thedoors – MY ROCK MIXTAPES

The Sexiest Rock Mixtape You Will Ever Listen To

Things are about to get pretty hot in here!

Nothing wrong with being a little suggestive and naughty from time to time! Rock&Roll has always been fun and sexy, after all! Many rock tunes are regarded as too provocative, getting out of hand and even a little bit sexist, but we have to understand that making love has always been and will always be an inseparable part of music.

I’ve always been somehow drawn to this direct, quite voluptuous side of rock&roll because let’s face it – it’s what makes things so much more interesting. I have created this playlist of 20 classic rock songs that are pretty spicy but definitely worth listening to. Whether its rhythm, lyrics or the overall atmosphere, each of these songs is about to make you sweat, I guarantee it! Also, if you and your significant other are in a good mood, this playlist can be a suitable companion for your special night.

I would also like to thank my Twitter friends who also participated in the creation of this playlist! You guys are awesome (you know who you are)!

Feel like making love?

The Doors – Light My Fire (1966)

Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar (1971)

Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love (1969)

AC/DC – The Jack (1976)

Bad Company – Feel Like Making Love (1975)

Montrose – Rock Candy (1973)

Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar on Me (1987)

Scorpions – Rock You Like a Hurricane (1984)

Thunder – Dirty Love (1990)

Danger Danger – Naughty Naughty (1989)

Guns ‘N’ Roses – Rocket Queen (1987)

Winger – Seventeen (1988)

Kix – Midnight Dynamite (1985)

Great White – Baby’s on Fire (1989)

Firehouse – Hold Your Fire (1992)

38 Special – Rockin’ Into the Night (1980)

Aerosmith – Love in an Elevator (1994)

Def Leppard – All Night (1999)

Kiss – Uh! All Night (1985)

Van Halen – Hot For Teacher (1984)

Lynch Mob – Tangled in the Web (1992)

P.S. I don’t own any audio or visual material used in this publication. All the rights and credits go to the owners and/publishers.
The publication expresses my personal opinion and in no way is trying to make a generalized statement. Please be kind and considerate when you read and/or comment.

Cheers~

Playlist: 10 Of the Longest Classic Rock Songs

Pink Floyd – “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”

I was just listening to Pink Floyd’s “Shine on You Crazy Diamond” when suddenly I felt like I should browse through my music library and try to find some classic rock songs that go a little (sometimes a lot) over the average song duration. Those epic tunes have always been my favorites – there’s something so special and engaging…I mean sharing 10-20 minutes of your life with a song is indeed an engagement and this means that the song has to be more than extraordinary. I have always been fascinated by how those true rock artists manage to maintain a song for over 10 minutes – it’s quite the challenge, isn’t it?

When it comes to lengthy musical pieces, I think we can mostly find them in jazz or nowadays in electronic music. However, I argue that the rock music scene from the 60s, 70s, 80s and even 90s has a lot to offer when it comes to epic long tunes. In no particular order, here are 10 examples, chosen by me, of classic rock songs that go over the average song length. I do hope you have about 2 and half hours of your life to spend with them.

Cheers

Rush – “2112”

The title track from Rush’s fourth studio album was an absolute ground-breaking moment for the Canadian rockers. The story is set in the future – in the year of 2112 when there’s no music. A man, however, discovers the magic of music and everything changes.

Deep Purple – “Child in Time”

“Child in Time” comes from Deep Purple’s 1970 album – “Deep Purple in Rock”. It’s a very straightforward protest against the Vietnam War. Interesting fact, the song is actually based on It’s a Beautiful Day‘s psychedelic song “Bombay Calling”. Ian Gillan once said in an interview, “There are two sides to that song – the musical side and the lyrical side. On the musical side, there used to be this song ‘Bombay Calling’ by a band called It’s A Beautiful Day. It was fresh and original, when Jon was one day playing it on his keyboard. It sounded good, and we thought we’d play around with it, change it a bit and do something new keeping that as a base. But then, I had never heard the original ‘Bombay Calling’. So we created this song using the Cold War as the theme, and wrote the lines ‘Sweet child in time, you’ll see the line.’ That’s how the lyrical side came in. Then, Jon had the keyboard parts ready and Ritchie had the guitar parts ready. The song basically reflected the mood of the moment, and that’s why it became so popular.”

