The S Blog deals with the interests of a Sri Lankan abroad and is called The S Blog due to the many S topics covered. They include Sri Lanka, Songs, Bob Seger & The Silver Bullet Band, Science Fiction, Star Trek and even other non S topics.
I love buildings, so I decided to write a blog post embedding virtual views of Sri Lankan buildings from Google Street View. This is a personal selection that I made. I feature the most buildings from Colombo as that’s my hometown. I also include some structures which are not traditional buildings like lighthouses and clock towers. You can explore the areas in the Google Street View embedded sections. There is also a “View on Google Maps” button enabling you to explore it in a larger size in another window. This is also useful if the embedded content does not load.
This is Independence Memorial Hall in Independence Square. It’s an important symbol of Sri Lanka’s independence from colonialism.
Here’s the Dutch Hospital Shopping Precinct. One of the places seen is the Java Lounge. I enjoyed having something sweet there in 2017.
Here’s the Christian church Christ Church, Galle Face. It’s in the centre. It’s nice to see palm trees on its property. Skyscrapers around it offer a nice contrast of traditional and modern architecture.
A modern building by SLTMobitel.
The cool Sysco LABS building. I like its use of blue and palm trees at the front.
We’re now moving far away to the Point Pedro Lighthouse in the North.
In the same region, we’re looking at the Jaffna Post Office. I like its colourful look.
This is the iconic Galle Fort Clock Tower.
This is the edge of the Kandy City Centre, a 21st century shopping complex in Kandy that’s both modern and influenced by traditional Kandyan architecture.
We’re now moving to another shopping complex, this time the Colombo City Centre. These kinds of modern buildings are my favourite type of architecture. It’s awesome that it says “I Love CMB” at the front as I love Colombo.
I hope you enjoyed the selection of Sri Lankan buildings featured. I tried to feature a mix of both modern and traditional architecture throughout Sri Lanka.
David Paich is a keyboardist and founder member of the American rock band Toto. He sang their most popular song “Africa”. Toto is a band of session musicians, thus David has a prolific session career playing on numerous albums. In this article, I am featuring ten songs David has played keyboards on including one song by his band Toto. David is joined by most of his original Toto bandmates on some of the non-Toto tracks on this list. I had previously featured two songs David Paich played on in my article “Ten Great Piano Rock Songs by Ten Different Singers”.
These Days - Jackson Browne (1973)
This song begins with just Jackson and his acoustic guitar with some slide guitar parts. It continues that way until just before the chorus when David Paich’s piano comes in at just under a minute. David’s piano is a welcome addition that makes the song whole. He gives good accompaniment including being a good match for David Lindley’s slide guitar.
Put Out the Light - Joe Cocker (1974)
This is a soulful rocker featuring David Paich’s piano, wacky guitars, horns and powerful backing vocals. Joe Cocker sings with such passion. While the piano isn’t the loudest instrument, it has a great presence including some glissandos. The saxophone is there throughout a lot of the song including some solos.
Doctor Wu - Steely Dan (1975)
This is a piano driven soft rock song with a jazz influence as Steely Dan are a jazz rock band. David stated that he played on this song, so I’m assuming that the piano part is his. David is joined by his future Toto bandmate Jeff Porcaro who also plays on the next two songs. There is a saxophone through sections of the song including a solo. The guitar part is subtle. The piano playing is cool and melodic. The sax and piano goes in a more jazz direction towards the end of the song.
Lido Shuffle - Boz Scaggs (1976)
This is a popular song by Boz Scaggs which is co-written with David Paich. Elton John is an influence of David Paich which comes through in this song as it sounds like an Elton John song including its piano. The song features the bass and drums in the first twenty seconds until all the instruments come in. There are horns which are most prominent during the chorus. David is playing all the keyboards on this song which include piano and synths. He is joined by another future Toto bandmate, bassist David Hungate. Boz sings powerfully with his high voice. There are prominent synth parts in the last minute of the song which David doubles with his piano. Having both piano and synths gives a foreshadow of Toto’s sound.
Manuela Run - Toto (1978)
I’m now including a song by David Paich’s band Toto. This is a song from their 1978 debut album (which also features their hit song “Hold the Line”) which he wrote, played on and sang lead vocals. It opens with David’s piano riff which is played throughout the song. David sings “round” in an interesting way. Bobby Kimball sings good backing vocals. It also features good synthesizer playing by Steve Porcaro and a guitar solo by Steve Lukather. It has a unique end with a few piano notes followed by a closing door. This song is both pop rock and progressive rock.
