Author Archives: admin

AC/DC, Blow Up Your Video. 25th Anniversary Retrospective.

Any serious rock fan has to only mention AC/DC’s name in any conversation to get sage old head nodding in approval and younger fans salivating as they prepare to hear more tales of one of the hardest rock acts to grace the genre in 40 years. From their 1975 debut High Voltage (Australia, 1976 elsewhere) through to the superb Dirty Deeds Done Dirt Cheap, the career defining Back In Black and finally the 1988 Blow Up Your Video, fans knew what to expect and they devoured each album in their droves.

AC/DC, Blow Up Your Video. 25th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(688 words, estimated 2:45 mins reading time)

Paul Raymond Project, Terms & Conditions Apply. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Terms & Conditions Apply may sound as foreboding as it is ominous but in the hands of cult hard rock band U.F.O.’s songwriter and rhythm guitarist Paul Raymond it is a statement of musical intent that shows just how influential and talented this talismanic Hertfordshire man is.

Paul Raymond may be better known for his work U.F.O. and the Michael Schenker Group but Terms & Conditions Apply by the Paul Raymond Project is an album of quality and distinction with some incredible small surprises mixed into the venture. Always endeavouring to make sure that the sound he creates is uppermost in the thoughts of the multitude who have listened to his work, whether in the early days with Savoy Brown or in his beloved U.F.O. band.

Paul Raymond Project, Terms & Conditions Apply. Album Review. full post

(365 words, estimated 1:28 mins reading time)

A Certain Goodbye To All That….

A few words remain not mentioned about you and I.

In a life far from unblemished and certainly not focused

We let it slip beyond the boundaries, wither and die.

As with a famine caused by confusion and crafty locusts

That tore at the flesh of our tarnished pride

To leave nothing but shells of who we were

Screaming injustice and asking supporters to take a side

Between the myopic misery and a memory sour and blur.

This bitterness breaks us both

And sees the life left over now in living decay and dust

A Certain Goodbye To All That…. full post

(133 words, estimated 32 secs reading time)

S.D.

The tubes feed me familiar words as they feed you life.

I have never met you, I had no awareness of your existence

Until recently and I have seen little of your suffering and strife.

I don’t possess the wit or the talent to write what your life meant in one sentence.

I can measure only in minute amounts your memories by fleeting photograph

On a delicate digital screen, that cumbersome and dishonest

Perverted distorter of your life, which doesn’t show all you have loved and how you laugh,

S.D. full post

(182 words, estimated 44 secs reading time)

Les Miserables, Film Review.

Cast: Hugh Jackman, Russell Crowe, Anne Hathaway, Amanda Seyfreid, Sacha Baron Cohen, Helena Bonham Carter, Eddie Redmayne, Aaron Tveit, Samantha Barks, Daniel Huttlestone, Cavin Cornwall, Josef Altin, Dave Hawley, John Barr, Adrian Scarborough, Isabelle Allen.

Surely there is no way that one of the most intriguing theatrical productions of its time can transfer all its intensity, all of its enthusiasm and guile to the cinematic screen without losing any of its radical thought or scope. Many producers have tried and not many have ever matched the experience that you get when you are as deeply involved with the tale as you are when you embroiled deep within the production as a passionate observer, however with Cameron Mackintosh at the helm and Tom Hooper as director, there is no way Les Miserables can fail.

Les Miserables, Film Review. full post

(445 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

The Art Of Falling Apart, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Tim Lynskey, Matt Rutter.

There can be no doubt that Tim Lynskey, Matt Rutter and Robert Farquhar make a formidable and astonishing team. The exhaustive and physical brilliance that Mr. Lynskey and Mr. Rutter bring to the Unity Theatre is matched stride for stride in the writing by Robert Farquhar and in The Art of Falling Apart there is very little time for the audience to get blasé as they are bombarded with a section of a man’s life that is unraveling and unwinding before everyone’s eyes.

The Art Of Falling Apart, Theatre Review. Unity Theatre, Liverpool. full post

(361 words, estimated 1:27 mins reading time)

Buckle Tongue, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Merseyside undisputedly produces some great bands of every music genre that it is possible to list and yet somehow in amongst the maelstrom and cacophony of disparate tunes and compositions, heavy metal doesn’t get that much of a look in. Very few bands have touched upon the field of crashing and brutal guitars placed within the heart of a superb drum beat and told the tale in Liverpool. From out of the darkness come the Wirral’s Buckle Tongue and one of the new great bands to watch out for in 2013.

Buckle Tongue, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(383 words, 1 image, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

Path Unknown, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool.

Ben Jones of Path Unknown. Photograph by Ian D. Hall.

 

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * *

To perform your debut gig in the spotlight of the o2 Academy’s glare takes some supreme effort and fortitude, to achieve the appreciation of an audience when you are effectively a band member down and still sound extremely good takes a band that have a great future in front of them. For Path Unknown, all bodes well and they certainly won’t be unknown for long.

Path Unknown, Gig Review. o2 Academy, Liverpool. full post

(336 words, 1 image, estimated 1:21 mins reading time)

Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). 30th Anniversary Retrospective.

It was the album that made Dave Stewart and Annie Lennox household names and gave life to the blurring of female sexuality in its songs and many accompanying videos. Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) saw the pair, in the form of their band Eurythmics, break away from their past music lives completely and take on established bands who had carved out success as part of the electronic revolution that had taken place. Driven by Dave Stewart’s excellent grip on the flourishing medium and Annie Lennox’s distinctive vocals, the pair made their commercial breakthrough with Sweet Dreams… and it was well worth it.

Eurythmics, Sweet Dreams (Are Made Of This). 30th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(804 words, 1 image, estimated 3:13 mins reading time)

Ashbury Keys, Wake Up. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The gentle refrain of well observed lyrics and well played music is not a usual thought when people think of Texas or its arts side. Although Pantera and Bowling For Soup, arguably two of the better known bands that British audiences will be aware of, divide music opinion, one with their own particular brand of Thrash Metal and the other for their party driven image, they still have a considerable following.

Ashbury Keys, Wake Up. E.P. Review. full post

(369 words, 1 image, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)