Category Archives: Music

John Illsley: VIII. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

We didn’t think it at the time but listening to Dire Straits was an experience that perhaps arguably has never been matched. The sense of appreciation has increased, the roster of former performers, the touching of genius that ran through the band in a way that bordered on enigmatic passion, has seen the players all go their own way since the break-up of the band in 1995 and produce music that has both embraced the sound that captured hearts and the imagination, and the depth of knowledge of their own loves, the music that makes their own personalities shine through.

John Illsley: VIII. Album Review. full post

(428 words, estimated 1:43 mins reading time)

Anvil: Impact Is Imminent. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

To be in the fast lane does not always mean that you have been fast-tracked, for it is better, more productive and noteworthy to have had the engine tick over for a while as you build momentum, as you gauge the road ahead, as you watch for signs that might hinder the journey, and then as you pull out, as you ease the foot down on the pedal, you know for sure that Impact Is Imminent, not in a crash that will derail you, but for going through the barrier of belief and digging deep into the conscious of public opinion; that impact, that sense of powerful influence that comes to those who are patient and wait for the right moment to strike.

Anvil: Impact Is Imminent. Album Review. full post

(454 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Keith Thompson: Smoke And Mirrors. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It’s all done with Smoke and Mirrors.

The sceptic would have you believe that nothing in this world is as it seems, that we are being deceived, our own belief is under attack from the fallibility of expression, the shortcomings of our naivety, and yet it is those very same sceptics who denounce the positives and embrace a negativity unworthy of human existence that will have you believe that only their word is true, that they beyond all others must be heard and lauded as if they were kings of a realm we could not hope to envisage.

Keith Thompson: Smoke And Mirrors. Album Review. full post

(407 words, estimated 1:38 mins reading time)

Hannah Read & Michael Starkey: Cross The Rolling Water. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

No matter the transport available, you should always take up the offer of being shown what lays on the other side of the unknown, to Cross The Rolling Water and into the harbours that encompass the unfamiliar, the strangely haunting, and the mysterious new; for how else are we to suggest that we are willing to be more than just a representation of what we have always been, that if we cannot operate the oars of discovery, that if the sails or the rigging is too much for us, then we don’t deserve to be anything other than stranded in our own town and fields of close minded affairs forever.

Hannah Read & Michael Starkey: Cross The Rolling Water. Album Review. full post

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

The Waterboys: All Souls Hill. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The strongly denied words of those that insist that poetry is meaningless often stings in the ears of those who arguably understand the world in greater depth, it happens more than some may think, and yet poetry, perhaps simpler to construct than a novel or most other art forms, but no less devastating when the soul and heart, and the mind connect with it, when it offers a path to vivid imagination, a realm of personal enlightenment, and the chance to feel the universe within the pulse of your fingers, is a truth that is found all around.

The Waterboys: All Souls Hill. Album Review. full post

(411 words, estimated 1:39 mins reading time)

Graham Nash: Live – Songs For Beginners -Wild Tales. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are names within the 20th Century that have transcended their time, that have not only etched their name in a period that they are associated with, but have carved, scored a deep groove across its neighbouring century that they tip the metal scales in favour of continuance, of being an extension of angels and sirens that gathered listeners around them as they told Wild Tales and sang the melody of Songs For Beginners.

Graham Nash: Live – Songs For Beginners -Wild Tales. Album Review. full post

(546 words, estimated 2:11 mins reading time)

Ronald MacDonald: Time Stands Still. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

No matter what we do to keep ourselves in a manner of which we have become accustomed, sooner or later the itch of denial becomes too hard to ignore, and that which first illuminated our souls, soon comes back to call the tunes and light the path ahead.

Ronald MacDonald: Time Stands Still. Album Review. full post

(415 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Kate Rusby: 30: Happy Returns. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

A hook comes later, but art should at first surprise and gratify, not perhaps having to explain its existence, but certainly living up to the bill as an element of persuasion, a seeker no doubt of a universal truth, a beating heart which pulls others into its sphere of influence, and which wishes the heartfelt love for those who find themselves captivated by its shining example.

Kate Rusby: 30: Happy Returns. Album Review. full post

(426 words, estimated 1:42 mins reading time)

Kenny Neal: Straight From The Heart. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

When we look to America for inspiration, we tend to look to the East and West Coasts, it may be natural too certain eyes to do so, after all it is the purpose of trade to navigate the oceans between lands and to only seek what is within when the deep sea has been navigated, when the water that separates us has been tamed enough for a single crossing in which ideas and philosophies can be exchanged.

Kenny Neal: Straight From The Heart. Album Review. full post

(576 words, estimated 2:18 mins reading time)

Steven Casper & Cowboy Angst: Hey! Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Uniqueness is often greeted with either a sense of cosmic adoration, or more than likely in a world that thinks nothing of claiming that jealousy is a virtue, with suspicion and fear. How often did we as children hear the adult demand, “Why can’t you be more like…”? How often do we allow others who have no inkling of what we have gone through to become the person we are, change us without a single proclamation of refusal, without a single uttered Hey! in annoyance at their lack of boundary acceptance.

Steven Casper & Cowboy Angst: Hey! Album Review. full post

(432 words, estimated 1:44 mins reading time)