Because everybody else is doing it, because I'm lazy, and because there is almost no new blogging material. Therefore, I present: Michael Jackson: The Orchestra!
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Showing posts with label music. Show all posts
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Friday, June 26, 2009
A tribute to the King Of Pop.
Michael Joseph Jackson, the King Of Pop, is dead, age 50. For anybody interested, I am quite a fan. Asides from almost all of his albums (except for a few from his childhood), I have his DVDs and videos, many vinyls, several cassettes, a few biographies and various memorabilia from his Bad and HIStory tours (which I haven't seen, unfortunately). Hence, I would like to present a music video tribute to the artist. However, as some prat has refused the videos to be embedded, I can only give you the links.
From Off the Wall: Don't stop til you get enough
From Thriller: Billie Jean
From Bad: Man in the Mirror
From Dangerous: Heal the World
From HIStory: They don't care about us
From Invincible: You rock my world
In particular, I suggest you watch Mirror, World and T.D.C.A.U. in their chronological order, as they are all humanitarian songs. However the contrast between in the latter two is spectacular.
RIP, Michael.
From Off the Wall: Don't stop til you get enough
From Thriller: Billie Jean
From Bad: Man in the Mirror
From Dangerous: Heal the World
From HIStory: They don't care about us
From Invincible: You rock my world
In particular, I suggest you watch Mirror, World and T.D.C.A.U. in their chronological order, as they are all humanitarian songs. However the contrast between in the latter two is spectacular.
RIP, Michael.
Friday, June 19, 2009
The definitive top 10
GrodsOfficials Colonel Jester and Admiral Phoenix have both produced what they believe are the greatest ever songs. However, it is a well established fact that a lowly soldier whose blog is never commented on possesses the best taste in music. Hence, here are THE greatest songs ever produced (in no particular order). As a restriction, only songs written by the singers was allowed. Tough, but singers wailing about stuff they haven't written sounds somewhat hollow.
The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel.
This is by far my favourite S&G song. The end chorus is brilliant, featuring violins and horns producing a sound greater than the sum of its parts.
A Man needs a Maid - Neil Young.
Further proof that violins make already perfect music even more so.
Calm like a Bomb - Rage Against the Machine.
Rage are a wicked band, and Bomb is a treat. Raw lyrics and a brutal guitar that would make Hendrix shit himself.
Stan - Eminem
A shocking, haunting song that reads more like a thriller. A fan of Eminem (Stan) becomes increasingly obsessed with his hero until tragedy strikes, and Em intervenes. There really is no fault to this song.
Sing for the moment - Eminem
Not just lyrically fantastic, but a great tune to boot. You need to examine the lyrics line for line, as there's a shitload in there.
When I'm gone - Eminem
If it seems as if almost a third of the songs being Eminem's cheapens the list, than that's simply because these songs are all that great. This is no different. Mathers sings/raps about a life in which his alter-ego Slim Shady has corroded his ideals and love for his family, which ends in a vicious argument between him and his daughter. It's a psychological Frankenstein; Mathers creates Shady, which takes over and ruin's Marshall's life. Eventually, Mathers, horrified by what Shady has done, decides to his alter-ego's life.
Earth Song - Michael Jackson
OK, I'm a Greenie, so it was kinda inevitable that I would enjoy this one. But it is EPIC.
We've had enough - Michael Jackson
Another humitarian from Jackon, and I think even better, not just for either the lyrics or melody, but the actual structure of the song itself. Most songs go "Verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus." This one is "Verse-verse-bridge-EPIC CHORUS."
Another Brick in the Wall (part 2) Live - Roger Waters.
There is only one way to appreciate this.
Across the Stars - John Williams
If I had the time, energy, talent, skill and desire, I could create the greatest ballet dance to this.
And because there are others - The runners-up:
They don't care about us - Michael Jackson.
A humanitarian-inspired song, but truly chilling. It features a cold military beat and a violin or two backing throughout the song (have I yet mentioned how great violins are?). The depressing reason why it was left off is because various idiots interpreted the lyric "Jew me sue, everybody do me. Kick me, kyke me, doncha black 'n' white me" as anti-Semitic. It's an obvious allusion to how Jews have been so heavily scapegoated in the past. Michael, sadly, caved into the said idiots, and played a couple of electronic noises over the words 'Jew' and 'kyke.' It may sound nitpicky, but it really does take away from the song.
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson.
Again, a fantastic humanitarian song with a spectacular finale. The only real reason why it couldn't be included in the top 10 is because Jackson didn't write it, hence it legally cannot make the top ten.
Desparados Under the Eaves - Warren Zevon
A truly kick-ass song with a Man needs a Maid-style ending.
When Doves Cry - Prince
A personal Prince favourite. Losing the bass guitar was one of the best decisions he made, creating a stark and original piece.
Maneater - Hall & Oates
A thousand and one times better than the remake (but that's still saying something). It gave something other than a run-of-the-mill guitar solo, which was rare for the 1980s.
