A Sneak Peek... And this time about a historic and groundbreaking moment that was the opening chord to the glorious career of "Iron Maiden." On February 8, 1980, "Iron Maiden" released it's first single ever - " Running Free ". The single was released about two months before the band's debut album was released, in April 1980. The song was written by bassist Steve Harris and singer Paul Di'Anno. The lyrics are a kind of autobiography about the singer's life, as a 16-year-old disturbed child, rebellious, breaking the rules and free. The single cover picture is also historic as it presents the character of Eddie, who will accompany the band to this day, for the first time. Another historic moment associated with this single, is the fact that the band members refused to play it with a playback on the British "Top Of The Pop" tv show, aired on the BBC channel. This was a weekly music tv program, where the artists would perform their songs with a playback. Since the band members didn't want to appear with a playback, the program producers finally relented and allowed the band to perform the song live. Thus, the band became the first to perform a song on the "TOTP" tv show live, since 1974 when "The Who" did so. The show one of the few recorded performances with guitarist Dennis Stratton, who will later be replaced by Adrian Smith. To listen to a song: Spotify "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

On February 8, 1993, during "Alice in Chains’" performance at "Cirkus" in Stockholm, Sweden, frontman Layne Staley took an unforgettable stand against Nazism and racism. (Photo: Tim Mosenfelder) It was during "Alice in Chains’" European tour with "Screaming Trees", and about a month after bassist Mike Inez replaced Mike Starr . At a time when the band was at the peak of their success with " Dirt ", the concert took an unexpected turn when a Nazi skinhead in the crowd began making offensive gestures and physically attacking other fans in the mosh pit. Staley, known for his no-nonsense attitude, wasn’t about to let it slide. As tensions grew, right after the band finished playing “ It Ain’t Like That ” Staley paused the show and directed his attention toward the man causing trouble. Instead of simply calling him out from the stage or asking he would escorted out of the venue, he invited him up, catching both the crowd and his bandmates off guard. Security helped the skinhead climb onto the stage, and just as the audience braced for what would happen next, Staley landed two punches before pushing him off the stage. The crowd erupted in applause and cheers, fully backing the singer’s decisive action. Before returning to the performance, Staley leaned into the microphone and shouted: "Fucking Nazis die!". Apparently the whole show was filmed so you can watch the incident at around 47:00 min. of the video: Although the incident was met with overwhelming support from fans, the man reported Staley to the police, prompting an investigation. By the time Swedish authorities attempted to locate him, Layne Staley and the band’s guitar tech, Randy Biro, had already board a ferry to Finland. However, the rest of "Alice in Chains" - Jerry Cantrell , Sean Kinney and Mike Inez were detained, and their passports were confiscated until Staley returned. When he eventually faced questioning, the situation took an unexpected turn—the man’s own brother defended the band, siding with Staley. After a short interview, Swedish police dropped the case. The full show setlist: Dam That River We Die Young Them Bones Would? Love, Hate, Love Junkhead God Smack Bleed the Freak Put You Down Sickman It Ain't Like That Rooster Dirt Hate to Feel Encore: Angry Chair Man in the Box "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Written By: Moti Kupfer Release date - 08.02.1974 “I agree with you that the past is a source of melancholy but I like melancholy and have never found it to be the same thing as moroseness or sadness. I’ve always enjoyed being melancholy, perhaps because that mood is very much a feature of the environment where I grew up. It’s a very bleak place and most visitors find it quite miserable. I don’t think it’s miserable but it’s definitely a sort of lost place in a lost time — nothing has changed in this part of England for many hundreds of years.” Brian Peter George St. Jean le Baptiste de la Salle Eno was born in May 1948 in the town of Melton, Suffolk, England. His full name is unquestionably a tongue-twister, so we will simply refer to him as Brian Eno. He would later become best known as the inventor of the “ambient music” genre and as a visionary producer behind landmark albums such as “Remain in Light”, “ The Joshua Tree ”, and David Bowie’s so-called “Berlin Trilogy”. But even before he emerged as a groundbreaking producer, Eno was already creating the music of tomorrow, here and now. Eno took the rules of music and stretched them to their human limits. He took fundamentally pop-based songs and dismantled them in order to explore unusual and unconventional sounds on his debut solo album “Here Come the Warm Jets”, released on February 8, 1974. This happened shortly after he left the band Roxy Music, with whom he recorded two albums. As a young man, Eno attended the Catholic grammar school in Ipswich, where he began listening to records by African-American R&B artists, blues, and doo-wop performers. He drew particular inspiration from "the Lafayettes", the New York duo Don and Juan, "the Shirelles", and Little Richard, all of whom he regarded as key American musical figures. He was also inspired by the Dutch painter Piet Mondrian, whom he first encountered while staying at the home of his uncle, Carl Otto Eno, who owned an art collection. By 1964, after studying art and mathematics, Eno developed a strong interest in both art and music and lost any desire for conventional employment. In 1966, Eno enrolled at Winchester School of Art, graduating in 1969. While at Winchester, he attended a lecture by Pete Townshend , guitarist of “The Who”, which he later described as the moment he realized that one could create music without formal training. During his studies, Eno began using a tape recorder as a musical instrument. Toward the end of 1967, Eno co-founded the “Merchant Taylor’s Simultaneous Cabinet”, an avant-garde music and performance trio formed with two fellow Winchester graduates. This was followed by short stints in several experimental bands, some of which featured Eno as a theatrical