God Bless biography

2009-09-03T21:28:00.000-07:00

God Bless pioneered the birth of rock music in Indonesia dated back in early 70s. The band history started with Ahmad Albar (vocal) who started his appearance in a local movie called "Djendral Kancil" in the 60s. After his appearance as movie artist Albar went to Netherland where with his Dutch colleagues he formed TAKE FIVE (1966-1967), and later formed another band CLOVER LEAF (1967-1972) where they released succesful hits "May Day" and "Grey Clouds". When Albar returned to Indonesia, he had a dream to form another band with his ex Clover Leaf guitarist Ludwig Le Mans. He invited Fuad Hassan (drums), Donny Fatah (bass) and Deddy Dores (keyboard) to form GODBLESS. Their first appearance to the public was in 1972 when Jakarta (the capital city of Indonesia) conducted "Summer 28" festival - a kind o rock music festival similar to Woodstock at Ragunan, South Jakarta. The festival was featuring rock bands from Indonesia, Malaysia and Philippines. It was really glory days of rock music all over the world and it happened as well in Indonesia. The existence of local rock music magazine AKTUIL had made the Indonesian rock scene became brighter. Here and there people were so familiar with "Child In Time" (Deep Purple), "Stairway To Heaven" (Led Zeppelin" or "Iron Man" (Black Sabbath).

GodBless dominated rock music performance during the 70s even though they did cover version of Deep Purple, Kansas, Genesis, ELP, Kin Ping Meh, Queen, etc. Other rock bands that were popular at that time were: The Rollies (brass rock band in the vein of Chicago), Giant Step (a band formed by Deddy Dores who left GodBless), AKA (hard rock band in the vein of Grand Funk Railroad) and many other pop rock outfits like RASELA, PANBERS, MERCY'S, GEMBEL's, SHARK MOVE, KOES BERSAUDARA, etc. etc.

GodBless's line-up has changed frequently and until now, it has been more than 15 times line-up changes. There was tragedy happened in June 1974 when the band's drummer (Fuad Hassan) and keyboardist (Soman Lubis) were killed in traffic accident around Pancoran, Jakarta. It was so sad. I remember that I met Fuad Hassan personally when he visited my uncle's house at Jl Cendana 23 because it was a meeting point of Menteng and Waringin youngsters at that time. Fuad was a friend of my brother. The band commemorated the deaths of their friends, one hundred days later, with a spectacular show involving a mock-up of funeral possession at Taman Ismail Marzuki (TIM) Jakarta. GodBless also performed as opening act for a spectacular show (with 80,000 crowd) featuring Deep Purple live in Stadion Utama, Jakarta, 1975.

Having gone through numerous stage performances covering music of Kansas (Carry On Wayward Son), Queen (Brighton Rock), Kin Ping Meh (Rock Is The Day), the band released its self-titled debut album in 1976, released by Indonesian label Pramaqua. The line-up of the debut album was: Ahmad Albar (vocal), Donny Fatah (bass, vocal), Ian Antono (lead guitar, vocal), Teddy Sujaya (drums), and Yockie Soeryoprayogo (organ, moog, electric piano, piano). The influences of famous bands like Genesis, ELP, Jethro Tull, and even Gentle Giant had coloured the making of GodBless debut album, with major hit: "Huma Di Atas Bukit". This song was also the soundtrack of local movie "Laela Madjenun". The debut album remarked the birth and existence of Indonesian rock music scene. By the time people were not aware about the difference of "progressive" music or just straight rock music. For sure, most youngsters (including myself which was 16 years old at that time) praised the music of Deep Purple, Led Zeppelin, Kansas, Jethro Tull, Golden earring, Focus, Genesis, Pink Floyd, Grand Funk Railroad, Yes at the same time without any knowledge or intention to segregate which one were hard rock and which ones were prog rock. We just enjoyed the music as far as they rocked! Yeah!

I remember vividly, buying the first album of GodBless in the format of cassette at Miraco retail store (selling cassettes and film for photography) in the small city of Madiun, east Java, very far away from Jakarta, sometime in 1976. GodBless became my idol because the songs the recorded in the debut album were all excellent! I also love their rearrangement of The Beatles "Eleanor Rigby" in their debut; it's second best after the arrangement by ESPERANTO.

