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Tag: music

I Wanna Rock!

Published by dee on August 11, 2009

roa_album-coverThe One2One Network recently offered up an opportunity to review the new Rock of Ages: Original Broadway Cast Recording and I jumped at the chance.  All it took was one look at the track list to know I would love this album.  I am a child of the 80’s after all!  The track list is truly amazing, including many of my favorite 80’s tracks like Heaven, Sister Christian, Every Rose Has It’s Thorn, and Can’t Fight This Feeling.  Oh, and if that isn’t enough, it also features a guy named Constantine Maroulis, who some of you might remember from a little show called American Idol.

Here’s a little bit about the show itself:

Rock of Ages is the new Broadway musical starring American Idol finalist Constantine Maroulis. Set in 1987 in a legendary Sunset Strip rock club, a small-town girl meets a big-city dreamer and they fall in love to the greatest metal songs of the 80’s. The musical is an arena-rock love story told through the mind-blowing, face-melting hits of Journey, Bon Jovi, Styx, Reo Speedwagon, Pat Benatar, Foreigner, Twisted Sister, Poison, Asia, Whitesnake and more.

While I really wish I could have a chance to see it on Broadway, the cd definitely does not disappoint.  As is stated in the making of the soundtrack video, it is like a perfect 80’s mix tape.  I’ve listened to it in my car and over and over again at work.  If you’re expecting a perfect replica of the original songs, you’ll have a few surprises.  But, if you keep in mind that the songs were recorded as part of a musical, you’ll love it.  There is quite a bit of dialogue included in the recording as well, which helps you picture a bit of the story as you move through the songs.  For me, the dialogue is a bit distracting, but I think it would help if I had seen the show and had all of the pieces of the story in my head.

I’ll definitely keep listening to the soundtrack and hope that someday I’ll get a chance to see Rock of Ages on stage!

Want to see the track list?  Of course you do!

Just Like Paradise / Nothin’ But A Good Time
Sister Christian
We Built This City / Too Much Time On My Hands
I Wanna Rock
We’re Not Gonna Take It
Heaven/More Than Words / To Be With You
Waiting For A Girl Like You
Wanted Dead Or Alive
I Want To Know What Love Is
Cum On Feel The Noize / We’re Not Gonna Take It (Reprise)
Harden My Heart / Shadows Of The Night
Here I Go Again
The Final Countdown
Any Way You Want It / I Wanna Rock (Reprise)
High Enough
I Hate Myself For Loving You / Heat Of The Moment
Hit Me With Your Best Shot
Can’t Fight This Feeling
Every Rose Has Its Thorn
Oh Sherrie
The Search Is Over
Don’t Stop Believin

Seriously good songs, you guys. You can pick up your own copy of Rock Of Ages on Amazon and I highly recommend that you do.

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CD Review: Ballas Hough Band

Published by dee on March 19, 2009

Ballas Hough BandIf you’re a fan of Dancing With the Stars then you have no doubt heard of Mark Ballas and Derek Hough.  What you may not know about these two professional ballroom dancers is that they have been playing and making music together for more than a decade.  While dancing their way to stardom, they both dreamed of a career in music and worked tirelessly toward that goal.  Along with drummer Harry Sullivan, pianist Emily Grace, and bassist Sam Marder, they formed the Ballas Hough Band.

On March 10th the Ballas Hough Band released their debut CD, BHB.  The majority of songs on BHB are originals, based on personal life experiences.  The first single, “Do It For You,” was co-written by new American Idol judge Kara DioGuardi.  The album also features collaborations with songwriters Dan Wilson, Kevin Kadish and Marty James.

I wasn’t sure what to expect when I popped the CD into my player.  While I’m not generally a fan of pop music, I was impressed with the Ballas Hough Band right away.  The first few seconds of  “Do You Love Me” had me ready to dance in my seat.  As the CD progressed, I found myself bopping along to the catchy hooks and rhythms.  However, for me the real gems are the slower songs such as “Longing For” and “Underwater.”

After listening to BHB, it is obvious that Ballas and Hough are much more than skilled dancers.  They are musicians at heart and I have a feeling they will be around for years to come.

Once the Spring season of Dancing With The Stars wraps up, Ballas Hough Band will be heading out on a summer tour across the U.S.  You can find more information about the tour on their MySpace page.

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It Puts Me In The Christmas Mood

Published by dee on December 14, 2007

Many years ago, my ex and I picked up a Christmas cd (A Very Special Christmas, Vol. 3) because it had a track on it by Chris Cornell. It also had some tracks by other artists we liked such as Smashing Pumpkins, Dave Matthews, Hootie and the Blowfish, and a few others. Since that year, it has continued to be one of my favorite Christmas cds. It is the one I always pull out first when I want to get in the Christmas mood. There is one track on there that almost gives me goosebumps every time I hear it and that is Chris Cornell’s Ave Maria. Give it a listen and tell me what you think.

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Twinkle, Twinkle

Published by dee on November 28, 2007

Zachary has always been a big fan of music and these days he is usually singing along. When we’re in the car, he’ll ask for “my music” and will often request a specific song on whatever cd I turn on. He can also tell the difference between Daddy’s music and Mommy’s music and will ask that we turn it off or turn it up depending on his mood.

