#but again that's a classic move with the UK bros+Ireland | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

spookyspemilyreid · 5 years

Text

Happy Anniversary “Minutes To Midnight”!❤️ (May 14, 2007)

Minutes to Midnight is the third studio album by American rock band Linkin Park, released on May 14, 2007, through Warner Bros. Records. The album was produced by Mike Shinoda and Rick Rubin. Minutes to Midnightwas the band's follow-up album to Meteora (2003) and features a shift in the group's musical direction. For the band, the album marks a beginning of deviation from their signature nu metal sound. Minutes to Midnighttakes its title from the Doomsday Clock. It is also the first Linkin Park full-length album to carry a Parental Advisory label.

Linkin Park started work on their third studio album in 2003, taking a break to tour in support of Meteora in 2004. In this time period, the band formed numerous side projects; Mike Shinoda formed his hip hopside project Fort Minor, while Chester Bennington formed Dead by Sunrise, causing the album to be shelved temporarily. The band returned to work on the record afterward, taking on a different musical direction than the 2003 sessions while working with producer Rick Rubin. The album's completion was delayed several times for unknown reasons. Eventually, "What I've Done" was chosen as the album's lead single in April 2007, with the album seeing release in North America on May 15, 2007.

The album debuted at number one in the US Billboard 200 and in 15 other countries, including the United Kingdom and Canada. In the United States, the album had the biggest first week sales of 2007 at the time, with 623,000 albums sold, going on to be certified fourfold platinum in the United States. It was also certified double platinum in New Zealand, Italy, Ireland, and Australia and certified platinum in Canada, France, Switzerland and in the UK. Despite its commercial success, Minutes to Midnightreceived mixed reviews from critics. Rolling Stone magazine named it the twenty-fifth best album of 2007. It has sold more than four million copies in the US and 20 million copies worldwide. It was ranked number 154 on Billboard's Hot 200 Albums of the Decade.

In an interview, lead singer Chester Bennington explained that the album is "a mix of punk, classic rock, and hip-hop standards" and that "Rick has brought more of a stripped down, classic-rock and hip-hop kind of feel."

In another interview, Bennington stated: "This time around, Mike Shinoda is singing a lot more. It may seem like he's not on the record, but he's doing a lot of the harmonies. He also sings a couple of songs alone. We're presenting ourselves in a different way."

Guitarist Brad Delson experimented with an EBow when the band was piecing together "The Little Things Give You Away". The band decided not to use the effect for the solo in that song and instead ended up creating "No More Sorrow" out of the effect. In "Given Up", he jingles the keys that are heard while several clap sounds are overlaid in the intro of the song (as mentioned in the lyric book: Brad added the sounds on the intro song: multiple tracks of claps - and keys jingling.). Shinoda and Delson teamed up with David Campbell to add string elements to six songs; "Leave Out All the Rest", "Shadow of the Day", "Hands Held High", "The Little Things Give You Away", as well as the two b-sides "No Roads Left" and "Blackbirds" (which was instead later used in the iPhone game 8-Bit Rebellion! as well as being included as a bonus track for A Thousand Suns), respectively. All scratching elements by Joe Hahn that existed in the previous two studio albums are largely absent because of the low mixing, except on the songs "What I've Done", "Wake", "The Little Things Give You Away", "Valentine's Day" and "In Pieces". Hahn contributes more with programming, electronics, and other elements to many of the songs. The church organ and military drumbeat on "Hands Held High" were originally to be used as the backdrop to melodic vocals, but Rubin recommended that the band try the opposite approach according to the album booklet. For the album, the band recorded fifty to sixty songs in August 2006.

Their previous albums took only about three to six months to complete, while this one took 14 months. They spent over six months writing the songs. In previous albums, they composed an average of 40 songs, but they made over 100 this time. "Shadow of the Day" is one of two songs (the other being "No Roads Left") to have Bennington playing the guitar. During live performances, Shinoda is generally playing the keyboard for "Shadow of the Day", while Bennington plays rhythm guitar. Shinoda stated in an interview: "We were looking back at the things that we had done in the past... and I think we just figured that we had exhausted that sound. It was easy for us to replicate, it was easy for other bands to replicate, and we just needed to move on."

Shinoda performs his rapping vocals on only two tracks, "Bleed It Out" and "Hands Held High". This is a significant decrease compared to the amount of rapping on previous albums. The rap vocals on "Hands Held High" are much closer styled to Mike Shinoda's side project Fort Minor than his traditional Linkin Park verses, as he raps during most of the song. Despite a decrease of Mike Shinoda as rapper, he has three solo lead songs on the record: "Hands Held High", "In Between" and the bonus track "No Roads Left". He also raps on "Bleed It Out" while "What I've Done", "Shadow of the Day", "No More Sorrow" and "The Little Things Give You Away" features backing vocals from Shinoda at the end. Minutes to Midnight is also Linkin Park's first album to feature guitar solos, particularly in the tracks "What I've Done," "In Pieces" and "The Little Things Give You Away". Also, unlike the previous two studio albums, Minutes to Midnight contains profanity and thus the first Linkin Park studio album to contain a Parental Advisory (the first overall being their collaborative EP with Jay-Z, Collision Course) and politically charged lyrics. The songs that contain profanity are "Given Up", "Bleed It Out" and "Hands Held High".

