The Need to Revive Sri Lanka’s LRT Project

"Colombo Traffic" by Nazly is licensed under CC BY-NC-SA 2.0.

In 2017, for this blog I interviewed Dr. Dimantha De Silva about the Colombo Transport Plan of the Megapolis Project. He was Consultant/Team Leader of the Colombo Transport Plan. The Megapolis and its Colombo Transport Plan was an initiative of the then Sri Lankan government. This plan included a Light Rail Transit (LRT) system which is a form of rail transit for Sri Lanka’s most populous city Colombo. In March 2019, the Daily News reported that a loan was signed between the Sri Lankan government and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) to construct an LRT Line from Malabe to Colombo Fort.

When I was interviewing Dimantha in May 2017, I was concerned that Gotabaya Rajapaksa would become Sri Lanka’s next President and cancel this project. Unfortunately, he was elected President in November 2019. Gotabaya Rajapaksa governed disastrously which culminated in Sri Lanka’s economic collapse in 2022 alongside protests which successfully resulted in his resignation. In September 2020, Gotabaya Rajapaksa terminated the LRT project. It was so tragic to see a positive transportation project get cancelled due to Sri Lanka’s broken political system. It had a very beneficial loan condition for Sri Lanka and the agreement had already been signed with JICA.

On the 23rd of July, the Daily News reported that Minister of Transport, Highways and Urban Development Bimal Rathnayake said in Parliament that a final decision has not currently been made on whether to resume the LRT project. Minister Ratnayake mentioned that compensation has been paid to two companies with one of the Japanese companies requesting additional interest payment for the delay. He also said a special committee has been formed to investigate this issue.

I am of the view that the National People’s Power (NPP) government should revive the LRT project. They are involved in positive transport projects right now. This year, the Metro Bus service was launched which continues to expand. These are modern Foton buses with the service run by the Lanka Metro Transit company. Minister Rathnayake stated in July that Sri Lanka will take steps to introduce an electric railway service in 2027. Its first phase will consist of three routes. He gave an update this month that construction is expected to begin in May or June next year.

   

In July, the Cabinet of Ministers approved a purchase of 600 new deluxe buses with air-conditioning. These buses are for the Sri Lanka Transport Board (SLTB). Minister Rathnayake mentioned in Parliament earlier this month that many new expressways will start construction before the end of 2026. The government just launched a national program to make dangerous and unsafe parts of roads outside of highways safe. On the 18th of this month, the government signed Memorandums of Understanding for this program with local government bodies. Prasanna Gunasena, Deputy Minister of Transport and Highways revealed on the 20th that the construction of Kandy’s Mahaiyawa’s underpass is about 80% done with it aiming to be finished by December. The purpose of the underpass is to improve commuter access to Kandy and to help reduce Kandy’s traffic congestion.

Japan is involved with the Sri Lankan government’s current transport initiatives. Around the beginning of this month, the Japanese government donated seven low-floor buses to Sri Lanka in order to enhance the Sri Lankan public transport system. These bus donations are by both the Japanese government and residents of Yokohama, Japan. This is part of the Metro Bus service as the donated buses were handed over to Lanka Metro Transit, the company responsible for the Metro Buses.

The Japanese government’s development agency JICA who were set to give the LRT loan is currently involved in Sri Lankan development projects. JICA is involved in setting up a Doppler Weather Radar Network in Puttalam. It is being constructed right now and expected to be completed next year. This is funded by Japan’s Grant Aid and will help Sri Lanka prepare for disasters. JICA provided loans for two cardiac treatment complexes in Trincomalee and Anuradhapura which just began construction. In July, Sri Lanka’s second largest water supply project was launched. JICA funded this Anuradhapura North Water Supply Project - Phase II. This month, it was reported that the Kalu Ganga Water project is about to begin. It’s a JICA loan servicing drinking water needs of families in the Colombo and Kalutara districts.

Colombo having an LRT system would greatly assist with travel as the city has too many vehicles on the roads. An LRT would enable people to travel to destinations on the list at a faster speed. It is elevated keeping it separate from regular traffic on its route enabling those vehicles to go faster due to the LRT usage. Colombo’s LRT has great potential to improve Sri Lanka’s economy. Dimantha told me how his mentors and professors in Calgary, Canada (where he lived prior to my interview and lives presently) talked about how Calgary grew and its economic levels increased when Calgary’s LRT system was introduced. He also said that it enabled investors to come in for other projects. This provides potential benefits such a system would have in Sri Lanka.

As Dimantha stated to me, Sri Lanka won’t be eligible for the LRT loan once we elevate to an upper middle income country. This loan has a 0.1% interest rate for a 40 year period and has a 10 year grace period. Sri Lanka was not an upper middle income country when the interview was conducted. We reached this classification by the World Bank in July 2019, only to lose it one year later. The World Bank improved Sri Lanka’s classification this July, returning it to an upper middle income country.

