What does it sound like?:

“Warrior On The Edge Of Time” (WOTEOT) is Hawkwind’s proggiest release, though retains the garage punch and Euro-motorik which always place them to the hipper side of the underground subculture, and later inspiring punks, post-punk, acid house, ravers, and new age travellers. By 1975 Hawkwind were quite a big (quid) deal; US tours, playing Wembley, slicker everything. Behind the scenes, it was getting messy as only Hawkwind know how, and over the next 18 months Lemmy, then Nik Turner would be out, the former for drug incompatibility, the latter as his saxophone playing was being intentionally played over vocals and other player’s solos, disrupting the musical performance, the band now being a more professional unit than the free-form happening of yore where this was no longer “cool”.

WOTEOT always sounded quite clean relative to the grimey skinning-up surface that was their previous output, and Stephen Wilson has done a lovely job making it even more pristine, layers of er, “nicotine”, being removed, and making “Assault and Battery/ The Golden Void” (oh, those titles!) even trippier than dimly recalled. The poem “The Wizard blew his Horn” follows – a bit fantasy for me, as » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Originally released in 1983, this was the first official live album by Sabbath and featured the Iommi, Butler, Dio, Appice line up, with Ozzy long gone and Bill Ward having quit partway through the previous tour. The Heaven and Hell and Mob Rules albums, released in 1980 and 81 respectively, were like a breath of fresh air for the band – they seemed rejuvenated by the new line up and full of fresh ideas and enthusiasm for their more commercial radio friendly sound. Recorded on the Mob Rules tour in the US, this double set mixed the best of the two recent studio albums, Neon Knights, Heaven and Hell, The Mob Rules, Children of the Sea, Sign of the Southern Cross, with vintage Sabbath from yesteryear – prime cuts such as NIB, Iron Man, Black Sabbath, Children of the Grave and Paranoid. Ronnie Dio handles the vocals for these classic songs pretty well given that it’s no easy task to replace Ozzy’s familiar trademark sound, but understandably he sounds more at home on the more recent pieces – only War Pigs falters somewhat due to an overlong drum solo being incorporated, causing the song » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Marc Bolan began recording the material in this box in August 1972, brimming with confidence, at the peak of his creativity and the zenith of his commercial success. He’d enjoyed a run of number one singles, his last album, The Slider, was making waves in America and a movie documenting a T.Rextasy tour was in the can. By the end of it, his band was disintegrating, his trusted producer had quit, the single that gives the box its title failed to enter the top ten and its parent album couldn’t even find a record label in the USA. His next LP did not chart at all. A well compiled Great Hits failed to make the top thirty. In that context, you might expect the 4 CD/5 LP Whatever Happened To The Teenage Dream? to track the diminishing returns of an artistic decline. However, it’s not as simple as that.

Tanx opens with a stumble and concludes with a crash. In between, is the smoothest, most polished of all T.Rex albums. The traditional T.Rex sound is supplemented by mellotron, phased vocals and slurpy sax. The songwriting is more varied, incorporating soul, funk and gospel. The » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Def Leppard are the latest in a whole line of bands who have gone down the route of creating orchestrated arrangements of their work. This time it’s the Ronal Philharmonic Orchestra who convened with the band at Abbey Road to create these new versions of familiar songs. The selected pieces were deconstructed – some instruments were dropped, others were added and at times Joe Elliott duets with his younger self. On top of this a lush orchestration has been added to give the material a fresh new sound. The album is a mixture of a smattering of songs from their latest album, some of their biggest songs from previous records and a handful of deeper cuts. Indeed the first couple of tracks are lesser known pieces from the Slang and Euphoria albums, Turn To Dust and Paper Sun, both having an attention grabbing eastern feel that reminds me of the treatment given to Kashmir by Plant and Page on their Unledded album. Of the others, for me the slower songs work best – Too Late, Hysteria, Love Bites and Bringing on the Heartbreak all fare well, as do the two similarish big ballads When » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This is an extraordinary record in so many ways. Consisting of 7 pieces – I hesitate to call them songs because they don’t really fit that category – linked together as one suite (there is only one track on the CD and, I believe, on the LP), this record demands to be listened to completely. It is like nothing else I’ve ever heard, although there are odd echoes in the guitar phrases that recall early Paul Simon compositions. As one might suspect, this is a meditation on his stage in life and, me not being that far behind, it resonates with this listener in sometimes quite disturbing ways. It is not an ‘easy’ listen – not only because of the words ( again I hesitate to refer to them as lyrics as that seems inadequate) but the music weaves in unexpected turns and rhythms to serve those words and present them to the listener in a way that can’t be ignored. Paul’s voice has also aged which enhances the subject matter.

