Category Archives: Music

Jessica’s Ghost, Losing Track Of Time. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

No matter what, 2012 could be the year that Jessica’s Ghost became a major force in the all-encompassing world of Liverpool music.

There have been some utterly absorbing albums to come from the region this year and rightly so as the city enjoys yet another renaissance in what people from London to New York to Sydney are expecting to hear from the place where the Mersey Beat first came of age, the eighties revival took hold and now the 21st century musical barometer is suggesting and predicting.

Jessica’s Ghost, Losing Track Of Time. Album Review. full post

(380 words, 1 image, estimated 1:31 mins reading time)

Simon McBride, Crossing the Line. Album Review.

This year has seen some incredible blues albums being released and the vast majority of them by women. This is not only great news to see the likes of Beverly McClellan, Beth Hart, Bonnie Raitt and Joanne Shaw Taylor take on the men at their own game but it also sees the new men of Blues raise their standards.

In a similar fashion the punk explosion of the 1970’s that musically threatened the old established figures , what is coming through is exciting and new and whilst led by Joe Bonamassa and some of the older guard like Robert Cray are still the Gods that every one aspires to become. This is no less true in the case of the exceptional Belfast Blues man Simon McBride.

Simon McBride, Crossing the Line. Album Review. full post

(370 words, 1 image, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Adam Barnes, Blisters. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Oxford is known for its dreaming spires, its universities that are amongst the pinnacle of world education and thinking and one of the best cities to sit and have the occasional pint in one of its numerous and edifying public houses; what it’s not that well known for is for being a hotbed of young musical talent. Occasionally though a new musician will come through and whose voice breaks down barriers and wins fans in even the most music conscious places in the U.K., it won’t be long before Adam Barnes possibly becomes the most well-known musician to come out the city.

Adam Barnes, Blisters. Album Review. full post

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

Megadeth, Countdown To Extiction. 20th Anniversary Edition.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Following on from the 25th Anniversary release of the Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying album by Megadeth in 2011, the band have once again decided to give new life to an album that in all honesty doesn’t need to be tinkered with but is great fun to enjoy nonetheless.  Countdown to Extinction is one of the four great albums of Megadeth’s and Dave Mustaine’s early period and alongside Peace Sells…, So Far, So Good…So What! and Rust In Peace stand out as almost impossible to age and see decrease in stature, no matter how much the ravages of time may try.

Megadeth, Countdown To Extiction. 20th Anniversary Edition. full post

(474 words, 1 image, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Blackburner, Planet Earth Attack. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Mix the industrial with a healthy dollop of some of the finest exponents of Progressive Rock, some genre crossing of dubstep and Heavy Metal and finally one of the megastars and iconic figures of Science Fiction film and television and you have the superb new Blackburner album Planet Earth Attack in all its grandiose and lavish glory.

William Shatner, the one and only Captain Kirk from television’s Star Trek,is no stranger to adding his unique tone of voice to another artist’s idea but from the start of the Skyla Talon’s produced album, with its eclectic and brutally dystopian future soundscapes, it sets the ultimate and stunning start to the aggressive and dominant music.

Blackburner, Planet Earth Attack. Album Review. full post

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

Alexx Calise, AC3. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Alexx Calise, the Californian based musician whose life is as interesting as her music is wild, enthusiastic and stunning, has released her new E.P., simply titled AC3 and as usual her dedication to her music is nothing short of outstanding.

With two solo albums behind her and to much critical acclaim and an absolute belter of a recording with Dennis Morehouse for the Sound of Cancer album Vampires in Gilroy, there could have been a lot of intense pressure on Ms. Calise to go even further than before and go off the scale.

Alexx Calise, AC3. E.P. Review. full post

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

Phil Collins, Hello I Must Be Going. 30th Anniversary Retrospective.

Like all the members of the Progressive Rock giants Genesis, Phil Collins had launched his solo career with a certain amount of music acumen and good will bestowed upon them by the group’s followers. By the time Phil released his second solo offering, Hello, I Must Be Going, he was already becoming one of the leading men in 1980’s pop/rock.

Phil’s debut album, the 1981 release of Face Value, had made sure that Phil’s popularity as the Genesis vocalist, a position he took over when Peter Gabriel left the band after the tour for The Lamb Lies Down on Broadway album, would see him reach number one at the first attempt. For his follow up album, it would be a case of more of the same with demands from the label, the fans and seemingly from the artist himself.

Phil Collins, Hello I Must Be Going. 30th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(985 words, 1 image, estimated 3:56 mins reading time)

Stone Sour, House of Gold and Bones Part 1. Album Review.

Do you remember where you were when you heard Megadeth’s Peace Sells…But Who’s Buying or Rust in Peace, Sabbat’s Dreamweaver (Reflections of Our Yesterdays) or Skyclad’s Wayward Sons of Mother Earth for the first time? The temptation to add the latest album by Stone Sour, House of Gold and Bones Part 1, to these premium and top rated albums of the genre should not take long, all of the first listen will be enough to confirm that perhaps for the first time the band have created something intrinsically and artistically brilliant.

Stone Sour, House of Gold and Bones Part 1. Album Review. full post

(376 words, 1 image, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)

Madness, Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

It can be of hardly any surprise to find that the latest album from the stable of Madness doesn’t match the career defining album The Liberty of Norton Folgate released in 2009. However, this should not stop the loveable rogues of north London continue their 21st century renaissance as one of the best bands to have graced the British charts in the last 40 years.

Madness, Oui Oui Si Si Ja Ja Da Da. Album Review. full post

(497 words, 1 image, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Tori Amos, Scarlett’s Walk. 10th Anniversary Retrospective.

When listening to Tori Amos it almost feels that you are joining her on a spiritual journey in which she alone knows the final destination and she will lead you blindfold past the final signpost whilst holding your heart carefully as she goes. Such is the timeless beauty of Scarlett’s Walk that it easily ranks in the top three studio releases by the enigmatic piano player.

Tori Amos, Scarlett’s Walk. 10th Anniversary Retrospective. full post

(1133 words, 1 image, estimated 4:32 mins reading time)