Mad World最初源自英国流行摇滚乐队Tears of Fears,原唱包含强烈的新浪潮/舞曲元素,在死亡幻觉中由美国歌手Gary Jules将其改为了抒情版并由此大获成功,连续3周名列英国圣诞单曲排行第一名。不少电子/舞曲/新浪潮风格的歌曲旋律相当优美,只是因为个人喜好的原因一听到开始几秒钟蹦蹦擦擦的电子音效节奏就感觉其简单的没有内涵而不想在听下去,或者根本就不沾电子乐的边。而此类歌曲一旦剥离电子外壳并经过艺术家由传统乐器的成功演绎翻唱后,必定影响范围更大,流传更广,比如Gary Jules的Mad World,比如Frente的Bizarre Love Triangle。这个视频主要由死亡幻觉的电影片段构成,也能看到翻唱者Gary Jules究竟是何模样。
最初听说Leonard Cohen这名字是从Nirvana的歌词中,Cobain在Pennyroyal Tea中唱到:”Give me a Leonard Cohen afterworld”,随后在铁血摇滚的合辑中听了第一首Leonard Cohen的歌曲的处女听—-Waiting for the miracle,当时的感觉是原来歌也可以唱得这么低。
在铁血摇滚中这首歌是作为天生杀人狂的OST选择的,在歌曲的最后几秒为了引出大开杀戒的血腥场面还加入了一声变态诡异的尖笑,配合着铁血摇滚小册子中下一首歌的演唱者Lou Reed病态哥特的黑眼圈照片,这几个形象叠加出了我对Leonard Cohen的最初印象:绝望,阴暗却又饱含爆发的力量。而随后买了张The Best Of Leonard Cohen的CD证明我最初的印象完全是错的,那张专辑里Cohen的音乐完全没有爆发没有高潮而是感觉相当的沉闷,何况这还是张精选辑。
毕竟我和states主流大众的品位还基本保持一致:),当Cohen在60年代发行处女专辑时,并没引起美国市场太多的注意,而时隔多年之后直到九十年代Cohen才在美国乐坛迎来了人品的大爆发。而对于我来说,那张沉闷的The Best Of Leonard Cohen已被尘封多年,直到随着09年下载了当时感觉可有可无的Cohen的新演出现场专辑Live In London,Leonard Cohen的音乐才又被我重新认识,不由得感叹险些错过了如此珍宝。Leonard Cohen的音乐仿佛是一本书,而书的第一页我才刚刚打开。
视频中的Waiting for the Miracle似乎是完整版,但从视频上看又仿佛是后配的,总之感觉比天生杀人狂里的还要苍凉许多。
A Looking in View是Alice in Chains即将在9月发行的新专辑Black Gives Way To Blue中的第一首单曲。相比Jar of Flies和Sap中的风格偏向于民谣实验,A Looking in View回归了重型的吉他riff,前奏一度使我感觉仿佛是一首金属乐歌曲,随着音乐的展开,Alice in Chains独有的特点开始浮现。Alice in Chains的音乐中大多表现愤恨、愁苦、不断增加的失望而导致的绝望,这首Looking in View的Video更是将这些特点表现的淋漓尽致,两端式的故事,先是不安的焦虑感被压迫到了歇斯底里的程度,然后是性与自毁、赎罪这样带有宗教意味的镜头,仿佛使人置身于邪恶而又没有出路的梦魇,“人皮客栈”这类恐怖片的感觉。结尾时阳光照在干裂的荒野上,自毁的女主角身着白色素装,之前的一切是梦么?
有那么几个瞬间,William DuVall的声音会有那么一点像Layne Staley,但还没能使我听出他自己的独特之处。所以虽然和Jerry Cantrell的和声依然很美妙,但却不像Layne Staley与Jerry Cantrell的和声那样形成极大的反差。Down in the Hole中二者的配合实在是太美妙了。
虽然那拉长的迷人的鼻音已经永远不在了, 但对与我最喜爱的Grunge乐队Alice in Chains, 有新专辑总比没有好. 怀念Layne Staley.