frontman while also playing guitar. In 1969, following his separation from his wife, Eno moved to London, where his musical career began to accelerate. He became involved with the Scratch Orchestra and the Portsmouth Sinfonia. At one point, he was forced to earn money working as a paste-up assistant in the advertising section of a local newspaper. Two years later, in 1971, Eno joined “Roxy Music” alongside Bryan Ferry and Andy Mackay. Reflecting on the role of chance in his career, Eno later said: “I had the opportunity to meet saxophonist Andy Mackay at a railway station, which led to my joining the band. If I’d walked ten yards further on the platform or missed that train or been on the next one, I would probably be an art teacher now.” Eno, who had known Mackay since their university days, shared with him a mutual fascination with the avant-garde and electronic music. After the “For Your Pleasure” tour ended in mid-1973, Eno left the band following creative disagreements with Bryan Ferry, which limited his ability to fully integrate his ideas. After leaving “Roxy Music”, Eno collaborated with Robert Fripp , guitarist and founder of “King Crimson”. The album they worked on took more than a year to complete and made extensive use of a pioneering system later known as “Frippertronics”. The result is widely regarded as a breakthrough that paved the way for future developments in experimental and ambient music. In 1973, filmmaker Alfie Singer directed and produced “Eno”, a 24-minute British documentary centered on the recording sessions for Eno’s first studio album, “Here Come the Warm Jets”. At the time, Eno was an avant-garde keyboardist and composer who had just left “Roxy Music” to become a solo artist. As the film demonstrates, the abstract electronics, space-age atmosphere, and layered vocal textures he created were still relatively new to rock music in the early 1970s. The EMS VCS 3 synthesizer that Eno used during his time with “Roxy Music” also played a central role on his debut solo album. The instrument featured a built-in joystick for sound effects and allowed external keyboards and other instruments to be connected for signal processing. Alongside the VCS 3, Eno used electronic keyboards, vocal-altering electronics, and tape loops to create immersive textures and droning effects. Despite appearances, science-fiction sounds do not dominate the album. At the core of each song lies a glam-rock sensibility. Eno’s use of electronics serves primarily as coloration and texture, shifting emotional states by introducing menace into an upbeat song or hysteria into a piece rooted in rock and roll. “Here Come the Warm Jets” revolves around contrasts and constant movement between rock’s past and its future. The album was recorded in just twelve days and brought together a diverse group of musicians, including Phil Manzanera and Andy Mackay from “Roxy Music”, Robert Fripp in return for their earlier collaboration, Simon King of “Hawkwind”, bassist John Wetton, and bassist Busta Jones, known for his work with Albert King, “Talking Heads”, and “Gang of Four”. “One of the important things about the synthesiser was that it came without any baggage… When you play an instrument that does not have any such historical background you are designing sound basically.” The album’s artistic coherence emerged from Eno’s judgment, his selection of sounds, and their integration with traditional instruments. In the documentary, Eno described himself artistically as “decadent”, meaning that his music existed “half from one culture that is dying and half from another culture that is just being born”. Most of the songs on the album are open to interpretation, with the exception of “The Paw Paw Negro Blowtorch” , which tells the story of William Underwood, a young African-American man from Paw Paw, Michigan, who claimed to possess pyrokinesis, briefly becoming a local celebrity in 1882. Following the album’s release, Eno was interviewed by a young NME journalist named Chrissie Hynde , who asked him about “On Some Faraway Beach” , the song that famously layered 27 piano parts and was inspired by a dream. Eno replied: “You mean ‘On Some Faraway Beach’. It wasn’t only inspired - all the words to that occurred in the dream. I quite often wake up and write my dreams down because I find them so mysterious.” “I find the dreams are always much more brilliant in their construction than anything I consciously think of. On that particular one, I just woke up with all these words in my head and I wrote them straight down in the dark. When writing from dreams, you don’t feel any responsibility for what you do, which is important to me.” For some time, the album title was suspected to have a reference to urination. However, in a 1996 interview with Mojo magazine, Eno explained that it originated from a description he wrote for the treated guitar on the title track: "The title Warm Jets came from the guitar sound on the track of that name, which I described on the track sheet as ‘warm jet guitar’, because the guitar sounded like a tuned jet". For Listening : Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Editor's Choice... And this time... "Marquee Moon" by "Television", which was released on February 8, 1977. This is the band's debut album. It's considered one of the influential albums on the development of Alternative Rock, Punk, Indie and even New Wave genres. "Television" is an American band from New York. They formed in 1973 and was among the leaders in the Punk scene of the 70s in New York. The band has performed regularly at the legendary "CBGB" Club in New York since 1974, and has slowly built a fan base that has caught the eye of the "Electra" record label. Although the band's style and album genre are defined under the Punk, the band has concocted an ingenious musical mix that is far beyond that, to the point that it simply cannot be cataloged. If the idea of Punk was to create simple, uncomplicated music, with a basic musical structure, which does not include more than two or three chords, then "Television" took it a few steps further and fused into their music motifs of Classical Rock, Jazz, Psychedelia, Garage and Avant-Gard. But the dissonance between the band's definition under Punk and the album's content, does not end there. Most of the songs on this album are songs of over 5 minutes, with the theme song exceeding 10 minutes. Just a perfect antithesis to Punk genre. It's also an album based on guitars, not