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.
In March this year, Google released coverage of Sri Lanka in their Google Street View service. I’m so glad that it finally arrived as I’ve been wanting there to be Google Street View coverage of Sri Lanka ever since I first heard of the service. I heard that the images of Sri Lankan roads were recorded from December 2014 to March 2016, with those in Colombo being mainly recorded in November and December 2015. I’ll be embedding the areas from Google Street View that I refer to which the user can explore in this blog as well as make it full screen with the icon on the right hand side or open it in a new window in a larger size via the “View on Google Maps” button and explore the roads from that point. If any of the embedded areas do not load, you’ll be able to see them through the “View on Google Maps” button. As I’m from Colombo, it is the region given the most coverage, but I’ll be featuring many areas all over Sri Lanka. I will give some thoughts on Sri Lanka as seen here and making some comparisons to when I was last in Sri Lanka, which was in January 2014.
A good thing I’ve noticed is that Sri Lanka looks cleaner, especially Galle Road. When I was last there it was difficult to walk across Galle Road due to the road rebuilding that was taking place. The road rebuilding that was taking place appears to be complete and the centre of parts of the road has plants which makes it look nicer as well as reducing the number of people crossing the road. With regard to people crossing the road, I see on Galle Road as well as other areas in Sri Lanka, yellow crossings have been built. Going back to the earlier plant issue, that would reduce the number of people crossing the road, which would speed up traffic. Here’s Galle Road in the Colombo suburb I’m from (Wellawatte).
The roundabout near Liberty Plaza looks updated as I don’t remember seeing it like that and this part of the road looks so clean. I like it how the roundabout has fountains.
It’s good to see that construction is continuing just like when I was last in Sri Lanka.
This new building that I haven’t yet seen in Sri Lanka looks good.
Here’s an image of the centre of Colombo. The pavement looks nice and clean and I don’t think that the ledge was there when I was last in Sri Lanka.
I’m now going to be focussing on areas outside Colombo. I’ll give a sentence describing it with the place being below it.
Here are some of the roads in Galle.
Here’s Kandy by the lake.
This is Kalladi Bridge in Batticaloa.
Here’s Point Pedro by the sea.
This is near Wasgamuwa National Park.
The first two are from Mullaitivu and the following three and from Mannar Island. I’m grouping them together as I think they look similar to California.
This is in the Sabaragamuwa Province near the Sinharaja Rainforest.
This is in the Southern Province not too far from the previous image.
A Sri Lankan mountain by the Victoria Randenigala Rantembe Sanctuary.
On the Thanamalvila Road with the first scene being by the Uda Walawe Reservoir.
Here’s a road on the Uva Province.
The next scene is in Ja-Ela with the following two being near Ja-Ela.
A road in Negombo.
As seen in the above Negombo image, that is another of those Yellow crossings. It looks as if these Yellow crossings have been appearing all over Sri Lanka in the last few years. Regarding the cleaner appearance, it’s possible that Google captured many images from the same location and chose the best ones. I wonder if in some places, they edited the image to make it look cleaner. Irrespective of the differences in this and the real thing, Sri Lanka being cleaner is a good sign. There are still a small number of roads in Sri Lanka not covered in Google Street View and I hope that all of Sri Lankan roads will get covered before the end of the decade. This is one of the amazing features of modern technology, allowing those outside Sri Lanka to see what Sri Lankan roads are like. I hope you’ve enjoyed what I shared of Sri Lanka. Feel free to comment giving your thoughts.
The latest Star Trek film Star Trek Beyond was released in most of the world in late July and I’d like to share my thoughts on the film. I am aware that many fans like or love this film and I respect that. This is simply my opinion of it. I wanted to like this film, but didn’t end up doing so as I had a mixed reaction. Regarding the new films I’ll say that I have some issues with this alternate universe that these films are set in (officially known as the Kelvin Timeline), but ultimately I liked the 2009 Star Trek film and disliked its sequel Star Trek Into Darkness (2013). I went into more detail about my thoughts on the first two films in my very first blog post here. I’ll begin with the positive issues of this film.