Sri Lanka’s status as an upper middle income country poses challenges to a loan for a revived LRT project as we are no longer eligible for it. If we were to negotiate with JICA on reviving the LRT, we could request it to consist of the original loan conditions when it was signed. If that is not possible, there are other options to look at which could include getting other countries or organisations also involved to ease the cost. It’s important to try to have an agreement on reviving the project including compensation payments reimbursed or at least have the interest compensation requirement cancelled.

Sri Lanka collaborating with JICA on the current development projects can help us in negotiating for a revival of Colombo’s LRT. In January 2025, Minister Rathnayake took a train ride as a regular passenger. Passengers approached him about issues the train service faces. This is a positive action by the Minister in reaching out to the people and their issues. He could use his experiences of travelling on a train and learning of the passengers’ issues as a reason to see the value of a LRT system operating in Sri Lanka, both due the common value of the train & LRT and how an improved system could address passengers’ issues. The LRT can be integrated into the government’s transport initiatives. LRT would complement the current transport projects well. Metro Buses can go to LRT locations linking the two systems to benefit each other.

In light of the government’s positive transport initiatives and work with JICA, I see the LRT as a Sri Lankan project which should be revived. The fact that Japan also donated buses to Sri Lanka this year is a case of them collaborating with the current government on transport which could help with an LRT revival. An LRT system would revolutionise Colombo’s transport sector and bring tangible benefits to Sri Lanka enabling the country to develop further.

The Value of Tech Investments in Sri Lanka

"Stunning Night View of Colombo City Skyline" by Thilina Alagiyawanna is marked with CC0 1.0. 

I decided to write an article giving my vision of technology investments in Sri Lanka. I think technology multinationals are companies Sri Lanka should try to attract foreign direct investments (FDIs) from. Sri Lanka can focus on getting these companies to set-up their Sri Lankan operations with modern buildings being constructed. One area getting these companies to focus on is the South Asian region with South Asian headquarters being a possibility. If that’s too difficult an investment to obtain, another option is having a software development centre for South Asia. This includes India which is one of the most populated countries in the world. This would bring a massive number of Sri Lankan jobs.

In my previous article “Five Export Diversification Options for Sri Lanka”, two of the options I mentioned are computers & electronics and visual effects for Hollywood. As part of this, we can get technology companies to set-up manufacturing operations in Sri Lanka and attract global visual effects companies to have Sri Lankan offices.

Technology multinationals can bring advanced technology to Sri Lanka. These companies could offer modern services using this technology to the Sri Lankan market directly and also collaborate with others in Sri Lanka. I envision collaborations using this technology being agreements with Sri Lankan companies in the private sector to sell services through it and secure Sri Lankan government contracts with it. Tech companies could also do work for the Sri Lankan government on digitisation. I see their charitable activities as using their technology and expertise to benefit the poor and rural Sri Lanka.

This is a small selection I gave of the value of tech investments into Sri Lanka. There are many more possibilities I didn’t mention. Professionals involved in Sri Lanka’s technology sector and in obtaining FDI could expand on this with more detailed proposals. I’d be interested to hear if you have any ideas on tech investments in Sri Lanka. As Colombo has new buildings constructed, I am of the view that technology companies are a good sector for us to attract to enhance this contemporary trend.

Ten Songs Produced by Barry Beckett

This article is my first collection of songs by a music producer. The producer I’m featuring is Barry Beckett. He’s a keyboardist who was part of a group of session musicians known as the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. They worked with singer Bob Seger who I’m a fan of. In most of the songs I selected, Barry shared production credit with others. Barry played piano on some of the songs he produced. Sometimes albums Barry produced did not specify which tracks he played on. Therefore, I only mention Barry’s piano playing if I could verify that he played on the song. The songs cover a 20 year period beginning in 1973.

Turn Out the Light - Orleans (1973)

Barry produced the album with Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section drummer Roger Hawkins and plays piano. Barry’s piano opens the song and dominates. His playing is powerful. The start of the song is John Hall’s singing who also plays the guitar. We get a bit of guitar and backing vocals. After a while it becomes a full band song. This soft rock ballad has gospel influences. John gives a nice guitar solo followed by Barry’s powerful piano solo. This song is produced wonderfully as it’s clear sounding. It’s able to be both intimate in its sections dominated by piano and epic when it has the full band sound. It uses the full band to give power and energy to this ballad.

