Who would have thought the day would come where I sit back and say I got this classical CD come across my desk last week and I love it? That is irrelevant really because the day has come.
Rock Symphonies came in last week and I’ve been listening to it on and off throughout the week, I really like it. David Garrett has taken iconic tracks and rearranged them to combine classical and rock and emerged with an album whose tracks are recognisable and enjoyable at the same time as being brand new and having a completely new sound.
The full City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra play on all tracks along with Jeff Lipstein on Drums, Jeff Allen on Bass Guitar and of course David Garrett on Violin.
There is also guitar and piano played by Marcus Wolf, Franck Van Der Heijden and John Haywood on some tracks and Orianthi appears on Electric Guitar on Track 4 – Walk This Way.
The tracks on this CD combine some of the best in classic rock with some well known classical arrangements by Bach and Beethoven. A refreshing and surprising collection of beautiful music made new again by the extremely talented David Garrett.
At this point I am wishing this CD was released a decade ago because it features my wedding song as performed by an orchestra and sounding amazing! Metallica has performed their music with an orchestra and released a CD and DVD of the performances, here David Garrett performs Master of Puppets and does it justice.
Tracks 8 and 12 are intriguing and captivating in that they are medleys arranged by Garrett that are hauntingly familiar yet still different enough to be near on impossible to pinpoint. I find myself tapping along with the violin virtuoso totally subconsciously while I still try to capture the elusive snatches that will give away what the songs were when they were familiar.
Garrett is selling out stadium gigs in true rock concert style and selling millions of albums as he breaks the classical mould and brings the genre to a new generation of listeners. An album and an artist that I never would have come across on my own so I’m thankful it came across my desk.
Track Listing
01. Smells Like Teen Spirit
02. November Rain
03. The 5th
04. Walk This Way
05. Live And Let Die
06. Vivaldi vs. Vertigo
07. Master Of Puppets
08. 80’s Anthem
09. Toccata
10. Asturias
11. Kashmir
12. Rock Symphony
13. Peer Gynt
14. Mission Impossible
15. Rocking All Over The World
16. Thunderstruck
17. Smooth Criminal
I devour books, vampires and supernatural creatures are my genre of choice but over the past couple of years, I have broadened my horizons considerably. In a nutshell – I love to write! I love interacting with a diverse range of artists to bring you interviews. Perhaps we were perfect before – I LOVE WORDS!