I only got this today, so will be spending a long time absorbing it and playing this a lot in the coming days. » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

In my world, a new album from the Go West singer is to be celebrated. When it is this good, it is to be cheered from the rafters.

If you ask many songwriters they’ll tell you that upbeat songs, those which work best on stage, are the hardest to write. During lockdown, PC found himself wondering if his career was over, if that was it. He began to write, (he admits himself that ‘prolific’ is not his middle name,) and found a batch of up-tempo songs coming out. As soon as he could he re-engaged with Go West-producer Gary Stevenson and with old friend, John Mitchell, (guitarist with It Bites and Frost*) to help him, and their production-skills shine through. Stevenson even remixed the album, at the last minute, because he felt he could do better. And he was right. This is an album which ‘sounds’ fantastic, has brilliant, accomplished musicians and is packed with melodic, up-tempo songs which stick in your head like the very best of friendly ear-worms.

Too Far Gone and She Wants Magic open Side One and are the best of what I describe – they have already both » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Rolling Stone thought Daft Punk’s career strategy was based on the insight that Disco wasn’t stupid enough first time around. They depersonalised the vocals with a vocoder, disguised themselves under robotic helmets, and deployed synthesisers to become leading exponents of EDM (Electronic Dance Music). Spin magazine credited their appearance at Coachella in 2006 as the tipping point when EDM went mainstream in America. Rooted in the European dance music of Kraftwerk and Giorgio Moroder, inspired by Japanese cartoons and driven by science fiction, these two French DJs/producers, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo, made a virtue of compression, the rigid solidity of a drum machine and a magpie approach to sampling. They refashioned sounds from the seventies and the early eighties to make them seem like the future. In their hands, hi-tech equipment of the 21st Century was used to create a decidedly simple, irresistible lo-tech sounding product that drew people to the dancefloor in droves.

The first two albums, Homework and Discovery are classics of their genre, perfect examples of how to exploit your strengths. The lyrics are stripped to the bare minimum. Around The World, for example, consists of the three words of » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

First released in 1989, this was a transitional album for the band, the first to feature new vocalist Steve Hogarth and the first without Fish – in fact some of the music here was originally destined for the aborted fifth album with the big man. Early versions of some of those songs can be found on the reissue of Clutching at Straws – it seems Fish kept the lyrics, some of which were used on his first couple of solo efforts, while the band kept the music.  Anyway, I digress – this set comprises three cds plus a bluray disc, housed in the now usual book sized format, accompanied by new artwork and an informative and very comprehensive booklet. The first cd is a remix of the original album – to my ears it does sound slightly sharper and brighter with previously hidden nuances in the music appearing from the murkier parts of the original production. The second and third discs are a live show from the 2022 Marillion weekend recreating the whole album, before closing proceedings with a couple of much later compositions, Gaza and The Leavers. It’s a good competent performance, providing » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Mott the Hoople, in November 1971, were the hottest ticket on the uni/tech/civic hall circuit. They were an incendiary live band, chaotic, unrelenting and very loud. Every gig was like a battle, with no prisoners taken and no fucks given. The reason that Mick Jones followed them everywhere? Mott were punk, five years early, simple as that. And their lead singer had a huge mop of blonde, curly hair and sunglasses and shouted at me from the stage. Ian Hunter was my first gig, my first rock star, my first love.

