CD REVIEW – Be Bop Deluxe – Life in the Air Age (box set)
All my birthdays and Christmases at once! A deluxe (pun intended) 16 disc limited edition boxed set of the 1977 live album!! Not only a remaster of the original live album in all its restored glory but Be Bop Deluxe master tapes revealed that multi track tapes of all the shows recorded on the UK […]
Yes – The Ice Bridge
Yes has released The Ice Bridge. the first song from the forthcoming album The Quest, which will be released on 1st October 2021. The song was co-written by Jon Davison and Geoff Downes and concerns global warming. A video of the song can be viewed here: https://youtu.be/PbGEa7ju8bg Alan White comments: “I’m extremely proud to be […]
Rebbeca Downes -Stripped Back
Rebecca Downes: Stripped Back Recorded during lockdown this see’s West Midlands Blues sensation Rebecca Downes revisiting some of her older tracks with long term collaborator Steve Birkett providing all the instrumentation and co-producing the album. As Lockdown impacted so many bands, with venues shut and tours cancelled, Rebecca was no different, and so as her […]
Tony Kaye To Release Solo Album
Founder member of Yes, Tony Kaye is to release his first solo album on 10th September 2021. It is called End Of Innocence and will be on Spirit Of Unicorn Music (distributed via Cherry Red Records) to mark the twentieth anniversary of 9/11. Although having retired from music in 1996, Tony was moved by […]
Lifesigns – Altitude
Lifesigns: Altitude This is the third album from one of the strongest new Prog bands to emerge from the UK in recent years, originally formed by John Young, Nick Beggs and Martin Beedle, after a few line-up changes, the current band is a veritable whose who of progressive rock, with Young (whose keyboard playing is […]
James Lindsay – Torus
James Lindsay -Torus Renowned Scottish composer and folk musician, James Lindsay continues to release and record genre defining records, and his latest, Torus is another absolute gem. Blending contemporary jazz and folk into a beguiling sound, Torus takes a veritable whose who of contemporary Scottish folk musicians and effortlessly blends soundscapes, genres and musical dexterity […]
Patto – Give It All Away
Patto: Give it All Away (The Albums 1970-1973) Esoteric Recordings ECLEC 42762 Eternally the guitarist’s guitarist the irreplaceable Ollie Halsall who died in 1992 graced many records throughout the 1970’s & it is the band Patto, fronted by Mike Patto (who sadly passed away in 1979, another great talent gone too soon), with John Halsey […]
Francie Conway – Staycation
Francie Conway, a singer from Ireland, has recently released a single called Staycation hot the heels of his Hidden Gems album, which continues to receive warm praise around the world. Chris White, who worked with The Zombies, is a guest vocalist, alongside Vivienne Boucherat, with Dom Torche on Hammond organ, Hungarian bassist Peter Miklos Erdai, […]
CD/BRD Review – Focus – Live In Rio
Blimey, doesn’t time fly! It barely seems that long time since some of us were callow unshaven schoolboys listening to Sylvia, the wonderful instrumental by some Dutch band called Focus. An instrumental tune in the charts – what were they thinking about! It’s now some fifty years since Focus began, having released its debut album, […]
CD Review – Asia – The Reunion Albums 2007 – 2012
Prog-pop supergroup Asia has released this clam shell five CD boxset The Reunion Albums 2007 – 2012, featuring the releases that constituted the output of the reformed original band. The group was always something of a convoluted soap opera, so the reformation was a little bit of a surprise. It had had its fair share […]
CDEP Review – Mountain Caller – Chronicle: Prologue
Instrumental proggers Mountain Caller make a rapid return with Chronicle: Prologue, that manages to serve both as a follow up and prequel to the band’s debut album Chronicle I: The Truthseeker which was released in November 2020. ( Review viewable here: https://spirit.rocks/2021/04/29/cd-review-mountain-caller-chronicle-i-the-truthseeker/).This EP adds a back story to the fantasy concept of the original album. […]
CDEP Review – Timelock – …Stay Awake…
After a hiatus of about a decade and a half, Dutch neo-proggers Timelock has reconvened and released the EP …stay awake… A couple of years ago, guitarist Martin Hendriks, who had played on the band’s Circle of Deception album, sought out founders keyboard player Julian Driessen and vocalist Ruud Stoker to write new material for […]
CD Review – Jump – The Myth Remaster
Those lucky enough to have seen Jump live at some point will know what an entertaining, engaging, highly musical rocking band it is. But like all bands beavering away at what they love, it needs something that will act as a breakthrough for them, to take them to the next phase of their development. For […]
CD Review – Steve Howe – Homebrew 7
Steve Howe’s Homebrew series of albums has been an interestingly curious collection of demos and tracks from Steve’s own home archive. It is fair to say that over the previous six releases the tracks have been uneven in quality, but they’ve always maintained an interest for those seeking to hear how Steve’s work developed on […]
Yes – The Quest
Yes has announced a new album, The Quest, a long awaited release for many fans waiting since 2014’s Heaven and Earth, although there was the Fly From Here – Return Trip in 2018. The current line-up of Yes, who are Steve Howe, Alan White, Geoff Downes, Jon Davison and Billy Sherwood, will release this new […]
CD REVIEW – Gentle Giant – Freehand
This was their seventh album, released in 1975 on Chrysalis Records following a brief and less than satisfactory spell with Phonogram subsidiary World Wide Artists (even though that did include the release of personal favourite In A Glass House and also The Power and The Glory). It became noted for its high production values, and for […]
CD REVIEW – Gentle Giant – Octopus
