venerdì 19 settembre 2014

Queen Forever: il ritorno della voce di Freddie Mercury in tre brani inediti

 Il 10 Novembre uscirà per la Virgin Records una nuova raccolta dei Queen, intitolata Queen Forever e contenente tre brani inediti con Freddie Mercury alla voce:

-"Let Me In Your Heart Again", registrato dalla band al completo per le sessioni di The Works (quindi 1983/84) e rimasto incompiuto; il brano, scritto da Brian May, è stato qualche anno dopo ceduto ad Anita Dobson (futura moglie di Brian) per un suo album, ma la sua versione resta comunque poco conosciuta ai fan, e in ogni caso la versione cantata da Freddie era rimasta finora totalmente inedita, non circolando nemmeno in modo non ufficiale tra i numerosi demo della band trapelati in rete. Evidentemente il brano rimasto incompiuto era comunque quasi terminato, e a Brian e Roger non è rimasto altro da fare in tempi recenti che qualche overdubs di chitarra e l'aggiunta dei cori; sembra quindi confermato che il basso sia stato suonato ai tempi della registrazione originale proprio da John Deacon, che invece al presente si è ritirato dai Queen, e quindi il risultato finale ci fa sentire comunque i quattro membri originali della band;

-"Love Kills - The Ballad", un brano pubblicato da Freddie solista nel 1984, che rappresentò anche il primo singolo a suo nome, in collaborazione con Giorgio Moroder; questa nuova versione è di base quella registrata dai Queen, sempre al completo e sempre nel 1983, ma con l'aggiunta di nuove parti di chitarra e batteria, anche se all'ascolto sembra piuttosto che la voce di Freddie Mercury sia la stessa della versione poi pubblicata. In ogni caso la rivisitazione in chiave Queen ha trasformato un brano synth-pop moderatamente veloce in una ballata rock d'atmosfera;

-"There Must Be More To Life Than This", in duetto con Michael Jackson: già da qualche anno i Queen superstiti nelle interviste affermano di essere al lavoro sui brani che nel 1983 Freddie Mercury registrò insieme a Michael Jackson, che come i fan accaniti sanno furono almeno tre (oltre a questa, State of Shock e Victory), facendo anche intendere però che gli eredi di Jackson hanno a più riprese concesso e ritirato l'autorizzazione ad usare questi brani. Non ci è dato sapere se gli altri due brani mancanti vedranno mai una release ufficiale, ma per ora dovremo accontentarci di uno solo di questi duetti, probabilmente il meno atteso in quanto il brano è già conosciuto per essere stato poi pubblicato dal solo Freddie nel suo primo album solista Mr.Bad Guy nel 1985. E apparentemente la parte vocale di Freddie sembra molto simile a quella poi effettivamente uscita, mentre la parte di Jackson è ufficialmente una novità (in realtà non ufficialmente era già trapelato il demo del solo Jackson che cantava il brano sulla base di piano suonata da Freddie, il che ci fa venire il dubbio che forse il duetto sia stato creato "artificialmente", e anche la dichiarazione del produttore William Orbit sembra far intendere questo); in compenso però viene confermato che la traccia strumentale è quella originale suonata dai Queen, anche se non è chiaro se sia quella suonata nel 1981 durante le sessioni di Hot Space o nel 1984 per The Works. Viene inoltre specificato che questo è il "William Orbit Mix", quindi chissà se successivamente ne verrà fuori anche una versione diversa a cura di un altro produttore...

La compilation in questione, oltre ai tre inediti menzionati, conterrà inoltre altri brani vecchi della band scelti da May e Taylor con l'obiettivo di mettere insieme una raccolta definitiva dei loro brani romantici:
alcuni di questi sono stati dei successi ma molti altri sono brani poco conosciuti finora apparsi solo sugli album; si parla anche di nuove registrazioni di brani conosciuti, ma non è stato al momento annunciato a quali brani ci si riferisca, e se si tratti sempre di nuove registrazioni fatte da May e Taylor in anni recenti o piuttosto di esecuzioni vocali alternative fatte da Mercury ai tempi.

