Song Spotlight: Trans-Siberian Orchestra - "Believe"

I was a little surprised (but pleasantly so) to see that Trans-Siberian Orchestra have offered another song from their latest album, Night Castle, as a free download; you might recall that they previously offered "Child of the Night" as a time-limited free download.  "Believe" is the latest song to be offered, and what's interesting is that it is actually being made available for a video contest; you can download both the album version and a "radio" version to use as the soundtrack for a video of "something/anything you believe in."  I'm not particularly skilled in video creation, so I doubt I'll even attempt to enter a contest like this; however, for those who are so inclined, it looks like the prize is quite nice, so it might be worth your time.

"Believe" was originally released by Savatage on their 1991 album, Streets: A Rock Opera.  Even though this is technically a cover version, Trans-Siberian Orchestra actually evolved from Savatage, so this song is much more representative of their sound than "Child of the Night" is.  It opens quietly with piano and vocals, which are later joined by drums and distorted guitars; it is a power ballad through and through.  I really like the way the vocals are delivered in this song, and there is a beautiful guitar solo near the end of the album version (the radio version basically strips out all the instrumental sections).

Both songs are available as high quality (320 kbps) MP3s.  If anyone decides to make a video to go along with either version, please post a link to it here - I would love to take a look at anything that my readers create.  Happy listening! 

URL:

http://feature.atlrec.com/contests/tso/believe/

Artist Spotlight: The Machine

The Machine is an excellent Pink Floyd tribute band that allows recordings of their shows to be hosted on the Live Music Archive.  At the time of this writing, there are 22 shows available for download in a variety of formats - namely, FLAC, Ogg Vorbis, and VBR MP3.  So far I have downloaded three shows, and they all sound great and are quite lengthy; each of them clocks in at just under three hours.

The Machine covers a huge variety of Pink Floyd material.  All the staples that you would expect are here, like "Money", "Another Brick in the Wall Part II", and "Comfortably Numb", as well as more obscure songs; notably, they play songs from The Final Cut, something Pink Floyd themselves never did in concert.  They even play songs from the two David Gilmour-led albums, A Momentary Lapse of Reason and The Division Bell, which kind of surprised me as those two albums do not seem to be very popular among Pink Floyd fans (The Division Bell happens to be my favourite album of theirs, though).  All of the songs are played incredibly well - to my ear, there's not a whole lot to distinguish them from the real deal, making them very authentic sounding.

This post has been written in memory of my father, who passed away very suddenly last month.  Music was a huge part of his life, something that he passed on to both of his sons, and he was the biggest Pink Floyd fan I have ever known.  I love you, Dad.  I wish you were here, but I know we'll meet again some sunny day.

URL:

http://www.archive.org/details/TheMachineLive

Album Spotlight: Songs of Hope for Haiti

It's been quite a while since my last post here, due to a combination of being a little busier than usual and not being able to decide what to write about, as I am still listening to just as much free music as I always do.  I'd actually like to pick things up right where I left off, though, with more music for the benefit of Haiti.  Songs of Hope for Haiti is a free compilation album from Jamendo.  While the album itself is free, listeners are encouraged to make a donation to Partners in Health, a Boston-based organization that helps to bring modern medical care to poor communities in nine countries, including Haiti.

 

I have to admit, I would most likely have given this album a pass were it not for the inclusion of an unreleased track by Allison Crowe (actually, I might not have even heard of it otherwise, since I read about it on her blog).  But while her "Aquarius Rising" may be my favourite song on the album (and deservedly so - it's a beautiful acoustic ballad that is reminiscent of some of the material on her last album, the excellent Little Light), it is far from the only highlight.  The entire album makes for a very interesting listen, all the way from the opening track, Celia Slattery's bouncy, upbeat, and irresistibly catchy "Seaglass" (which includes some very well-placed quotes from "All You Need is Love" and "What the World Needs Now is Love" near the end), to the closing track, Dennis Moser's beautiful ambient guitar piece, "Sunrise of Hope" (which, at 12:20, is by far the longest song on the album).  The range of styles featured on the album is very diverse, even including such things as a solo violin improvisation (Yael Bat-Shimon's "Black Prison Song Meets Jewish Soul") and a choral piece (Zefiro's "Ave Regina caelorum").

 

Songs of Hope for Haiti makes a nice indie companion to Download to Donate for Haiti, another free album that encourages donations; you can read more about that one over at Feedback (formerly Music Musings).  Download one or both of them, enjoy, and please remember to donate if you are able to.  Happy listening!

 

URLs: 

http://www.jamendo.com/en/album/60529 (Songs of Hope for Haiti)

http://act.pih.org/page/outreach/view/personal/SongsOfHopeForHaiti (Partners in Health)

http://musicddm.blogspot.com/2010/01/free-download-friday-43-music-for.html (blog post about Download to Donate for Haiti)