Kate Nash - Fri-end?

During this weekend my ears is filled with pop again. The music festival Popaganda is running at Eriksdalsbadet, Stockholm, Sweden, on the 30th-31st of August 2013.

The Popaganda festival and club are arranged by the Popaganda organization in association with Luger. This year is the sixth time that the Popaganda festival is arranged at Eriksdalsbadet in Stockholm. It is the eleventh festival since the start in 2002, back then located on the campus of the Stockholm University.

One of the artist on my stage yesterday was Kate Nash, a girl that I do like, even if she has become more crazier than last time I saw her live, but this was really good.

In the mid-00's Kate Nash became one of the leading figures of the so-called "MySpace" artists, got a record deal and hit big. She got an explosive breakthrough in 2007, when her debut album "Made of Bricks" reached the British album chart first place.

Six years later and two additional albums into her career, she started her own label and focused more and more on guitar-based Riot Grrrl-punk rather than kind piano-pop. And the new turn is pretty cool and last night it was pretty crazy on the stage when a bunch of kids was invited to dance with her, so that the entire stage swayed, almost so that the stage floor went to pieces. Lucky that it didn't break.

Todays tune "Fri-End?" taken from the third album "Girl Talk". Nash self-released the album under Have 10p Records along with Fontana in March 2013 after she raised money for the album on PledgeMusic. Girl Talk has received mixed to positive reviews from critics. Featuring a heavier rock-influenced sound, the album is a noticeable departure from her first two indie pop albums. Lyrically, it draws a lot of influence from the Riot Grrrl movement. Girl Talk did not achieve the chart success of its predecessors, and its singles "3AM" and "OMYGOD!" failed to chart. The third Single "Fri-End?" from Girl Talk will be released on 7 October.

The vinyl LP version of the record was pressed by United Record Pressing in Nashville, TN.





More info @

Official Kate Nash Blog

Listen to ”Kate Nash - Fri-end?" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Zara Larsson - Uncover

Rockbjörnen is a music prize in Sweden, divided into several categories, which is awarded annually by the newspaper Aftonbladet. The magazine's web browser appoint laureates. The prize was first awarded in 1979, and is mostly centered on pop and rock.

2010 they decided to redo Rockbjörnen and focus more on live performances. This initiative was hailed by artists and industry. The period of Rockbjörnen was extended with the concept of development from one month to three months (all summer).

Well it was a pretty strange evening at Gröna Lund and if you take a closer look on what the menu is offering during this evening you start to wonder if it's time to start think about chance the name from Rockbjörnen to Popbjörnen (Rockbear to Popbear) as to be honest, there is not much rock left here.
After a short chat with Sabaton, one of the Rock band that was nominated, they felt pretty lost in there, the same feeling I believe Lizette & and Ghost had.

Anyway, here you got this years winners:

Foreign Song of the year: Passenger: ”Let her go”
Livegroup of the year: Mando Diao
Swedish Concert of the year: Håkan Hellström
Hardrock/Metal of the year: Sabaton
Swedish Song of the year: Håkan Hellström ”Det kommer aldrig vara över för mig”
Breakthrough of the year: Zara Larsson
Male Artist of the year: Håkan Hellström
Female Artist of the year: Zara Larsson

And then we need to pick a song from this event. Well this years breakthrough was pretty cool, a 15 year old girl that sings awesome.

Zara received national fame for winning the TV4 talent show Talang 2008, the Swedish version of Got Talent. She is currently signed to TEN Music Group since 2012. She had a breakthrough with her debut EP album Introducing, released in January 2013, with the single "Uncover" topping the charts in Sweden, Norway, and Denmark. Both the single "Uncover" as well as the album Introducing were certified triple platinum in July 2013 by Universal Music Sweden. Zara signed with Sony Music Entertainment in the United States in April 2013. She lives with her mother, father and her one sister.

Todays tune "Uncover" is taken from the EP Introducing. Enjoy!

