So. I'm not entirely sure why this is the perfect dish to have alongside Black Sabbath's Paranoid, but it is, trust me.
I had a few drinks one night and proceeded to tell everyone that chocolate mousse
is perfect dish for this music. Something about it being rich and heavy and creamy like
the sounds in some of the songs. I don't think I made any sense then, and I'm not sure
I do now, but in true rock star fashion I'm going with my intoxicated instinct. Because
I can, thats why. Ingredients
1/4 cup sugar 1/3 cup Chambord (just one of those little bottles they have by the counters at liquor
stores, or another kind of bourbon or liquor you think would be tasty with chocolate) 4 oz dark chocolate ( or a lighter one if you don't 'like' dark), chopped up 1 cup HEAVY whipping cream
2 egg whites Directions In a small saucepan, combine the liquor and the sugar to make a syrup. Just bring it
to a boil so that the sugar dissolves, then remove from the heat and let cool. Next step calls for a double boiler, you can make your own out of two pots you can
stack (fancy like how I do it) Put water in the bottom pan to boil and then put the
chocolate to melt in the top pan. Once melted, stir in 2 Tbsp of the cream, then slowly
whisk in the bourbon mixture. Set aside to let cool to room temp
Whisk the egg whites until they're stiff , then carefully fold them into the chocolate
mix you've let cool (don't be a beast with it you don't want it to loose all volume) Then, whip up the rest of the cream, yes, whipped cream, simple enough yes? good.
Then, more folding, this time the whipped cream, into the chocolate/egg mix, folded
gently (again don't whip it crazy, mousse is not mousse if its flat)
Then tah dah, done, spoon it into cups and chill it. Go out and get a copy of Paranoid while its chilling and when you get back you will be
ready to sit back, pop in the CD, and enjoy.
Later headbangers!
I suppose I'm the miscellaneous. Name's Robyn, or Kitty, depending on who's asking, and I'm here to give a different take on things. I'm about as passionate about food as Zero is about music and so I've been thinking up some combinations for such. Mood food for musical enjoyment. You may not be a chef but I hope at the least you'll be interested to see some of the pairings and perhaps, take away a new spin (get it ? eh...) on the music with it. With that, I'll be popping in from time to time to give my own take on things (feedback of course ALWAYS appreciated from readers as well). So here's to the good life, good food, and good music! \m/( *_*)\m/ Keep rockin my friends.
So I posted my first efforts up on a couple of websites, and got some feed back. Before I jump into the review, I'd like to address that feed back. I'm trying out a different text color today, some said it was hard on the eyes. Secondly, I've done away with the numbered rating system in favor of descriptions, because I agreed with someone who said the numbers don't matter without some benchmarks. Lastly, I'm reviewing something contemporary.
Reviewing contemporary music is a bit tricky for me. I'm more versed in historical music, and I don't really fit in with the Lady Gaga, Lil Wayne, and such of today. However, I do have a pandora account, and it introduced me to a nifty little song by a nifty little band the other day. So Ladies, and gentlemen....
The band, is Dan Auerbach (guitar, vocals) and Patrick Carney (drums). When they combine forces, they become The Black Keys, and as this is a review of a single song, not a band. I'll keep it short and sweet; these two guys from Akron Ohio, worked hard for everything they have, and they play kick ass bluesy rock music.
"Gold on the Ceiling" is lyrically cryptic, but from what I gather. This very catchy tune, is probably about Herion Addiction. Describing the struggle with drugs. I come to this conclusion from the lines:
"Down in the waves She screams again Roar at the door My mind can't take much more"
and
"Clouds cover love Barbed wire snarl Strung up, strung out I just can't go without"
I interpret the chorus to be about other junkies coming around the home of the addict, and stealing from them. Gold on the Ceiling being a metaphore whatever the narrator values.
So a catchy tune with a dark undertone, or possibly I've grossly misinterpreted it, but the beauty of poetry and music is it means something different to everyone.
Sonically, it's straight forward blues rock, which to me sounds like what happens when ZZTop and The White Stripes influence two guys from Ohio.
Black Sabbath is Bill Ward (drums), Geezer Butler (Bass), Toni Iommi (Guitar), and some guy named John Michael Osbourne (Vocal).
Of course I jest, John Michael Osbourne, would go onto become the iconic Prince of Darkness, OZZY OSBOURNE, and if your a seasoned metalhead you might be wandering, "Dude why are you bringing up Sabbath, everybody knows about Sabbath?"
I bring up Sabbath for a few reasons; not all of my readers may be metalheads, a lot of people think they know Sabbath, but don't, and most importantly because they are one of the most influential bands of all time. To the point that Rob Zombie once said "Every metal band rips off Black Sabbath, they play the riff backwards, slower, or faster, but Black Sabbath did it all first."