This was all pre-Bowie, pre-hits and pre- ‘Tarp of the Parps’ – all of which I loved too. When H left, I went with him, every step, every record. He has given me some of the best gigs of my life, especially those with his wonderful Rant Band, and his run of five albums, since 2001’s Rant, has been the best run of albums by any of the ‘someone from the ’70’s’ mob, full stop. Bruce, Neil, Todd, Bob, no one come close. Hunter still writes great songs, still gets angry, still cares.

So, a new album from Ian Hunter Patterson is always » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

The album production cycle of one of the world’s premier exponents of metal is glacially slow – this is only their fourth studio album in the last twenty years, coming seven years after 2016’s Hardwired to Self Destruct, although to be fair they maybe lost a couple of years to Covid. The title refers to the first eighteen years of life when they say personalities are shaped into forms that will endure for the remainder of one’s life. As you’d perhaps anticipate, there are no great surprises here – it’s primarily Metallica doing what they are most known for and indeed what they do best. The songs vary from loud, heavy and fast to a more brooding style that still retains the trademark loudness and heaviness! At 77 minutes this would have been a double set back in the day, with most of the individual songs clocking in around the seven minute mark, which seems to have become their optimal song length over the years. Only the closing Inamorata appears overlong – it’s eleven minutes would certainly have benefited from a bit of judicious editing as it leaves the album closing on a bit » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

It’s an understatement to say that Joe is a driven individual, acknowledging his early struggles fuel his relentless recording and performing schedule. By the age of 14 he had appeared with BB King and Danny Gatton, been on national TV, signed by Premier Artists – but still couldn’t get a solo recording deal. So Premier made him the focus of a band they called Bloodline where he played alongside Erin Davis (son of Miles), Waylon Krieger (son of Robbie), Aaron Hagar (son of Sammy) and Berry Oakley Jr (son of … ). They made one album in 1994 before “musical differences” saw Joe and the band go their separate ways.

Manager Roy Weisman opted to stick with Joe, and things haven’t worked out too badly. Roy is the “R” of “J&R Adventures”, the management company that he and Joe set up as a way of taking control of Bonamassa’s third album. Since then, it’s grown to incorporate concert promotion, meaning J&R decide what to record, when to release it, and they book and promote the venues where Joe performs. It’s a time-consuming, hands-on approach, but Joe believes his time in the spotlight is limited, » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

I’ve been having a listen to Gary Crowley’s Punk and New Wave new CD compilation. If like me you were just 11, 12, 13 between 1977 and 1980 and you had an older brother who was the coolest person you knew with mates just like him. If your brother and his mates have turned 60 in the last few years.

If you remember being in the living room with your mum and dad watching The Love Boat while your brother and his mates were playing snooker on a half size table in the back room playing all this amazing music and making holes in the polystyrene ceiling tiles with their cues.

If they drove your dad mad and your mum to tears by refusing to leave until “just one more game” or “when this album finishes”. If you couldn’t sleep through the noise of all these incredible sounds and if you started to question your collection of ABBA and Wombles singles.

If your brother had no interest when you asked if he’d heard Lay Your Love On Me” by Racey or “Wanted” by The Dooleys. If you started to want to hear The Clash, » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

I wasn’t going to post anything about Moving On Skiffle. @jaygee and @retropath2 have written superbly about the concerts featuring the music on the record, and the record itself, on an earlier thread and anyway I’ve inflicted enough verbiage about Van Morrison on you all over the years. But the thing is, I’m enjoying this album immensely, and that isn’t anything I expected to say anytime soon about a new Van Morrison record. So indulge me whilst I add my two penn’orth.