The Velvet Underground – “Sister Ray”

Some late ‘60s vibes with Velvet Underground! Nothing special to say about this song – it’s typical Lou Reed from the beginning till the end of it. It may be all about drugs, violence and all of these bad things in life; however the song has definitely something else to offer as well.

Pink Floyd – “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”

In my book, the kings of maintaining both lengthy and breathtaking rock tunes have to be Pink Floyd. Throughout their career, they have a great number of tracks that go over the average song duration. However, I chose those two songs specifically because I feel like they both perfectly illustrate how powerful a lengthy song can be and how well it can play with your emotions and moods. On top of that we get brilliant instrumentals, skillful improvisations and numerous important parts and details that go one after another like waves.

Pink Floyd – “Echoes”

The Doors – “The End”

Jim Morrison wrote this song about his girlfriend, however in time, it turned into something much deeper and meaningful. “The End” is one of their most emblematic tracks, coming from their self-titled debut album. He once said, “Everytime I hear that song, it means something else to me. It started out as a simple good-bye song… Probably just to a girl, but I see how it could be a goodbye to a kind of childhood. I really don’t know. I think it’s sufficiently complex and universal in its imagery that it could be almost anything you want it to be.”

Guns N’ Roses – “November Rain”

And it all comes back to this song – one of Guns N’ Roses’ greatest accomplishments of their career. “November Rain” is a beautiful power-ballad that ruled the first half of the 90s. Read more about it here: The Story of Guns N’ Roses’ “November Rain”

King Crimson – “Starless”

“Starless” has pretty much everything I love about progressive rock – smooth intro, saxophone accompaniments, jam sessions, long improvisations and memorable drums. The tune comes from King Crimson’s seventh studio album – “Red”, released in 1974.

Led Zeppelin – “Achilles Last Stand”

Achilles Last Stand” is a very essential song for the future development of British heavy metal music. Written by Jimmy Page and Robert Plant in Page’s home in California, the tune simply changed the course of rock history. On top of that, it impresses with John Bonham’s powerful drumming and John Paul Jones‘s bass line.

Jimmy Page has often referred to “Achilles Last Stand” as his favorite Led Zeppelin song.

Yes – “The Gates of Delirium”

YES are the other absolute masters of lengthy and epic rock tunes. “The Gates of Delirium” is a 22 minute progressive saga based on Leo Tolstoy’s War and Peace. It starts with a vocal section and it evolves into a mythical and rather long instrumental section. By the end of the song, you finally realize that for the past 20 minutes you have experienced the whole range of feelings – from tenseness and anxiety to calmness and hope.

45 Years Ago We Said Goodbye to Jim Morrison

Today (July, 3) in 1971, at the age of 27 we lost the legendary Jim Morrison. He was found dead in a bathtub in Paris, France. Morrison died of a heart-attack brought on by his drug abuse. It is said that the heart attack was caused by heroin, however till today his death remains a mystery as no one is really sure what exactly happened that night.

In 1971, after Jim recorded “LA Woman”, he decided to move to France with his then-girlfriend Pamela Courson. Here’s when the story becomes somehow blurred. His girlfriend lied several times and constantly changed her version of the story. On top of that, it’s well known that Jim Morrison didn’t like heroin and was against using it, despite the fact that Pam was a heroin drug addict. According to the story, Pam lied to Jim about what kind of a drug she was using that night. As Jim thought it was cocaine, he snorted some of the “white substance” which turned out to be heroine and had a heart attack almost immediately.

There are several stories about how Morrison died. One version says that he died in a night club and his body was taken to the apartment. According to another version, he woke up in the morning coughing blood, then took a bath and eventually died in the bathtub. There’s even a story about him faking his own death.

Regardless, we lost a true icon and one of the most legendary musicians of all time. Drugs were indeed a huge part of his life and eventually they took the most of him. However, throughout his relatively short career, he, along with the rest of the group members from The Doors accomplished so much. These rebellious psychedelic rockstars produced some of the biggest hits of the 60s and the beginning of the 70s, such as “Waiting For The Sun’, “Riders on the Storm”, “Light My Fire”, “Love Me Two Times”, “Love Her Madly” and many more. The talented yet rebellious band was formed in the mid-60s and was named after Aldous Huxley’s “The Doors of Perception”.

