Thursday, May 26, 2011

Pink Panther Progresses

I have always loved Henry Mancini's Pink Panther Theme. It has a beautiful and catchy melody and a good jazz beat to it. So, when I was exploring the acts for the 2011 Prog Day festival, I was intrigued by a link to a version of the pink panther theme by a German progressive rock group called Panzerballett. I clicked on it and was instantly in love. I found it exceptionally creative in its use of elements of prog, jazz, and metal to a well-known underlying melody. To me, this is talent and creativity at its finest. How can you twist a well-known tune without mangling it? Well, in my opinion, they have done it.

And, if that's not good enough for you, make sure you also listen to the fantastic version of "Smoke On The Water" at the same site. Both of these tracks are from their album Starke Stücke which you can find on Amazon here.

1. Panzerballett - Pink Panther (192kbps MP3; 7.28MB)

2. Panzerballett - Smoke on the Water (192kbps MP3; 4.62MB)