Iron Maiden - Senjutsu

Monday, a new week and it's time to present "Record Of The Week".

"Senjutsu" is the 17th album by the British metal band IRON MAIDEN. A record that probably no one has missed by now. But like most others, I also thought to give my viewpoint, however, I will try to stay short enough because you have probably read about this record more than once.

"Senjutsu" is named after a Japanese word meaning "Tactics And Strategy", there is a slight shimmer of Asian warriors influences where they are holding the banner high during a battlefield.

First of all, IRON MAIDEN have aged gracefully. Yes, Bruce's vocals are a little bit strained over the album, but overall he keeps a very good standard and has matured over the years. Steve Harris continues to write magic, his pen seems to glow here. His bass playing is marvelous, he really complements the others with a groove. Nicko McBrain's drumming is well executed for an almost 70 yrs old rocker. The powerful trio of guitarists Dave Murray, Adrian Smith, and Janick Gers really offers finesse on this record, both in guitar playing and songwriting skills. I must say that after a few spins I'm very impressed with the results of this "Senjutsu". The album is a heavy piece, 3 LPs if you got the vinyl version, spanning over an impressive 82 minutes and 10 marvelous tunes where the last four are killers. The production, songwriting, dynamics, and tones are of very high quality and they continue to create magic at the highest level.

Sum: "Senjutsu" shows that IRON MAIDEN still has the magic and proves why they still are so special!

Today's tune "The Writing On The Wall" is taken from "Senjutsu", the tune is written by Smith / Dickinson, enjoy!



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Testament - Powerslave

Thursday, time for a cover.

Today's tune "Powerslave" is the title song from the fifth studio album by the English heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN, released on 3 September 1984 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in North America. It was re-released by Sanctuary/Columbia Records in the United States in 2002.

The album's cover artwork is notable for its Ancient Egypt theme. That theme, taken from the title track, was carried over to the album's supporting tour, the World Slavery Tour. This began in Warsaw, Poland on 9 August 1984; it is widely regarded as being the band's longest and most arduous tour to date, and led to the live album "Live After Death".

"Powerslave" is about an arrogant Pharaoh in his dying hours. Because he's been raised to think he's a god, he can't understand why he's about to die and fights it in vain. He also feels overwhelmed by the power of death, and thinks sardonically about his heir. Just before he dies, he promises to return as a mummy. The album cover shows a pyramid with a giant statue of the Pharaoh (reminiscent of the Sphinx), with the bands mascot Eddie as the Pharaoh. The artwork inside the album also carried this theme.

Lead singer Bruce Dickinson wrote this. He claims this is a sequel, or somehow linked to his previous song "Revelations." The back of the album "Somewhere In Time" shows pyramids behind the city in a reference to this.

Cover art designer Derek Riggs once again slipped his logo into his artwork. His logo is a unique symbol which depicts his initials, a mirrored D and an R on the right hand side. In this case, it's right above the "entrance" to the pyramid (Eddie's crotch).

All those years jamming the Maiden, you never realized Tom Cruise was the one who killed the Powerslave. That bastard.

Anyway, today's cover is made by the American thrash metal band TESTAMENT, the tune is taken from the eleventh studio album "Dark Roots Of Earth", enjoy!



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Iron Maiden - Ghost of the Navigator

Today we present category three: (A tune on high volume in the car makes you a good driver) from the annual hard rock evening.

This was a really a brilliant category. "Car Music" and if you look below you can see the choices that was made and a all of them are good car tunes, like Thetanias SYSTEM OF A DOWN - B.Y.O.B and she don't even have a drivers licence, but I guess that is how she felt when she was driving (: cleaver tune indeed. Or Jensa's tune "Ghost of the Navigator" with IRON MAIDEN, haha, brilliant. Sandström had "One Finger Salute" with SUICIDAL TENDENCIES, also a very good choice, as that is exactly what you want to do from time to time when you meet up with idiots on the road, the others was very good indeed. I chose to go with a newer thing, picked one of the fasted tune from the doom metal band KHEMMIS, not as brilliant as the others, but my choice was based on the most played car tune lately, a tune that took most of my focus as a driver and where the gas got pushed an inch more than necessary :)

Other tunes that was played.