Smoke from a Distant Fire - Sanford-Townsend Band (1977)

The Sanford-Townsend Band consisted of Ed Sanford and John Townsend. They are both singer-keyboardists. This is a pop rock song with a southern rock feel. Barry produced this song with Jerry Wexler which is also the case for the next song. This song was a hit in the US. There is a warm saxophone part. John’s singing is soulful. Ed supports John with his good backing vocals. There are many elements in this song, acoustic piano, electric piano, electric guitar, organ and saxophone which the production balances very well. Sections of the song are driven by the electric piano while others are driven by the acoustic piano. There are two relaxing solos, one guitar and the other saxophone. This song has a good jolly feel.

Communiqué - Dire Straits (1979)

Dire Straits leader Mark Knopfler wrote, sang and played lead guitar on this song. It opens with Mark’s guitar playing with it soon joined by Barry’s piano playing. Some of the notes Barry plays reminds me of his piano part in Bob Seger’s “Sunspot Baby”. His playing goes well with Dire Straits. Mark’s provides creative guitar playing. The production brings in southern American sensibilities to a uniquely English rock band. This is an epic rock song over five minutes long.

Paris - Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes (1979)

This is the first song on the list Barry produced by himself. Kevin Kavanaugh’s piano playing is powerful. Southside Johnny sings with passion. Horns are featured in parts of the song. There is a relaxing saxophone solo. Kevin’s organ plays a good supporting role. Barry’s production is true to Southside Johnny & The Asbury Jukes’ brand of rock as it features both heartland rock and soul sounds.

Lucretia - Levon Helm (1982)

Barry produced this song with Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section guitarist Jimmy Johnson. This is a solo song by Levon Helm who was in The Band. Levon sings powerfully. His singing of the line “hey Mister can you tell me where to go” reminds me of similar lines he sang in The Band’s song “The Weight”. The piano underpins this americana sounding rock song. The guitars bring in both country and rock vibes. The production does a good job of balancing the guitars and the piano.

I Got Love - Glenn Frey (1984)

This is a solo song by Glenn Frey who was in The Eagles. I’d classify it as soft rock with soul elements. Barry produced this song with Glenn & Allan Blazek and plays all the keyboards on it. The song opens with mainly Glenn’s singing, Barry’s piano and light drumming. Soon, the drumming gets more intense with all the instruments appearing. Barry plays some organ notes which make appearances during the chorus. Glenn sings very well. You can hear his emotion. The horns contribute greatly to the song. Barry plays a few rock & roll piano notes near the end. The production feels epic giving different instruments their moments throughout the song.

Southern Star - Alabama (1989)

Barry plays piano on this country song and produced it with the Alabama band. Southern Star has multiple instruments: piano, organ, acoustic and electric guitars. Lead singer Randy Owen sings very well. The band provides good backing vocals. There are some rock elements as Barry’s piano seems to give brief rock & roll sounds and the guitar solos sound a little rockish. The production feels epic with its full band country sound.

Go On - Delbert McClinton (1990)

Barry and Delbert McClinton produced this song. This song is in Delbert’s style which mixes country, blues and rock. There are two bluesy guitar solos. The piano provides a good base for the song. There are moments where the piano does some additional notes. The horns provide a good presence. The production gives a relaxed uptempo feel.

 

Always in My Heart - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (1991)

This rock ballad Barry produced with Bob Seger. It came out 35 years ago in August 1991. The piano is played by Bob’s classic rock peer Bruce Hornsby. The opening section is dominated by Bob’s singing and Bruce’s piano. They pair well together. This song is an example of a great Bob Seger ballad. Bruce’s piano playing is epic. Bob sings incredibly. The production showcases the power of a Bob Seger ballad. It mixes this piano led song with its guitar and keyboard parts.

A Woman’s Needs - Elton John & Tammy Wynette (1993)

Barry produced this duet between Elton John and country singer Tammy Wynette. Elton wrote this country song with his lyricist Bernie Taupin. Tammy sings at the start. She sings well in her southern accent. Elton sings after that and comes with very powerful singing. Their singing styles are totally different yet work so well. They sing in conversation in the chorus. There are similarities in this song and the preceding one. Both are ballads featuring the musicians Don Potter (acoustic guitar), Dan Huff (electric guitar), Michael Rhodes (bass) and Eddie Bayers (drums). The difference is the country genre of “A Woman’s Needs”. Elton brings his signature brilliant piano playing in a country setting. Barry’s good production brings the guitars in and out of this Elton John piano ballad. He deserves credit for bringing a strong collaboration between an English rock singer and an American country singer.