More info @

Official Zara Larsson Blog

Listen to ”Zara Larsson - Uncover" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Youssou N’Dour feat Neneh Cherry - 7 Seconds

The Senegalese artist Youssou N’Dour and Finnish composer Kaija Saariaho did this tuesday (27/8) received the 2013 Polar Music Prize from His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf of Sweden at a gala ceremony at the Stockholm Concert Hall.

The Award of one million Swedish kronor ($145 000) each was handed over by the King together with specially made paintings by Swedish artist Jens Fänge. Citations were read by Swedish football player Henrik Larsson and Finnish mezzo soprano Lilli Paasikivi.

Among the artists who celebrated the Laureates were Neneh Cherry and Carlou D who performed Youssou N’Dour and Neneh Cherry’s 1994 hit “7 Seconds”. Swedish soprano Hanna Husáhr performed two pieces by Kaija Saariaho together with The Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra.

The Polar Music Prize was founded in 1991 by the late Stig “Stikkan” Anderson, the musical entrepreneur and manager behind ABBA. The Prize is awarded to two individuals, groups or institutions in recognition of exceptional achievements in the creation and advancement of music. “Our dad liked to say, ‘Music has no boundaries, it touches, influences and changes the world’”, says Marie Ledin, daughter of Stig Anderson and Managing Director of the Polar Music Prize.

Here is a video from the event: 

The celebration continues during the evening with a banquet at the Grand Hôtel in Stockholm with celebrity guests such as the Swedish Royal Family, ministers of the Swedish Government, legendary U.S. music entrepreneur Seymour Stein, Polar Music Prize Laureate of 2006 John Paul Jones of Led Zeppelin, Nobel Prize Laureate in Economic Sciences in 1990 William F. Sharpe, Bianca Jagger of the Bianca Jagger Human Rights Foundation and many more from the arts, music and cultural industries. This banquet was the place where I did the work, hidding in the shadows of fame.

"The Polar Music Prize 2013 is awarded to Youssou N’Dour from Senegal. A West African griot is not just a singer, but a story teller, poet, singer of praise, entertainer and verbal historian. Youssou N’Dour is maintaining the griot tradition and has shown that it can also be changed into a narrative about the entire world. With his exceptionally exuberant band Super Étoile de Dakar (Dakar Star) and his musically ground breaking and political solo albums, Youssou N’Dour has worked to reduce animosities between his own religion, Islam, and other religions. His voice encompasses an entire continent's history and future, blood and love, dreams and power."

Todays tune "7 Seconds" is a song composed by Youssou N'Dour, Neneh Cherry, Cameron McVey and Jonathan Sharp, released in 1994 as a single performed by Youssou N'Dour and Neneh Cherry.

The song also appeared on N'Dour's album The Guide (Wommat), released shortly after the single. In 1996, it was included on Neneh Cherry's album Man.

The song was featured in the 1998 movie Northern Skirts and 2005 Uwe Boll-directed movie Alone in the Dark. "7 Seconds" was also performed at Live 8 by Dido and Youssou N'Dour





More info @

Official Youssou N’Dour Web
Official Polar Music Prize Web

Listen to ”Youssou N’Dour - 7 Seconds" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Lars Winnerbäck - Elegi

Last Saturday was the opening ceremony for the new Arena here in Stockholm known as Tele2 Arena. With a majestic and domestic lineup, it was almost a given that it would be sold out evening and of course it got sold out. With artists like Robyn, Lars Winnerbäck and Kent. I could say that these are the three biggest artists in Sweden in each genre.

It was an interesting evening where the music was in focus and the speech where the stadium was officially opened only lasted for about 10 minutes.

To summarize the evening in short:  Zhala was pretty odd as warm up act, didn't understand it. Robyn had a really cool show with nice lightning, the sound was big and heavy and you could really feel when the bass hit your body. Lars Winnerbäck felt a bit stiff in the start but straightened up during the set and was more heavy than usual, wonder if it's his plan to get more rocking riffs than the calm acoustic singer songwriter he usual is associated with, if that's the case, then it's thumbs up! The lightning during his set was pretty awesome, the lightning tech did a great job here. The last one out was Kent, that really gave an good show and delivered a pearl band of their hits, an awesome ending.  All the setlist is below.