Jim Morrison grave — *Jim Morrison’s Grave, Pere Lachaise Cemetary, Paris France : Credits on photo*

Let’s celebrate the life and career of Jim by listening to some of his most famous works.

Waiting For The Sun

Light My Fire

Love Me Two Times

L.A. Woman

References:

“This Day In Music (July 3)”, retrieved from http://thisdayinmusic.com/
“How Did Jim Morrison Die?”, retrieved from http://biography.yourdictionary.com/articles/how-did-jim-morrison-die.htmlI don’t own any audio or visual material used in this publication. All the rights/credits go to the owners and/or publishers.
Cheers

How These 10 Classic Rock Bands Came Up With Their Names?

Greetings, everyone! Happy weekend – I hope you guys are doing well and having a wonderful “no-work-for-two-days” time!

For this Saturday’s publication I really wanted to prepare something informative and interesting for my readers. Then, I came up with an idea which hopefully will clear things up for some of you or reaffirm the knowledge of others. Nevertheless, it always feels quite amusing to go back to the beginning of the story of our favorite rock bands and understand how they came up with their music, lyrics, style and unique approach that was able to differentiate them among the numerous other artists in the industry. One of those special and extremely essential aspects of any rock band is of course… their name! Needless to say, in any given situation, whether it’s a company, a product, a person, a street, a city, a rock band…we define, refer, recognize and remember through names.

Some bands have indeed rather peculiar and extraordinary names which clearly identify their music, genre, characteristics and expression. With the following publication, I am going to reveal the origin of their names and try to explain why they chose to call themselves like that. I am sure that many devoted rock fans are quite familiar with the stories behind the names; however there might be people out there who are not so sure and would like to know.

We love and listen to the music of bands such as The Rolling Stones, The Beatles, Pink Floyd, Guns N’ Roses, The Ramones and we can’t stop repeating their names. Now, it’s time to find out how they came with them… I chose ten classic, old-school rock bands which I believe have some of the most interesting and memorable names in the history of rock music. Forgive me for the rather peculiar mixture, however those bands do have a lot in common…and it starts with having very cool names!

The Beatles

Let’s start with the fab five! The story begun in 1957, when young John Lennon assembled his skiffle group, first calling it the Black Jacks and eventually changing it into the Quarry Men. Throughout the years, they had a few name changes, such as Johnny and the Moondogs, the Beatals, the Silver Beetles, the Silver Beats, and the Silver Beatles, before they finally settled on the Beatles.
John Lennon actually wrote a humorous story about how the name came from. It appeared in an article in a Liverpool magazine. He said, “It came in a vision–a man appeared in a flaming pie and said unto them “From this day on you are Beatles with an A.” “Thank you, Mister Man,” they said, thanking him.” (Paul McCartney even put an album called “Flaming Pie.”)

As far as the serious version is concerned, it’s quite simple – The Crickets (Jerry Allison, Buddy Holly, and Joe B. Mauldin) were cited as a major inspiration for the name. Furthermore, the misspelling of “beetles” is a play on words, basically describing the unique “beat” of the band. In an interview, Lennon stated, “Well, I remembered the other day when somebody mentioned the Crickets at a press conference. I’d forgotten all about that. I was looking for a name like the Crickets that meant two things, and from Crickets I got to Beatles. I changed the B-e-a because it didn’t mean two things on its own — B, double-e-t-l-e-s didn’t mean two things. So, I changed the ‘a,’ added the ‘e’ to the ‘a’, and it meant two things, then….. It was beat and beetles, and when you said it people thought of crawly things, and when you read it, it was beat music.”

The Rolling Stones

Now I can’t talk about the Beatles and not talk about The Rolling Stones now can I? The story of how they decided to call themselves like that is pretty short and simple as well. The band was heavily influences by Chess Records artists, such as Muddy Waters, Chuck Berry, Little Richard, Howlin’ Wolf and many other blues musicians. In June 1962, the band’s line up consisted of Jagger, Jones, Richards, Stewart, Taylor, and drummer Tony Chapman. According to Keith Richards, Brian Jones saw a Muddy Waters LP lying on the floor, while he was talking to Jazz News on the phone. When they asked him what his band was called, he thought of Muddy Waters’ track “Rollin’ Stone”…the rest is history.

