Author Archives: admin

The Broadsword and The Beast. 40th Anniversary Box Set Review.

Liverpool Sound and Rating * * * * *

Critical reception in the eyes of all-knowing journalist can be tempered by understanding that they only write what they perceive to be true, or what they have been ordered to by those with a common purpose.

There was a period of time when music magazines, writers, had a ulterior motive, at some point they would knock a band so severely and claim that the record they were listening to was to be dismissed, to be wary off, and that the group in question was obviously no longer a relevance. Not every music journalist followed the line, but it is telling when you look back at old reviews that some albums which are rightly now considered as classics, have suffered from a way of thinking that had nothing to do with appreciation, and more about ego.

The Broadsword and The Beast. 40th Anniversary Box Set Review. full post

(454 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Becoming Elizabeth. Television Drama Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Alice von Rittennberg, John Heffernan, Oliver Zetterström, Jamie Parker, Romola Garai, Leo Bill, Ekow Quartey, Tom Cullen, Jacob Avery, Jamie Blackley, Alexandra Gilbreath, Bella Ramsey, Alex Macqueen, Jessica Raine, Ryan Nolan, Olivier Huband, Ruby Ashbourne Serkis, Stanley Townsend, Ben Moor, Robert Whitelock, Alfie Todd, Oliver Bennett, Lucy Speed.

Becoming Elizabeth. Television Drama Review. full post

(491 words, estimated 1:58 mins reading time)

Chapelwaite. Television Drama Series Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Cast: Adrien Brody, Emily Hampshire, Jennifer Enns, Sirena Gulamgaus, Ian Ho, Hugh Thompson, Gord Rand, Genevieve DeGraves, Trina Corkum, Devante Senior, Allegra Fulton, Eric Peterson, Michael Hough, Jennie Raymond, Dean Armstrong, Dean Armstrong, Steven McCarthy, Christopher Heyerdahl, Gabrielle Rose, Julian Richings, Gina Thornhill, James MacLean, Jeremy Akerman, Briony Merritt, Joanne Boland, Glen Lefchak, Acadia Colan, Sebastian Labelle, Charlie Rhindress, David Rosetti, Lily Gao.

Chapelwaite. Television Drama Series Review. full post

(449 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Acid Dream: The Great LSD Plot. Radio Drama Series Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Turn On, Tune in…and pay heed.

The Counter Culture, the one great promise afforded to many who would see the world for its truth after World War Two, was sold a lie in many respects, it was one that was compounded by the sincerity of belief of two people to whom had decency in their heart at the outset, and one that carried a message that there is more to life than the capitalist scream that saw millions adopt an alien experience, running themselves into the ground in search of The American Dream.

Acid Dream: The Great LSD Plot. Radio Drama Series Review. full post

(585 words, estimated 2:20 mins reading time)

Jayne Taylor: Lonely One. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The top 40 may have lost its relevance, its stature since the turn of the century lost a generation who paused their breath as the reveal of the number one was announced, their much loved artist, their latest favourite song, would it be there, the pinnacle of the week’s current adoration; but it doesn’t stop the rise of the song, of the single, from catching our ear, conscious, and soul and taking us from the Lonely One to the one who feels love, friendship, and perhaps inclusion on a larger stage.

Jayne Taylor: Lonely One. Single Review. full post

(356 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Ghosts (US). Series Two. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Cast: Rose McIver, Utkarsh Ambudkar, Brandon Scott Jones, Daielle Pinnock, Richie Moriarty, Asher Grodman, Sheila Carrasco, Rebecca Wisocky, Devan Chandler Long, Román Zaragoza, John Hartman, Betsy Sodaro, Trostan D. Lalla, Authur Holden, Nigel Downer, Stuart Fink, Christian Daoust, Rodrigo Fernandez-Stoll, Punam Petel, Nichole Sakura, Mark Linn-Baker, Crystle Lightning, Kathryn Greenwood, Mike Lane, Lindsey Broad, Matt Walsh, Matthew Baynton, Odessa A’zion, Dakota Taylor.

Of all the British comedies to have been adapted and altered for the American market, none have arguably come as close to capturing the fine nuances and characterisation that a comedy needs in order to be more than just funny, than that of Ghosts.

Ghosts (US). Series Two. Television Review. full post

(472 words, estimated 1:53 mins reading time)

Taz: Wake Up And Sweat, Vol 1. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

For a decade the music coming out of Los Angeles was raw, energetic, magnificent. It had grown from its encompassing roots of Californian 60s rock standards, flower power child sensibilities, its long hair ‘hippy’ roots and taken on a greater, more fierce, more competitive edge as it sought to outmarch bands emerging from its East Coast counterparts and those from Europe and Australia.

Taz: Wake Up And Sweat, Vol 1. Album Review. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Alice Cooper: Road. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To discover where the road may lead you, you have to first admit that being lost is just the start of the journey.

To still be producing albums of such intensity after more than 50 years is remarkable, and for that alone the legend is set in concrete, protected by a court order of significant cultural appreciation, and a monument to perseverance. Every now and then a lost soul will happen across this monument, they will pull across to the hard shoulder, read the inscription, listen to the audio description, and realise they were never lost, they just needed Alice Cooper to offer them direction.

Alice Cooper: Road. Album Review. full post

(505 words, estimated 2:01 mins reading time)

When Rivers Meet: Aces Are High. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Aces are always high, for in a world where the Kings judge they are number one, they can be beaten by those they perceive to be the lowest denominator, and that sows the seeds of overwhelming brilliance from the true aces in the pack, the ones who grow and continue to be appreciated, and not because of imposed rank, but of dedication, natural flair, and a soul that is prepared to work and graft with a truth bursting put of every seam, every pore.

When Rivers Meet: Aces Are High. Album Review. full post

(412 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Film Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Chris Pine, Michelle Rodriguez, Regé-Jean Page, Justice Smith, Sophia Lillis, Hugh Grant, Chloe Coleman, Daisy Head, Spencer Wilding, Will Irvine, Nicholas Blane, Bryan Larkin, Sarah Amankwah, Colin Carnegie, Georgia Landers, Sophia Nell Huntley, Clayton Grover, Bradley Cooper, Hayley-Marie Axe.

Dungeons & Dragons is a phenomenon of our time, more than a game, it is an icon, an industry masquerading as a competitive pastime. It is equally adored and derided, but there is no doubting the seriousness in which those who immerse themselves into the fortunes and constructed tales take as they don the imagination and furnish the creativity, and to those who watch from the sidelines, they cannot help themselves but wish to join in.

Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves. Film Review. full post

(468 words, estimated 1:52 mins reading time)