Slipknot, We Are Not Your Kind. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

They say choose a side but sometimes the side they want you select is wrong, your gut tells you so, your brain agrees and so you can only line up with those who are frowned upon by certain sections of society, place two fingers up to derision and the raised eyebrow of hate and sit back comfortably in the knowledge that might is a dead concept, what matters is what is right in your heart, that you can say proudly, We Are Not Your Kind.

Rod Melancon, Pinkville. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

We have become used to the bombardment of consistent cinematic heroes that we have forgotten what it meant to see a classic derived from the counter culture era, the type of which the anti-hero would step forth and take on our persona, in which the devilish grin would appear and find a way to morph into the face of Jack Nicholson, the smell of certain substances would pervade the watcher’s nostrils and the diffuse the expectations of the forewarned social norm.

Calum Gilligan, Maybe Half A Lifetime. E.P. Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Times change, the circle of life continues onto whatever path fate may have decreed, and which we can either negotiate a more fruitful path, or we can go along with the events strewn in our way. Maybe Half A Lifetime ago life was easier to navigate, maybe the songs had the softer edge of innocence attached to them, but we have chosen a path to which the signs point to a place in which none of us, bar the egotistical and masters of the sleight of hand, truly want to go.

Helloween, Pumpkins United. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There is always a feel good factor that resides deep in the heart of Germany’s Godfathers of Metal, Helloween, that emulates the way the North American stalwarts and British pioneers of N.W.O.B.H.M to such an extent that when the songs of their back catalogue are unleashed, the sound created is one that cannot, must surely not, be ignored.

Samantha Fish, Kill Or Be Kind. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The world has you in its sights every day, the scope of your life is watched and noted down, any sign of vulnerability is used as an advantage over you and your time can be felt as if your spending is swimming against the tide. The expectation of conforming to a set of rules that never make sense is palpable and distracting; yet we still adhere to the idea of kill or cure, as if we are suffering from some insidious disease that requires treatment, that we suffer because we will not be compliant, instead preferring, quite rightly, to be rebellious.

Operation Lightfoot, Featuring Dorothy Bird, Trans-Siberian. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

In a world not obsessed by gossip and the latest celebratory fashion, there are many artists who work quietly and with conscience in the seemingly dark background that would be seen for the absolute stars that they are, they would be taken on a journey around the lights of Piccadilly Circus or the incandescent displays of Broadway and Time Square instead of perhaps being seen on the billboards of the local train stations of Birmingham, calling at all stations between Stechford and Lee Green.

Kaiser Chiefs, Duck. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Duck and cover for the moment the insults hurl when you dare suggest that a premium British band’s latest work is not on the same scale that has once been; but in a world that sees offence as a right, occasionally you must withstand the silver bullet fired and be prepared to stand your ground. Duck perhaps, but not cover, for as long as the sentiment is true and not discourteous then ultimately what happens is that you hope the next album is a return to form, to be successful.

Billy Price, Dog Eat Dog. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

It’s a Dog Eat Dog world, or so the aggressive stance of some will have you believe. In truth we could find instead it is a more caring place than we understand, that the stories we tell are listened to with ease and interest, that art, no matter its form, is viable in equal measure and without competition.

It is in the harm caused by other people as they strive to be successful which sees the world turn, the art of the collaboration foaming at the mouth to be recognised, the muzzle straining as it keeps back the words of partnership and relationships; in the end we have become the pile in which others view the horizon from.

Gotham: Series Five. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Cast: Ben McKenzie, Donal Logue, David Mazouz, Morena Baccarin, Sean Pertwee, Robin Lord Taylor, Erin Richards, Carmen Bicondova, Cory Michael Smith, Jessica Lucas, Chris Chalk, Kelcy Griffin, Hunter Jones, Jaime Murray, Francesca Root-Dodson, J.W. Cortes, Cameron Monaghan, Shane West, David W. Thompson, Andrew Sellon, Peyton List, Anthony Carrigan, BD Wong, Richard Kind, Lili Simmons, John Bedford Lloyd, Sarah Schenkkan, Benedict Samuel.

Catch-22. Television Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Cast: Christopher Abbott, Kyle Chandler, Daniel David Stewart, Rafi Gavron, Graham Patrick Martin, Kevin J O’Connor, Austin Stowell, Jon Rudnitsky, Gerran Howell, Tessa Ferrer, Lewis Pullman, Grant Heslov, Jay Paulson, Domenico Cuomo, Giovanni Stocchino, Pico Alexander, George Clooney, Giancarlo Giannini, Hugh Laurie, Julie Ann Emery, Ian Toner, Viola Pizzetti, Valentina Belle, Martin Delaney, Elisa Menchicchi, Valentina Ruggeri, Francesca Turrini, David Power, Salvatore Scarpa, Marilena Anniballi, Joe Massingill, Josh Bolt, Alex Beliglia Zampetti, Joseph Millson, Giacomo Rocchini, Sara Pallini, Anthony Skordi, Massimo Wertmuller, Nicola Goodchild, Harrison Osterfield, Jamie Blackley, Peter Guinness, Jackson Bews, Shai Matheson.