By Steve Coyne
In The Thin Ice, we hear the lyrics;
Momma loves her baby
And Daddy loves you too
And the sea may look warm to you babe
And the sky may look blue
As the lyrical story unfolds, the movie shows us a different, more cynical view of life. The hell of war is depicted as soldiers wince in pain from their injuries. The lyrics imply a sense of dismay on the part of the mother sung by David Gilmour as if to complete each statement "the sea may look warm, but ..." and "the sky may look blue, but ..."
David sings a soothing melody on the words ooooh babe, but that melody comes back seconds later as an anguished and wailing guitar showing us a different emotion all together.
Also, there is an element of denial present on the part of the mother as she speaks of Pink's father as if he is alive, which later serves to suspend Pink's ability to get past his fathers death. There is a sudden musical shift as the gentle rubato lullaby turns to a 12/8 feel, sharing a chord progression with "Stand By Me". This is where another side of Pink's mother is revealed as she cautions him in a rather sick and angry way. The word reproach suggests feelings of disapproval, blame and guilt.
If you should go skating
On the thin ice of modern life
Dragging behind you a silent reproach
Of a million tear stained eyes
Don't be surprised if a crack in the ice
Appears under your feet
You slip out of your depth and out of your mind
With your fear flowing out behind you
As you claw the thin ice
David then recalls the soothing melody he sang in C major, but this time the drums drag us into an angst ridden fit of rage as he wails out the same notes in A minor. The violent and desperate image of clawing returns to the lyrics, connecting the images of "clawing through this disguise" and "clawing the thin ice" both related to Pink's mental condition and Pink's symbolic clawing at himself throughout the movie. The ending C major chord clashes with the new tonic in D minor, creating some musical dissonance and a feeling of unrest as we are led into Another Brick in the Wall, Part 1.
Steve Coyne is a Rock/Jazz/Fusion guitarist living in the New Haven, CT area. He holds a Bachelor of Music degree from Berklee College of Music and a Master of Science degree from Western Connecticut State University.
Currently, Steve is gigging regularly in cover bands throughout the Fairfield/ Westchester area. Steve is also writing and recording music with his original band FREERIDER. FREERIDER will be one of the first bands featured in their own video game on Rock Band 2/Rock Band Network.
Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Steve_Coyne
http://EzineArticles.com/?Pink-Floyd,-The-Wall,-Part-2&id=3630916
Monday, February 1, 2010
Black Sabbath: An Extended Career
by Tristan Andrews
Black Sabbath hails from Britain; the band was forged in 1968 and has rocked on in different guises since then. Through the years the band's lineup has changed with Tony Iommi the constant glue holding the band together. He is the main founding member. The original lineup was Tony Iommi (guitar), Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Geezer Butler (bass), and Bill Ward on drums.
Black Sabbath was undeniably one of the originators of heavy metal. Their debut album Black Sabbath in 1970 zapped the musical public with tuned down riffs and a sound well suited for a horror flick; it was received well in England. The band released a second album in 1970 called Paranoid, which established the group as a popular band in the U.S. They issued Master of Reality in 1971, Volume 4 in 1972, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in 1973, and Rolling Stone's Gordon Fetcher praised the album as "an extraordinarily gripping affair."
By happenstance, Tony Iommi produced a riff, which created the atmosphere for this album and complex musical arrangements, strings, and synthesizers produced a much fuller, creepy sound than the band had achieved before this album, though it used some of the stylistic refinements of their previous release, Volume 4.
Management disputes erupted in 1974, when they signed with Don Arden and the prior management had contractual issues. In 1975 Black Sabbath released Sabotage; it hit the top 20 in England and the U.S., but it didn't rise to Platinum in the United States as all of its forerunners had done.
In 1976 they issued Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die was released in 1978. The songs Never Say Die and Hard Road reached the top 40 in Britain. Ozzy Osbourne's final show with the band until they reunited was December 11, 1978 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He split form the group in 1979 and formed the Ozzy Osbourne Band. Ronnie James Dio became the new singer for Black Sabbath.