Here you can see a few sharpys :)

Todays tune "Elegi" is taken from the album "Vatten under broarna", released in 2004.





Robyn Setlist:

Show Me Love
Cry When You Get Older
U Should Know Better
Hang with Me (Paola cover)
Tell You Today (NY Loose cover) (with Christian Falk)
Dream On (Christian Falk cover) (with Christian Falk)
With Every Heartbeat (Robyn with Kleerup cover)
Dancing on My Own
The Girl and the Robot (Röyksopp cover)
Indestructible
We Dance to the Beat / Don't Fucking Tell Me What to Do

Lars Winnerbäck Setlist:

Vi åkte aldrig ut till havet
Dunkla Rum
Gå med mig vart jag går
Dom tomma stegen
Elden
Åt samma håll
Ett sällsynt exemplar
Söndermarken
Elegi

Kent Setlist:

999
Ingenting
Utan dina andetag
Musik Non Stop
Petroleum
Jag ser dig
Sjukhus
747

Encore:
Ingen kunde röra oss
Mannen i den vita hatten (16 år senare)

More info @

Official Lars Winnerbäck Web

Listen to ”Lars Winnerbäck - Elegi" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M.

First I want to give a huge thanks to Chief Rebel Angel for his contribution at Tune Of The Day with his "The Rebel Angel Ramblings", Thank You!

With his inspiring articles about impressions and ideas regarding music in general has created a new glow for me and my writing, this might change and widespread existing content into something new and more interesting for your readers, how this will affect the blog is too early to say, I still have a hectic time to go thru before it's calming down a bit and i can take a breath. But when the time comes we will see what happens.

So the upcoming post here at Tune Of The Day will be of the shorter variety, but I do have some stories to tell, as it has been a busy time and hopefully Thetania gets the lust to write something.

During last week there has been a Gospel Show at The Globe, The Opening Ceremony of Tele2 Arena, preparing the banquet for the Polar Prize and a Really Crazy show at Gröna Lund with Wu-Tang Clan.

So lets start with the Crazy thing today.  Wu-Tang Clan created chaos when they visited Gröna Lund (amusement park) in Stockholm last week. The nine rappers from the hip-hop collective from Staten Island, New York, got the audience to climb the trees, on the roofs, on the carousels to get a glimpse of the scene. Looked pretty Crazy so to say, never seen this at Gröna Lund before.

Photo by Aftonbladet

Once again the park had to close the gates as the park was full. The police was called to the scene as the Park Security could not manage the safety any longer as approximately 17,000 crazy people created a chaos in the park.

A total of 90 crimes were reported to police during the evening. It includes drug offences, but also some violations of the weapon law, crimes against knife law, rioting and assaulting a police officer. So in other words a pretty messy evening.

Photos by Aftonbladet

The Clan first became known to hip hop fans, and to major record labels, in 1993 following the release of the independent single "Protect Ya Neck", which immediately gave the group a sizeable underground following. Though there was some difficulty in finding a record label that would sign Wu-Tang Clan while still allowing each member to record solo albums with other labels, Loud/RCA finally agreed, releasing their debut album, Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers), in late 1993. This album was popular and critically-acclaimed, though it took some time to gain momentum. The success of Enter the Wu-Tang: 36 Chambers established the group as a creative and influential force in early 1990s hip hop, allowing Ol' Dirty Bastard, GZA, RZA, Raekwon, Method Man and Ghostface Killah to negotiate solo contract.

Todays tune "C.R.E.A.M." ("Cash Rules Everything Around Me") is taken from their 1993 studio album, "Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)". The song was produced by Wu-Tang Clan leader RZA, and samples The Charmels' 1967 song, "As Long As I've Got You". "C.R.E.A.M." was released as a single through Loud in early 1994.





More info @

Official Wu-Tang Clan Web

Listen to ”Wu-Tang Clan - C.R.E.A.M." on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Entombed - Chief Rebel Angel

Friends, good & evil people - this is the end.
Well, not for Tune Of The Day, but rather for The Rebel Angel Ramblings.
Tomorrow, Stones and Thetania will be back in the coal mine again, slugging out all these wonderful tunes and little golden nuggets of information, and you will be let off the hook.
The posts will start to make sense again, and follow some kind of logic.
Hopefully, you've enjoyed this week, and not lost all interest in TOTD.
I hope not.