The Doors

Why did choose to call themselves the Doors? It’s very philosophical and poetical but what else did we expect from the most intense and progressive rock bands of the 60s? Jim Morrison came up with the name which was derived from a passage in William Blake’s “The Marriage of Heaven and Hell” – “When the doors of perception are cleansed, things will appear to man as they truly are… infinite.” The same passage also inspired the title of Aldous Huxley’s 1954 essay on his first psychedelic experience – “The Doors of Perception” which Jim Morrison had read.

Pink Floyd

The details behind the origin of their band name vary, however the story goes like this: At first, the band was playing under multiple names, including “Tea Set”. However, imagine their surprise when they turned up at a gig and found up that another band on the lineup was also called “Tea Set”. Syd Barret, under pressure, had to quickly come up with a new name. The alternative he settled on was The Pink Floyd Sound, after two blues musicians – Pink Anderson and Floyd Council – two of his favorite artists. Barret took the names from his record collection – perhaps he saw the sleeves side by side and had a sudden inspiration – we don’t know for sure. There’s no evidence that those two bluesmen have ever worked or recorder together, despite the fact that some people wishfully believe that Anderson and Council actually made a recording together.
The Sound part was dropped quite quickly, but The was kept for a while, until 1970. David Gilmour is also known to have referred to the group as The Pink Floyd as late as 1984.

QUEEN

Queen were originally called “Smile” – quite nice and lovely, right? Singer Freddie Mercury was the one who came up with the new name and this is what he said about it, “Years ago I thought up the name ‘Queen’ … It’s just a name, but it’s very regal obviously, and it sounds splendid … It’s a strong name, very universal and immediate. It had a lot of visual potential and was open to all sorts of interpretations. I was certainly aware of gay connotations, but that was just one face of it.” Many people associate the band name with Freddie’s sexual orientation; however that’s not the case – Queen is a very powerful word and it did open quite a few doors for the band!

KISS

When you heard the name “KISS” for the first time you thought about lovely kisses and smooches, right? Well, you may be so close and yet so far… There have been a few speculations about the name of the band. According to a rumor, going around in the 1980s, their name as an acronym for (K)ids (I)n (S)atan’s (S)ervice. Well, KISS did piss a lot of people off with their image and music, so naturally you have no idea how many of them thought of KISS as a “devil band”. Some people even believed that their records included Satanic messages when played backwards.
The not so evil version of the story goes like this: Peter Criss, the original drummer of the band was in a car with Gene Simmons, Paul Stanley and Ace Frehley in New York. The members knew that Peter used to be in a band named LIPS. They were brainstorming some ideas about a band name when Paul suddenly said, “How about KISS?”… the rest is history. Ace Frehley was the one who designed the KISS logo in 1973, which is still used today.

YES

It’s time for YES to make their official debut on my blog! I have to say, the band can’t really brag about their name since honestly it’s not so clever or that original. However, that’s the magic of it! The details behind the origin story of the name once again vary. What we know so far is that the band members were having a hard time coming up with a good name but their first gig was coming so they had to think of something quite fast. For their debut gig, they chose the name YES, suggested by Banks as being “short, positive, direct, and memorable”. It was supposed to be a temporary solution but obviously, the name stuck.

Jon Anderson told Yesspeak that while they were brainstorming for band names, Jon Anderson thought of Life, Chris Squire thought of World, and Peter Banks, kept saying yes. They asked him, whether he means “The Yes?” but he said “No, Yes”…

There’s also the “Yellow Submarine” theory, according to which they got the name from the long scene during “It’s Only a Northern Song” where the word “Yes” multiples on the screen in big bold block letters with exclamation points.

The Ramones

Say hello to The Ramones – the Punk Rock Gods I love so much! I’m sure that at one point we were all asking ourselves what does “Ramones” stand for and how did they chose this particular family name? Well, according to sources, they chose the name as a tribute to Paul McCartney who used the alias “Paul Ramone” when he would book or check into hotels, incognito. All band members adopted pseudonyms ending with the surname “Ramone”, even though that was not their given name and were not related in any way – original members named themselves Joey Ramone, Johnny Ramone, Dee Dee Ramone and Tommy Ramone; other members include Marky Ramone, Richie Ramone, Elvis Ramone and C. J. Ramone.

