Video Clip

Aug 7 2008

Systematic Chaos – Dream Theatre

Systematic Chaos is the 9th studio album from New York based progressive metal giants, Dream Theater. Released on June 4, 2007 in the United Kingdom and June 5, 2007 in the United States, this album was the band’s first release through Roadrunner Records. The album peaked in the top twenty in eight countries’ sales charts; in addition, the album peaked at the nineteenth position on the Billboard 200, making it the highest peaking Dream Theater album in the United States as of 2008. The lyrics of the album were written about fictional, political, and personal topics, respectively. Telling stories throughout each song, the album starts with the epic 25 minute In The Presence of Enemies. The song is split into two parts : “Prelude” & “Resurrection”.

Next comes the first single with the ultra-cool video, set in a science fiction future, Forsaken. It’s probably one of the best Dream Theater song of all time and it gets better with each listen. Like most titles called ‘Forsaken’, the song is about being visited by vampires. The song tells the story of a man whose blood is being sucked by a vampiress and in his dreams he is being shown beautiful things.

Constant Motion is about drummer Mike Portnoy, who wrote the song, and his obsessive compulsive disorder. Portnoy has struggled throughout the years and symbolizes his constant roles & responsibilities. With its heavy & driving tempo, the band sounds like an early Metallica. The Dark Eternal Night is a about a long dead Pharaoh who comes back as a monster and haunts a town. Repentance is about battling with alcoholic & other substance abuse and going through the various steps in Alcoholics Anonymous programs. The song features friends and fellow musicians Mikael Åkerfeldt, Jon Anderson, David Ellefson, Daniel Gildenlöw, Steve Hogarth, Chris Jericho, Neal Morse, Joe Satriani, Corey Taylor, Steve Vai, and Steven Wilson to record spoken apologies, regrets, and sorrows of their own.

Prophets of War was written by James LaBrie, who based the lyrics loosely on Joseph C. Wilson’s book The Politics of Truth. The lyrics talk about possible ulterior motives behind the Iraq War, while remaining “middle of the road”. The Ministry of Lost Souls is 15 mins long & tells of a person who dies in the process of saving another person from drowning. However, the person who is saved is filled with “regret and sorrow” until he is able to re-unite with his rescuer.

The cd closes with In The Presence of Enemies: Part 2. The songs are lengthy & heavier than most DT material however, I feel that they have upped their already awesome musical talents with this monster cd. Nothing can possibly beat Awake but this one come mighty close.

Enjoy the video for Forsaken.

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review, Video Clip • 1

Jul 6 2008

Montreal – Jesse Cook

I’ve been watching the clips on Youtube for quite a while now and really wanted to get the dvd of this amazing show. I haven’t got the dvd yet but I was able to get the songs in mp3 format. Capturing the jaw-dropping live shows on screen or cd is what the hard core fans of Jesse Cook have been waiting for, ever since he first made a name for himself as a flamenco guitar maestro in the 1990s. Montreal, released in 2004, was Recorded at the Metropolis Theater during Le Festival International de Jazz de Montreal and finds Jesse & his band members at their finest. Cook’s live shows – he performs regularly throughout his native Canada, the U.S., Asia, and points beyond – are notorious for drawing throngs of fans who sin and dance along during the entire performance.

The album starts off with Beloved & then goes into one of the concert favorites Rattle & Burn. The audience is also a huge factor here, almost like another band member, clapping & shouting & hooting with enjoyment and appreciation for the wonderous talent of the musicians on stage. We next go on to a wonderful version of Cascada before the wistfulness of Breeze From Saintes Maries.

The playfulness of the next track, Jumpstart is not lost on the listener or the audience. Next we move on to Air one of my favourite Jesse Cook tracks but I don’t really like the sound in this one. I really feel that the tone of the guitar is lost in some sections. Be ready for an emotional overhaul because up next is Luna Lena. In the dvd, you can see the entire crowd standing and clapping along with the beat for this one. Very obviously a triumph of fan participation. Closer To Madness has got to be one of the standouts in the album, violinist Chris Church setting the mood by playing that atmospheric intro and then the song starts slowly, building up in intensity and totally surpassing the studio version.

Guitarist Luis Hernandez joins Jesse upfront for a guitar duet performance on Tempest. My favourite performance is the next track Querido Amigo – with just Jesse’s guitar playing at its best accompanied by Art Avolos on percussion. Dance Of Spring is next (it really does remind me of spring with its romantic sounding riffs), ending with some loud rhythimic clapping by the crowd and Jesse playing a frentic shredding riff that sounds like he’s going at warp speed at the end. The loud cheering is followed by the famous Mario Takes A Walk, which is a truly firey performance with the crowd going wild at the end. Baghdad continues in the same vein and finally we have Fall At Your Feet, which sees Jesse bringing Danny Wilde for vocals.

Its a truly awesome performance by Jesse & his band members and the crowd, it must be said, giving us an idea of what a true rhumba-flamenco concert should be like.

the general s daughter online download

Here is the trailer of the dvd!

By Roshan • Music, Music Album Review, Video Clip • 1