Music Influences A Person

No one has found any positive points in the study, but there is a whole list of negative ones. For sure, in the traffic flow, many drivers were met who were listening to music loudly and the car body was almost shaking with the sound vibrations. When driving in such conditions, the speed of physical and mental activity is reduced by 20%. This greatly increases the risk of an accident. In addition, it has been found that motorists who listen to loud music while driving violate traffic rules almost 2 times more often. And if you are just now looking for a stereo system in your car, then you will definitely find the best one to choose from. How to do it? Just follow the link tonybassogm.com here to find all the advantages and disadvantages of all popular models! Choose the best stereo system for your Jeep Wrangler and check out the review first!

It Is No Secret That Music Influences A Person

Accordingly, the manner of driving depends on it. Many people seriously think about what kind of audio accompaniment to put in the background. To begin with, it is worth noting that any melody distracts the attention of the driver. In an ideal scenario, it is better to remove all distractions and concentrate on the road. When you do not want to drive in complete silence, you can put a neutral melody. If you have a passionate temperament, quickly lose control of his temper, and can not in time to cope with emotions, while driving it is better to include calm music. If you have a calm temperament, you can include audio to your liking.

There Are Some Drivers Who Can Dance Right Behind the Wheel to Club Music

Dangerous to listen to while driving is rock and all its varieties. Such music distracts you from the road and does not allow you to concentrate. If you listen to rhythmic audio, which is usually put in clubs, you may notice an increase in reaction rate. But there is also a negative side – some movements under such music become abrupt and in most cases thoughtless. In some people, it can provoke an attack of nervousness and even aggression. In addition, there are such drivers, who under the club music can dance directly behind the wheel. Everything would be fine if it was not a violation of traffic rules and did not lead to serious accidents on the road.

While Driving, The Most Important Thing to Remember Is That Any Mistake Can Cost Lives – Not Just Yours, But Other People’s as Well

Many modern motorists on long trips listen to podcasts. These can be travel stories or topics in foreign languages. This solution allows you to learn new information directly on the road. However, the negative side here is also present – the attention is distracted by the information which comes from the speaker. While driving, it is important to remember that any mistake can cost lives – not only yours but also other people’s lives. If while listening to music you feel a surge of energy or aggression, you should stop, relax and then only continue driving, and it is better to abandon the audio.

But there is another aspect of the problem. Probably many have seen accidents in tunnels. And it’s not about an unknown force. One of the reasons for such accidents was and remains the radio. Why? Here’s why: entering the tunnel, the radio signal disappears, but the rumble of noise increases and the driver does not want to hear the noise and begins to be distracted by the radio, choose a CD, put it, choose a good song. And then someone in front of you slows down, and the driver is looking not at the road, but at the radio’s display. And here you have an emergency situation.

So we all need to think about what we listen to and at what volume when driving a car. After all, loud and aggressive music affects not only the safety of all traffic but also on health. After all, we all know that loud noise has a negative impact on the human central nervous system. And if you still have questions, of course, you can ask them on the forum. Here you will get all the answers to your questions from experts and car lovers. Moreover, you can also share your experiences in the forum.

Driver’s Health

Let’s start with the fact that listening to music turned up to full power can have a detrimental effect on human health. Exceeding a certain volume threshold can damage the ear membranes, which may lead to irreversible loss of hearing – there comes deafness.

Other organs are not so good from infinite “clever-clever” too. Mental disorders and irritability may occur. According to statistics, because of the loud noise occurs 70% of severe neurosis. Loud music is one of the reasons why people become more aggressive. A person begins to behave inappropriately with others. And this can end badly. From the loud music can appear ringing in the ears, headaches. It is proved that when the sound power is above 70 dB, there are more errors in operation than in normal conditions. That is the driver, especially the beginner can lose concentration, which will lead to the accident. But there is no penalty for listening to loud music in the car while driving. It is true, the “screaming” car with a great likelihood will attract the attention of traffic police officers. They can stop you to make sure the driver is not in a state of alcohol or drug intoxication.

If you turn up the music in your car at full volume at night in a quiet yard, the punishment is likely to be popular. In addition to a possible lynching, residents can also call the police, whose officers will ask to see documents and begin to sort things out.

Bottom Line

Listening to music while driving is an obligatory ritual for many drivers. However, different music can have different effects on a person’s psychological state.

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 We’ve decided to share a selection of rock concerts on YouTube that are great for a Friday or Saturday home party. Now you can gather in a friendly company via Skype, Discord, Zoom, or any other video linking platform, turn on a video and enjoy the conversation to the music that all participants like. All the concerts we selected are of excellent quality, so you are guaranteed to enjoy hours of amazing music and a true vibe of good old rock. Moreover, if you utilize a reliable YouTube to mp4 converter, you will be able to enjoy concerts with the help of a device you choose and even with no Internet connection! Gather your friends, choose a concert – and let’s start the party! 

The National, High Violet From Brooklyn Academy of Music 2010 

We will start the selection with the recent broadcast of the presentation of the album High Violet from the lyricists of The National. The album itself is very good; it’s not about nostalgia – the concert is worth it.

Nirvana, Live at Reading 1992 

Unfortunately, this iconic concert by Nirvana is not available for full viewing. The first half-hour of the show, posted on YouTube, makes it very clear what Nirvana’s live performances are: Cobain’s hysterical voice, Dancing Tony’s shaky voice (a simple guy whom the band met on tour and called him to jump on stage because he was high). There is also a huge crowd listening to the songs passionately: you will definitely feel like you are there.