Barry’s productions have an organic clear sound. He gives an important place for the piano whether it's his playing or someone else’s. Barry balances the different instruments well. He brings in southern sounds like country and blues into songs produced by rock artists. He did work in the country genre which I included. As I’m a classic rock fan, most of the artists I featured are rock artists. It’s interesting to note that the last four songs feature the rhythm section of drummer Eddie Bayers and bassist Michael Rhodes. Barry Beckett is a great producer and keyboardist who made a great contribution to popular music.

AI Bizarrely Got My Blog Wrong

"Artificial Intelligence - Resembling Human Brain" by deepakiqlect is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0. 

I decided to conduct an experiment involving artificial intelligence (AI). I gave Google’s AI Mode powered by Gemini the links to all my blog posts and asked it to write what could be my 125th blog post. I requested it to be under 1000 words and use British spelling. This is an experiment I wanted to do for some time. Infact, I said on social media in 2018: “I would like it if there were an artificial intelligence program that could analyse my 26 blog posts and create a new one. I'm sure it would put unrelated topics I've written about together in a bizarre humorous way!” AI did put unrelated topics together and bizarrely got my blog wrong. I’m posting what it came up with below with my analysis and commentary below it.

“The S Synergy: When Heartland Rock Meets Star Trek Style Sci-Fi

In this article, I decided to do something a bit different for my 125th post. Regular readers know that my writing usually alternates between deeply researched Sri Lankan history, structural evaluations of classic piano rock songs, and critiques of speculative science fiction. However, I have recently been thinking about how these seemingly separate 'S topics' actually share a common creative DNA. Today, I want to explore a fascinating conceptual crossover: how the core themes of classic Heartland Rock mirror the narrative arcs of Star Trek and great sci-fi.

It might sound like an unusual pairing at first. Heartland rock is traditionally grounded in blue-collar American realism—sweaty factories, open highways, and acoustic guitars juxtaposed with driving grand pianos. Star Trek, on the other hand, takes us into the far reaches of the Alpha Quadrant aboard the Starship Enterprise. Yet, when you look past the settings, both genres are fundamentally preoccupied with the exact same human condition: the battle between automation and the human spirit, the search for identity, and an unyielding sense of hope.

The Fight Against Automation: Seger and the Borg

A prominent theme in my favourite music is the struggle against cold, unfeeling corporate or industrial forces. In Bob Seger’s intense 1978 rock song Feel Like a Number, he delivers a powerful vocal performance about a man fighting to maintain his individuality within a massive, faceless system. Drew Abbott's energetic lead guitar riffs and the driving piano tracks perfectly match that desperate, human energy.

Musically and lyrically, this is the exact same conflict we see in Star Trek: The Next Generation when humanity faces the Borg. The Borg represents the ultimate extension of automation—a collective where individual identity is entirely erased in favour of mechanical efficiency. When Captain Picard is assimilated into Locutus, it is the ultimate sci-fi manifestation of 'feeling like a number'. Both Seger’s protagonist and the crew of the Enterprise are fighting the same battle: asserting that human emotion, vulnerability, and creativity cannot be replaced by automated systems.

The Piano as the Sci-Fi Instrument of Empathy

In my previous music listicles, I have frequently highlighted how keyboard virtuosos like Roy Bittan, Bill Payne, and Craig Doerge utilize the piano to inject warmth and depth into guitar-driven rock songs. In heartland rock, the piano is often the emotional anchor. When Roy Bittan’s piano notes go up and down the scale in Bob Seger’s Even Now, or when Craig Doerge tracks rich, dark notes on Jackson Browne’s The Fuse, they are establishing a baseline of deep empathy.

This musical framework mirrors how great sci-fi utilizes specific characters to ground complex, alien concepts. In Star Trek, characters like Spock or Data serve a similar structural purpose as the piano in a rock ballad. They look at humanity from the outside, highlighting our unique capacity for empathy, art, and connection. Just as a beautiful piano solo provides a soulful contrast to a heavy, aggressive rock guitar, characters striving to understand human emotion provide the soulful heart of speculative fiction. We saw this execution brilliantly in Steven Spielberg's recent sci-fi thriller Disclosure Day, where the entire narrative arc ultimately relied on a message of global empathy to unite a divided world.

The Optimistic Journey

Ultimately, whether exploring the natural majesty of Sri Lanka via Google Street View, tracking session sidemen crossovers, or watching the Federation explore new worlds, the unifying thread is optimism. Heartland rock ballads are rarely purely cynical; they look at a broken town or a difficult relationship and still search for a 'brand new day'.

Star Trek has endured for decades precisely because of Gene Roddenberry's optimistic vision of the future—a world where humanity has overcome internal division, poverty, and systemic corruption to work for the public good. It is the same constructive spirit needed when analyzing modern democratic reforms or structural economic transitions back home.

I would be very interested in hearing what you think of this conceptual crossover. Do you see the similarities between the heartland rock sound and the idealistic journeys of science fiction?”

