What music are you listening to?

Truth be told, I kind of still prefer Tarja as Christine but don't tell my buds on Floorworld that.😉 Though the recent performance took place not long after Floor had surgery (breast cancer) so she may not have been in peak form yet. Floor did hold the final note longer, though.

Out of the blue, an Italian metal band, Souls of Diotima, started following me on Twitter. Maybe because I follow Nightwish? Who knows? Anyway, I checked them out on YouTube and found them to be not bad. Apparently, they have been around since 2004. Take a listen to Our Atlantis.

One of my favorite bands after Nightwish these days is Visions of Atlantis. This performance is from an upcoming live album recorded at the big music festival in Wacken, Germany last year.

The band is currently on the 70,000 Tons of Metal cruise, basically a floating music festival on a cruise ship. Other bands in attendance include Nightwish, Evergrey, Kamelot, and Feuerschwanz.

American singer-songwriter Malinda dropped a new original track today. She mostly does folk (Irish folk and sea shanties, for instance) but this is more folk-inflected pop.

Wings - Silly Love Songs

Came across this on the weekend. German power metal band Powerwolf covering Alice Cooper's eighties hit Poison in celebration of Cooper's 75th b-day.

I can say that I am not a fan of Ed Sheeran by any stretch of the imagination. However, here is a more than passable cover of I See Fire by German band, Feuerschwanz.

I See Fire is probably the only Ed Sheeran song I like and even then, there are several covers I prefer to his version. Including Feuerschwanz.

And just for fun, a Feuerschwanz original.

Whisky in the Jar was a great song by Thin Lizzy, Here, Metallica does it no harm at all.

Interesting how an old Irish folk song has become a classic rock hit. Metallica even won a Grammy with that performance and, of course, it's one of Thin Lizzy's best known songs.

Floor Jansen's solo career continues to blossom. With her first album now less than two months away, she's been nominated for The Netherlands' Edison music award in the Rock category. My Dutch is a bit rough. Okay, it's non-existent. However, from their site, it appears that the nomination is not for one song but cites all three of the solo singles from 2022 (the fourth came out in this year). "Storm" was the second and remains my personal favorite, though I like all of them.

I was listening to a little Rachmaninoff. Not a composer that I have really listened to, to be honest. Although I am very fond of his Variations on a theme of Paganini.

Anyway, I was listening to this piece, Piano concerto No.2, 2nd movement, when I suddenly realised that it was extremely familiar. I am sure that the music buffs among us will know the song from way back in 1975... don't you?

Quote by AnnaMayZing

I was listening to a little Rachmaninoff. Not a composer that I have really listened to, to be honest. Although I am very fond of his Variations on a theme of Paganini.

Did you hear about pianist Yuja Wang's recent feat? She did all of the Rachmaninoff concertos and the Variations in a single long concert.

Dutch band Delain are back with a new album after a couple years of rebuilding.

And while Arch Enemy's latest album has been out for a few months now, they dropped a video for one of my favorite songs from it yesterday.

There are many excellent versions of Roll Over Beethoven but ElO just seem to have the edge over all the others.

Halocene is an (as yet) unsigned band from California that do a mix of covers and originals. This is an original with footage from their 2022 tours of the US and Europe as a backdrop. Vocalists are married couple Addie Nicole and Brad Amick (who also plays lead guitar).

Another wonderful Nightwish cover by Natalia Tsarikova.

This time, Creek Mary's Blood. It is nice to hear the finale in English, too.

I just found this on YouTube. It sickens me that a country that can produce such wonderful talent as this, is being dragged into the mire by its "leaders"!

This is OTTA-Orchestra & Samara State Philharmonic Academic Symphony Orchestra - Royal Safary (sic).

More from the Otta Orchestra. This time, Arabica.

Not a household name unless you're into symphonic metal, Dianne van Giersbergen packs a heckuva voice. This is her first solo effort after fronting bands like Ex Libris and Xandria.

Away and Anywhere - John Frusciante

ZZ Top - La Grange. R.I.P. Dusty Hill

Arjen Lucassen, a noted Dutch guitarist, producer, songwriter, and Lord knows what else, has put together a talented new band called Supersonic Revolution and launched them with a tribute to the seventies entitled The GlamAttack. His regular projects, Star One and Ayreon, have also been active of late so Arjen seems to be a busy guy these days.

Quote by Mendalla

Arjen Lucassen, a noted Dutch guitarist, producer, songwriter, and Lord knows what else, has put together a talented new band called Supersonic Revolution and launched them with a tribute to the seventies entitled The GlamAttack.

If this guy wasn't heavily influenced by another famous Dutch band, I'll eat my hat. All it's missing is Thijs Van Leer's Flute!

This is Birth from the superb 1974 album Hamburger Concerto by Focus.

Phenomena - Yeah Yeah Yeahs

Ceremony - New Order

Edenbridge - The Call of Eden

A lesser-known piece from The Shadows, Mountains of the Moon. For me, one of their best works.

24 hours from now, it will be the new single from this lady. For now, here's an older track of hers, a cover from 2021, that I had on to celebrate her birthday on Tuesday.