21
It is ironic that the cynical rejection of
Roman Catholic imperfections by zealous Protestants did not lead to a better
religion, one completely metaphysical, but rather to a gradual, inexorable
turning away from religion under the twin pressures, axially polar, of science
and economics, those catalysts of the Age of Reason and the Industrial
Revolution, which define contemporary life even more than the political
decadence of those who rejected Catholicism from within, so to speak, in the
slide from lapsed Catholicism into republican socialism ever vulnerable to
Marxist infiltration and hence pseudo-economic subversion by effective fifth
columnists.
However, one should not overlook the fact that
while Catholicism was tolerated and even condoned within the overall context of
the United Kingdom, it was the armed struggle by republicans, whether socialist
or otherwise, that made Irish political independence from Great Britain
possible within what turned out to be the 26-county Free State, an independence
justified less on the basis of economics or science than, ironically, of
religion.
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Were I to list all the bands and/or groups that
have made the biggest impression on me over the years, at least since 1967 when
I bought my first LP, I am confident that it would stretch to well over a hundred
names, especially since, to aid memory, I am going to split the list into three
main categories, viz. British Isles (British & Irish); Continental Europe;
and North America (USA & Canada), without intending to infer any sense of
hierarchy or special merit in any of the categories, whether regarded
individually or collectively, and with apologies for those of my readers who
would also like to see a 'world' category embracing bands from South America,
Africa, Asia, Australia, etc., of which, I have to confess, there would be
precious few. So, starting with bands and/or groups based in or originating
from the
1.
The Jimi Hendrix Experience, Deep Purple, King Crimson, Cream,
the Rolling Stones, the Nice, Taste, the Who, Traffic, Ten Years After, UFO,
Michael Schenker Group (though Michael Schenker, the leader of MSG, is German, I have decided to
include this group in the British Isles category if only because, with Schenker graduating from UFO, the group began on a largely
British basis back in 1979, even if, rather like John Mayall's
Bluesbreakes, it subsequently incorporated or opted
for other elements, particularly American), Emerson Lake & Palmer (ELP),
Atomic Rooster, Spooky Tooth, Egg, Native Son, Manfred Mann's Earth Band, the
Groundhogs, Fleetwood Mac, Humble Pie, Pink Floyd, Soft Machine, Colosseum, John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers, Blind Faith, Led Zeppelin, Black Sabbath,
the Edgar Broughton Band, Third Ear Band, Pentangle, Thin Lizzy,
U2, Yes, Motorhead, No Sweat, Iron Maiden, Jethro Tull, the Ian Gillan Band, Clannad, Sky, the
Alvin Lee Band, the Spencer Davis Group, the Pete Green Splinter Group, Chicken
Shack, Gong (despite a French contingent), Levitation, Greenslade,
Snowy White & the White Flames, Whitesnake, Mahavishnu Orchestra (despite the incorporation by John
McLaughlin of Americans and other nationalities), Genesis, Colosseum
2, Horslips, the Big Jim Sullivan Band, Rainbow,
Free, Curved Air, Status Quo, Pretenders, the Hothouse Flowers, Rare Bird, Van Der Graaf Generator, the Keith Emerson Band (despite the
incorporation by Keith Emerson of American musicians), Eric Burden & the
Animals, Procul Harum, An
Emotional Fish;
2.
Focus,
Tangerine Dream, Heroes del Silencio, Artch, Spiritual Beggars, Arch Enemy, Carpe Diem, CCCP,
Brother To Brother, Alembic, Pierre Moelen's Gong,
Opus, Animato, Neuwirth & Die Extremschrammeln,
Pedro Abrunhosa & Bandemonio,
Acanto;
3.
The
Grateful Dead, the Allman Brother's Band, Santana,
the Doors, the Mothers of Invention, Quicksilver Messenger Service, Black Label
Society, Crosby Stills Nash & Young (CSN&Y), Neil Young & Crazy
Horse, Captain Beefheart & the Magic Band, the
Band, Weather Report, Return to Forever, the Chick Corea
Band, Jefferson Starship, the Steve Morse Band, the
Jan Hammer Group, Savatage, Love, Canned Heat,
Chicago, Alice Cooper (the original group), the Velvet Underground, New Riders
of the Purple Sage, the Steve Miller Band, Spirit, Iron Butterfly, Jefferson
Airplane, Black 47, Metallica, Van Halen, Steppenwolf,
the Byrds.
Interestingly, of the 100+ bands and/or groups
listed, the first category contains well over 60, the second a mere 16, and the
third some 33 names, making for over twice as many British Isles-based bands
and/or groups as American ones and substantially more of the former than of the
Continental European and North American combined. Which
should say something, I guess, about the regional nature of musical taste, not
to mention what some would claim to be the overall superiority of British rock
music.
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