----"Yeah yeah, come on man, get to the music."
OK, to the music, to the review! What we have here is Black Sabbath's Paranoid from 1970. Making his Black Sabbath's Sophmore effort. It would become their most commercially successful album.
The album kicks off with a short interlude called "Lukes Wall" which flows right into Geezer Butler's plodding, groovy bassline, and Iommi's Monstrous power chords. Then Ozzy opens brilliantly with "GENERALS GATHERED IN THEIR MASSES, JUST LIKE WITCHES AT BLACK MASSES." "War Pigs" was written, not so much as a protest of the Vietnam War, but more as an observation at a time where most music was focused on happier themes. Sabbath felt that someone needed to be mentioning the realities of the world.
Up next, Track 2 is the title track, and this was actually the last song written for the album. The band was near the end of recording, and needed to fill a few minutes of space. So they went and jammed, and Paranoid was born. Needless to say they liked it, and it became the single, a massive hit, and they named the album after it.
After the adrenaline rush that is "Paranoid", the listener is moved into the slow and trippy "Planet Caravan". This song is in SHARP contrast the rest of the album. It is slower, softer, and less distorted than the other songs. It's a prime example of a band stretching its wings. (YOU CAN EXPERIMENT ON A SONG, IT DOESN'T TAKE A WHOLE ALBUM... Talkin' to you Metallica).
Now imagine it is 1970, and you've never heard heavy metal before. Hopefully, "Planet Caravan" chilled you out, because Track 4 would be the scariest, heaviest, most apocalyptic riff you had ever heard. "Ironman" to this day is probably my all time favorite riff. I know that it is now a sports/pep rally standard, and I know riffs have since been played faster, and heavier and with more distortion, but nothing for me has ever topped Iommi's riff on this track.
The midway point is "Electric Funeral" which to be honest, just never caught on with me. I feel that it is the albums weak point. Mind you however, it isn't bad. It's just good and surrounded by GREATNESS.
Greatness like Track 6 "Hand of Doom." I don't think that I need to say a whole lot. The groove created at the start of this track with Geezer and Bill Ward speaks for itself. Lyrically the song is about Vietnam veterans returning home and not coping well with what they had seen.
"Rat Salad", Track 8 is an instrumental with bits that I believe would be jacked by Golden Earing for their one hit wander "Radar Love."
The Grand Finale is "Faeries Wear Boots." A fantastic song, which is not about driving past gay bars at night. (Which it sometimes confused for). It was actually written by Ozzy to express his disdain for Skinheads he had seen gathered around Birmingham (ENGLAND NOT ALABAMA, YOU REDNECKS).
And there we have PARANOID.
RATINGS:
GENRE: 10/10: It invented the genre, can't be more perfect than that.
MASS APPEAL: 8/10: By today's standards it is dated, and too slow for kids into extreme metal. People outside of metal may find it too heavy, however IRONMAN, WAR PIGS, and PARANOID are all staples on Classic Rock Radio. It's a classic album that I feel people serious about music, especially serious about metal should own.
VOCALS: 8/10: Ozzy may not have the most range, or strongest voice, however he posses an X-Factor, nobody else has ever sounded like Ozzy.
GUITAR: 9/10: Iommi plays simple, but perfect riffs. Everything the man does is amazing, and attainable no matter what your skill level is.
BASS: 7/10: Geezer is tearing it up on the bass, however limitations of recording equipment of that time hadn't caught up to handling bass frequency very well. So Geezer is a bit buried in the mix. A great player, but if your a bassist trying to learn these lines, you will need headphones or opt for a live recording.
Drums: 8/10: Bill Ward is awesome. He isn't Neil Peart, Mike Portnoy, or John Bonham, but he is nonethless fantastic and talented.
Welcome to my first post. For quite some time I have been wanting to do my own blog, however, as a person diagnosed with ADHD, organizing a blog didn't come easy. There were a lot of questions to answer before I delved into this project; Do I want to review bands, songs, or albums? How do I go about doing so? Do I want to say other things?
The answer to all of those questions was a screaming YES! However, the trouble came when laying it all out in a way other people could follow.
I figured it would be best to start with an introduction, but I didn't want to bore my readers with my life story. So, what I have done here is tried to imagine what specific questions might readers have, and just answer them in a straight forward Q & A format:
Q: Who are you?
A: My name is Zachary, and I am, at the time of this posting, a 24year old guy. I am also a bassist, gamer, and passionate fan of music.
Q: What is the format of this blog?
A: It will be different post to post, because I don't like being stuck in a box. I think that keeps things interesting. The only constant that I aim for is to be entertaining. However, each post will be titled in such a way that its contents will be obvious.