He absolutely loves to sing and dance and can often be heard singing during play time or bath time. He has apparently learned a lot of new songs at school as his favorites these days include Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star, The Itsy Bitsy Spider, and B-I-N-G-O. He’ll usually sing anytime I ask him to, except of course when I tried to get the video camera out tonight. He would get the first line of a song out and then scream, “I did it!” I was determined to get a video clip of him singing, but he was pretty determined not to let me.

A couple of weeks ago, singing Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star became part of his bedtime routine. It fits in right between reading a couple of books and saying his prayers. He can’t seem to settle down until it has been sung. One night while he was singing, I decided to grab my cell phone and record him. He misses a few words in the middle, but you can make out most of it. Since I couldn’t manage to get it on video, you can at least listen to the audio clip.

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I spent my evening figuring out how to convert the audio file and how to use Podpress so I could include the short clip in my post. If all goes well, I would love to include more audio posts so feel free to leave any feedback.

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A Perfect Day

Published by dee on November 8, 2007

So many times in my life I’ve had days that I have looked forward to for weeks, if not months, ahead of time. Then the actual day comes and I’ve spent so much time anticipating it that when it is all said and done I end up disappointed. Yesterday was not one of those days. In fact, with the exception of having to spent a few hours at work and a little baby-sitting snafu, it was pretty much a perfect day.

As you know, if you’ve been reading along, we found out yesterday that this little fetus in my belly is indeed a baby girl. I have always dreamed of having one boy and one girl and as of yesterday morning that dream has become a reality. I’m still a little in shock about that because even though my intuition told me it was a girl, I was scared to believe it. Somehow I thought that if I really, truly, believed it was a girl that it would end up being a boy. But, I was totally right all along and I can’t wait to meet my little girl!

After I left the doctor’s office, I came to work and made about a million phone calls to my family, then sent text messages to the rest of my friends who were waiting for the news. It took me quite a while to get myself settled back down and ready to work. Then I realized just how much I needed to get done before I could leave. I rushed myself as quickly as I possibly could to get things finished up so I could leave on time. I still didn’t leave quite on time, but fortunately Hubby was able to get off work early so he could pick Zach up and bring him over to meet up with our last-minute replacement baby-sitter.

When I finally got away from work, I ended up in major traffic which normally would have really irritated me. Instead, I talked to one of my best friends on the phone most of the way home and she managed to keep me just distracted enough that I didn’t lose my good mood. Once I got home, it was a quick change of clothes and back out the door on our way to see Garth Brooks in concert.

The concert was everything I had imagined it to be and more. My mom came along with Hubby and I and we met up with my sister and her husband at the show.

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Trisha Yearwood started things up and was fantastic. While I wouldn’t necessarily call her one of my favorites, I have always enjoyed her music and she did not disappoint. She played a pretty short set, supposedly to allow Garth some extra stage time, but she managed to get in the songs I was really hoping to hear.

After a short break to change the stage set-up, Garth Brooks came out to a roaring crowd. He sang most of his big hits, including his newest release, with the crowd singing along the entire time. It was such an amazing show. I wondered before the show if I might have missed out on something by not seeing him in his prime, but I don’t think I missed out on a thing. The best part of the show was seeing the smile on his face. You could tell he was having a great time up there on the stage and enjoying every minute of it.

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At one point during the show, Garth noticed a girl in the front row taking pictures. He bent down, grabbed her camera from her, handed it to a band member, then squatted down next to her and posed for a picture. How’s that for a souvenir? He also stopped to recognize the crowd saying that even though we may not think he sees us, he does. He pointed out a sign that was being held up and said that he saw the same sign the night before in the front. He pointed out a couple towards the back that had been standing through the whole show, and then a child who had fallen asleep on his dad’s shoulder. To me, that showed just how much he appreciates his fans.

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For me, this was one of the most fun and entertaining concerts I’ve ever been to. As many shows as I’ve seen, I can’t really say which was the best anymore, but I definitely left happy with one more of those little lifetime goals checked off the list.

Here’s the setlist for anyone interested, as posted at Back to Rockville:

Setlist: The Fever; Good Ride Cowboy; Two Pina Coladas; Two of a Kind, Working’ on a Full House; Rodeo; The Thunder Rolls; The Beaches of Cheyenne; The River; We Shall Be Free; Unanswered Prayers; If Tomorrow Never Comes; Summer Wind; Much Too Young (To Feel This Damn Old); More Than a Memory; Papa Loved Mama; In Another’s Eyes (with Trisha Yearwood); Walkaway Joe (Trisha Yearwood), Calling’ Baton Rouge; Friends in Low Places; The Dance.

Encore: Ain’t Going Down (Til the Sun Comes Up). Medley: She Thinks I Still Care (George Jones); Mama Tried (Merle Haggard); Mrs. Robinson (Simon & Garfunkel), Wild World (Cat Stevens), Piano Man (Billy Joel), Turn the Page (Bob Seger), Amarillo By Morning (George Strait), 1982 (Randy Travis), Ten Feet Away (Keith Whitley), American Pie (Don McLean).

30 Days of ThanksI’m thankful today that I had the opportunity to see Garth Brooks live.  It is something I’ve wanted to do since I was in jr. high school and it took me this long to actually do it.  But, it was definitely worth the wait.

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