Alice In Chains, MTV Unplugged 1996 

In order not to go far from grunge – here’s another great concert of the most professional and sad grunge artists from Alice in Chains. Their most successful albums of the 90s after the breakthrough first were semi-acoustic, so it is logical to get acquainted with the concert in the acoustic MTV Unplugged format.

Live Aid 1985 

Live Aid is a series of charity concerts by rock stars supporting hunger victims in Ethiopia. The selection includes several performances from this festival at once – let’s start with a twenty-minute “golden” performance by Queen, which was recognized as the best. For the rest, you need to go to the playlist, where you will find U2, Status Quo, BB King, Sting, Duran Duran, Mick Jagger, and many other stars of the mid-80s.

Arcade Fire, Live from Madison Square Garden 2010 

Live from Madison Square Garden is a big one-and-a-half-hour cool concert, fully posted on the official Arcade Fire channel. If suddenly the work of this group, which are the last global indie rock stars, passed you by (well, or only flew from the soundtracks to TV shows), then this performance will put everything in its place.

Guns N ‘Roses, Tokyo – 1992 

Tokyo at some point became a place of power for all rock bands. Japanese versions of albums always contained exciting bonus tracks, and concerts from Tokyo were recorded and released impressively. Guns N ‘Roses were no exception – at their concert, you can see a 7-minute drummer solo, an almost 10-minute solo by guitarist Slash, and Knocking On The Heaven Doors. You can see everything for which one can love this group.

David Bowie, Glass Spider Tour 87 

No matter how close you are to David Bowie, we recommend watching this concert. At least listen to a couple of songs from the very beginning. The fact is that he elevated art and stage performances to the high level – great pop singers like Rihanna became his successors in this matter. All in all, this is a chance to see the top show for free.

As you can see, modern technologies make it possible to enjoy your favorite musicians and their concerts at any time in any place.

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As Best Album of the Year author Bob Dylan was performing his song “Love Sick,” a man burst onto the stage with “soy bomb” written on his chest. The confusion he caused, however, could not obscure the greatness of the music that night.

That same night, The Smashing Pumpkins for “The End Is the Beginning Is the End”, Fiona Apple for “Criminal” and The Wallflowers for “One Headlight” received their well-deserved awards.

The same ceremony later featured a long undeservedly overshadowed musician, Taj Mahal, who finally managed to break the long-awaited ovation. He was 55 years old at the time, and this was his first Grammy.

His album “Senor Blues” won first place for Best Contemporary Blues Album. An unforgettable moment for a man who has dedicated his life to working with the blues sound and creating several new blues styles. Especially when you consider how much and how long he was criticized for his musical experiments.

Chances are you have a question like this, “What is an article about a bluesman doing on a rock music website?” The answer is simple – at one time, Taj Mahal was a musician who played not only blues, but also rock and roll. In addition, he was friends and communicated a lot with famous rock musicians (you’ll see their names while reading the article). Not many people have heard of him in our area and I sincerely think, that it is unfair. Anyway, read on and you will understand!

Taj Mahal and the musicians of the rock scene

He was never your average bluesman. He grew up in Harlem, in a family with Caribbean roots. He got to the heart of the blues in the ’60s, and then started digging even deeper and pulling out the hidden connections that connected Afro-Caribbean folk, rhythm and blues, gospel, African and Latin American music.

One-third tradition keeper and two-thirds experimenter, Mahal may be the first American musician to play ethnic music before the term itself existed.

One of the first to become interested in the new sound was Eric Clapton. In his autobiography he writes that he accepted Mick Jagger’s invitation to participate in his show “The Rolling Stones Rock & Roll Circus” in 1968 (as part of the supergroup The Dirty Mac) mainly because he wanted to meet Mahal.

Keith Richards, who had previously performed with Mahal and Graham Parsons in Los Angeles, admitted that Taj showed him some new tricks, adding that: “His arsenal was to be envied, it always was.”

At this concert, Taj Mahal was the musician solely representing the black American blues, music the Stones adored. This show was filmed, and the material was to be made into a musical film.

There was footage of Taj Mahal, the musician with a badass outfit: a wide-brimmed hat, a red scarf around his neck, a smart leather jacket. He looked just as good as the other stars invited to the show – Clapton, Lennon, and many others. That’s how he was – the hippest of the hippies.

Tudge’s long struggle for recognition

Back in the States, Mahal quickly and easily recorded his next album, The Natch’l Blues, which expanded his musical palette: he included two soul covers on the record. Pianist Al Cooper and former Little Richard drummer Earl Palmer contributed to the record.

In 1969, the semi-acoustic double-play Giant Step/De Ole Folks At Home was released – it was Mahal’s first album to reach Billboard magazine’s top 100. Yet Taj Mahal was a consistently obscure musician, unlike Frank Zappa and Led Zeppelin, who were in the top 100.

Mahal continued to ride the waves of music freely. In 1971 he recorded an album of West Indian calypso songs, Happy Just To Be Like I Am, and in 1974 Mo’Roots came out – the result of exploring the links between blues and Jamaican reggae. One of the guest musicians was The Wailers bassist Aston Barrett, and he played a cover of one of the songs by his own band Slave Driver.

But Mahal’s pluralism was not to everyone’s liking. Record sales were far from what they should have been, and he stopped working with Columbia and signed with Warner Bros. in 1976.

The three subsequent albums recorded with the new label did not change the situation.