Moving on Skiffle isn’t actually a skiffle record at all. It does feature Alan ‘Sticky’ Wicket on washboard but other than that it’s Morrison’s regular house band and backing vocalists, joined on a few tracks by Seth Lakeman on violin. And whilst many of these songs were skiffle staples, really this is a wide bunch of folk, blues and country songs that Morrison will have known and perhaps played in the early days, many no doubt from his father’s record collection.

Generally the songs are delivered fairly straight – these aren’t radical, if you will, reimaginings. Some work better than others. I am not » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

In case you weren’t paying attention, five years ago, the album ‘Bennett Wilson Poole’ earned this ‘supergroup’ the Americana UK Artist of the Year and was on many peoples Album of the Year list – including mine.

It was only ever meant to be a one-off but the resulting joyous gigs and the reaction to the album meant that the project was an itch which would not be scratched.

All three – Robin ‘Dreaming Spires’ Bennett, Danny ‘Champ’ Wilson and Tony ‘Starry Eyed & Laughing’ Poole – went off to do other things which included a fantastic Danny & The Champions of the World live album, from Spain, and a magnificent new SE&L album – and Covid, illness and stuff just got in the way. However, last year, the trio wrote some new songs and recorded them, with Tony Poole sprinkling his production-stardust all over them, as well as jangling his Rickenbacker 12-string all through them.

So, say hello to the second BWP album.

If you’re expecting that ‘difficult second album syndrome,’ forget it. If you’re expecting three wonderful songwriters to have kept their best stuff for their own projects, forget it. This is » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

By the time this performance was recorded in November of 1974, the band had already performed this piece many times across the world. Their modus operandi at the time was to road test new material before hitting the recording studio ensuring they had ironed out any potential flaws, and thus by the time this gig was recorded (and partially broadcast on Radio One) the show ran like clockwork. I’d put this recording down as a good solid performance, the set having been well honed and indeed finely tuned by the long months spent on the road, and as you’d anticipate, there is more scope for improvisation than on the studio album itself – this is most evident on Great Gig in The Sky, Money and especially in the instrumental interplay on Any Colour You Like. Overall although there are no great surprises here, this is a worthwhile addition to the catalogue that nicely complements the studio album, although its probably one for the hard core Floyd fan rather than the casual listener.

What does it all *mean*?

This performance has previously been available on the Experience and Immersion editions of the album that appeared » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Those of us who thought the death of Andrew Fletcher in May 2022 might put an end to Depeche Mode were very wrong. Memento Mori translates as “remember we must die”, but that doesn’t apply to Depeche Mode. It might even be one of their little jokes, but more on that later. If we fast forward 50 years, Dave Gahan and Martin Gore will be gone – but there’s every chance that Depeche Mode will still exist as a going concern.

This album hasn’t bedded in yet but it’s important to write down first impressions and perhaps revisit these later when it settles in to its place at the table.

Before we get on to the music, the cover art is definitely a return to form. The record is beautiful thing to have and to hold in your hands. On the back cover we see a human skull on a table with two empty chairs either side. Inside, the same image but with Dave Gahan and Martin Gore sitting on the chairs. Does the skull represent their deceased friend…? Or is it simply a reference to the ancient motif associated with the album’s title? To » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This live set comprises unreleased performances selected from Hillage’s personal archive. Even as punk rock raged in the UK, everybody’s favourite hippy was playing in arenas in the US, although admittedly only as a support act. The fact that he’s a fantastic inventive guitarist is sometimes overlooked, but listen to the epic Lunar Musick Suite to hear just how innovative he could be. Other highlights are a lengthy workout on an old favourite, Donovan’s Hurdy Gurdy Man, a fine The Salmon Song and, a surprise choice for me, George Harrison’s It’s All Too Much, on which he lets rip with some top notch improvisation. The show is supplemented by three more tracks recorded at The Rainbow a couple of months later on which he continues to plough his unique trippy furrow to great effect.

