10. 1,000 People, by Blackfield
(Blackfield II, 2007)
The other masterpiece on Blackfield II besides Once (#13) is the very next track on it. There are many types of beautiful music in existence; Aviv Geffen's talent lies in writing perhaps the most mournful type. The incredibly moving 1,000 People is a close relative to a more recent Geffen downer, Dissolving With the Night (#29) from the third Blackfield album. It is actually a reworking of an original song, sung in Hebrew by Geffen, for which he co-wrote the English lyrics with bandmate Steven Wilson.
Of all the songs written by Geffen, this one is in the top two of the most depressing ones. It makes you wonder why the man writes so much about longing to be gone from this life. Dissolving With the Night continued in exactly the same vein four years later. However, in spite of its subject matter 1,000 People is not a mournful tune in the same sense as, say, Adagio in G Minor by Tomaso Albinoni. It is a lovely if also sad song backed with a piano and strings and it used to play in a really heavy rotation. Hence, the tenth place in overall ranking.
9. Fear of a Blank Planet, by Porcupine Tree
(Fear of a Blank Planet, 2007)
Another track from another Steven Wilson project from 2007, Fear of a Blank Planet is the exhilarating opening track from the album carrying the same title. 1,000 People was Blackfield's ninth entry on the list; this one is Porcupine Tree's 15th, making them the artist with most entries on it by far. This is, finally, their last one; PT is one of those artists who have only one entry in the Top 10. Embedded below is Fear of a Blank Planet as the full length album version.
Lasse Hoile has created a music video for the song that can also be found in YouTube in glorious high definition. Unfortunately, on the background the track itself has been shortened from 7 minutes and 32 seconds to only 4 minutes and 19 seconds, so it didn't feel appropriate to embed it here. The album was actually a disappointment to us but this title track kicks ass - in particular, the first four minutes or so. After that it gets a bit repetitive. Great song by the British prog group who have de facto disbanded following 2009's horrendously disappointing The Incident.
8. Stake to Glory, by Engineers
(Forgiveness, 2005)
This song by Engineers is one of our most memorable finds in recent years. The same year the group released their self titled full length debut album they also released an EP length collection of songs called Forgiveness. It contained a single of that same title that was also included on the debut album, and a couple of other songs that weren't. Easily the best of them is Stake to Glory, which in our opinion is also better than anything on the actual debut album. Sometimes B sides can be better. Please listen to the song below.
As you can hear, the chorus of the song has been arranged like one of the pompous Phil Spector produced hits of the sixties. This nod to that particular era is interesting, but what makes this song truly great is the exceptional quality of the songwriting. Engineers have proven to be masters of composing unforgettably beautiful tunes, and this song is a shining example of that particular talent. Even though we didn't find this track until early 2010, it has managed to accumulate a respectable amount of listening and hence climbed to the eighth place on our all time list.
7. Perfect World, by Blackfield
(Blackfield, 2004)
Remember when we mentioned weighing Gravity Eyelids by Porcupine Tree (#30) against another song when trying to decide our number one favorite song of the entire 2000's? This is that song. Perfect World is the crowning achievement of Blackfield's career that they have never surpassed, although 1,000 People admittedly comes close. Like Where is My Love? (#24) it is not listed among the actual tracks of the album, but has been placed as one of the three bonus tracks of the two disc version.
Once again, a somewhat pessimistic message from Blackfield. This world is far from perfect, and cannot be mended: I wish we were reborn to a perfect world. This is not a direct statement about wanting to leave this particular plane of existence but an implication nonetheless. And this is where the group's outstanding success finally peaks. They have now appeared on the list a full ten times - seven times in the Top 40 alone. They won't appear again further up.
6. Bravado, by Rush
(Roll the Bones, 1991)
The Canadian prog metal giant Rush feels like a surprise find this far up on the list. In spite of being fans in the eighties, we seem to have almost forgotten about the group later on. As a result, they have appeared on the list only once before, with Animate (#155). Bravado is a song from one of their less than classic albums that we initially overlooked but noticed a little later on. Since then, this song has grown on us. We are happy to state that now we think it is the finest, most accomplished song in Rush's career, even though their greatest classics were made years earlier.
Roll the Bones the album arrived in a difficult era for the group. During the latter half of the eighties they had, album by album, veered further away from their prog laced heavy rock roots, until Presto (1989) finally became their first release that we actually removed from our CD collection shortly after buying it. Bravado also has a polished tech rock sound but it doesn't hurt at all when the quality of the songwriting is this high. A masterpiece from a great band, born at an unexpected point in time.
Ei kommentteja:
Lähetä kommentti