Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The dawn of a new day, the burst of sunlight upon your face and the aroma of a rose bush hanging in the air is nothing if you don’t face the moment with appreciation, with your senses unlocked to the possibility of calm and joy; from your mind welcoming the new sensation, through to ears receptive of the new storm to the Eyes Wide Open in belief, the dawn of new things is there for the taking.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
The Devil may always take his due but the music will always belong to a higher authority when it comes to the muse and the sound of the joy that comes from within, The Angel’s Share will always be one that gets the most attention.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The great Rock Opera, derided by some for its excess and supposed almost pantomime exuberance, adored by many for its clarity of enthusiasm, the energy and dynamic beauty that is unleashed, set free from the chains of regulated time keeping and enclosed lyrics. Whichever camp you fall into, love it or loathe it, there can be no denying that it brings out the very best in some and when a partnership that has endured on and off for almost 40 years as Meat Loaf’s and Jim Steinman’s, that best is almost statesmen like, godly, true and infectious.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
There will always be those musicians who seem to pack in so many different styles and varieties into their albums that it can feel as if they have found the recipe for the perfect selection box. The sound of the horn encased within one layer and wrapping, the texture of a night spent with friends in a New Orleans Jazz Bar nestled firmly in to the box and the nugget of the right blend and satisfied crunch of flourish and thriving fanfare that makes any selection box worth having any time of year.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
We live in a time when commemorations and anniversaries are common place, we seem, quite rightly to remember and revere the past now with more affection and memory than we would have done even a generation ago; yet somehow we don’t seem to really grasp the enormity of those times as much as our collective tears and silent bows of heads suggest we should. We cannot understand just by the odd allusion to the fallen just what some gave in their fight for freedom; No Force On Earth can do that unless we ourselves lived through it or we have the power of a master story teller to be able to focus our attention on what happened and how the people lived.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
Time passes, it is as inevitable as the sun rising above the clouds and the moon deferring its own mighty grandeur in the presence of lightning striking the Earth; Time moves ever onward and takes us on its journey, regardless of whether we are equipped for the voyage or not.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The charm of The Divine Comedy is never in doubt, it can be slightly misplaced, falling into the slight ditch of baroque uncertainty and even be completely have the point missed by those who dare not take the flight of fancy further than believing every song should be reminiscent of the wit of Oscar Wilde or Noel Coward. It can have all of those insults hurled against it but Neil Hannon will still come out on top and be the one to raise the pop standard higher in Foreverland.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
Every generation believes itself to be the lucky ones, the ones that have been able to have everything thrown from the past and with the prospect of changing the future; in many respect they could be considered right, just in their belief that their take on the unspoilt riches of My Universe is one to grapple with and shape in their will.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
In between each song we sing out loud there is either emptiness or delight, the applause associated with finding our own groove or the bleak vacant response that comes with not understanding that the silence is also a gesture, one of defiance and the urge to let peace take hold; it is a trait, a mystery, a calmed hush that often precedes a glory in spirit. It is in that preceding hush that SheBeat, a captivating soul at all times, brings forth her latest E.P. into the world and it is one in which the noticeable change in demeanour is overwhelming and marvellously exciting to hold onto.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
Winter may be coming, the sound of the first crunch of ice hangs in the northern air and the sense that the darkness will, as always, be consuming and the lights that flicker mournfully will only stretch so far in their guidance towards the new dawn, the dark season may be approaching but for Paul Dunbar & The Black Winter Band Barely Holding On is not an option, in fact it is with tender relief and liberation of spirit that Paul Dunbar is back to doing what he does best, making incredibly beautiful music.