What does it all *mean*?

The LA show was in support of ELO, then at the height of their powers. A somewhat left field choice – alas, history does not record what their audience made of the remarkable Mr Hillage.

Goes well with…

Live shows – alongside this release, a shortish UK tour is about to begin.

Release Date:

» Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Just turn your face up to the summer sun And drive a thousand miles In an Alfa Berlina

On release, this will be a nice clamshell box set, in the recent house style of Cherry Red. The box contains audio on two CDs; one video DVD and a Blu-Ray with video footage and 5.1 surround, if that’s your bag. Also an illustrated booklet – although at this point, I should stress that I was reviewing streamed audio only, along with some basic publicity material. I haven’t seen the visuals, on disc or on paper.

What is this release? It’s a “warts and all” recording of the final show from VdGG’s 2022 UK tour (which itself had been postponed twice due to covid restrictions). This final show took place at the Forum in Bath on 1st March 2022 and was filmed and recorded. I understand that this is effectively the first live CD and film which has been fully controlled and approved by the band – I can quite believe that, given their (occasionally) precarious business position in the past.

I recall a concert review in Sounds, from about 1977 – where Geoff Barton pointed » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

A lavish 3 cd plus bluray edition of the band’s second album has arrived. Originally released in early 1971, like their debut set it was once again recorded with a full orchestra, and contained two of their most enduring pieces in Galadriel and particularly Mockingbird. Listening again to the whole album for the first time in many years, it’s those two songs that still stand head and shoulders over the rest and demonstrate the potential within the band. The album really started the band on the musical course that was to stand them in such good stead over the subsequent years, although their best work such as Time Honoured Ghosts, Octoberon and Gone To Earth were still far in the future. As well as the original remastered stereo mix, there’s also of course a whole new mix, and these are supplemented by music from a Peel session, an early version of Mockingbird and, at long last, the full version of the unreleased White Sails. The third disc, unusually, has the quad version of the album from 1972, along with orchestra-less versions of the two key songs, which are interesting to hear in their bare » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Which is better – Gabriel-era or Collins-era?

Well here’s your chance to compare (granted the Gabriel fronted version only accounts for about 20% of this set). Drawn from BBC Broadcasts between 1970 and 1998, this 5 CD set spans their career covering all incarnations (including Ray Wilson era represented by 2 tracks). It may not settle the argument of PG, PC or RW, but shows a band growing in confidence in a live setting, moving from Radio Studios and theatres to headlining outdoor festivals and stadiums.

The set is curated by Tony Banks and available in 2 formats – the 5 CD set offers 53 tracks whilst the 3 LP set contains only 24. The first CD covers the Peter Gabriel era (maybe not with all the obvious track choices, but from sessions for John Peel/Nightride, and a couple more from In Concert broadcasts. This may be a purely personal note, but sadly, no recording of Supper’s Ready is available (and I can see no record of it being recorded for John Peel, or any other BBC session or broadcast). CD2 catches highlights from Knebworth 78 (A Midsummer Night’s Dream – other bands on » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Pelican West has been in my life for all of its 40 odd year existence. For more than 30 of those years it’s become the album I turn to every year as winter turns to spring. It signals dark turning to light, a new beginning as welcome as the daffodils and as warm as the first proper rays of sun on your back. For someone like me it signifies a change in mood. Things will be better and Pelican West confirms all this. When the opportunity presented itself to review this reissued box set I couldn’t say no but let’s be clear there is little, no, there’s no chance of any objectivity. It’s Haircut 100, it’s Nick Heyward, it’s Pelican West which I first wrote about in 2016

