Insomnia (Faithless song)

"Insomnia" is a song recorded by British dance group Faithless. Released as the band's second single, it became one of their most successful. It was released in 1995 and became a hit in Dance Charts while peaking at number 27 in the UK in 1995 and number 3 in 1996. The song also reached number 17 in the UK chart as a re-entry in 2005 and was certified Platinum by the BPI in 2015. It was voted by Mixmag readers as the fifth greatest dance record of all time.

Content

The song features Maxi Jazz singing as an insomniac while he struggles to sleep ("I toss and I turn without cease, like a curse, open my eyes and rise like yeast/At least a couple of weeks since I last slept, kept takin' sleepers, but now I keep myself pepped"). The subject is resonant with fans of dance music, since stimulant use is common in club/rave culture, and insomnia is a common side effect. The insomniac is also rather destitute ("Make my way to the refrigerator/One dry potato inside, no lie, not even bread, jam, when the light above my head went bam...").

Insomnia (composition)

Insomnia is a single-movement orchestral composition by the Finnish composer Esa-Pekka Salonen. The work was composed between March and November 2002 and was first performed on December 1, 2002 by the NHK Symphony Orchestra under Salonen.

Composition

Insomnia has a duration of roughly 20 minutes and is composed in a single movement.

Style and inspiration

Salonen described the piece as "a set of variations based on a harmonic model separated by a Ritornello-like section, which is essentially a pedal point on the note e." He further described the composition in the score program notes, writing:

The two basic archetypes of my music, the chorale and the machine, are still an important part of the vocabulary, but now they are quite often in a state of flux, one thing becoming another gradually. Even the Ritornello phrase keeps changing shape and structure; only the characteristic harmony remains the same throughout the piece.

Salonen continued:

The musical processes in Insomnia have a lot in common with the psychology of a sleepless night: some thoughts become prison cells we cannot escape; others keep coming back persistently. Towards the end of Insomnia the music finally calms down to an Adagio, dominated by the mellow sounds of the horns and the Wagner tubas. The very moment we think that we have finally arrived at the gates of sleep, the sun rises in its full glory. A new day begins, exultantly.

Insomnia (Erick Sermon album)

Insomnia is a hip-hop compilation album released in 1996. It was compiled by famous hip hop producer Erick Sermon. He produced all except two tracks on the album and recorded it in order to promote artists affiliated with him. Tommy Gunn (birthname Thomas Blincoe), a performer on this album, was murdered shortly before the album's release, and Erick dedicated this album to his memory in the liner notes.

Track listing

Samples

Funkorama

Beez Like That (Sometimes)

It's That Hit

Up Jump the Boogie

I Feel It

On The Regular

Ready for War

Reign

Chart positions

Anthem

An anthem is a musical composition of celebration, usually used as a symbol for a distinct group, particularly the national anthems of countries. Originally, and in music theory and religious contexts, it also refers more particularly to short sacred choral work and still more particularly to a specific form of Anglican church music.

Etymology

Anthem is derived from the Greek ἀντίφωνα (antíphōna) via Old English antefn. Both words originally referred to antiphons, a call-and-response style of singing. The adjectival form is "anthemic".

History

Anthems were originally a form of liturgical music. In the Church of England, the rubric appoints them to follow the third collect at morning and evening prayer. Several anthems are included in the British coronation service. The words are selected from Holy Scripture or in some cases from the Liturgy and the music is generally more elaborate and varied than that of psalm or hymn tunes. Being written for a trained choir rather than the congregation, the Anglican anthem is analogous to the motet of the Roman Catholic and Lutheran Churches but represents an essentially English musical form. Anthems may be described as "verse", "full", or "full with verse", depending on whether they are intended for soloists, the full choir, or both.

Anthem (Iced Earth song)

"Anthem" is a song by American heavy metal band Iced Earth from their album Dystopia. Since its release it has become one of the most popular tracks of the album. The song "Anthem" was described by vocalist Stu Block as a celebration of "people, the human spirit and life". A shorter version the song was also featured on the extended play 5 Songs which was released on September 19, 2011.

Music video

Produced and directed by Kosch Fabian Film, the music video for "Anthem", was released on January 24, 2012. The video was filmed at the Essigfabrik in Cologne, Germany on December 7, 2011, during the band's Dystopia World Tour. It switches between live scenes and the band on the road which are in filmed in black and white.

Jon Schaffer commented on the video on Century Media Records:

Critical reception

Caj Källmalmm, from Swedish website Hallowed named "Anthem" as one the album's best songs and Chad Bowar from About described it as "appropriately enough, anthemic." Keith Chachkes of Metal Army America also called "Anthem" "a rousing call to arms against hypocrisy and sycophants who seem to be overrunning the world these days."

Anthem (The Wildhearts song)

Anthem is a single released in August 1997 by The Wildhearts, on the Mushroom Records Label. It was the first Wildhearts single to be released on multiple formats (Formats: CD1 (MUSH6CD), CD2 (MUSH6CDX), 7" Vinyl (MUSH6S)) with different b-sides on each format, which caused some uproar at the time from longtime fans of the band. It reached number 21 on the UK chart.

The single was the first from the controversial album Endless Nameless and the first officially released Wildhearts song to feature someone other than Ginger on lead vocals, in this case bassist Danny McCormack.

CD1

CD2

7"