The film looked good visually. It’s uniforms, ship designs, sets, layout of the planet and the planet designs were very faithful to Star Trek. Parts of the planet seem reminiscent of a planet visited by the crew in Star Trek: The Original Series. It’s good how this film dealt with exploration in a way that the previous two films didn’t, as this film didn’t have any scenes taking place on earth. It was nice to see quite a few alien species in this film. While there are some qualities of this alternate version of Captain Kirk I’m not into, I do like it how in this film Captain Kirk was more mature than before. I didn’t like it how in Star Trek Into Darkness, Captain Kirk and Spock didn’t seem to get along well when that story began, so am pleased that they didn’t get into an argument in this film, though they did not spend a lot of screen time together in this film.
I’ll now go into some negative issues of the film. I found the film’s story to be weak, and an over-focus on action scenes. I thought the film lacked energy and soul. There were some jokes in the film that I didn’t enjoy. I wasn’t fond of the usage of a few rap songs in the film.
When Director Justin Lin spoke of the villain Krall, he spoke of Krall having a valid point of view and exploring the theme of some alien cultures disliking the Federation. Krall to me was just a tough violent character without much depth. When they finally revealed the full details of Krall, it seemed to contradict the message Justin had been saying. Yes, the film did speak of unity when working against Krall, but to me there wasn’t any discussion about the Federation through his character. I won’t reveal what Krall’s true identity is, but his true identity and background ended up being what I find to be a character type overdone in Star Trek.
It’s disappointing to me, as Star Trek: The Original Series is the Star Trek series I like the most, I want these films to give me similar feelings I get when watching the original characters and I didn’t get that with this film.
The film wasn’t bad, it’s just that I had too many issues with it to consider it to be a good film. I found it better than the previous film Star Trek Into Darkness that I didn’t like which is a positive. It had good moments throughout, some related to Star Trek but the film as a whole didn’t work together. Some elements of this film such the exploring theme and Captain Kirk’s performance improved upon the 2009 film, but the issues I mentioned resulted in my lowered opinion of it. I thought it was half a Star Trek film, half a generic Sci-Fi Action film. I also think Justin Lin’s directing style doesn’t appeal to me as the way he edited it, paced it and the tone wasn’t one I enjoyed.
I hope that for the next Star Trek film, which was was announced just before Star Trek Beyond opened, they will find a Director who is not famous for directing action, but for story and intelligence as I feel those two factors are needed the most in these new films. While I am aware that the new films will have action, I dislike the overemphasis on action as displayed in the last two films. I know the sequel to this film is unlikely to have good storytelling and intelligence, so what’s most important for me is for the film to feel like Star Trek, have more depth & substance, a stronger villain, be paced better and be a good entertaining film which I unfortunately didn’t find this one to be.
In a November 2015 Billboard magazine interview with Bob Seger, the introductory paragraph said “in 2016, the Lincoln Park, Mich., native will mark his 50th year in the music business with I Knew You When, an album of unreleased songs that he has updated”. So it looked as if Bob Seger would be releasing an album consisting of re-recordings of unreleased songs this year. Also, the title track is reported to come from the late 1990s. However in February this year, the Detroit radio station WOMC had a short article titled “Bob Seger: Back In the Studio” which started off by saying “Bob Seger is in the studio working on his 18th album. It will be all new songs, but seeing as how Bob likes to take his time, there’s no word on when it will be out.” This seemed to imply that his next album would not consist of unreleased songs, but completely new songs contradicting what was reported previously in Billboard. This week Bob was interviewed for “In The Garage with Jim O’Brien” on the Detroit radio station WCSX, and did give a little bit of information on his upcoming album. I’ll give some quotes from that interview relating to the upcoming album, mention some songs that appear to be on the album as well as my theory on what is taking place.
