New Year, New Music

[Mendalla]

Not metal, but a bit of a dream team for me. Pop-rock violinist Lindsay Stirling paired up with vocalist Chrissy Constanza of the band Against the Current for "Eye of the Untold Her (Echo in the Dark)". I am a fan of both artists and this is a great performances by both. And it's actually pretty heavy, though probably a stretch to call it metal. That long title sounds like it belongs on a prog album, to be honest.

 

[Waterfall]

Not metal, but a bit of a dream team for me. Pop-rock violinist Lindsay Stirling paired up with vocalist Chrissy Constanza of the band Against the Current for "Eye of the Untold Her (Echo in the Dark)". I am a fan of both artists and this is a great performances by both. And it's actually pretty heavy, though probably a stretch to call it metal. That long title sounds like it belongs on a prog album, to be honest.

Sterling is the one of the violinists that made my granddaughter switch from piano to violin at the age of 11. She is good at it now that she's turning 13 in Feb. and she absolutely loves it!

 

[Mendalla]

Not new music but, sadly, in memoriam. German bassist Francis Bucholtz, who played in the classic 1973-92 lineup of Scorpions has died from cancer at 71. That was the period when they hit it big in North America with songs like "Rock You Like A Hurricane". Bucholtz went on to a couple other German bands, including Temple of Rock founded by another ex-Scorpion, Michael Schenker (whose brother Rudolf started Scorpions). He was apparently also an entrepreneur, starting a company that, among other things, provided employment for Scorpions roadies when the band was off the road. Nice guy, in other words. RIP.

From 1984, one of Scorpions' biggest hits in North America and the song that introduced me, and most of Gen X here, to the band. And man, those lyrics are still pretty racy even today.

Okay, I might be wrong on that being my first exposure to Scorpions now that I look at "No One Like You". For some reason I forgot that this one actually came first.

And the incredible power ballad that the band put out in 1990 that became a celebration of the fall of the Berlin Wall and other incredible events that happened in Europe on the cusp of the nineties.

The band started in 1965 so is as old as me. Some of the current lineup are younger than the band itself. Founder Rudolf Schenker is still going strong at 77 and vocalist Klaus Meine (joined in 1969) is the same age. So this band is probably in its twilight now but they still tour (I see videos from their concerts pretty regularly) and even released new material as recently as 2022.

 

[Luce NDs]

Hurricane? Some power would have felt ... marked that ... if only to disconnect as a strike out! Begins another order ... phi*lem?

 

[Mendalla]

While this performance came after Bucholtz left Scorpions, the song first came out on Love At First Sting, the same album as "Rock You Like A Hurricane". This version features some terrific violin work by Anglo-Thai violinist Vanessa Mae, who was a fairly big star at the time (mid-1990s) and something of a predecessor to modern rock string players like Lindsay Stirling (see above), Mia Asano, and Tina Guo. It's another of their great power ballads.

 

[Mendalla]

My prog faves Solstice have a new live album and video dropping next month titled Clann : The Stables Gathering. It's a concert both promoting Clann and highlighting the band's long history. The first clip released is "Cheyenne" which dates back to 1984's debut album Silent Dance. They add a sax for this performance, which proves a nice touch-up for their sound. It appears they also added a third backup singer, plus with the sax taking over parts usually done by the violin, violinist Jenny Newman focuses on vocals as well. So once you add in lead vocalist Jess Holland, you have a rock band with a vocal quintet. Love it.

 

[Mendalla]

Aussie-born, UK-based Ebony Buckle has a wonderful voice and her solo albums are terrific. I discovered her through Solstice, where she is one of their team of vocalists as well as occasionally augmenting Steven McDaniel on keys. She mostly sings harmony and backup in the band, but sang lead on a remake of one of their old songs (Earthsong 2025, already posted in another post in this thread) and that got my attention.

I listened to Myths From the Megaverse , her 2022 collection of covers this morning and it's ... wow. Gorgeous renditions of songs from The Pretenders, Kate Bush, Tom Waits, and more. The description for one of the videos says she let patrons on her Patreon pick the tracks. It ends with one of her originals, co-written with her husband and regular collaborator Nick Burns. She also has two studio albums of her own stuff, again with Nick along for the ride.

"Morning of my life"was written in 1965 by Barry Gibb and later recorded by his band the Bee Gees. Ebony uses it as the leadoff track on the album.

"Sweet Dancer" by The Waterboys was new to me. Lovely song and Ebony sounds wonderful on it.

 

[Mendalla]

Edge of Paradise is an American metal band that, like a lot of contemporary metal, draws on a variety of sounds and styles. Frontwoman and band leader is Margarita Monet, another of those big-voiced, incredibly talented female metal singers that I adore. Martyr (Monster) is their latest single and a good intro.

 

[Luce NDs]

Does paradise have a border?

If so what is on the other side of this unseen function?

 

[Mendalla]

This probably does not have a hope in hell of showing up at the Junos but it is incredibly awesome Can-con nonetheless. It features Canadian rock guitarist Cole Rolland, who has been something of a fixture on YouTube for years but also has a more conventional career going, teaming with (swoon) Montreal death metal queen Alissa White-Gluz. It's a nice banger of a song, mostly sung clean but Alissa still gets in a few of her trademark growls. Cole's guitar work is, as always, sublime. The pair co-wrote the song along with Toronto singer-songwriter Lauren Babic and Cole produced.