AMON AMARTH - Vengeance is My Name
KHEMMIS - Three Gates
W.A.S.P - Wild child
STONE SOUR - Gone Sovereign
SYSTEM OF A DOWN - B.Y.O.B
SUICIDAL TENDENCIES - One Finger Salute
IRON MAIDEN - Ghost of the Navigator
BEAST - Night Lust

(Missing songs from two participants).

Today's tune "Ghost of the Navigator" is taken from the twelfth studio album "Brave New World" by the English heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN, released on 29 May 2000. It was their first studio release since the return of longtime lead singer Bruce Dickinson (who left in 1993) and guitarist Adrian Smith (who left in 1990) in 1999, as well as the band's first studio recording as a six-piece, as Janick Gers, who replaced Smith in 1990, remained with the band.

The album artwork and title song are references to the novel of the same name, written by Aldous Huxley. The upper half of the artwork was created by Derek Riggs, with the bottom half by digital artist Steve Stone.



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Iron Maiden - Live After Death

"Live After Death" is a live album and video by the English heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN, originally released in October 1985 on EMI in Europe and its sister label Capitol Records in the US (it was re-released by Sanctuary/Columbia Records in the US in 2002 on CD and by Universal Music Group/Sony BMG Music Entertainment on DVD). It was recorded at Long Beach Arena, California and Hammersmith Odeon, London during the band's World Slavery Tour.

The video version (VHS) of the concert only contains footage from the Long Beach shows and was reissued on DVD on 4 February 2008, which coincided with the start of the band's Somewhere Back In Time World Tour. In addition to the complete concert, the DVD features Part 2 of "The History of IRON MAIDEN" DVD series, which began with 2004's The Early Days and continued with 2013's Maiden England '88, documenting the recording of the "Powerslave" album and the following World Slavery Tour.

Even though IRON MAIDEN has done many great live albums, this is their most memorable and iconic of them all, well I was just a kid when this got released and I do still have the copy left, pretty worn out, but hey it's a classic and I need to purchase a new copy of it. The cover is a real beauty, amazing artwork to hold in your hand, almost like you would frame it and put it up on your wall! (Cover art was done by Derek Riggs, and pictures the band's mascot, Eddie, rising from a grave. Engraved on his tombstone is a quote from fantasy and horror fiction author H. P. Lovecraft's The Nameless City)

"Live After Death" is the first live album and It's a real killer, I mean they deliver all the classic's from 1984 and backwards. Tunes like "Powerslave", "The Number Of The Beast", "The Trooper", "Aces High" and "Phantom Of The Opera" among others and of course today's tune, a real smoking version of "Rime of the Ancient Mariner". It sounds like that the band is having their time of their life during this performance, the tunes are made with a amazing vicinity throughout the entire show, nailing it note for note with an energy and excitement that I have not encountered on any other live album with IRON MAIDEN.

Sum: If you love IRON MAIDEN you will love this, get it!

Today's tune "Rime Of The Ancient Mariner" is taken from the Live After Death album, (from Powerslave, 1984). This was inspired by and based on the 1797 poem of the same name by Romantic poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge (1772-1834), a contemporary of William Wordsworth and William Blake (whose work was the inspiration and basis of Bruce Dickinson's solo album The Chemical Wedding). In the poem, the captain (The Ancient Mariner) tells the story of how his ship was driven south by storms and the strange happenings that followed. The moral of the story is that "we should love all creatures created by God." (thanks, anthony - Parsippany, NJ and Dave - London, England)



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Iron Maiden - A Christmas Cheers

We would like to wish you all a Merry Christmas. 

We hope that you will get a great cozy musical holiday.

"A Christmas Cheers" is an animated Xmas card created by artist Val Andrade for IRON MAIDEN as a gift to their fans celebrating an incredible 2015. The Book Of Souls hit the top of the charts in over 40 countries and with it came a brand new Eddie to join the pantheon of iconic mascots.

2016 sees the start of the huge The Book Of Souls World Tour in Florida, USA with the band, crew and equipment being transported in the biggest ED-FORCE ONE to date: a Boeing 747-400 piloted by lead singer Bruce Dickinson!



More info at the Official Iron Maiden Web-page!

Tune Of The Day - Top 50 - 2015 (50-41)

Now we almost reached the end of this year, December 16th and during this time of the year it's time to sum it all up and present all the best that 2015 have given us.

