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GRAMMYs

Rolling Stones

Photo: Sebastian Gollnow/picture alliance via Getty Images

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Rolling Stones Announce U.S. Tour keith-richards-rolling-stones-us-tour-feels-were-coming-home

Keith Richards On Rolling Stones U.S. Tour: "Feels Like We're Coming Home"

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The self-proclaimed "Greatest Rock 'N' Roll Band in the World" is coming to the States and they are as excited about it as we are
Jennifer Velez
GRAMMYs
Nov 19, 2018 - 5:54 pm

The three-time GRAMMY-winning British classic-rock band the Rolling Stones are adding U.S. dates to their current No Filter Tour and they are just as excited as their fans to be playing American soil again.

https://twitter.com/RollingStones/status/1063130157689520129

👄 pic.twitter.com/fDeWOYpY46

— The Rolling Stones (@RollingStones) November 15, 2018

"It's great to be playing back in America," Keith Richards said in a tweet. "Feels like we're coming home."

The U.S. leg will begin in Florida in April, pass through Texas and Arizona, then head to Pasadena, Calif. in May, followed by a few other cities, eventually ending in Chicago in June. The band's tour began in 2017 in Europe.

Mick Jagger joined in the exciting news with a video of him playing the guitar while singing, "I just found out today that we're going to the USA." The frontman continued to sing out some of the cities they'll be stopping by.

https://twitter.com/MickJagger/status/1064618980516728833

See you in the US next year! 🇺🇸 https://t.co/TSFFpTUFPU #stonesnofilter pic.twitter.com/ULS4mTs4Gb

— Mick Jagger (@MickJagger) November 19, 2018

The Rolling Stones have not released a new album since their 2016 GRAMMY-winning blues cover album, Blue & Lonesome. The album won Best Traditional Blues Album at the 60th GRAMMY Awards. The band received The Recording Academy's Lifetime Achievement Award at the 28th GRAMMY Awards in 1986. Seven of the legendary rock group's recordings have been inducted into the GRAMMY Hall Of Fame including, most recently in 2018, the classic "Paint It, Black," as well as "Honky Tonk Women" and "(I Can't Get No) Satisfaction."

Richards and Jagger have both implied that they are working on new music. Jagger released a video on Sept. 4 playing a harmonica with a caption that read, "Harmonica playing on new tunes!"

"We have some stuff down, which is very interesting," Richards told the Wall Street Journal, according to Consequence of Sound. "It's more difficult for us to write together the further apart we are, but it also has its benefits in that we come back to it from a different angle."

Pre-sale tickets can be purchased on Nov. 28. More details here.

Brooklyn Will Have A Street Named For Notorious B.I.G.

Press Play At Home: Maggie Rose

Maggie Rose

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Press Play At Home: Maggie Rose 2021-press-play-at-home-maggie-rose-performs-for-your-consideration

Press Play At Home: Maggie Rose Performs A Strutting Version Of R&B Ballad "For Your Consideration"

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In the latest episode of Press Play At Home, singer/songwriter Maggie Rose performs the sharply-honed song "For Your Consideration," which she wrote with Joe Ginsburg and Megan Redmond
Morgan Enos
GRAMMYs
Apr 22, 2021 - 1:09 pm

There’s something awfully pure about Maggie Rose’s "For Your Consideration." It’s a few chords and some sharply-honed words. The singer/songwriter sings it with timeless flair.

Now, Rose has shown how all she needs is herself and some pealing hollow-body guitar to nail the tune to the wall.

Maggie Rose | Press Play At Home

In the latest episode of Press Play At Home, watch Rose perform a strutting version of the rhythm-and-blues ballad, which she wrote with Joe Ginsburg and Megan Redmond and recorded at the venerated FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. (This performance was filmed and produced by Real Music TV at Ocean Way Studios in Nashville.)

Watch the bold-as-brass performance of "For Your Consideration" above and click here to view more episodes of Press Play At Home.

