Hello to all.  

Hope everyone had a great holiday.  I did as it was very relaxing listening to some of my Christmas presents.  The recent Metallica Cd titled Death Magnetic is a true return to the form of their earlier material such as Master of Puppets and Ride the Lightning.  For those of you into heavy metal, I give it 5 out of 5.  For those of you not into metal, I give it -10 out of 5.

Another release I got was the Geneis When in Rome DVD concert of their reunion show.  While the concert footage and sound is great, the documentary behind the scenes of the preparation of the tour is a real treat.  I love documentaries as it often shows that these great musicians which one looks up to are in fact only human.

All in all great stuff.

In the world of music.

Lyricist/drummer Barry Brown recorded most of his drum parts for our Rock musical a few weekends ago.  We still need to make arrangements for the completion of his parts.  All in all it was a smooth session.

The Kate Bush tribute has been put on hold due to time constraints.

I’m slowly preparing to wow the world of children with my birthday party children’s entertainment extravaganza.

FREE MUSIC is available for download at http://www.wiltonsaid.com

8 Wilton Said... songs in total will be available for short time.  Check it out.

That’s all for now.

Thanks

Wilton

By Doug LeBlanc

The third band at the NUANCE festival was organizer Wilton Said. To start with, I should offer my thanks for not playing 'Why Don't We Do It In The Road'. However, as my friend Tiffany and I went to our usual hangout at Sportster's, that very song happened to be playing.

That being said, this was not your typical Wilton Said show. For one thing, they played songs from every album, and they played them very, very well. There was an edge to their set this time, a sharpness that was noticable.

One point that reqally stood out for me during this show was Wilton's incredible degree of creativity. He writes songs about a wide variety of things in life, but never from a savage or bitter point of view. There is an understanding there, a level of compassion for people and things that is remarkable. These people and things are often beyond our normal ken; in the case of a song like 'Pretty', it is a peek into a lifestyle most of us will never know.

In some ways, Wilton Said's music is like going into the Funhouse at the circus. You may laugh at some of the funny images, and at some of the funny faces, but in the end, you realize the grotesqueness you found amusing is a reflection of yourself. You're looking into a mirror that reflects a distorted image of yourself, but not a false image.

The fact is, the music of Wilton Said is about all of us, and about things we don't like to admit to ourselves. The song writing is sharp and powerful. Perhaps I had not noticed as much before, but in this show it really stood out for me.

And that, I think, is an important point. Every time I've seen Wilton Said play, I've discovered or enjoyed something new and interesting about them. I know they seem to be overlooked a lot, and that they are an acquired taste. Like so much of the great prog music, it takes time to absorb the intensity and the intelligence behind Wilton Said. Hopefully, there will be much more to come from them in the years ahead. Doug.

Doug LeBlanc

Canadian Progressive Music Society

http://launch. groups.yahoo. com/group/ canprog/

Read my writing at:

http://Writing. Com/authors/ starlake