Bob made reference to a track originally written in 1976 which will appear on the album when asked by Jim O’Brien if he ever re-wrote a song title saying “Well, there is one and it’s coming out on the next record. I completely re-wrote the song and the reason I want it on the next record is cause Charlie Martin’s playing drums on it. It’s a 40 year old track from 1976 and it’s of course Chris and it’s Alto and Charlie and I think we had then was Robyn Robbins on piano. I re-wrote the song completely, you know because I just didn’t like what the subject matter was … I’m just excited for everybody to hear Charlie play drums 40 years later. It’s a rocker too”. This seems to go with the “I Knew You When” project, of updating a song for the album.
Bob revealed in the WCSX interview that he goes out to drive and think about songs which helps the creative process. Jim then asked him if there was a song that he changed or revisited when driving. He said, “Well, on the new record which I don’t know exactly when it’s gonna come out, but there’s a song called ‘The Highway’ which makes sense, you know. “Headin for the highway” is like, the chorus.” Also, if you search Bob Seger in the U.S. Copyright Office you will find the song ‘Hannah’ registered last year, implying that song may be featured on the upcoming album. I heard that these two songs are outtakes from his last album “Ride Out”.
Jim asked Bob if he’s feeling good about the new album and he said “I really am. I’m still writing a little bit. One more and a little bit. ... I just wrote two songs in the last month so hopefully they’ll be on it too.”
Bob mentioned that he doesn’t know when the album will come out so it is disappointing to hear that there won’t be a new album this year in celebration of Bob Seger’s 50 years in music. However, it’s good to know that Bob is still working on the album. I suspect that Bob began the “I Knew You When” album, working on re-recording unreleased songs, some of which he re-wrote the lyrics. Assuming all these four songs will end up on the album, there are unreleased songs from the 1970s, 1990s, 2000s (The U.S. Copyright Office lists the song ‘Hannah’ as being from 2008) and 2010s with at least two songs having the lyrics re-written, one of which was completely re-written. It looks as if Bob then decided to start writing new songs as he mentioned that he’s still writing songs for it, thus resulting in an album that will have a mix of unreleased songs and new songs.
I hope that Bob won’t take a few years to finish this album as he tends to take a long time working on albums. I would love it if it would come out next year. The fact that he mentioned that he’s “still writing a little bit” could mean that he doesn’t have a lot more songwriting to do to finish the album. It’s unlikely, but I hope that more information about the album will come out soon. Feel free to comment giving your thoughts on Bob Seger’s next album. If you liked this article, you might also be interested in my previous article about Bob Seger titled “We Need a Bob Seger Biography”.
This post is about the 19th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution which occurred a little over a year ago when it was passed on the 27th of April 2015. Before I mention the 19th Amendment, I will give some background to Sri Lankan Politics of the current decade that relates to it.
In 2010, Sri Lanka’s then President Mahinda Rajapaksa passed the 18th Amendment to the Sri Lankan Constitution which made the President far too powerful and leading Sri Lanka towards dictatorship. The biggest problems of the 18th Amendment were its removal of the two-term limit for Presidents allowing him/her to contest indefinitely and bringing independent commissions under the President. Sri Lanka’s current Government led by President Maithripala Sirisena introduced and passed the 19th Amendment. Its changes include restoring the two-term limit & the power of independent commissions as well as further reducing presidential powers & increasing the power of the Prime Minister.
When Sri Lanka received independence from Britain in 1948, Sri Lanka, then known as Ceylon had a Parliamentary system of Government with the Prime Minister being the Head of Government and the Queen as the Head of State. This changed in 1972 when Sri Lanka became a Republic with the President replacing the Queen as Head of State. The President’s role was a ceremonial one. This changed in 1978 when Prime Minister J.R. Jayewardene introduced a new constitution combining both the Head of Government and the Head of State in an Executive Presidency, which he then assumed. The Prime Minister’s power became significantly less, at times appearing to be a ceremonial role. The role of the Prime Minister since the Executive Presidency in Sri Lanka, especially relating to each of those Prime Ministers is a complicated issue deserving of an article of its own. However, what I am interested in is how the 19th Amendment changed the role of the President and the Prime Minister as well as its impact on the country.