Press Play At Home: Robert Finley Performs A Bluesy Version Of "Country Boy" With Dan Auerbach

Jim Steinman 1981

Jim Steinman 

Photo: Terry Lott/Sony Music Archive via Getty Images

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Remembering Jim Steinman: 10 Songs To Know remembering-jim-steinman-10-songs-know-list

Remembering Jim Steinman: 10 Songs To Know

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Exploding with raw emotion and outfitted with theatrical production, the music Jim Steinman concocted was in an effusive style all his own
Rob LeDonne
GRAMMYs
Apr 21, 2021 - 6:03 pm

If there’s ever been a rock ballad you can’t seem to get out of your head, chances are it was a Jim Steinman tune. Exploding with raw emotion and outfitted with theatrical production, the music the storied producer and writer concocted was in an effusive style all its own. News of Steinman’s death this week saddened the world, but the GRAMMY winner leaves behind an immense discography, including career-making hits for the likes of Meat Loaf, Bonnie Tyler and Celine Dion that will live on. Here are ten of Steinman’s most notable musical gems from a sparkling career full of them.

"Bat Out Of Hell"

One of Steinman’s most prolific collaborations in his illustrious run was with Micheal Lee Aday, better known as Meat Loaf. When the two met, Steinman was a fledgling writer of musicals and Loaf was a fledgling actor. The two came together to create their debut album, Bat Out of Hell, featuring a frenetic title track that Steinman hoped would be "the ultimate slash motorcycle crash song." Originally stemming from a rock-influenced musical version of Peter Pan, the project was routinely rejected thanks to its outlier style. "Everyone hated it," Steinman later said in an interview posted on his official website, noting he was turned down by at least 30 record companies. "I used to say at the time, there are people who just have a vague notion of someday starting a record company whose first act is simply to reject us," he joked. Turns out the joke was on them. Bat Out of Hell later became one of the best-selling albums of all time. 

"Paradise By The Dashboard Light"

An epic tale of teenage love, a karaoke classic, and a hallmark of classic rock radio all in one, "Paradise by the Dashboard Light" is another legendary Bat Out of Hell track that Steinman penned. The track is essentially a three-act musical in itself. At the heart of it, Meat Loaf infectiously and infamously begs his love interest: "Let me sleep on it." Steinman once said in an interview that he hoped people paid attention to the epic song’s third and final part: "You can’t get much bleaker than when [the lyrics say:] ‘I swore I’d love you until the end of time, I’ll keep that promise, I’ll keep that vow, and so now I’m praying until the end of time.'" He continued: "I just think that’s about as true and as bleak a thing you can say about the sexes and how they get together."

"I'd Do Anything For Love (But I Won't Do That)"

Meat Loaf and Steinman did the impossible on 1993’s Bat Out of Hell II: Back Into Hell, the follow-up to Bat Out of Hell, by creating a slew of tracks that were somehow both increasingly epic and more successful than the original. Case in point: the gargantuan, 12 minute-long "I'd Do Anything for Love (But I Won't Do That)," a tongue-in-cheek ballad that turns romantic schmaltz on its head. The song went on to become Meat Loaf’s only Billboard No. 1 hit and later netted a GRAMMY for Best Rock Vocal Performance, Solo.

"It’s All Coming Back To Me Now"

"It’s All Coming Back to Me Now” was originally concocted for Steinman’s musical project Pandora’s Box and later intended for Meat Loaf who ended up recording it for 2006’s Bat Out of Hell III: The Monster is Loose. But it was Celine Dion who made the blisteringly emotional track off her Falling into You album famous. Dion's album won Album Of The Year at the 39th Annual GRAMMY Awards, earning Steinman a GRAMMY in 1996. The song's thundering lyrics inspired by Emily Brontë’s classic novel Wuthering Heights and over-the-top production, including the sound of clattering drums, is classic Steinman: boisterous and bubbling with passion. "I was trying to write a song about dead things coming to life," Steinman wrote about the song. "I was trying to write a song about being enslaved and obsessed by love, not just enchanted and happy with it. It was about the dark side of love and about the extraordinary ability to be resurrected by it once dead." 