those of two three basic "power cords", but of melodic playing, guitar lines and solos of two talented and virtuoso guitarists, which make this album the best guitar album the Punk scene has ever known (if it sticks to the definition anyway). The collaboration of Richard Lloyd and Tom Verlaine is simply divine, they swap guitar roles, cross guitar lines and solos, share melodies and produce twin harmonies. It is very difficult even impossible to define the style of the album. It is unique, special and different from anything else. It has won many accolades from both, fans and critics and received a perfect score from each and every one of the various magazines and rankings sites. "Rolling Stone", "Q Magazine", "Mojo", "Sputnikmusic", "Allmusic" and more, all gave this album a 5/5 score. "Marquee Moon" influenced bands such as "Sonic Youth", "REM", "Pixies", "Echo & the Bunnymen" and even "Joy Division", where the excellent guitar work in it was a role model for guitarists like The Edge , John Frusciante and many more. This album is also on the "Rolling Stone magazine" top 500 album list. And now you just have to listen to it: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Written By: Moti Kupfer Release date - 07.02.1984 They knew each other well. Both were members of the SDP, the Social Democratic Party. “I found myself sitting next to him on a Concorde flight once, and he had this idea that his industrial plant in Billingham (in the north of England) might actually provide musical inspiration for somebody”, recalled Eric Woolfson, co-founder and member of "The Alan Parsons Project". “He flew me up there, we went in and the first thing that struck me was there was this avenue, but with no trees or people, just pipes where they made ammonia.” The image he saw during that visit stayed with him. Woolfson felt he had reached an insight few people arrive at. “I thought it was inspirational, particularly in relation to our lack of understanding of science and technology and the scientists’ lack of understanding of the world outside of science, particularly the arts.” Inspired by the visit, Woolfson wrote the song " Ammonia Avenue ", which became the title track of the seventh album by "The Alan Parsons Project", released on February 7, 1984. Woolfson and Alan Parsons  first met in 1974 at Abbey Road Studios. Parsons already had an impressive résumé as a recording engineer and assistant producer on albums by "The Beatles", "Wings", and the landmark " The Dark Side Of The Moon " by "Pink Floyd". Woolfson worked as a songwriter and composer. He wrote songs for artists such as Marianne Faithfull, Frank Ifield, Joe Dassin, "The Tremeloes", "Marmalade", Dave Berry, Peter Noone, and "The Poets". At the same time, Woolfson worked as a session pianist while composing material for a concept album based on the work of Edgar Allan Poe. His idea was to manage Alan Parsons and support his already successful production career. This marked the beginning of their long-standing business partnership and friendship. Woolfson managed Parsons’ career as a producer and engineer through a series of successes, including work with "Pilot" with their hit “ January ”, Steve Harley and Cockney Rebel, John Miles, Al Stewart, "Ambrosia", and "The Hollies". Woolfson then conceived the idea of creating an album based on developments in the film industry. The focus of film promotion had shifted from movie stars to directors such as Alfred Hitchcock and Stanley Kubrick. Cinema had become a director’s medium, and Woolfson felt that the music business could adopt a similar model, positioning the producer as the central creative force. He revisited his earlier Edgar Allan Poe material and found a way to combine his talents with those of Parsons. Parsons produced and engineered songs written and composed by the two of them, and the first Alan Parsons Project began to take shape. Parsons valued and appreciated when several people play together and create real interaction, rather than relying on automatic correction and auto-tuning. This mantra was always part of his essence and approach. The same applied to the band itself, led by two musicians and producers who were equal partners in songwriting, supported by a rotating group of regular collaborators including Ian Bairnson, Colin Blunstone, Lenny Zakatek, John Miles, Chris Rainbow, Andrew Powell, and others. "Ammonia Avenue" is an album that embodies the connection Woolfson and Parsons created between the scientific world and the spiritual or belief-driven world. These realms, usually seen as parallel lines, unexpectedly intersect here, forming a musical concept that offers a refreshing perspective. The album opens with " Prime Time ", one of the group’s more optimistic songs, portraying a person who sees better days ahead. The album includes several tracks that respond to the gap between the public and the technology that has made life easier. Yet when looking closely at the lyrics of this song in particular, they seem influenced by a sense of exaggerated euphoria driven by astrological predictions. Much of the album deals with spiritualist ideas, the ego versus the higher self, creation, and the conflict between creator and humanity. It reflects a scientific, material reality that increasingly presents itself as the only reality, the one in which humanity lives and creates on Earth. This is evident in " Dancing on a Highwire" , which carries a spiritual message that “we are all connected to everything and everyone.” It suggests a form of human surrender to progress. In many ways, Alan Parsons anticipated by forty years what we see today through social networks. From there, the individual reaches a stage of acceptance, looking inward and confronting the past and the self. It speaks to duality and the opposing forces that exist within each of us. Magic is a recurring theme in the songs of The Alan Parsons Project, and it appears again in " Don't Answer Me " with the key line: “If you believe in the power of magic, I can change your mind.” The song deals with the fragility of relationships, and how, in a moment of madness, it is possible to leave someone without a good reason and regret it forever. Parsons shaped “Don’t Answer Me”  in the style of Phil Spector and his famous "Wall of Sound" technique. Eric Woolfson, the songwriter and creative partner, handled the lead vocals on the single, while Mel Collins contributed the saxophone solo. "The Alan Parsons Project" famously avoided live performances and public appearances, leaving fans unaware of what the band actually looked like. The animated video solved this problem for the lead single, briefly featuring avatars of Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons during a bar scene. The clip was nominated for an award on MTV in the category of "Most Experimental Video", but lost to "Rockit" by Herbie Hancock. The video was filmed over 23 days, using a team of 40 animators. It combined traditional shadow animation for character design, stop-motion animation for most of the movement, and even clay animation. The final cost reached $50,000. For Listening : Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