The front and back cover were recorded around the ruins of North Shore Beach and Yacht Club in North Shore, California. A year after the release of Minutes to Midnight, the band released ten different covers that were originally used as consideration for the final cover for the album prior to its release. The band made all ten of these covers available for fans to use as the album art on iTunes.

Minutes to Midnight received generally mixed reviews, based on an aggregate score of 56/100 from Metacritic, with critics showing approval, disapproval and indifference in almost equal measure.

Rolling Stone gave Minutes to Midnight 4 out of 5 stars, stating that "most of Minutes is honed, metallic pop with a hip-hop stride and a wake-up kick", and it was placed at number 25 in their list of the Top 50 Albums of 2007. IGN referred to it as "definitely a step in the right direction and a stepping stone for things to come". Herald Sun writer Karen Tye gave it 3½ out of 4 stars and praised the band's new sound, asking, "Who knew being a plain old rock band could suit Linkin Park so well?". Despite commending the band for their ambition, The Guardian's Caroline Sullivan gave the album 3 out of 5 stars and perceived "their decision to stay roughly within the shrieky boundaries of their genre" as a weakness, while writing that "the sound still pivots on the interplay of walloping guitar chords and self-flagellating lyrics".

Among those with a more negative view of the album was Stephen Thomas Erlewine of AllMusic, who described the album's sound as "passé" and summed the band's effort up as "opting to create a muddled, colorless murk", giving it 2 and a half out of 5 stars. Johan Wippsson from Melodic acknowledged the band's progression but felt that the album is "weak" and "too shattered". NMEmagazine's Dan Silver gave it a rating of 2/10, calling it the "sound of a band trying and failing to forge a new identity", and referring to the song "Hands Held High", a song about terrorist attacks and war, as "far and away the funniest thing you will hear all year".

Minutes to Midnight was delayed several times before its release. First scheduled to be released in the summer of 2006, it was later postponed to the fall of 2006, then again to early 2007. The album's release date was finally set for May 14, 2007. In Canada, the album was released on May 15, 2007. There are non-Parental Advisory releases of both the regular album and the special edition album. The songs "Given Up", "Bleed It Out", and "Hands Held High" are edited. In Malaysia, the edited version for the album is available in digipak cover while the explicit edition available for the Tour Edition which features white slipcase cardboard cover and a standard jewel case. In the United States, the album had the biggest first week sales of 2007 at the time, with 625,000 albums sold. In Canada, the album sold over 50,000 copies in its first week and debuted at number one on the Canadian Albums Chart. Worldwide, the album shipped over 3.3 million copies in its first four weeks of release.

Five singles were released from the album: "What I've Done", "Bleed It Out", "Shadow of the Day", "Given Up", and "Leave Out All the Rest". Although "Given Up" and "Leave Out All the Rest" had not been released as singles until early March 2008, "Given Up" had already charted on the Billboard Hot 100 and Billboard Pop 100 charts at numbers 99 and 78 respectively in 2007, and "Leave Out All the Rest" had already charted on Billboard's Pop 100 chart at number 98 and Billboard's Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at number 17 in 2007. The songs "Hands Held High" and "No More Sorrow" also charted on the Bubbling Under Hot 100 Singles chart at numbers 23 and 24, respectively, in 2007. The album has sold over 20 million copies worldwide, with 3.3 million copies sold in the US alone. Although sales of the album were lower than their two first studio albums, the album was more successful in terms of single's charting performance, with all of the five singles released reaching the Billboard Hot 100, and two songs reaching the Bubbling under Hot 100.

#linkin park #minutes to midnight #2007 #may 14th 2007 #5.14.2007.#may 14 2007 #2000s #mike shinoda #brad delson #rob bourdon #joe hahn #dave phoenix farrell #chester bennington

108 notes · View notes

idasessions · 5 years

Photo

Famous Muses & Groupies in Rock Music Pt. 40

MUSE: Samantha Juste (born Sandra Slater)

Samantha was born on May 31st, 1944 in Manchester, England to Leslie and Phylis Slater. She studied dress design at Rochdale College at the same time she began modeling as a teen. By the time Samantha was 20, she was not only getting steady work as one of the UK’s most recognizable models, but also co-hosting the popular variety show “Top of the Pops” from 1964-67. In the late ‘60s, she wrote occasional op-ed pieces for 16 Magazine while she was in a relationship with Micky Dolenz of the Monkees. Samantha also appeared in the movie The Knack…and How to Get It (1965) and the TV special Lucy in London (1966) along with fellow models and music muses Pattie and Jenny Boyd, Chrissie Shrimpton and Jane Birkin. She went by the nicknames ‘Sammy’ and ‘Sam’ to close friends and family.

