Welcome to the pond

There isn't much to post about lately, so I'll talk today about how I'm liking the albums I bought on Wednesday.

Well, I'm loving them! I have to admit I didn't listen to much Beatles growing up, so up until now I haven't really known a lot about their music. After many listens of "Abbey Road," I am very impressed! The songs are all really good and diverse as well. They're just plain fun to listen to. What strikes me most is how tight they were as a band. All the instruments are given room to breathe and room to express, yet everything fits together perfectly. I think that's something that is missing with today's rock music. Everyone pretty much plays the same thing during a song and it ends up as one big mess of sound. When I listen to Abbey Road, though, I hear complexity and creativity. There are solos! There are instruments that aren't guitars! There are tempo changes and quiet and loud parts! I don't really hear that too much in modern music (at least the "popular" stuff).

Of course, the vocal harmonies are amazing too.

While listening to "Abbey Road," I can already hear bits and pieces that might have influenced later groups and artists. So many musicians call the Beatles a major influence on their sound, and now I get to see how that works.

As for the Chieftains, they're just simply amazing! The music on the album I bought is beautiful, joyous and captivating. It was all recorded in the 70s but sounds like it could have been recorded yesterday. That might be due to the remastering, but it's also a testament to how good the Chieftains are and how timeless Irish music can be.

That's all for now. I'll try to think of other things to post in the near future, but don't get your hopes up.