MUSIC GIANTS: TONY IOMMI

His full name is Anthony Frank Iommi and he was borned on February 19, 1948, in Birmingham of England. He began to play guitar as a teenager after being inspired by the likes of "Hank Marvin" and "The Shadows". At the age of 18 he was working on a sheet metal factory and at his last day to work, on an accident, he cut off the tips of the middle and ring fingers of his right hand. The tragic of the story is that, he had decided to quit his job for having more time to play music. After this, and being left-handed, he tried with his right hand to play in the fret board of his guitar, but he couldn’t play well. A friend of his, encouraged him to follow the example of a gypsy guitarist, Django Reinhardt, who had lost two fingers at a fire, and he played his guitar like nothing to have be going wrong. So, Tony decided to wear plastic covers, that were made from melted dish soap bottle, over those two fingers (which he covered with leather, so he could grip the strings properly) in order to play properly. He tuned his guitar 3 semitones lower and he played slow and stable, for not to strain his prosthetics. And the miracle was done. A heavy, solid and dirty noise came out of his guitar.

After playing in several bands, among them Jethro Tull, he forms his own band, “Earth Blues Band”. They renamed to “Earth” and they had a minor success to England. One day as they watched a Boris Karloff film, they decided to use two words taken from there, to rename again the band. These two words was “BLACK SABBATH”. Black Sabbath debuted with the “Black Sabbath” album on February 13, 1970, when Tony was 22 years old. The release of the album was a thunder stroke to music scene. Never before a band sounded the way Black Sabbath did. Iommi combined at his songs, blues-like guitar solos and dark, minor-key riffing with a revolutionary high-gain, heavily distorted tone with his use of a modified treble-boosting effect-pedal and a Gibson SG, as well as plugging his guitar into his amp's bass socket.

From then Tony has released almost 30 albums, both with Black Sabbath and as a solo musician, and he keeps composing beautiful music. He had participated in many other albums as a guest and also to albums with charitable character, such as “Rock Aid Armenia”. He keeps touring the earth with Black Sabbath and his solo band. Tony is also a fan of Aston Villa F.C. in English Premier League. Ending, Tony Iommi is a living legend of music, as he had made his name as a synonym of heavy rock music.

GREAT WORKS: LED ZEPPELIN - IV

1970. Led Zeppelin has already released their 3^rd album “III”, which, except the hard rock anthem “Immigrant Song”, is a mix of folk, hippie and west coast rock staff. Irrelevant, that the album had very good sales and all the Led Zeppelin shows were sold out, the music press generally, and the British especially, condemned that album. This fact pissed off Jimmy Page, band’s guitarist, who decided to write the best music that he could and to release the new album without the band’s name, without a headline and any further information. Jimmy Page, with that action aimed, all those who would buy the album, will have to concentrate to music and nowhere else. It was his revenge.

Their music label, Atlantic Recordings, didn’t accept to release the album under these circumstances, but Page refused to give them the bobbins with the recordings, so Atlantic Recordings buckled and the album released on 1971. The band took a huge risk releasing the album in that way and refusing to release “Stairway to heaven” as a single, after continuous requests from the label. Finally the album reached No. 1 in British and No. 2 in US music charts. Endless tours followed shortly after album’s release and the band was building its myth. As of July 31, 2006, IV has sold 23 million copies in the US, making it one of the top four best selling albums in the history of the US music industry. Worldwide, it ranks at number eleven in album sales.

Musically the album is the probably best that Led Zeppelin ever released. It contains hard rock songs (Black Dog, Rock ‘n’ Roll), dance (Misty Mountain Hop), hippie (Going to California), folk (The Battle of Evermore, Four Sticks) and blues (When the Levee Breaks) staff. Last but not least, the album contains the monumental song Stairway to Heaven. Any interpretation relevant with this song is simple blasphemy.

The album has several names. “IV” is one, following the naming of their earlier albums (I, II & III). Another naming is “Four Symbols”, because of the 4 mystical symbols () used at the artwork, which represented each member of the band. One more name is “The Untitled Album”, for obvious reasons.

This is an album that reached immortality for all the above reasons. Led Zeppelin created a true monument of music, with which a couple of generations grew, by listening to it, and numberless musicians have influenced by its content. This is an album that his absence from any music suggests lack of knowledge and loss of many unique moments.

GREAT WORKS: Deep Purple - Machine Head

Machine Head is by many considered the best album of Deep Purple. This album of 1972 that Richie Blackmore , Ian Gillan, Jon Lord,Ian Paice and Roger Glover created and performed is a magnificent sample of what music is capable of.
The story of this album is quite noticeable as it was recorded in Switzerland. There in Geneva happened a story that almost everyone has listened but doesn't know. They had booked the casino for two weeks for the recording. Frank Zappa was giving a show there and someone fired a flare gun into the roof. The casino was burnt and Deep Purple had nowhere to record their album. They found Grand Hotel that was closed for the winter and they rented part of it. The album was recorded in a corridor (basically because Paice considered that the Drums was sounding better there). This story, the story of this superb album is narrated in the most famous song of the album and one of the most known songs of Rock music, Smoke on the water.
Smoke on the Water is a song that has everything it takes to be a masterpiece. It is quite simple and to it belongs the riff that everyone knows. The lyrics are simple and yet effective. The mixing is superb ( the album was originally recorded in quadraphonic sound. The original mixes are available on the SACD).
The lyrics of the album surprise us with their simplicity that works in favor of the poetic result and not against it. The music with outbursts that seem to come from a metal album but also with clear and nice melodies combine practically everything. The allegro is mated with andante and the voice is clear and captures your attention. This album cannot be described by words since its diversities leave us incapable of describing without analyzing every second. One last thing is that this album contains some of the nicest keyboard parts that I have listened to (Jon Lord did an exceptional job and is my favorite of course).
Concluding the SACD presents the original sound as it was meant to be presented so for those that possess the appropriate sound system I strongly suggest they acquire it. In the SACD there can be found the "when a blind man cries" a terrific song that was not originally included on the album. If you have not listened to this album it's time you do!

GREAT WORKS: Dark side of Life: The music narration of Pink Floyd

If I could choose an album among the albums of Pink Floyd it would be Dark Side of the Moon. It can easily be characterized as a monument of the qualities that a great album has. Lyrics talk about the journey of life. They talk about lost opportunities , great expectations , human emotional deficiency. The expression is surrealistic and the completeness of phrases and meanings is clearly of a poetic level.
But Lyrics are only one element that makes this album incomparable. The music is a balanced combination of melodic lines and psychedelic effects. Who can forget the bass of "Money"? Who doesn't tremble at the heartbeat in the intro? The instruments talk to each other and the effects are used as an instrument too merging into the melody and the rhythm. The bells and clocks in "Time " for example are part of the music as much as the guitar or the vocals. And this is something that Pink Floyd where capable of doing: making music from effects.
On a technical level the sound engineering knowledge of the members of the band combined with the mastering and mixing capabilities of a number of the best professional sound engineers of the last 30 years (including Alan Parsons) gives an album that is a hard test for every Hi-Fi system. This is especially true for the 30th anniversary edition SACD that elevates the experience of listening to a surrounding world of emotions and impressions. The sound is like never before unleashed from 5.1 speakers. Only the few lucky ones that posessed the original quadraphonic LP of 1973 and the appropriate sound system had the chance until before 3-4 years to experience something like this.
But albums like Dark side of the Moon do not need comments just someone to listen and experience them. Because they are exactly that: an experience that someone cannot forget.