Category Archives: Music

Genesis, Selling England By The Pound. 40th Anniversary Retrospective.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When Selling England By The Pound was released in 1973, it confirmed what many already knew, that Genesis was to be heralded as one of the great Progressive Rock bands of all time. Following on from Foxtrot and especially side two which showed the intricate, fantastical and multi-layered nature of the group’s writing and musical talent. Selling England By The Pound was a trip into the English pastoral, the off-beat look at life in the country, swathed in lyrical expansion and would in time become the second of five classic albums on the trot, to be followed by the seminal Lamb Lies Down On Broadway, Foxtrot and Wind and Wuthering.

Genesis, Selling England By The Pound. 40th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(1399 words, estimated 5:36 mins reading time)

Noterminus, Haselupker’s Ink. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

All you need is something different, something slightly dissimilar than what anybody is else is doing and the world becomes your oyster. For Scott and Maria Owen Midlane of Noterminus, their debut album, the intriguingly titled Haselupker’s Ink, the oyster is a delicious and rampant morsel which uniquely captures the idea of visionary imagination alongside the pulsating power that dominates the album.

Noterminus, Haselupker’s Ink. Album Review. full post

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

Ben Sures, Gone To Bolivia. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Listening to Ben Sures’ new album Gone To Bolivia, one cannot help but be struck by the mood, the picture of life that he draws with his music in the same way that you would expect the likes of Constable, Pitman or even Frederic Marlett’s Bell-Smith to paint and observe existence, for there seems to be something much deeper going on in the subject’s appearance than first taken for granted in the beauty that is framed.

Ben Sures, Gone To Bolivia. Album Review. full post

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

Flying Colours, Live In Europe. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

With just one studio album to the super group’s name, to bring out a live C.D. might be considered slightly presumptuous, even possibly improper but then this is Flying Colours and when you have the outrageously good Mike Portnoy and Neal Morse of Transatlantic, Steve Morse, the beautiful resonating voice of Casey McPherson and Dave LaRue giving the audience at the wonderful venue of the 013 in Tilburg, then to be honest all you can do is sit down, and feel envious of those who made the trip to Holland and revel in the music coming through the speakers.

Flying Colours, Live In Europe. Album Review. full post

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

Freddie Mercury And Monsterrat Caballe, Barcelona. 25th Anniversary Retrospective.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Freddie Mercury and Monsterrat Caballe’s operatic opus Barcelona shows exactly the type of creative and musical genius lay in the heart of Queen’s exuberant and playful front man. It also shows what his fans and the world of music have missed out on since his tragic death in 1991.

Freddie Mercury And Monsterrat Caballe, Barcelona. 25th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(890 words, estimated 3:34 mins reading time)

The Feeling, Boy Cried Wolf. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It might be an easy and somewhat flippant statement to suggest that you know exactly what you are going to get when listening to the new album from The Feeling.  Not much really changes for the band, the songs are always pleasant enough, they strike the right balance between being accessible to all ages and to even those with the extremist of music tastes, should they want to try something different and away from their comfort zone that is, and between looked on as, to quote many, the fairly vulgar term of kitsch. Boy Cried Wolf though is something more.

The Feeling, Boy Cried Wolf. Album Review. full post

(379 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

The Fratellis, We Need Medicine. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

The trouble with having such an iconic debut album, one that shrieks gladly every time it is taken out of the Perspex holder, is that any follow up albums the artist or group does is going to have a bench mark so high that even standing haphazardly on the tallest ladder with a piece of chalk in one hand a measuring tape in the other will not come probably close to ever beating. This is the problem that has faced many bands for a long time and it’s no wonder that many artists get so disillusioned it all, only the hardy keep going.

The Fratellis, We Need Medicine. Album Review. full post

(436 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Stone Temple Pilots With Chester Bennington, High Rise. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

The structure and power is unmistakable. The deft tones and swirling highs of a guitar being treated with the respect it deserves and with a thump of the drums keeping time with the listener’s heart are all there struggling to be unleashed on a the music lover who surely knows what they are going to get when the Stone Temple Pilots rears their musical heads.

The vocals though are something different, something new and might leave the listener wondering if the debut E.P. for Stone Temple Pilots with Chester Bennington, High Rise is really the right direction for the rock group.

Stone Temple Pilots With Chester Bennington, High Rise. E.P. Review. full post

(372 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Ron Sayer Jr and Charlotte Joyce, Hard To Please. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are albums which are just so seamless in their presentation that the listener can only imagine that the premium tailor in the country stitched it together with the finest deluxe invisible silk. Ron Sayer Jr.’s and Charlotte Joyce’s album Hard To Please fits that description so well that the outstanding guitar that Ron Sayer Jr. employs may as well be considered the sharp needle which weaves the notes together and then embroiders the beautiful voice Charlotte Joyce within in its sumptuous  tapestry.

Ron Sayer Jr and Charlotte Joyce, Hard To Please. Album Review. full post

(381 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Babajack, Running Man. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There will always be one album that catches you unawares. No matter how many you manage to listen to in a week, occasionally something will ping in the back of the brain and you will sit down, disregard everything else that is going on and needs to be done and just sit mesmerised by the sound of the incredible, the stark reality of beauty that squeezes itself out of your stereo. Babajack have that in abundance on their latest album Running Man. Ignore the phone, make sure no one knocks on the door demanding to know if you are free for a drink, Running Man is much more important than any almost anything else you can be doing right now.

Babajack, Running Man. Album Review. full post

(379 words, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)