The next three albums, already recorded on a new label, did not change the situation.

By the end of the ’70s he was out of contract. “I would have loved to do just blues and R&B – writing my own songs and interpreting existing ones,” he explains. – But nobody wanted to work with me.”

Then Taj Mahal moved to Hawaii and started recording albums for kids.

The next album (“Taj,” 1987) didn’t come out until a decade later. But he didn’t fully resume his relationship with the music industry until the early ’90s.

Success at last

Mahal found a home on a new label, Private Music, co-founded by former Tangerine Dream member Peter Bauman. This allowed him to rediscover his unique blues groove – the Phantom Blues album (featuring Eric Clapton and Bonnie Raitt) was released in 1996.

His third release on that label, Senor Blues, won him a Grammy (“The main achievement was that now people had to listen to that album,” he says).

Another Grammy went to his live album, Shoutin’ in Key.

But that was far from the pinnacle of his fame. Taj Mahal received wider recognition as a versatile musician in 1999 when his CD “Kulanjan” was released – a collaboration with the Malian musician Toumani Diabate, who played a folk instrument – kora.

Here Taj acted as a true innovator in the field of music, crossing West African melodies with primitive blues.

Mahal’s triumphant return didn’t end there. His influence can be felt in the music of the next generation of American bluesmen – free-spirited and unconstrained musicians such as Eric Bibb, Alvin Youngblood Hart, Gary Clark Jr. and Keb Moe. The latter has called Taj’s performances an inspiring revival:

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Later this track made its authors really famous and allowed them to surpass, if not eclipse, then certainly the undisputed idols of rock-n-roll – The Beatles.

Besides, it is considered that this song of The Rolling Stones gave the most serious impulse to the development of rock music as a genre, and occupied its place in the history of rock music with the note “classic”.

“(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” is a song born in a semi-dream

On the day of this song’s creation, things were not going well for the band. The concert in Clearwater, Florida, on the band’s third U.S. tour was canceled: drunken fans started a brawl, as a result of which the musicians managed to play only four songs.

When Keith Richards returned to the hotel, devoid of energy, almost falling asleep, he began to improvise on the guitar. As a result, he had a riff for a future hit and almost immediately the key phrase of the lyrics – “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” came to mind.

Keith recorded the sketches of the song on a tape recorder and fell asleep. In the morning it turned out that he forgot to turn off the recording on the device. Therefore, the first version of the track contains not only the two-minute melody of the future hit, but also Richards’ 40-minute snore.

In the morning, Keith showed the sketches to the band’s lead singer, Mick Jagger. He grabbed the main line and wrote the rest of the lyrics around it. In fact, Richards is the author of only one line in the song.

The Case That Started the Musical Revolution

The first version of The Rolling Stones’ song “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction”, with its harmonica and folk sound, was recorded at Chess studios in Chicago on May 10th, 1965, and then re-recorded at RCA in Hollywood.

Then in June of 1965 the track was released as a single in the USA. In July of 1965 the composition was included in the American version of the album “Out of Our Heads”, which later became “platinum”.

Initially, Keith Richards wanted to include the wind instruments in the introduction. He turned the amplifiers up to maximum and distorted the sound, but nothing worked. Then Ian Stewart, the band’s keyboard player, brought in the first Gibson fuzz.

Everyone liked the new weighted sound of the song, except Keith. He still insisted on brass. But other musicians and managers of the band changed his mind and insisted on recording the song with a fuzz, a slower riff and a changed percussion part. That was the reason why the band had a lot of fans who were fed up with the light Beatles sound and wanted something heavier.

Naturally, the Rollings were not the first to use such a trick. But it was after that case that many other musicians all over the world adopted similar distorting effects on electric guitars. For this reason, “I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” by The Rolling Stones is considered to be a trendsetter of rock music as a genre. Though, of course, it is not so.

It was not only the sound that was unusual, but also the lyrics of The Rolling Stones song “Satisfaction”.

It was shocking for the ’60s. So much so that in the beginning the track was only heard on pirate radios. And the older generation sharply condemned the composition for its sexual connotations.

The reason for that was the main phrase as well as the other lines. The censors rejected the lyrics “I want to seduce a girl” and the lyrics “Honey, come back next week/ See, I’m going through a whole string of bad luck” were seen as a hint at the time of the critics.

In fact, the main message of the song is that it is impossible to see the true meaning of things that are hidden behind lies. It also reflected the mercurial spirit of the US and the fatigue of exhausting concert tours.

Fun Facts

• Music critic Newsweek called The Rolling Stones’ “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” “the five notes that shook the world.
• Otis Redding’s cover of The Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction” is the first time a black performer has ever sung a British song.
• The main phrase “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” contains a double negation. This is a gross error of English grammar.
• There is a version according to which Keith Richards borrowed this key line from the song “30 Days” by Chuck Berry. There is a similar phrase in its lyrics – “If I don’t get no satisfaction from the judge”.
• The hotel where the hit was invented still exists. Today it is called the Fort Harrison Hotel.
• The Rolling Stones’ track “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction,” like the band’s other hit “Paint it Black,” is played in movies. The former can be heard in Life or Something, Apocalypse Now, Two Lane Highway, and No Compromise; the latter can be heard in the movies Devil’s Advocate, Full Metal Jacket, and Echo Echoes. Both hits have also been used in numerous computer games and TV series.
• Keith Richards feared he would be accused of plagiarism because the riff of his hit is similar to the tune of Martha and the Vandellas’ “Dancing in the Street.”
• The band has no rights to the song. In order to get rid of the financial control of attorney Allen Klein, the musicians have renounced authorship of all compositions recorded before 1969.
• Decca deliberately delayed the release of the hit in England until August 20, 1965. They wanted to coincide its release with the British tour of the band and were afraid of the competition in the form of the newly released album “Help!” by The Beatles.

