Playlist for December 16

AC/DC..................Playing With Girls
AC/DC..................Flick of the Switch
Judas Priest...........Stained Class
Iron Maiden............Hallowed Be Thy Name
Fates Warning..........Pirates of the Underground
Rush...................Speed of Love
Rush...................Ghost of a Chance
Circus Maximus.........Sin
Circus Maximus.........Silence From Angels Above
Royal Hunt.............Intervention
Pallas.................The Cross & The Crucible
James Labrie...........Crucify
Wrathchild America.....Time
Eidolon................Arcturus #9
Insomnium..............Mortal Share
Obliveon...............Deus Ex Machina
Cradle of Filth........I Am The Thorn

This weeks show was sort of a snapshot of the stuff we've been playing over the last few weeks. A mix of Classic, new, prog and thrash.

Insomnium made their debut on the show--great song! Thanks to those who phoned in with compliments!

Lacuna Coil "Our Truth"

Just for Wheezer! Merry Xmas!

The Year's Best, Part Two

Iron Maiden
A Matter of Life and Death
Maiden is back! And their latest CD shows that they are still unwilling to coast on past achievements, but are committed to producing new and vital material after a quarter-century of releases. While the CD perhaps doesn't rise quite to the level of Dance of Death, A Matter of Life and Death is still a worthy addition to the Maiden canon. Songs like "These Colours Don't Run" and "The Greater Good of God" explore new territory for the band, while "The Re-incarnation of Benjamin Breeg" illustrates the band's knack for creating obscure and unique horror stories that go beyond the standard fair. The CD has been criticized for a lack of variation between the songs, and I'd have to agree that it's a valid observation. Of course on the radio we play one or two songs at a time, so that weakness is not as noticeable. The major complaint I have is a consistent one--Iron Maiden have a lousy track record for choosing singles from their albums. "Different World" is one of the most non-descript tracks on offer, but it gets released as a single/video. Whatever--that doesn't change the fact that Maiden continue their relentless march into the 21st century!

Spheric Universe Experiment

Mental Torments

From France, Spheric Universe Experiment's debut CD "Mental Torments" sees five accomplished musicians playing fluent pr0g-metal with just enough of a thrash influence to set them apart from the legions of Dream Theater inspired proggers springing up these days. Despite having a guitarist who can obviously shred, the band is willing to show enough restraint that the songs are prevented from drowning in an excess of virtouso wanking. Most of the songs are longer than commercial radio is comfortable with (the title track clocking in at 15 minutes) so don't expect to hear them too much outside of outlets like Tapping the Ether--but if they continue to live up to the promise they show on this album, expect to hear them on TTE on a regular basis. Weakest point is the lyrics, but given that English is not the band's first language there's no reason to assume that they won't improve over time. Kudos once again to Nightmare Records for sending us another winner!

The Year's Best, Part One

Queensryche
Operation Mindcrime II
It's been a long time coming, but Queensryche's "Operation Mindcrime II" finally hit the shelves in April of 2006. Was it worth it? Well, inevitably the answer is "yes and no." Less a concept album (all songs working together to tell a story) than a full-blown rock opera (multiple vocalists assuming the characters in a story), the album often reaches too high for it's own good. However in the main, Operation Mindcrime is a very good album--it doesn't simply rehash the original, and it works hard to stand on it's own merits. The writing, singing and performance are all top notch, and that wonderful Queensryche sound is back in spades. Considering just how big a chance the band took on this album, coupled with just how badly it could have blown up in their faces, I think Queensryche should feel justifiably proud with what they achieved.

Cloudscape

Crimson Skies

Nightmare Records released some real gems this year, and I'm eternally grateful to them to making so many of them available for Tapping the Ether. Crimson Skies is the second album from Cloudscape, a Swedish Power/Prog Metal band. In a country that has to boast more musical talent per capita than anywhere else in the world, Cloudscape manages to more than hold their own. A modern Prog-metal sound with hints of Kansas and Rush (who the band cites as influences), Crimson Skies sounds much more professional than a young band on an independent label has any right to sound. I got a lot of positive feedback on this release almost immediately after adding it to my playlist. Word is they are already working on their next release (their third). Until then, I suggest you pick up a copy of Crimson Skies and get to know a band with a great future ahead of them.

Best of 2006

Okay, those of you who have listened to the show for a long time realize that I gave up year-end countdowns and wrap-ups and similar gimmicks many years ago. I do like to spend the last few shows of a year spotlighting some of the high points of the year though, and so I'm going to do some mini-reviews of some of the best new stuff received at the station in 2006.

There are two caveats to this. The first is that I only include CD's rreceived by CFRC-FM. Edguy, Blind Guardian, Eidolon and Dream Theater are among the great bands who released CD's this year--their absence in this year end summary is simply because they (or rather their record companies) didn't send us a copy. Please don't read anything more into it than that.

The second caveat is that I'm working mostly from memory here--and I have a crappy memory. So I'm going to forget something. Guaranteed. I apologize in advance for this and do not intend any slight.

Playlist for December 9

Heart.........................Barracuda
Lee Aaron.....................Barely Holding On
Rush..........................Nobody's Hero
Rush..........................Afterimage
Queensryche...................Won't Get Fooled Again
Ascension Theory..............End Game
Black Sabbath.................Odin's Court
Black Sabbath.................Valhalla
Mind Key......................Secret Dream
Spheric Universe Experiment...Echoes of the Stars
Ozzy Osbourne.................Mr. Crowley
Iron Maiden...................Revelations
Voivod........................Angel Rat
Annihilator...................Alice in Hell
Annihilator...................Liquid Oval
Annihilator...................City of Ice

It was a good show this week. Lots of interesting stuff to rant about.

We started on a solemn note with a memorial for the anniversary of the Montreal Massacre, although we kept it subtle.

The second hour featured Canadian thrash Gods, Annihilator!

Playlist for December 2

Resurrection Band................Awaiting Your Reply
AC/DC............................Baby Please Don't Go
Black Sabbath....................When Death Calls
Black Sabbath....................Sabbath Stones
Rush.............................La Villa Strangiato
Rush.............................Ghost of a Chance
Triumph..........................Fight the Good Fight
Triumph..........................When the Lights Go Down
Dream Theater....................Afterlife
Fates Warning....................Epitaph
Iron Maiden......................Phantom of the Opera
Iron Maiden......................Flight of Icarus
Iron Maiden......................No Prayer for the Dying
Iron Maiden......................Where Eagles Dare
Iron Maiden......................Stranger in a Strange Land
Iron Maiden......................Out of the Shadows
Within Temptation................Pearls of Light

We had a few technical problems at the beginning of the show, but muddled through it in time for the planned Iron Maiden spotlight in the second hour. For those who aren't familiar with Resurrection Band, there were a phenomenal Christian band from the 70's/80's who sounded like a combination of Rush and AC/DC. Awaiting Your Reply was their second album, when they were still heavily influenced by the blues.

It was nice to be able to play the live version of La Villa Strangiato, from Exit...Stage Left. I just acquired a replacement for the station's vinyl copy of the album. Exit....Stage Left is one of the best live albums ever released, in my opinion.