Category Cd Reviews

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Eklipse are a group of four young ladies who play classical music and who joined forces in 2011. As Eklipse they play classical versions of various pop and rock songs. This is obviously going to draw comparisons with Apocalyptica who play heavy metal songs on the cello.
Unlike Apocalyptica, Eklipse don’t just use cellos – instead they play viola, violins and the cello. This does give them a quite different sound to Apocalyptica.

Unlike Apocalyptica, Eklipse have chosen a much more pop oriented range of songs to cover, with songs on the album being from Kate Bush, Coldplay, Lady Gaga, Depeche Mode and Linkin Park amongst others.

Eklipse are clearly not afraid to use their looks to help promote their music and don’t try and pretend that sex appeal doesnt affect sales...

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”Emergence” is the debut album from heavy rockers The Sun Explodes. Hailing from Carlisle, they have a sound that crosses genre boundaries. At times they have a really heavy guitar driven sound, but at other times there is a very prominent use of synthesisers which gives it a totally different sound. Presonally I’m glad to see so many new bands mixing things up and not being limited by artificial genres as by mixing things up we get some interesting new sounds – sometimes it works brilliantly and at other times it doesnt work. Happily in this case it works well.

Comments on a couple of the tracks…

Title track ”Emergence starts off with some guitar and drums which gradually rise in pace and intensity for almost a minute at which point the synth kicks in and becomes the dominant sound, e...

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Diana Ross, originally issued in 1976, was Diana Ross’s first full-length solo studio album in over two years. It arrived on the heels of Mahogany, Diana’s record-breaking second feature film that included her No. 1 hit, ”Theme From Mahogany (Do You Know Where You’re Going To)”.
As well as the Mahogany theme, the album containts one of Diana Ross’s biggest hits – ”Love hangover”.

As well as the newly re-mastered original album, there is a second CD packed with bonus material – single-only mixes, non-LP singles, the super-rare promotional single ”Coming Home,” and new alternate mixes of nearly the entire album...

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”Older than my old man now is the new album from Loudon Wainwright III. The title represents the fact that at the age of 65 he has lived longer than his father did. The whole album has an autobiographical theme whether and also involves several members of his family – Opening track ”The here and the now” features his four children on backing vocals as well as two out of three of their mothers. A couple of songs are based on recitations written by his late father, and one song was written with his late ex-wife Kate McGarrigle.

Loudon Wainwright III has a career spanning over 40 years with this being his 22nd studio album, so his music needs little introduction as he’s built up a solid fanbase during that time...

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Jake Morley is a young British singer-songwriter who has been getting plenty of attention recently. His single ”Feet don’t fail me now” was extremely good so I was looking forward to hearing the album. The music is simple – primarily Jake Morley playing acoustic guitar and singing whcih works well. His guitar playig is an unusual style – he plays it with a lap tapping style which isnt something you see very often.
The lyrics are all based around everyday life rather than anything particularly exciting or exotic, and while that may not excite some people, I can see it appealing to others who find the lyrics easier to relate to than lyrics by many bands.

It’s a hard style to describe – its not pop, its not folk, its not rock – but saying what it is isn’t easy – really its a blend of the t...

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Kissin’ Dynamite may be a new name to many people, but I predict that they’re a band that you’re going to hear a lot of over the coming months and years, particularly if you’re a fan of sleaze rock. Despite their youth this is their third (and best) album to date as well as being their first since signing with AFM records.

With this album Kissin’ Dynamite have found their identity. Previously they’ve experimented with various sounds, but have now settled on a sleazy heavy rock sound which definitely suits them.

The two singles – ”Money sex & power” and ”I will be king” are both really strong tracks that are already winning the band a lot of new fans judging by the number of my facebook friends who have been reposting the videos recently.

Insanely catchy choruses, great vocals, well wri...

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In May 2010 the world of Hard Rock / Heavy Metal lost one of its most talented stars, with the passing of Ronnie James Dio. During his career he sang for Rainbow and Black Sabbath, as well as his own eponymous band (Dio). With his incredible vocal range he sang some of the real classic songs in rock and metal

Three of the Dio albums – ‘Holy Diver’, ‘Sacred Heart’ and ‘Last in Line’ are being re-released this month. As well as a re-mastered version of the original album, these reissues each feature a bonus CD containing lots of extra material including B sides, the EP and live tracks. There is also an expanded booklet with notes from Malcolm Dome. The reissues have been endorsed by Ronnie’s widow Wendy Dio.

As with the other two albums being released at the same time, the ...

Posted in Cd Reviews

In May 2010 the world of Hard Rock / Heavy Metal lost one of its most talented stars, with the passing of Ronnie James Dio. During his career he sang for Rainbow and Black Sabbath, as well as his own eponymous band (Dio). With his incredible vocal range he sang some of the real classic songs in rock and metal

Three of the Dio albums – ‘Holy Diver’, ‘Sacred Heart’ and ‘Last in Line’ are being re-released this month. As well as a re-mastered version of the original album, these reissues each feature a bonus CD containing lots of extra material including B sides, the EP and live tracks. There is also an expanded booklet with notes from Malcolm Dome. The reissues have been endorsed by Ronnie’s widow Wendy Dio.

As with the other two albums being released at the same time, the ...

Posted in Cd Reviews

In May 2010 the world of Hard Rock / Heavy Metal lost one of its most talented stars, with the passing of Ronnie James Dio. During his career he sang for Rainbow and Black Sabbath, as well as his own eponymous band (Dio). With his incredible vocal range he sang some of the real classic songs in rock and metal

Three of the Dio albums – ‘Holy Diver’, ‘Sacred Heart’ and ‘Last in Line’ are being re-released this month. As well as a re-mastered version of the original album, these reissues each feature a bonus CD containing lots of extra material including B sides, the EP and live tracks. There is also an expanded booklet with notes from Malcolm Dome. The reissues have been endorsed by Ronnie’s widow Wendy Dio.

As you’d expect from the remastered version of the album it sounds...

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Flying Colors is the new band founded by former Dream Theatre drummer Mike Portnoy and Deep Purple guitarist Steve Morse. Joining them are Neal Morse (Spocks beard, Transatlantic), Dave LaRue (dixie Dregs), and Casey McPherson (Alpha Rev). So you’ve got a mix of musicians with backgrounds in classic hard rock, prog rock and pop – an interesting mix.
Unbelievably the album was written and recorded in just 9 days ! At a time when bands seem to spend months writing before even starting to record an album to do the whole thing in just over a week is a breathtaking achievement, and even more so when you hear the album and get blown away by its quality.

There really is a great mix of styles in this album, yet the songs feel like they belong together

Comments on a few of the songs on the album…