heavyharmonies

Just because it costs you $4.50 to ship from the UK to the U.S. doesn't mean that it costs the same to ship to ship from the U.S. to the U.K. Each country has their own postal rates. I charge $14 for international shipping on eBay. How does that break down? Most CDs are 4-5 ounces, with 2-disc sets or heaver CDs (like early Japanese imports, some promos, etc.) in the 6-7 ounce range. Depending on the country, the actual postage cost is $7-12. Then add the cost of packing materials, labels, and insurance. Finally, add the fact that both PayPal and eBay take their cut off the top, figure 13%. Not exactly getting rich on shipping charges...

I have PM'ed him and asked him to respond here publicly.

New full-length trailer in the form of a music video for "Covered By Roses". Who says that spectacle is gone from concert performances? They've come a LONG way from just doing short sets at music festivals.

I need to re-listen to Seven again, but Vega did absolutely nothing for me, sorry...

Giving this a more thorough listen today. Excellent stuff. Standout track to these ears, almost right out of Within Temptation's or Delain's playbook:

This is about the time of year I start narrowing down the list of contendors for the top 5 list. While I keep general lists of 1-5 stars throughout the year, I don't get as granular as some of you do. Now I start re-listening to all of the albums that I initially rated as 4.5 or 5 stars to establish a pecking order, re-examining when new releases come in (for example I still haven't heard the new Ten, Harem Scarem, or live Within Temptation). Right this second, my list of 4.5- and 5-star albums for 2014 are as follows, in alphabetical order: 21 Octayne - Into the Open A Sound of Thunder - The Lesser Key of Solomon Adrenaline Rush - ST Allen-Lande - The Great Divide Amaranthe - Massive Addictive Arion - Last of Us Babymetal - ST Brother Firetribe - Diamond in the Firepit Crazy Lixx - ST Devils Heaven - Heaven on Earth Elvenking - The Pagan Manifesto Gotthard - Bang! Harmony - Theatre of Redemption Iron Savior - Rise Of The Hero Kissin Dynamite - Megalomania Laney's Legion - ST Lyriel - Skin and Bones Moonland - ST Neonfly - Strangers in Paradise Outloud - Let's Get Serious Pretty Maids - Louder Than Ever Pretty Wild - ST Silent Force - Rising From The Ashes Sinbreed - Shadows State of Salazar - All the Way Three Lions - ST WET - One Live - In Stockholm Within Temptation - Hydra Work of Art - Framework

Seriously digging this album. Another track with a great a chorus: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrMNLBszvzQ

You no likey?

Srsly? Geoff, Geoff, Geoff... smh. Heart of the Sun is not one of the better tracks on the album, but the two cuts I posted above in their entirety are just superb, IMO.

Samples of all tracks up on the main site: http://heavyharmonies.com/cgi-bin/glamcd.cgi?BandNum=4492&CDName=Crazy%20Lixx It's a corker!

S'ok. You're fully entitled to your listening preferences and prejudices... no matter how wrong they may be.

To you perhaps. Some people are lyrical listeners of music (focus on the words), whereas others are tonal listeners (the melodies are of greater import than the words being sung). You are the former, so understanding and liking the words being sung is important to you (which is why you only like Christian music where the "message" is not too over the top). The wrong or unintelligible words detract from the music for you. For tonal listeners like myself, the actual words in question are far less important than the sound of the music itself, the melodies, harmonies, etc. That's why I can listen to praise-heavy CCM back-to-back with black metal and not bat an eye (or ear)... same thing with foreign language songs. The lyrics could be "Arf, arf, bark, bark, MEOW!" but if it is musically attractive, I'll listen to it and enjoy it.

Hasn't AC/DC made an entire career of doing this very thing? Just sayin'... Change risks alienating core fans. I can see why some groups stick with what works. Philosophically, one can say that groups should always be evolving, but sometimes that evolution results in major suckage.... like many hair bands' experimentation with the "alternative sound" in the mid 1990s. BLEAGH!

Dredging this up from the depths as I've actually been listening and watching to Babymetal quite a bit lately. What some would consider pointless or blasphemy, I'm enjoying the heck out of. The Japanese have always been more accepting of crossing genre boundaries and fusing styles that we would consider "inappropriate". Instrumentally, the shit is first rate, incredibly well produced and performed. Sold out concerts... and I don't just mean in Japan. Go read some of the reviews of the CD and concerts. For every one there is slamming Babymetal, there are plenty of "old school" metalheads eating this shit up... and based on the concert videos people are enjoying the hell out of the concerts. My first reaction was, like many, "WTF???!!!" but the more you watch and listen, the more it grows on you. It upsets traditionalists, but corporate creation or not, it's actually quite catchy on all fronts. I'm a fan... so sue me. A couple of my favorite tracks (the instrumental break in the second one is just awesome):

Listening to the complete album for the first time. Infectious stuff! Then again, I enjoy pop-metal fusion. Love the chorus on this one:

Normally this time of the year I'd be starting the Heavy Harmonies donation drive, but I I want to shift it to the beginning of the calendar year rather than the end. I'll likely do it in February-March, with it being a combined 2014-2015 drive (so the donor badges don't have a missing year). So feel free to spend more on Christmas... but I'll be coming for your wallets and souls in Feb.

A short trailer just came out today.

