Category Cd Reviews

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Syd Arthur are a psychadelic/progresssive rock band from Canterbury. If that seems like a strange description then I can only say that it’s a good fit to their music, which has a very unusual sound. There are definite Prog rock influences here, but also psychedelic and folk influences, which all blends together to form a quite gentle but complex sound.

This is certainly a difficult album to review as it does sound so different to most other bands and it’s hard to describe the music as it’s so rich and diverse. The vocals are quite high pitched which isn’t a style I’m usually a fan of but I have to admit that it does work well here...

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Escape/Sound Pollution

Let´s put in reverse and return to 1983. Tom Galley conjured up a couple of transcendental stories backed by the record label Bronze. The finalized product, the self-titled album, appeared in 1985. Nothing much you may say, but the project engaged such luminaries as Glenn Hughes (ex. DEEP PURPLE, BLACK COUNTY COMMUNION), Cozy Powell (RAINBOW, WHITESNAKE etc. (R.I.P.), Don Airey of just about every major band, Neil Murray, likewise, and the elite force tag was there. The second outing, “Phenomena II – Dream Runner” came out in 1987, and was also well-received. Slight musical changes had taken place, but there was new breed like Ray Gillen (BADLANDS, BLACK SABBATH (R.I...

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SPV/Playground

In 1990 ZENO was collapsing and bassist Ule W. Ritgen hooked up with vocalist Tommy Heart (ex. V2) aimed high together with guitarists Helge Engelke and Andy Malacek plus drummer C.C. Behrens. Signed by WEA they debuted with their self-titled prima opus in 1991. The resy may be said to be history, eleven albums and especially wealthy sales in Japan it seems. Today Andy Malacek is out of the band since the turn of the century, otherwise the lineup seems stable. The band hibernated around 2002, but returned in 2006, and seems to have a lot of mileage in them yet.

To capture a career of around 15 active years the band has chosen a massive 32 tracks for their best of. What the “… and More” stands for is up to the listener it seems...

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Mike Paradine/Digital Only iTunes, Amazon etc

How often do you get a genuine product in your hand with close to a 100 % heart and soul? Ask yourself that question with Eurovision Song Contest prone bands, manager tricks and doctored live albums. Then have a listen to MIKE PARADINE GROUP! Mike who? Let´s not be bigoted. Mike is an all in all Bayonne New Jersey product who barely escaped cancer in his teens, hence the subject/title of the album. His cronies are mostly Michael Clayton Moore on vocals and Dave “Ghost” Manheim, who handles vocals, guitars, bass and keys. More guitars comes courtesy of “Kilroy”, sometimes Mike sings to, and, an eyebrow raiser, Richard Holmgren of WOLF!

From the humble beginnings of a barely ok opener in the shape of “Venom and Piss”, the group accelera...

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Universal records are releasing three Sandy Denny solo albums (Rendezvous, Sandy & Like an old fashioned waltz) as part of their collection of Deluxe edition reissues. As we’ve come to expect from these Deluxe Editions, they’re packed full of extra material.

These new editions also coincide with a UK tour entitled “The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny” which will present an evening of classic songs by Sandy featuring Joan Wasser (aka Joan As Police Woman), Maddy Prior, Jerry Donahue, Dave Swarbrick, Green Gartside, PP Arnold and Thea Gilmore.

”Rendezvous” was released in May 1977, less than a year before Sandy Denny’s death in April 1978...

Posted in Cd Reviews

Universal records are releasing three Sandy Denny solo albums (Rendezvous, Sandy & Like an old fashioned waltz) as part of their collection of Deluxe edition reissues. As we’ve come to expect from these Deluxe Editions, they’re packed full of extra material.

These new editions also coincide with a UK tour entitled “The Lady: A Homage to Sandy Denny” which will present an evening of classic songs by Sandy featuring Joan Wasser (aka Joan As Police Woman), Maddy Prior, Jerry Donahue, Dave Swarbrick, Green Gartside, PP Arnold and Thea Gilmore.

”Sandy” was released in May 1972, less than a year before Sandy Denny’s death in April 1978.

Since her death, Sandy Denny’s reputation has grown, largely due to this album along with ”Rendezvous” and ”Like an old fashioned waltz” albums (which ar...

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”I am I” is the new band fronted by former Dragonforce singer ZP Theart. With Dragonforce having just released their new album, it’s now time for I am I to do the same.

Event Horizon’ will be the first heavy metal album to be released on USB packaged in a CD style case with full artwork, and can be bought from the Official I AM I website at http://www.iamiofficial.com That is certainly an unusual gimmick, but in my view it could hurt sales unless it also includes a CD – by doing it as a USB memory stick they are forcing people to listen via their computer whereas many people still prefer CD’s (even if they import it onto the computer, the CD itself can be listened to in the car etc)...

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Young British rockers Jettblack are back with their second album – Raining Rock. Their first album ”Get your hands dirty” gained them a load of fans and established them as a band to look out for, so this second album is eagerly awaited.

I’m not going to describe all the songs on the album – I’ll leave you to wait and listen to the album yourselves to hear what they’re like, but I will make brief comments on a few of the songs.

The first single to be released from the album is the title track – Raining rock, which is an absolutely superb rock song, and coupled with a great video I’m sure it’s going to have fans really excited about the forthcoming album...

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Dark Princess are a Russian Symphonic/Gothic metal band that was formed in 2005. Their debut album, ”Without you” was released in 2005 and was followed by ”Stop my heart” which was released in 2006 and was a hit with fans, particularly in Germany. Since then they have released the album ”Crying game” which was made up of Russian language versions of songs from the first two albums.

The band’s new album, ”The world I’ve lost” is the first to feature their new singer Natalia.

Before getting this album to review I hadn’t come across Dark Princess before so I was very happy when I hit play and listened to the album – it’s fantastic. It’s always a nice feeling to find a new band that makes music that you love, and that’s certainly the case here...

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Frontiers/BAM

Back to the roots by a media covered ”divorce” from former vocalist Jack Russell and the addition of the voice of XYZ. GREAT WHITE had their best sales back in 1989, with the slick and sticky “…Twice Shy album”. What many seem to forget is that they started out already in 1977, around vocalist Jack. Guitarist Mark Kendall was there already, and the pair were joined by bass player Don Costa, of OZZY OSBOURNE fame, and Tony Richards, who was later found in WASP. The band, then known as DANTE FOX, found a manager in Alan Niven, and opted for world domination with the EP “Stick It Out”. A self-titled debut followed in 1984, which won them a support slot opening for WHITESNAKE...