It may be hard to believe but there was a time when Progressive Rock was considered past its sell by date, the emergence of punk in the seventies had done its best to dismantle it but it was the era of the nineties music scene which seemed to finally kill off the behemoth. Thankfully you can never keep a good seven minute song down for too long and the genre was soon flourishing once more with the likes of Touchstone and The Reasoning.
Originally published by L.S. Media. September 14th 2010.
Marseille are finally back and kicking in the best way possible. After a couple of years touring and ironing out any frustrations they may have felt along the way, the band have at last released their fourth studio album and the first one since 1984’s Touch The Night.
Craftily calling their new album Unfinished Business is a reminder to all the fans of the band that when the group dismantled there was indeed something left unsaid. Indeed within certain rock circles it has always been a game of what if and how far could they have gone within the ranks of others that came under the banner of NWOBHM.
Originally published by L.S. Media. Sept 22nd 2010.
Acid Country is the new studio album by one of music best wordsmiths. Paul Heaton has made a living from his use of intelligent and interesting lyrics set alongside some of the most upbeat music over the last couple of decades, whether from his time in the eighties with the Housemartins or in later years with the impressive and chart toppers The Beautiful South.
Now on his second solo album, Paul has once more reached the musical highs that are associated with him and produced an album full of charm and his own personnel stamp emblazoned throughout.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 1st 2010.
In 1990, a seismic shift in the world of Heavy Metal was about to happen. For the later part of the eighties the genre of big hair and exuberant stage shows had ruled over the basic down and dirty inhabitants of Heavy and Thrash.
The likes of Metallica and Slayer had gone some way to bringing the days of early Black Sabbath and Iron Maiden back but with an American twist. Among those early pioneers of Thrash Metal were Megadeth. Fronted by the Californian colossus that is Dave Mustaine, the band went through several line-up changes during the first few albums and even though each album got subsequently more interesting and better produced, there was still the thought in some critics eyes that the band were nothing more than Metallica wannabes.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 1st 2010.
The Manic Street Preachers have always been one of those bands that want to go from populist music makers to ground breaking visionaries that produce an album just because they can.
Postcards from a Young Man, the tenth studio album by the Welsh rockers, seems as if the band has managed to combine these two separate ways of thinking into one album. With instantly recognisable songs that have the Manic feel stamped all over them, to songs that don’t quite fit with the rest of the endeavour, one thing for sure is that this album will never be accused of being staid or neglectful to its core fan base.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 10th 2010.
There has been a glut of regurgitated and repackaged albums around just recently, bands that have seemingly nothing more to add to their back catalogue getting on board a well worn bandwagon and offering their fans the opportunity to buy yet more of the same albums. In a lot of cases it is easy to see through the ploy of marketing men and the call of an easy pound but every so often there is a gem that comes through and reminds you of how good that band was in the first place.
Originally published by L.S. Media. October 17th 2010.
It can seem odd to hear an album by a band and think that they have finally gone full circle and ended up where they began, fresh faced and full of hope and a wonderful sense of naivety of how their lives would pan out over the following decades.
Red Velvet Car is the new album by 70’s American folk heroes and 80’s rock stars Heart, that crushed all before them and gave a breath of life to a dying genre before almost imploding themselves and becoming caricatures of what they had set out to preserve.
Originally published by L.S. Media. November 1st 2010.
When The Bad Shepherds released their debut album, Yan Tyan, Tethera, Methera! In 2009 the general public at large were unaware of the band who were about to change the way we think of Punk and Folk music.
Roll forward in time just over a year and the band are about to release the long awaited follow up to that quirky, intelligent and incredibly fun album in the pun driven title By Hook or by Crook.
Originally published by L.S. Media. November 1st 2010.
When the Beatles collapsed under the weight of their own expectation and the bitter infighting that had dogged them towards the end of their career, the race was on, unofficially, too see which of the musical legends would grasp the mantle of most diverse and commercial member of that now defunct band.
Originally published by L.S. Media. November 9th 2010.
Ray Davies has been cited by a multitude of musicians as being one of the main inspirations in their life. He has seen the likes of The Jam, The Stranglers and Kirsty MacColl cover his songs to great critical acclaim and has been responsible for some of the great pop songs of the last five decades. His distinctive style has won over a legion of fans worldwide and his delivery and genuine love of music makes him stand out as one of the godfathers of several genres.