NAME: Intergalactic Highway GENRE: Sci-Fi Techno-Metal PRODUCER: Tony Pappas COVER DESIGN: Tony Pappas TOTAL RUN TIME: 67:22 RELEASE DATE: 11/11/11 11:11AM (-7 GMT) TONY PAPPAS Guitar, Piano, Synths, Bass, Drums, & Voice Choir, Harp, Exotic Percussion, & Eastern Instruments performed by the East West/Quantum Leap musicians. ALL SONGS produced, composed, recorded, sequenced, mixed, & mastered by Tony Pappas at Prosonic Studios Janurary 2009 - October 2011. (p)(c) 2011 Anthony J Pappas. All rights reserved. (BMI) This new music is dedicated to my mother, Cecelia. I would like to thank all of my family and friends for their continued love and support. I would also like to thank NASA, Ridley Scott, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Stanley Kubrick, Gene Roddenberry, Frank Herbert, Edgar Rice Burroughs, Vangelis, Peter Gabriel, Devo, Joe Satriani, Megadeth, Rush, Dream Theatre, Metallica, Judas Priest, Iron Maiden, Queensrÿche, Led Zepplin, Ronnie James Dio, Wendy Carlos, Author Hudgins, and Jim Howell for their inspiration, brilliance, and support during the creation of this album. A New Style Is Born: In January 2009 the Ghosts of Orion project was created and a new style of music was born: Sci-Fi Techno-Metal. It's summed up best in the album liner notes: Sci-Fi: In 1977 I was at the very impressionable age of 7 when my father took me to see Star Wars at the movie theatre. Two years later Ridley Scott released Alien. I was blown away and would forever be fascinated with space science fiction. In the coming years books by Herbert, Burroughs, and Roddenberry would feed my young mind... Techno: In the early 80's I was in middle school and thoroughly enjoyed New Wave music. Bands like Devo, Peter Gabriel, Wall of Voodoo, A Flock of Seagulls, Frid, Thomas Dolby, Gary Numan, and others influenced my style greatly and introduced my ears to synthesis and electronic percussion. I loved the dreamy soundscapes and the raw clarity of the sound. Metal: In 1984 I was a freshman in high school when Metallica released "Ride the Lightning". Two years later they released the greatest metal album ever recorded, "Master of Puppets" and Slayer released "Reign in Blood". That year (1986) was a high-point in metal and was followed with two masterpieces to punctuate the decade: "Operation: Mindcrime" by Queensrÿche (1988) and "Rust In Peace" by Megadeth (1990). Then came the best metal band of all time, Pantera and the rest is history. Those were the years that infected me with the love for melodic metal, double-kick, and the hit-you-in-the-chest rhythm section. The Fusion: In 2007 glimpses of the three fused together started to enter my mind. By late 2008 the vision was so clear that I knew I had to write an album and share it with the world... and thus a new style was born: Sci-Fi Techno-Metal. The Album: I always wanted to create a new sound... (to go where no one had gone before) and to create a real concept album. (Which I think is a lost art these days.) It would have to be audiophile quality (because I love the SOUND of music) and it would have to take the listener on a journey to places unfamiliar and far away... but still be accessible. If I achieved all this with Intergalactic Highway then my dream has become manifest. I see music visually in my mind's eye, I paint with sound. So here is a collection of sound paintings, a journey to some place alien, a journey into sci-fi techno-metal for high-fidelity audio systems. Captain's Speech: Greetings. This is your captain speaking. We'll be blasting off in a few minutes and I just wanted to say that, if you've never traveled in space before, you are in for an amazing journey. Filled with alien textures and colors, from raw gritty power to sublime delicate beauty. This music was specifically designed to be played loud on a high fidelity system with subwoofer. So do what ever it is that you do to prepare for a pleasurable listening experience. So kick back and enjoy your trip... It was only supposed to be a relaxing vacation, but that's not how it all turned out... Faster than Light: We blast off into hyperspace and are pursued by the darkones. A battle ensues, climaxing in a single dogfight. We eject and fall through space. Benevolent Host: We delicately land near a magical alien waterfall and then lift up into the air, and turn slowly to see a magnificent city full of high spires of gold. We fly towards them, higher and higher, closer and closer, and then enter a spire window. The alien that lives there is benevolent and bestows ancient wisdom. Martian Caravan: We awaken on Mars (our first real trial). The camels are restless while we take refuge in tents from the sandstorm but we must push on. The struggle is epic and the storm is fierce. Intergalactic Highway: Free of the storm we can finally get back to space travel where we enjoy cruising on a highway that connects the galaxies. Dominie Noir: There's lots of time for reflection during space travel and we realize that sometimes our greatest teacher is the dark side of our own self. "I remember walking with a candle, from room to room, in the darkest of night. And, out of the corner of my eye, I saw what looked like a huge monster creeping up behind me. As I turned to look, in abject horror, I realized it was just my very own shadow following me where ever I went. And as the days went by I learned of terrible things. But, when it was all over, we fell back in to the ocean whole again." Spacewalk: We have time to stop and go for a spacewalk! [I dedicate this song to NASA and all the men and women who gave their lives for space travel and to those who continue to boldly go where no one has gone before... (Voice communication is of Ed White performing the first American spacewalk. Gemini 4 on June 3, 1965)] War Machine: We get called back in from the spacewalk to learn we've been requisitioned to pilot a war machine in an all-out assault against the enemy home planet. We've come along way but the war machines relentlessly march on toward mutually assured destruction. Even the machines are tormented and cry out in sorrow. The Crystillian Wars: It's always about resources and this time we fight the reptilians for crystal. Just as we capture this huge mining metropolis, we find the war is over, and can relax into bliss... for now. Andromeda: Celebrations ensue at Andromeda... but in a distant galaxy, a factory starts up and begins to hammer out new machines of death... V for Victory: We've been invited to stand in the award ceremonies back in Orion before returning home.