Once again it has been a really decent year album wise. Shit loads of money have been spent on records that now is going to fight for the top spots on Tune of the days Top 50 list, yes top 50 this year :) I had really hard to choose this year, to many good records have been released. And of course many great records have unfortunately fallen off the list, but the music heart have decided and now when I look at it, it was not quite what I had expected from the beginning, but what the heck it's my choices and hope that some records might hook you up and that you soon might buy a few of them to support the artists that have put all their soul into the creation of all the wonderful tunes.

First up we present this year's best albums between 50 - 41. Where you get the first 10 at once. Today's tune will be publish later on this evening. So here we go!

50. Imperial State Electric - Honk Machine

"Honk Machine" is a blast of pure rock fun with cherry picks of the best elements of the 60’s & 70’s. classics.

49. Thunder - Wonder Days

The British veteran hard rockers THUNDER releases a real "Wonder" after six year hiatus. "Wonder Days"  is a real contemporary cool back to retro-rock. A great British rock album.

48. Refused - Freedom

After 17 years, REFUSED has returned with a new shape of Freedom that’s just as wild and eclectic as their last.

47. Blackberry Smoke - Holding all the Roses

"Holding All The Roses" is simply a great record that I enjoy listen to. This is the record that could expand their base exponentially.

46. Tallest Man on Earth - Dark Bird is Home

"Dark Bird is Home" is Kristian Matsson's darkest album, but still it's a grandiose master piece in the Singer Song Writer genre.

45. Vidunder - Oracles and Prophets

70's organ stoner rock with loads of raw wonderful riffs.

44. Enslaved - In Times

"In Times" is an experimental metal record with duelling solos and epic keyboard swells.

43. Danko Jones - Fire Music

"Fire Music" is stuffed with clichés but still it's a badass DANKO JONES record!

42. Iron Maiden - The Book Of Souls

"The Book of Souls" is collaborative mindset of 92 minutes of produced heavy metal heaven and it's easy the most confident work since "Brave New World".

41. Beardfish - +4626 - Comfortzone

The Swedish progressive rockers have released an complex and long-winded album that is full of real earworms.

Today's tune comes soonish.

Top 50 Album list at Spotify, follow it!

Shakra - Hello

Mark Fox is back together with Swiss hard rockers SHAKRA. Chris von Rohr said the following after former singer John Prakesh left the band in early 2014: “Let’s bring back together what belongs together”.

That being said, it took a while till the early disputes had been put aside but in late summer of 2014 it was clear to everyone that it’s time to do it again Since that point of time, the whole band shed blood, sweat and tears to finish their new album High Noon which will be out on January 29, 2016.

Reunited with vocalist Mark Fox (aka Markus Fuchs), last heard from back in 2009, SHAKRA send out the melodic rockin' "Hello" in advance of the 2016 release of the group's tenth studio album, High Noon. As usual with the consistently strong and reliable SHAKRA, the twin guitar team of Thom Blunier and Thomas Muster power the tight Swiss group. Fox augments the SHAKRA show of force with his vivacious vocal delivery. The tune is a really melodic rockin' piece, see the video or check it out at Spotify, all can be find below!

With their first releases "Shakra" (1997), and "Moving Force" (1999), and by touring with GREAT WHITE and URIAH HEEP, the early career of this Swiss band was a steep learning curve with dramatic success but the real breakthrough came with their third record "Power Ride" (2001) when singer Pete Wiedmer was forced to leave the band because of ill health, replaced by Mark Fox. Mark immediately put his stamp on the following album "Rising" (2003), which saw SHAKRA rise higher on the career ladder than ever before and hit the German and Swiss album charts. The band played several concerts and festivals, one of which was the prestigious "Bang Your Head" event. The controversial video clip for the song "Chains Of Temptation" showed singer Fox giving himself a heroin injection.

And, after supporting IRON MAIDEN at the Swiss "Spirit Of Rock" festival, SHAKRA then took the decision to tour through 12 countries with HAMMERFALL and STRATOVARIUS. The band played a huge show in Zurich with GUNS N' ROSES in 2006.

Shortly after the Everest album was released, Mark Fox left the band and was replaced by John Prakesh on vocals. On April 23, 2014, John Prakesh announced he was leaving SHAKRA.
And Mark Fox rejoined the band :)


Today's Lineup:

Vocals: Mark Fox
Guitar: Thom Blunier
Guitar: Thomas Muster
Bass: Dominik Pfister
Drums: Roger Tanner

Today's tune "Hello" is taken from the upcoming tenth studio album "High Noon"



Ps if the video doesn't work in your country, you can see it here!

