Seize The Throne (prog-rock, bit of an epic)

[Donna D]

Just finished two days ago. For those of you with a penchant for Arthurian legends and prog-rock. 

Donna

Music/arrangement/mix: Billy Playle
Drums: John Wooten
Bass: Andy Gupta
Guitars: Bill (r4m) & Billy Playle
Narration: Billy Playle
Vocals: David Saylor
Lyrics: Donna Devine

Time:

0:00

Volume:

50

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Seize The Throne

Intro (narrated)
Valiant Uther fought
The fearsome dragon-serpent
That tyrannised wild Cumbria
His son was just as fervent
Loved honour more than anything
Arthur, once and future king

(v1)
Accompanied by noble knights
And wielding charmed Excalibur
He governed an enchanted realm
Won victories spectacular

(v2)
But an enemy was seated
At that table in the round
Nephew, maybe his own son
Evil Mordred craved the crown

Chorus
When Arthur rode to France
Attacked Rome's Lucius with Lancelot
Mordred in his role as regent
Soon devised a wicked plot
To make Guinevere his own
And in the absence of his King
Conceived a plan to seize the throne

(v3)
Mordred claimed that Arthur had been
Killed in violent battle
Then forced the Queen to marry him
Made of his aunt a chattel

(v4)
But Arthur soon returned in force
And burst into the palace
Heaved his nephew from the table
Cried I'll meet you at Camlannis!

(v5) (narrated)
Each with an army, two kings met
One real, one rank imposter
Though Arthur dealt the mortal blow
Mordred's felled him later

Bridge
What tragedy ensued
From the intrigue Mordred brewed
Though not so pure was Lancelot
Whose liaison with Guinevere
Begat the fall of Camelot

Chorus
When Arthur rode to France
Attacked Rome's Lucius with Lancelot
Mordred in his role as regent
Soon devised a wicked plot
To make Guinevere his own
And in the absence of his King
Conceived a plan to seize the throne

© 2010 Donna Devine

[Facemask93]

What a brilliant production you have here , so many great parts , epic , mega-epic more like,  your songs are so polished , Billy certainly has a good pair of lungs on him , and the instrumentation is sublime , wow , excellent

Rob

[Bluesberry]

Epic song, its gonna take many a listen to take this all in.  I'll be back with more comments after some more listens.

[T.C. Elliott]

Prog, indeed. The production is top notch, the arrangement is awesome, and the vocals are decidedly and spectacularly 80's. A pretty good mix. I definitely had my doubts when I saw it described as prog, but this lives up and exceeds my expectations.

[Ferryman]

Wow, that's PROG in the kind of epic 70s meets 80s rock. Amazing production and playing, particularly loving the bass and drums on this. Sounds pretty pro to me, I'd be interested to know the kind of set up these guys are using.

Cheers,

Nigel

[stoman]

A song with Donna's and Billy's names on it can only be a great song!

That singer David Saylor has a powerful voice. I hadn't heard it before - where did you find him?

Regards,
  Steffen

[ODH]

I've used the awsome a lot tonight, and I see no reason to stop now.  Awsome, Donna.

I'm not usually one for the Fantasy / Arthurian legend school of music making but I'll make an exception for this.  Love the arrangement and guitars. and vocals and keyboards.  Did I miss anything?

I was put in mind of Iron Maiden's take on the Rhyme of the Ancient Mariner

[Gary F]

This is a monster production!!! Soooo much talent !!!
Now it needs a movie!!!
Congrats to all involved,fantastic job!!!!
Gary

[Donna D]

Gentlemen, thank you.    It was a real thrill to see/hear the way all of this came together, from various people in different parts of the world. 

Nigel, John (the drummer) told me he uses Cubase SX, a Tascam US 1641 (digital interface), and anywhere from 4 to 8 mics on his kit, depending on what the song requires.
I'm waiting to hear from Andy about his bass set-up.

Donna

[Tangled Wires]

This is prog to the extreme, it is an amazing piece of work...so many different parts to admire and all so perfectly structured together. The vocal is the real stand out for me (it has some tough competition here!), it gives the song an even more epic feel.

Production is studio quality and all playing is faultless.

Great stuff!!