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Author Archives: brianmc
Album review : BLACK WIDOW – Sabbat Days, The Complete Anthology 1969-72 (6CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date : 30.08.24] Formed in 1969, English band, Black Widow – the “Godfathers of Occult Rock” - initially rivalled Black Sabbath. This 6 CD box set anthologises the band’s recordings. They were basically a Prog / Hard … Continue reading
Album review : RING THE BELLS AND SING – Progressive Sounds of 1975 (4 CD boxset/Remasters)
Cherry Red [Release date : 30.08.24) Ring The Bells And Sing is one more in a carefully (and imaginatively) curated series of Progrock sounds from the Cherry Red label. This one focuses exclusively on 1975. Always good to have some … Continue reading
Album review : THEN JERICO – Before The Future: 1984-89, 4 CD Boxset
Cherry Red [Release date : 23.08.24] If ever a band deserved recognition it was Then Jerico. And it still does. Having performed a few acoustic gigs this year, founder member Mark Shaw has put together an electric show for the … Continue reading
Album review : FANNY – The Reprise Years 1970-1974 (4 CD set)
Cherry Red [Release date : 23.08.24] Signed by Reprise Records (owned by Frank Sinatra) in 1970, all girl group, Fanny, recorded and released 4 albums between then and 1974. Formed by sisters June and Jean Millington, on guitar and bass, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Charity Ball, Cream, Fanny, Fanny Hill, Frank Sinatra, Millington Sisters, Mothers Pride, Reprise, review, Richard Perry, rock, seventies, sixties, Todd Rundgren
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Album review : JON ANDERSON AND THE BAND GEEKS – True
Frontiers [Release date : 23.08.24] An almost 80 year old Jon Anderson, and the Band Geeks will be finishing off their second annual US tour in September. Just about when their first album, True, is being released by Frontiers. Quite … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Blue Oyster Cult, Brian Wilson, Jon Anderson, review, Richie Castellano, Shine On, social media, True, Yes
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Album review: JOE MEEK’S TEA CHEST TAPES – From Taboo To Telstar (3CD Anthology)
Cherry Red [Release date 16.08.24] Legendary British Music producer, Joe Meek, cut his electronics’ teeth in the 1950s, operating and maintaining the complexities of the RAF’s radar equipment. His transition to recording studio maestro led to a groundbreaking series of … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Cherry Red, Geoff Goddard, Joe Meek, John Leyton, Post-war, review, Tea Chest Tapes, Telstar, The Tornados
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Album review : MIKE TRAMP – Songs Of White Lion Vol 2
Frontiers [Release date 23.08.24] Few musical artists get the chance to rerecord their old material. Still fewer improve upon the originals. White Lion’s material usually had more to say than your average rock song, lyrically it was more illustrative in … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged album, Frontiers, Led Zeppelin, Marcus Nand, Mike Tramp, Rerecordings, review, Vita Bratta, White Lion
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Album review : RICHARD PINHAS / HELDON – Le Plan and Winter Music
Other Side Music [Release date 02.08.24] It somehow seems right that “avant garde” is a French language term for something that is aesthetically innovative, especially a “work of art”, which these pieces of music from French musician, Richard Pinhas surely … Continue reading
Album review : GERRY AND THE PACEMAKERS I Like It (3 CD Anthology)
Cherry Red [Release date 16.08.24] As the sixties’ “Merseybeat” pop explosion recedes further into the past, ten album, multiple hits band, Gerry And The Pacemakers seem less and less likely to get the credit they deserve. And so this anthology … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged 3 CDs, Brian Epstein, Cherry Red, George Martin, Gerry, Liverpool, Merseybeat, Pacemakers, review, Rodgers Hammerstein, Sinatra, The Beatles
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Album review : PARALYDIUM – Universe Calls
Frontiers [Release date : 09.08.24] The success of a Progressive Rock album is almost totally dependent on creating a unique sonic landscape. The reviews of Paralydium’s previous release criticised the band’s lack of ambition. That there was no apparent attempt … Continue reading
Album review : JIM PETERIK and WORLD STAGE – Roots and Shoots Vol 2
Frontiers [Release date : 09.08.24] Peterik needs no introduction, but we’ll introduce him anyway. Most famously, he was guitarist and songwriter with Survivor, as well as several other charting bands. It’s all well documented online. But that was then. Nowadays, … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged AOR, Chicago, Frontiers, Jason Scheff, Jim Peterik, melodic rock, Neil Donnell, review, Survivor
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Album review : BLUE OYSTER CULT – 50th Anniversary Live : Second Night (2CDs+DVD)
Frontiers [Release date : 09.08.24] BOC’s 1972 album, Tyranny And Mutation (their second), continues to get 4 and 5 star reviews in the mainstream music media in its many reissued forms… special vinyl editions, special Japanese releases, 1990 and 2001 … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged 50th anniversary, album, Blue Oyster Cult, Buck Dharma, CD and DVD, Eric Bloom, Frontiers, live, review, Sony Hall New York
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Album review : MISTER MISERY – III