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The original guitar riff, the kaleidoscopic clip in red, black and white colors and the breakout tenor of the leader Jack White made the “White Stripes” single an undeniable hit of the “zero years”.

The Hit That Jack Built

What Jack White has a knack for is a flair for potential hits – there’s a reason he placed “Seven Nation Army” at No. 1 on the “Elephant” album. He would do the same three years later with another hit single, “Steady As She Goes,” which would be recorded with The Raconteurs and become his calling card. In both cases, Jack clearly didn’t go wrong.

“Seven Nation Army” effortlessly climbed to the top of the Billboard chart, won a Grammy for “Best Rock Song” and became the starting point in the commercial success and true popularity of the “striped” duo. And authoritative music publications – Rolling Stone, Q, New Musical Express – vied with each other to award the top places to the hit song.

And all this was in spite of the fact that the American and British producers said in one voice that the song would ruin the album. They refused to put it at the top of the list. But luckily Jack White had enough persistence to insist on his own.

About the creation of “Army of Seven Nations.”

The hit started a year before the release of the band’s fourth studio work (“Elephant”) in 2002. While tuning up the sound equipment before the next concert in Australia, Jack White composed a simple riff. At that time, the musician’s keen sense did not recognize it as a potential hit. White doubted whether the tune should be used at all.

He asked his friend Ben Swank about it. The latter replied that “you could have done better”, and Jack thought “it seemed good”. In the end, the leader of The White Stripes continued working on the song.

White hastily titled the working version of the song “Seven Nation Army”. Where did that title come from? Quite simply, it was Jack’s childhood name for the Salvation Army.

When the song was completely finished, he decided to keep the working title, because the lyrics were written to fit.

About the meaning and the sounding of the song

After the release of the single, a heated debate flared up about what the lyrics of the song “Seven Nation Army” meant. The most ridiculous versions were put forward: from the cruel world of childhood to the interpretation of the fairytale “Land of Oz”.

The incomprehensible lyrics, full of allusions, contributed to the confusion. In it bizarrely intertwined the search for home, the battle with a mythical army and the Queen of England.

But Jack stopped these discussions by telling us that the Seven Nation Army text is about rumors. The rumors that are spread about him and Meg by the people they meet along life’s path. About the desire to run away, to leave everything behind, to eventually return home.

The theme of coming home is also indicated by some moments in the video for the song: at the beginning of the third verse, Jack points to his palm with clenched fingers, which is a reference to welcoming the people of Michigan – he looks like a mitten on the map. In this way he makes it clear where he is from, where his home is.

The sound of “Seven Nation Army” is just as enigmatic as the lyrics. Although Jack White’s eccentricity will fully unfold in his other projects (one of them is The Dead Weather), he actively started to develop his style in the times of “White Stripes”.

White created a recognizable riff with a semi-acoustic guitar and a primer. The output was a monotonous, jerky sound, which is easily confused with the bass. In addition, he purposely refused to mix the composition. Like the rest of the “Elephant” album, it was recorded without computer processing, on the equipment of the sixties.

Rock hit that became a soccer anthem

The American duo’s single was liked not only by rock music fans. Quite unexpectedly it caught the fancy of soccer fans. The fans of the Club Brugge heard the song in the bar on the eve of the 2003 Champions League. After chanting it all night, they decided to chant the lyrics after the decisive goal against the Italian team.

As a result, the chant was considered good luck and the Belgians continued to chant it at every match. Then the club itself acquired the rights to use “Seven Nation Army” during their games.

In 2006 during the UEFA Cup Brugge hosted the Italian team Roma, who also liked the song a lot. And when in the summer of the same year the World Cup started, “Seven Nation Army” was already an integral part of the Italian team: the fans sang the hit after every victory over the opposing team.

Since 2008, the song has become the unofficial soccer anthem. It is played after all the goals at Euro 2012 and 2016, and the fans sing the hit from the stands. However, in their own way. Each time they insert lines encouraging their native team or ridiculing the opponent.

The band’s frontman himself doesn’t mind such metamorphoses. Jack thinks it’s a real success when a song loses its author and becomes a folk song. And it’s true – most people who know the tune and a few lines of this song have no idea who sang it in the original.

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Scorpions greet the fans

As far as one can tell from the crooked post-Soviet canned music market, the love and reverence for the Scorpions has now taken a partly archival form and partly gone to the level of genetic memory: the generation that was supposed to follow the stages of the Germans’ great journey with rapt attention, but preferred just to sigh nostalgically, is responsible for it.

Scorpions at the height of their fame

Scorpions and Gorbachev in 1991 (photo) “Perestroika” and Scorpions coincided – so much so, that they became mutual symbols: Mr. Gorbachev had his photo taken with Scorpions in Kremlin, where they were given a sign “music of new thinking”, and Scorpions willingly sang about wind of changes and apologized for ancestors who had fought with such nice people.

But by and large, all this is nonsense – Scorpions had their biggest success in the period from 1984 (when “Love At First Sting” with the outstanding hits “Rock You Like A Hurricane” and “Still Loving You” was released) till 1990, which was marked by the last in a row very strong album “Crazy World”.

