Musical Analysis pt. 2

 Musical Analysis pt. 2 - Adele

As I'm sure many of you know, Adele just released her new album and as expected, it's absolutely incredible. In my opinion, it's her best album yet, and the story behind why she wrote this album just makes it even more special to me. It was released as a single on October 14, 2021 before her whole album, called 30, was released just a few days ago on November 19, 2021. It was recorded at RAK Studios in northwest London. One song out of the whole album really stuck with me, and I can't stop singing it and listening to it. I find myself humming "Easy on Me" constantly throughout the day because it's so catchy while full of meaning, which is what I want to talk about first. 

Here is the link to the song: Easy on Me - Adele 

Meaningful lyrics:

People are drawn to songs that have lots of feeling and soul, and Adele achieves this perfectly with her song "Easy on Me" because she has stated in an interview that this album is an ode to her son, so that he can look back and listen to his mother singing to him and telling him things she can't tell him right now because he's too young. It's really beautiful to me that her son can experience that, and that Adele had the forethought to write and produce an album for her son to enjoy for the rest of his life. This song in particular is very special to me because I just went through a very rough spot in my life and listening to this song helped me through it. I'm glad it was released early because it was a big factor in helping me realize some things about myself and the people I surround myself with as well. For many people I feel this is the case with Adele's songs because she sings about real problems, not superficial things.  Her lyrics are very meaningful as well, and after listening to the song as many times as I have, I can really start to understand the meaning behind the song as a whole. 

One instrument:

Throughout this whole entire song, the only instrument being played behind Adele's vocals is a piano. This isn't unusual for Adele to do, but I feel like it's extremely hard for an artist to carry a song as well as Adele does when there is only one back up instrument being played through the whole song. Adele's voice by itself is incredible, and the way it is showcased in this song makes her sound a lot more vulnerable and gives a raw and soulful feeling to the song. Listeners can hear every word she says, which just showcases the fact that this is such an emotional song. Adele probably chose to do this so we, as listeners, would focus more on her voice than the instruments or the beat. 

Singing style:

Adele's powerful voice matched with her singing style sends shivers down my spine every time I listen to any of her songs. I can really hear her passion in this song in particular because of the reasons I stated above, but also because her voice gets more powerful and louder as the song goes on. The first verse she sings at the opening of the song is softer sounding than one of the ending verses. I think this is a subtle nod to her growing feelings for her son as he gets older, and to herself as she mentally and physically gets stronger in facing her hardships. I'm not sure many people would pick up on this slight change in vocals, but with the amount of times I've played this song I have memorized it completely. 

Other thoughts:

Every article I read about Adele's new song is saying that this is her best album yet, and according to an article by Pitchfork, which is a website that analyses music, they said that she "[...] transforms her heartbreak into a searching, graceful, and incredibly moving album." Everyone who listens to this album hears the pain and soul in her voice and can just tell this album means a lot to her, and learning that this album was specifically written for her young son makes it that much more special to the listeners. They also basically said Adele is the queen of heartbreak songs, but this album is on another level, which I completely agree with. 

Another article said that this album "[...] captured the biggest week of 2021 for any album in the U.S., surpassing the debut of Drake's Certified Lover Boy," (Caulfield, 2021) which makes sense to me because one of Adele's songs on this album has more feeling and soul put into it than all of Drake's new album put together (I'm certainly not hating on Drake, he has some pretty good songs, but you have to admit I'm right). This album also beat out Taylor Swift's album Red (Taylor's Version), which does surprise me being a Taylor Swift fan and understanding the fanbase surrounding her music. Also according to Billboard, if this album makes it to No. 1 on Billboard 200, it will be Adele's third album to be in that slot, which is incredibly impressive and I have no doubt it will be. 

Sources:

Caulfield, K. (2021, November 24). Adele's '30' surpasses Drake's 'certified lover boy' for year's biggest debut. Billboard. Retrieved November 25, 2021, from https://www.billboard.com/music/chart-beat/adele-30-tops-drake-certified-lover-boy-biggest-debut-1235002289/.  

Mapes, J. (2021, November 22). Adele: 30. Pitchfork. Retrieved November 25, 2021, from https://pitchfork.com/reviews/albums/adele-30/. 

30. Adele Wiki. (n.d.). Retrieved November 25, 2021, from https://adele.fandom.com/wiki/30.  

Music and the Fictive Dream

 Howl's Moving Castle 

    Howl's Moving Castle is an anime movie with stunning graphics and really cool characters that all come together to create, in my opinion, one of the best anime movies out there. The song that I chose to analyze from this movie is the theme song called "Merry-Go-Round of Life" and it's a beautiful song. It includes lots of string instruments and piano, which is why I like it so much. This score was composed, along with the rest of the Howl's Moving Castle soundtrack, by  Joe Hisaishi and was recorded by New Japan Philharmonic in 2004. 

    This song, and the whole soundtrack really, is used mainly to transport the viewers/listeners to  a different place. The music was written to carry the viewers into the movie itself and allow them to feel the things that the characters were feeling, through music. It's a very interesting feeling, and that's why I love this movie so much. The music soundtrack and the stunning visuals really create a whole new world available to viewers. This piece serves as the theme song to Howl's Moving Castle and serves the purpose of bringing the viewers back to the lighthearted feel of the movie after particularly sad or scary scenes, so this song is more than just part of the soundtrack. 