Mystery solved! I’ve always thought this a weird album title. But researching I read somewhere that the title was allegedly invented by Phil Shulman’s wife, Roberta. It is short for “Octo Opus,” or eight musical works. Makes sense to me! Here’s another fact: the “Mike Viccars” credited on the album sleeve is apparently Mike Vickers, guitar & sax […]
CD REVIEW – Gentle Giant – Three Friends
Gentle Giant’s third album was their first concept album, they tell us: “The idea of this album came about simply from normal conversations within the group. You know how people often reminisce about old school friends and wonder whatever became of them; or the people who surprise us with their successes or failures. Anyway, the […]
Steve Hackett – Wingbeats
The build up to the release of Steve Hackett’s new album, Surrender of Silence, continues with the release of the first single from the CD, Wingbeats. You can watch the Paul Gosling directed video here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-8qOFpMaRLo The album itself will be released on 10th September 2021 as a Limited Edition CD+Blu-ray Mediabook in hardcover slipcase, […]
CD REVIEW – Gentle Giant – Acquiring the Taste
“Acquiring the taste is the second phase of sensory pleasure. If you’ve gorged yourself on our first album, then relish the finer flavours (we hope) of this, our second offering. “It is our goal to expand the frontiers of contemporary music at the risk of being very unpopular. we have recorded each composition with the […]
CD REVIEW – Gentle Giant – Gentle Giant
I remember my first introduction to Gentle Giant as if it was yesterday. The lending of a cassette of In a Glass House. I was gobsmacked. Still am, in fact. I always remained miffed that Fluff never played them as much on his shows as he did some others I thought deserved less limelight. The […]
Roots in July
Steve Dawson- At The Bottom Of A Canyon In The Branches Of A Tree Originally from San Diego, California the now Chicago Folk / Americana singer / songwriter, Steve Dawson, spent his teen years in Hailey, Idaho, where he learned guitar and started writing songs. After a few years at the Berklee School of Music […]
CD Review – Salva – A Thousand Ways To Disappear
Salva are one of those Scandinavian bands that you discover beavering about below the prog radar. The Swedish band has actually been around since earlier this century, releasing its first album, A Handful Of Earth, in 2004. A Thousand Ways To Disappear is the band’s sixth studio release. The band is built around childhood friends […]
CD Review – Tom Newman – The Faerie Symphony II
Tom Newman has had quite a long and distinguished career in music. Many will know of his production work with Mike Oldfield, but he has also worked with Hatfield And The North, Doll By Doll, and NWOBHM act Charlie ‘Ungry among others. Working with Richard Branson from 1970, he also helped to build renowned The […]
CD Review – Tubular World – Tubular Bells
How should you approach a re-recording of such an iconic album as Tubular Bells? Some might suggest that you shouldn’t consider it in the first place, others will demand that you should be as authentic to the original as you possibly can be. Others will realise that you cannot recreate it in that way without […]
CD REVIEW – Devin Townsend – Devolution Series 2 Galactic Quarantine
You may have seen a previous review, where we told you that Mr Townsend had announced earlier this year that he had been using the Covid downtime to work on new material for upcoming albums, and for a current lack of touring possibilities and encounters with fans on the road he had decided to do […]
CD REVIEW – Red Bazar
New product? Well, yes and no. This is a re-recording with Peter Jones (Camel / Tiger Moth Tales). You may remember IQ did this kind of thing once – Seven Stories into (Ninety) Eight. Anyone remember that instrumental blowout? I digress. For anyone who may not know, Red Bazar formed in 2007 as an instrumental […]
CD REVIEW – Abertooth Lincoln (various singles)
Who? What? In summary, Abertooth Lincoln is an aggressive, spacey hardcore progressive punk band from Dayton Ohio whose music is heavy, weird, complicated, presented in glittery space pants and 80’s glam metal vibes. Their lyrics offer biting satire and direct, harsh social commentary, delivered with commanding energy from front person Edith Coleslaw aka Ashley Pooler. […]
CD Review – Magenta – Angels And Damned
It’s hard to believe that Welsh proggers Magenta have been around for over twenty years now. Since they first emerged on the UK prog scene they’ve worked hard and established a quite decent reputation and produced some very well received albums, earning awards along the way for both the band itself and for the musicians […]
CD Review – Boss Keloid – Family The Smiling Thrush
Some bands have an undefinable buzz about them. Boss Keloid have it in spades. Even a cursory search on the internet will show the band getting really positive coverage on punk sites, heavy metal sites, prog rock sites, and probably all sorts of sub-genre sites. The band, you would imagine, would be very happy at […]
CD REVIEW – FURIA – by ANN MY GUARD
by Aaron Gidney Budapest’s Ann My Guard return with a follow up to 2018’s ‘Moira’ album with a seven track EP. The Hungarian Alternative Metallers are in fine form on this 24 minute EP, mixing tight down-tuned thick riffage with a perfect blend of melody and atmosphere. Opening instrumental ‘Eclipse’ is an atmospheric soundscape with […]
CD REVIEW – ELEUTHEROMANIA – by TROPE
by Aaron Gidney Los Angeles’ Trope formed in 2016 and describe themselves as an Alternative Rock band with Progressive elements. Eleutheromania is their debut album and according to the dictionary (thank you google), means ‘a manic yearning for freedom’. The band assembled an extremely impressive production team in Mike Fraser (AC/DC, Metallica), David Bottrill (Tool, […]
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