A Sneak Peek... And this time. the Grunge godfather falls and raises! (Photo: Ebet Roberts/Redferns) On February 7, 1993 Neil Young arrives at Universal Studios Los Angeles, with the "Stray Gators", the backing band that recorded masterpiece album " Harvest " with him. This time they came to accompany him during the performance and recording of an unplugged show, as part of the "MTV Unplugged" series. This was Young's second attempt to record the show, after the first attempt ended when Young left right in the middle of it. The first performance was about three months earlier, in December 1992, at Ed Sullivan Hall in New York. It is not clear what exactly went wrong that night, but things did not flow very well for young, there were glitches, mistakes, songs were stopped in the middle and played again, and to the small audience present at the venue it was very clear that Neil Young was completely unhappy with the results. At one point Neil Young even left the stage and the concert hall and went out wandering the streets of Manhattan, walking behind him where the stunned production crew members. Neil Young finally relented and returned to perform another two songs, before finally ending the show, but given the circumstances he refused to allow the MTV channel to broadcast it. About two months after that failed show, on February 7, 1993, Neil Young tried to do it again. This time at the Universal Studios Los Angeles. This time it worked! And in a big way! The recording made that day was released four months later as the masterpiece album " Unplugged ", released on June 15, 1993, without a doubt one of the greatest unplugged albums ever released. "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Written By: Moti Kupfer Release date - 07.02.1994 “We thought we made really good records, but we never envisaged hanging out and playing boules at Elton’s house on a Sunday. Some people, when you give them a little bit of fame and fortune they’re great with it. They’ve waited their whole life for it, and they take the baton and run. Hats off to them. But then you’ve got people like us, where it doesn’t sit comfortably, and it certainly didn’t at the time. We didn’t know what to do..” — Andy Cairns At the point when grunge was blooming worldwide and already beginning to fade, rock bands from the British Isles slowly started to nip at its heels. One of them arrived straight from the old port town of Larne in Northern Ireland. No one expected that "Therapy?" (the question mark was born from a design mistake on their debut album), a band raised on metal and punk, would suddenly turn into a group writing fast, direct, and highly communicative songs that would become live anthems and chart staples. But the EP "ShortSharpShock", released in March 1993, produced the explosive anthem " Screamager ", which, to everyone’s surprise, climbed to number 9 on the UK charts. "Therapy?" were formed in 1989 in the town of Larne by guitarist-vocalist Andy Cairns and drummer-vocalist Fyfe Ewing. To complete the lineup, the band brought in bassist Michael McKeegan. In April 1989, they recorded a demo containing four tracks, titled "Thirty Seconds of Silence", with Andy playing bass guitar borrowed from Fyfe’s schoolmate, Michael McKeegan. When they decided to start playing live, they recruited McKeegan permanently and performed their debut show at the Belfast College of Art. Their sound was heavily influenced by bands that emerged from the indie-rock movement, such as The "Jesus Lizard", "Big Black", and "The Membranes". After releasing their first single in a limited pressing of 1,000 copies, they set out on their first UK tour and managed to catch the attention of pioneering musician and broadcaster John Peel. “When we formed the band, we were completely influenced by groups like Big Black, Tar, and Hammerbox,” recalled Cairns. “But after we made the album Nurse, things started to change.” The next album, "Troublegum", released on 07.02.1994, opens with " Screamager ". “We’d been talking about the history of Ulster rock and bands like "The Undertones" and "Stiff Little Fingers", and when I was 12 or 13 those bands were massive in Ireland and I was a big fan,” Cairns explained. “I wrote Screamager , kind of as an Ulster pop tribute song, and I brought it to the lads. They liked it, but we decided that it maybe wasn’t the kind of stuff we should be doing. But our producer Chris Sheldon was due to record some new stuff with us and he really liked Screamager because it had that big riff and the Helmet-style stop-start thing and the chorus was really catchy. That was the start of Troublegum .” Inspired by the EP and the success of its breakout hit, producer Chris Sheldon approached the band with an unusual request: to recycle that success by writing another song in the same vein. "Therapy?" hesitated. They felt they couldn’t keep holding both ends of the rope at the same time. While the riffs and noise of their early records remained a fundamental part of their sound, the band’s new songs were far more direct and melodic, leading to an album unafraid of moments of almost shameless simplicity when facing an audience. Sheldon’s request for another hit reminded frontman Andy Cairns of his pre-Therapy? days, when he played in a different band. “I had a song from an old band I’d been in that became Nowhere and I had Turn as well, so we demoed some of this stuff and it sounded great, and we just decided to make a whole album of it.” "Troublegum" was recorded in several studios across England during 1993. It still carried traces of the antisocial noise and abrasive rock that had always been central to "Therapy?’s" sound, but above all, it was an album dominated by massive anthems. “Like the music, we stripped the lyrics down,” says