The second album "Cermin" was released quite a long time (1980) after the first one. This album is truly a prog rock album because most songs were composed not in a straight forward structure. The great track is "Musisi" where the music is quite complex with curved structure and great solo maneuvers. The third album was even longer, it took 8 years to release: 1988!! This album represented great success of any release under rock music category where the album sold more than 400,000 copies nation-wide! No other Indonesian rock band has ever reached this achievement todate. The album delivered a solid state of GodBless music with major hit "Kehidupan" that favored not only rockers but those who like general music. The lyrics were simple and the music was straightforward with wonderful keyboard interlude. Surprisingly, the year after, GodBless released another successful album "Raksasa" (1989) with new guitarist Eet Syahrani replacing Ian Antono who had been very dominant in the development of GodBless music.

Why this artist must be listed in www.progarchives.com :
God Bless debut album was heavily influenced by prog legends like Genesis, Kansas, Jethro Tull. Their second album "Cermin" was a true prog rock album.

Compiled by Gatot Widayanto from various sources available on the net plus personal notes.

Discography:
1. 1975 - God Bless
2. 1980 - Cermin
3. 1988 - Semut Hitam
4. 1989 - Raksasa
5. 1990 - The Story of God Bless (compilation)
6. 1992 - 18 Greatest Hits of God Bless (compilation)
7. 1997 - Apa Kabar
8. 1998 - Apa Kabar Tour (Live)

"Chinese Democracy" by GNR

2008-11-25T06:52:00.000-08:00

The following has been updated to correct inaccuracies contained in the previously posted version.
Chinese Democracy is everything you've been waiting so patiently for -- and a lot more.
Here's a full track description:
"Chinese Democracy" opens things up on a theatrical note. Right away you realize that frontman and GN'R mastermind Axl Rose has never sounded better. Ron "Bumblefoot" Thal's guitar solo is another highlight of the title track. "Better" couldn't be better, with a five-pronged guitar attack setting off explosions while a hard beat crunches away. Tommy Stinson's bass line provides the backbone of the rhythm. "Street Of Dreams" comes next, the beautiful song that you might recognize during GN'R's 2006 tour, introduced as "The Blues."
The fifth track, "If The World," is a classic funk-rock song with Middle Eastern elements and liquid bass playing from synth man and programmer –- and track co-writer –- Chris Pitman. There Was A Time" "Broken glass and cigarettes, writing on the wall/It was a bargain for the summer and I thought I had it all," Axl sings before this instant classic crescendos into the powerful chorus. Other highlights include Dizzy Reed, Pitman and Axl's synth orchestra, which gives the song a movie feel.
A gorgeous instrumental intro featuring piano, bass and Axl's signature wails begins the album's next track, "Catcher In The Rye". "Scraped" features Axl all over the register, with layers and layers of vocal tracks piledt on top of each other while a sinister guitar riff shoots through the chorus: "Don't you try to stop us now/'cause I just won't let you." Meanwhile, "Sorry" is a kick-back track with acoustic guitar but with Axl-penned lyrics that bite: "You don't know why I won't give in," he says. "To hell with the pressure, I'm not caving in."
Track No. 9, "Riad N' The Bedouins" has Axl giving his all to the vocal over a complex, multi-layered guitar rhythm. The instrumental bridge segues from strings to a Bumblefoot solo assault. An electronic drum loop leads right into the next song, "I.R.S.", which contains some of Axl's most inner-reaching lyrical content on the album. Track No. 12, "Madagascar," features accltaimed orchestral arranger Paul Buckmaster and emotional samples from history, including two speeches by Martin Luther King Jr., the films "Mississippi Burning" and "Cool Hand Luke."
"This I Love" starts with only Axl's voice and piano playing, and it's the only song on the album solely written by Axl. "Prostitute" brings things to a close, with Axl saying, "It's not a question of whether my heart is true."
Chinese Democracy is a truly epic project, GNR's first studio release since 1993's The Spaghetti Incident?.
Retail chain Best Buy is the exclusive outlet for the CD and vinyl album in the United States. The album is also available via the iTunes Store.

more about gnr you can click http://www.gunsnroses.com/

...THE MUSIC IN MY LIVE...

God Bless biography

"Chinese Democracy" by GNR