The Retreat - Elton John (1980)
This is a great Elton John ballad about the American Civil War. The guitar is played by fellow Toto member Steve Lukather. It has Elton’s piano and singing for up until the end of the first verse. The full band comes in from the first chorus featuring prominent organ by David Paich and interesting guitar parts by Steve Lukather. The organ continues throughout the song and adds to it. There is a synthesizer by James Newton Howard which comes in during the last minute of the song. The synthesizer goes back and forth with the organ and then with the guitar.
Allies - Heart (1983)
This song features David Paich on piano and synth. It was written by Journey keyboardist Jonathan Cain and this song is somewhat reminiscent of the Journey hit “Don’t Stop Believin’” with its combination of piano and intense guitars. It opens with the piano and is soon joined by Ann Wilson’s voice. The strong guitars come in as brief interjections in the first verse before fully coming in during the chorus. Ann sings powerfully on this song, especially in the harder rocking parts. The verses are piano driven. There is a section with David’s piano playing with his synth which reminds me of Toto. This is an intense ballad featuring powerful rock piano.
New York Minute - Don Henley (1989)
This is an epic six and a half minute song which has a jazz influence. It opens with an orchestra that’s arranged by David Paich with flourishes of his piano. Following that there are keyboard notes which are soon joined by Pino Palladino’s bass and David’s piano. Jeff Porcaro’s drums and Pino’s bass have some jazz vibes. David’s piano too does this in the verses. Close to the two minute mark, Danny Kortchmar’s guitar brings rock to the song which goes away in the second verse and comes back for the chorus. African-American Christian vocal group Take 6 provide backing vocals during the chorus. At around the three minute and forty five second mark, the trumpet appears and has some notes throughout the remainder of the song.
There Is No Greater Love - Wayne Watson (1992)
As a Christian, I was pleased to find out that David Paich played on a Christian song. The opening orchestra notes are similar to the previous song. This song has the simple arrangement of piano and orchestra. Piano and orchestra without any guitar, bass and drums is not my favourite arrangement as that runs the risk of it being a boring ballad for me. Thankfully, that is not the case here. David plays his piano powerfully.
Please Forgive Me - Bryan Adams (1993)
David Paich’s acoustic piano comes for a short moment at the start of the song. What appears to be an electric piano replaces it until the chorus where the acoustic piano comes back. The acoustic piano is powerful when it returns. The chorus rocks with strong guitars and some hard hitting piano. This is a powerful rock ballad.
David has played on a variety of different rock styles featured here being pop rock, soft rock, hard rock, progressive rock, jazz rock and rock & roll. There is also a Christian song featured. These songs cover a twenty year period from 1973 to 1993. I’m a fan of piano in rock music and piano is featured in all of these songs. David played piano on all the songs except one which is played by Elton John. This is fitting as Elton is a hero of David’s. These songs showcase David Paich’s great piano & keyboard playing as well as his skills as a songwriter, singer, arranger and producer.
In the 1990s, there were two similar songs dealing with rivers in the gospel rock style. One song was from America and the other was from England. They were by popular piano playing singers Billy Joel & Elton John. They both came out in significant periods of their careers as in Billy’s case “The River Of Dreams” was the title track of his last studio album of popular music and in Elton’s case his song “If The River Can Bend” came out shortly after his releasing the most popular worldwide single “Candle In The Wind 1997” for Princess Diana. That single was paired as a double A-side with “Something About The Way You Look Tonight”. If The River Can Bend comes from the album “The Big Picture” that features “Something About The Way You Look Tonight”. I recently featured Billy’s song in my article “Ten Great Non-Relationship Rock Songs by Ten Different Singers”. I’m embedding the official YouTube audio of the songs below and will discuss and compare them.
Billy Joel - The River Of Dreams (1993)
Elton John - If The River Can Bend (1997)
The River Of Dreams opens with percussion, but soon a common opening forms with “If The River Can Bend” once the keyboards come in. Both songs’ opening features them singing sounds alongside keyboards and percussion with Billy going “ooohhoo ahahhhaa ...” and Elton going “oh oh …”. They both bring in their piano following this. Just after the middle section of each song, there is a rocking piano solo. Both feature a gospel choir. The protagonists of both songs have things they don’t know, such as where their destination is going.
I’ll now go into some of the differences. The River Of Dreams was a hit song, whereas “If The River Can Bend”, released as a single, was not a hit song. It did reach a modest Number 32 in Elton’s native UK. Elton’s song seems to relate to a relationship or friendship unlike Billy’s song. Billy sings about “searching for something” and Elton sings about finding someone waiting “if the river can bend”. The River Of Dreams obviously deals with dreams unlike “If The River Can Bend”. If The River Can Bend has an orchestra. While the guitar parts are similar on both songs, they are more prominent in Elton’s song, especially towards the end. A well-known difference is the songwriting of each singer as Billy writes both the music and lyrics while Elton writes the music with lyrics by a lyricist who for this song is his songwriting partner Bernie Taupin.
