Composed over a period of fourteen years, John Pickard's Gaia Symphony and Eden are scored for the standard British brass band, with expanded percussion in the case of 'Gaia'. Both works in different ways mirror concerns regarding the world and nature, and their relationship with the human species. Gaia was the Greek goddess of the earth, but is also the name of a theory which proposes that the earth itself is a living organism and that its colonisation by humankind merely marks a certain point in its history.
At nearly seven-and-a-half minutes, "Blue Monday" is one of the longest tracks ever to chart in the UK. It has been cited as the biggest selling 12" single of all time by the band and in the film 24 Hour Party People, though this has not been corroborated by any independent sales chart. Despite selling well it was not eligible for an official gold disc because Factory Records were not members of the British Phonographic Industry association. However, the Official UK Chart Company (UK Singles Chart) has estimated its total UK sales at over one million.
Essential: a masterpiece of progressive rock music
Here's another album I was exposed to as a kid through my parents. Little did I know that the kind of music presented on this album would later define my own personal taste in music: prog rock.
Biography
Scorpions are a hard rock/heavy metal band from Hannover, Germany, best known for their 1984 rock anthem “Rock You Like a Hurricane” and their singles “Wind of Change”, “No One Like You”, “Still Loving You”, and “Send Me an Angel”. The band has sold over 75 million records worldwide. Rudolf Schenker, the band’s rhythm guitarist, set out to find a band in 1965. At first, the band was school-kind with beat influences and Schenker himself on vocals. Things began to come together in 1969 when Schenker’s younger brother Michael and vocalist Klaus Meine joined the band. In 1972 the group recorded and released their debut album Lonesome Crow with Lothar Heimberg on bass and Wolfgang Dziony on drums. During the Lonesome Crow tour, Scorpions opened for upcoming British band UFO. At the end of the tour the members of UFO offered guitarist Michael Schenker the lead guitar job; an offer which he soon accepted. Uli Roth was then called in temporarily to finish off the tour. The departure of Michael Schenker led to the break up of the Scorpions. In 1973, guitarist Uli Roth, a friend of the Schenker brothers, was in a band called Dawn Road. He had been offered the role as lead guitarist in Scorpions after Michael Schenker’s departure but turned the band down. Rudolf decided that he wanted to work with Roth but did not want to resurrect the last Scorpions lineup. Rudolf Schenker attended some of Dawn Road’s rehearsals and ultimately decided to join the band, which consisted of Roth, Francis Buchholz (bass), Achim Kirschning (keyboard) and Jurgen Rosenthal (drums). Roth persuaded Rudolf Schenker to invite Klaus Meine to join, which he did soon after. While there were more members of Dawn Road than Scorpions in the band, they decided to use the Scorpions name because they had released an album and were known in the German hard rock scene.