We begin the third cycle of our new Flashback Friday format. For those new to The Night Beat, we are rotating between three themes. The Industrial Revolution, A Real Alternative, and The Commonwealth of CCM. The latter is out starting point, and it is where we once again are. This theme is exploring those bands of the past and present which hail from the British Commonwealth.
Sometimes one instrument isn't enough. The multi-instrumentalist of today is usually a one man band (think Aaron Gillespie of The Almost of Bryce Avary of The Rocket Summer). When in the recording studio these artists can play all the instruments themselves, and usually do. To tour, however, they need to hire a road band.
The multi-instrumentalists in mind for today's post are all in a band, and all of them play multiple instruments. Think Mannheim Steamroller without the Christmas Music and you've got an idea. Formed in 1989 in England and named for the Island of IONA, they released their debut way back in 1990 and are still, technically, active. The core of the band is a trio
- Dave Bainbridge - Piano, Keyboards, Fretless Keyboard, Acoustic and Electric Guitar, Keyboard and Sequencer Programming, Tambourine
- Dave Fitzgerald - Alto and Tenor Saxophone, Concert Flute, Chinese Flute, Piccolo, Flageolet, Irish Whistle, Tenor Recorder
- Joanne Hogg - Vocals, Vocal Choir, Piano, Keyboards
Hogg and company (the O is long as in boat) filled out the band with an additional six players, giving the band the feel of a Celtic Orchestra. The band history can be split into two periods, Public and Private. In the public phase, which lasted from 1989-2000, the band put out seven albums in 10 years, a pretty amazing feat considering the nature of the songs. This isn't your standard rock fare.
- Iona (1990)
- The Book Of Kells
(1992)
- Beyond These Shores (1993)
- Journey into the Morn
(1995)
- Heaven's Bright Sun, Live (1997)
- Woven Cord Live w/The All Souls Orchestra (1999)
- Open Sky (2000)
Since the 21st Century, Iona has been in a period of semi-retirement, mainly due to the pressures of family life on International Touring. Still, they have managed to bring us a few new releases.
Iona is the hands down king of the Megasong, which as I mentioned in the linked post, is a song, to be fair, at least 6 minutes in length, maybe even longer. And no, the song that does not end doesn't count. Even more so, they are the masters of megasong length instrumental music. Case in point is Woven Cord. This is over nine minutes of instrumental heaven. You can't be bored with this.
I will close with a special treat, a full concert video. This one comes from the Final Cornerstone Festival Ever (2012). Enjoy.
Since the CD's at Amazon for Iona are all imports at high price or used CD's I have only put in affiliate links for those that can save you money by being available for download. I hope you will buy through the link and support the night beat at the same time. Next weeks edition of Flashback Friday will take on the aggressive smile pop industrial genius that is Joey Belville, The Echoing Green. Until my next post, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
Nobody writes long songs anymore, at least not from my experience. Oh sure, there are pockets out there, but it usually is just the Modern Worship or Gospel Genres. At least they write songs that clock in over 5 minutes. That doesn't have to be the case. Since I go to churches that are big on the Modern Worship/Hillsong style, I have found it amazing that Churches have not capitalized on their ability to distort the time-space continuum. Seriously, how is it possible that you can take a four line chorus and make it last for a half hour while at the same time making it seem like twelve hours. It's the sanctified version of the song that does not end. (The sanctified Song That Does Not End would have to be Psalm 119. At 176 Verses long, a comfortable paced read takes approximately 30 minutes. Singing it as intended, even with modern music, probably longer.
That's not the type of song I'm talking about. The songs I'm talking about are over six minutes long, some are twice that, but the experience is such that you would think it's only two or three minutes in length. The six minute bar is intentional, for it surpasses the 5:55 run time of Queen's Bohemian Rhapsody. Of course, nothing against Queen, but I prefer my Bohemian Rhapsody to come from high class sources. Bohemian Rhapsody is the bar. My first list of songs not only exceed that bar, they smash it. In reverse order of length.
- #10 - Sudden Death, Servant, World of Sand, 1981 (8:18) - Doing a top ten list, this one winds up the shortest. It stands as a megasong on its own, though it is also part of a two song "rock opera"
- #9 - Trilogy, Iona, Iona, 1991 (8:34) - This is where it all begins. This Progressive Rock/Celtic band from the UK almost can't make a song under 5 minutes. This is from their eponymous debut, though not their longest or best.
- #8 - Songs of Ascent Pt. 2, Iona, Open Sky, 2000 (9:06)
- #7 - Bird of Heaven, Iona, Beyond These Shores, 1993 (9:09)
- #6 - Castlerigg, Iona, Open Sky, 2000 (9:25)
- #5 - Woven Cord, Iona, Open Sky, 2000 (9:28)
- #4 - Boomerang feat Tracy Truells, Cloud 2 Ground, The Gate, 2000 (11:18) - Wow, a song not by Iona made the list. This Trance/Techno band by Chad Petree and Jeremy Dawson is great.
- #3 - Encircling, Iona, Journey Into the Morn, 1995 (11:38)
- #2 - Matthew-The Man, Iona, The Book of Kells, 1992 (11:54)
- #1 - Sodom, Jerusalem, Warrior, 1981 (12:33)
I have praised Sodom many many times before, so I wont say anything this time. If you take away the Iona songs, not only is the list only three songs long, but two of the songs are written in 1981. See what I mean, nobody does it anymore.
I'm going to do a cheat here. In the era of mp3 files, there are certain songs that would be megasongs if they were not split into two. The songs may have been intentionally recorded as two songs, but they either, because of theme or the fact that they have barely a millisecond of space between them. Here are three two part megasongs.
- #3 - Destroy/Savior, Worth Dying For, Love Riot (6:31)
- #2 - Tourniquet/Imaginary, Evanescence, Fallen (8:55)
- #1 - Sudden Death/Come Jesus Come, Servant, World of Sand (11:55) Sudden Death and its companion song Come Jesus Come were billed as a two song "rock opera". It was written in honor of a death by auto accident of members of the Servant Community.
This has been a special edition of Flashback Friday. If you know of a mega song that you love, please share it with me by commenting. As always, I am Awaiting Your Reply.
(2006)