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Bruce Dickinson - Tears Of The Dragon

Sunday, time for a classic. "Tears of the Dragon" is the first single from Bruce Dickinson's second solo album, Balls to Picasso, released on 28 May 1994. The song is talking about the departure of Dickinson from IRON MAIDEN.

Balls to Picasso is a Hard rock album that was released in 1994. It is the second effort in Dickinson's solo career and the first released after he had officially left IRON MAIDEN.

This record marked the beginning of Dickinson's collaborations with Roy Z, who would work on many of Dickinson's later albums including Accident of Birth, The Chemical Wedding and Tyranny of Souls. Stylistically it departs from Tattooed Millionaire but is still more traditional-sounding than the follow-up album Skunkworks released in 1996. Later, Dickinson said that he and Roy Z were talked into making the album less heavy than it should have been.

Dickinson started working on his second solo album while still in IRON MAIDEN. For the very first recording sessions he recruited the British band SKIN. Not satisfied with the style of the effort, Dickinson aborted the recording. His next attempt at a second solo album was a collaboration with producer Keith Olsen. Dickinson decided to scrap this project as well and teamed up with guitarist Roy Z and his band TRIBE OF GYPSIES to write and record Balls to Picasso. Songs from the previous recording sessions later resurfaced as b-sides on singles from Balls to Picasso and subsequently also as bonus tracks on the album's 2005 extended edition.

In the Anthology DVD, Dickinson said that he regrets not naming the album "Laughing in the Hiding Bush" after one the song of the same name. The song itself is dedicated to his son, Austin, who penned the title.

Today's tune "Tears Of The Dragon" is taken from Dickinson's second solo album, Balls to Picasso.



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Iron Maiden - Speed Of Light

The Book of Souls is the upcoming sixteenth studio album by British heavy metal band IRON MAIDEN, due to be released on 4 September 2015. It is the band's first studio double album, and therefore also their longest to date, with a total length of 92 minutes. It also marks the longest gap between studio releases in the group's career at five years, following 2010's The Final Frontier. The album was produced by long-time IRON MAIDEN collaborator Kevin "Caveman" Shirley.

The band's intention to record a sixteenth studio album was first revealed by vocalist Bruce Dickinson in September 2013, who expected a possible release in 2015. The album was recorded at Guillaume Tell Studios, Paris with producer Kevin Shirley from September to December 2014, with the finishing touches added in early 2015. They had previously used the studios for 2000's Brave New World, with Dickinson stating "the studio holds special memories for all of us. We were delighted to discover the same magical vibe is still alive and very much kicking there!" The band originally intended to release the record earlier in 2015, but it was pushed back to 4 September while Dickinson received treatment for a cancerous tumour.

The album's title, artwork and track listing were revealed on 18 June 2015. Released by Parlophone, this is the band's first original studio album not to be issued by EMI, after both companies were acquired by Warner Music Group in 2013. In the US, the album will be issued by Sanctuary Copyrights/BMG. On 14 August, the band issued a music video for the song "Speed of Light", directed by Llexi Leon. In addition, the song was simultaneously made available as a digital download and was issued as a single-track CD via Best Buy in the US.

The album cover features the original version of the Iron Maiden logo, not used on a studio album since 1995's The X Factor. The artwork was created by Mark Wilkinson, whose previous works for IRON MAIDEN include Live at Donington (1998 remastered version) and Best of the 'B' Sides (2002 compilation), as well as "The Wicker Man" and "Out of the Silent Planet" singles covers. According to bassist Steve Harris, the cover art ties in with the title track, as the depiction of the band's mascot, Eddie, is based on the Maya civilization, who "believe that souls live on [after death]". To check the accuracy of the artwork, the band hired Mayanist scholar Simon Martin, who also translated the song titles into hieroglyphs. According to Martin, although the civilisation had no Book of Souls, "the Mayans are very big on souls ... So as a title, it's appropriate to Mayan culture, but it's very much Iron Maiden's own thing." According to Harris, it is not a concept album, although references to the soul do appear throughout.

A supporting tour based on the album has been delayed until early 2016 so that Dickinson can fully recuperate from his cancer treatment.

Todays tune "Speed of Light" is taken from their sixteenth studio album "The Book of Souls". The song was released as a music video on 14 August 2015 and was also made available as a digital download and issued as a single-track CD exclusive to Best Buy in the US.

