Category Archives: Rock
SIMPLE MINDS-SPARKLE IN THE RAIN-DELUXE EDITION.
SIMPLE MINDS-SPARKLE IN THE RAIN-DELUXE EDITION. Success didn’t come easy for Simple Minds. It took five years and five albums before they found commercial success and critical acclaim across Europe with New Gold Dream (81–82–83–84). This was the start of the rise and rise of Simple Minds. It was also the start of Simple Minds …
BILL WELLS AND AIDAN MOFFAT-THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE IN THE WORLD.
BILL WELLS AND AIDAN MOFFAT-THE MOST IMPORTANT PLACE IN THE WORLD. Four years after the last musical sojourn, Scotland’s musical odd couple of Bill Wells and Aidan Moffat return with their long awaited sophomore album The Most Important Place In The World. It’s the followup to Bill and Aidan’s 2011 debut album, Everything’s Getting Older. …
MICHAEL CHAMPMAN-SAVAGE AMUSEMENT.
MICHAEL CHAMPMAN-SAVAGE AMUSEMENT. Nowadays, artists can spent years recording an album. They announce that they’re about to start work on their next album. That’s the last anyone hears of the artist for years. They’re locked away in their home studio, with only a DAW and a handful of plug-ins for company. What follows is a …
WILLIE NILE-IF I WAS A RIVER.
WILLIE NILE-IF I WAS A RIVER. Having graduated from the University of Buffalo with a degree in philosophy in 1971, twenty-three year old Willie Nile dreamt of making a living as a troubadour. He was a classically trained pianist, who had been writing songs throughout his college years. Then during the summer, Willie Nile headed …
AXEL KRYGIER-HOMBRE DE PIEDRA.
AXEL KRYGIER-HOMBRE DE PIEDRA. Axel Krygier’s career began thirty years ago, back in 1985. Since then, the Buenos Aries’ born multi-instrumentalist has established a reputation as a musical maverick, who continually, has pushed musical boundaries to their limits, and sometimes, beyond. That’s apparent on Axel Krygier’s genre-melting fifth album, Hombre De Piedra, (Man Of Stone), …
DEKE LEONARD-KAMIKAZE.
DEKE LEONARD-KAMIKAZE. By the time Deke Leonard came to releasing his sophomore album Kamikaze, in April 1974, the last few years had been turbulent, to say the least. Deke had been fired from Man in May 1972. Looking back, it wasn’t entirely unexpected. Man had released their fourth studio album, Do You Like It Here …
PRIMAL SCREAM-GIVE OUT BUT DON’T GIVE UP.
PRIMAL SCREAM-GIVE OUT BUT DON’T GIVE UP. It’s never easy to followup a classic album. Countless bands have discovered that. In 1994, the latest band to realise that were Primal Scream. Three years earlier, at the height of the Acid House era, Primal Scream had released Screamadelica, a fusion of rock and dance music. Released on 23rd September 1991, Screamadelica …
ARTHUR-DREAMS AND IMAGES.
ARTHUR-DREAMS AND IMAGES. The story of Arthur Lee Harper is a familiar one. He was a talented singer-songwriter who looked as if he was destined for great things. Sadly, that proved not to be the case. Arthur only ever released one album, Dreams and Images which was released on Lee Hazelwood’s LHI Records 1968. Dreams …
THE WOODBINE AND IVY BAND-SLEEP ON SLEEPING ON.
THE WOODBINE AND IVY BAND-SLEEP ON SLEEPING ON. Four years after releasing their eponymous debut album in 2011. The Woodbine and Ivy Band return with their new album Sleep On Sleeping On. It was released on March 9th 2015, on Static Caravan Recordings, and sees The Woodbine and Ivy Band head in a different direction …
RICK WAKEMAN-THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE.
RICK WAKEMAN-THE MYTHS AND LEGENDS OF KING ARTHUR AND THE KNIGHTS OF THE ROUND TABLE. In January 1973, Rick Wakeman released his sophomore album The Six Wives Of Henry VIII. It was a groundbreaking album, one that would forever change prog rock. The Six Wives Of Henry VIII was the album that legitimised synths in …
MICHAEL CHAPMAN-WINDOW.
MICHAEL CHAPMAN-WINDOW. Michael Chapman never set out to be a make a living as a musician and originally, he was a teacher. By day, Michael Chapman taught art and photography and music was something he did in his spare time. However, there was a sense of inevitability that one day soon, Michael Chapman would leave the …
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND-THE VELVET UNDERGROUND.
THE VELVET UNDERGROUND-THE VELVET UNDERGROUND. Following disagreements about The Velvet Underground’s future musical direction, John Cale left the group. This was almost inevitable. For some time, John Cale and Lou Reed views about The Velvet Underground’s future differed. John Cale wanted The Velvet Underground to continue to innovate and create experimental music like White Light/White …
DEKE LEONARD-ICEBERG.
DEKE LEONARD-ICEBERG. Four years after founding Man in 1968, Deke Leonard was on a sabbatical from the Welsh rockers. Deke left Man for the first time in May 1972. This allowed Deke to do something he’d always wanted, record his debut solo album. Over the next twenty months, Deke with a few of his musical friends, …
MAN-REANIMATED MEMORIES.
MAN-REANIMATED MEMORIES. There aren’t many bands whose recording career spans six decades. That’s the case with Man. Founded in 1968, Man released their debut album Revelation, a year later in 1969. Since then, the Welsh rockers have enjoyed a long, prolific and sometimes, controversial career. Since their 1969 debut, Man have released over twenty albums …
JERRY LEE LEWIS-WHO’S GONNA PLAY THIS OLD PIANO…THINK ABOUT IT DARLIN’ AND SOMETIMES A MEMORY AIN’T ENOUGH.
JERRY LEE LEWIS-WHO’S GONNA PLAY THIS OLD PIANO…THINK ABOUT IT DARLIN’ AND SOMETIMES A MEMORY AIN’T ENOUGH. As 1972 drew to a close, Jerry Lee Lewis was back where he belonged, at the top. It had taken four years since he began his latest comeback. However, Jerry Lee Lewis had been here before. In 1964, …
CHRIS REA-WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BENNY SANTINI?
CHRIS REA-WHATEVER HAPPENED TO BENNY SANTINI? Musically, Chris Rea was something of a late developer. Chris only bought his first guitar when he was twenty-two. This seemed to give Chris a sense of purpose. Before this he was drifting. Chris, who was born Middlesborough, England in March 1951, had drifted between jobs. He’d worked as …
TOM RUSH-TOM RUSH.
TOM RUSH-TOM RUSH. For many people, Tom Rush was a trailblazer. He was the first of the singer-songwriters. His career began in 1961, when Tom, who was born in Portsmouth, New Hampshire began singing in clubs. Back then, Tom was still a student at Harvard University, where he studied English literature. A year later, in …
BIG STAR-KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY.
BIG STAR-KEEP AN EYE ON THE SKY. Sadly, in music, talent doesn’t equate to commercial success. If it did, Big Star would’ve been the biggest bands in musical history. That wasn’t the case. Lady luck failed to smile on Big Star when they released a trio of albums between 1972 and 1978. Despite this, nowadays, …
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