Music in the Blood

Rosie Smith: Keyboardist Of Cradle Of Filth
LEGENDS WHO DIED AT THE AGE OF 27
FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: MEANING

Rosie Smith: Keyboardist Of Cradle Of Filth

Posted: 20 Aug 2009 09:44 AM PDT

Rosie Smith is a rock and metal musician best known as the keyboardist for the extreme metal band Cradle of Filth, as well as appearing on "Temptation"; the first single from Thornography. She was born in 1984, London. At the age of twelve she moved to Dorset. She earned a music diploma at Weymouth college, where she met and joined her first band, Jack's Back. During this time she also played with a Tina Turner tribute band, playing the saxophone. At the age of twenty she attended Salford University, where her next band, Sugalo, was formed. Soon after that she met Cradle of Filth for the first time when she rehearsed to play for them. She also plays the harp.

LEGENDS WHO DIED AT THE AGE OF 27

Posted: 20 Aug 2009 10:21 AM PDT

Are we the lucky ones saved for another Day Or they the lucky ones who are taken away ? From Fates Warning (Ironmaiden)

1. Jimi Hendrix – The Jimi Hendrix Experience (died 1970)

There was nothing about Jimi Hendrix that didn't stick out; from his flamboyant outfits, to his left-handed guitar or his use of amp overdrive. After being turned down by The Rolling Stones, Jimi was introduced to Chas Chandler via Keith Richard's girlfriend. They went on to form The Jimi Hendrix Experience a rock band that would revolutionize the genre forever. In 1969, he headlined the biggest music festival of all time, Woodstock. One year later, Jimi Hendrix was found dead after overdosing on pills and drowning in his own vomit (Asphyxiation).

2. Brian Jones – The Rolling Stones (died 1969)

Brian Jones was the founder of a little known band named The Rolling Stones. While on the phone to secure a gig with a venue owner, Brian came up with the name "Rollin(g) Stones" by reading it off an album that was laying around. Their music consisted mostly of R&B covers and it wasn't until Andrew Loog Oldham joined that they began shifting their focus to newer, more original material. This transition reduced Jones' role in the band which was further accelerated with his drug habit and alcohol abuse. He became alienated from The Rolling Stones and eventually, he was no longer a member of the band he helped form. One month later, he was found face down in his swimming pool.

3. Janis Joplin – Big Brother and The Holding Company (died 1970)

Janis' big break came in 1966 when she became the lead vocalist of the psychedelic hippie rock band, Big Brother and The Holding Company. She was renowned for her strong powerful vocals during a male dominated rock era. Janis Joplin performed at Woodstock after having several shots of heroin and being highly inebriated. In 1970, she flew to Brazil where she cleaned up her act and remained sober for a while. She would later return to the US where her drug habits would resurface and ultimately, get the better of her as she died from an apparent heroin overdose in October 1970.

4. Jim Morrison – The Doors (died 1971)

Jim Morrison was a poet, a writer, a filmmaker and of course, the lead singer for the rock band, The Doors. Controversy surrounded The Doos when they were asked to perform on the Ed Sullivan show. Fearing that the lyric "Girl We Couldn't Get Much Higher" was too risqué for television, Ed Sullivan requested that the band modify the sentence to be more TV friendly to which they agreed. When they played, Jim proceeded with original wording which infuriated Ed Sullivan. The Doors had great success in the late 60s but Jim Morrison started to get out of control. He was constantly drugged or drunk and would oftentimes show up late for live performances. In 1971, he moved to Paris and a few months later, Jim Morrison was found dead in his apartment. The circumstances surrounding his death are still unclear as an autopsy was never performed.

5. Kurt Cobain – Nirvana (died 1994)

We began with a left-handed guitarist, so it's only fitting that we end with one as well. In an era where rock music was all about long hair and leather jackets, Kurt Cobain sported short hair and wore flannel clothing. Nirvana became an overnight success when they took Michael Jackson off the number one slot in the Billboard music charts with their smash hit, Smells Like Teen Spirit. Grunge music would go on to flood the radio airwaves throughout the early nineties. In 1992, Cobain wed the equally unorthodox Courtney Love with whom they had daughter Frances Bean Cobain. In 1993, Nirvana, known for their grungy loud music, were approached by MTV and asked to perform a quieter, more intimate acoustic set. Kurt Cobain's emotional performance in "Where Did You Sleep Last Night" still sends chills down our spines.

FOR WHOM THE BELL TOLLS: MEANING

Posted: 20 Aug 2009 10:30 AM PDT

This song describes a scene in the book "for whom the bell tolls" by ernest hemmingway. In this part of the book, a man known as el sordo is a guerilla leader fighting in the mountains of spain during the spanish civil war (which occured in the 1930s, when the second spanish republic came to power and spanish facists declared war on said republic). He ends up under attack and, massively outnumbered, he makes his last stand on a hilltop. He and his four remaining men hold off the attackers until planes come and bomb the hilltop, killing them all. The worst part of all this is that they were just trying to steal horses in order to retreat after aiding robert jordan, the novel's protagonist, in a highly improbable attack on a bridge required for the republic's forces to possibly take a city. As a result, sordo's men sort of have died for nothing, as their last stand will have little significance in the war or in history. This song comments on that, and on the futility of war.