Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
The Shadow Theatre, four lads from the heart of Maghull and Huyton release their first single today and it is a rip-roarer and a testament to the growing anger that dwells within a section of society once more. The anger of punk was never lost, it just has a new feeling and new bands in which to shake a few fists and take on the stupidity of what it sees.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
They don’t come much more rich and musically exotic as Tommy Emmanuel and Martin Taylor, two men whose work ethic and contribution to music is outstanding and what better way to enhance their reputation to in effect stratospheric proportions than by working together on the outstanding album The Colonel and The Governor.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * ½
The steel cities that are divided by an ocean both have seen rough times and an industry that was decimated beyond recognition. Whereas Sheffield found solace in in burgeoning pop scene of the 1980s with the likes of The Human League, A.B.C. and Heaven 17, Pittsburgh, once rightly called the power house of America and the home of the great Pittsburgh Penguins now has a band to look up to and salute in the same way as the great Anti Flag.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
There can be no doubting the staying power of Richard Thompson, if anything the man who cut his musical teeth with the likes of Fairport Convention has become more prolific as the years have gone by and compared to those that that once stood alongside him, Richard Thompson remains as likeable and musically pleasing as he ever did, something he has proved once more in his latest release Electric.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
David Georgiou, the man behind the keys of Kingbathmat takes a peek from behind the curtains and like any musical maestro likes what he sees but knows that he can take it on another stage further and his release under the guise of The Sandpaper Eyebrows, the album Clockwork Utopia, takes the 21st century neo Metal-Progressive Rock to the next level.
Liverpool Sound and Vision * * * * *
Remember this date, February 2013. If you purchase, borrow, lend or acquire Robert Vincent’s debut album Life In Easy Steps, it will be one of the most accessible, life affirming pieces of music that you are ever likely to hear, certainly this year and perhaps for the rest of the decade.
Such music is of course subjective, it always boils down to how the musician presents their image and thoughts onto you, others will agree and most will probably argue till they are blue in the face. If an album can reach into even the stoniest and hard hearted of souls and make them even quiver slightly, whether through excitement or pained and real memories then the album and the artist has done their job.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
After two stunning E.P.’s it was only a matter of time before Heaven’s Basement released a debut album that matched the ferocity and desire that their presence on the rock scene demanded. That time has come and the obliterating and karmic ear assaulting result is the fantastic Filthy Empire.
Despite publicised line-up changes the transition between E.P. releases and this new album, it seems to have been an easy one and certainly the lead vocals appear to be in good hands in Aaron Buchanan as he rages, thunders and fumes against lots of humanity’s wrongs and ills.
When people think of Progressive Rock in the early 1970s, minds invariably wander to the likes of Pink Floyd, Genesis, Emerson, Lake and Palmer, Yes and even possibly Supertramp and Frank Zappa could be mentioned in there with hushed tones. All these bands and many more would get the nods of approval and songs readily ticked off the list to why they would be included in any compilation from that era, however unless they were dedicated fans, listeners of Progressive Rock might skip completely over the debut self titled album by Camel released in 1973.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
It is unusual for a re-master of an album to add anything more to a listeners overall enjoyment than when they first purchased the original recording. It is extraordinary to feel more than moved by the new recording, so moved that the lyrics seem and get underneath the skin to the point where you question what you didn’t hear all those years ago. Ian McNabb’s re-mastering of his 1994 classic Head Like a Rock has such an effect and it is advisable to have someone there to hold onto when listening to this incredibly personal and touching recording.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
From first crashing note to last thunderous moment, Helloween’s latest album, Straight Out Of Hell, is a reminder of the band’s early glory days of Germanic story telling that rivalled the Brothers Grimm in its ability to take a simple idea and give it such intensity and such power that the only clear rivals the metal group were either in the U.K. or in America.