"Total Eclipse Of The Heart"

"Total Eclipse of the Heart" is another rock ballad that packs a wallop thanks to both Steinman’s handiwork and a powerhouse female singer. Steinman wrote and produced the track for Welsh singer Bonnie Tyler. One of the biggest hits of 1983, he later explained the track was a tribute to the 1922 silent horror classic Nosferatu. "I had a vision of this woman lying on the ground looking at the moon like a sacrifice." The hit became so massive that it earned Tyler a GRAMMY nomination for Best Female Pop Vocal Performance for her efforts.

"Holding Out For a Hero"

A lighter Steinman classic sung by Tyler, "Holding Out For a Hero" was produced for 1984’s Footloose soundtrack. Steinman teamed up with the movie’s screenwriter Dean Pitchford to co-write the track featuring introductory synth drums and fast-paced piano, now synonymous with '80s-era culture. The song brought Tyler and Steinman another hit together. "I made two albums with Jim, despite my record company initially thinking he wouldn’t want to work with me," Tyler told Rolling Stone upon the announcement of his passing. "Thankfully they were wrong, and can say without any doubt that Jim was a true genius."

"Making Love Out Of Nothing at All"

Peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard’s Hot 100 Chart in 1983 —only held back from No. 1 by the aforementioned Steinman hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart"—this Air Supply ballad is a heartfelt operatic rock track that serves as a rumination on passion.  "I know just how to whisper," the song goes. "And I know just how to cry. I know just where to find the answers. And I know just how to lie." The song Steinman wrote and produced, like many others, originally intended for Meat Loaf.  

"Left In The Dark"

A testament to Steinman’s range, the music-maker also counts Barbra Streisand as an artist he helped craft a hit for. In 1984, they released "Left in the Dark," which tells the story of a cheating lover. The song was originally written for what would be Steinman’s only solo album as an artist (1980’s Bad for Good), but Streisand recorded the track that also takes production elements from another of his songs: Billy Squier's "All Night Long."

"Hulk Hogan’s Theme"

Any fan of wrestling knows that the mighty Hulk was a towering legend. The powerful fighter has Steinman to thank for his wrestling ring theme song released commercially in 1985. Sung by Rick Derringer, the song is another impressive notch on Steinman’s incredible grip on '80s culture throughout music, film and sport.

"Read ‘Em And Weep"

Released by Barry Manilow in 1983 (and subsequently becoming his most recent Top 10 hit), "Read ‘Em and Weep" was written by Steinman and produced by both him and fellow music powerhouse Jimmy Iovine. However, the song wasn’t intended for Manilow originally, with Steinman penning the rock ballad for, you guessed it, Meat Loaf. "If I could only find the words I could write it all down," the song proclaims. It’s an ironic statement, considering that Steinman never seemed to be at a loss for the perfect lyric.

The Offspring Talk The Near End Of COVID-19, Why Birds Are "Badass" & New Album, 'Let The Bad Times Roll'

Zoé 2021 promo image

Zoé

Photo: Dana Trippe

News
Zoé On New Album 'Sonidos De Kármatica Resonancia' zoe-sonidos-de-karmatica-resonancia-interview

Zoé Continue To Build On Their Indie Synth Rock Legacy With 'Sonidos De Kármatica Resonancia'

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Zoé's Ángel Mosqueda talks about all the magic that went into creating 'Sonidos de Kármatica Resonancia,' the band's progression over the years and having Latin American legends record their versions of Zoé's songs
Alexis Hodoyán-Gastélum
GRAMMYs
Apr 20, 2021 - 5:16 am

Though it may not seem like it—given that sounds like reggaeton pop are currently dominating the so-called Latin music field in the streaming age—Mexicans can be huge rock snobs. So the fact that Zoé, with their signature indie rock and synthpop sonic identity, are one of today’s most emblematic Mexican rock en Español bands in and out of Latin America—a place where rock still has an invested audience—more than solidifies their position in the rock history books.