Guns N’ Roses

I decided to include Guns N’ Roses because to my surprise, a lot of people are not so familiar with the origin story of the band name, which by the way is so short and simple.

When I heard the name for the first time, I thought it was a clever symbolic representation of their music: “guns” – something deadly and dangerous, and “roses” – something gentle and romantic. However, the reason why they chose the name is because of the members’ previous bands. Axl Rose and and rhythm guitarist Izzy Stradlin of Hollywood Rose, joined forces with lead guitarist Tracii Guns, bassist Ole Beich, and drummer Rob Gardner of L.A. Guns. They simply combined the names of both previous group and settled upon Guns N’ Roses.

Judas Priest

Coming from Birmingham, England, Judas Priest is probably the heavy metal band that matters the most, judging by the nickname they got – The Metal Gods.
The expression “Judas Priest” was once used to cloak the words “Jesus Christ” when these were intended as a curse – something like “Gee” or “Gosh!” However, that’s not the case with Judas Priest. The inspiration for the band name was the song “The Ballad of Frankie Lee and Judas Priest”, carved into vinyl by Bob Dylan in 1967. Bruno Stapenhill was the one who came up with the name. The band was also regularly rehearsing at his house in Stone Cross.

Credits:

“Where did the Beatles come up with the band’s name?”, retrieved from https://www.quora.com/Where-did-the-Beatles-come-up-with-the-bands-name
The Doors Biography, retrieved from https://rockhall.com/inductees/the-doors/bio/
What is the meaning of Pink Floyd that inspired the band’s name?, retrieved from https://www.quora.com/What-is-the-meaning-of-Pink-Floyd-that-inspired-the-bands-name
Stories Behind Band Names, retrieved from http://www.noiseaddicts.com/2011/02/band-names-poison-queen-kiss-bon-jovi-motley-crue/
YES – band name origin, retrieved from http://www.progarchives.com/forum/forum_posts.asp?TID=8362
Guns N’ Roses – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia, retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guns_N’_Roses
Judas Priest Band name meaning, retrieved from http://bandnaming.blogspot.kr/2013/04/judas-priest-band-name-meaning.html
Why did they choose the name Ramones?, retrieved from http://dyingscene.com/news/why-did-they-choose-the-name-ramones/
List of band name etymologies, retrieved from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_band_name_etymologies

P.S . I don’t own any audio or visual material used in this publication. All the credits and rights go to the owners and/or publishers.

Happy Birthday, Jim Morrison!

forever 27 and forever in our hearts!

James Douglas “Jim” Morrison was born on December 8th, 1943 and died on July the 3rd, 1971! He was one of the most legendary and notable American singers, songwriters, showmen and poets and most certainly one of the biggest rockstars on the world! He is of course mostly famous for being the frontman of The Doors – one of the bands that defined rock music in the late 60s and that popularized psychedelic rock. Not only was he influencing people with his music, but he was also one of the most beloved cultural icons who stood for young people and counterculture!
He died at the age of 27 and became one of the members of the infamous “27 club”, along with artists such as Brian Jones, Jimi Hendrix and Janis Joplin.
What I mostly admire about him was the ability to improvise and include poetry in his music, especially during life performances. I am not going to talk about the way he lived because for sure – he was out of control and was a heavy drug user. What I want to focus on is his legacy. He is undoubtedly one of the greatest male singers of all time -with that distinctive sensual, delicate and rather sexual vocal delivery you can’t but admire him and lose yourself in his music. Also, the music he and his band played set grounds for progressive rock and eventually punk rock music. He had a wild stage persona and that is what made him so unique. He was most certainly not one of those humble musicians – he was feeling the music with all his body and soul and was showing it rather freely and explicitly. Through his lyrics, he wanted to open the minds and the hearts of people. Also, the disaffected young generation of the 60s was able to find themselves in his songs! For that and for many other reasons, today I decided to write a little post about this great rockstar! Sadly, we lost him at a very young age and who knows what could’ve happened if he was still alive…
Happy Birthday, Jim!