Andy. “[Acclaimed producer and noise rock legend] Steve Albini always said that lyrics should be punchlines, and that’s what we tried to do: make them short and snappy.” In line with their new philosophy of reducing everything to its simplest form, Therapy? underwent a major lyrical shift. Andy’s natural tendency toward darkness and oddness was quickly overtaken by a new approach, one that ensured every song on the album contained a line or two that anyone could shout along to, whether drunk or sober. "Troublegum" is an album that balances despair, frustration, and a faint belief that tomorrow might be better. It opens with the gnawing desperation of " Hellbelly ", a track that tackles the hypocrisy of Christianity in Northern Ireland, where child abuse, money laundering, and similar crimes could be hidden behind a religious façade. It is followed by " Stop It You're Killing Me ", which hints at the troubled situation in Northern Ireland. On one side stands the British government, attempting to reassure everyone that everything will be fine and that all sides will be satisfied, while doing nothing to stop the violence between terrorist factions on both sides. One of "Therapy?’s" greatest anthems is " Nowhere ", driven by its distinctive dual-siren sound, created using a delay pedal with a built-in sampler purchased by Andy Cairns. The track is heavily influenced here by Bob Mould, best known for his work with "Hüsker Dü" and "Sugar". Andy Cairns based " Die Laughing " on an old Irish story: “A man goes to the doctor suffering from depression after trying every pill and every form of treatment available. The doctor tells him that the only thing left he can offer is to go and see a clown who makes everyone in the town laugh. Only then does it become clear that the clown is the patient himself.” Another band that proved influential on "Therapy?"  was the New York metal outfit "Helmet". "Helmet’s" singer and guitarist Page Hamilton even collaborated with "Therapy?" on the song "Unbeliever" . Other standout moments on the album include "Isolation" , a reworking of the song originally recorded by "Joy Division" , and "Turn" , which was written under the influence of "R.E.M." during their "Murmur" era and carries with it a story that raises a smile. “I was reading a great book called Storming Heaven by this guy Jay Stevens,” Andy Cairns explained, “One of the chapters was called Turn And Face The Strange and I honestly did not realise that was a David Bowie lyric!.” “We were on a festival bill in Belgium with David Bowie a few years after Troublegum came out and he was on two bands after, and about three songs into the set I look over and standing by our monitor was David Bowie! He watched the whole thing and we played Turn, so I started to worry about having to walk past him to get to our dressing room, thinking he's going to say 'you thieving Irish toerag!' but he just went 'great energy!' I was off the hook." The album artwork perfectly captured the sense of mischievous menace bubbling beneath the album’s fast, hook-laden melodies. It was created by and features photographer Nigel Rolfe, who shot an image of a naked man with his head stuck inside a rubbish bin. “Nigel was a performance and design artist,” explains Andy. “He did a series of pictures where he covered himself in white paint and rolled around in sawdust. We’d been talking with him about this Samuel Beckett play, Endgame, which features guys in dustbins at the back of the stage, and then he brought this huge portfolio of stuff a couple of weeks later, featuring this naked man covered in sawdust, and the dustbin shot was the one that we all liked.” For Listening : Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Editor's Choice... Are there any Prog fans in the audience? So you should stay tuned because today we are going to tell about "Brave" - "Marillion's" seventh album, which was released on February 7, 1994. We assume for most of you the name "Marillion" immediately evokes an unconditional reflex that plays the song "Kayleigh" in the background of your mind. But "Marillion" is so much more than one melodic and catchy song, as successful as it may be. "Marillion" is the band that is almost exclusively responsible for the development of the Neo-Prog genre and thus its historical importance and contribution to the world of music. Neo-Prog is a musical genre developed in the early 1980s in England. It leans on the laps of the classic Progressive Rock of the seventies, just a little less complex and challenging and much more innovative and friendly. "Marillion" is a very prolific and active band and to date has released 18 studio albums (the 19th is just around the corner), four of which came out during the band's classic era with singer Fish , including the excellent concept album " Misplaced Childhood " released in 1985. It is interesting to note that the band's lineup is quite stable and has remained unchanged since the band's first album, with the exception of drummer Mick Pointer who was replaced after the first album with Ian Mosley and singer Fish who was replaced by Steve Hogarth in late 1988. The other members of the band are Steve Rothery on guitar, Pete Trewavas on bass and Mark Kelly on keyboards. So "Brave" is another concept album by "Marillion". This is the band's seventh album and third with new lead singer Steve Hogarth, who also came up with the idea for the plot behind the concept album. Steve heard on the news a story about a girl who was taken into police custody after she was found wandering on the " Severn Bridge " connecting England and Wales. The girl did not know who she was, where she came from and even refused to talk to the police. This story inspired Steve to write a fictional story about that girl and what might have led her to " Severn Bridge " on which she was found. After two relatively commercial albums released by the band with lead singer Steve Hogarth, "Marillion" returns to her Progressive roots, only this time the emphasis is on slower rhythms and a quiet and melancholy atmosphere, which is warranted by the concept story. The album opens with the instrumental track " Bridge " designed to put us in the mood of the story, right where the girl was found. The vinyl version of the album allowed the listener to choose the end of the story from two possible options. Thus, the fourth side of the album is recorded in "Double Groove" technology, with 2 parallel soundtracks, with the needle choosing to play only one of them depending on the point where the needle was placed on the record. In this way, the first and "happy" version of the fourth side included the songs " The Great Escape " followed immediately by " Made Again ", while the second and "sad" version included the song " The Great Escape (Spiral Remake) " followed by 7 minutes Of water sounds ... This album was chosen by "Classic Rock" magazine as one of the 30 best albums of the 90's and one of the 30 greatest concept albums of all time. It's recording method and technique influenced the way the album " Ok Computer " by "Radiohead" was recorded. Curious? great! now be "brave" and listen, it's worth it: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

