JEFF LYNNE, 2012

JEFF LYNNE, one of rock’s most iconic figures, is returning to make some new waves and shed a little electric light.

The creative force of ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA and the singularly accomplished singer, songwriter, guitarist and producer will release two albums on October 5th in G.A.S, October 8th in the UK and Rest of Europe, October 9th in North America via Frontiers Records: the solo disc LONG WAVE, a heartfelt and vivid tribute to some of the very songs that originally inspired him, and MR. BLUE SKY – THE VERY BEST OF ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA. For the latter album, the British artist has artfully revisited and re-recorded–at his home studio in Los Angeles– the greatest hits of Electric Light Orchestra, actually improving on some of the most classic and beloved recordings ever.

The release of LONG WAVE and MR. BLUE SKY – THE VERY BEST OF ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA mark the 40th anniversary of ELO. LYNNE’s legacy will further be celebrated with releases in 2013 including ELO Live! plus expanded reissues of the ELO’s 2001 album Zoom and LYNNE’s first solo album in 1990, Armchair Theater. For up to date info on all things JEFF LYNNE and ELO, go here: www.elo.biz

LONG WAVE powerfully celebrates the music of a time when LYNNE’s lifelong passion for music began, evoking an era back when old standards were just giving way to rock & roll. He somehow makes pre-rock standards like “Bewitched, Bothered And Bewildered,” “Smile” and “Love Is A Many Splendored Many Thing” — along with a few of his favorite gems from the Sixties such as the first single “Mercy, Mercy,” “Let It Rock” and “So Sad” — his own with these loving versions. LYNNE’s deeply felt and musically brilliant one-man-band takes add up to an inspired love letter to music itself — and an exquisite reflection of the way songs grace and change our lives.

“I call this new album Long Wave because all of the songs I sing on it are the ones heard on long wave radio when I was a kid growing up in Birmingham, England,” LYNNE explains. “These songs take me back to that feeling of freedom in those days and summon up the feeling of first hearing those powerful waves of music coming in on my old crystal set. My dad also had the radio on all the time, so some of these songs have been stuck in my head for 50 years. You can only imagine how great it felt to finally get them out of my head after all these years.”

MR. BLUE SKY – THE VERY BEST OF ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA is a powerful testament to LYNNE’s enduring artistry and his singular desire to get things right once and for all. Featuring such classics as “Evil Woman, “Don’t Bring Me Down,” “Livin’ Thing” and “Mr, Blue Sky,” the result is, in effect, a kind of showdown between JEFF LYNNE today and his extremely illustrious past, and thanks to improved technology and recording artistry, LYNNE somehow comes out on top again. It’s a fresh chance to hear these extraordinary songs sounding sharper and clearer than the old versions.

“There was a big reason I wanted to re-record these ELO songs,” says LYNNE. “When I listen to the old versions they don’t sound the way I thought they did when I first wrote and recorded them. I wanted to use the experience I’ve gained producing records ever since and have a completely new try at them. I’m not saying the old versions aren’t good; I like them very much. We were doing our best, but experience and technology also play a big a big part, and these new ones sound much more solid and tight.”

The album includes a never-before-heard bonus track The Point Of No Return and a very special version of “10538 Overture” that’s a nod to ELO’s 40th anniversary.

The songs that JEFF LYNNE wrote and sang–and the recordings that he so expertly arranged and produced for ELO — have endured beautifully and are perhaps even more beloved today than they were back in the Seventies and Eighties. By any standard whatsoever, ELO is one of the most remarkable success stories in rock history. Consider just the facts: ELO has sold over 50 million records worldwide, and continues to be a remarkably popular catalog.

Between 1972 and 1986, LYNNE wrote and produced 26 Top Forty hits in the United Kingdom, and 20 Top Forty hits in the United States, including 20 Top Twenty smashes in the UK and 15 Top Twenty smashes in the U.S. Even more remarkably, the ELO catalog continues to have tremendous impact, as demonstrated powerfully when the compilation All Over The World: The Very Best of Electric Light Orchestra was released in 2005 and became a Top Ten album in a number of international markets including England.

Outside of the success of ELO, LYNNE has led a remarkable career that has found him taking the lessons learned leading ELO and using them to help produce and collaborate with many of the greatest musical artists of all time, including a number of LYNNE’s all-time heroes including Roy Orbison, Del Shannon, George Harrison, Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and remarkably, even the Beatles themselves, as well as contemporaries like Tom Petty and Joe Walsh, whose new album Analog Man LYNNE recently helped produce. Together with Harrison, Orbison, Petty and Bob Dylan, LYNNE was, of course, a member of the Grammy award-winning Traveling Wilburys – a super group like no other.