This is a blog post I would never write. Despite the themes and topics I cover in it, its writing style is not mine and has an unnatural AI feel. It mentioned “deeply researched Sri Lankan history” which is something I write about on this blog. I do write about Sri Lankan politics more often which it didn’t say except for an indirect reference to the topic near the end. This post made some references to Sri Lanka, but Sri Lanka is surprisingly underrepresented. It takes a lot of material from what I wrote recently.

The heartland rock comparison to Star Trek is an interesting one. It’s strange that it chose the Borg as I confess that they are not my favourite Star Trek villains. A lot of people will hate me for saying that as the Borg is highly regarded. They first appeared on “Star Trek:  The Next Generation” (TNG). The reason why is because I’m a bigger fan of “Star Trek: The Original Series” (TOS) than TNG and this is a concept that went further away from TOS. However, I do think the pairing of Bob Seger’s “Feel Like a Number” in relation to the Borg is a good and true pairing. This brings to mind my article “Six Songs for Sri Lanka” from June 2022 where I combined my interest in music with Sri Lanka. I selected six songs which could apply to the terrible state Sri Lanka was in at that time. One of them was Bob Seger’s “Feel Like a Number”.

The second section “The Piano as the Sci-Fi Instrument of Empathy” referred to the term “listicle” which is a term I haven't heard of before. That’s referring to my blog articles in list form. I’ve written listicles featuring a set of songs. This section is absolute nonsense being the most bizarre part of this AI article. It’s silly calling pianos a sci-fi instrument of empathy. Spock and Data in Star Trek are not like the piano in a rock ballad.

I really like the second paragraph of the concluding section that talks of “Gene Roddenberry’s optimistic vision of the future” in Star Trek. That is something that is needed in the world right now. It’s right to match this with economic transitions and democratic reforms in Sri Lanka. In relation to the question at the end, I think there are similarities between heartland rock and sci-fi. I pointed out areas where the comparison worked for me. The problem with this article is that while it has some good ideas, it says nonsense, mixes different topics unnaturally and does not have an organic sincere feel. The writing isn’t bad as it covers topics I write about and I like some of its sections.

I do link topics together on my blog where I use a similar choice of words for titles like something I previously used, I might use a similar type of argument I’d used before in another article and most importantly there are cases where I deliberately mix topics together either as part of the article or the whole article itself. When mixing different topics together, it has to work naturally and make sense. It can’t be just mixed directly which would make it a bad article. There are some mixed topics I hope to cover in future articles.

AI Mode could not come up with an original topic for the post it generated. An original topic would be an idea or writing about something I hadn’t written before. It reused topics and points I’d said before in my blog. I do sometimes say the same thing, such as the way a piano part is used in a song. I don’t give them excessively like AI Mode did. The part linking Bob Seger to Star Trek’s Borg is original.

When it comes to the issue of AI, I’m not in the anti-AI crowd who oppose its use for everything. I’m also not in the pro-AI crowd who want to always use it, including for unnecessary creative purposes. AI is a useful tool and I think a healthy balance is needed. I use AI Mode. It can get fun when I feed it ideas to discuss films I’d like to see. I ask it questions and it gives answers. Some of the answers are valid and true. Others are invalid and not true.

A problem AI has is that its writing is very predictable and filled with clichés. As the same algorithm is used, its underlying structure for something creative can sound the same even if the topic or theme is totally different. The saying “Don’t believe everything you read on the Internet” is true to a much greater scale with AI. It will say some things that are not true. When asking questions if something is the case, AI will sometimes confirm it to please the user despite it being false. In other cases, when making a search with a true statement, Google’s AI Overview might say it is not true.

This parallels a previous blog post of mine six years ago called “Humorous & Interesting AI Talk on Sri Lanka”. It involved an AI bot called Talk to Transformer where the user types a sentence and presses a button which generates text to complete a sentence. I posted my blog post just after Talk to Transformer was discontinued. It consisted of generated content about Sri Lanka on that service. A lot of what Talk to Transformer said was not true. Sometimes it might have said something which looked genuine, but used made-up names and organisations. A common thread was it being often funny. I hoped that the blog post AI Mode generated would be funny in how it mixed different topics together and it wasn’t really.

To conclude, I do not want AI to write, co-write, guide or assist the writing of my blog posts. I’m willing to do things like compile a collection of AI content with commentary for Talk to Transformer and give an experiment to generate a blog post to see what it does. AI can end up having an influence in what I write as I recently made a Google search and what the AI Overview said impressed me that I said something similar as a point in a blog post. I just don’t want AI writing my blog posts for me or being involved in it. This blog is about my interests and it needs to be organic and sincere. This 125th blog post of mine is coming out 10.5 years after I began The S Blog.