Today we will tell you about David Bryan the musician, composer and keyboardist of "Bon Jovi". (Photo: Kevin Mazur ) 1. He was born David Bryan Rashbaum on February 7, 1962 in Perth Amboy, New Jersey. 2. He grew up in a Jewish family. His father, Eddie Rashbaum, played the trumpet. 3. David attended Clara Burton Elementary School, where he learned to played many instruments, including violin, viola, trumpet and clarinet. 4. He started studying piano at the age of seven and already in his youth he played keyboards for a band called "Transition". 5. David was the first member to join "Bon Jovi". As soon as Jon Bon Jovi found out he got a recording contract, he called Bryan and asked him to join the band. Bryan of course agreed. 6. At the time he received the fateful call, he was a Pre-Med student at Rutgers University, with a perfect average grade of 4.0. 7. He chose his stage name David Bryan because he was constantly tired of spelling his full name. 8. He played keyboards and sang background vocals on all 15 of Bon Jovi's studio albums, including masterpieces " Slippery When Wet ", " New Jersey ", " These Days " and more. 9. In addition, he also played on some of Jon Bon Jovi 's and Richie Sambora's solo albums, including Jon Bon Jovi's "Destination Anywhere", where he also played the accordion and Richie Sambora 's "Stranger in This Town" where he co-wrote the songs and was also responsible for the string arrangement. 10. Byran has been a co-writer of the band's songs since his debut album " Bon Jovi ", in which he co-wrote two songs "Love Lies" and "Breakout". 11. On the album " Slippery When Wet " he plays the trumpet but the credit is given to the pseudonym Lema Moon. 12. Before recording the album " Crush " he had an accident with a chainsaw in a way that prevented him from playing for a certain period of time. 13. In 1992 he participated in the writing and playing in the soundtrack of the horror film "Netherworld". 14. In 1995 he released his first solo album "On a Full Moon". (Photo: This Day in Music Facebook Page) 15. In 2000 he released his second solo album "Lunar Eclipse". The album, which is mostly instrumental, showcased his abilities in playing in a variety of genres such as Jazz, Blues, Classical and of course Rock. 16. In 2018 he was inducted into the "Rock and Roll Hall" of Fame as a member of "Bon Jovi". 17. He wrote the music for the successful musical "Memphis" that first debuted on Broadway in 2002. 18. The musical was nominated for 8 Tony Awards, of which he won 4, among them the best musical and the best score for musical. 19. Byran has written music for other musicals such as "The Toxic Avenger" from 2008 and "Diana" about the Princess of Wales. The musical was filmed and released for viewing on "Netflix" in October 2021. 20. He came to Israel twice with "Bon Jovi" and appeared in front of an audience of 100,000 people in total. He even visited the Western Wall tunnels. For his second visit from 2019 he arrived with his children and they toured the country. (Photo: https://thekotel.org) "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

A Sneak Peek... And this time, on the day Beatlemania arrived to the U.S.A !!! (Photo: AP) On February 7, 1964, a "Pan Am" flight landed in at Kennedy Airport in New York which took off from Heathrow Airport in London, - that flight signaled the musical and cultural revolution that the United States would go through. The Beatlemania bacterium began to flood America. This is the first visit of the Fantastic Four to America and it comes at a perfect timing. Six days earlier, the song "I Want to Hold Your Hand" reached number one on the US charts and became the band's first hit on the other side of the ocean. The four members got off the plane in fashionable suits for that period and with a "plate haircut" (or rather a bowl in their case) on their heads, to hysterical applause from about 3,000 fans who were waiting for them and caused a big commotion at the airport. Two days later, the band made their first appearance on Ed Sullivan's show , which was a "tribal bonfire" for viewers in the United States at the time. The number of households that watched the show was inconceivable and was estimated at about 73 million viewers, who at the time were about forty percent of the U.S. population, a hysterical figure in itself. The band made their first live appearance in the United States a few days later, on February 11, 1964. The performance was held at the Colosseum in Washington in front of a particularly screaming crowd of about 20,000 fans. The next day was the first in a series of two performances at the famous Carnegie Hall in New York, and this time the police were forced to close the streets around the hall, again due to hysteria from fans. The Beatles' first tour in America left a deep imprint on American cultural memory and was recorded in the pages of U.S. history. The perfect catalyst for the process that American society has gone through. Follow us on Facebook or Subscribe to our website "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog & Podcast