音乐的一个妙处就是能使人迅速进入怀旧的状态,当往日熟悉的旋律响起时,曾经的一幕幕立刻浮现出来,虽然可能不那么清晰但也足以使人唏嘘不已。Horrible出自Frente 1996年的专辑Shape,最初听到它是音乐天堂杂志社出的无比经典的世界上最动听的歌,但Horrible在其他光芒万丈的歌曲对比下却被我忽视了,包括对Frente,也是言必称Bizarre Love Triangle。
第一次听Give Me One Reason是在10年前,我和老哞儿还都是刚接受了一点真正音乐启蒙的小屁孩,拿着攒好的钱去音像买磁带听。那时候正是懵懂装蛋的时期,大概是因为曾买过几盘Disney电影原声带后尝到了甜头,因此说好此后只买英文的磁带,但除了在“狮子王”的封皮中提到的艾尔顿强之外,什么都不知道。老哞儿之前曾在什么地方听说了“葛莱美”这个词,便一厢情愿的认为凡是占“葛莱美”边的歌都是特别好听的歌,我敢打赌他当时除了能叫出这三个字来之外就再不能说出关于葛莱美的什么了。正好音像店里有盘葛莱美的磁带,我至今能清晰地记得其全称是”1997葛莱美的喝彩“,于是他顿下决心说要买这个,而我找了找其他的磁带但没发现什么称心的,于是也想买这盘97葛莱美,因为封面看着更好看一些,但无奈这次是轮到了老哞儿有优先选择权,后来不太情愿的买了Def Leppard的Hysteria,最终的造成的影响是Def Leppard始终也没进入我喜爱的乐队行列,除了那首Two Steps Behind。
交钱之前试试磁带,Give Me One Reason是97葛莱美的第一首,前奏吉他响起来时,老板赞叹到:听,外国音乐多他妈讲究!我猜他并没什么由衷的感情,只是炫耀他的磁带加上促销而已。但那段洋气的前奏吉他和Tracy Chapman浑厚的嗓音却深深的嵌入进我脑中,10年的时间再遥远的门外汉都会步伐或大或小地踏入所感兴趣的世界,我今天也终于知道了Give Me One Reason之所以带来那种奇妙的快感的根本原因实际上就是布鲁斯,一切难以模仿的千变万化的根源也只是简单的五声音阶。如果音乐能够物质化,这首歌肯定是精雕细琢使人爱不释手的珠宝,但就向在MTV中表现的那样,一切又是那样的自然而简单。Tracy Chapman和她的民谣依旧,而10年时光去转瞬即逝。
Sgt. Pepper taught the band to play
They’ve been going in and out of style
But they’re guaranteed to raise a smile
So may I introduce to you
The act you’ve known for all these years
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
We’re Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
We hope you will enjoy the show
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Sit back and let the evening go
Sgt. Pepper’s lonely, Sgt. Pepper’s lonely
Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
It’s wonderful to be here
It’s certainly a thrill
You’re such a lovely audience
We’d like to take you home with us
We’d love to take you home
I don’t really want to stop the show
But I thought that you might like to know
That the singer’s going to sing a song
And he wants you all to sing along
So let me introduce to you
The one and only Billy Shears
And Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band
Youth Of The Nation
Last day of the rest of my life
I wish I would have known cause I didn’t kiss my momma good-bye
I didn’t tell her that I loved her or how much I cared
Or thank my pops for all the talks and all the wisdom he shared
Unaware I just did what I always do
Everyday the same routine before I skate off to school
But who knew that this day wasn’t like the rest
Instead of taking the test I took two to the chest
Call me blind but I didn’t see it coming
And everybody was runnin
But I couldn’t hear nothin, except
Gun blast, it happened so fast
I didn’t really know this kid though I sat by him in class
Maybe this kid was reachin out for love or
Maybe for a moment he forgot who he was or
Maybe this kid just wanted to be hugged
Whatever it was I know it’s because
We are, we are the youth of the nation
We are, we are
Youth of the nation
We are, we are the youth of the nation
We are, we are
Youth of the nation
Little Suzzie, she was only twelve
She was given the world with every chance to excel
Hang with the boys and hear the stories they tell
She might act kinda proud but no respect for herself
She finds love in all the wrong places
The same situations just different faces
Changed up her pace since her daddy left her
Too bad he never told her she deserved much better
Johnny boy always played the fool
He broke all the rules so you would think he was cool
He was never really one of the guys
No matter how hard he tried
Often thought of suicide
It’s kinda hard when you ain’t got no friends
He put his life to an end they might remember him then
You cross a line and there is no turning back
He told the world how he felt with the sound of a gat
We are, we are the youth of the nation
We are, we are
Youth of the nation
We are, we are the youth of the nation
We are, we are
Youth of the nation
Who’s to blame for the life that tragedies claim
No matter what you say it won’t take away the pain
That I feel inside, I’m tired of all the lies
Don’t nobody know why
It’s the blind leadin’ the blind
Guess that’s the way that the story goes
Will it ever make sense somebody’s gotta know
There’s gotta be more to life than this
There’s got to be more to everything
I thought exists
We are, we are the youth of the nation
We are, we are
Youth of the nation
We are, we are the youth of the nation
We are, we are the youth of the nation
We are, we are the youth of the nation
We are, we are
Youth of the nation
We are, we are the youth of the nation
We are, we are
Youth of the nation
Youth of the nation
Youth of the nation
Youth of the nation
Electric Funeral是Black Sabbath(黑色安息日)1970年的专辑Paranoid中的歌曲,最早听到Electric Funeral是在音乐天堂出的”盛世摇滚I”,在经过前两首温柔的Beatles之后,像恶魔咆哮一样的前奏开始了。作为最早的重金属,Electric Funeral与Metallica或是Megadeath的典型风格截然不同,没有电锯一样的rhythm和令人目眩的lead,所有金属乐的特点渗透在歌曲的骨子里而非形式上,Ozzy像厉鬼一样的流氓嗓音也比日后动辄就噬神,剖尸的死亡金属更加阴森,直达脑干的深处。
Black Sabbath在将近40年前就在将科技融入了歌曲,Electric Funeral描绘了由人类与电脑之间的斗争引发的核子战争的末日场面,“塑料花融化在太阳中,人类因辐射变成了碳块”,最终还是机器胜利了,“天空中闪耀着电子眼,地球笼罩在邪恶的翅膀下”,终结者们集合在索伦魔眼下的魔都。
Electric Funeral
Reflex in the sky warn you you’re gonna die
Storm coming, you’d better hide from the atomic tide
Flashes in the sky turns houses into sties
Turns people into clay, radiation minds decay
Robot minds of robot slaves lead them to atomic rage
plastic flowers, melting sun, fading moon falls upon
dying world of radiation, victims of mad frustration
Burning globe of oxy’n fire, like electric funeral pyre
Buildings crashing down to a cracking ground
Rivers turn to wood, ice melting to flood
Earth lies in death bed, clouds cry water dead
Tearing life away, here’s the burning pay
Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral
Electric Funeral
And so in the sky shines the electric eye
supernatural king takes earth under his wing
Heaven’s golden chorus sings, Hell’s angels flap their wings
Evil souls fall to Hell, ever trapped in burning cells!