Velina

xoxox

10 Famous Rock Band Logos and The Meaning Behind Them?

Greetings!
For today’s publication I decided to take a different approach and go to another direction, rather than talking about music or songs like I usually do. As a person who specializes in media industry and PR, I would like to emphasize on the extreme importance of the logotype – or logo (which is the abbreviation) when it comes to promotion, establishing individuality and gaining recognition and respect from the public. Every major organization or commercial enterprise has a unique and distinctive logo design, which people can almost instantly identify. In addition, individuals can also use a logo to boost their image and embody their character and individuality. Coming up with a logo design can be a very challenging task since this little graphic or word mark image is supposed to be special, easy to remember and at the same time represent an identity and differentiate the brand. Moreover, the logo of an organization or a person usually appears or numerous platforms – it turns into a signature and a face.
As I already said designing a logo or even coming with an idea of a cool and rather unique logo can be a very difficult task. However, numerous rock bands managed to create a distinctive logo which carries their spirit and tells something about them to the fans. I am sure that many of you guys are already thinking or have a rock band logo in mind – they are that memorable! Band logos are used in numerous ways – mostly on T-Shirts, albums, mugs and all kinds of merchandise. It is rare to see a picture of the band or the musician on a T-Shirt for example – usually we see the logo of the band. Thus, when we, the fans, wear it we experience the satisfaction of identifying with the band and being part of them.
To me personally, the 70s and the 80s was the golden age of band logos – I believe back then, musicians (especially hard rock/glam rock/heavy metal bands) were putting much more effort into creating beautiful and memorable logos for their band, compared to today. Bottom line is, every band is different and has an image. Thus, the way this distinctive image is crafted, packaged and delivered is beyond important! I came up with the idea of this publication a few days ago when I was looking at Led Zeppelin’s logo design and wondered if people really know what those symbols mean. I believe people have seen and are aware of such iconic rock band logos but may not be so familiar with the meaning behind them. That’s why I decided to make this post – it is going to be rather informative but I still will analyze and give my opinions. I hope you’ll enjoy and learn something new! So here there are – some of the most famous rock band logos!

The Rolling Stones

I just had to start with Rolling Stones – the big red mouth is probably the most memorable and widely recognizable band logos ever! The “Tongue and Lips” logo, which some have shortened to just “Hot Lips”, was created in 1970 by British graphic designer John Pasche. Interesting fact – the 24 year old (back then) John accepted only £50 (about $77) to come up with a design for the band. Originally, Mick Jagger wanted a logo resembling Kali – the Hindu goddess of energy. The goddess is usually portrayed with a large mouth and her tongue sticking out, however Pasche found a much bigger inspiration in Jagger himself. “I went into this sort of wood-paneled boardroom and there he was,” Pasche said. “Face-to-face with him, the first thing you were aware of was the size of his lips and mouth.” So at the end, it was purposefully created to resemble Mick Jagger’s mouth! So cool, right?

Led Zeppelin

“After all this crap that we’d had with the critics, I put it to everybody else that it’d be a good idea to put out something totally anonymous. At first I wanted just one symbol on it, but then it was decided that since it was our fourth album and there were four of us, we could each choose our own symbol. I designed mine and everyone else had their own reasons for using the symbols that they used,” – Jimmy Paige.
I specifically chose the logo with the symbols from the epic Led Zeppelin IV album, because many people don’t really know what they stand for or at least why where they placed there.
Drummer John Bonham’s symbol consists of three interlocking rings, which represent the mother, the father and the child. The symbol was chosen from Rudolf Koch’s Book of Signs.
Bassist John Paul Jones’ symbol was also chosen from the same book. It resembles a circle intersecting 3 vesica pisces (a triquetra) and it symbolizes a person who has confidence and competence.
Singer Robert Plant’s symbol is a feather inside a circle and was designed by him. The feather is an emblem of a writer (ie song lyrics) and also it is based on the lost civilizations and continent of Mu.
Jimmy Paige designed his own symbol and it is often referred as “ZoSo”. He never publically explained or stated what the true meaning behind the symbol is, however it was discovered that it dates back to at least 1557 and it represents Saturn.
There is also a fifth and smaller symbol, chose by vocalist Sandy Denny for her contribution to the “The Battle of Evermore“ song. It is an old Christian symbol for the Godhead.