Here are two of my favorite tracks (complete) showcasing the variance in style across the tracks on the album, the first being heavier somewhat power-metallish, and the second a ballad... that goes to 11. http://www.heavyharmonies.com/audio/neonfly_sonsofliberty.mp3 http://www.heavyharmonies.com/audio/neonfly_roseinbloom.mp3

Very promising! A bit heavier than Three Lions, which I like.

Giving this a full listen for the first time. One of the unexpected surprises of 2014, in my opinion. Some excellent choruses to be certain.

That would take a fair bit of doing, not to mention that it really would only be applicable to about 2% of the listings on HH. Any time you see that there is even ONE song title on an album that isn't in English, it should be an indicator that you need to investigate further, and most Earthshaker albums have several non-English titled tracks. A quick jump over to Youtube can usually confirm what language a given band sings in.

Love the sound, but the vids look like Justin Bieber was kidnapped by a prog metal band.

LET US BURN – ELEMENTS & HYDRA LIVE IN CONCERT Dutch symphonic rock band WITHIN TEMPTATION are thrilled to unveil a new live DVD/Blu-ray/2CD. ‘Let Us Burn – Elements & Hydra Live In Concert’ is set for release on November 14 and features two of WITHIN TEMPTATION’s most talked about arena shows ever. The two dates are 2012’s resplendent 15th birthday ‘Elements’ concert and the final night of the ‘Hydra’ European arena tour at Amsterdam’s Heineken Music Hall in May 2014. When it comes to the live experience, Within Temptation’s status is of a league extraordinaire. These two performances showcase every nuance of their fierce reputation plus stunning imagery and special FX, including even giant fire-breathing dragons! In November 2012, WITHIN TEMPTATION challenged themselves to create one of their most impressive arena shows ever, to celebrate the band’s 15th birthday. The result was the one-off symphonic ‘Elements’ show, held at the Sportpaleis in Antwerp. A dazzling event with 15,000 fans, the band’s dream came to life. Newly inspired, the group went forth to write their critically acclaimed sixth studio album ‘Hydra’. In early 2014, WITHIN TEMPTATION unleashed ‘Hydra’. This monster record claimed more than 10 European Top-10 chart positions, a #2 position in the iTunes World Charts, and the band’s highest US Billboard Top-20 chart position to date. The album success was followed by a 33-date European arena tour, selling out noted venues like Wembley Arena in London, Le Zenith in Paris, and the legendary Heineken Music Hall in Amsterdam (twice). Over 15,000 fans joined the ‘Elements’ show celebrations and more than 120,000 fans witnessed the ‘Hydra’ beast on stage in Europe, but WITHIN TEMPTATION is far from done. The ‘Hydra’ world tour is currently in full swing in North America. With South America and Japan still to come, more than half a million fans will have seen WITHIN TEMPTATION by the end of this year. WITHIN TEMPTATION is renowned for releasing impressive live DVDs. Previous release, the best-selling ‘Black Symphony’ DVD, helped make them one of the most popular bands in their genre. At their recent Awards show in Berlin, Metal Hammer Germany presented WITHIN TEMPTATION with the prestigious Best Live Band Award. The new DVD underlines this title. ‘Let Us Burn – Elements & Hydra Live In Concert’ will be released in four formats – DVD + 2CD, Blu-ray + 2CD, 2CD, and digital album. The DVD and Blu-ray contain 34 live audio visual tracks in HD, mixed in 5.1 Dolby Surround. The 2CD and digital album comprise 32 live audio tracks. The two shows have a running time total of approximately 170 minutes. ‘Let Us Burn – Elements & Hydra Live In Concert’ is a treat for rock fans all over the world. Product Details for Within Temptation - Let Us Burn (Double CD + Blu-Ray - Live Album) - Blu-ray Release dates are Nov 14th Europe, Nov 17th UK, Nov 25th USA. Double CD + DVD - Live Album - Let Us Burn (Elements & Hydra Live in Concert) 8 panel DVD Digipack with 20 page booklet Elements Blu-Ray Tracklisting 01 Intro 02 Iron 03 In The Middle Of The Night 04 Faster 05 Fire and Ice 06 Our Solemn Hour 07 Stand My Ground 08 Angels 09 Sanctuary Intro 10 The Last Dance 11 Say My Name 12 Candles 13 Sinead 14 The Promise 15 Mother Earth 16 Ice Queen 17 Stairway To The Skies Hydra 1 Intro 2 Let Us Burn 3 Paradise (What About Us?) 4 Faster 5 Iron 6 Edge Of The World 7 In The Middle Of The Night 8 Dangerous 9 And We Run 10 Stand My Ground 11 Covered By Roses 12 Mother Earth 13 What Have You Done 14 Silver Moonlight 15 Whole World Is Watching 16 Sinead 17 Ice Queen Pack also contains double CD with Elements and Hydra on individual discs. (Same track order as Blu-Ray) Dan's comments: The pricing of the 2CD + Blu-Ray pack looks quite promising. The WT shop has it at $24.99 + S&H and Nuclear Blast has it for $22.99 + S&H. My guess is that once listed on Amazon it will be at a very decent shipped price for a Blu-Ray release.

Just added samples of all tracks over on the main site. I'd call it more hard rock than metal. It has some metal elements to be sure, but it's very melodic. I'm digging it.

Samples of all tracks added on the main site. Click an album cover below to go to the album page and listen.