New Songs Posted November 8, 2009
Posted by Steve » add a commentRun on over to the songs page where you’ll be able to see all the songs we’ve added. You can also hear the audio for nearly all of them. We’ll be adding more songs soon from earlier releases by the band.
Feel free to comment on a song if you feel the need!
Why a rock opera? August 3, 2008
Posted by Steve » add a commentThe Lighthouse Effect as we mentioned is an opera of the rock variety. What does that mean? It’s a good question considering there haven’t really been that many. There’s Tommy by The Who and there’s Ziggy Stardust by David Bowie, but what makes them opera’s? You could argue they simply used the term for marketing purposes or the opposite view of it being a label someone else applied.
For me, being one involved with the composition and the story, it means a musical performance that tells a story entirely through song. I refer to the Lighthouse Effect as a rock opera because of this; I also have no problem with labels, I have learnt of the importance of them when trying to describe something.
We put the story together based upon a selection of our songs which were in turn influenced by our life experiences when they were written. I then added a few musical interludes as a way to transition the story in a couple of strategic places. Add a healthy sprinkling of theatrical presentation and the result is our opera.
The question remains, why write an opera in the first place. Don’t the songs stand up in their own right? I happen to think they do, but framing them within the context of an emotional story makes them that much more powerful, a greater than the sum of the parts. This is the first reason, we wanted to present our material in the best light possible. We have always felt that if we are to perform then it should be a performance and not a bunch of people standing on stage playing instruments. This, of course, is the second reason, we wanted to make it a more compelling presentation.
The third reason is touch more ambitious in that we wanted to use the emotional content in the show as a way to invoke thought and discusion about relationships.
As far as what other people get out of the show, I look forward to your feedback.