Queen Forever sarà disponibile in due formati, uno con un CD di 20 brani e uno con doppio CD di 36 brani.


Tracklist versione 1 CD:
Let Me In Your Heart Again
Love Kills – The Ballad
There Must Be More To Life Than This (William Orbit Mix)
It’s A Hard Life
You’re My Best Friend
Love Of My Life
Drowse
Long Away
Lily Of The Valley
Don’t Try So Hard
Bijou
These Are The Days Of Our Lives
Las Palabras De Amor
Who Wants To Live Forever
A Winter’s Tale
Play The Game
Save Me
Somebody To Love
Too Much Love Will Kill You
Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Tracklist versione 2 CD:
CD1
Let Me In Your Heart Again
Love Kills – The Ballad
There Must Be More To Life Than This (William Orbit Mix)
Play The Game
Dear Friends
You’re My Best Friend
Love Of My Life
Drowse
You Take My Breath Away
Spread Your Wings
Long Away
Lily Of The Valley
Don’t Try So Hard
Bijou
These Are The Days Of Our Lives
Nevermore
Las Palabras De Amor
Who Wants To Live Forever
CD2
I Was Born To Love You
Somebody To Love
Crazy Little Thing Called Love
Friends Will Be Friends
Jealousy
One Year of Love
A Winters Tale
‘39
Mother Love
It’s A Hard Life
Save Me
Made in Heaven
Too Much Love Will Kill You
Sail Away Sweet Sister
The Miracle
Is This The World We Created
In The Lap Of The Gods…Revisited
Forever

Da segnalare un po' di delusione da parte dei fan, che seppur entusiasti dei nuovi brani (in particolar modo di Let Me In), si aspettavano sia gli altri due duetti con Michael Jackson sia altri brani inediti con Freddie alla voce (che sappiamo esistere proprio perchè i demo sono trapelati in rete già da tempo), anche in base alle interviste degli ultimi anni di May e Taylor che lasciavano presagire più o meno esplicitamente la riscoperta di altri brani.

[Fonte: Queenonline]

 
 

mercoledì 10 settembre 2014

The Art of McCartney, a new tribute album to Paul McCartney featuring some of the world's greatest artists




The Art Of McCartney is a long awaited and very special project celebrating one of the most universally acclaimed songwriters of all time, Sir Paul McCartney. With backing provided by McCartney’s long time band, classic tracks from his Beatles and solo career, including Wings, have been recorded by some of the world’s greatest artists.
The calibre of artists showing their respect to Paul’s songwriting genius is truly staggering: Bob Dylan, Billy Joel, The Cure, The Who’s Roger Daltrey, Brian Wilson, Alice Cooper, Def Leppard, Dr John, Yusuf (Cat Stevens), Barry Gibb, Jamie Cullum, KISS, Chrissie Hynde, ELO legend Jeff Lynne, and many more have recorded McCartney songs exclusively for this album.

The Art Of McCartney is the brainchild of Los Angeles producer, Beatles and McCartney fanatic, Ralph Sall, who has driven this project from conception to delivery: Sall met and worked alongside Paul in 2003 when they revived a song from the 1971 Ram sessions for a movie soundtrack ("The In-Laws"); Ralph then asked Paul and his publishing company if they would support his making this album to honour him. They came back with Paul’s own blessing and thumbs aloft for the project to go ahead.

Ralph became a man on a mission, first recruiting McCartney’s gifted backing guitarists, Rusty Anderson and Brian Ray, keyboard player Paul “Wix” Wickens, plus the larger than life drummer, Abe Laboriel, Jr; they know Paul’s extensive back catalogue intimately and this is the first time they have recorded his songs with anyone else since they first started working together with Paul over 12 years ago.
Ralph then set about approaching the world’s greatest performers to invite them to step forward and make their mark. This has been a labour of love, not only for Ralph but also for the artists who gave their time to be part of it. All have spoken of the importance of McCartney and his songwriting in their own careers and wanted to show their appreciation.