Also, I know I promised that we were going to look into some tunes taken from my All-Star Fantasy Band, but...
a) My nick-name is Chief Rebel Angel. If the rebelling angel was cast from heaven and thus invented hell, you just know a guy called the Chief Rebel Angel cannot be trusted.
b) I thought I was going to do it at the time I promised it, but... I just got so carried away with all the other stuff. Perhaps the planning should have been a bit more thought through, but there you go....

So.
Is there a better way to say thanx than letting the almighty ENTOMBED rock away in the song from wich I have stolen the nick-name?
Probably not.
I can't think of one, anyway.
Well.. maybe I can.

ENTOMBED doing "Chief Rebel Angel" at the  Stockholm Royal Ballet, thus combining beaty and cruelty in a perfect way!



Like it?
It is taken from the Swedish Grammy Awards, and also leads in to the final words of this series.
A bit of a reflection from my side. Some thoughts:

• It is quite difficult to find good quality video material at YouTube, especially if you are looking for something a bit more obscure. in retrospect, all the tunes I have chosen are "safe bets", and you probably know all of them already. Sorry about that..
• It has been FUN! At least for me... :)
• It has been quite a lot of work, perhaps especially as I have not let my own blog Metal! rest during this week... Not the wisest of moves, but then.. perhaps that is not my best charasteristic quality! 

So.
Perhaps we will see each other again, perhaps The Rebel Angel Ramblings will be back. If you want it to, you'll have to say so - especially to the Tune Of The Day guys Stones and Thetania.
Thanks for letting me ramble on, thanks for reading.
See ya!

More info @

The Rebel Angel Ramblings Blog
Official Entombed Web

Listen to ”Entombed - Chief Rebel Angel" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Behemoth - Slaves Shall Serve

 

Do you have kids?
One or more little rascals that you love sometimes and that can drive you completely insane other times?
I do.
And as we are going to discuss something very important today, you'll have to either imagine that you have kids, or take everything that is written from now on in this post with a bit of patience (obviously depending on the answer you gave to the initial question).
Yes, we are going to discuss the musical education of the kids.
Or, as I've called it in a column at my own blog, "The Highway To Hell".
It is a long post that stakes the way from "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star" to the extremest of metal, and I actually once posted it on Facebook.
Big mistake.
Should not have done that.
Swedes - or, at least, the acquaintances I have on Facebook - seemed to take everything deadly serious, and have had comments regarding my unwillingness to let my children choose their own path.
Come on - I love my kids, and even though it sometimes feels that the worst things they could put me through is join the church and become politically active, I would support them no matter what!

However.
I would like them to become rockers, and I'll admit straight away: I try to influence them, and make it so.
I even have a plan. A 6 step way to drag them with me to hell (by the way, don't you just love the first picture, the top one? It's by Soul on Deviant Art, a great place to find everything art related you need!).
I'll not go into them in depth, but the steps are, in short:

1) Basic rytm and singing. This is the baby months, and include all the known children tunes like "Twinkle Twinkle Little Star".
2) Rock'n'Roll and Metal basics. Easy classics that can make any child dance and want to sing along. AC/DC, IRON MAIDEN and the likes. 
3) Faster, Dirtier. The next phase of metal, introducing METALLICA and their brethren...
4) Growl. Learning how to enjoy metal with vocals that are not clean is a big step, and to help me with that I will call upon the likes of IN FLAMES and AMORPHIS.
5) ...The madness is spreading. Once accepting growl, a landscape of more extreme metal opens up. this landscape is inhabited by BEHEMOTH, BOLT THROWER and black metal acts like WATAIN and MARDUK.
6) Beyond the realms of sanity. After realising that the acts mentioned in step 5 are really not the most extreme metal there is, you'll want to look further, and into the eyes of acts like NASUM, FUNERAL MIST and others.

