Chip's Music Musings

Posts that don't fit in the other train categories. Off Subject Chit Chat I tell you. :)
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~Z~
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Evanescence - My Immortal. Amy Lee's voice - likely my favorite female singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFbViQSLjos

Michael wrote:
Sat Nov 13, 2021 3:07 pm
If you are a fan of Journey's Don't stop Believing, you might enjoy this street performers improv version.
You can jump to 2:40. Lot of interesting comments in the comment section
Going back through the posts, missed this one Michael. Weirdly, or I guess not weirdly with my youtube watching, but I saw that video already earlier in the fall, nice performance :)
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Michael wrote:
Sat Nov 13, 2021 3:07 pm
If you are a fan of Journey's Don't stop Believing, you might enjoy this street performers improv version.
Also if you're a fan of Don't Stop Believing, watch this video. You'll never hear the song the same way again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXlBA-98i5w
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Agreed, love her voice. I'm not a fan of the song she chose, though.

She should sing something like Veruca Salt's "Seether" :D
~Z~ wrote:
Thu Jan 06, 2022 9:57 pm
Evanescence - My Immortal. Amy Lee's voice - likely my favorite female singer.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DFbViQSLjos
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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You are so right, JT. Love his breakdown of the song.
J T wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:53 pm
Also if you're a fan of Don't Stop Believing, watch this video. You'll never hear the song the same way again.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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AARR wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 7:29 pm
Agreed, love her voice. I'm not a fan of the song she chose, though.
She should sing something like Veruca Salt's "Seether" :D
You remember Veruca Salt's Seether eh? :)

Next up - The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing called Love. Guitars have some awesome riffs, plus the lead singer Justin has this crazy high falsetto voice:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IqtPFgRw124&t=4345s

Whole concert is great. Also really like this song from a different concert, Barbarian:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SrGDAolKyfo&t=1668s
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Thank you ~Z~. First song is very good. I'll listen to the rest when I have time :) .
~Z~ wrote:
Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:37 am
Next up - The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing called Love. Guitars have some awesome riffs, plus the lead singer Justin has this crazy high falsetto voice:

Whole concert is great. Also really like this song at the beginning of the concert, Barbarian:
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Ok so I know my next long form post was supposed to be about Porcupine Tree's album Signify and that's going to come when I get time, but in the mean time this just came out and I absolutely have to share it.

If you know anything about me and my musical taste you should know that I'm one of the biggest Rush fans you'll ever find. To date they’re the only rock band I own the entire discography of. Alex Lifeson (guitar player for those keeping track at home) just announced a new band and released the first song today and I gotta say I really like it. Much like his solo album Victor (which itself is very good) it's unapologetically different than anything he ever did in Rush. To come full circle with the first post on this page my wife said it reminded her of an Evanescence song which both makes no sense and makes perfect sense if you know anything about Rush and their history.

Without further ado, I present Envy of None - Liar

https://youtu.be/vV-IZRh22mo

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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=qju6PIynaiA

half of my hometown-Kelsey Ballerini/Kenny Chesney

This song is so relatable to Bloomfield Hills, everyone may think it’s a big town, but it isn’t, I also like the duet between one of Country Music’s NBT and one of the OG’s. This is also a true country song, not one of the hip hop/pop/country mixes.
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Better late than never with this one I suppose, but alas without further delay I present Signify by Porcupine Tree.

Let me first start out by saying Steven Wilson is probably my favorite musician ever, which for me is saying a lot. Now I guarantee this will not be his last appearance in one of these write ups, but for now let's start here with a brief history to this point. I can't really explain the origins because its random and confusing but I will post this brief excerpt from wikipedia:
Porcupine Tree originated in 1987 as a collaborative hoax project by Steven Wilson and Malcolm Stocks. Partially inspired by the psychedelic/progressive bands of the 1970s, such as Pink Floyd, that had dominated the music scene during their youth, the two decided to form a fictional legendary rock band named The Porcupine Tree. The two fabricated a detailed back-story including information on alleged band members and album titles, as well as a "colourful" history which purportedly included events such as a meeting at a 1970s rock festival and several trips in and out of prison. As soon as he had put aside enough money to buy his own studio equipment, Wilson obliged this creation with several hours of music to provide "evidence" of its existence. Although Stocks provided a few passages of treated vocals and experimental guitar playing, his role in the project was mostly offering occasional ideas, with the bulk of the material being written, recorded, played, and sung by Wilson.