Legendary Beach Boy, Brian Wilson, was the first to take up the challenge. Undoubtedly he set the bar very high with his rendition of Wanderlust from the underrated 1982 album Tug Of War.
There are very few artists whose own work rivals The Beatles, so when producer Ralph Sall approached Bob Dylan to take part, he knew it was ambitious. Dylan’s choice was Things We Said Today – a track from The Beatles’ soundtrack A Hard Days Night – and audiences will be captivated as he growls his way through his remarkable version.

All aspects of Paul’s peerless back catalogue have been explored from The Beatles to his experimental early solo work, to Wings and his latter solo output. Lesser-known hidden classics such as Junk and Every Night are given a fresh outing and interpretation.

Released on November 17th in several formats:

-2CD with the following tracklist:

CD1

  1. Maybe I'm Amazed - Billy Joel
  2. Things We Said Today - Bob Dylan
  3. Band On The Run - Heart
  4. Junior's Farm - Steve Miller
  5. The Long And Winding Road - Yusuf/Cat Stevens
  6. My Love - Harry Connick, Jr
  7. Wanderlust - Brian Wilson
  8. Bluebird - Corinne Bailey Rae
  9. Yesterday - Willie Nelson
  10. Junk - Jeff Lynne
  11. When I'm 64 - Barry Gibb
  12. Every Night - Jamie Cullum
  13. Venus And Mars/Rock Show - KISS
  14. Let Me Roll It - Paul Rodgers
  15. Helter Skelter - Roger Daltrey
  16. Helen Wheels - Def Leppard
  17. Hello Goodbye - The Cure Featuring James McCartney

CD2

  1. Live And Let Die - Billy Joel
  2. Let It Be - Chrissie Hynde
  3. Jet - Robin Zander & Rick Nielsen of Cheap Trick
  4. Hi Hi Hi - Joe Elliot
  5. Letting Go - Heart
  6. Hey Jude - Steve Miller
  7. Listen To What The Man Said - Owl City
  8. Got To Get You Into My Life - Perry Farrell
  9. Drive My Car - Dion
  10. Lady Madonna - Allen Toussaint
  11. Let Em In - Dr. John
  12. So Bad - Smokey Robinson
  13. No More Lonely Nights - The Airborne Toxic Event
  14. Eleanor Rigby - Alice Cooper
  15. Come And Get It - Toots Hibbert with Sly & Robbie
  16. On The Way - B.B. King
  17. Birthday - Sammy Hagar
Amazon's exclusive version will also have the following bonus tracks:
   18. C Moon (Amazon Bonus Track) - Robert Smith
   19. Put It There (Amazon Bonus Track) - Peter, Bjorn & John

-2CD + DVD "The Making of The Art Of McCartney" featuring behind-the-scenes and interviews with the artists contributing to the project; the 2CD tracklist is identical to the above and also in this case Amazon will have an exclusive version with the same two bonus tracks

-3LP with the same 34-song tracklist as the standard 2CD

Also, on 15th December, two limited run boxsets will be released:

-vinyl-only boxset, with four 180-gram coloured vinyls (see below for the bonus tracks of the 4th LP) and an illustrated guide within a 12" bound book

-Deluxe boxset, featuring apart from the 2 CDs and DVD as above:
  • 2 pieces of specially commissioned artwork by Alan Aldridge
  • Höfner guitar USB with FLAC files of 34 tracks
  • The Making of The Art Of McCartney - Audio documentary about the making of the album narrated by Bill Nighy
  • Illustrated guide within a 64-page 12” hardback book
  • 4 black and white artcards
  • 42 track quadruple 12", 180 gram coloured vinyl
  • Certificate of authenticity hand numbered
  • A bonus CD with the following bonus tracks:        

