What does it sound like?:

The reason this review is late is a simple one; Frost* albums take a while to absorb and take in, especially when it’s a double, like this one.

Their previous release, 2021’s Day and Age, was something of a departure because it contained songs with no solos. I absolutely loved it but I know that wasn’t the case for everyone. Life in the Wires is a return to the band’s roots; a proper concept album with an absolute plethora of fantastic melodies, virtuoso playing and terrific songs. Oh, and a solo or ten.

Jem Godfrey, Frosts*’s leader, keyboard player and co-singer, puts out hilarious ‘the making of’ videos which give fans the background and timeline to the gestation of each album and for this one, we can see that it is very much his baby, especially as he has taken all of the lead vocals. The whole ‘double concept-album’ is obviously his passion and that shines through in the music.

Ah, yes; the music.

The songs are almost universally glorious. There’s an intensity in many of them but without too much of the heavy, complicated time-signature stuff which I know turns some fans off. » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Sometimes a new album sideswipes you; whips the rug from under your feet and sends you tumbling into a different time and space. Once such album is the new one from Danny & The Champions of the World, ‘You Are Not a Stranger Here.’

It is seven years since the band’s last studio album, seven years in which so much has happened to Danny George Wilson, the band’s principle songwriter, voice and frontman; from solo album to his other band, Bennett Wilson Poole, he’s been a busy Antipodian. He bought into a record shop – Union Music in Lewes which also has a satellite branch in the wonderful Sound Lounge in Sutton where, if it’s your lucky day, you can drink coffee and talk music with the man himself when he’s ‘behind the counter.’ This has exposed him to so much new music, broadened his horizons and, along with the pandemic, made him look differently at the world.

So, if you were expecting another Champs homage to The E Street Band for this, their seventh studio album, then this is where the rug gets pulled right from underneath you.

The ten tracks here, four » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Here’s a great idea for a re-release; take the best calendar year for a band and put out everything they recorded, both official releases, alternate mixes and unreleased tracks.

So, the first cab off the Universal rank is Thin Lizzy 1976, five CDs and a Blu-ray or limited edition coloured LP sets.

You get brand new stereo and atmos mixes of the Jailbreak and Johnny the Fox albums, demos, radio sessions, outtakes, remastered original versions of the albums plus a previously unreleased live show.

By the beginning of 1976 the classic lineup of the band had been together for 18 months;Phil Lynott, Brian Downey, Scott Gorham and Brian Robertson; and the band’s distinctive take on the classic ‘Wishbone Ash twin-lead guitar’ attack had begun to cut through, on both sides of the Atlantic.

The Jailbreak album was recorded at The Who’s Ramport Studios in Battersea, London, between December ’75 and February ’76, with John Alcock producing. The band had worked up the songs in a small studio in Buckinghamshire in late ’75 so that the arrangements were really tight by the time they got to Ramport, (too tight for Robertson who later complained that » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This limited edition vinyl release is a follow up to Wakeman’s Final One Man Solo Tour of North and South America from earlier this year. It is a piece he wrote for solo piano after performing The Yes Suite for orchestra and choir at his London Palladium concert in 2023.

This work contains more than 30 musical fragments of YES music that Rick was a part of, including the much maligned, (by him, let’s be fair,) Tales From Topographic Oceans.

Picking out your favourite elements is great fun but the piece soon becomes a whole entity, as you give it time and space. I found that putting it on in the background while I was writing was a lovely thing to do as it would suddenly catch me as the beginning of South Side of the Sky or Long Distance Runaround would emerge.

The aforementioned elements of TFTO work perfectly alongside parts of Close to the Edge and nothing grates or diverts.

The second piece is a piano adaptation of the main themes and melodies from Rick’s ‘The Myths and Legends of King Arthur and the Knights of the Round Table’. Again, this is » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Q: Why is the old fool reviewing an album which is already three weeks old?

A: Because my copy only arrived yesterday after I cancelled the presell-one ordered on the Tax Dodgers because they said they couldn’t guarantee delivery by Christmas and what the feck is that all about so I bought it from Burning Shed and got it in 24 hours so up yours Jeff Bezos.

This won’t be detailed review; if you’re a Yes fan you probably have it already; but it will be an unutterably enthusiastic review because this album makes me happier than almost anything else which I’ve heard this year.

Richie Castellano is a multi-instrumentalist who has been a member of Blue Oyster Cult for two decades. In his spare time he has a bunch of friends who play classic Yes music. In the summer of 2018 they posted a version of Close to the Edge on YouTube which got over half a million views and comments. In response to some of the comments, Richie wrote:

“This isn’t a bunch of music snobs showing off. This is genuine love for Yes and their music. We are hardcore Yes fans » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

A new live album and blu-ray release from Britain’s premier prog band, Big Big Train, ‘hits the shelves’ just in time for their Autumn tour of the U.K and Europe.

The recordings are from the two triumphant nights at London’s Cadogan Hall at the end of their 17-date, The Journey Continues Tour, of last year.

I was able to take in seven dates of the tour, travelling to Basel, through Zurich to Cologne, Frankfurt, Munich, Edinburgh, Birmingham and London. After every show various band-members looked out for me, making sure that I had travelled well, eaten properly, etc; it’s that kind of band.

The one thing you know with any Big Big Train release is that the sound will be immaculate. Their producer, Rob Aubrey, is also their live sound-engineer and he’ll have mixed these recordings to within an inch of their lives. So, yes, it is as good a sounding live album as you are ever likely to hear; no mean feat when there are up to eleven musicians on stage at any one time.

The band had varied the set-list on most dates and the idea for the two nights in London » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

There are plenty of new items on the Departures Board on this, the fifteenth album from Big Big Train:

It marks the first with Italian singer, Alberto Bravin, (ex-PFM,) who replaces the much-loved David Longdon following his tragic death in late 2021.

It is the band’s first album on Inside Out, Sony’s premier prog label, (their previous recordings being self-released on English Electric.)

It is also a first in the modern history of the band in that the tracks were recorded with the musicians all playing together, in one room, with songs being changed, extended and polished as they were captured by the engineers.

It is a departure from previous BBT albums in that there are less storytelling-songs than usual. This time, with the passing of Longdon, family bereavement and individual upheaval, the songs are more personal and more introspective than before. Greg Spawton’s strap-line for the album, ‘this time it’s personal,’ rings so true as you immerse yourself into it.

Long-time fans of the band need have no concerns though. This is most definitely a Big Big Train album; and one of their very best.

I will also say that it is the » Continue Reading.