The 24-year-old band continues to build on their legacy with Sonidos de Kármatica Resonancia, their latest album since 2018’s Aztlán, released on April 16. Though their seventh album as a band, creating Sonidos de Kármatica Resonancia gave vocalist León Larregui, bassist Ángel Mosqueda, guitarist Sergio Acosta, keyboardist Jesús Báez, and drummer Rodrigo Guardiola a few firsts. "It was the first time we used different techniques to record an album, and I think there was a lot of enthusiasm on the band’s part of doing something like that," Mosqueda shared through WhatsApp call as he lounged in his Mexico City bed. "To play and record together [in the same booth] was something the band wanted to do for a long time, and we finally got to do it."

Last year brought them another unexpected first, one that changed the way they promote their music: releasing half of the album’s tracklist as singles. The band began working on Sonidos de Kármatica Resonancia in 2019 and had it locked and loaded for a 2020 release. The pandemic, of course, ended up throwing a wrench into those plans. Instead, Zoé released five singles throughout the year: "SKR," "Fiebre," "Karmadame," and "El Duelo." Their track "Velur" followed up earlier this year and now, with the album release, "Popular" is their latest single.   

Most notably, however, is the fact that the band worked with Craig Silvey, known for his work with Arcade Fire and Florence & the Machine, to produce the full album. Zoé teamed up with Silvey for some of the songs on the 2019 GRAMMY-winning album Aztlán and wanted to pursue a new direction with Sonidos de Kármatica Resonancia. Up until this album, the band had worked with Phil Vinall for their entire careers. "We’re eternally grateful [to Phil]," Mosqueda explained. "He taught us a lot. Our albums [with him] turned out incredibly. It was an amazing phase." Thanks to the nostalgic 70’s rock n’ roll flair Silvey brought into the mix, Zoé fully dove into a trippier, lucid dream-like experience with SKR. 

Zoé’s sound remains a galactic voyage, complemented with poetically introspective lyrics that simultaneously look out into the world. And though the band, who just announced their lengthy album- supporting U.S. tour, went for a heavily psychedelic sound and explored new production techniques on their new album, there’s a comforting familiarity in these songs that let you know: Yup, this is a Zoé album. 

Mosqueda spoke to GRAMMY.com last week about all the magic that went into creating Sonidos de Kármatica Resonancia, the band’s progression over the years and having Latin American legends record their versions of Zoé’s songs.

This interview was conducted in Spanish and translated to English; it has been edited and condensed for clarity.

I was recently rewatching the music video for "Azul" off of your previous album Aztlán and the plot deals with the outbreak of a virus epidemic. Two years later, do you think that’s a bit trippy given the current state of the world?

Yeah, those are things that happen. León really likes science fiction, and in this case, the story coincided in a certain way with this issue, with what happened later. And it’s something that can keep on happening. There’s always new viruses, there’s always new beings that affect us. So yes, it’s particularly interesting. 

This new album, Sonidos de Kármatica Resonancia, is the follow up to 2018’s GRAMMY-winning Aztlán. How do you feel about releasing this new record coming back from this big win?

We’re very happy. We think Aztlán was a great album that had many achievements. Among them, winning a GRAMMY, which we obviously feel very flattered, happy, and satisfied about. With this new album, we’re also very happy with the entire production process [of] recording the album. We think this will be a great release, viene con todo (we put everything into it). We’ve had a lot of support, and we’re very confident about SKR too.  

Can you talk about the story behind the album’s name?

The title makes a reference to our own music, what we’ve been doing during our now long career of a bit over 20 years. We wanted this album to have songs that are very Zoé. We believed this was a good moment to look back at our own careers and our career as a band and look at what we’ve been doing, look at the number of songs that have passed first before us and then have become part of the people’s liking. [The album] deals with that. An introspection, of looking into our own influences, both individually and as a group, and also how the influence that the group is already exerting over us when we’re composing. So on these songs [on the album] like "SKR," we can see ourselves not only in the present but also throughout our entire careers. And that what Sonidos de Kármatica Resonancia means — the music that resonates with you, that’s already part of you. 

"Popular" is the newest single. How did this song come to be?

This song is the most pop-sounding on the album, and to me personally, I love it. This song comes from two different songs. We fused one song that Chuco and I [had worked on] a demo.  León also had another demo and what we did was combine part of his song and part of ours and the result is "Popular." It’s a song we’ve always had our eye on because we knew it had those pop characteristics that are very Zoé. I think it’s a nice song. 