AFM Records [Release date : 02.08.24] Looking like a reimagined Kiss in a Gothic horror movie, Mister Misery’s dress and music sense could not be more theatrical. Nor could it fit the music any better, and vice versa. On III, … Continue reading
Album review : PRODUCERS – self titled (5 CD Boxset)
Cherry Red [Release date : 26.07.24] To call them a Supergroup would be a cliché. This collection of musicians transcends tired headlines. Chris Braide, Trevor Horn, Steve Lipson, Lol Creme and Ash Soan need no introduction to tuned in music … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS, Reissues
Tagged Ash Soan, boxset, Cherry Red, Chris Braide, Daryl Easlea, Lol Creme, Princes Trust, Producers, review, Stephen Lipson, Trevor Horn
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Album review : TORME – The Bernie Torme Archives 1985-93 (5 CDs)
Cherry Red [Release date : 26.07.24] A second volume of remastered material taken from Bernie Torme’s extraordinary career. He was a guitarist and a songwriter whose personality and positivity affected everyone he worked with. A musician with “lightning in his … Continue reading
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Tagged Archives Vol 2, Back To Babylon, Bernie Torme, Dee Snider, Demolition Ball, Gary Owens, John McCoy, LA Guns, Phil Lewis, review, Samson, TNT
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Album review : THE CHRIS SLADE TIMELINE – Timescape (2 CDs)
Brave Words [Release date : 19.07.24] There’s drummers and there’s Chris Slade. Rock royalty. A musician who knows no boundaries. One who fits seamlessly into most any genre. His CV includes 6 years with Asia, 5 years with AC/DC and … Continue reading
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Tagged AC/DC, album, Chris Slade, Genesis, James Cornford, Kansas, Manfred Manns Earthband, Timeline, Timescape, Uriah Heep
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Album review : UNCLE SLAM – Will Work For Food and When God Dies (2 CD Reissue)
Cherry Red [Release date : 26.07.24] Uncle Slam’s roots grew and blossomed in the fertile ground of Punk and Thrash, California style, in the late 80s, taking shape initially in the form of Suicidal Tendencies. Then splintering off into various … Continue reading
Album review : JOHN MILES – The Albums 1983 – 1993 (3 CDs)
Cherry Red [Release date : 19.07.24] Behind the John Miles’ name and his launchpad hit single ‘Music (Was My First Love)’ in 1976, there lay a musician whose full-on career in music can barely be crammed into a Wikipedia page. … Continue reading
Posted in ALBUM REVIEWS, ALBUM REVIEWS (Mobile), ALL POSTS
Tagged Alan Parsons, AOR, Jimmy Page, JOE COCKER, John Miles, Night Of The Proms, Play On, review, soft rock, Tina Turner, Transition, Upfront
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Album review : PAUL DI’ANNO’S WARHORSE
BraveWords Records [Release date : 19.07.24] The music here serves as a fully realised reminder of the gifts that vocalist Paul Di’Anno has displayed numerous times, originally with Iron Maiden, and then anything he’s been involved with since. Despite (or … Continue reading
Album review : NIKOLO KOTZEV – Nostradamus, The Rock Opera – studio album version and Live In Sofia version
Frontiers [Release date : 19.07.24] Writing and producing Nostradamus, the Rock Opera, was a hugely ambitious undertaking and took its architect, Nikolo (Brazen Abbot) Kotzev, 3 years to complete. Released in 2001, it sold 50,000 worldwide. A significant achievement for … Continue reading
Album review : CAN’T SEEM TO COME DOWN – The American Sounds of 1968
Cherry Red [Release date : 19.07.24] In 1968, the comedown from 1967’s “Summer Of Love” quickly dissipated, leading directly into a year of inventive, eclectic rock music, often groundbreaking, frequently influential. That’s reflected in the 3 CDs of Cherry Red/Grapefruit’s … Continue reading
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Tagged 3 CDs, American Sounds 1968, Blue Cheer, boxset, Buffalo Springfield, Dylan, Hendrix, Nixon, review, Spirit, Summer of Love, The Byrds, The Seeds, Zappa
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Album review : PALACE – Reckless Heart
Frontiers [Release date : 12.07.24] Michael Palace has long since proved that his classy debut, Master Of The Universe, was too good to be a fluke. On Reckless Heart, his fifth album, he continues to display his considerable gifts as … Continue reading
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Tagged album, Alessi, Aztec Camera, Christopher Cross, Frontiers, Kenny Loggins, Michael Palace, review, Richard Marx, soft rock, Steely Dan
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Album review : MR. BIG – Ten
Frontiers [Release date: 12.07.24] Holding the world in their hands, Mr Big say goodbye to the late Pat Torpey, the band’s drummer, who lost his battle with Parkinson’s disease in 2018. And after 35 years of flying highs and way … Continue reading
Album review : KRYPTOS – Decimator
AFM Records [Release date : 05.07.24] On their magnificent seventh album now, Indian heavy metal band, Kryptos still have their eyes on the prize. It’s always tantalisingly out of reach for most bands. Few ever get their hands on it. … Continue reading
Album review : THE BYRON BAND – On The Rocks… Again, 3CD Box Set
Cherry Red [Release date : 28.06.24] CD1: On The Rocks (1981) CD2: Demos recorded for unreleased second album (1982) CD3: Rehearsal Recording (1981), plus Live In Liverpool (1980) The title of the Byron Band’s debut album, On The Rocks, is … Continue reading
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Tagged Byron Band, David Byron, On The Rocks, review, Robin George, rock, Uriah Heep
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