Remix albums have a transformative effect, completely altering a listening experience of an album you’ve fallen in love with.
Sometimes the joys of the original work can get lost in the metamorphosis, but sometimes, a remix can breathe new life and find new nuances and pockets that add a new dimension.
With the release of Billy Idol’s Vital Idol 2: Revitalized coming to vinyl, we’re looking at ten of the greatest remix albums of all-time:
Rush‘s Hemispheres turns 40 this year, and the album proved to be another milestone for the prog-rock legends.
In May 1978, Rush went on a nine-month tour throughout Canada, United States and the United Kingdom to support A Farewell To Kings. The band saw its first glimmer of success in the UK with “Closer to the Heart” reaching the Top 40 on the singles charts.
Rush took a quick break before getting back to work. None of the members had any ideas of what the album would tackle before recording–which proved to be a frustrating first. Alex Lifeson described it as “the trouble started from basics.”
They returned to the “really funky” (as quoted by Lifeson) Rockfield Studios in Wales where the last album was recorded, and wanting to continue a change from Toronto. The studio was located on a rural farm, and didn’t even have a sofa. A broken latch on the studio doors frustrated Lifeson to the point he created a hydraulic door to remedy the issue.
Neil Young turns 73 today, but the musician has faced a devastating loss of his Malibu home.
Young and his wife, Daryl Hannah, lost the property to forest fires raging in California.
The singer-songwriter lashed out against President Donald Trump for blaming the state of California for the fires:
“California is vulnerable — not because of poor forest management, as DT (our so-called president) would have us think,” he wrote on his website. “As a matter of fact this is not a forest fire that rages on as I write this. We are vulnerable because of Climate Change; the extreme weather events and our extended drought is part of it… Our temperatures are higher than ever here in our hottest summer on record. That has not helped. DT seems to be the Denier. (I’m holding back and not using the word liar just because it rhymes with denier.) It really is time for a reckoning with this unfit leader. Maybe our new Congress can help. I sure hope so.”
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Today is a day we remember the sacrifice so many Canadian soldiers (and across the globe in the Commonwealth of Nations) have made so the world can live as peaceful as possible.
The first Remembrance Day occurred on November 11, 1918, a year after the end of World War I.
Many artists have been profoundly affected by war–whether it was a soldier’s story that inspired them to write a song, or to express disagreement with war.
Here are eleven of our favourites. Make sure to take a moment of silence today to honour our soldiers.
Bryan Adams – “Remembrance Song”
The Trews – “Highway of Heroes”
We’ve all been there: working jobs just to make a dollar.
For most rock stars, the road to success wasn’t traversed overnight. Many of our idols had to work dead-end gigs to help cover recording costs or provide a stable income outside of live shows.
We’re looking at 10 music superstars that worked the grind before making the big time.
Job: Assistant to Editor at Glamour & Vogue
Gene Simmons also worked as an elementary school teacher and a hotel pool lifeguard.
Job: Military Code Breaker
Cash worked in the cryptographic intelligence unit of the army. (more…)