The album opens up with "Popular," which as you mentioned is a more upbeat track, and then it takes you on a trip that ends a little bit darker than how it started. 

On one hand we have songs that have worked really well, on the popular side, precisely, or on a mainstream level. And we also have other songs that are a bit crazier, more experimental, and even darker. The [second half] of the album is like that. I think that when fans listen to [the album cuts], they’ll have both worlds of Zoé synthesized in 10 songs. Well, that’s the intention. It would be practically impossible to do so, but that’s the intention. 

In reference to the singles that are already out, I read that you said "Velur" was the song that reflects how the band makes music. Can you expand on that?

"Velur" has a structure that’s very, very Zoé. I feel like it’s in the family of songs like "No Me Destruyas" and "Vía Láctea," without them necessarily being alike. I’d categorize that song in that same universe because, [on "Velur"] the composition is very simple, with a very simple harmony, a lush melody; [it’s] very easy to understand, and very catchy. The chorus comes in where our other choruses come in on these types of songs. [And then] there are songs on the album that are something else completely. Like you said, [on] the last three songs, the structure is very different, the chorus comes in who knows where, [but "Velur"] got a very compact treatment. It has a guitar riff, I believe, between verse 1 and 2 that’s typical Zoé. It was something that was done consciously. I wouldn’t say this is the usual way that Zoé composes music, but one of the ways Zoé composes music. Because fortunately, we have a certain brand, and our songs have a certain familiarity when it comes to our composition and structures. This album establishes that there are songs with a structure like "Velur," but there are also others like "Ese Cuadro No Me Pinta," which breaks with everything that I just mentioned, and breaks with structure, and has a very long introduction, a chorus that comes in in a very weird place. So there’s no way of pigeonholing the way that Zoé composes music.    

Now that you mention "Ese Cuadro No Me Pinta," like you said, it breaks with songs and sounds that we tend to associate with Zoé, which the first part of the album covers. Was that done intentionally? The album flows from sounds more aligned with pop and then it progressively gets darker, ending in "Bestiario," which is kind of a wtf moment. 

What happened, right? [laughs] More than it being intentional, when we compose music and when we’re arranging the songs [and] playing them in the studio, there’s a lot of intuition. The element of intuition plays a role in the creative process. On a song like "Ese Cuadro No Me Pinta," we let ourselves flow with the music, we knew it wasn’t going to be a single. We knew it was an album track in which we could extend certain things that we couldn’t do on other songs that are for radio. So, our intuition alone would tell us "give it more turns to the intro, don’t let the voice come in." Even our producer Craig Silvey would tell us, “vibe out even more.” This is a song to trip out on. And when you’re doing this, then there’s a bit of intentionality, and that’s where we start dictating which road the song is taking, and it can be a lot more free. We wouldn’t have done this exercise on "Velur." So, yes, there is a bit of intuition and a bit of intentionality. Both are present in the music. 

Speaking of Craig Silvey, how did the band come to the decision of having him produce the entire album?

With Craig, we also worked on four songs from the last album. We had an unrest about working with someone else on some songs. And things kind of worked out in a way that we had Craig on the last album. We really liked his work. We became friends, we understood each other musically really well, and for this album, the group still had that unrest about working on a full, unified album with him. We’re very, very happy that this happened. For this album, we wanted to work with the type of techniques that Craig could offer, the band thought it was the moment to try it out. And I think the result was very rewarding.

Sonidos de Karmática Resonancia is the band’s seventh album and you’ve been together for 24 years. How would you say the way you create music has changed or evolved throughout the years?

It’s changed in the sense that we have more experience. You evolve with each album, and our evolution consists of being more mature when it comes to composing, making arrangements, recording techniques. On the other hand, on each album we look to incorporate new things, new synthesizers that give you new sounds, new basses, new guitars. On this album, one of the main "development differences" was recording many songs together, playing at the same time together while we recorded. And that gave the album a special touch. It’s nothing new in music, but we hadn’t experimented with that before, and it was very fun. Some songs sound as if we were playing a show together. 

