Category Archives: Music

Yusuf, Tell ‘Em I’m Gone. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

For many different reasons the man behind the superb new album, Tell ‘Em I’m Gone seems to have had two very different careers. Two distinct arenas in which he has performed in and separated only by Time. Even the one in which he carved his name out initially under the name of Cat Stevens and latterly Yusuf, the bohemian minstrel with a voice and lyrical ability unlike anything else around at the time, a man whose lyrics could cause tears to well up at a moment’s notice, is disconnected but so entrenched in each part that to enjoy one area of work is to simply be gratified and comfortable in the other.

Yusuf, Tell ‘Em I’m Gone. Album Review. full post

(394 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Chasing Infinity, Dance With The One That Brought You. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7.5/10

In what seems the dim and distant past, another world existed within the musical spectrum. It was a world in which musicians and bands were given the freedom to grow at their own pace artistically, to be nurtured and perhaps allowed the room to breathe. Not every label was so forward thinking back then and perhaps even less now, everybody wants their piece of the action and worse perhaps the unholy chasing of the Pound/Dollar or Euro that goes with it.

Chasing Infinity, Dance With The One That Brought You. Single Review. full post

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

The Southbound Attic Band, Our Day In The Sun. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are those that seemingly take great pleasure in deriding the power of Folk music. They are willing to sneer and complain that the story, often or not a tale of great morality with twists that raise a smile, is irreverent to the way of the world now. It is not a complaint that passes the lips of those that have Celtic blood raging through their hearts or those with an understanding that Folk, whether Celtic, European or English, touches upon the very nature of communication, simple, effective and memorable.

The Southbound Attic Band, Our Day In The Sun. Album Review. full post

(382 words, estimated 1:32 mins reading time)

Jimmy Barnes, Hindsight. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision * * * * *

The moment you receive your first electric shock, the stimulating feel of the mixed emotions of pain, the thrill that tingles down your arm and onwards to the riveted digits at the end and bouncing back up through the nervous system to the brain is on a par from the opening note and beating heart of Jimmy Barnes latest studio album Hindsight.

Jimmy Barnes, Hindsight. Album Review. full post

(522 words, 1 image, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Manfred Mann, Lone Arranger. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

To appreciate a craftsman can be seen as dying art. In the age of reckless disposability, of the ease of abandonment if something doesn’t work, seems scratched, useless or somehow out of flavour and fashion, people only see the final results and not the process.

Manfred Mann, Lone Arranger. Album Review. full post

(496 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Slipknot, 5: The Gray Chapter. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8/10

Regret is such a hard emotion to deal with, especially when passions run deep at the loss of a friend or valued colleague. Things unsaid, half remembered conversations which were taken the wrong way can come back to haunt you and the only way at times to deal with the unhinged sentiment is write about it, no matter how long it takes, Time, in the end, has all the time it needs and for Metal sensations Slipkot, Time perhaps is on their side in their new release .5: The Gray Chapter.

Slipknot, 5: The Gray Chapter. Album Review. full post

(509 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Half Man Half Biscuit. Urge For Offal. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

The rage of satire, the cleverness of using the English language to its fullest, most surreal and outspoken is something that should be encouraged daily. Not to be cruel, nor to be vile, disgusting and downright nasty, but to hold a beacon up against those that have those merciless qualities stoked within their hearts and to provide a radiating smile against the darkness that sometimes threatens those with joy in their souls.

Half Man Half Biscuit. Urge For Offal. Album Review. full post

(396 words, estimated 1:35 mins reading time)

Neil Diamond, Melody Road. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are many song writers/performers that are capable of bringing out such a range of complex emotions in the listener that at times it can be either a disquieting experience, one in which the fruitful, almost halcyon days come rushing up from behind or one in which humility reigns supreme and the quiet deftness of time allows a certain introspection of the artist’s work. After releasing music in which has shaped a certain section of society with its tuneful melodies and songs involving love, anguish, the beating heart of joy and life in general over six decades, Neil Diamond has more than earned his place in the hearts of music lovers the world over and his latest album, Melody Road, is no different.

Neil Diamond, Melody Road. Album Review. full post

(458 words, estimated 1:50 mins reading time)

Corazon, Hawn Jien. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

One of the problems that the British seems to have dumped on its doorstep by the populaces of other countries, rightly or wrongly, is that we can be far too staid in our appreciation of other countries’ musical heritage. As a nation we might make the odd noise, the gestured nod in all the right places and congratulate the musicians on producing something insightful, thrilling perhaps, but it never seems to last. From one musical extreme to other, from the might of Heavy Metal to the laid back nature of Folk or the hedonism of pop culture, if it’s not sang in English we tend to hold it at arm’s length for fear of ridicule or misunderstanding.

Corazon, Hawn Jien. Album Review. full post

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

Virgil And The Accelerators, Army Of Three. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are just some things that cannot be beaten, destroyed or taken apart by the flippancy of a malnourished pen. They can only be dipped further into the inkwell and given the responsibility of adding greater texture or colouring, the actions of a pen that gains its pleasure by understanding that the thought of not declaring just how good something is, is akin to the desperate act of the bored, twisted and lonely. That by not embracing something for all its worth is a sacrilege.

Virgil And The Accelerators, Army Of Three. Album Review. full post

(402 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)