Kurt Cobain said it's his "favorite album of all time. In his list of the top 50 albums he thought were most influential to Nirvana's sound". Thurston Moore of "Sonic Youth" noted "that record sliced my head off... In a way, it brought me into all those other aspects of music and literature. Johnny Marr of "The Smiths" said: "It gave me a path to follow as a guitar player. It was an opening into a world of rock & roll.." "Guns N' Roses", "Def Leppard" and the "Red Hot Chili Peppers" performed songs from it. Ladies and gentlemen, let's read about one of Rock's most influential albums, let's listen to how history is produced in 30 minutes. "Raw Power" is the third studio album by "The Stooges" (titled "Iggy and the Stooges"), which was released on February 7, 1973. The story of this album begins from the ruins of a band whose bassist Dave Alexander is addicted to alcohol. A band whose lead and charismatic singer struggles with heroin addiction. A band whose record company decided not to renew its contract, after two unsuccessful albums. Under these circumstances, music critics and fans wondered if the band would continue to exist at all. But then, a miraculous thing happens. David Bowie , who saw the band live during a visit to the US in 1971, was very impressed with them and especially of Iggy Pop 's abilities. He took Iggy Pop under his wings, helps him recover and make sure he signs a new recording contract with a company owned by Tony Defries - his manager. In 1972 Iggy moves to England and begins to form the new band that will accompany him. He takes guitarist James Williamson who from 1970 served as a second guitarist in the band's live shows and drummer Scott Asheton, with him. After a long search for a bass player, Iggy decided, on Williamson's advice, to move guitarist Ron Asheton to the bass player position, thus completing the lineup that would record the masterpiece "Raw Power". The people in charge of writing the materials for the album are Iggy Pop and James Williamson, who shared the creation process. The album title - "Raw Power", simply represents in the best way what's happening inside. A display of immature, powerful and rough power, which will lay, among other things, the cornerstones for the establishment of Punk and Grunge genres. The theme song " Raw Power " describes the rock 'n' roll ethos of "Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll" as "raw power". Iggy referred to this "raw power" as something that can lift a man from the deepest places, but can also ruin and destroy. The simple rock 'n' roll piano riff is played by Iggy, who also opens the song with a burp, yes, yes. A burp accidentally recorded and did not edit out. The powerful opening song " Search and Destroy ", was written following an article Iggy Pop have read in "Time" magazine, about the Vietnam War. And as in war, James Williamson's guitar firing in bundles, Ron Asheton's bass rolls towards us like a hand grenade, Scott Asheton's drums drop napalm bombs upon us from the sky and Iggy Pop 's singing rushes forward in full force. Not for nothing has singer and creator Henry Rollis tattooed the title of the opening song on his arm, not for nothing this song included in the "Rolling Stone" magazine's list of the 500 greatest songs of all time. The second track " Gimme Danger " is one of two "ballads" that the record company "Columbia" demanded that the band include on the album, one on each side of the vinyl. The lyrics were written by Iggy Pop on one of his walks at the Hyde Park, London. He wrote it about the girl he feared would just ruin him - Johanna. He also wrote the song "Johanna" from the album "Kill City" from 1977 on the same girl. Williamson wrote the music on an acoustic guitar that also rarely stars here alongside the rough electric guitar. (Photo: Mick Rock, Sony Music) The second "ballad" that the record company demanded to be included on the album is " I Need Somebody " and it is located as the second song on the other side of the vinyl. It's a slow, rough blues piece, that features chilling and mesmerizing Iggy's singing. Beyond the two "ballads" mentioned above, this album is a ticking time bomb. " Shake Appeal " initially called "Hard to Beat", is a vicious and cruel rock 'n' roll piece. " Penetration " is a dark and menacing piece with psychedelic touches. " The Shake Appeal " could have been written by the "Rolling Stones" after swallowing a stimulant drug cocktail and " Death Trip " is indeed one long "killer trip" that takes us on a 6 minutes "trip" accompanied by sawing guitars up until the end of the album. Even though David Bowie got the credit for producing the album, the one who actually produced it was Iggy Pop . At the end of the recordings, the record company thought it would be appropriate to transfer the recordings to David Bowie so he can handle them. Eventually David Bowie , who was then in Los Angeles, got 7 of the album's eight songs for production. He had a very hard time getting his job done since the album was primitively recorded on a number of individual channels. The result was disastrous for Iggy and Williamson, who really did not like it. But who cares if the record company is happy? They made sure to mention Bowie's name prominently as the one who co-produced the album with Iggy Pop . Eventually justice was done with the recordings years later, when in 1997 a remix of the album was released and includes the original production of Iggy Pop . It is interesting to note that singer Bruce Dickinson was also credited as an executive producer of the 1997 reissue. For Listening to the album with the Iggy Pop production: Spotify For Listening to the album with the David Bowie production: Spotify "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website

"I Think This Is The Beginning Of A Beautiful Friendship"... This famous phrase that ends the film "Casablanca", was not included in the original text, it was improvised and became a classic. This sentence can describe exactly what created the band of Aviv Geffen and Steven Wilson and the debut album which also bears the band's name "Blackfield", released on February 6, 2004. In 2002, Aviv released his tenth album "Memento Mori" 10 years after the release of his debut album "It's Just the Moonlight". Aviv was already huge in Israeli terms with the aura of a rock star, a complex character, a controversial figure, provocative but musical, talented, and powerful. But even Aviv the rockstar is a fan himself. He admired other bands as any music fan and one of them was "Porcupine Tree", Steven's famous band. Aviv admired Steven, he flew to the band's shows and even had a fan meeting with Steven. In the early 2000s Israeli producer, Shuki Weiss brought the band to Israel for three shows, during that time he made the connection between Aviv and Steven, the initial connection was formed very quickly and the two became friends, but the musical collaboration did not happen that quickly. Aviv said that for months he tried to collaborate with Steven but without success, he sent him lyrics, demos, and even finished materials but did not receive any response from Steven until... One