Guns n Roses

One of the most recognizable logos in history! To me, personally, this is also one of the most beautiful rock band logos ever! That is why I will just focus on this one for now and won’t talk about the skull logo (which is also very famous by the way). It has poetic, sensitive and romantic side, as well as a violent and a bad one. The logo itself consists of two revolvers and roses with thorns wrapped around the guns. Many people also miss the fact that the back view – the brass ring with the silver primer in the middle, behind the guns and the roses is actually a bullet casing. Pretty interesting, right? Also, for those of you who don’t know why exactly guns and roses – the name of the band is a combination of the last names of Tracii Guns and Axl Rose. It is also a reference to their previous bands – Hollywood Rose and LA Guns.

The Ramones

Ah, the Ramones! This is probably one of my most favourite band logos (and bands as a matter of fact) of all time! It was designed by Arturo Vega and many people say that he basically “put the seal on their success”. Interesting fact – he was not only their “creative director” and archivist but also their very good friend – he is sometimes considered as the “fifth ramone”. Instead of trying to explain it with my own words, I would rather quote the designer himself talking about his ideas and motive behind the infamous seal logo. “I saw them as the ultimate all-American band. To me, they reflected the American character in general. I thought the great seal of the president of the United States would be perfect for the Ramones, with the eagle holding arrows – to symbolise strength and the aggression that would be used against whoever dares to attack us – and an olive branch, offered to those who want to be friendly. But we decided to change it a little bit. Instead of the olive branch, we had an apple tree branch, since the Ramones were American as apple pie. And since Johnny was such a baseball fanatic, we had the eagle hold a baseball bat instead of the arrows,” said Arturo Vega.

Queen

Queen! The infamous band logo was designed by Freddie Mercury shortly before the official release of their debut album. The logo illustrates the zodiac signs of all four members of the band – two lions for Leo (Deacon and Taylor), a crab for Cancer (May), and two fairies for Virgo (Mercury). The two lions are embracing the letter Q which also has a crown inside of it. The logo itself has a very strong resemblance to the Royal coat of arms of the United Kingdom. It is very pictorial and colourful – that’s the beauty of it! Honestly to me it is a bit too much for a logo – but then again – it’s Freddie and Queen we are talking about! The logo has to be as majestic and pompous as possible!

Van Halen

It is because I love Van Halen so much that I decided to show the two distinctive logos of the band – from the David and Sammy period. Interesting fact, before the first logo they had a few not so good ones and definitely not worth mentioning.
These logos – and especially the second one, are topping my list for most favourite band logos. I like simple but powerful and memorable designs and I feel like this one delivered it in the best way possible. The logos consist of the initials of the band name – V and H. The first logo was introduced in 1978 and the second one in 1986 when Sammy Hagar became the new lead vocalist of the band. With the new frontman, the logo changed just a little – it became more 3D-ish and the wings on both sides of the initials were transformed into rings to show the notable change in Van Halen’s lineup. The iconic winged Van Halen logo was designed by Dave Bhang in 1978. He also drew up a new cover for their first album (since the initial proposal from Warner Brothers was declined by the members).

AC/DC

In my opinion this is also one of the greatest examples of how a logo can become such an important part of a band’s identity! I am sure there’s not a single rock fan in the world who doesn’t know or haven’t seen this logo at least once in their lives. This is not a publication dedicated to the meaning behind band’s names, however in this case I need to mention the relationship between the logo and the name of the band. AC/DC is an abbreviation meaning “alternating current/direct current” electricity. Malcolm and Angus Young came up with the idea after their sister (Margaret Young) saw the initials on a sewing machine. It somehow suited perfectly to their raw energy and powerful live performances –that is also the reason why there’s a lightning bolt between AC and DC. The logo was designed in 1977 by Gerard Huerta and it first appeared on the international version of their album Let There Be Rock.

Bon Jovi

Just like Guns n Roses’ logo – I think this is also one of the most beautiful rock band logos of all time. Once again, we see a combination of two distinctive elements – a heart and a dagger. It is also a famous design for tattoos. There is no specific information about what exactly is the true meaning behind the logo, however once thing is for sure – when people are in love, they feel pain. It focuses on sensitivity, heartbreak and romance and has some gothic elements which make it even more remarkable and loved by many rock fans. The logo was first introduced for the band’s “New Jersey” tour merchandise and after that it just stuck and became one of the most memorable logos ever.