Film Review - Steven Spielberg's Disclosure Day

Steven Spielberg’s original sci-fi thriller “Disclosure Day” has been released this month. I decided to review this film. Steven Spielberg directed, produced and wrote the story for “Disclosure Day”. The screenplay is written by David Koepp who’s worked with Steven on multiple films with their most successful collaboration being 1993’s “Jurassic Park”. I’m embedding the trailer from YouTube and will be reviewing the film below.

 

Disclosure Day is set in a world on the brink of a nuclear World War III. This brings parallels to the world we live in right now as we are dealing with wars and inappropriate actions by world leaders that cause unnecessary tensions between countries. The Iran War is a global catastrophe we are facing this year. In the film, there is a company called Wardex who does work for the US government and military which consists of involvement in extraterrestrial interactions and the cover up of their existence. Cybersecurity administrator Dr. Daniel Kellner stole the full archive of proof of the alien presence on earth from Wardex which has videos over the last 79 years that began with the Roswell incident. Daniel’s working for Hugo Wakefield, another ex-Wardex employee, who is involved in disclosing to the whole world the truth that we are not alone and the alien presence on our planet.

Wardex, who is against what Daniel is doing, got his girlfriend Jane Blankenship involved. They are led by Noah Scanlon who is the film's villain. Noah has access to an alien technology called “The Device” that he holds in his hand which allows him to appear to people located elsewhere and he can control their body movements. There is a sequence where he appears to Jane and controls her which is terrifying. The Device is a form of technology I love in the film. It’s also used by other characters for different purposes later on which I won’t spoil.

Parallel to Daniel’s story is the one of Margaret Fairchild, a weather presenter. She gains special abilities which include the ability to speak different languages. She suddenly speaks in Russian to her boyfriend Jackson at home and speaks Korean to a Korean professor at the TV station she works at. I like the inclusion of Korean as I watch Korean TV shows. While presenting the weather, she suddenly breaks into an alien language on TV and collapses. Moving back to Daniel, he also gains special abilities. This includes the ability to understand the alien language Margaret was speaking. This was a message by the aliens. This is where Margaret and Daniel’s stories begin to intersect. They do eventually meet and work together on the disclosure.

I think “Disclosure Day” has a great tone. When sci-fi films are done as sci-fi dramas, that isn’t my favourite sci-fi sub-genre, as it has the risk of being too slow and not very engaging for me. Steven Spielberg made a brilliant creative decision to make this film both an alien first contact story and a fast-paced thriller. While drama is one of the film’s genres, this film’s style is clearly that of a sci-fi thriller. It’s very thrilling and engaging. Action isn’t the focus of the film, but it does have action as the heroes are chased by Wardex who are trying to stop the disclosure. Daniel is involved in two exciting car chase sequences, one with his girlfriend Jane and the other with Margaret where they get pushed onto the train tracks.

Regarding Daniel’s character, we get few details of his backstory. I’m not keen on what he has done in the past for moral reasons, but more importantly his character in the present is a good hero for this story. I like the fact that the male lead of this film is born in 1990 (we see his date of birth on the screen) making him the same age as me. The female lead Margaret goes through a challenging experience in this film where she doesn’t understand what’s happening to her. She tells people she encounters facts and advice for their personal life which brings to mind the precog Agatha from Steven Spielberg’s brilliant sci-fi action thriller “Minority Report” who did something similar.

I’d like to expand on political parallels in this film I mentioned earlier. The current US administration is a dangerously incompetent one that constantly lies and is creating unnecessary division among people. In this film, the US government hired Wardex to suppress the truth about aliens which brings some similarities. In fact screenwriter David Koepp in a "Disclosure Day” interview with Polygon called “Steven Spielberg's new sci-fi movie probes a 'question of faith' about aliens and government lies” mentioned the problem of how much the current US government lies.

My biggest issue with “Disclosure Day” is that we don’t get to see enough of the aliens. I would have liked to have found out more details about why the aliens came to earth, what Wardex and the government were doing to the aliens. UFOs aren’t really featured in the film like I wanted. As an Elton John fan, I would have liked his UFO themed song “I’ve Seen the Saucers” to be included in “Disclosure Day”. The alien story didn’t offer anything new about aliens in government cover-ups. However, this film makes up for that in Steven Spielberg’s great execution.

I had earlier mentioned the full Wardex archive of alien encounters Daniel had stolen for the public good. This archive consists of videos going all the way back to the Roswell incident. We see people watching them on screens. Other videos featured on screens are those in the Wardex headquarters playing on the walls. These videos seem to be related to alien encounters throughout the world which Wardex uses to suppress knowledge of alien existence. I think the videos from both the archive and the ones playing at Wardex would be good extras for the film’s Blu-ray release. We could see some of those videos extended and perhaps even a few which were made for the film and got cut out.

