Category Archives: Music

Chrissy Johnson: Shake Where You’re Steady. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The multitude can write a song if they so desired and in the current age it could cause some buzz, the access to a supply of listeners never greater, never more easy to find a layer of sympathetic appreciation; but at times the truth of the situation is that the song does not come from within, it may come from the heart, but it does not come from the soul, and it is to that effect which marks the difference between a song, and a soundtrack of a life, of a memoir set to music, of pain, glory, bitterness, praise, and melancholic triumph.

Chrissy Johnson: Shake Where You’re Steady. Album Review. full post

(388 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

The Vendettas: Who’s Who In The Zoo. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Australia’s classic rock history is written in stone, it is an immoveable fact that the country has produced groups that are not only fascinating and vibrant, but are to be seen as the foundation of a society that grasps the notion of diversity as a strength, not as a lip service of appeasement, and in the fires continually serviced by stone keepers and ‘Rocksmiths’ drenched in sweat and powerful musicianship, the serving up The Vendettas as they release their new album, Who’s Who In The Zoo, is yet another layer of proof that the muscle of the genre is still going strong, flourishing, and out to show no mercy to the naysayers and demonstrative pessimists.

The Vendettas: Who’s Who In The Zoo. Album Review. full post

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

Joe Bonamassa: Breakthrough. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It is perhaps hard to imagine that the Godfather of 21st century Blues could be anything but an innovator, a creative reformer, a pioneer of the modern exposure to the craft that has seen him inspire not just his audience, but a legion of musicians who have followed in his wake and whom keep the spirit of the genre alive, keep it kicking, and making absolutely sure it never again falls prey to atrophy, to decay and wasting of talent.

Joe Bonamassa: Breakthrough. Album Review. full post

(425 words, 1 image, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Jethro Tull: Still Living In The Past. De-Luxe Box Set Edition Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision 8.5/10

The original album release of Living In The Past always felt kind of out of its own time, a series of stand-alone singles, leftovers, and memories for those who upon reflection were caught up in the band’s fever following two extraordinary pieces of artistic brilliance, the sheer theatre of Aqualung and Thick As A Brick to be able to be introduced to; the first three albums, instead of being seen as a compilation act, became instead a sounding board, a resonating confidant who’s purpose was not only as a reminder, but an exploration that resolutely, confidently asked to investigated and listened to with growing inspiration.

Jethro Tull: Still Living In The Past. De-Luxe Box Set Edition Review. full post

(500 words, 1 image, estimated 2:00 mins reading time)

Steve Hackett: The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

To reach such an immense, magnificent, anniversary as a golden celebration, one steeped in memory that has a collective following almost chomping at the bit, awaiting it seems interminably for any sign of life from the artist that might sweep the multitude off their feet as the salute to the past is garnered with extra meaning, satisfaction, almost carnival like appreciation for memorial of how dear the memory remains.

Steve Hackett: The Lamb Stands Up Live At The Royal Albert Hall. Album Review. full post

(452 words, 1 image, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Gypsy’s Kiss: Piece By Piece. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Piece By Piece the picture takes shape and reveals itself in whole; like a jigsaw puzzle where the objective is to find the frame before the detail, we are often confused in life and see the image first before we lay the foundations and the surrounding borders, the pieces making sense but not in the order where they are most effective, where the beauty of the scene laid bare will be at its most enlightening, its most enduring, and palpable.  

Gypsy’s Kiss: Piece By Piece. Album Review. full post

(432 words, 1 image, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)

Greg Amici: Tragicomic. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Many a New Jersey artist has found fame and fortune by being everything that New York isn’t. It is almost as if the bright lights that shine down on Lady Liberty reflect into the distance and catch the temple and tempting boardwalks so close to the Atlantic edge and seek refuge in the towns of Wildwood, Ocean City, and down into the beautiful scenic drives down to Cape May Court House and the memories of the old lighthouse as it keeps souls safe from harm…and by doing so offer the musician and favoured artists something that their neighbours in New York never have, an experience of a rough and beautiful tragedy buoyed by the bittersweet moving romance .

Greg Amici: Tragicomic. Album Review. full post

(400 words, 1 image, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Freya Rae: Divergence. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Captivated is the heart when it finds itself focused on a sound that feels as though a door has been opened nearby and the sweet smell of petrichor wafts through on the breeze and leads you to a place where you know the intensity of everyday bombardment has been nullified and that remains is calm and the difference of eased pressure.

Freya Rae: Divergence. Album Review. full post

(409 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Mike Ryan: The Space Where You Should Be. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The Space Where You Should Be is often filled with the ghosts of others who are determined to gatekeep success and enlightenment as a preserve of the envious and resentful, those who see your power or even your potential and focus only on keeping you out lest you displace their coveted position in people’s hearts and minds.

Mike Ryan’s place is assured through the tenacity of progression and the refusal to bow to the dogmas of war and musical dramas of another’s plectrum and strings, and as the haunting and cool procession of his brand new album, The Space Where You Should Be, settles on the dust of the past and raises its own place where heavenly sounds can be heard.

Mike Ryan: The Space Where You Should Be. Album Review. full post

(348 words, 1 image, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

John Jenkins: Restless Hearts. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

These Restless Hearts of ours are in eager need of comfort, they expect reassurance from love and the meaning of art as it eases those emotional shocks and confusions of loss, and faith. The commotions of navigating the errant nature of Time as it bypasses us, streaks by in the blink of an eye, and the disturbances of love that cause the organ at the very centre of our being to wobble and become distressed at times when we require stability and firmness of spirit.

John Jenkins: Restless Hearts. Album Review. full post

(377 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)