As I Christian, I find the gospel music and themes in these songs interesting. Unlike Elton John, Billy Joel makes some clear Christian references in his song. As Bob Seger is one of the topics I write about on this blog, I like the fact that Billy sometimes plays part of Bob Seger’s “Old Time Rock & Roll” in the middle of “The River Of Dreams” in his concerts. Infact, my previous blog post was about “Old Time Rock & Roll”. I was pleased to find out that Elton & Billy sang “Old Time Rock & Roll” together in their show on the 13th of October 2002 in Uniondale, New York. Similarly, it’s interesting to note that for Elton John & Billy Joel’s 1998 European tour, each singer performed their river song in their solo setlist. It was unfortunately only a few shows with Billy Joel in Europe due to Billy’s illness.
This is a similarity between Elton John and Billy Joel which I don’t believe has been mentioned before. Feel free to give your thoughts on these songs. I’d be interested in hearing people’s thoughts on the song meanings of these two river songs. I hope to write about other similar songs in the future.
Elton John released his new album “Wonderful Crazy Night” on the 5th of February. Before I review this album, I’ll share what I think of Elton’s recent work. In 2010, Elton began working with producer T-Bone Burnett on a collaborative album “The Union” with an artist named Leon Russell. I didn’t enjoy that album as I’m not into Leon’s music. He followed that album with 2013’s “The Diving Board”. I found it better than “The Union” as it was a solo album and thought it had many good tracks, but did not consider it to be a good album as it had too many ballads and a classical influence on some tracks which I didn’t like. I’ll say my issues with T-Bone now. Prior to this album, he used session musicians whom I don’t find as good as Elton’s band. His choice of drummers hit the drums too softly, and in some cases do subtle drumming which I don’t fancy. The production he had done before this album for Elton wasn’t clear sounding.
Now with this album, T-Bone remained, but it brought about the return of Elton’s band that he tours with on an album for the first time in nearly 10 years. Elton’s current band includes his original members (guitarist) Davey Johnstone and (drummer) Nigel Olsson as well as (percussionist) John Mahon and newcomers, (keyboardist) Kim Bullard and (bassist) Matt Bissonette (who both joined the Elton John band due to the tragic deaths of keyboardist Guy Babylon in 2009 and bassist Bob Birch in 2012). This album also features Elton’s original percussionist Ray Cooper on some tracks. “Wonderful Crazy Night” goes in a more rock direction (something I’ve been wanting more of from Elton especially in contrast to “The Diving Board” which had little rock, being a stripped-down album with not much guitar) and Elton co-produced the album with T-Bone this time, (a good sign as I think Elton’s a talented producer).
I will now go through the Deluxe Edition of the album track by track, followed by what I think of the strengths and weaknesses of the album.
1. Wonderful Crazy Night
This is a pop rock song with a blues influence that uses acoustic guitars. I think it’s produced well, the band plays well, has great piano playing from Elton including a solo. Although those aspects of the song sound good, it has a weak melody and the lyrics sound rather silly. Thankfully it is worst track on the album.
2. In The Name of You
This song is a real improvement from the previous one and does rock. It starts off with an interesting guitar effect. I should mention that I have a problem with the mix. Davey plays a lot of rocking electric guitar parts, but they are too soft in the mix and it doesn’t sound clear. Still, it’s good to have a guitar solo by Davey and I find it one of the best tracks on the album. The chorus feels so Elton which I like. This song had the audio officially shown on YouTube before the album’s release and I’m including it here.
3. Claw Hammer
The song opens with a guitar riff that sounds like world music. Elton mentioned that this riff was written on piano. I think it would have sounded better on piano, but it does sound unique. Davey does simple brief rock guitar parts on the verses that add to the song. Elton gives a good counter melody on piano to the guitar riff when it returns. The song has a jazz influence near the end, where Elton does good improvisational playing which is added to by horn instrument sounds on the keyboards by Kim Bullard. This song is musically diverse.
4. Blue Wonderful
A good song, but I wouldn’t say I’m fond of it.
5. I’ve Got 2 Wings
I feel something is lacking in the melody compared to the rich lyrics. This is one of the few songs on the album where I thought the lyrics are better than the melody. The tune also seems too similar to ‘I Must Have Lost It On The Wind’ from 2006’s “The Captain and The Kid”. Getting to the lyrics, as a Christian I love it how Bernie Taupin (Elton’s lyricist) writes about Utah Smith, an African-American preacher born in 1906 who travelled with a Gibson guitar and two wings on his back preaching via music in the 20th Century. I find it great that Bernie wrote it from the preacher’s point of view (with Utah Smith reflecting on his life after he died) this time as when he mentioned religion in the past, it was usually not in a positive way. Every verse begins with the unique and innovative lyric of “I am the Elder Utah Smith”. I find the line in the Chorus “I went from paper wings to the real thing at last” very touching. There is also Elton’s humming in parts of the song which also sounds good.