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
Because saxaphones rock.
Billie Jean - Who else?
I know Michael gets a lot of coverage in this post, but you can't deny that this is a wicked song. Especially the intro.
The Boxer - Simon and Garfunkel.
This is by far my favourite S&G song. The end chorus is brilliant, featuring violins and horns producing a sound greater than the sum of its parts.
A Man needs a Maid - Neil Young.
Further proof that violins make already perfect music even more so.
Calm like a Bomb - Rage Against the Machine.
Rage are a wicked band, and Bomb is a treat. Raw lyrics and a brutal guitar that would make Hendrix shit himself.
Stan - Eminem
A shocking, haunting song that reads more like a thriller. A fan of Eminem (Stan) becomes increasingly obsessed with his hero until tragedy strikes, and Em intervenes. There really is no fault to this song.
Sing for the moment - Eminem
Not just lyrically fantastic, but a great tune to boot. You need to examine the lyrics line for line, as there's a shitload in there.
When I'm gone - Eminem
If it seems as if almost a third of the songs being Eminem's cheapens the list, than that's simply because these songs are all that great. This is no different. Mathers sings/raps about a life in which his alter-ego Slim Shady has corroded his ideals and love for his family, which ends in a vicious argument between him and his daughter. It's a psychological Frankenstein; Mathers creates Shady, which takes over and ruin's Marshall's life. Eventually, Mathers, horrified by what Shady has done, decides to his alter-ego's life.
Earth Song - Michael Jackson
OK, I'm a Greenie, so it was kinda inevitable that I would enjoy this one. But it is EPIC.
We've had enough - Michael Jackson
Another humitarian from Jackon, and I think even better, not just for either the lyrics or melody, but the actual structure of the song itself. Most songs go "Verse-chorus-verse-chorus-bridge-chorus." This one is "Verse-verse-bridge-EPIC CHORUS."
Another Brick in the Wall (part 2) Live - Roger Waters.
There is only one way to appreciate this.
Across the Stars - John Williams
If I had the time, energy, talent, skill and desire, I could create the greatest ballet dance to this.
And because there are others - The runners-up:
They don't care about us - Michael Jackson.
A humanitarian-inspired song, but truly chilling. It features a cold military beat and a violin or two backing throughout the song (have I yet mentioned how great violins are?). The depressing reason why it was left off is because various idiots interpreted the lyric "Jew me sue, everybody do me. Kick me, kyke me, doncha black 'n' white me" as anti-Semitic. It's an obvious allusion to how Jews have been so heavily scapegoated in the past. Michael, sadly, caved into the said idiots, and played a couple of electronic noises over the words 'Jew' and 'kyke.' It may sound nitpicky, but it really does take away from the song.
Man in the Mirror - Michael Jackson.
Again, a fantastic humanitarian song with a spectacular finale. The only real reason why it couldn't be included in the top 10 is because Jackson didn't write it, hence it legally cannot make the top ten.
Desparados Under the Eaves - Warren Zevon
A truly kick-ass song with a Man needs a Maid-style ending.
When Doves Cry - Prince
A personal Prince favourite. Losing the bass guitar was one of the best decisions he made, creating a stark and original piece.
Maneater - Hall & Oates
A thousand and one times better than the remake (but that's still saying something). It gave something other than a run-of-the-mill guitar solo, which was rare for the 1980s.
Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty
Because saxaphones rock.
Billie Jean - Who else?
I know Michael gets a lot of coverage in this post, but you can't deny that this is a wicked song. Especially the intro.
Saturday, July 26, 2008
I don't need 12 tracks to create a great CD
A recent side-project of the GrodsMilitary is to create a 'muxtape' which consists of 12 songs online, the internet version of the cassete mix tapes from 20+ years ago. I've been working on a CD of my own-it isn't a 'best of' or a '12 fav songs' but rather a set of songs that run extremely well together. I don't know if it counts as a muxtape, but I think it works well.
download the songs burn the CDs off a friend buy the albums so make this CD. It steadily builds up from Psycho to Baker and sounds awesome.
- Talking Heads-Psycho Killer
- INXS-Original Sin
- INXS-Never let you go
- The Clash-Rock the Casbah
- Good Charlotte-Keep your hands of my girl
- Moving Pictures-What about me
- James Reyne-Reckless
- Gerry Rafferty-Baker Street
Friday, July 11, 2008
Better then the original
(if you have no interest in Michael Jackson, I’d suggest you go to another blog)
For the uninformed (ie all of you), I am a major Michael Jackson fan. I have almost all of his CDs and DVDs, save for a few albums from when he was a kid and with the Jackson 5. Naturally, this lead me to buy one of his ‘best of’ albums. In this case it was The Essential Michael Jackson album.
