Released in 2003, by the over the top, glam metal resurrection act, The Darkness, Christmas Time (Don't Let The Bells End) has been one of my favorite holiday tunes for close to a decade. The royal timbre of the electric guitars and falsetto of Justin Hawkins are undeniably Queen-like. And what Christmas classic is not complete without sleigh bells and a children choir? I can't think of another modern Christmas tune that packs so much melody and action into three and a half minutes. The tune became such a part of my holiday tradition that I finally had to throw down the cash to the buy the import CD single (it was never released domestically). The b-side, I Love You 5 Times, while entertaining is definitely overshadowed by the bombastic grandeur of the lead track. I hope this one finds its way into your holiday playlist, if it isn't there already.
In the late 70s, as punk and post-punk bands spiraled towards their new wave destinies, prog dinosaurs stood paralyzed in the shadows. Bands like the Sex Pistols were meteors, igniting a global firestorm that would trigger prog's extinction. The British music press (Melody Maker, Sounds, NME, etc.), once proponents of prog darlings Genesis, Yes and ELP, now bashed any band releasing songs in odd time signatures and singing about aliens and whales. The punk revolution had turned the U.K. music industry and press on its head within a year (1976-1977). For me, this is one of the most interesting times in pop music. Although prog groups saw their audiences rapidly dwindle (Yes audiences had dropped from 20,000 to 3,000 by 1980's Drama tour), many record labels had built fortunes on the works of prog artists and were willing to foot the bill for some interesting transitional experiments. Yes' Drama , ELPs' Works , Genesis' . ..And Then There Were Three... were p...
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