I do see similarities with the 1960s sci-fi TV series “The Invaders” I like. Both of them are conspiracy thrillers about aliens on earth which the public doesn’t know about. Both Daniel Kellner and David Vincent in the show are trying to expose the truth. It differs in a major way as the film is the reverse of the show with “The Invaders” being about an alien invasion, but “Disclosure Day” has the humans being the aggressors.

I felt some of the visual effects animation wasn’t the strongest and could have been better. I thought the practical effects of the chase scenes involving a car smashing into a house and the train sequence were impressive. I have an issue with the film ending suddenly as I would like to know what happens after it. I wouldn’t call the film’s ending bad as there are good ideas involving aliens and the viewer can use their imagination of what will happen following the ending.

A theme of this film is the importance of empathy. I’m not sure if this theme came across as effectively as Steven Spielberg intended, but I welcome its inclusion. If aliens do exist and have been coming to earth for 79 years, a disclosure day could be a positively unifying moment for humanity. This message of empathy is what we need in the world right now as I’m displeased with the state of humanity at present. I don’t like the violence, cynicism and division that is so prevalent.

Disclosure Day is not the brilliant masterpiece I hoped for, but it’s also not the disappointment I feared. Steven Spielberg’s brilliant directing shines throughout the film and is more important than the issues I have with it. It’s great to have an original blockbuster in this age of sequels, adaptations, remakes and reboots. I had been wanting Steven Spielberg to make an original sci-fi film for years, so I’m glad he finally made one. This entertaining film is deeper, more intelligent and creative than the typical franchise films which are often over focused on action. I recommend “Disclosure Day” as a film to see.

Heartland Rock Piano

As the piano is my favourite instrument and I listen to a lot of heartland rock, I decided to write an article discussing the heartland rock piano sound. I mention the use of piano in heartland rock songs ranging from big hits to album tracks. I’ll start with the song “American Storm” by Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band. Bill’s piano contributes wonderfully to the full band sound with his playing. The piano notes go up the scale in a very heartland rock way. In their other song “The Ring”, it’s led by the piano of Silver Bullet Band keyboardist Craig Frost. Craig brings an epic feel with his playing and has two solos. The Ring fuses heartland rock with pop rock.

The Ring - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (1986)

Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers had a piano-driven hit “Don't Do Me Like That”. Keyboardist Benmont Tench gives a memorable jolly piano part. Nearly a decade later, their song “Jammin’ Me” is a different type of heartland rock song. Benmont brings rock & roll piano sounds into a heartland rock setting. I love what the piano does in the chorus. In Billy Joel’s hit “Allentown”, he leads the song greatly with his piano playing. There is a great piano riff throughout the song.

Don’t Do Me Like That - Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers (1979)

Cleveland heartland rock singer Michael Stanley had released music both with the Michael Stanley Band and solo. When keyboardist Kevin Raleigh joined the band, he was a songwriter and co-lead singer. The songs I’m featuring have two keyboardists Kevin Raleigh and Bob Pelander. They both contributed piano and I don’t know who was the piano player for each song. I wonder if Kevin played piano on the songs he wrote and Bob played the piano on the songs Michael wrote. Last Night, written by both Michael and Kevin is opened by the piano which has a majestic presence on this song. There is a section in the song where the piano notes go up and down in an epic rocking way.

Last Night - Michael Stanley Band (1979)

Promises, a Kevin Raleigh written song has the verses sung by Michael with the choruses seemingly sung by both Kevin and Michael. The piano is lively and energetic. There is a nice glissando after the first chorus. The song “Lover” has a nice piano riff which comes in following the guitar intro. The piano part isn’t the loudest, but it contributes greatly to the song’s sound. My Town is an epic rocker about Michael’s hometown. While this is a guitar-driven song, the piano provides good support including prominent notes during the choruses. How Can You Call This Love written and sung by Kevin has powerful rocking piano playing. The piano goes fast with deep notes.

How Can You Call This Love - Michael Stanley Band (1983)

Bruce Springsteen’s piano player Roy Bittan played wonderful jolly piano on Bruce’s hits “Hungry Heart” and “Glory Days’. Roy gives those songs a great upbeat feel with his playing. Singer Southside Johnny’s song “It’s Been a Long Time” has three lead vocalists with the other two being Bruce and Bruce’s E Street Band guitarist Steven Van Zandt. Southside Johnny & the Asbury Jukes keyboardist Rusty Cloud provides a good musical base with his piano. Bruce Springsteen wrote, was one of the producers and his E Street Band played on the song “This Little Girl” by Gary U.S. Bonds. Roy’s piano fuses rock & roll and heartland rock sounds. He brings a similar jolly sound to what he brought to the Bruce songs I mentioned. I’ll continue mentioning other artists Roy played for.

