Category Archives: Music

Ali Sperry, In Front Of Us. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

We either lash out unthinkingly when we are confronted with pressure that upsets our being, our equilibrium, or we take a step back, we allow what has played out before us to be filtered, to be challenged internally before making what we believe to be action based on rational and intellectual judgement. It depends on the provocation, it changes from confrontation to confrontation, from conflict, row and quarrel, and what is often In Front Of Us is not the same as what we have passed on the way.

Ali Sperry, In Front Of Us. Album Review. full post

(392 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

Gabria, Gesungene Geschichten. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Those Sung Stories are more than just an aide memoire, they are more than the sadness highlighted by the verbal communication of the memento mori, the spirit of another time influencing the heartbeat as it soars, as it falls, sung stories are the framework of society, of how we have come together in terms of community, they tell of battles waged and won, they tell of storms survived, they inform us of how we can be proud and free in the face of aggression, in the face of despots and dictators.

Gabria, Gesungene Geschichten. Album Review. full post

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

Tankard, A Thousand Beers. Album Box Set Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Raise a glass in celebration, smash your metal Tankard into another’s metallic stein, for in true fashion of observance and memorial, the anniversary of the one of the finest, most fun live, and the salutation of all that makes Teutonic Metal an absolute fest of glory. It is one to revel in and glorify without any sense of shame, without batting an eyelid as the bottle top is removed and the liquor of life pours without discrimination, so to the release of A Thousand Beers is to be acknowledged as a box set that ties together the first set of outstanding albums by Tankard under the Noise Records label.

Tankard, A Thousand Beers. Album Box Set Review. full post

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

Tears For Fears, The Tipping Point. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

They say everybody loves a happy ending, the chance to feel the warmth of humanity as a couple drives off into the sunset and all that witnessed the relationship go through its ups and downs to reach a point where the story ends; the freezing of a moment captured forever on celluloid, the last line of a saga in the written word, the final upbeat note framed forever as the song fades…and yet what seems to fade can come roaring back, a fashion of expression returns, a revival of a play not performed for thirty years, a major name in music returning after an almost twenty year studio album break…not everything fades to emptiness, and for the fans of Tears For Fears, not everything is perhaps as it may have seemed.

Tears For Fears, The Tipping Point. Album Review. full post

(437 words, estimated 1:45 mins reading time)

Leadfinger, Silver & Black. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

A dominating spectrum of colour, one that could be seen as a response to the times we find ourselves in, an overwhelming sense of formality and richness to which people wish to portray in certain settings, or even the reminder of the heavenly body, our closest neighbour in the sky is bathed in the dark blackness of the solar system permanently on one side; whatever Silver & Black means to a person, it must be appreciated as being influential, it must be acknowledged that is stands out, an impact of force that acts as a counter to the blinding light of false security.

Leadfinger, Silver & Black. Album Review. full post

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

Bernard Allison, Highs & Lows. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

We pay homage to those who came before us in more ways than we might ever consider. Such is the relationship between past and present that at points in our ever-extending repertoire we revert, perhaps fleetingly, but always with grace in our choices, to that which influenced us in our formative years.

Bernard Allison, Highs & Lows. Album Review. full post

(369 words, estimated 1:29 mins reading time)

Emma Gale. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Observation is the key to capturing the essence of the soul. You can find beauty in anything, but if you don’t truly look with more than just your eyes, if you don’t feel with more than just your heart, then what you observe is no more than a snapshot of a single emotion caught in the moment. Observation is key, but you must be prepared to see it through a kaleidoscope and not just a glimpse of a polaroid waved in front of you by a well-meaning, but ultimately over excitable friend.

Emma Gale. Album Review. full post

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

Paul Tasker, Tierra Quemada. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

A policy of Scorched Earth historically does not bode well for humanity, spoken confrontations are not required to conjure up the imagery the message entails, and as we find the barrenness that comes from the destruction, so we perhaps cower at the prospect of finding anything other than the shell we once were, the soul marginalised, the belief dispersed to the winds.

Paul Tasker, Tierra Quemada. Album Review. full post

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

Jade Thunder, Alchemy. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Some will insist on calling such events magic, a charmed dreamlike beginning in which the artist is revealed in the fullness of time; and yet magic does not begin to cover the thrilling bewitchment that Jade Thunder places the listener within as she releases her new album on the unsuspecting and the mesmerised.

Magic is one thing, the knowledge of chemistry, the application of binding elements, the key to breath-taking miracles, lays in the possessor and practitioner of Alchemy, and it is to be sure an occurrence that is rare, it is conclusive, and it is to be cherished as one would value life.

Jade Thunder, Alchemy. Album Review. full post

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

Track Dogs, Where To Now? Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Sleeping dogs don’t lie, they only sing the truth and play music that is genuine and full of precision.

If sleeping dogs don’t lie, then Track Dogs are the ones who are constantly pushing the boundaries, refusing to seek rest upon any laurels put before them, and instead sets them to eagerly chase the tail of music at their immense disposal, and it is with a sense of vigorous self-belief that the band of musical brothers based in Madrid, find they can ask that most pertinent of questions put before any band; Where To Now? and arrive at the most auspicious of answers, anywhere they please, for the destination in this case is one of exactness, one of searing great tunes, and one to which the purpose and target of the journey’s end is actually just another stop on the road to enlightenment.  

Track Dogs, Where To Now? Album Review. full post

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