The 19th Amendment was originally intended to abolish the Executive Presidency, but it seemed less likely that it would be carried out after the election of President Maithripala Sirisena. Prior to the 19th Amendment’s passing, there was a report that the 19th Amendment would create a dual executive system. Since the 19th Amendment reduced the powers of the President and increased the powers of the Prime Minister, there is a possibility that the 19th Amendment did in fact result in Sri Lanka having a dual executive system. I hope that this article will give information on this topic via people’s contributions on whether this is the case allowing us to make our own conclusions.
I decided to ask several notable people in Sri Lanka about this to get information on the subject and to present differing perspectives on the same issue. I thought that doing so would allow us to learn about the impact of the 19th Amendment, giving us the ability to think about this issue ourselves. I will be providing quotes from 6 Sri Lankans as well as from the paper “19th Amendment - The Wins, the Losses and the In-betweens” written 1 year ago in June 2015 by Nishan de Mel and Gehan Gunatilleke of Verité Research. The question I asked these 6 Sri Lankans is: "In the year since the 19th Amendment was passed, how do you think it changed the role of the President & Prime Minister and what impact do you think it had on Sri Lanka?"
On the issue of the current roles of the President and Prime Minister, Attorney at law and founder of the Citizens’ Movement for Good Governance (CIMOGG) Elmore Perera says “Without seeking the total abolition of the Executive Presidency, the 19th Amendment sought an arrangement for the coexistence of an Executive President and a Prime Minister. In a welcome display of Judicial Independence, the Supreme Court held that several provisions in the proposed 19th Amendment required the approval of the people at a referendum. Without seeking such approval, all such amendments were dropped and a mere shadow of the original Bill was presented to Parliament.” Economist and former Deputy Governor of the Central Bank of Sri Lanka W.A Wijewardena says on the Presidency, “President is still the Executive President in the interim period and therefore there is no real feeling about the dilution of the powers of the President.” Jehan Perera, Director of the National Peace Council in his thoughts on the President’s role as well as that of the Prime Minister is more positive as he says “Prior to the 19th Amendment, the power of the President was overwhelming in relation to the Prime Minister, which is what prompted R Premadasa to say that when he was Prime Minister he was like a peon. Prior to the 19th Amendment the President had the power to appoint the Cabinet on his own, and also to dissolve Parliament at his will after one year. The 19th Amendment has permitted the President and Prime Minister to work together on a basis of equality. This has been helpful to the sustenance of the coalition Government in which the two main parties are working together.”
Journalist and Media Personality Savithri Rodrigo says on the President’s role that “while the 19th Amendment ensures the elimination of authoritarian dictatorships, there still remains almost a tacit power that the post of President implies. The general citizen is unaware that the President is not 'God' anymore, a sentiment that will take some time to dissipate.” Regarding the joint role of the President and the Prime Minister she adds “However, on the footing of practical governance, there's much more discussion and even a process of 'agreeing to disagree' in governance decisions as was seen in the recent appointment of the Central Bank Governor, which again is a refreshing change.” Dhananath Fernando, Chief Operating Officer of public policy think tank Advocata Institute says “The role of the President and Prime Minister I am not very convinced. But personally I feel at least PM is somewhat responsible for the Parliament compared to previous Government. The composition and the calibre of the Parliament comes secondary regardless of what political flags they host.”