So.
A crash-course in how to became a metal head.
I have two boys. One is turning 5 soon enough, and the other is 2.
Even though they were both headbanging to THE SWORD the other day, I'd say that they are really at stage one and two.
This is the most popular rockalbum/son so far:

They are officially called VAN HALEN, but the housename from my kids are "THE BABIES", obviously due to the brilliant cover.
The song, of course, is "Jump".
Yes, it has been played over and over. In the radio, on parties, karaoke nights and dance floors, and it is a song that you might be a bit fed up with...but there is no denying that this song has that quality that makes it a classic that can really lure kids into rock'n'roll.
So, todays tune is something completelly different.
It is a song from the level were I feel comfortable myself - after all, the path takes a lifetime to walk...



This is BEHEMOTH, with the tune "Slaves Shall Serve". It is taken from the album "Demigod", a small master-piece if you ask me. Nowadays, the band has fought off religious madness in their homeland Poland, frontman Nergals leukemia and turned into one the bands with the fanciest video productions of all metal bands (surch YouTube for videos to "Ov Fire And The Void" or "Alas, The Lord Is Upon Me" and ypu'll see what I mean).
This is also a kind of music were I am at comfortable.
I listen to more aggressive, challenging and extreme metal as well, but that still takes a toll on me and I have to focus to appriciate a band like NAPALM DEATH in their grindy moments.

So.
I am evil, devious and a parent with a plan.
I want to share rock'n'roll concerts with my kids, and be able to give them an education within the records of rock'n'roll and metal.
Don't try and say that you are so different, even though your hopes might not be for them to become full-blown metal heads with their ears filled with semi-satanic music....

More info @

The Rebel Angel Ramblings Blog
Official Behemoth Web

Listen to ”Behemoth - Slaves Shall Serve" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Mastodon - Iron Tusk

Imagine that you are stranded on a deserted island.
On it, there is this lounge with a great stereo, a comfortable couch, all placed in the shade.
With trembling hands you try the stereo, and as in a miracle - it actually works!
The only catch is - all you can find is a box with three records in it.
You have no way of getting more, and these three records will be you company until you die of starvation in a few weeks time. As a grant from higher/lower powers, you get to choose the three records.
Wich.
Records.
Do.
You.
Choose?

That eternal "desert island"-question is part of todays ramblings.
The other part is the fact that I would answer that question completely different depending on the time in my life - simply because I have a knack for falling completely and totally in love with new great records. Often, a bit more so than what is probably healthy.
This, I belive, is something I share with others - and I think that both Stones (perhaps especially him, maybe that is why his pile of records that he has bought and just do not seem to get around to just keeps growing?) and Thetania has a bit of that personality as well.
In the first Rebel Angel Rambling, I revealed that my top 5 favourite albums of all time are:
BLACK SABBATH "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
DIO "The Last In Line"
QUEENSRYCHE "Operation: Mindcrime"
PARADISE LOST "Draconian Times"
OPETH "Ghost Reveries"
...and they dominate my "Most Played" on iTunes - but, nevertheless, I would probably just grab one of them if I got the question from the beginning of this post.
Instead, I would add some of my own favourites at the moment.
This year, 2013, is turning out to be a solid music year.
I fell completely and a bit surprisingly in love with SOILWORK "The Living Infinite" earlier this year (did not think they would be able to pull it off, making a double album that has no dead moments at all), as well as a bit less surprisingly with the third and excellent KONGH-album "Sole Creation".
The third album that obsessed me - and the one that is currently taking all the airtime from me - is this one:

Vancouverbased ANCIIENTS plays music that rings familiar if you like acts like BARONESS, MASTODON, OPETH and KYLESA - but it is very much an album that stands on it's own and cannot be called a copy. It has that special magic touch that makes you want to listen again and again...and again. In fact, I've missed a few deadlines when it comes to reviews of other albums just beacause I could not face listening to anything else than "Heart Of Oak" from ANCIIENTS....but don't tell anyone.
After all, as Homer Simpson said: "Remember son, it's only cheating if you get caught", and as those deadlines were not written in blood I think it is fine. Some records just had to wait a week or two to get their albumreview published.