6. A Good Heart
This is how you do a ballad with a good melody and the full band sound. It’s the best ballad and one of the best tracks on the album. Nigel’s powerful drumming is great here and Davey’s guitar playing though simple adds colour to the song.
7. Looking Up
This song is a bit like the title track, in that it’s a rock song that’s produced well, has great piano playing from Elton, the band’s plays very well, but with a melody that I wouldn’t say is the best. However unlike the title track, this is a good song, as it has much more energy being faster paced and rocking harder with electric guitars. Elton’s piano playing is excellent here and I really like the piano riff featured throughout. The lyrics have a positive message about looking up. The production of this song is done well as it places the piano and guitars prominent in the song without conflicting with each other.
8. Guilty Pleasure
This track sounds like something off the “Made In England” album, specifically ‘Please’. Although it is a rock song, it doesn't rock very well, as the acoustic guitars are too high in the mix (except for the electric guitar solo) and the piano and electric guitars sound too low. It would have been better if the piano was higher in the mix with the main guitar sound that of electric guitars and the acoustic guitars being minimal or not there at all. Still, I do like this song.
9. Tambourine
This song is good, but I feel it has a bit too much of a happy pop sound. The acoustic guitars are too high in the mix and Elton doesn’t play piano in the first verse. I suppose I don’t mind it the first time, but I don’t like it how Elton doesn’t play (or we can’t hear) piano in the second verse. As a Baptist Christian, I do like the line “like a Baptist banging on a tambourine”.
10. The Open Chord
I feel similar about this track to the previous one, although it has piano throughout the whole song. It seems too similar to ‘Too Many Tears’ from 2004’s “Peachtree Road”, which I didn’t find to be one of the best tracks from the “Peachtree Road” album but preferred it to this one.
11. Free and Easy
We’re now going into the songs of the Deluxe Edition. This track does have the happy pop sound of the previous two, but unlike those two I would come back to it often. The melody is nice.
12. England and America
It’s great to have a rock song once again, with this one being the hardest rocking song on the album. While some similarities can be found with previous Elton songs, this one doesn’t sound like Elton, but more like one another rock singer would have done in the 80s as it has a real 80s rock sound. This song has a good melody and Elton shows creativity writing a rock song differently to his usual style. Kim Bullard does great organ playing. Elton makes a special effect in the verses of the song where his piano notes go up the scale and there is a good moment where most of the other instruments stop and Elton’s piano sounds much louder. One of the best tracks on the album and a great way to finish it.
Now that I’ve gone through the album track by track, I will go into what I see as the strengths and weaknesses of the album. I would have liked it if the melodies were stronger and didn’t have the issue which sometimes comes up of a song sounding too musically similar to an existing song. Elton has been referring to the album as the most rock album he’s made since “Rock of The Westies” (1975), which was the hardest rocking album he’s ever done. While this is the most rock album he’s made in a while, I feel that it just isn’t true as he’s made albums that rocked harder than this, since “Rock of The Westies”. I would love it if Elton did make a Rock of The Westies 2 but with sophisticated Bernie Taupin lyrics. Anyway, back to the album regarding the rock issue. There are cases (like the Claw Hammer chorus and Guilty Pleasure) where the acoustic guitars are too high in the song when a rocking electric guitar sound would be better suited.
I still don’t think T-Bone is the ideal producer for Elton. Elton wanted to make a rock album, and as he loves working with T-Bone he chose him. As T-Bone is not known for making albums which really rock, he isn’t a great choice for that idea. However, I do think that T-Bone really improved as a producer on this album to the point that the album is almost well produced. This album has a mostly clear sound which he hadn’t produced for Elton before. The production does follow the Elton John sound on this album. I also think the improvement in production comes from the fact that Elton co-produced this album. I need to give credit to the Elton John band. They play with a lot of energy, and I love the presence of two original members Davey Johnstone and Nigel Olsson. Davey brings his familiar style of playing in both rock and slower material. Nigel drums powerfully on this album which is a welcome contrast to T-Bone’s choice of drummers previously. There are some songs where Nigel hits the drums softer in whole or part, but there isn’t a song featuring subtle drumming.
I do have issues with this album, but I definitely am glad to have an Elton John album that I like for the first time in almost 10 years. It’s great to have the return of the Elton John band and an album that goes in a more rock direction. I do recommend this album, specifically the Deluxe Edition.