The 19th Amendment did change the relationship between the President and the Prime Minister. Elmore Perera says “One year after the 19th Amendment was passed, one of the few things that is clear is that the President and Prime Minister cannot survive, one without the other.” As the President and Prime Minister come from different political parties with different ideologies A.C. Visvalingam, President of CIMOGG says “The "cooperative(?)" tug-of-war between the President and the PM is also something in the nature of a safety feature.” The Verité Research paper said the following on the President’s and Prime Minister's role in Cabinet appointments: “While the President is constitutionally bound to obtain the advice of the Prime Minister when appointing Cabinet Ministers, he may change the composition of Cabinet portfolios without any advice or consultation. Under Article 43(3), the President is free to make changes to the composition of Cabinet portfolios as he sees fit. For instance, it is possible for the President to remove a Cabinet Minister’s portfolio and reassign that particular portfolio to another Minister without consulting the Prime Minister. The President is, however, bound under Article 46(3)(a) to obtain the advice of the Prime Minister when removing any particular Minister from office.” (Nishan de Mel and Gehan Gunatilleke, “19th Amendment - The Wins, the Losses and the In-betweens”, Verité: 2015)
On positive issues of the 19th Amendment, W.A Wijewardena mentions the following “The independent commissions have been appointed and they have already started to show their colours. For instance, the HR Commission and Police Commission on a number of occasions have shown that they are really independent and stood by people through their action.” and “The leadership in COPE has been given to Opposition with 10 Opposition members as against 7 Government party members.” Jehan Perera says the following on the positive issues “Due to the 19th Amendment's restriction of the power of the Executive, and the setting up of independent commissions to overlook key state institutions, the abuse of power is less, and with it the polarisation in society is less.” A.C. Visvalingam says “There is no question in my mind that the election of President Sirisena, the abandonment of the monstrous provisions of the 18th Amendment, and the passing of a few important articles that constitute the 19th Amendment have given us a goodly quantum of freedom from the fear of terrible reprisals.”
Regarding negative issues of the 19th Amendment, W.A Wijewardena says “The size of the Cabinet has swelled beyond imagination raising costs for the citizens.” A common criticism of this amendment I’ve heard is the issue of the Constitutional Council. Dr. A.C. Visvalingam says “Probably the worst feature of 19A is the composition of the Constitutional Council, which is packed with strong politicians and weak civilians.” Elmore Perera’s thoughts on this issue is “Rather than restoring the independence of the several nominally independent commissions, the stranglehold of the politicians was strengthened by increasing the number of Parliamentarians in the Constitutional Council from 3 to 7, whilst reducing the Civil Society representation from 7 to 3.” It seems that there is a risk of the 7 MPs on the Constitutional Council making politically motivated decisions which could lead to political appointments that are unsuitable.
On the amendment’s impact to the citizens of Sri Lanka, Dhananath Fernando says the “actual impact for the citizens is zero. The priority of the people was not this. It is true the 19th Amendment was a promise under 100 day programme and many more yet the impact is zero for a citizen. It does not mean 19th is a bad move. The real impact could have been made by making the independent commissions more dynamic.” Savithri Rodrigo’s thoughts on the citizen's impact are “the regular citizen is yet to understand, realise and acknowledge the cascading impact the 19th Amendment will have on the country's citizenry, eventually.”
It’s worth noting that the full effects of an amendment like this takes time. Dhananath Fernando says “It was a wise move undoubtably with a long term thinking. The benefits of such amendments cannot be seen over night. But dilution of Executive Powers and establishment of independent commissions are strengthening the individual freedom and it is an assurance for some extent that the rule and law is equal for everyone.” Savithri Rodrigo echoes a similar sentiment saying “One year on is yet too early for any tangible ramifications to permeate to the people, although the very fact that the 19th Amendment was passed with an overwhelming majority in Parliament was surely a relief and a sure sign that the Members of Parliament themselves had had enough of the misuse of power, which lay primarily in the Executive Presidency.” Dr. A.C. Visvalingam says “On the whole, there seems to be an improvement, but we shall have to wait for one or two more years to make a reliable judgment.”