If you’re invested in the whole classic rock/music muse thing, then you’re definitely familiar with Micky & Samantha. They are to the Monkees history what George Harrison & Pattie Boyd are to the Beatles: Good looking, charming, fun and popular in the social crowd of the music scene. Samantha and met Micky backstage of “TOTP” in January 1967, where apparently Micky didn’t even realize Sam was a celebrity in her own right. But the two were still smitten with each other and regularly met up whenever each other were in England or California. The couple attended the famous Monterey Pop Festival in June of ’67 and Sam tagged along on the band’s US/UK tour that same year. By summertime, Sammy moved to SoCal to be with Micky fulltime and the two married on July 12th, 1968. Micky and Samantha would live in Laurel Canyon, CA and their only child, daughter Ami was born on January 8th, 1969. The line ‘the being known as Wondergirl’ in the final track ‘Randy Scouse Git’ from the Monkees’ 1967 album ‘Headquarters’ is a direct reference to Sammy. She also appeared in the episode ‘Monkees in Paris’ during the band’s second season of their sitcom in 1968.

OK, so apparently I came across some bad info while researching my Phyllis Nesmith mini-bio with a source claiming the Monkees fangirls liked the band’s SOs. But supposedly that actually wasn’t the case according to Micky’s 1993 memoir I’m a Believer, where he claimed Samantha once got ink poured on her dress by jealous fangirls. Considering how infamously batshit 1960s fangirls were back then…yeah, this makes more sense than my previous impression, lol. After Monkeemania died down, Micky and Samantha became familiar with the Hollywood nightlife at parties and clubs in the early 1970s. But Sam lost interest in partying a lot sooner than Micky, who became part of the famous ‘Hollywood vampires’ of 1973-74. The vampires referring to Micky, John Lennon, Harry Nilsson, Alice Cooper, Keith Moon and Ringo Starr who participated in all-nighters across the Sunset Strip. In the 2000 Monkees episode of “Behind the Music,” Micky claims that he knew he needed to chill out after he woke up once in a Phoenix massage parlor and couldn’t remember how he got there (…bro). In the same episode, Sam states that the OTT partying and random disappearing was the main instigator for their marriage failing. AND in the same episode, Ami says that sometimes she would wake up before leaving for school and see her dad’s famous friends still at the house, and she’d be like “why are you still here??” (lol)

Samantha divorced Micky in 1975, but after he got his shit together they became friends again. Before Micky, Samantha also dated guitarist Tony Hicks of the Hollies in 1965-66; and in the late 1970s she was rumored to have gone out with Ringo Starr (!), though some sources refer to them as ~just good friends.~ Ringo’s nickname for Sammy was supposedly ‘Earth Mother.’ She successfully married again in 1988 to a dude named Tony Shipp. After she quit modeling and TV, Sam started running her own fashion and jewelry businesses in California, Ireland and Mexico. Sadly, Sammy died from the after effects of a stroke in 2014. :( She’s survived by Ami.

#samantha juste #samantha dolenz #micky dolenz #Ringo Starr #muses #i always thought sammy looked a lil like the shrimpton sisters #anyways it's been 2 months and this monkees kick is still going strong #musesandgroupiesseries