Glory Days - Bruce Springsteen (1984)

On the Dire Straits song “Skateaway”, Roy’s piano comes about a minute into the song. Roy alternates between slow playing and fast playing. In the choruses, Roy plays in an epic way with his piano rocking in sync with the drums. Roy is driving the heartland rock sound of this song. In Dire Straits' more popular song “Romeo and Juliet” from the same album, Roy plays melodically. Roy’s strongest moments in the song have a very heartland rock feel. He backs Mark Knopfler’s guitars (which are both acoustic and electric) very well. Michael Stanley did a very good cover of this song. He’s an American heartland rock artist covering a heartland rock song by an English band going back musically to where it came from. The piano by Bob Pelander is more prominent than the original. Some people will hate what I’m about to say. I think it’s better than the original.

Skateaway - Dire Straits (1980)

Even Now is my favourite Bob Seger song. It’s one of his forgotten US hits. Roy’s piano goes up and down the scale in an incredible way. The piano matches greatly with Bob’s vocals with there being sections where Roy’s notes seem to be a musical response to what Bob sang. On “Roll Me Away”, another hit from the same album, Roy gives us majestic rocking piano. Another song Roy played for Bob is “The Fire Inside”, an epic rock song nearly six minutes long. It’s led by the piano and the fact that the guitar part is acoustic gives more room for the piano to rock. Roy’s piano is incredible and detailed which includes two solos.

The Fire Inside - Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band (1991)

On Jackson Browne’s “Here Come Those Tears Again”, Bill Payne plays piano in a warm way. The piano gives off its heartland rock vibes in the way the notes jump from one place to another. Jackson Browne’s epic rock song “The Fuse” has Craig Doerge play incredible heartland rock piano. Craig’s piano has deep dark notes that are so effective. The piano goes very well with David Lindley’s slide guitar. I love how Jackson fuses piano and guitar in a heartland rock setting in many of his songs. Jackson’s classic song “The Pretender” has rich piano from Craig. In parts of the song, the piano shifts from one note to another. 

The Pretender - Jackson Browne (1976)

Running on Empty is a faster rock song driven more by guitar, but Craig’s piano is still a big part of the song. It has an iconic piano opening. Craig incorporates rock & roll influences while maintaining the heartland rock sound. That Girl Could Sing is a case where Jackson played piano on one of his own songs. Jackson’s piano is catchy and has both slower and faster sections. In “For America”, the piano by Jai Winding has sections going back and forth between musical notes. It also has a few short parts led by the piano. Jai’s piano holds this guitar-driven song together very well. Jackson’s lyrics are thought provoking, especially in relation to America’s current issues and 250th anniversary.

That Girl Could Sing - Jackson Browe (1980)

So far these songs by classic rock artists were in the 20th century, with most of them being in the 70s and 80s. I’ll now feature three 21st century songs from classic rock artists. In Michael Stanley’s solo song “My Brand New Day”, Bob Pelander offers amazing, rich piano playing filled with depth. Elton John did a rare case of a heartland rock song in “England and America” ten years ago. Elton showcases his brilliant piano skills by playing different to the way he normally plays where he nails the heartland rock piano sound. Bob Seger’s “Forward Into the Past” is a guitar-driven song, but it’s supported well by Bill Payne’s piano. Bill brings out prominent piano notes in parts of the song which contribute greatly to its rock sound.

My Brand New Day - Michael Stanley (2009)

Companion Articles

I’m providing links to previous articles of mine which are companion articles as they discuss some of the same songs.

Ten Great Jackson Browne Songs by Ten Different Piano Players

Russ Kunkel’s Drumming for Bob Seger

Bill Payne’s Keyboards for Bob Seger

Ten Great Rock Songs Opening Albums

Ten Great Heartland Rock Songs

Six Strong Silver Bullet Band Work for Bob Seger

These songs show the prominent place piano has in heartland rock music. I like the fact that many of them feature a piano/organ combination. They cover a wide range on the rock spectrum going from soft to hard rock. Some of them fuse heartland rock with other styles such as rock & roll and pop rock. Most of the songs are by American artists, but I did include two English artists. They are Dire Straits and Elton John who fuse English rock with American heartland rock in the songs of theirs I featured. Elton’s song is apt for this as it’s literally about England and America. Heartland rock is a genre which has some epic long rock songs like “The Pretender” and “The Fire Inside”. I’d be interested in hearing what you think of the heartland rock piano sound.