[CaptainCrunch]

I haven't done one of these in a long time, but it was something that I used to enjoy doing.

I was stumbling around my playlists today on Youtube and stumbled across bands that had collaborated with Orchestra's. Now how can that work, Rock and Hard rock combined with stoogey classical music playing tuxedo wearing snobby musicians. But when it works it works. Music becomes more dramatic and polished and interesting when combinations happen. So without any further preamble. I present and not in any particular order, Rock Bands collaberating with Classical Music Orchestras.

1) Scorpions with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra (2000)

A collaboration that lead to an Album (Moments of Glory and a tour). This made classic songs sound more epic and energetic, and there's a real polished feel to it. As well it just came across as louder. Rock You like a Hurricane stands out as the best example of this.



2) Deep Purple Concerto for Group and Orchestra (1969)

This came from the mind of Jon Lord who was inspired by hero another mixed performance. He started writing this on the piano and it grew in vision. It lead to a live Album with the Royal Philharmonic.



3) Metallica S&M (1999)

This took two years, to make and lead to an excellent collaboration between Metallica and the San Fransisco Symphony. Classic songs were re-arranged to have a combination of Metallica's heavy metal crunch leveled off by the more casual styles of the SFM.



4) Kiss Alive IV

What do you get when you combine Kiss and the Melbourne Symphony. Brilliants. The key thing is that Kiss didn't lay off their theatrical side, but used the Orchestra to accentuate it.



5) Yes - Symphonic Live

Yes was an insanely talented progressive Rock Band with a long history of collaboration with Orchestra's. In 2001 they release a live album that revisited a lot of their hits and improved it with the help of the European Festival Orchestra



6) Meatloaf Bat out of hell with the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra (2003)

One of the most brilliant over the top theatrical musicians in Rock, he combined a big show feel with almost little plays. But his music was brilliant and ahead of its time. So it was a natural marriage to combine Bat out of hell with an Orchestra.