39 notes · View notes

rockrevoltmagazine · 5 years

Text

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2019 REVIEW

Review by Howard Keogh and Enda Madden with photos by Enda Madden

Some places mean different things to different people. If you mention Donington UK to a historian he may refer you the historic references in the Domesday Book of 1086. A motor racing enthusiast on the other hand will most likely tell you about the famous Donington Park Race Track and perhaps mention that Since 2013, Norton Motorcycles has had its head office in Donington Hall. To any self-respecting rock fan however, there is only one true meaning, Donington is the spiritual home of Download – rock music’s greatest festival which has been running almost every year since 1980. The festival has grown in popularity and under various names has played host to some of the biggest names in rock and metal from around the globe. However, just because the monsters of rock have played here does not mean there is no room for the young pretenders to peddle their wares. Some of the best acts have cut their teeth on the smaller stages at Download, where they are all welcomed by both the organizers and the crowd alike. As we know, even the gods of rock haven’t managed to control the weather in Donington and this year is no exception. Thursday is pretty wet but based on some high-profile mainstream media reports coming out in the lead up to Download you could have been inclined to pack a small inflatable boat or even make a start on building yourself an ark! Doubtless the revelers who elected to come early to the site were subjected to some incredibly challenging weather and there were a few who decided to call it a day. However, all credit to the Download team, who really get stuck in, making layout adjustments and spreading tons of straw around the arena each day in a mammoth effort to reduce the impact of the weather on the site and the music fans. In true defiant Download style, the vast majority of fans decided the show must go on….and so it did regardless of the rain. Navigating Download festival can be a daunting task for music fans, as the site is massive and the number of stages poses another problem, choice! There are always difficult decisions to be made as your favorite bands may conflict. However the sheer fun of Download is what makes it so special. Despite a very difficult start to the festival, spirits are high and the costumes are out again this year as many fans dress up for the event. So far, we have spotted Mario, Santa and his elves, and the Mother from the Alien movie series amongst others, and I promise you we have only had one beer! This year’s festival sees an extra environmental effort made, to reduce the use of single use plastic bottles. Another addition is a little light relief in the form of “Doom Yoga”, and Mindfulness sessions aptly named “Mind the dog” Now lets go listen to some music… FRIDAY 15th June: Tesla is the first band up to start proceedings on the main stage today. The band formed in Sacramento California in 1981 by bassist Brian Wheat and guitarist Frank Hannon. The band started their existence under the moniker Earthshaker which later changed to City Kidd. The band changed their name to Tesla in 1986 releasing the album Mechanical Resonance. They have toured extensively with Def Leppard in the past. This collaboration resulted in Phil Collen producing their most recent album Shock which was released in March. Their set today has a few technical difficulties and includes the power ballad “Modern Day Cowboy” and “Cumin’ Atcha Live.” Rating; 3.5/6 Super group Deadland Ritual, whose line up completed with the addition of Geezer Butler in 2018, play the Zippo encore stage. Unfortunately, they too suffer a few technical difficulties with sound but these get resolved. The band members include Steve Stevens and Matt Sorum. The set list draws significantly on the Black Sabbath catalog with the addition of “Symptom of the Universe,” “Neon Knights,” and “War Pigs” included in the set. The other band members back catalog also get a look in with the addition of “Rebel Yell” and “Slither.” The band’s first single “Down in Flames” released in 2018 also gets an airing. If you want to catch these guys they are also set to play Hellfest very soon. Rating: 4/6 Whitesnake are back with their new album Flesh and Blood and the mighty David Coverdale looks fresher and fitter than ever. His voice too is in fine form as he charms his way through the set. Today’s menu is full of old favorites and includes “Bad Boys,” “Love Ain’t No Stranger,” “Slow and Easy,” and the single “Shut Up and Kiss Me” from the latest album. However the highlight of the set has to be “Still of the Night” with its slow build to its epic finale. Fans have had a bit of a wait for new material from Whitesnake, with the last album being released in 2015 but the new release sees them make a glorious return. With a string of concerts planned across Europe, including Hellfest, and Graspop festivals, these boys are definitely back in full flight. Catch them while you can. Rating: 4.5/6 Opeth make a welcome return to Download with another pitch perfect performance from these Swedish masters of light and shade. Greeting the crowd in his own inimitable style Mikael Akerfeldt reminisces about dancing with one of Abba’s lovely ladies. Almost an Opeth trademark now is a short set of very long songs and Mikael Akerfeldt admits it openly. For those hoping for a preview of their imminent new album, it may be disappointing; however this is more than compensated for with a typically flawless performance that include gems like “Ghost of Perdition,” “The Drapery Falls,” and “Deliverance.” The sun makes a welcome appearance during Opeth’s performance, and Mr. Akerfeldt makes the crowd jealous, as he announces the band travel to Malaga to play on the beach. These guys are touring extensively across Europe for the rest of the year, so if they come to your town, don’t miss them! Rating: 5/6 Slash featuring Myles Kennedy and the Conspirators make a welcome return to Download this year. The set includes a sprinkling of Slash’s solo work and a blistering performance of the Guns ‘n’ Roses classic “Nightrain.” Slash is on top form pacing the stage like a tiger while Myles Kennedy knocks out the tunes. Another highlight of the set was “Anastasia” The tour continues throughout Europe until mid July before moving stateside for Canadian and U.S. dates Rating: 4/6 This year Def Leppard add another Download headline slot to their tally. Donington has always held a special place in their hearts, as it was where Rick Allen made his arena comeback after a horrific car accident in which he lost his arm. As with the recent tour, today’s offering features the band’s 1987 Hysteria album played in its entirety. Joe Elliot introduces Northern Ireland’s Vivian Campbell on guitar and after “Hysteria” we are treated to a pure gold selection that includes “Let It Go”, “Let’s Get Rocked,” “Photograph,” and the classic “Rock of Ages.” The polished performance is a fitting finish to a great day’s music. Rating: 4.5/6