I will give my thoughts on one of the issues discussed so far. Regarding W.A Wijewardena’s comment on the swelling of the Cabinet, I think that this is one of the problems of the 19th Amendment. The 19th Amendment did limit the size of the Cabinet Ministers to 30 and Deputy & State Ministers to 40, but included a clause allowing a larger number of Ministers in case a National Government is formed, which this Government used due to forming one. It’s possible that more Ministers might be needed for a National Government, but I do think there are definitely too many Ministers. It seems to me that this reflects a common weakness among successive Sri Lankan Governments of their wish to have more Ministers than necessary. The 19th Amendment intended to restrict the number of Ministers, but ended up being used to accommodate a larger number of Ministers which is doing the opposite of what it set out to do.
There is one issue that hasn’t been mentioned so far which is the 19th Amendment’s impact on the Right to Information Bill. The 19th Amendment acknowledged the Right to Information as a fundamental right in the constitution, and thus the Right to Information Bill was passed recently in June 2016.
So, we had a variety of views on this subject from people born in a diverse range of decades spanning the 1930s to the 1980s. A special thank you to W.A Wijewardena, Jehan Perera, A.C. Visvalingam, Elmore Perera, Dhananath Fernando, Savithri Rodrigo and to Nishan de Mel & Gehan Gunatilleke who were authors of the Verité Research paper for their contributions. It can be seen that the Prime Minister’s influence has been increased, but it seems to me that it was done without making significant changes to the roles of both the President and the Prime Minister. The 19th Amendment wasn’t the bill it was originally intended to be which included the plan to abolish the Executive Presidency. Admittedly, it has some weaknesses, but even with them this was a significant moment in Sri Lankan Politics as it not only reversed the damage done by the 18th Amendment, but further reduced Presidential Powers. It is a noteworthy achievement as it was the President himself who was campaigning for this bill to be passed.
A few weeks ago, the first full trailer debuted for the film Star Trek Beyond which will be released in late July. I wasn’t fond of the teaser trailer that came out in December and I gave my thoughts on the film in my very first blog post in January. While I wouldn’t call this trailer incredible, I think it’s so much better than December’s teaser and is fairly good. I will embed the trailer here if anyone wants to see it before I give my thoughts on the trailer.
I’ll start off with the negative issues. I didn’t like it how Captain Kirk seemed to be implying to Dr. McCoy that he joined Starfleet for the wrong reasons. This looks like the filmmakers are still going with a Captain Kirk who is not mature enough. I know this is an Alternate Universe where things are different, but he’s been Captain for some time now, especially as this film takes place two and a half years into their five year mission. I really want to see this Captain Kirk having the leadership qualities we know and love, and still hope that at least some of that will be there in the film. I didn’t like the moment when Spock and Uhura kissed, as I don’t like it how in these recent films these two have a relationship. I do have some concerns the action in the film may be too fast paced and over the top.
I’ll now move on into the positives. I really like the shot of Captain Kirk, Spock and Dr. McCoy together as with the original characters, there was a great focus on the friendship between these three. It seems unlikely that this film will focus on that friendship, but it is good to see a moment between those three characters. The exchange between Spock and Dr. McCoy where Spock says “Fear of death is illogical” and Dr. McCoy’s reply “Fear of death is what keeps us alive” is a classic Spock-Dr. McCoy interaction. This film looks good visually with shots of the Enterprise, the swarm of enemy vessels, the underground prison, the zero gravity action on buildings and the Enterprise crashing towards the planet. I really like the new effect of travelling at warp speed. The villain Krall has an interesting alien accent.
I will suggest a theory of mine on where the plot could lead to in the film. This is a potential spoiler in case it turns out to be true, so if you are concerned this section may spoil the film for you, I recommend you skip this paragraph. My ideas will be italicised in the following section. Some of the crew meet a female alien named Jaylah on the planet. She could be really working for Krall. It can be seen in the trailer that Captain Kirk, Spock, Dr. McCoy, Scotty and Jaylah all end up on the old Starship USS Franklin that they found which they eventually get up and running, rescue the rest of their crew and go off into space. Krall may have hired her to pretend to be on their side and placed the USS Franklin on the planet knowing that they’d be able to get it up and running. In the trailer Jaylah says “Everyone who goes there, he kills” which could be a line said to make him look evil to them, thus making her appear good which would help her carry out her plan (similar to a deceptive tactic used at the end of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Season 2 when the enemy Jem’Hadar aliens were introduced). Krall could be setting up the Enterprise crew for a trap though Jaylah when they finally reach where it is that they’re going.
