New to me, that is. I have a pretty eclectic music collection, but it’s getting kind of tired and old to me. I’m not much for pop music, hip-hop, or rap, so what I have heard recently in contemporary radio isn’t doing much for me.
I know what I am looking for is some kind of combination of rock and classical - not classic rock, I have plenty o’ that. I really enjoy Trans-Siberian Orchestra’s Christmas albums, but I was disappointed in their Beethoven’s Last Night album - too much emphasis on vocals. I have some Savatage, but again, I’m not really looking for vocals. I like Jean-Luc Ponty, Jean-Michel Jarre, Andreas Vollenweider and Pat Metheny, but they’re more jazz/new age than either rock or classical. What I think I want is something that might sound like Led Zeppelin versions of Mozart and Beethoven.
With all that in mind, can my fellow Dopers point me in the direction of something I might enjoy?
Frank Zappa had a lot of classical songs and a lot of rock songs but I’m not sure if I could pinpoint something that sounds anything like Zep playing Beethoven. Most of his fusion stuff was either jazz/classical or jazz/rock (or something else). He also did some really nifty stuff with Jean-Luc Ponty.
Try Rasputina. They’re a rock band, only instead of guitar, bass, and drums, it’s cello, cello, and… cello. I mean, they’re not really like that, but… Just listen to it. It’s cool.
Also try the Hampton String Quartet - best known for the album “What if Mozart wrote Born To Be Wild”. Sounds weird, but I like their “Sympathy for the Devil” CD.
Wow. I’ve never heard of ANY of these groups, except for Frank Zappa, whose comical stuff is all I know. I wasn’t even sure anything like this existed. What fun!
What Savatage stuff do you have? You might want to try Wake of Magellan or Dead Winter Dead which is closer to TSO then there other work.
Maybe you could try some Virgin Steele, but they are more rock then classical. Any of their later stuff, Marriage of Heaven and Hell pts 1&2 or the House of Atreus Acts 1&2.
You may also like some Iron Maiden, Seventh Son of a Seventh Son but I’m not too sure about that one.
When I go home I can think of some more maybe but if you don’t have those two Savatage albums you might enjoy them. Dead Winter Dead has one TSO song on it.
I do have Wake of Magellan, Edward and I do like it (and despite the fact that I’m looking for instrumental as opposed to vocal, I really really really LOVE the song “Sleep” on there.)
Incidentally, if this helps anyone come up with more suggestions, I’m not necessarily committed to rock covers of classical music, ala TSO, but that’s a good representation of the style I’m thinking of. Maybe “classical inspired” rock would be a better description. I’m totally open to rock groups that compose their own stuff. I’m thinking right now of Boston or even Pink Floyd stuff, though again, more instrumental, less vocal.
Iron Maiden? Really? I’ll have to raid my brother’s collection and give 'em a listen.
If you don’t have Dead Winter Dead you might like that one as well. It has Christmas Eve (Sarajevo 12/24), and a few other instrumentals, some that are actually based off of Mozart. This is closer to TSO then any other Savatage album, and I think where they got the idea from.
I can only think about one or two Maiden albums though that may be what you’re looking for, Seventh Son mostly. I would stay away from Number of the Beast, Killers, Fear of the Dark. The album Iron Maiden has a few songs that you may take a likeing to. Though they have a bit more vocals then you are looking for, but at least you can raid your brother’s stuff and find out!
I’m still going though my head of stuff I have, Iron Maiden, Judas Priest, Motorhead. Then there’s Helloween, though I’m not sure if you’d like them or not, they do have one album that I haven’t listened to in years called Chamelion (sp) that might be something you are looking for, I guess I should put that on to see.
There are a few other bands that I know very little about but also might fit. Symphony X, Dream Theater, Sonic Artica (sp?!). I do have one album from Sonic Artica I would be willing to let you borrow, I can go home and listen to it again and see what it’s like, I didn’t like it much and haven’t listened to it in a long time. You really might be suprised at what a lot of metal bands do, it’s not that stuff you used to hear in the 80s.
I just thought of Black Sabbath as well, especially the older stuff from the 70s. I really will have to go home and pull a few CDs and see what else I can come up with.
I was just looking through my collection, and was thinking you might like Nightwish. Also, and this might be a stretch, but The Music is really good. There are vocals, but they are more vocals than lyrics, so they don’t overpower the rest of… The Music. Their CD is more of an organic whole rather than a collection of songs. You can check out some tracks on their website: www.themusic.co.uk
Most of their album titles are just numbers, so you’ll want anything between “One” and “Seven.”
Some calls 'em jazz, some calls 'em rock. Many of their compositions were as brilliant and complex as anything in contemporary “serious music.” IMHO, they could play circles around the Mahavishnu Orchestra.
I’m with look!ninjas: check out Rasputina. They might not be quite what you’re looking for, as most of their songs are heavy on the vocals, but they’re too cool to miss.
For a good instrumental album, I recommend Yngwie Malmsteen’s “Concerto Suite for Electric Guitar and Orchestra in E Flat Minor”.
Well, I’ve listened to a little bit of everything y’all have posted (got 'em from my pal Pete Upea ) and the leaders in the LoW New Music Campaign are Sigur Ros, Mahavishnu Orchestra, Yngwie Malmsteen, and Apocolyptica. Still trying to hunt down some Soft Machine and Hampton String Quartet. Night Wish isn’t doing a whole lot for me so far, and Rasputina has some (IMHO) gawdawful soprano thing going on that makes my head hurt.
I’ve only listened to samples of one or two songs from each group I’ve found (I’m nervous about keeping anything I borrow from ol’ Pete) and once I figure out where this stuff is filed at the music store I plan to do some serious shopping. Thanks, all, for your suggestions, and feel free to keep 'em coming – I’ll check back!