Six years as a “decent world-class band” and that was it. Or almost that’s it.

But what to do? Forget and recognize the right to exist only those who measure music by the number of records sold? And allow only those who “produce results” to be respected? And so our people’s love for Scorpions has the same nature as fools and roads, and that love is sacred.

The unexplainable love for Scorpions music

In a way, Scorpions became, as psychoanalysts say, a “projection” or “sublimation” for our listening public: People projected their aspirations to see the home band in a halo of international success onto these German rockers, and having projected, sublimated in “Scorpions”, as if they were that mythical “our” band, with which the giants, titans and other oversized heroes of the epic are honored to play on the same stage.

It was impossible to be sublimated in the Beatles-rollers: a midget might as well imagine himself as a basketball player.

Scorpions became the first band to break through the language barrier and, leaving it behind, to cross the sound barrier as well: as soon as the foreign language became native and close, the bar, over which serious people in places with the highest concentration of serious music, ceased to seem unattainable.

This time the Germans succeeded in “conquering the whole world.”

Klaus Meine told what difficulties Scorpions had to face in his homeland, when the homeland understood, that songs in English were the repertoire of Scorpions and they would never sing in German:

That’s right, if Scorpions had sung in German, only Austria and Switzerland would have sung under them, but this was a chance to fight for something more substantial in the territories, where before, having seen a living German, citizens usually didn’t calm down until he was a bit dead.

All the books about the Scorpions say that in 1984 they conquered America – meaning that MTV started the “heavy rotation” of the video for the single “Rock You Like A Hurricane”. This single reached double platinum, and Scorpions spent a part of the US tour as a headliner – in total, out of 25 millions of CDs they sold there almost ten million.

Previously, no German band had ever closed a concert after a Kiss! This was a success, even though no Kiss, let alone Scorpions, no other Iron Division band, not even their whole cavalcade in America had ever grossed more than a million spectators on a concert tour. With the exception of Metallica, but that is another story.

The leader of legendary band Scorpions, Klaus Meine, said, that their hour had come in the Soviet Union. In spite of the fact, that those, who forged their success, knew for sure: they would never see Scorpions band live.

Well, Soviet people in 1984 had no idea that everything would change! And here was a success, impossible in any other country, because it’s impossible to imagine any other place in the world, where a hysteria around music begins to unfold in the absence of a performer playing music!

You might say that this was how hysteria around any other band in the USSR arose, but there were not many such “other” bands, or, rather, almost none at all. “The Beatles, Led Zeppelin, Deep Purple, Black Sabbath, and Uriah Heep were always loved, and loved with the smooth and gentle flame of a country fireplace.

Because they loved each in his or her own little den. The eternal lights in the squares with a large gathering of people began a little later, and one of the first to be lit was the torch in honor of the Scorps. To be fair, though, it should be noted that the very first torch was lit in the name of Rainbow – not Deep Purple or Mr. Gillan and his band, but exactly Rainbow. Why? And then why Scorpions, and then Queen? That is a question for a psychiatrist.

The leader of legendary Scorpions is more alive than ever!

In editorial offices of magazines were pouring letters with one demand: “Tell me about Scorpions!” And as a consequence, then came the letters demanding to declassify the burial place of the beloved Klaus Meine – that he died in terrible convulsions, singing “Still Loving You”, no doubt almost one and a half million domestic readers!

That’s the kind of success almost no one else had in the USSR! And if one were to compile an absolute Top-5 of “eternal lights” (celebrities that our fans had for some reason “buried alive”), it would look like this:

• Rainbow (because readers buried Richie Blackmore most often).
• The Beatles (Paul McCartney “notoriously” died back in ’66, and who was there in his place is unknown).
• Damis Roussos.
• The Scorpions (goodbye, Klaus!).
• Elvis Presley (because every fool knows he’s alive).

In this Top-5 is hidden not only answer to the question “why Scorpions?”, but also to the most important one about “mysterious post-Soviet soul”: Scorpions – because it is beautiful.

And in this Top-5 everything is beautiful, and everything is in its place: Ritchie Blackmore – the most beautiful guitar, Damis Russos and Elvis – the most beautiful voices. Not something expedient, necessary and relatively important, but “beauty as we understand it.”

That’s why Scorpions is both beautiful and understandable: Klaus Meine’s voice is not the primal fear of the Earth that Ian Gillan was the conductor of. And therefore not Deep Purple, but Rainbow – beautiful and far more understandable.

And the place in the heart of a special nation between the Beatles and the King of Rock ‘n’ Roll is the very precise place of Scorpions on the, as it is now fashionable to put it, cultural space of the countries that appeared on the ruins of communism.

In fact, the rumor about legendary Scorpions leader’s death – incomparable Klaus Meine came after 1980, when “Animal Magnetism” was released – some of our especially closely connected with world cosmos compatriots had a vision that Klaus not only played in a box, but the penultimate will of the dead band was to appoint Don Dokken from Dokken to his place.

Klaus Meine, say “thank you” to our pirates!

What’s 25 million CDs sold?!

Who counted how many “pirated” “scorpions” CDs came off the presses of all the Russian and Ukrainian filibusters, who estimated how many CDs back in draconian times were replicated and sold in the most illegal, but most necessary way? Even if the piracy fully touched all our revered bands, and it touched Scorpions proportionally, it turns out that it is not 25 millions, but two or three hundred millions already! And this is already the reason for full-flowing love.

