Inside Out – Out Now.

Musicians are truly unpredictable creatures! Take, for instance, British-born singer/songwriter Tim Bowness. Though a fairly active entity in the Progressive Rock scene, his valuable services provided to top-quality artists such as Robert Fripp, OSI and his long-term collaborator Steven Wilson of Porcupine Tree fame, it took the man ten whole years to create a follow-up to his debut solo album “My Hotel Year”.

Then, just as his fans braced themselves for another lengthy period of personal artistic drought, the fifty one year old maestro stunned us all by announcing the release of another impressive collection of songs – one that corms under the pretty amusing title “Stupid Things That Mean The World”.

Featuring once again collaborations by giants of the scene such as Peter Hammill (Van der Graaf Generator), Pat Mastelotto (King Crimson) and Anna Phoebe (Trans-Siberian Orchestra, Jethro Tull), and with Bruce Soord (The Pineapple Thief) handling all mixing duties, “Stupid Things That Mean The World” is a continuation of the same musical journey undertaken by its predecessor only a year ago – a fact that I’m sure will delight Tim’s fans as “Abandoned Dancehall Dreams” scored pretty high on last year’s UK Rock charts, much to its creator’s delight.

So, if your idea of good quality music involves deep/passionate vocals, moody 70s-influenced piano/keyboard themes and layers upon layers of Floyd-influenced guitar nuances then you’re really in for a treat.

Based on a simple repetitive trance-like drum beat and filled with Tim’s trademark/passionate vocals, “The Great Electric Teenage Dream” opens the album in a truly emotional manner while the Floyd-esque guitar solo and the impressive string instrumentation of the Beatles-influenced “Sing To Me” keeps the album’s quality bar immensely high.

While in “Where You’ve Always Been” we have another good example of Tim’s unique ability of creating a good quality atmospheric Rock tune by mixing themes that are, at first sight, pretty simple in nature, the same-titled “Stupid Things That Mean The World” finds his indulge in up-beat Pop tunes that most of his colleagues would avoid like the plague.

It is at this very moment that you will presented with the amazing tunes of “Know That You Were Loved” – a six and a half minute acoustic guitar ballad with a vocal execution reminiscent of those performed by the mighty James LaBrie of the US Prog legends Dream Theater.

Groovy and much more up-beat, “Press Reset” will most certainly lift your spirits before it’s more moody siblings “All These Escapes” and “Everything You’re Not” bring the focus back into their moody bit pretty inviting melodies.

“Everything But You” is a one minute instrumental oozing Jethro Tull’s influence while the equally short piano-led “Soft William” paves the way for the absolutely delightful “At The End Of The Holiday” – a five minute piece filled with emotionally-charged orchestral themes and acoustic guitar melodies to die for.

It really beggars belief how Tim Bowness managed to create such an expertly arranged & well-balanced collection of songs in such a short period of time but I, for one, am not going to complain about it.

“Stupid Things That Mean The World” is another perfect example of Tim’s unique skills and artistic prowess – an album that may initially come across as moody affair that can only be truly appreciated under specific circumstances but one whose charms could and should be indulged constantly. ****

Review by John Stefanis

Featured Artist: JOSH TAERK

Since early 2020 Josh has been entertaining us with exclusive monthly live sessions, streamed via Facebook.
In 2023 he signed a recording deal with Sony in Canada and released a new single on 15 September.

Next session: Sunday 1 December

Check out videos here: https://www.facebook.com/getreadytorockradio

David Randall presents a weekly show on Get Ready to ROCK! Radio, Sundays at 22:00 GMT, repeated on Mondays and Fridays), when he invites listeners to ‘Assume The Position’. The show signposts forthcoming gigs and tours and latest additions at getreadytorock.com. First broadcast on 20 October 2024.

UK Blues Broadcaster of the Year (2020 and 2021 Finalist) Pete Feenstra presents his weekly Rock & Blues Show on Tuesday at 19:00 GMT as part of a five hour blues rock marathon “Tuesday is Bluesday at GRTR!”. The show is repeated on Wednesdays at 22:00, Fridays at 20:00). This show was first broadcast 22 October 2024.

How to Listen Live?

Click the programming image at the top of the page (top right of page if using desktop)

Listen via Windows Media Player. Click or tap here and “open file”
Listen via other media player (eg. VLC) Click or tap here and “open file”

Get Ready to ROCK! Radio is also in iTunes under Internet Radio/Classic Rock
Listen in via the Tunein app and search for “Get Ready to ROCK!” and save as favourite.

More information and links at our radio website where you can listen again to shows via the presenter pages: getreadytorockradio.com

Power Plays w/c 28 October 2024

THE RASMUS Rest In Pieces (Better Noise Music)
THE PLAGUE What Else Can I Do (FiXT)
STAR CIRCUS Turn The Tide (indie)
DEFENCES Breathe It In (Long Branch Records)

Featured Albums w/c 28 October 2024

09:00-12:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Rock)
12:00-13:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Melodic Hard Rock)
14:00-16:00 The Best of 2003-2023 (Singer Songwriter)