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.
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.
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.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
To understand that music is more than just a simple melody or even just a tune that catches your ear is to know deep down that experimentation is at the heart of the matter, it is its core, the belief in not playing it safe for the crowd and the bank balance is something to salute, to resolutely admire; and whilst it is not to everyone’s taste, the listener who embarks upon the lucid dream of investigation is justly rewarded for their time and confidence in the artist who dares imagine.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *
The words of the Understudy are forever poised to be spoken, and if we dare allow someone else to declare our own intentions, their voice, our sentence and our version of the truth, then we deserve to never be the main player in the telling of our own story.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10
You can try, but you can’t keep the willing and able down for too long, and whilst Bowling For Soup may have found themselves unwittingly pursuing Frank Sinatra’s comeback number, to disclaim their popularity, to suggest anything other than the band know how to get the juices of the audience and the public going with their memorable, almost infectious lyrics and untamed pleasurable spirit, is to place a mark against a whole sub-genre of Punk-Pop-Rock, and one that would be unfair, and grossly undermining the appeal of a group that has humour as a major weapon in their musical arsenal.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
To Absent Friends…
A joyful crowd, one perhaps with deep untouched feelings within their souls, people who have lost pals, friends, loved ones, in a period of time which we were collectively denied moments that bring us joy, and which, to those absent friends, their presence, their love, might have circulated long into the night as Neil Hannon, the persona of The Divine Comedy, brought a collection of songs, hits, and wonders to Liverpool’s Philharmonic Hall, and revelled in the mischief of lyrical genius, and the chance to shake off, maybe for the first time in a couple of years, the pressure of an unforgiving period in human history.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The message is loud and clear, all the right noises have been made, and the interferences of the outside world have been subdued, beaten, and vanquished with the air of authority befitting the band, for Thunder have once more stepped up to the stage and returned with an album that makes the heart quicken, makes the mind active, and all in a natural sense, not a quick hit of addiction in which it seems the multitude always require, but a steady, beefy attraction in which the Dopamine is constant, and pleasurable.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *
You shouldn’t judge anything by its cover; except arguably for art itself.
It is to art that one of the grand ladies of Rock, Ann Wilson returns to the centre stage with her brand-new album, Fierce Bliss. Art not only for art’s sake, but one that cements the course she has been on for a while, as a woman who is more than the Heart decrees, and to whom time itself has been cowed into submission by her continued presence in the minds and soul of the fans.
Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10
The pleasure of connection is at times at odds with our own observation. In a world that is willing to disconnect on the advice of the merest whim, on the perceived slight, to still be able to converse with anyone, even if it just your own reason and soul, is a remarkable act of achievement; for to agree with your own self in a world of madness is an act of rebellion where all around you is insisting you declare that You And I Must Be Out Of My Mind.