day Aviv gets an envelope with a CD from Steven. The CD included music that Aviv created himself and Steven wrote the lyrics for and recorded his vocals. Aviv said that the minute he put the CD in the car audio system he just started crying, he could not believe that Wilson himself, whom he admires so much, wrote and recorded vocals for music that Aviv wrote and composed himself. At that moment he knew something was going to happen between the two. In one of the interviews, Steven said that although he loves Aviv very much and appreciates him as a person and a musician, he would not have come to collaborate with him without the love and inexplicable connection he has to Israel. Steven said he was fascinated by the country, the culture, and the people, and his love pushed him to create with Aviv. And not only that, Steven even moved to Israel and lived here for a while. (Photo: Steven Wilson Productions) At that time Aviv really wanted to break out of Israel's borders, he felt very identified and even belonged to Israeli culture as if he could not break away from it and that is his fate. He was determined to recalculate a route and it was not easy. Aviv had a great fear of being alone and a great fear of flying so he decided he had to take a significant step. Aviv said he had been in psychotherapy for a year and a half to treat himself, not only in terms of fear of flying but also in terms of his personal identity, relationship, and more. All of this was a kind of preparation or rather led to what created "Blackfield". So the two new members started collaborating as they send each other materials and created together in Israel and England. While collaborating, Aviv recorded vocals for the two songs " The Sound of Muzak " and " Prodigal " on "Porcupine Tree's" seventh album "In Absentia", released in 2002. Over time the two created enough material for an EP and planned to release it back in 2001, But the materials accumulated and it was decided to make a full album out of them and release it in 2004. The album was released in Israel and Europe in 2004, and in the United States in 2005. The album reached sales of over one hundred thousand records all over the world. The album consists of eight original songs, and three songs by Aviv Geffen translated into English by Wilson - " Cloudy Now " (based on a song in the same name from Aviv's Israeli album), " Scars " (based on the same song from "Journey Diary") and " Glow " (predicted it's release on the album "With Time"), the songs were re-recorded by the group. Apart from Steven and Aviv the group ensembled Daniel Salomon on keyboards, Seffy Efrati on bass, Gavin Harrison ("Porcupine Tree") on drums, Yirmi Kaplan and Chris Maitland also on drums. Four singles have been released from the album: " Hello ", " Pain ", " Blackfield " and " Cloudy Now ". (Photo: Steven Wilson Productions) In our opinion this is an exemplary album that brings these two artists to play together creativity and talent, a combination of softness and melancholy with roughness and aggression, Aviv brings his emotions and Steven his incredible talent. A dramatic and complex album on one hand but also a simple melody on the other. Wilson said he brought the complexity and depth of the Prog from which he came from and Aviv brought the pops and melodies in lyrics and melody. To date, this is the band's most notable album, the band released five more albums later when the last one was released in 2020. The amazing collaboration between Aviv and Steven erupts right from the opening song " Open Mind " written by Wilson and composed by Aviv. A very dynamic song that starts soft and quiet with a classical guitar and later erupts with a rough riff and returns the circle of quiet-loud. It is followed by the no less amazing theme song " Blackfield ". The simple piano melody composed by Wilson just doesn't go out of our heads. A melodic and catchy piece that is just waiting for the acoustic guitar to wrap it with softness that it is impossible not to indulge. Salomon's Hammond and Wilson's howling solos make this song no less than perfect, without a doubt one of the album's highlights. " Glow " is simply pure "glowing" firefly magic in the sky of darkness, until Aviv arrives and in the last third of the song lights up the spotlight in a big light with the rough sound that blends in with Wilson's sawing guitar. No offense to Aviv, but Steven's voice in " Scars " do kindness with the amazing song. Wilson also contributed to the English rendition of the lyrics as well as of the song " Cloudy Now ". " Lullaby " does sound like a lullaby led by Daniel Salomon's marvelous piano playing. Salmon is also responsible for the strings arrangements in this song, as well as other songs on the album (" Open Mind ", " Summer " and " Hello "). The excerpts from an old movie that are incorporated into the song take us back to similar excerpts from "Pink Floyd's" album " The Wall ", and this is not the last time this album will evoke "pink" memories. Anyone who listens to the closing track " Hello " and especially to Wilson's guitar work there, can not help but get flashbacks from "Pink Floyd" and we certainly do not say that is a bad thing. This is a great song that deserves all the superlatives. It is interesting to note, that 8 of the ten songs on the album were composed by Aviv Geffen , among them is " Pain " which Aviv wrote, composed and sang and is without a doubt one of the greatest songs on the album. After the release of the album and in an attempt to increase the audience, the band decided to go on a tour in Europe and the US. The tour in Europe is documented in Moti Kirshenbaum's film "The Dream Bus". The band (drummer Tomer Zedekiah replaced Gavin), their instruments, and technical staff on a tour (no matter where), this is the pinnacle of rock 'n' roll, sorry, that's the meaning of rock 'n' roll !!! Aviv was so excited about this dream come true that when he entered the bus he just sat and cried for an hour in the coffee corner of the bus. BTW, Shuki Weiss accompanied the band throughout the tour. "Blackfield's" debut album is without a doubt one of the most beautiful and special albums released In Israel. "Blackfield" is indeed the product of a dream come true for Aviv Geffen, but somewhere it is a dream come true for all Israeli music industry!!! Listen to the album on: Spotify , Apple Music "Face/Off" - Israel's Rock Blog Follow us on Facebook  / Instagram  or Subscribe to our website