Looking back over the years, it is quite easy to pinpoint a specific album to a specific point of time in my life, especially when something important or memorable happened.
On the Metalblog, the spring has had a specific series of article that takes a deeper look into that (you'll find it here, it's called "Besatt" (meaning "Possessed") and it is all in Swedish), and as I am currently writing the fall season of that series - a new post will be published every other Sunday - I cannot help wondering if I will ascosiate ANCIIENTS with this late summer, and perhaps the Rebel Angel Ramblings.
Quite possible.
Especially as I am at a happy place in my life right now.
Everything...flows.
That makes it especially weird, as I once discovered MASTODON "Leviathan", an album that reminds me very much of ANCIIENTS "Heart Of Oak", at a very dark time in my life.

The record was released more or less at the same time as I went through a quite dirty divorce, and as it turned out it became a big comfort and energy booster when I needed it the most.
The heavy and catchy riffing, the energy and drive in the music and the out-of-this-world-drumming will forever fill me with thoughts and feelings of hope,slightly tainted with a small bit of sorrow and dark memories.
As I could not find any good video from ANCIIENTS, I thought that it would be fitting to play MASTODON, once a definite record that would have been one of the three in my box.



The band is Troy Sanders (bass and vocals), Brett Hinds (guitar and vocals), Bill Keliher (guitar) and Brann Dailor (drums), and I'd like to say that this record was their big brake and transformed them from a promising band to superstars. They went on to create concept albums like "Blood Mountain", "Crack The Skye" with windling stories built into them, as well as the latest and more straight forward "The Hunter".
It has become one of my most-played bands, it it will be interesting to see if ANCIIENTS can walk that very same road.

So - my three records right now, on that deserted island:
ANCIIENTS "Heart Of Oak"
BLACK SABBATH "Sabbath Bloody Sabbath"
SOILWORK "The Living Infinite".

Tomorrow, it may very well be something completely different.
Wich ones are your three albums for the island?

More info @

The Rebel Angel Ramblings Blog
Official Mastodon Web

Listen to ”Mastodon - Iron Tusk" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Bombus - Enter The Night

Ooooohhh.... it is only just over 4 months left to one of the best days of the year. Every year. Yes - I am talking of the Annual Metal Night (or, as it is called in swedish, "Hårdrockskväll"), taking place every Twelfth Night (Trettondagsafton, again in swedish).
It is quite a simple idea from the start, that has grown to become less simple - and today, I am going to psychoanalyze and ramble on abaout the different personalities that are a part of this.
First off - some background and information so you are all on the same page here.

It started out some 5-7 years ago with a friend of mine that had this idea of a party. He said, "create a burned CD with some 10 songs that you think are classics and join us next friday".
Brilliant idea, as we then proceeded to play through every friends CD and drink beer during we laughed at each others horrible taste and sense of what a "classic" was.
The concept, of course, was way to good to just let go.
That was 2007, if I'm not mistaken.
Now, the concept has grown a lot, and the people have changed some.
The friend that started everything with his idea has not been a part of the Tyresö Metal Society since then (even though I hope to get him on board every year!), and everything is way more organized.
We shift host (best that way, as the neighbourhood tends to get a but sceptic after a day and a night of 15 hours metal on maximum volume) every year, and the host has heavy obligations.
He buys beer, snacks and liquor in advance.
He makes sure there are seatings so that all of us (we are 12 at the moment) can fit in there.
He orders/makes food and the night snack (usually pizza and hot dogs later on, a bit of a cliché but.. hey, we're rockers that are drinking beer. We ARE a cliché!)