SATURDAY 16th June: Saturday’s openers on Main stage are Alien Weaponry from New Zealand. Their set opens with a Haka-like chant, which draws applause even before the music starts. After a brief delay things get underway. The band’s set includes “PC Bro,” “Holding My Breath,” and “Kai Tanata”. The 3 members of Alien Weaponry all have Māori ancestry, and use their native tongue in a number of their songs. The band was formed in 2010, by brothers Henry and Lewis de Jong. Recently the band made a 10 part documentary documenting their European tour entitled “Alien Weaponry shake Europe”. Their album Tu debuted at number 5 in the New Zealand album charts on its release in June 2018. As we see more and more bands beginning to sing in their own languages, possibly inspired by the mighty Rammstein’s success, this opens up a whole new exciting realm in music as we see more bands using their native language in their music. Rating: 4/6 Next up on the Dogtooth stage are Underside from Nepal. Exploding onto the Nepal music scene with their own unique brand of metal, these guys are not afraid to take on great tasks. They instigated the “Silence festival,” Nepal’s first annual metal festival. The band was also involved in fundraising efforts, following the massive earthquake in 2015, that left many parts of Kathmandu in ruins. Underside responded immediately raising emergency funding that helped rebuild a school. With such an unshakable determination, it is no wonder they have won over the crowd here today. The band’s stage show includes a masked demon dancer, who convulses to the beat of the songs. Once again there are a few sound issues during the set, leaving the demon dancer alone onstage briefly, but after a quick resolution the singer apologizes, thanking the crowd for their patience the show gets underway again. Rating: 3/6 The Zippo encore stage is our next stop to marvel at the intricate progressive instrumental style of Animals as Leaders. This American band from Los Angeles is well up for the fray, and if today is any measure of the European appetite for the band’s trademark tunes, the upcoming Scandinavian and European dates will go down a treat. Rating: 4/6 Darkness might be more fitting for the next act on the main stage, the mighty Behemoth from Poland. They make their entrance sporting Black Death masks, to a chant of “I will not forgive.” As the set starts an inferno of pyrotechnics are unleashed, and the ritual begins. Behemoth have planned an extensive European tour in advance of their US dates in July. They have always attracted controversy, and currently, an Irish politician is trying to have their upcoming Limerick show banned in Ireland. Behemoth front man, Nergal has responded “Nihil novi. Another attention whore which Poland’s politics is full of, but do we really need that kind of publicity? Nope. But I’m thankful regardless!” Either way the band have a fast-growing fan base with many upcoming shows sold out. Rating: 4/6 Skindred have secured a Main stage appearance this year at Download following many previous appearances. Despite the pouring rain, front man Benji Webbe manages to get the crowd singing, crouching, and generally jumping about. Skindred whose album Big Tings was released last year continue, with a string of dates after Download that include Hellfest in France. During the set Reef’s Gary Stringer joins Benji onstage for the track “Machine” Benji is looking like a lean mean rocking machine after his recent well publicized weight loss, and he makes light of the inclement weather while the crowd are lapping it up. The band’s trademark crowd participation “the Newport helicopter” is rolled out during “Warning”. and fans everywhere are removing their T-shirts and swinging them wildly over their heads. This as always makes for an amazing sight. This has been another superb high energy performance from a great live band. Rating: 5/6 The Hu in the Dogtooth tent attract a massive crowd which overflows out the sides of the tent due to a combination of the heavy rain and the Bands huge popularity. It appears Download may have misjudged this one, as The Hu could easily have been on a bigger stage. The band hail from Mongolia and have s unique style, incorporating traditional Mongolian instruments like the Morin khuur. Singing is in the ancient Mongolian throat singing style giving the band a very unique sound. The current tour takes in more UK and European dates before heading stateside. Rating: 3.5/6 Trivium who have racked up eight studio albums since their formation in Florida in 1999, have attracted a huge crowd to the Main stage. The weather has improved, and this only adds to the excitement of the fans and the band. The set today includes “Like Light to the Flies,” a blistering rendition of “Strife” and “In Waves.” The show is augmented by liberal use of Pyrotechnics and smoke, which add to the atmosphere. After the last tour was received so well, it is great to see Trivium at Download. The band has grown, and they admit they have their sights set now on a festival headline slot. Following this tour they plan to start writing material for a new album, so there is much to look forward to! Rating: 4/6 Halestorm are no strangers to Download festival. Enter Lzzy Hale who delivers an absolutely amazing vocal performance. In her new leather clad Joan Jett look, she and her brother Arejay open up and let loose on the crowd in a combined vocal and percussive assault on the senses. Lzzy thanks the crowd and says she is proud to be a woman and she gets all the women present to roar. The set opens with “Untouchable” and this is followed swiftly with a request from Lzzy to little brother Arejay to let loose. Arejay duly obliges with a percussive attack that is both technically amazing and entertaining to watch.. Staples like “Ms Hyde” and “Freak Like Me” are rolled out and as usual Arejay gets the opportunity to trash his drum kit during the obligatory drum solo. Today’s set is wrapped up with “Love Bites (so do I)” and “I Miss the Misery”. “Love Bites (so do I)” sees Lzzy joined onstage for a duet by Asami from the band Lovebites who also played a set at Download. Rating: 5/6 Slipknot are always a big draw at Download and as soon as they appear on stage the whole arena erupts. Their energy is contagious, and the crowd has contracted the disease. Corey Taylor is sporting his new mask which has attracted some negative feedback from fans. No-one cares tonight though as the maggots are in the mood for a mosh pit. The high octane setlist includes “People =s,” “Psychosocial,” “Disasterpiece,” and “The Devil in I”. What better way to end an evening than in the company of Slipknot. One final thought on Slipknot is that at the festival, a poster surfaced hinting at the possibility of live gigs in 2020. With the new album “We are not your kind” set for release in August via Roadrunner records, the prospect of more live shows can only add to the anticipation. Rating: 5/6