The song's music video was directed and produced by Llexi Leon, creator of the comic book series Eternal Descent, as well as the virtual band of the same name. The video is an "'homage' to four decades of video gaming", centring around the band's mascot, Eddie, as he travels "through the combined 35-year history of video games". The visual effects were provided by The Brewery, who had previously worked on the films Sex & Drugs & Rock & Roll (2010) and Spike Island (2012), as well as the 2014 TV series Fleming: The Man Who Would Be Bond



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Ufo - Love To Love

Sunday, time for a classic. Today we go in the sign of Love with a tune taken from the sixth studio album "Lights Out" by the British rock band UFO, released in May and also on 11 October 1977.

The album was UFO's first to feature lush string arrangements alongside more complex song structures than their previous albums. Producer Ron Nevison brought in Alan McMillan to handle the string and horn arrangements.

2008 EMI's remastered edition includes 4 live bonus tracks, recorded at The Roundhouse, London. The album cover erroneously states that these tracks were recorded in 1976, but the correct year is 1977. EMI did correct the writing credits, with Paul Raymond finally being credited for his contributions.

The most notable song to feature the orchestral coloring was "Love to Love" which became one of the bands most successful singles. The tune were featured in the 1999 movie Detroit Rock City. "Love to Love" was also covered by Djali Zwan for the 2002 movie Spun.

  
Steve Harris - primary songwriter, founder, leader and bassist of British heavy metal band Iron Maiden - calls Love To Love his favourite song.

Misty green and blue, Love to love to love you that is part of the lines in todays tune "Love To Love".



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Iron Maiden - Hallowed Be Thy Name

2013 was the premiere year for Bråvalla Festival and what a success! The festival had 50.000 attendants and broke Swedish festival history by receiving the title as the largest festival throughout Sweden ever to be recorded and this year might even be bigger than last year....coming back to that some other day.

This year, from June 26th to June 28th 2014 we invite you to be a part of that grand festivity. The festival will take place at Bråvalla Flygfält, on the outskirts of Norrköping and walking distance from the tram station.

Same thing as last year the line up is pretty spread up in all the styles. Here are some of the bands that plays here:

Iron Maiden among Kings Of Leon, Kanye West, Anthrax, Alesso, Belle & Sebastian, Bad Religion, Bring Me The Horizon, Bombus, Laleh, Clutch, Dropkick Murphys, The Afghan Whigs, The Offspring, The Hives, Lana Del Rey, We Came As Romans, Trivium plus many more.

Todays tune "Hallowed Be Thy Name" is a tune taken from the third studio album "The Number of the Beast", released in March 1982 by British heavy metal band Iron Maiden.

The song describes a man's thoughts just before being sent to the gallows. He begins to feel terror and realizes he really is afraid of dying, despite claims that he's not ("tears flow, but why am I crying?/after all, I'm not afraid of dying/don't I believe that there never is an end?"). At the end of the vocal section, the man gets executed; this is followed by a long instrumental section, culminating in his ambiguous final words, "Hallowed be thy name".

The is a song written by Steve Harris and it has been acclaimed as one of the greatest heavy metal songs of all time. The song includes 2 guitar solos: the first is played by Dave Murray, and the second was played by Adrian Smith between 1982 and 1988 and by Janick Gers from 1990.

"Hallowed Be Thy Name" has remained in almost all of the band's set-lists since the album's recording, which Allmusic describes it as "perhaps the most celebrated of the band's extended epics; it's the tale of a prisoner about to be hanged, featuring some of Harris' most philosophical lyrics." Several band-members have since stated that it is one of their favourite tracks, with Bruce Dickinson describing it as "fantastic" and that performing it live is like "narrating a movie to the audience."

It is the most covered song by the band with fourteen different versions by artists like Dream Theater, Machine Head, Cradle of Filth, and Iced Earth. Iron Maiden also recorded this song as part of EMI's television series 'Live from Abbey Road'. The band recorded a newer version of this track in 2006 and it was used as a B-side on the "Different World" single. In the lyrics of the song, the motif of Gallows Pole explicitly appears, which may allow a link to many works of art involving this motif and also may allow the song to be analyzed in a wider context.

Guitarist Janick Gers has stated in interviews that it is his favourite Iron Maiden song to play. The 2012 Maiden England World Tour marks the first time the song has not been included in the band's set list since its creation.



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