Scorpions forever!

All of us dissolved in Scorpions a bit, and if that part, which never dissolved, understands with some analytical organ, that this process is some strange and inexplicable, but the souls, merged with their music, are not thinking too much about what happened: it could be worse, the “strange” could be not so worthy.

Klaus Meine once said that they like it that we love them so madly, but such love must make a normal person a little uncomfortable: what would happen if I did something wrong and they hated me a little?

They don’t understand that here they are given an indulgence for any stupidity, here they will be forgiven everything, not even realizing that they are forgiven, and that there was something to forgive. This is the love of one’s idol.

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Why are we talking about this particular member of the band? It’s because this song was written entirely by George Harrison. And the majority of the Liverpool Four fans thought that all the songs belonged to McCartney and Lennon. And the band members themselves underestimated the compositional ability of George.

In addition, he had no advisor in the team. Lennon and McCartney competed with each other, but still supported each other when faced with difficulties. The two also perfected writing together.

Harrison, on the other hand, always stayed on the sidelines, creating something that didn’t fit with The Beatles’ usual creativity, mostly because of his “Eastern hobbies.”

How the tenderly crying guitar hit was created

Harrison began writing the music for the future “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” while in India. And the lyrics were written in England while George was visiting his parents’ home in Warrington, pondering the I-Tsing, the Book of Changes. This philosophical text asserts that everything that happens is destined to happen. That there are no coincidences. That everything always has a meaning.

The lyrics of the song “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” arose out of Harrison’s desire to test this judgement. The musician decided to create a work based on the first lines of a randomly opened book picked out of a shelf. This is how the phrase “gently weeps” came to be the starting point of the text.

The difficulties of recording a future hit

When Harrison introduced his creation to the other members of the quartet, they took it with skepticism. The creator of the hit claims that such a reaction was due to the desire to promote only their work.

The work on the record was very hard. A lot of versions were recorded. Some were purely acoustic, others were more electric. But they weren’t good enough for the album. George Harrison wanted the song to be recorded in the acoustic version, but Paul McCartney opposed it. He said the song sounded “un-Beatlesque.”

Some believe that McCartney, who had recorded several acoustic songs, was simply afraid that Harrison’s work would overshadow them.

There was also no guitar “wail” that was needed in this song. Harrison and Lennon took turns performing the solo part. But neither of them could achieve that very sound.

Eric Clapton rushes to the rescue

In an effort to rectify the situation, Harrison called his buddy Eric Clapton to perform the long-suffering solo. At first, the latter was reluctant, because there had never been anyone involved in a Beatles recording before. But George changed his friend’s mind, saying that he would choose who would play his musical creation himself.

In the end, all the band members claimed that Clapton’s involvement was very helpful and helped to ease the tension in the studio. In addition, according to Harrison, McCartney and Lennon initially did not make the necessary effort, and it was only Clapton’s presence that forced them to start treating the recording diligently.

Almost as soon as he showed up, McCartney gave out a suitable introduction on the piano, and the whole subsequent process of recording the song went in the right direction. So there is no doubt that the Beatles were able to finish the record thanks to Eric Clapton.

Satisfied with the result, the Beatles decided to enter “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” into the “White Album”, which was released the same year.

The composition is considered Harrison’s most popular song from that album. The public liked it for its “juicy realism” and Clapton’s brilliant solo.

Interesting Facts

1) The first version of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” had an extra verse. It differed from the final text by a couple of lines.

2) Because of the dissatisfaction with the versions of the composition in the studio about 28 versions of the hit song were recorded in the period from August 17th till September 6th 1968.

3) In 2002, McCartney and Clapton performed Harrison’s song at a concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of Elizabeth II’s accession to the throne.

4) This song was the first that Ringo Starr played after he returned to the quartet (the drummer had left it for a while due to a falling out with McCartney).

5) Numerous compliments for the song prompted Harrison to write its sequel. Thus emerged “This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Grieving),” whose title translates as “This Guitar (Can’t Keep From Grieving).” But it wasn’t quite as successful.

6) Rolling Stone magazine listed “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” as one of the top 100 guitar songs, as well as the 500 greatest songs of all time. On the latter list, it is placed 136th, while the former lists it as 7th.

7) Dhani Harrison, Prince, Jeff Lynn, Tom Petty, Billy Preston and Steve Winwood performed the song at George Harrison’s posthumous induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. It took place in 2004.

8) As any real rock hit should be, there have been many people willing to record their own cover of “While My Guitar Gently Weeps” or a localized version over the years: Santana, Jimmy Ponder, Kenny Rankin, Marc Ribot, Phish, The Rippingtons, Bobby Bryant and even DDT.

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But Deep Purple has succeeded – their new album “inFinite” is their best work in recent years. That’s not surprising, though, considering that nearly 50 years from their founding date, the band still continues to give live performances of the highest level of quality and spectacle.

“inFinite” – an unexpected triumph for Deep Purple

To begin this review of inFinite, I’d like to suggest that this is the first time since 1996’s Purpendicular that Deep Purple have managed to put together such a short, yet so rich collection of great songs.

Their latest effort, 2013’s “Now What!” 2013 wasn’t bad either. But apparently it was just preparation for the triumph of Deep Purple’s new album “inFinite” in 2017.

That’s when (4 years ago) veteran producer Bob Ezrin, who has released about 40 successful albums by various artists and bands, including Alice Cooper, Pink Floyd, Nine Inch Nails, KISS, Deftones and 30 Seconds to Mars, took “command of the parade” in his hands.