SUNDAY 17th June: I prevail are the first act on Main stage today and they put in a great set for the festival’s early bird punters. The band hail from Michigan in the U.S. and released their latest album Trauma in March of this year. Vocal duties are shared between Brian Burkheiser on clean vocals while Eric Vanlerberghe looks after the vocal heavy lifting. The new album is well represented in today’s set with the inclusion of “Bow Down”, “Rise Above It”, “Gasoline”, and the super heavyweight “Deadweight.” Although their slot is early they put in a rousing performance waking up the bleary eyed fans. These guys are definitely one to watch for 2019 Rating: 4.5/6 Godsmack from Boston, Massachusetts are hot on the heels of I prevail as the next act up on the main stage. The band has admitted to being excited to play the U.K. again and open with “1000HP,” then “Something Different.” Then it’s time for a duel, in which the drummer and singer battle it out on 2 drum kits through a medley featuring AC/DCs “Back in Black,” Aerosmith’s “Walk This Way,” Metallica’s “Enter Sandman” and Fleetwood Mac’s “Oh Well.” This has been a lively and varied performance from these stateside rockers. Rating: 4/6 Amon Amarth did a question and answer session in the press tent today, and they announced a tour in November with Arch Enemy and Hypocrisy. Answering a question from an Irish Journalist about their upcoming gigs, the band say they are looking forward to another Viking invasion of Limerick after 1000 years. They last appeared on Download Main stage in 2016 and since then have been growing steadily popularity. When they hit the stage, they open with “The Pursuit of Vikings,” followed by “First Kill.” A Viking battle is recreated, as two warriors do battle during “The Way of Vikings.” The latest album Berserker, which was released in May, is on show today with “Crack the Sky”, “Shield Wall” and “Raven’s Flight”. The band compliment the crowd on their determination in the mud and call a toast raising their drinking horns with a “Skol” before launching into the song “Raise Your Horns.” Amon Amarth really are on top of their game today. Rating: 5/6 Lamb of God bring with them a very energetic show. As the sun shines down for the one of the few times in the 3 day festival, vocalist Randy Blythe greets the crowd and promises to f the place up, before launching into “Walk With Me In Hell” and hails the crowd of “maniacs” for their persistence in the bad weather. “512” is next with its reminiscences of Blythe’s time held in custody in relation to the death of a fan at one of the bands concerts in the Czech Republic. Lamb of God certainly know how to work a crowd.. Rating: 4/6 On a visit to the Avalanche stage, we catch the up and coming hot ticket – Fever333, who are currently touring on the back of their debut album Strength in Numb333rs. Their songs are politically charged, tackling social issues like racism, homophobia and sexual discrimination. The crown lap it up and if the response of the Download crowd is any indication, their other U.K. dates (which the trio also like to call demonstrations) should be extremely successful. Their style cites musical influences like Rage against the machine, Black flag and Public enemy. Rating: 4.5/6 Dream Theater have attracted a large crowd for their set on the Zippo encore stage. Currently touring their 14th studio album Distance Over Time the band show no signs of slowing down. The new album gets plenty of exposure, as the band open with “Untethered Angel,” and also include “Fall Into The Light” and “Barstool Warrior.” Dream Theater are no doubt technically talented and virtuoso players but sometimes it just feels like there is something missing. They close their set with a rousing rendition “Pull Me Under.” Rating: 4/6 Finally it’s that bitter sweet moment, the final U.K. performance by Slayer, one of the big 4 giants of thrash metal. Anthrax, one of the other 3, played the same stage just earlier in the day, a testament (no pun intended) to the choice of bands playing Download. A huge crowd has gathered to witness the spectacle and one can’t help wondering if Slayer should have been billed as headliners on the main stage. “Repentless” starts the show as Slayer move up the gears with “War Ensemble” and “Mandatory Suicide”. The band thanks their fans for hanging out. Paul Bostaph puts in a magnificent performance behind the drum kit, and the rest of the band are not too shabby either. As the show progresses, they go into overdrive with “Seasons In The Abyss”, “Hell Awaits”, “South Of Heaven” and “Raining Blood” all coming in quick succession. At this stage the crowd is at fever pitch with circle pits aplenty. The last U.K. performance of Slayer and the associated mayhem, finally draws to a close with the finale “Angel Of Death” but then Slayer fans don’t cry do they? Rating: 5/6 Tool are booked to close Download 2019 and may have certainly lost more than a few audience members due to the set time clash with Slayer’s final U.K. show on the Zippo encore stage. However, even disregarding that fact, the crowd numbers are definitely smaller than that usually seen for a Download headline act. Notwithstanding the draw of Slayer, this is a rare treat for any hardcore Tool fan, as live performances in the U.K. don’t happen too often. The band’s last Download performance was 13 years ago. The set opens with “AEnema.” The backdrop on the big screens light up with imagery that melds perfectly with the music to provide the audience with a veritable “audio visual trip.” Old favorites like “The Pot,” and “Schism” are there, and we are treated to some new material in the form of “Invincible” and “Descending.” The set is brought to a close with “Stinkfist” and a group of happy Tool fans have had their dreams come true tonight at Download. Rating: 4/6 And so, we come to the end of another weekend of music, beer, fun, and well…lots of mud, but you know as usual it has all been worth it. Once again Download Festival has proved itself as the great survivor. Despite the bad weather and the unfair press, the event has once again proved itself a triumph of Rock n’ Roll spirit over adversity. Roll on 2020. I can’t wait! Enda Madden & Howard Keogh – 2019