And, I can tell you, for a 2-disk ‘best of’, it was sh*t. What kind of sicko puts Rockin’ Robin and The Girl Is Mine onto a best of? So I set out to produce a rival album: The Ultimate Michael Jackson. Away with cr*p like the aforementioned songs. Away with Bad and ABC (how that mediocre pop was so popular I just don’t know). In with Liberian Girl, Give in to Me and Tabloid Junkie (three fantastic and criminally underrated songs).
I’ve also greatly improved the covers. Look at Essential:
Utterly sh*thouse. Look at what I’ve done (inspired by the multi-covers on Number Ones):
And, most importantly of all, the song line up:
Essential:
Disc one
Ultimate:
Disk 1:
1. Ain’t no sunshine
2. I’ll be there
3. Music and me
4. I want you back
5. The love you save
6. Sugar Daddy
7. When I come of age
8. I wanna be where you are
9. Life of the party
10. Blame it on the boogie
11. Shake your body
12. Don’t stop til you get enough
13. Rock with you
14. Workin’ day and night
15. Off the wall
16. Billie Jean
17. Beat it
18. Thriller
19. Human Nature
20. PYT
21. Can you feel it
Disk 2:
1. I just can’t stop loving you
2. Liberian Girl
3. Man in the mirror
4. Dirty Diana
5. Smooth Criminal
6. Heal the world
7. In the closet
8. Give in to me
9. They don’t care about us
10. Scream
11. Tabloid junkie
12. Stranger in Moscow
13. Earth Song
14. Fall again
15. You rock my world
16. We’ve had enough
For the uninformed (ie all of you), I am a major Michael Jackson fan. I have almost all of his CDs and DVDs, save for a few albums from when he was a kid and with the Jackson 5. Naturally, this lead me to buy one of his ‘best of’ albums. In this case it was The Essential Michael Jackson album.
And, I can tell you, for a 2-disk ‘best of’, it was sh*t. What kind of sicko puts Rockin’ Robin and The Girl Is Mine onto a best of? So I set out to produce a rival album: The Ultimate Michael Jackson. Away with cr*p like the aforementioned songs. Away with Bad and ABC (how that mediocre pop was so popular I just don’t know). In with Liberian Girl, Give in to Me and Tabloid Junkie (three fantastic and criminally underrated songs).
I’ve also greatly improved the covers. Look at Essential:
Utterly sh*thouse. Look at what I’ve done (inspired by the multi-covers on Number Ones):
And, most importantly of all, the song line up:
Essential:
Disc one
- I Want You Back
- ABC
- The Love You Save
- Got to Be There
- Rockin' Robin
- Ben
- Blame It on The Boogie
- Shake Your Body (Down to the Ground)
- Don't Stop 'til You Get Enough
- Off the Wall
- Rock with You
- She's Out of My Life
- Can You Feel It
- The Girl Is Mine
- Billie Jean
- Beat It
- Wanna Be Startin' Somethin'
- Human Nature
- P.Y.T. (Pretty Young Thing)
- I Just Can't Stop Loving You
- Thriller
Disc two:
- Bad
- The Way You Make Me Feel
- Man in the Mirror
- Dirty Diana
- Another Part of Me
- Smooth Criminal
- Leave Me Alone
- Black or White
- Remember the Time
- In the Closet
- Who Is It
- Heal the World
- Will You Be There
- You Are Not Alone
- Earth Song
- They Don't Care About Us
- You Rock My World
Ultimate:
Disk 1:
1. Ain’t no sunshine
2. I’ll be there
3. Music and me
4. I want you back
5. The love you save
6. Sugar Daddy
7. When I come of age
8. I wanna be where you are
9. Life of the party
10. Blame it on the boogie
11. Shake your body
12. Don’t stop til you get enough
13. Rock with you
14. Workin’ day and night
15. Off the wall
16. Billie Jean
17. Beat it
18. Thriller
19. Human Nature
20. PYT
21. Can you feel it
Disk 2:
1. I just can’t stop loving you
2. Liberian Girl
3. Man in the mirror
4. Dirty Diana
5. Smooth Criminal
6. Heal the world
7. In the closet
8. Give in to me
9. They don’t care about us
10. Scream
11. Tabloid junkie
12. Stranger in Moscow
13. Earth Song
14. Fall again
15. You rock my world
16. We’ve had enough
Thursday, June 26, 2008
In the beginning...
Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls, and anybody and everybody in between...welcome to my blog, '☮ is my religion'! For the record, yes, I am a fan of Ziggy Marley and Prince, and yes, the title is a blatant rip off from their albums.
But who am I? I am a mere soldier, enlisted in GrodsCorp Military Force to work on the front lines of peace and social progression. In fact, just last week, I crossed no man's land to engage the enemy on their home grounds. With chocolate. (More on that to be posted shortly.)
But who am I? I am a mere soldier, enlisted in GrodsCorp Military Force to work on the front lines of peace and social progression. In fact, just last week, I crossed no man's land to engage the enemy on their home grounds. With chocolate. (More on that to be posted shortly.)
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