The decision to work with Ezrin again turned out to be a great idea, as it’s obvious that this producer knew exactly “what to dance around” for the second time in order to bring out the best from the previous release while making the mistakes that had been made on it.

All 10 tracks of the “inFinite” album are performed at the highest level. Ian Pace and Roger Glover’s heavy rhythm section, as well as Don Airy’s keyboard work, had no complaints before. But this time they tried even better. Also, the quality of the new material has definitely increased, thanks to the brilliant guitar work of Steve Morse and the never aging vocals of Ian Gillan, who sounds as good as ever on this release.

The proportion of Morse’s sound on this album is not as substantial as before, but his solos are still something outstanding, pretty much the same as Airy’s keyboard parts.

Track Impressions

Deep Purple’s new album “inFinite” opens with the powerful track “Time for Bedlam”, which lays the foundation for the entire record. Many people could get acquainted with this track back in December 2016 in the form of the official Lyric video.

The fragments sounding at the beginning and at the end of the song with computer-processed vocals remind a little of the singing of an Orthodox priest during services, but this is most likely an unfortunate coincidence, which only “our” people can pay attention to. All in all, “Time in Bedlam” is quite a “fat” track, perhaps even a hit.

The second song of the album “Hip Boots” shines with its rock’n’roll sound and great solo loops, with which they obviously try to send us back to the roots of rock music.

The third track “All I Got Is You”, which is also the lead single of Deep Purple’s “inFinite” album, is also impossible to listen quietly – your hands keep trying to play an imaginary guitar, accompanied by the same spontaneous headbanging.

Ian Pace’s beautiful introduction, which for some reasons seems out of place, slowly and gently prepares the ground for the explosive work of Airy/Morse, which is complemented at the right moment by Gillan’s vocals.

This seems to be one of Dark Purple’s best things. It’s not likely to become as popular as “Smoke on the Water,” of course, but it’s sure to top many charts.

“One Night in Vegas”, “Get Me Outta Here” and the 7th track “Johnny’s Band” are not as catchy as the first three songs of the album “inFinite”, but they are also very strong in their own way. “One Night in Vegas” especially features Don Airy’s keyboard work, while the rest of the band just plays “level.”

“The Surprising” is the calmest and most melodic track on Deep Purple’s new album, “inFinite” (2017). It uses a rather tricky trick – the first half of the song sets up a certain “stable” mood, unexpectedly complemented by a magical playback in exotic bossa nova style, which kind of hints at the end. But then it all comes back to the original melodically tense “flow”. Anyway, the title of this track is translated as “Unexpected” not for nothing.

In “On Top Of The World” there are some frisky notes, remotely reminding some compositions from rock classics. But this deceptive impression only points out that we are facing real legends who are deservedly “On Top Of The World”, because they are able to create a nostalgic and familiar sound without having to turn to plagiarism.

And also in the “divine” monologue that unexpectedly appears closer to the end, an impressive story is told, the atmosphere of which you immediately penetrate (the background sounds contribute to this).

“Birds of Prey” claims to be the heaviest track on Deep Purple’s “inFinite” album. This song is especially captivated by Morse’s cosmic, multifaceted solo parts and Ian Gillan’s processed (in the beginning) and then clear inspirational vocals. This composition can be easily looped and listened to for hours on end, and it will not get boring – it has been tested in practice.

In the “inFinite” cover of “Roadhouse Blues” by The Doors, found at the very end of the album, Deep Purple do what they do best – they extrapolate the good old blues and take it to entirely new, progressive heights.

Verdict

For those who thought Deep Purple had already shown everything they could do, the new album “inFinite” is an unexpected and powerful argument, proving that their assumptions are very far from the truth.

Despite the fact that the sound of some songs is spiced up with samples and other computer tricks in a very modern way, this record won’t disappoint fans of classic Deep Purple, but lovers of good rock music will find it easy to listen to, risking settling on the “Need to listen again and again” playlist.

And even more than that, it’s safe to say that “inFinite” is not just a good Deep Purple album, but the best rock album you’ll hear in 2017. There will be dissatisfied people, of course, but they will hardly be able to spoil the experience for those who can adequately evaluate this release (I naively include myself among the latter, even though I am not an ardent fan of “dark purple”).

As for how we rate Deep Purple’s new album “inFinite” in our review, it’s quite simple: we have exactly ten tracks, seven of which deserve one point each, and the other three (4th, 5th and 7th) are middling, which means we rate them half a point each.

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The record owes its unusual title to an incident that happened to the band’s frontman Corey Taylor in a typical “stuck in time” old airport in an Eastern European country: trying to figure out where he needed to go to catch his plane, he was reading flight information on “old-school signs from the 80s.” Because the signs were constantly changing (Cyrillic and Latin versions in different languages), he mistakenly read one of them as “Hydrograd”, though it was actually some other word (Corey was not able to find out which one, because nothing like that appeared on the board again).

Subsequently, this word seemed “cool” to him and quite appropriate for titling the album. The cover, apparently, was created under the same impressions, given the predominance of red, the star. Particularly striking are the phrases “You Suck All the Way” and “Hello Gads” (I wish I knew to whom they were addressed – communism, the stalled Eastern European countries or someone more specific?).

Of the new Stone Sour album “Hydrograd”, Corey says, “It has everything you could ever want from a rock and roll album. It’s probably one of the things I’m most proud of in my life.”