Connect with Download Festival(click icons):

DOWNLOAD FESTIVAL 2019 REVIEW was originally published on RockRevolt Mag

#Donington #Donington Castle

0 notes

blackkudos · 7 years

Text

Joe Sample

Joseph Leslie "Joe" Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American pianist, keyboard player, and composer. He was one of the founding members of the Jazz Crusaders, the band which became simply the Crusaders in 1971, and remained a part of the group until its final album in 1991 (not including the 2003 reunion album Rural Renewal).

Beginning in the 1970s, he enjoyed a successful solo career and guested on many recordings by other performers and groups, including Miles Davis, George Benson, Jimmy Witherspoon, B. B. King, Eric Clapton, Steely Dan, and the Supremes. Sample incorporated jazz, gospel, blues, Latin, and classical forms into his music.

On September 12, 2014, Sample died in Houston, Texas, of mesothelioma at age 75.

Biography

Sample was born in Houston, Texas on February 1, 1939. Sample began to play the piano at age 5. He was a student of the organist and pianist Curtis Mayo.

In high school in the 1950s, Sample teamed up with friends saxophonist Wilton Felder and drummer "Stix" Hooper to form a group called the Swingsters. While studying piano at Texas Southern University, Sample met and added trombonist Wayne Henderson and several other players to the Swingsters, which became the Modern Jazz Sextet and then the Jazz Crusaders, in emulation of one of the leading progressive jazz bands of the day, Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. Sample never took a degree from the university; instead, in 1960, he and the Jazz Crusaders made the move from Houston to Los Angeles.

The group quickly found opportunities on the West Coast, making its first recording, Freedom Sounds in 1961 and releasing up to four albums a year over much of the 1960s. The Jazz Crusaders played at first in the dominant hard bop style of the day, standing out by virtue of their unusual front-line combination of saxophone (played by Wilton Felder) and Henderson's trombone. Another distinctive quality was the funky, rhythmically appealing acoustic piano playing of Sample, who helped steer the group's sound into a fusion between jazz and soul in the late 1960s. The Jazz Crusaders became a strong concert draw during those years.

While Sample and his band mates continued to work together, he and the other band members pursued individual work as well. In 1969 Sample made his first recording under his own name; Fancy Dance featured the pianist as part of a jazz trio. In the 1970s, as the Jazz Crusaders became simply the Crusaders and branched out into popular sounds, Sample became known as a Los Angeles studio musician, appearing on recordings by the likes of Joni Mitchell, Marvin Gaye, Tina Turner, B. B. King, Joe Cocker, Minnie Riperton and Anita Baker. In 1975 he went into the studios with jazz legends Ray Brown on bass, and drummer Shelly Manne to produce a then state-of-the-art recording direct to disc entitled The Three. About this time Blue Note Records reissued some of the early work by the Jazz Crusaders as "The Young Rabbits". This was a compilation of their recordings done between 1962 and 1968.

The electric keyboard was fairly new in the sixties, and Sample became one of the instrument's pioneers. He began to use the electric piano while the group retained their original name, and the group hit a commercial high-water mark with the hit single "Street Life" and the album of the same name in 1979. In 1978 he recorded Swing Street Café with guitarist David T. Walker.

The Crusaders, after losing several key members, broke up after recording Life in the Modern World for the GRP label in 1987. Despite the disbanding of the Crusaders, the members would join each other to record periodically over the years, releasing Healing the Wounds in the early 1990s. Felder, Hooper, and Sample recorded their first album, called Rural Renewal, as the reunited Crusaders group in 2003 and played a concert in Japan in 2004.

Since Sample's Fancy Dance (1969), he has recorded several solo albums, including the George Duke produced Sample This.

GRP also released Joe Sample Collection, and a three-disc Crusaders Collection, as testament to Sample's enduring legacy. Some of the pianist's recent recordings are The Song Lives On (1999), featuring duets with singer Lalah Hathaway, and The Pecan Tree (2002), a tribute to his hometown of Houston, where he relocated in 1994. His 2004 album on Verve, Soul Shadows, paid tribute to Duke Ellington and Jelly Roll Morton, and pre-jazz bandleader James Reese Europe. In 2007 he recorded Feeling Good with vocalist Randy Crawford.