The biggest difference has been on the songs though.
We have a spreadsheet with all of the different cathegories we can think of (Best Song Live, Best Black Metal, Best Guitar rif, Best Drumming, and so on), and every autumn we meet up to do the very serious voting.
Each member has 10 points that he can distribute as he pleases (so you can place all of your points on one cathegory, or 2 points on five differnt cathegories each, or.. well, you understand. It is also possible to use them negativily, so you can make sure that a certain cathegory you do not like is winning). Everyone wotes, either remotely or on site, and you have to decide how you are going to vote before it all starts.
In the end, the cathegories with the most points gets to be represented at the upcoming Twelfth Night.
We coose 7 songs, to be completed with the ever present number 8 cathegory "Best Right Now".
So, each member brings a CD with 8 tracks on them.
12 members.
That is quite a lot of music, and we play them cathegory by cathegory (so, everyones number on track first, that is also the cathegory with the most points in the voting).
It is a great evening, and for a lot of us it starts sometime in august or september when we try to decide wich songs we are going to be presented.
It's all a secret to the others, and it is not uncommon to try and find something very obscure that no one has ever heard before (and that is still, of course, kick-ass great).

So - the gang then.

It'r really not a pretty sight, but it is a merry bunch.
Instead of naming every one, I'll do my own versions of who we are... from a mocking perspective!
There is The Black Metal Guy, The Power Metal Guy, The Grunge-and-Rock Guy, The Metal Core Guy, The Guy That Always Get Really Drunk, The Other Guy That Always Get Very Drunk, The Guy That Tries To Introduce New Songs As Well As Classics Because He Can Never Decide (that's me!), The Guy Who Looses His Record On The Subway On The Way There...
In short, we are very much unlike each other - even though we are all rockers.
That is probably the key as well, as the night would be boring (musically) otherwise.
After all, 12 records of 8 songs each results in.. some 9 hours ofmusic if every song is roughly 5 minutes. We start at around 3 pm, so we finish around midnight, heads ringing and ears bleeding.

Stones is part of the Society, Thetania is not. At the moment, at least, the difficulty is rather the amount of people than anything else.
Stones is perhaps the type of personality that is best for the rest of us, as he constantly brings two things to the table:
a) the ugliest merch t-shirts
b) new, never heard of and exiting music for the rest of us the check out further

Yes. This is the Stones tee from last time. It is, to be nice, not a heavy metal tee....

However - the tune for today is a brand spanking new song, from a band that Stones have NOT played at anyone of these occasions, but that is something I feel is typical for him and that might just have been something he pulled out of his hat.
It is Gothenbourg rockers BOMBUS, with the new video for "Enter The Night", taken from the new "The Poet And The Parrot".



Excellent song, excellent video - and the perfect way to honour Stones.
BOMBUS has released two records, "the Poet And The Parrot" being the sophomore outing after the self titled debut.
The band consists of the following dudes:

As you can see, these guys are your typical rockers, and I am a bit surprised that Stones have not already pushed them to the Metal Society, especially since he reviewed the debut for Werock.
Interesting to see if he includes them this time, even though I do not think so.
Stones is of another sort.
He wants to surprice.
To reveal something unexpected. I'm half way there but so far have been a bit of a coward and included some known tunes as well, sort trying to eat the cake and have it at the same time...

However - this year, the Society has decided to do something a bit different.
There will be no voting, and instead we will have a free year.
Bring 8 great songs.
That, my friends, seem to turn out an even bigger challenge, as there are no framework at all to relate to, and I have already started fretting about songs that are fan-fucking-tastisc but probably will not make it to the final version of my record...


More info @

The Rebel Angel Ramblings Blog
Official Bombus Web

Listen to ”Bombus - Enter The Night" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!

Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast

Do you remember how it started?
That one song that made you into the music lover that you are, regardless if you are into house, metal oor brit pop?
I do.
And that is something we are going to discuss in todays post.

Above, a pic of me. I'm sorry, but that is what I look like. It does not get better, but the reason I wanted to show you that it is quite obvious for anyone that I am a rocker.
That is where my heart is.
And have been since that day my uncle played something called... MANOWAR.
Yes, in hindsight and retrospect it does feel kind of cheezy, and when we had that cathegory at the Tyresö Metal Society ("Song That Made You A Rocker"), I was a bit drunk and a bit ashamed.
Still, the song that definately made it for me was "Metal Daze" from the MANOWAR-album "Battle Hymns".

