Lazland playlist

lazland wrote: Thank you all for your kind words, which really mean so much. Life goes on, and so will the Lazland blog, hopefully with some rather more cheerier posts in the months to come.

Steve! I just caught wind of this. I do express my deepest sympathies to you and your family.

...she is so near, yet so far...

https://youtu.be/H8Dyi318TSM

infocat wrote:

Frank, thank you so much for sharing this with me. Quite beautiful and touching.

Please accept my condolences.  May your mom rest in peace.

I am afraid that today's blog post is another sad notification.

My mother has passed away this morning at the age of 75. Regular readers of my blog will know that my wife and I were caring for Mum in addition to my father in law, who passed away the end of May.

Mum's condition has been getting progressively worse these past few weeks, and we admitted her to hospital last night, where she passed on peacefully and comfortably this morning. I take comfort from the fact that I genuinely believe she is in a better place, although she, personally, was not a believer.

It has been a difficult few weeks in the Lazland household, especially for my son, who, although only 14 this coming Thursday, has now lost two beloved grandparents in the space of short weeks. We are remaining strong for him, and I am proud of the way he is coping. My beautiful wife is a source of massive strength and love.

I am playing the gorgeous Introitus track, Soulprint, which is wholly appropriate this afternoon.

Life is but a passing phase on a journey none of us fully understand.

Nos da, and rest peacefully.

Steve!! Great to hear from you and that you are doing your best in "Hotel hobby" land. Mr. Fish wrote a thing or 2 about that. ;)
Anyhow, of course to answer/respond to your last post(s) I feel that, as far as quadrophenia goes, the similar classic "rock opera" set up really goes full tilt with beaming quality to Clive Nolan and his work on "Alchemy."
I'm quite sure you've heard of this Nolan offering, but I have to say its an instant classic in vein of a rock opera style or approach. Do give it a go. It's lovely. Think of it as Prog's take on broadway musicals. ;)

As for your recent playlist. Yeah. Pendragon. I always break down into immersion mode when I hear "breaking the spell." I feel this is the true definition of a perfect track. One of their very best. I've also spun that latest pendragon: the man who climbed mountains and I have to say its nothing but inspiring to me. Love the cover art. A never give up attitude, which suits me well! :)

Glad to hear from you. Keep on bloggin' :)

This latest post in the meandering thoughts of a man named Laz in the wonderful PA blog spot does, to an extent, follow on nicely from the last one, but is, shall we say, a little more upbeat.

I mentioned watching Yes Symphonic Live in my last blog. Well, this week, the classical rock theme moved on, when my wife informed me that she had recorded Classic Quadrophenia on the goggle box last weekend for me, bless her.

Of course, fusion of classic rock and classical music is nothing particularly new. I remember first hearing Deep Purple (in reality, though, Jon Lord) Concerto for Band and Orchestra some thirty odd years ago, now. I have to admit, I was always far more impressed with the band set, playing classics such as Child In Time, Black Night, and Strange Kind of Woman, which surfaced a bit later, and I never heard the follow up he did many years later. I suppose that must be an age thing. As a callow youth, I wanted to hear loud, inventive, rock music. Classical music was for a different, older, generation, with far different standards and expectations to mine.

The Quadrophenia experiment is a new one, and was recorded at The Royal Albert Hall with The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra, who added a gorgeous depth to the music of Pete Townsend. Quadrophenia was always my favourite Who album, and I did review it here, although the finest review of this album, and one of the finest on this site ever, was Jim Finnforest's review. I urge all who wish to see how reviewing should be done to look at this. It is a fantastic piece, made amazing to me by the fact that an American "got" British youth culture of the time so well.

Anyhow, the part of Jimmy was played and sung by Alfie Boe, a tenor from these shores. I have to say he has one hell of a set of lungs on him, and, his was an exceptionally pleasing performance. When the choir backed him and orchestra, the result was stunning.

Guest performances were by Phil Daniels, the original lead in the film, who cannot sing to save his life, but was fun. Billy Idol who was, well,....Billy Idol! Actually, his turn as The Face on Bellboy was exceptional. Townsend also did a couple of short turns, but, it is fair to say, this was about the quietest I have ever seen or heard him, almost as if he was overcome with the emotion of it all.

All in all, this was a project and fusion which worked extremely well. I have already stated my high opinion of the Yes project, which was almost made for classical fusion.

Is this part of the future for classic prog? Certainly, Tony Banks has now moved into the full classical world with marvellous accolades and success, and, I have to say, some of the classic Genesis could definitely benefit from a decent classical music fusion. Suppers Ready with the Philharmonic, anyone? Why not?

This is a world with which I am still unfamiliar. I love decent classical music when I hear it, and that is something which has definitely evolved over the years. Can readers of the blog recommend other rock and classic fusions for me to try?

I am not aware of that many, but it is definitely time for me to revisit the Purple one. I think I might rather enjoy it more, now. What are your thoughts on it?

As I said in my last post, my thanks to all of you for your best wishes, both on this blog, and by PM. They are all very much cherished and valued.

Life moves on here in Lazland, and I will speak to you all, hopefully, very soon.

Wonderful to read pg 12 of master Laz's blog/thread.
I come from the church of Psychedelics. Same as Jon Anderson.
Conscientious expansion is vital to a good and healthy spiritual outlook.
Anderson infuses a lot of his experiences in his music from his experience with higher conscientiousness exploration. He is a lovely man, a teacher and a musical genius who sparked so much creatively out of his band mates including the awesome, Chris Squire.

May Mr. Squire shine like a beautiful crazy Diamond like the great Syd Barrett. I have no doubt that he will.
A legacy to last forever. Never forgotten!

Beautiful as usual Steve and it is just incredible how crucial and vital music is to all of us here on this thread. I believe for all that we've discovered sonically will echo in eternity for all our many lives to come!

Enjoy the day as prog provokes the beauty in all of us. ;)

Beautiful post Steve. I don't know if life lives on, but I know that love lives on, and perhaps that's the clue to the mystery of eternity. Peace to you and your loved ones.

I am very sorry to hear of your loss Steve and can feel your pain.  I'm trying to convince my Dad to move in with me for much the same reason.  I don't have any sweeping words of wisdom or anything other than you're not alone.  The weird reality of the internet age is that we often end up 'talking' to people from across the globe more often than our traditional friend base.  I've come to the realization that I have friends scattered all over the place . . . and you do as well.