“I’ve been in love with music since I was probably just five years old,” says LYNNE. “I was made for music then — and I still am today.”

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Here are the track Listings for LONG WAVE and MR. BLUE SKY – THE VERY BEST OF ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA:

LONG WAVE

1. She

2. If I Loved You

3. So Sad

4. Mercy, Mercy

5. Running Scared

6. Bewitched, Bothered and Bewildered

7. Smile

8. At Last

9. Love Is A Many Splendored Thing

10. Let It Rock

11. Beyond The Sea

MR. BLUE SKY – THE VERY BEST OF ELECTRIC LIGHT ORCHESTRA:

1. Mr. Blue Sky

2. Evil Woman

3. Strange Magic

4. Don’t Bring Me Down

5. Turn To Stone

6. Showdown

7. Telephone Line

8. Livin’ Thing

9. Do Ya

10. Can’t Get It Out Of My Head

11. 10538 Overture

12. The Point Of No Return

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(Source: Frontiers Records)

* For more info on FRONTIERS RECORDS, click on link below!

FRONTIERS RECORDS

LONG LIVE JEFF LYNNE.

JEFF LYNNE & ELO SHOULD BE INDUCTED INTO THE ROCK AND ROLL HALL OF FAME.

Stone.

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JOE WALSH “Analog Man” – Some Fun & Random Thoughts From Stone (Part Three)

Posted in classic rock, classic rock albums, Hard Rock, Music, rock and roll, rock music, rock music news with tags , , , , , on June 23, 2012 by Metal Odyssey

Jeff Lynne And ELO Fever… I Can’t Shake It Free. 

JOE WALSH – Admittedly, I had no clue Joe Walsh was releasing a new studio album until the day I walked into the CD aisle at my local Super Walmart. Sounds odd, huh? Not really that odd to me, for 90% of the press releases, PR people and bands I deal with are Metal affiliated; therefore the bulk of music news I take in on a daily basis is… Metal. Even when I surf the internet, I’m not going to stumble upon every album release from every genre that’s on the horizon. I’m not that cool.

It was a neat feeling though, finding Analog Man on its release day. If I could have, I would’ve skipped all the way to the check-out with my new Joe Walsh CD in-hand. Only thing is, the way things happen for Stone, I probably would have been gang tackled down to the ground by store security for acting like a weirdo. I bought Analog Man without hearing or sampling one song on it. The Rock ‘N Roll of Joe Walsh doesn’t need to be sampled by Stone to justify a purchase. No way, man.

Step in… Jeff Lynne:

When I returned to my car in the Super Walmart parking lot, I immediately took the plastic wrap off Analog Man and slapped that plastic disc into the CD player. As the title track began to play, I was reading the liner notes and scouring the track listing. It was simultaneous how this happened… I heard Jeff Lynne tones and felt Jeff Lynne vibes as Analog Man played. Within a hiccup, I noticed this sentence printed on the back cover of the CD digipak: “Produced By  Jeff Lynne And Joe Walsh”. I guess my ears and vibes were correct!

Any longtime visitor to Metal Odyssey knows by now, that I am a HUGE fan of Electric Light Orchestra. Always have been. Hell, I was an ELO fan before I was really introduced to Heavy Metal; with KISS being the only exception. Yes, it was (gulp) decades ago and not just two years ago. As years went by, I dove right into The Traveling Wilburys and couldn’t get enough of ’em. Did I have Jeff Lynne fever? Even the Jeff Lynne (co-produced) Tom Petty and the Heartbreakers Into The Great Wide Open, and George Harrison’s Cloud Nine both have that certain extra charm to my senses. Maybe it has always been ELO on my brain.

Throughout this entire Analog Man album, the musical imprint of Jeff Lynne is heard. Don’t get me wrong, Joe Walsh has his legendary Rockin’ imprint here too; this is a Joe Walsh album after all! Joe’s legendary vocals and signature guitar tones are clear-cut, dynamite and out-of-sight! (Whoa… that sounded kinda ’70’s didn’t it?). The ELO vibe and feel that is essentially Jeff Lynne comes sonically through on drums, percussions, guitars, bass, keyboards and backing vocals. Once again, this is still a bonafide Joe Walsh album of songs and not an ELO album. I’m only pointing out what I truly hear and absorb. Plus, I’m not complaining one micro bit.