    1. C Moon - Robert Smith
    2. Can't Buy Me Love - Booker T-Jones
    3. P.S. I Love You - Ronnie Spector
    4. All My Loving - Darlene Love
    5. For No One - Ian McCulloch
    6. Put It There - Peter, Bjorn & John
    7. Run Devil Run - Wanda Jackson
    8. Smile Away - Alice Cooper
[Source: The Art of McCartney]


 

martedì 9 settembre 2014

A new single, new compilation and rarities from David Bowie


David Bowie has just announced his first new music since he surprised the world by returning in 2013 with the single Where Are We Now, followed by the album The Next Day.
His new single Sue (Or in a Season of Crime), about eight minutes in length, was recorded with long-time collaborator Tony Visconti especially for inclusion on a new compilation, Nothing Has Changed, which spans 50 years of Bowie from 1964 to 2014. It will be given a separate release as a digital download and as a limited-edition 10-inch single.

Nothing Has Changed also features some rarities for die-hard fans: Let Me Sleep Beside You comes from the 2001 sessions from the unreleased album Toy; Your Turn to Drive, previously only available as a download, makes its debut on CD; and also a 2001 rerecording of the 1971 outtake Shadow Man.

The single and compilation will both be released on 17 November. Nothing Has Changed will be available in 3CD, 2CD, 2LP and download formats.

The full tracklisting of the 3CD version is:

CD 1:
Sue (or In A Season Of Crime) (7.40)
Where Are We Now? (4.09)
Love Is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix by James Murphy for the DFA Edit) (4.07)
The Stars (Are Out Tonight) (3.57)
New Killer Star (radio edit) (3.42)
Everyone Says ‘Hi’ (edit) (3.29)
Slow Burn (radio edit) (3.55)
Let Me Sleep Beside You (3.14)
Your Turn To Drive (4.44)
Shadow Man (4.48)
Seven (Marius De Vries mix) (4.12)
Survive (Marius De Vries mix) (4.18)
Thursday’s Child (radio edit) (4.25)
I’m Afraid Of Americans (V1) (clean edit) (4.30)
Little Wonder (edit) (3.40)
Hallo Spaceboy (PSB Remix) (with The Pet Shop Boys) (4.23)
Heart’s Filthy Lesson (radio edit) (3.32)
Strangers When We Meet (single version) (4.21)

CD 2:
Buddha Of Suburbia (4.24)
Jump They Say (radio edit) (3.53)
Time Will Crawl (MM remix) (4.18)
Absolute Beginners (single version) (5.35)
Dancing In The Street (with Mick Jagger) (3.20)
Loving The Alien (single remix) (4.45)
This Is Not America (with The Pat Metheny Group) (3.51)
Blue Jean (3.11)
Modern Love (single version) (3.56)
China Girl (single version) (4.15)
Let’s Dance (single version) (4.08)
Fashion (single version) (3.25)
Scary Monsters (And Super Creeps) (single version) (3.32)
Ashes To Ashes (single version) (3.35)
Under Pressure (with Queen) (3.56)
Boys Keep Swinging (3.17)
‘Heroes’ (single version) (3.35)
Sound And Vision (3.03)
Golden Years (single version) (3.27)
Wild Is The Wind (2010 Harry Maslin Mix) (5.58)

CD 3:
Fame (4.14)
Young Americans (2007 Tony Visconti mix single edit) (3.13)
Diamond Dogs (5.56)
Rebel Rebel (4.28)
Sorrow (2.53)
Drive-In Saturday (4.29)
All The Young Dudes (3.08)
The Jean Genie (original single mix) (4.05)
Moonage Daydream (4.40)
Ziggy Stardust (3.12)
Starman (original single mix) (4.10)
Life On Mars? (2003 Ken Scott Mix) (3.49)
Oh! You Pretty Things (3.11)
Changes (3.33)
The Man Who Sold The World (3.56)
Space Oddity (5.12)
In The Heat Of The Morning (3.00)
Silly Boy Blue (3.54)
Can’t Help Thinking About Me (2.46)
You’ve Got A Habit Of Leaving (2.32)
 Liza Jane (2.18)

[Source: The Guardian]