And it seems to be for good reason – the reaction from many fans and critics hints that we’re looking at one of Stone Sour’s best works since the release of their 2002 album of the same name. This means that the 2017 album “Hydrograd” will definitely be a sales and awards success.

Although personally, I’m only excited about half of the tracks. The rest are just good. Well, without a couple of passing songs too. But first things first.

The glorious city of “Hydrograd”

In fact, the Stone Sour album “Hydrograd” is a pretty good straightforward compilation of about fifteen songs (the Japanese version has two more) in the hard rock/heavy metal genre with a little admixture of punk rock and the band’s signature alternative style. According to the band members, Christian Martucci, who replaced Jim Root on lead guitar, was one of the factors that made the album so unusual.

As for the tracks that make up Stone Sour’s “Hydrograd” album, I want to detail only those that I really liked in the review.

“Ysif” is an atmospheric, ominous and impressive intro at the same time. You could pick up many more similar adjectives (dark, moody, mystical), but essentially you just have to listen to it to understand what it’s about. All in all, as an accompaniment sounding during the entrance/exit to a certain city called “Hydrograd”, very cool.

“Taipei Person/Allah Tea” is the song with the original title, which contains just the most excellent, very varied instrumental lineup. I also want to mention the change of Corey’s vocal style from heavy (in couplets) to light (in chorus) – at first it seemed that it didn’t really fit, but after the second listening I got into the theme and loved this track forever.

“Hydrograd”. I wish that the song repeating the title of the new Stone Sour album was not so ambiguous. But it is what it is. In the beginning, except separate notes which are similar with the atmosphere of “Ysif”, nothing else caught your attention.

But closer to the middle, the song becomes more interesting. First, the sarcastic and triumphant Cory Taylor’s phrase “I’m not better than you, I’m just better” that starts the second verse (when the music fades out briefly) and continues the theme of the Hydrograd album cover (“You suck all the way”) caught on.

And then, before the third verse, there’s a powerful playback that is, in part, thanks to Martucci. It’s fragments like this that make it clear just how much of a virtuoso musician the band managed to get. All in all, the song, though not the best song on the album, is quite successful in its role as the track that carries the essence of the album.

“Fabuless” is the song that gives you a chance to shake your hayer. This is something more lively and interesting in terms of sound, vocals, emotions. In short, this is the heavy artillery, which Stone Sour used to disarm those who think that “Hydrograd” is a bad album. By the way, I noticed the phrase “It’s only rock & roll (but I like it)” in the lyrics, which, as I understand it, is a reference to The Rolling Stones.

Special mention should be made of the schizo video made for this track, which you should definitely watch.

“Rose Red Violent Blue (This Song Is Dumb & So Am I)”. An interesting start, and overall the track is very unusual and catchy. A kind of Southern indie rock, with Taylor reflecting on his age and how everything in his life has changed. The choruses were a bit “drained” of that originality, but I liked it overall.

“Thank God It’s Over” is sublime rock that highlights Taylor’s vocal abilities and the band’s stellar musicality. Peppy riffs, pretty catchy chorus. Score.

“St. Marie” is a lyrical love song, quite atypical for the Hydrograd album and Stone Sour in general. I’d even say – a blues-country-rock ballad with a very interesting backing towards the end (a Hawaiian guitar?) and almost a church choir in the background, which is pretty appropriate, considering the title and the theme of the song.

It seems to me that with this track, awakening in the listener’s soul a bouquet of various feelings, Corey Taylor and company as if to say: “We still can do this, but the time has not come yet.

“Mercy.” Another pretty catchy “level” song, which Hydrograd would like to see more of.

“Whiplash Pants” and “Somebody Stole My Eyes” are heavy, venomous, fast-paced, aggressive, brain-breaking tracks that will appeal to anyone who “tastes” the “rare but apt” drive of Taylor and company.

“When The Fever Broke” is an atmospheric, melancholy song with a powerful solo and a touch of mystique. In my opinion, it’s the best lyrical track not only on the “Hydrograd” album, but in the whole Stone Sour oeuvre. Every time you listen to it again and again you discover something new in it (from goosebumps to tears in your eyes).

The rest of the tracks from the new Sour album “Hydrograd” didn’t quite work out for me. It seems like the sounding is high, and the vocals. But you can’t expect anything else from a band of such level. In general all it is somehow “standard” and poorly remembered. No, I’m not saying that “Knievel Has Landed”, “Song #3”, “The Witness Trees”, and “Friday Knights” are bad tracks. It’s just that there are a lot of these songs from Stone Sour and competing bands alike. The only frankly satisfying thing is that there are fewer of them than, for example, on Nickelback’s recently released new album “Feed The Machine.”

Is “Hydrograd” good or bad?

“Hydrograd” is a pretty long hard rock/metal album with a dose of delightful “old school” elements referencing everything from Led Zeppelin to early Metallica. But it’s not a move back to the 80’s at all, no – it’s a talentedly realized modern take on nostalgic metal. This is truly the new Stone Sour – the way you don’t expect to hear them.

That’s why this record may not appeal to hardcore alternative and nu-metal fans who forget that Stone Sour is no Slipknot. And vice versa, classic hard rockers who previously had a hard time perceiving Stone Sour’s music will definitely like “Hydrograd”.

Me, being in between these two categories of music lovers, and leaning a bit more towards the latter, I can estimate the new Stone Sour album “Hydrograd” as “good, but could be better”.

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