Category Archives: Music

Rumours of Fleetwood Mac, Gig Review. Philharmonic Hall, Liverpool.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 27th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

Rumours of Fleetwood Mac are surely more than a set of musicians and vocalists that covers the songs of the 70’s and 80’s super-group. They are, quite possibly, the reason why the music is still so loved and why thousands of people are willing to part with their money and turn up en-mass to hear songs that capture over two decades of musical brilliance and inspiration.

Only Child, Only Child. E.P. Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. August 22nd 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Alan O’ Hare was one of the members of one of the finest bands to come out of Liverpool in the last ten years. As part of The Trestles, they didn’t just make good music, the exemplified a growing disaffection with the world and their debut album was one of the most important made by a Merseyside band in years.

When The Trestles went their separate ways, to those that loved the music, it felt as though a voice was being lost to the high pitch babble that is force fed on occasion from reality television programmes.

The Robert Cray Band, Nothin But Love. Album Review

Originally published by L.S. Media. August 22nd 2012.

L.S.Media Rating *****

When you want a job done properly, it’s best to call out a living legend. Sixteen studio albums down the line and Robert Cray still manages to make playing the blues sound like child’s play.

The Robert Cray Band’s brand new album, Nothin But Love comprises ten songs that are as rich and as diverse in their intricacy as it’s possible to get.  Robert Cray, Jim Pugh, Richard Cousins and Tony Braunagel blend their respective instruments together so well and weave a tale of supreme blues together that the sound they create is nothing short of exquisite.

Lamb Of God, Resolution. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. January 28th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating * * * *

The new offering by Lamb of God won’t be to everybody’s taste. It won’t, for example, spend weeks at the top of the British charts. It won’t by any stretch of the imagination be nominated for any awards by fans of those who find the mass appeal of manufactured music and distorted view of the 21st Century version of celebrity exciting.

Van Halen, A Different Kind of Truth. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 6th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

It’s been a long time coming and you pretty much know what you are going to get, but if you’re a fan of Van Halen it won’t stop you buying and revelling in the new album A Different Kind of Truth.

Paul McCartney, Kisses On The Bottom. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 7th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

There’s nothing quite like a forgotten old gem to make you sit and take notice. When you tag that onto the Liverpool legend giving a new life to the tune, your perspective suddenly changes.  You can end up digging through other timeless and wonderful songs that have sadly been neglected by a society that has moved on and away from its own soul. This is the result of Paul McCartney and the new take of old songs in Kisses on the Bottom.

Big Country, The Crossing. 30th Anniversary Edition. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 7th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

Looking back at an album’s life can be unnerving. It reminds you of where you and what you were doing when you became conscious of the first notes of a debut record by a new and extraordinary fresh band. The time on the albums credits are indication to the passing of your own life, the mortality that’s attached to your love of the record. You treasured the time together, you poured out your own soul and fears whilst listening to the poetry and distinctive music of someone else.

Pink Floyd, The Wall. Immersion Release. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media. February 27th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating *****

In the world of musical clichés, one of the most often bandied about and repeated with startling regularity is that Pink Floyd’s 1979 album, The Wall, is the greatest moment of Rock music captured for posterity forever.

Meat Loaf, Hell in a Handbasket. Album Review.

L.S. Media Rating **

When Meat Loaf released Hang Cool Teddy Bear in 2010, there was an element of joy that the man had released his greatest piece of work since 1993’s Bat out of Hell II. There were some real high’s to be found within the tracks and the posturing and good will extended with the addition of Patti Russo and Cher adding the class of feminine perspective to Meat’s tireless and overtly male mannerisms.

Napalm Death, Utilitarian. Album Review.

Originally published by L.S. Media March 29th 2012.

L.S. Media Rating ****

There’s a reason why some areas of the U.K. seem to be able to become entrenched with producing one genre of music with more frequency than others. Sometimes it’s just the nature of the area, the background and social history to the city that produces the music. Liverpool is defined in parts by the Beatles and the sailors who bought the music from America with them after World War Two. The dreaming spires and University colleges of Cambridge will have Pink Floyd forever stamped upon the roads and parks and be considered as one of the natural homes of Progressive Rock.