Aerosmith

It is a very beautiful logo perfectly suited for rockstars such as Aerosmith. It was designed by Ray Tabano, who was a member of the original Aerosmith lineup before being replaced by Brad Whitford. The logo first appeared in 1974 on the album “Get your wings”. It is very stylish, black and white logo with a large letter “A” that spreads its wings on the background. There are also other important elements such as a little star and the wings – which symbolize freedom and movement. Also, there’s a circle around the letter “A”, which sort of reminds us about the famous anarchy symbol.

The Doors

This logo just screams “60s”! It is very simple and it includes only the name of the band. I think it is one of the perfect logos to use on T-shirts or other kinds of merchandise – it stands out and it is very easy to read. Firstly, there is a tiny but very essential “the” on top of the name which uses the typical psychedelic typeface of the 60s. Also, the two “O”s are split in the middle and resemble pills – hmm…I wonder why…? The logo itself was designed by an Elektra Records assistant and it first appeared on their 1967 debut album. This is a perfect example of how sometimes the simple logos are the best.

References:

https://en.wikipedia.org
http://www.spellbrand.com
http://www.ign.com
http://yahoo.com

P.S. I don’t own any audio or visual material used in this publication. All the rights and credits go to the owners and/publishers.
The publication expresses my personal opinion and in no way is trying to make a generalized statement. Please be kind and considerate when you read and/or comment.
Cheers~

Feel like making love?

The Doors – Light My Fire (1966)

Rolling Stones – Brown Sugar (1971)

Led Zeppelin – Whole Lotta Love (1969)

AC/DC – The Jack (1976)

Bad Company – Feel Like Making Love (1975)

Montrose – Rock Candy (1973)

Def Leppard – Pour Some Sugar on Me (1987)

Scorpions – Rock You Like a Hurricane (1984)

Thunder – Dirty Love (1990)

Danger Danger – Naughty Naughty (1989)

Guns ‘N’ Roses – Rocket Queen (1987)

Winger – Seventeen (1988)

Kix – Midnight Dynamite (1985)

Great White – Baby’s on Fire (1989)

Firehouse – Hold Your Fire (1992)

38 Special – Rockin’ Into the Night (1980)

Aerosmith – Love in an Elevator (1994)

Def Leppard – All Night (1999)

Kiss – Uh! All Night (1985)

Van Halen – Hot For Teacher (1984)

Lynch Mob – Tangled in the Web (1992)

P.S. I don’t own any audio or visual material used in this publication. All the rights and credits go to the owners and/publishers. The publication expresses my personal opinion and in no way is trying to make a generalized statement. Please be kind and considerate when you read and/or comment.

Cheers~

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Rush – “2112”

Deep Purple – “Child in Time”

The Velvet Underground – “Sister Ray”

Pink Floyd – “Shine on You Crazy Diamond”

Pink Floyd – “Echoes”

The Doors – “The End”

Guns N’ Roses – “November Rain”

King Crimson – “Starless”

Led Zeppelin – “Achilles Last Stand”

Yes – “The Gates of Delirium”

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Like this:

Waiting For The Sun

Light My Fire

Love Me Two Times

L.A. Woman

References:

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The Beatles

The Rolling Stones

The Doors

Pink Floyd

QUEEN

KISS

YES

The Ramones

Guns N’ Roses

Judas Priest

Credits:

P.S . I don’t own any audio or visual material used in this publication. All the credits and rights go to the owners and/or publishers.

Feel free to share this with your friends...

Like this:

Feel free to share this with your friends...

Like this:

The Rolling Stones

Led Zeppelin

Guns n Roses

The Ramones

Queen

Van Halen

AC/DC

Bon Jovi

Aerosmith

The Doors

References:

Feel free to share this with your friends...

Like this:

P.S. I don’t own any audio or visual material used in this publication. All the rights and credits go to the owners and/publishers.
The publication expresses my personal opinion and in no way is trying to make a generalized statement. Please be kind and considerate when you read and/or comment.