Well, now that we don’t have live shows, that vibe is more than welcomed. 

I think people will like it. The most important thing is the songs, really. The songs speak for themselves. And fortunately, the songs have come at a really good moment and we’re very happy about it. With the songs and the entire production process. 

As a bit of a side note, can we talk about Reversiones? What is it like having Latin American staples, like Alejandro Fernandez, Juanes, and Mon Laferte, record their own renditions of Zoé’s songs for a compilation album?

Well, really cool. There has been a great selection of artists who have reinterpreted our songs, people of great caliber. And other than caliber, people with a long trajectory and an enormous level of popularity. It’s an honor for us that people of that stature in this industry accepted and worked on our songs, and created great versions. It’s something really cool, to have other artists play your music.

Just to close off, is there anything you’d like to add?

I think SKR is a dignified release, a dignified representative of yet another Zoé album. It’s yet another album that has all of our affection. And we hope that if things get better globally in terms of health and economy, we can play shows because that’s primarily what we do. After making records, you gotta play them.  

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Rusty Young, central park 1975

Rusty Young 

Photo: Icon and Image/Getty Images

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Remembering Poco's Rusty Young remembering-pocos-rusty-young-country-rock-trailblazer-obit

Remembering Poco's Rusty Young, A Country-Rock Trailblazer

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Rusty Young "was an innovator on the steel guitar and carried the name Poco on for more than 50 years," Poco co-founder Richie Furay said
GRAMMYs
Apr 19, 2021 - 2:08 pm

Rusty Young, one of country-rock's originators and founder of the GRAMMY-nominated band Poco, has died. He was 75.

Young's death on April 14 was confirmed by his publicist, Mike Farley, who said he succumbed to a heart attack. 

In a statement to Variety, Poco co-founder Richie Furay said he was saddened by the loss: "Our friendship was real and he will be deeply missed. My prayers are with his wife, Mary, and his children Sara and Will."

https://twitter.com/PocoRocks/status/1383115986585350148

💔Rusty Young (1946-2021)

— Poco (@PocoRocks) April 16, 2021

As a member of Poco, Young's love for country music and ability to play several country instruments helped architect what today is known as country-rock. Poco, founded in 1968, was formed after Furay's former band Buffalo Springfield, which Neil Young was a part of, split. Furay met Young and bassist/producer Jim Messina after working together on Furay's  "Kind Woman," which meshed elements of country and rock.

"Richie was a rock and roll guy, Jimmy’s a brilliant technician and guitar player, and I played all these country instruments," Young told Spotlight Central in 2018. 

Poco, like Buffalo Springfield, was among the first bands to bring the country and rock sounds together.

"Our concept was to take rock and roll lyrics and melodies, chord changes, and add country instruments as the color around them, because I play steel guitar and banjo and mandolin, all the country instruments I could add that color and Jimmy played that James Burton, Ricky Nelson-kind of guitar," Young told Rock Cellar Magazine in 2017. "We could use this kind of country colors palette to choose from, and have it be rock and roll."

Born in Long Beach, California on Feb. 23, 1946, Norman Russell Young was raised in Colorado. Growing up, Young was surrounded by music; His grandparents were musicians and his parents would take him to country music bars. At the age of six, he began playing the pedal steel guitar.

"I think it’s a beautiful instrument! And I went on to learn to play a lot of other instruments, but I’ve always played lap steel and I still really enjoy it," he told Spotlight Central. 

"He was an innovator on the steel guitar and carried the name Poco on for more than 50 years," Furay said in a statement.

Furay and Messina ultimately left the band, but Young remained a member of Poco for more than five decades and even became one of its vocalists. Young wrote and sang the band's biggest hit "Crazy Love," released in 1979—The song reached No. 1 on Billboard's Adult Contemporary Chart. The band also earned a GRAMMY nomination years later in 1982 for their performance of "Feudin' (Track)."

Young is survived by his wife, Mary, and his children, Sara and Will.

Press Play At Home: Robert Finley Performs A Bluesy Version Of "Country Boy" With Dan Auerbach

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