At this point it really wasn't much of a band but rather an amusing joke while Wilson focused on his main project, No-Man. As such the first 2 albums weren't really albums but a pile of ideas and demos sorted through to form some semblance of an album. Don't get me wrong here, there are some brilliant flashes buried in there, Radioactive Toy off the first album On the Sunday of Life... comes to mind immediately.

I would be remiss if I didn't even mention Stars Die off the third album The Sky Moves Sideways. This was not only the first album written intended to be an album but the recorded debut as an actual band not just a collection of demos and the first one to get a US release. This song in particular according to an anecdote he told on a live recording of this song (off of We Lost The Skyline in case anyone wants to do a deep dive which I would highly recommend anyway) was the first PT song to ever be played on radio in the UK.


Released in Fall of 1996, Signify is the 4th album and the first one recorded as more of a collaborative effort, despite Wilson maintaining the majority of the writing credits. It also marked a change to a more pop oriented sound, a direction that would continue for the next several albums. This is one of those bands where I have a hard time choosing a favorite album, but this one frequently lands at or near the top of my list when I think about it.

The Songs

It must be stated that I'm having a VERY hard time singling out specific songs to highlight for this one, they're all very good.

Author's note: I tried to find the absolute best quality uploads youtube has to offer. This album's production is PHENOMENAL, and I very highly recommend listening to any of these (if you choose to) on high-quality speakers or headphones. Steven Wilson is a production genius and this is one of the best examples of why.

After the little intro bit the album begins with the title track, an instrumental. For what it is, it's ok. For whatever reason, most PT instrumentals just don't really do anything for me even though this is one of their better ones. Definitely the one weak point on the album IMO.

The third track, second song, is among my favorites of this era of PT. I've never really bothered figuring out what the song is actually about because this album (along with the rest of the PT/Steven Wilson solo discography from this point forward) has a cohesive overall theme. In this case it seems to be someone suffering from some form of mental illness, building up to believing to be some sort of all knowing ruler or perhaps a godlike figure, possibly due to being under a hypnotic spell or drug abuse. This song is the beginning of that decent into delusion.

Porcupine Tree - The Sleep Of No Dreaming
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pbQGiMK5Qdw


Skipping a little ahead to Waiting Phase One. I've never really been able to figure out how this song fits in with the theme but I don't really care. Its PHENOMENAL. This whole album is some of the best music Steven Wilson ever wrote and this is a prime example why, and this isn't even the best song on the album. More on that Later. A great guitar solo to end the song and transition into Waiting Phase Two, which is an instrumental continuation of the musical themes from Phase One but with a sense of a downward spiral of the character.

Porcupine Tree - Waiting Phase One
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Et6L61tq2Q


After Phase Two is Sever, which we find our protagonist descending into some sort of drug fueled spiral out of reality. This song features some of drummer Chris Maitland's best work not because of it being overtly technical but because if you ask any drummer playing the same pattern repeatedly over and over without any fills to break it up is the hardest thing a drummer can do. A+ work. Vocally it features some of Wilson's trademark stacked vocals in the chorus that is very reminiscent of Pink Floyd (A band PT was oft compared to during this time). This has a more aggressive sound, likely due to the symbolism beginning of the character's decent into madness.

Porcupine Tree - Sever
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b6TFPmLFeo8


I'm not going to link to it so I don't overload the page, but Idiot Prayer its worth noting because it foreshadows some of the electronic based music Wilson will dive into years later during the Fear of a Blank Planet era and into his solo career. It and Intermediate Jesus seem to symbolize the turn from drug fueled spiral to some sort of religious televangelist grifter type of person, with Every Home Is Wired being the paranoia of being constantly monitored and watched that comes with that. Light Mass Prayers is another instrumental.

Now last but certainly not in a billion years least is the closing track, Dark Matter. I cannot put into words how great I think this song is. It is my absolute favorite song by any artist/group/band EVER and its no contest. It is the single greatest song Steven Wilson has ever written, and probably ever will, and the band's performance is stellar. If there's only one song to listen to that I have linked here, I implore you to make it this one. Its the final piece of the decent into the delusions of grandeur and its brilliantly told. The slow build into the second half of the song... I can't really put into words but I have goosebumps thinking of it. Then there's the instrumental section, and my god what a guitar solo. For someone (Wilson) not known as a guitar player (he himself only views the guitar as a tool and has stated many times in interviews he doesn't view himself as anything more than an average player) this is IMO one of the best guitar solos written, and definitely the greatest guitar solo you've never heard. Just please listen and hear for yourself, I can't really say much more than that.