1982 was an extraordinary year for music. Post punk, new wave, new romantics, electronica, reggae, Chas and Dave. All vying for a place in the charts. In amongst all of this a band formed in 1981 released an album as part of the South East jazz funk movement but it turned out to be much more than that. Where Linx » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Uncut magazine has kept the faith with Americana despite the genre’s general unfashionableness these days. March’s issue sees the latest release in its long-standing cover-mount series, Sounds of the New West volume 6. (The other five are all pretty essential listening if Americana is your bag). Volume 6 focuses on female voices, and I reckon it’s one of the best so far. All of the artists are new to me, something which hasn’t been the case with previous issues in the series, and all of the fifteen tracks are pretty much on the money. Aside from this place, which has led me to the occasional discovery, the Sounds of the New West CDs have been heavy on the wallet, and this one is unlikely to be any different. Amongst the tracks sampled are songs from Nikki Lane, Collpasing Stars, Doug Paisley and Sunny War. Best of the lot are offerings from Plains, who sound more than a little like First Aid Kit, Margo Cilker, whose debut album Pohorylle is definitely worth a listen, and the shimmering Kassi Valazza. Her debut album Dear Dead Days has been around for a couple of years and is exceptionally » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

This is the first time I’ve come across this music although it’s actually a remastered and expanded edition of an album that originally appeared in 1997. It’s the second collaboration between original Genesis guitarist Phillips and Japanese multi-instrumentalist Hirota, the music being recorded for the TV wildlife series Survival and Natural World. I don’t have any real recall of those programmes, but as you’d expect these brief instrumental passages are designed to complement and evoke the images of the natural world and wild life scenes being portrayed on screen. The set has been expanded with a further cd of another eighteen unreleased soundtrack recordings, together with a song created in 1991 with Mike Rutherford. There’s an abundance of well crafted imaginative and evocative music created by the duo here, but you can’t help thinking it would work far better in conjunction with the visuals they were originally intended to accompany, as most pieces are so brief they are over before they’ve had chance to develop into anything significant. The set comes with a nice booklet with some interesting sleeve notes from Phillips.

What does it all *mean*?

Definitely one for collectors and completists.

Goes » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

In 1976 Thin Lizzy’s quest to break America stalled as they flew home exhausted (and in Phil Lynott’s case laid low with hepatitis). From his sick bed he mapped out the songs that would form the second album of 1976 – Johnny The Fox (released in October, just 7 months after Jailbreak). When the supporting tour hit Hammersmith Odeon in November, the Maison Rouge Mobile Studio was parked out front to capture the 2 shows for posterity, archive, and potential use to push Lizzy in America. The US Tour in December was cancelled when, on the night before, Brian Robertson injured his hand in a brawl at the Speakeasy Club. Robertson was replaced for the revised US Tour in January by Gary Moore, but part way through the recording of the next album – Bad Reputation – he was re-instated. Bad Reputation was produced by Tony Visconti, and when considering their next album Thin Lizzy sought his services again. Visconti’s time was limited as he was due to start work with David Bowie. As time was limited, it was suggested a Live album would be the solution, and the tapes from Hammersmith 1976, and » Continue Reading.

What does it sound like?:

Who creates a masterpiece with their ninth album? Well, in my opinion, Anthony Toner has done just that. A man with a love of poetry and literary fiction, for many years Anthony combined performing – in wine-bar duos, blues bands and solo (with original songs) – with being a local newspaperman on the north coast of Northern Ireland and, later, with managing a small arts centre in the same area. A few years ago, he moved to Belfast and committed to pursuing his vocation in music. He regularly plays the arts centre scene in NI and periodically tours Britain in support of Barbara Dickson, one of his many professional admirers.

Interest declared: I’ve known Anthony casually from that newsprint era in the 90s onwards and we have mutual pals in the NI music world. He’s affable, he’s a total professional and he’s a great ‘storyteller’ in song. I’ve long admired his skills – a terrific onstage entertainer and deft musician (skills that aren’t often married that well) along with a songwriting craft that he makes seem effortless. That being said, while occasional songs will have grabbed me over the years, the core of Anthony’s » Continue Reading.