I’m not completely convinced I’ll like the film, but it does look good and made me get more excited about it with the hope that it can be a good film. Close to the end of next month all will be revealed.
Bob Seger is one of the most iconic names in rock music, who has sold over 50 million albums with hit songs including “Against The Wind”, “Still The Same”, “We’ve Got Tonight”, “Old Time Rock & Roll”, “Hollywood Nights”, “Even Now”, “Ramblin Gamblin Man” among others. However there sadly doesn’t exist even one biography about him. I will discuss why I think we need a Bob Seger biography.
When Bob Seger formed The Bob Seger System, he had his first US hit immediately with “Ramblin Gamblin Man” which reached Number 17 on the Billboard Hot 100 Charts in 1968. However, he couldn’t have another US hit until 1976 when “Night Moves” hit Number 4. In those years, Bob Seger worked hard performing live shows around America. I think he found it a struggle and it would be interesting reading about his hard work and persistence. During that period, The Bob Seger System broke up in 1970, and then Bob went solo though the bands he performed with were known as STK and The Borneo Band. Following that, The Silver Bullet Band was formed in 1973 (however they would not be credited on an album until 1976’s ‘Live Bullet’). It would be interesting to read about the working relationship he had with the different band members and the formation of The Silver Bullet Band who have been credited with Bob Seger on most of his work since then. The book would, of course cover how The Silver Bullet Band changed over the years. It would talk of the working relationship Bob has with The Silver Bullet Band and the contributions that they made to the songs.
It would be great to hear some stories of how he wrote his songs, including what instrument he wrote it on and the re-writes that the song went through. I’d like to hear stories from the recording studio with interviews from members of The Silver Bullet Band, producers, engineers, musicians he worked with, etc. His hit “Old Time Rock & Roll” from the ‘Stranger in Town’ album was given to him by The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section (a group of session musicians in Alabama that he recorded with many times in the 70s and 80s) and was written by George Jackson and Thomas Jones. Bob re-wrote most the of lyrics without credit. He tried recording the song with The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section and with The Silver Bullet Band, but it wasn't working so he ended up singing over the demo removing the voice of the original singer as well as adding a saxophone overdub by Silver Bullet Band saxophonist Alto Reed. It would be interesting to read why the song wasn’t working when he recorded it both with The Silver Bullet Band and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. Speaking of The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, I’d like to read about their relationship with Bob Seger featuring comments from those musicians.
Bob Seger is known for having a lot of unreleased songs, believed to be numbering several hundreds, not to mention many other songs in demo form. It would be good if this biography could feature information on songs he recorded for his albums but chose not to release describing the song and giving information on why it got taken off the album.
This book could feature information on Bob Seger’s influences taken from interviews he’s done as well as from some of the interviewees. Then, the author could listen to Bob’s music, find and describe instances of that particular influence.
In his career, Bob has produced some songs with his manager Punch Andrews and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section. I’d like to read how he collaborated with Punch and The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section as a producer. Bob has also been given co-mixing credits on some of his songs, and it would be interesting to read about the work he did in mixing.
One feature to focus on would be stories from the road throughout his career. Bob toured mainly in North America where he’s most popular, but did two European tours in 1977 and 1980. I’d like to hear how those tours were different to touring North America as well as why so far has hasn’t toured outside North America since then.
What I’ve said above are some things that can be featured in a Bob Seger biography. If you can and want to write a biography about Bob Seger, I encourage you to do so. I really hope this post will lead to a Bob Seger biography as I believe we need a biography about one of the greatest rock singers in the world.
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.