The band released the album Heaven and Hell in 1980. It was well received and this album is attributed with reviving the band's heavy metal sound. It popped up to number 9 in the British chart and number 28 in the United States; this was Black Sabbath's peak charting since Sabotage. Mob Rules was released in 1981. The fans liked it, but J. D. Considine of Rolling Stone wasn't as enthusiastic; he stated that "Mob Rules finds the band as dull-witted and flatulent as ever." But Eduardo Rivadavia of All Music called the album "a magnificent record."
Born Again was issued in 1983 with singer Ian Gillian formerly of Deep Purple. It climbed the charts in Britain to number 4 and placed 39 in the U.S. The band released Eternal Idol in 1987; the reviews weren't forthcoming except online and the album wasn't big commercially.
The band reunited off and on with Ozzy Osbourne from 1997 to 2006. Black Sabbath has the legacy of basically creating heavy metal and sub-genres have grown out of it such as sludge metal and doom metal.
Tristan Andrews is a freelance author who writes about Black Sabbath for http://www.theblacksabbath.com
Distributed by http://www.ContentCrooner.com
Black Sabbath hails from Britain; the band was forged in 1968 and has rocked on in different guises since then. Through the years the band's lineup has changed with Tony Iommi the constant glue holding the band together. He is the main founding member. The original lineup was Tony Iommi (guitar), Ozzy Osbourne (vocals), Geezer Butler (bass), and Bill Ward on drums.
Black Sabbath was undeniably one of the originators of heavy metal. Their debut album Black Sabbath in 1970 zapped the musical public with tuned down riffs and a sound well suited for a horror flick; it was received well in England. The band released a second album in 1970 called Paranoid, which established the group as a popular band in the U.S. They issued Master of Reality in 1971, Volume 4 in 1972, and Sabbath Bloody Sabbath in 1973, and Rolling Stone's Gordon Fetcher praised the album as "an extraordinarily gripping affair."
By happenstance, Tony Iommi produced a riff, which created the atmosphere for this album and complex musical arrangements, strings, and synthesizers produced a much fuller, creepy sound than the band had achieved before this album, though it used some of the stylistic refinements of their previous release, Volume 4.
Management disputes erupted in 1974, when they signed with Don Arden and the prior management had contractual issues. In 1975 Black Sabbath released Sabotage; it hit the top 20 in England and the U.S., but it didn't rise to Platinum in the United States as all of its forerunners had done.
In 1976 they issued Technical Ecstasy and Never Say Die was released in 1978. The songs Never Say Die and Hard Road reached the top 40 in Britain. Ozzy Osbourne's final show with the band until they reunited was December 11, 1978 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He split form the group in 1979 and formed the Ozzy Osbourne Band. Ronnie James Dio became the new singer for Black Sabbath.
The band released the album Heaven and Hell in 1980. It was well received and this album is attributed with reviving the band's heavy metal sound. It popped up to number 9 in the British chart and number 28 in the United States; this was Black Sabbath's peak charting since Sabotage. Mob Rules was released in 1981. The fans liked it, but J. D. Considine of Rolling Stone wasn't as enthusiastic; he stated that "Mob Rules finds the band as dull-witted and flatulent as ever." But Eduardo Rivadavia of All Music called the album "a magnificent record."
Born Again was issued in 1983 with singer Ian Gillian formerly of Deep Purple. It climbed the charts in Britain to number 4 and placed 39 in the U.S. The band released Eternal Idol in 1987; the reviews weren't forthcoming except online and the album wasn't big commercially.
The band reunited off and on with Ozzy Osbourne from 1997 to 2006. Black Sabbath has the legacy of basically creating heavy metal and sub-genres have grown out of it such as sludge metal and doom metal.
Tristan Andrews is a freelance author who writes about Black Sabbath for http://www.theblacksabbath.com
Distributed by http://www.ContentCrooner.com
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