    This song is pretty well known by movie lovers, and especially anime lovers. After looking up a few articles, the main theme that kept popping up was just how much of an immersive experience this movie is. The soundtrack fits perfectly with the moving visuals and just provides that extra interest factor for viewers. A lot of the articles stated that they listened to the Howl's Moving Castle soundtrack on its own and hearing the music lead them to picture specifically poignant scenes from the movie. That shows how powerful this soundtrack is, and just music in general. It can make you remember things, or bring back visuals in your mind when you hear a certain song. These articles describe "Merry-Go-Round of Life" as a walk down a busy street, or a "Viennese waltz". The articles also talk about the composer's ability to take Western style music and incorporate it into Japanese anime and how interesting and intriguing this is. Joe Hisaishi has won the Japanese Academy Award for Best Music 6 times in his life, which according to this article is very impressive and not many people can say that. 

    I believe that this piece, and the soundtrack as a whole, was written for the purpose of adding an additional layer of meaning to this movie. On it's own, Howl's Moving Castle is a visual masterpiece, but adding in the auditorial masterpiece that is this soundtrack takes it to a whole other level. I think this really solidifies the emotional pull of this movie for me because I enjoy art, and this piece combines my two favorite types of art: music and movies. Having a soundtrack perfectly fit with the visuals and actually uplift and make the audience understand the overall feelings in the movie is such a huge feat to pull off, and I can say that this is one of my favorite movies. 

Sources: 

“Joe Hisaishi - Howl's Moving Castle.” Album of The Year, 30 Dec. 2016, https://www.albumoftheyear.org/album/68051-joe-hisaishi-howls-moving-castle.php 

“The Wondrous Works of Joe Hisaishi.” The Wondrous Works of Joe Hisaishi, 1 Jan. 1970, thenobleartofmusic.blogspot.com/2012/01/wondrous-works-of-joe-hisaishi.html. 

Role of the Performer

  Trans-Siberian Orchestra: Rockin' Christmas 

                                            This is a photo of all the performers in Trans-Siberian Orchestra! 

    Since it's November, I thought it would be a good time to talk about Christmas music because I love it so much. I always wait until at least November 1st so this assignment is perfectly timed. The Trans-Siberian Orchestra is a an American group that originated in Tampa, Florida in 1996 that mainly performs Christmas song renditions with a heavy metal twist. The group consists of many performers on guitar, violin, viola, and cello and bass. The founder, Paul O'Neill, wrote most of the music before he sadly passed away in 2017. He managed bands like Aerosmith, AC/DC, Joan Jett, and many other famous bands, which meant that Trans-Siberian Orchestra had a promising start, and from then on TSO went to sell over 10 million albums and even more concert tickets. The mix of rock and classical is something very unique and I think that's what draws people to this band. I personally am a fan of heavy rock music, but I also love classical music, especially because I play the violin.  

    The first song I want to look at by this group, and is also my personal favorite, is called A Mad Russian's Christmas which is a rendition of many different songs from Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite, like Dance of the Sugarplum Fairy, and the most obvious one, Russian Dance. This mash up of Tchaikovsky songs was released in 1996 and was performed live. Below are links to listen to the songs. 

1) A Mad Russian's Christmas - Trans-Siberian Orchestra

    This song has such a fun beat to it and really follows along with Tchaikovsky's Russian Dance. The added electric guitar adds lots of depth that the original version doesn't have. The original song will always be a classic, but since TSO decided to make an interpretation of their own, it seemed to jazz the song up a bit and add a flare with the electric guitar. The original beats and melodies from Russian Dance are still the same, but the added guitar riffs and back up accompaniment make it overall more interesting to listen to and adds that special unique sound that this band has created. 

2) Carol of the Bells - Trans-Siberian Orchestra     

    Although the song Carol of the Bells was originally composed by Mykola Leontovych in 1916, TSO created a rendition that added so much suspense and intensity that really made it feel like a whole new song. The steady beat of the drums along with the electric guitar and piano create such an powerful new take on this song. The original song is very soft and airy, while this rendition is very heavy and electric guitar forward. In the beginning of this song, the main instruments that are showcased are cello and flute, and then the rock beats start after a few measures. Then this song really starts to showcase the electric guitar for the remainder of the song. I think the main reason TSO started making music was to showcase the beauty of combining two genres of music that people wouldn't normally group together, or would think sounded good. They do a great job finding ways to incorporate the heavy sounding electric guitar with the light and airy sound of string instruments. 

3) Research:

    An article by The Daily Beast talks about the popularity of TSO over the last 20+ years of the band's existence. They say "Since 1999, the band has played to over 15 million people, and many of them come back for more—in 2014, the Wall Street Journal reported that repeat customers comprise 50 percent of the audience." TSO definitely has a distinct sound that people love, and the fact that they often incorporate more than one song at a time is really cool because it just shows how much different kinds of music can mesh together to make something beautiful. This article talks about something I touched on a bit, and that's the fact that one of the main vocalists of this group, Jon Oliva, used to be a member of a heavy metal band, and now he's bringing his expertise on rock music into a completely different genre of music - classical. This reinforces the fact that two genres of music, that are on complete opposite ends of the music spectrum, can come together in a beautiful way and create a new genre in itself. 

Sources:

Hitt, Tarpley. “Why Christmas Can’t Quit Trans-Siberian Orchestra, 20 Years Later.” The Daily Beast, 22 Dec. 2018, https://www.thedailybeast.com/why-christmas-cant-quit-trans-siberian-orchestra-20-years-later  

“Trans-Siberian Orchestra.” Wikipedia , 3 Aug. 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Trans-Siberian_Orchestra