Porcupine Tree - Dark Matter
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TMc-75oLgU8


CONCLUSION

For anyone interested, I wont embed it just to save ~Z~ on bandwidth but here's a link to the full album in its entirety:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OXZhv1hmLVc

Truth be told, I really don't know what more to say. I cannot recommend this band or album enough and I guarantee you haven't seen the last of them talked about here.
Last edited by Chip on Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:50 pm, edited 2 times in total.

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AARR
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Agreed ~Z~. awesome riffs! I enjoyed the concert! And the lead singer has a crazy high falsetto voice but IMHO it seems like he forces it into the songs rather than let it come out naturally/smoothly.
~Z~ wrote:
Tue Jan 11, 2022 8:37 am
Next up - The Darkness - I Believe in a Thing called Love. Guitars have some awesome riffs, plus the lead singer Justin has this crazy high falsetto voice:
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Chip wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:44 pm
Better late than never with this one I suppose, but alas without further delay I present Signify by Porcupine Tree.
Thank you for posting Chip. It may seem weird but I enjoyed their music more because of your narrative about it.
PatC created a monster, 'cause nobody wants to see Don Simon no more they want AARR I'm chopped liver, well if you want AARR this is what I'll give ya, bad humor mixed with irrelevant info that'll make you roll your eyes quicker than a ~Z~ banhammer...

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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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AARR wrote:
Sun Feb 13, 2022 11:20 am
Chip wrote:
Tue Feb 08, 2022 2:44 pm
Better late than never with this one I suppose, but alas without further delay I present Signify by Porcupine Tree.
Thank you for posting Chip. It may seem weird but I enjoyed their music more because of your narrative about it.
If you liked that, the next 2 albums Stupid Dream and Lightbulb Sun are similar stylistically and both excellent. After that they got a new drummer (Gavin Harrison, my favorite drummer alive right now his name will come up in future postings as well) and evolved to incorporate a heavier sound with more metal elements. Even Less and Lightbulb Sun are 2 songs I really hope make the set list on their reunion tour next year. The latter of which hasn't been played much since the early 2000s so it would definitely be a nice treat.

SW's solo album To The Bone has a more pop rock oriented sound that to me is very reminiscent of these three PT albums as well. Highly recommend that one as well.

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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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I've been talking about Gavin Harrison right now being one of my favorite drummers ever and IMO the greatest drummer alive today. This is part of the reason why, and this was 11 years ago. His groove and feel is just insane.

https://youtu.be/igDSyZMy8_E

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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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J T wrote:
Fri Jan 07, 2022 12:53 pm
Michael wrote:
Sat Nov 13, 2021 3:07 pm
If you are a fan of Journey's Don't stop Believing, you might enjoy this street performers improv version.
Also if you're a fan of Don't Stop Believing, watch this video. You'll never hear the song the same way again.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KXlBA-98i5w
Wow JT. You are so correct. What a great analysis of the song. That guy really understands music. I love the way he shows the notes and chords on the grand staff while he breaks everything down. The music geek in me loves it.
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Jetlink wrote:
Wed Feb 16, 2022 11:03 pm


Wow JT. You are so correct. What a great analysis of the song. That guy really understands music. I love the way he shows the notes and chords on the grand staff while he breaks everything down. The music geek in me loves it.
Follow him on youtube and watch as many videos as you can. He will blow you away.
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Rick Beato is very knowledgeable on music, I just wish he didn't act like such a tool.
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Rick Beato is alright but I can only handle him in small doses. So many verbal crutches

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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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I don't know how Rick can find something positive to say about current pop music, but he finds a way to.

Anyway, onto an early 90's song from Pantera, Regular People
Parental Advisory on the lyrics indeed.
Groove metal at it's finest:
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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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Found some cool live 80s songs this morning from 2019. With an orchestra! This whole channel so far has been awesome.

Johnny Hates Jazz - Shattered Dreams

https://youtu.be/XBDsq8yL8QA


Nik Kershaw -Wouldn't It Be Good

https://youtu.be/eIZafmCKLBE

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Re: Chip's Music Musings

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https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Kpz4Ro5iD1Q

I have no clue why I like this song, maybe it’s the addition of Morgan Wallen’s voice or the drums, it’s still really good, Broadway Girls- Lil Durk Feat: Morgan Wallen
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