I think it was something about the riffing, and especially in the beginning of the song, that called to me. After that, he followed with other songs that had a great way of starting, such as SAXON "Crusader" and ACCEPT "Fast As A Shark".
Or at least that is how I remember it, I can't say for sure.
Neither Stones or Thetania was part of the Tyresö Metal Society at that time, so I really do not know wich songs they would name as their "Song That Made You A Rocker/Shocker/Music Freak", but I'll guess.
I know Thetania loves IN FLAMES, but probably that is a bit to new for her to fall in love, so I'll go with something older... let's say something with RUSH?
Stones I guess is LED ZEPPELIN, but the actual song is more difficult... so I'll go the easy way and NOT say "Stairway To Heaven". Instead I think it was from something earlier, and I'm going for.. "Whole Lotta Love". Or "Ramble On".

Anyhow, the tune of today has nothing to do with their choices.
Instead, I've been thinking about the importance of a great intro to a legendary song.
If you look at the title track from BLACK SABBATHS debut, it is a good song - but what makes it great and legendary is really the beginning of it. The thunder, the rain and the bell.
That makes all the difference.
Also, almost all of the songs that I can remember from my childhood that really meant something had some kind of intro ("Crusader", "Holy Diver" and especially todays tune) to make it... larger than life.
Kind of.

And the song that has created more rockers than any other song in the world is probably todays tune.
The spoken introduction, the riffing in the beginning, Bruce Dickinsons surpressed singing in the beginning and excellent performance later on in the song, the simple lyrics that still hold some kind of secret and the name of the song... all of it was, of course, irresistable to kids back then.
IRON MAIDEN "Number Of The Beast"!

Parents and teachers hated it.
Kids loved it and wanted to know more (even though the coolest cover and the best picture for a badge was the Eddie-with-the-axe from "Killers") and show other kids that you were part of the heavy metal subculture.
The magazine Okej made rockers and "synthezeiser geeks" (or, in swedish, hårdrockare vs synthare) argue endlessly with each other about who really had the best taste.
Looking back, I'd say it was a tie. Neither of the sides won - because there was no such thing as good taste.
Instead of good taste, those of us who sided with the rockers got a life-long infection.
I still dress in jeans and a heavy metal tee, all of the time (well, that is a bit of a lie as I wear a suite during the days at the office, but whenever I get the chance a roll up my sleeves to scare other office rats with my tattoos). I even remember one time when I visited my sister in the swedish city Lund, a city based solely in the local university and the atmosphere of being stuck-up because of that.
I wore jeans and a WHITESNAKE-tee.
The students I met at the street laughed at me.
Little did these poor kids know that I did not even feel antagonized, I felt sorry. For them, because they will miss a life of love for rock'n'roll-music and being at peace with who you are.
That who you are is good enough.

Oh, okay, perhaps they are music lovers as well and will have a lifetime of pooring out champagne into the sink while dancing to music that has been remixed and recorded - and that is fine.
As long as they enjoy music.
Personally, I try and force metal on my kids.
The result is... somewhat dissapointing, but we can look into that another day.
Today, we'll focus on what one one my friends since back then (Mattias, the globe traveller!) says is the best heavy metal song ever made.
It is part of this album.

"The Number Of The Beast" as an album is, I think, a bit overrated.
It includes a few fantastic songs, but also some that are really not that great.
Time and heavy metal history (the fact that it is the album when the classic vocals by Dickinson was established, and all the stories like this one) has made it into a colossus that usually wins several votes when it comes to "the greatest album ever made".
It is not.
But it might be the album that single handedly created most rockers in the world!



Clive Burr on drums, Bruce Dickinson on vocals, Adrian Smith and Dave Murray on the guitar, and - of course - the ever present Steve Harris on bass guitar.
Thank you, all of you.

For this life-long infection and way of life.

(And, as a cliff-hanger, I'll reveal that tomorrow you will see another picture. One that includes the entire Tyresö Metal Society, together with some completely incoherrent ramblings on the different personalities that makes the society what it is...)

More info @

The Rebel Angel Ramblings Blog
Official Iron Maiden Web

Listen to ”Iron Maiden - Number Of The Beast" on Spotify here!

Follow tuneoftheday.blogspot.com on Spotify here!