After so many listens to Analog Man, I’ve come to the conclusion that Joe Walsh surely could have been a member of The Traveling Wilburys. Joe would have fit right in! Back in the day, I would have never connected the Rock ‘N Roll sound of Joe Walsh to Jeff Lynne’s (eventual) musical direction. Now that these two Rockin’ gentlemen have teamed up on Analog Man, I get it! As I reflect on the discography of Joe Walsh, the one song that keeps popping into my brain (that comes across with a healthy sliver of what Jeff Lynne creates) is All Of A Sudden from the 1991 album Ordinary Average Guy.

Joe Walsh – Ordinary Average Guy (1991 – Epic)

Thanks for visiting and reading Part Three of my fun & random thoughts on Analog Man. If you’ve missed out on Part One and/or Two, don’t panic! Just click on the two links below to read ’em! Metal be thy name.

JOE WALSH “Analog Man” – Some Fun & Random Thoughts From Stone (Part One)

JOE WALSH “Analog Man” – Some Fun & Random Thoughts From Stone (Part Two)

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* For more info on JOE WALSH, click on the link below!

http://joewalsh.com/

LONG LIVE JOE WALSH.

LONG LIVE JEFF LYNNE.

Stone.

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Electric Light Orchestra – Progressive Rock icon

Posted in 1970's Rock, Album Review, Amon Amarth, electric light orchestra, Hard Rock, Music, progressive rock, Rock with tags , , , , , , , , , , , on April 11, 2009 by Metal Odyssey

8236759If I could pin point the exact age I was, when I first listened to the Electric Light Orchestra, I would be somewhere around 10 years old – the vintage 1970’s. I have been inhaling the music of ELO for my entire life, safe to say. It does not matter what Metal genre I am currently obsessed with, ELO always gets playing time on my turntable and/or CD players. The Electric Light Orchestra, in my opinion, is one of the original leaders of Progressive Rock. What exactly is it about ELO that gravitates me to their music? Since I can remember, even as a young kid, I always got the biggest kick out of any music that was louder, faster and heavier than what was being played on AM radio. (that is correct, I wrote – AM radio).

Is/was ELO faster, louder and heavier than AM radio music of the ’70’s? Some of ELO’s greatest songs are legendary AM radio hits. However, as with any Rock band out there, it always comes down to the deeper album cuts that separates the legendary bands from the plain average bands. There are dozens and probably more, of ELO songs that for me, are far better than the hits you would/currently here on FM radio. What I heard from ELO, all those years ago and still here today, is the bold and rich clarity of combining Traditional and Classical music with up tempo Rock and Roll. I cannot say enough in regards to the intellectual approach to musicianship ELO has stood for. Jeff Lynne, well, he is a musical genius, a musician, vocalist and song writer who has influenced quite a few prominent names in Rock. It is obvious and factual the influence Jeff Lynne has had on the career of Tom Petty. The Traveling Wilburys only solidifies my opinion of just how creative and influential Jeff Lynne was/is. Could any influential credit be given to ELO, for the evolution of the fabulous Finnish cello Metal band – Apocalyptica? This past year of 2008 has had Apocalyptica appear on the new Amon Amarth album – “Twighlight of the Thundergod,” so I am not alone in the world of Metal with my affection towards the cool sounds of cello’s or string arrangements! I do not know for fact, yet every time I listen to the great Dream Theater, I cannot help but here musical arrangements that are reflective of ELO. At times it is a choral arrangement, other times a guitar lead that blends in with tones from a keyboard or organ. I feel pretty confident in comparing Dream Theater to ELO, both bands are musically progressive and are not bashful about experimentation to create sounds and effects. For me, the true musical difference between Dream Theater and ELO is that Dream Theater packs the Metal muscle and overall Metal power brilliance.

The musical totality of ELO far reaches beyond the AM and later FM radio hits that made them so recognizable. ELO took string arrangements and horns to an entirely different level, not just combining these musical instruments with Rock and Roll, but doing so in a a manner in which was powerful, emotional and more often than not, just plain cool. The ELO album “Eldorado” distinguishes the pure emotional feel and sound that only became enhanced two fold from the use of Classical musical arrangements. The ELO album “A New World Record” eclipses any straight forward Rock album of the 1970’s, again through unconventional musical arrangements and structure, in turn creating the cool songs from ELO. I am not ashamed to admit that ELO is an all time favorite Rock band for me. Certainly, Metal and all of it’s genres are my true music love, still it is an exhilarating Rock music, listening experience for me any and every time I tune into ELO. After all of these years of enjoying music, ELO never fails to keep me grounded, while amazing my ears along the way.

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