Category Archives: Music

Laura Evans: Out Of The Dark. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

From Out Of The Dark comes either chaos or serenity, we peer into the shadows and hope that the sound we hear is that of the authentic and the brave, not that of the obscure and weepish dramas that accompany some who see the opportunity to self-serve rather than illuminate, to sacrifice their thoughts in the name of enlightenment.

Laura Evans has already made a name for herself by sticking to a principled line that encompasses genuine groundwork for her lyrics to grab the attention of the listener, and the steady beat of various genres standing with full value in broad, proud, and sincerely polished affection, a letter of love signed, sealed, and delivered with style and soul.

Laura Evans: Out Of The Dark. Album Review. full post

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

Rianne Downey: The Consequence Of Love. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

We are urged to follow our hearts to the point where the outcome is often detrimental to our souls, the wishes of the moment burnt at the altar of the long-term expectation that turns to despair as we find ourselves often stony faced or weeping at The Consequence Of Love and all it entails, all it commits.

Rianne Downey: The Consequence Of Love. Album Review. full post

(522 words, 1 image, estimated 2:05 mins reading time)

Kalandra: Mørketid. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Kalandra, the acclaimed Norwegian/Swedish quartet have once more surfaced from the studio armed with a set of songs that bring light to the moody darkness, a haunting to the soul which causes the listener to once more understand a significance of the Nordic influence on the psyche of the northern nations, a near unique sensation which delves back to the exploration of other lands, perhaps of conquest, but certainly of inspiration that the lands towards the Arctic held.

Kalandra: Mørketid. E.P. Review. full post

(355 words, estimated 1:25 mins reading time)

Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. 2025 Box Set Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway is an album that surely stands as a testament to the power of Progressive Rock, to the music of Genesis, and to the persuasive power of Peter Gabriel’s writing that seems to straddle an unearthly brilliance that not only recognised the zeitgeist that the genre and America were witnessing, but inhabiting it, prising open the cracks on a generation of New Yorkers that were finding the time they were born into devoid of the promises guaranteed by failures of politicians, of the scourge of unemployment, drugs, abuse, gender and social politics that were not designed to liberate but confine, to jail, to imprison the freedoms won after World War Two.

Genesis: The Lamb Lies Down On Broadway. 2025 Box Set Review. full post

(509 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

The Bangles: Watching The Sky. Box Set Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There have been many all-female groups that have been respected and loved by the heavy pop and rock unions over the last few decades, few though have reached the heights of adoration that was focused upon the richness of songwriting and performing that could hold their own with their male counterparts that came about with groups such as The Liverbirds, The Runaways, The Go-Go’s, The Shangri-Las, Vixen and of course The Bangles.

The Bangles: Watching The Sky. Box Set Review. full post

(440 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

The Divine Comedy. Gig Review. (2025). Philharmonic Hall. Liverpool.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Neil Hannon’s The Divine Comedy is probably the closest group ensemble to recreate the sensational beauty and drama of the old style Victorian Music Hall, and yet as the sheer poetry and observations are unveiled before the audience, the sense of modernity is overwhelming, two worlds colliding, one of examination of the sometimes absurd world we live in, and the other of outstanding theatre that captures human frailty at its most keenest, most endearing, its most vulnerable.

The Divine Comedy. Gig Review. (2025). Philharmonic Hall. Liverpool. full post

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

Martyn Joseph: Troubled Horses. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Concentration and a singular vision of focus is often the key to strength in delivering purpose, few in today’s bright lights and multitude of distractions can go a certain length of time without the desire to be pulled away, to glimpse what is outside of the bubble they wish to dedicate a sense of commitment to in which to achieve greatness or at least a weight of fulfilment with honour.

Martyn Joseph: Troubled Horses. Album Review. full post

(507 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

The Annie Keating Band: Live. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Annie Keating deserves the attention of the majority of music lovers, the best of the unknown warrior to whom the weapon of guitar and lyrical drama can bring forth sparks and the sound of ancient fought battles and then just as easily, just as candidly, wrap the resulting combat in clothes of purity and the essence of serene culture and belief.

The Brooklyn based singer songwriter, whose studio albums have included the superb Bristol Country Tides, Make Believing, and the sublime Hard Frost, seeks to exemplify her soul’s desire by releasing in the sense of the raw and guided pleasure – The Annie Keating Band: Live recording.

The Annie Keating Band: Live. Album Review. full post

(389 words, estimated 1:33 mins reading time)

Various Artists: Too Many Roads (Restless Hearts Covered). Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Well told stories never end, they find ways to adapt, to reach out with greater intensity and love, their emotions heightened by the continual appreciation and the way that others interpret the tale for others to hold on to and spread the word. If only we could all hold that type of power, that sense of engaged passion that others seek out, and for one of Liverpool’s most elegantly gifted songwriters, John Jenkins, his latest album, released in July, sees a wonderfully creative adaption conceived by the equally respected Jim Pearson, unveiled.

Various Artists: Too Many Roads (Restless Hearts Covered). Album Review. full post

(359 words, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)

Jonathan Markwood’s Hoo-Hah Conspiracy: St. Milburga’s Well. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The well of inspiration never runs dry if we are able to manage the expectation of quality and quantity to its full potential, we can draw upon it for all our life, watering our surroundings, nourishing our soul, feeding us that which spurs into action when we wish to consider art is above all and bathe in its beauty.

Jonathan Markwood’s Hoo-Hah Conspiracy: St. Milburga’s Well. Album Review. full post

(375 words, estimated 1:30 mins reading time)