In 1983, MCA released Joe Sample's The Hunter LP. The Hunter sessions had taken place during the previous year at Hollywood Sound Recorders and Salty Dog Studios in Los Angeles, producing a fine body of recordings of which six were brought forward. Fans believe there maybe other recordings from the sessions yet to be released. Amongst the six tracks was the nine-minute Night Flight. UK Jazz Funk and Soul DJ Robbie Vincent premiered Night Flight in its entirety in the spring of 1983 on his Radio London "Saturday Show" prompting a surge of jazz fusion enthusiasts and Sample fans to buy up all the import copies from London stores. For Sample, The Hunter album featured a number of leading musicians of the day including Marcus Miller on bass and Paulinho Da Costa on percussion. Sample was also joined on the album by Phil Upchurch on lead guitar, Dean Parks (also on guitar), Steve Gadd and Bob Wilson on drums, John Phillips on bass clarinet, and Abraham Laboriel on bass. For production, Joe Sample called on his Crusaders' stable mate Wilton Felder. The Hunter album came at a very important juncture in Sample's solo push. Night Flight remains the great achievement from these sessions, although fans were extremely disappointed when an edited version appeared on the compilation Joe Sample Collection. The Hunter album has been transferred to CD from the original tapes but fans are still awaiting a remastered expanded edition with previously unreleased material and demos.

Sample appeared on stage at The Waterfront Hall, Belfast, Northern Ireland, on 28 May 2000, playing keyboard solo on George Benson's Deeper Than You Think. This concert was recorded and a DVD entitled George Benson: Absolutely Live was subsequently released. A studio version of Deeper Than You Think was recorded featuring Joe Sample in New York in May 1999 during sessions for a Benson collection which took the title Absolutely Benson. Fans again believe there may have been other collaborations of Sample - Benson which remain in the vaults unreleased.

Some of his works were featured on The Weather Channel's "Local on the 8s" segments and his song "Rainbow Seeker" is included in their 2008 compilation release, The Weather Channel Presents: Smooth Jazz II. Nicole Kidman sang his song "One Day I'll Fly Away" in the Baz Luhrmann film Moulin Rouge! The very popular "In All My Wildest Dreams", also from the 1978 album Rainbow Seeker, was sampled on Tupac's "Dear Mama", De la Soul's "WRMS's Dedication to the Bitty", Toni Braxton's "What's Good" and Arrested Development's "Africa's Inside Me".

Sample had a bassist son named Nicklas Sample (with ex-wife Marianne), who is a member of the Coryell Auger Sample Trio featuring Julian Coryell and Karma Auger.

On September 12, 2014, Sample died in Houston, Texas from complications from mesothelioma lung disease. He was 75 years old. Sample had also suffered two heart attacks — the most recent in 2009. According to the Los Angeles Times he had also suffered illness caused by the Epstein-Barr virus, which produces chronic fatigue. In 2013, Sample was hospitalized with pneumonia, according to Variety, the Hollywood and music industry trade paper.

Discography

As leader

With The (Jazz) Crusaders

Freedom Sound (Pacific Jazz, 1961)

Lookin' Ahead (Pacific Jazz, 1962)

The Jazz Crusaders at the Lighthouse (Pacific Jazz, 1962)

Tough Talk (Pacific Jazz, 1963)

Heat Wave (Pacific Jazz, 1963)

Jazz Waltz (Pacific Jazz, 1963) with Les McCann

Stretchin' Out (Pacific Jazz, 1964)

The Thing (Pacific Jazz, 1965)

Chile Con Soul (Pacific Jazz, 1965)

Live at the Lighthouse '66 (Pacific Jazz, 1966)

Talk That Talk (Pacific Jazz, 1966)

The Festival Album (Pacific Jazz, 1966)

Uh Huh (Pacific Jazz, 1967)

Lighthouse '68 (Pacific Jazz, 1968)

Powerhouse (Pacific Jazz, 1969)

Lighthouse '69 (Pacific Jazz, 1969)

As sideman

With Gene Ammons:

Free Again (Prestige, 1971)

With Kenny Burrell

'Round Midnight (Fantasy, 1972)

With Michael Franks

The Art of Tea (Reprise, 1975)

With Richard "Groove" Holmes

Welcome Home (World Pacific, 1968)

With Milt Jackson

Memphis Jackson (Impulse!, 1969)

With B. B. King and Eric Clapton:

Riding with the King (except tracks 3, 4, and 8) (Reprise, 2000)

With Harold Land

The Peace-Maker (Cadet, 1968)

With Carmen McRae

Can't Hide Love (Blue Note, 1976)

With Blue Mitchell

Blues' Blues (Mainstream, 1972)

Graffiti Blues (Mainstream, 1973)

With Joni Mitchell

The Hissing of Summer Lawns (Elektra, 1975)

With Lalo Schifrin

Enter the Dragon (soundtrack) (Warner Bros., 1973)

With The Rippingtons

Welcome to the St. James' Club (GRP, 1990)

With Steely Dan

Aja (ABC-MCA, 1977)

With Stanley Turrentine

Everybody Come On Out (Fantasy, 1976)

Wikipedia

#Joe Sample

8 notes · View notes