News
May 21, 2009
SH*T OF THE MOMENT
At the beginning of the month, good folks of Metal Mind announced the forthcoming release of John Wetton's 2CD+DVD box set "Agenda/Amorata/Amata" which combines three of the veteran's previously released titles on the label under one lid. Officially released, it must be stated, as all the Metal Mind products, as the Polish enterprise deals not only with heavy matters but presents live recordings of the finest Brit progressive bands captured on-stage in Poland.
Then, though, Wetton’s management issued quite a strange statement: "We want to make fans aware of an unauthorized John Wetton box set scheduled for release in late May. The release in question features three
CDs
So the label followed this with their own message, "Metal Mind Productions has full rights to release this box. Those rights were clearly stated in a contract signed by Metal Mind Productions and John Wetton during his concerts which were recorded in Poland back in 2003. We feel very uncomfortable about John Wetton’s new management being unaware of this agreement. As this clearly is a misunderstanding, the planned release date of the box remains unchanged". Here's the real deal!
SOON HE WILL BE GONE
It's never say never wil Paul Rodgers who fronts BAD COMPANY again, even though their Summer US tour will be limited to 10 dates. Then, it's going to be solo again as Paul and Brian May said Rodgers has parted company with QUEEN - on friendly terms and without ruling out future collaborations on special occasions such as charity performances.
NEW LEASE OF LIFE
Meanwhile, Paul Rodgers' vocals are to grace the first solo album by his old friend and his band's former guitarist Howard Lease. Mostly known for his work with HEART through the '70s and well into the '90s, Leese's licks were featured on Stuart Smith's "Heaven And Earth" project whose next album Howard went on producing, and it's there that he met Joe Lynn Turner and Keith Emerson, both joining the all-star line-up of "Secret Weapon" scheduled for release on July 3rd. That's what's on it:
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1. Alive Again (feat. Joe Lynn Turner) |
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EXPLORE THE SHIP
Salvo Music continues its glorious PROCOL HARUM 40th Anniversary Series, and now there's news on the bonus tracks that enrich the original content of the next five CDs:
A Salty Dog (1969)
Goin' Down Slow
Juicy John Pink (live in the USA, April 1969)
Crucifiction Lane (live in the USA, April 1969)
Skip Softly (My Moonbeams) / Also Sprach Zarathustra (live in the USA, April 1969)
The Milk of Human Kindness (take 1, raw track)
Home (1970)
Still There'll Be More (take 3, raw track)
Whaling Stories (raw track)
Broken Barricades (1971)
Broken Barricades (long fade, raw track)
Simple Sister (raw track)
Poor Mohammed (backing track)
Song For a Dreamer (King Jimi) (backing track)
Live with the Edmonton Symphony Orchestra (1972)
Luskus Delph (B-side, live)
Simple Sister (rehearsal)
Shine on Brightly (rehearsal)
Grand Hotel (1973)
Grand Hotel (raw track without orchestra)
Bringing Home The Bacon (raw track feat. Dave Ball)
May 1, 2009
DEMAND A SACRIFICE
"The Time Machine: The Story Of Jon Hiseman & COLOSSEUM" is the new book by Martyn Hanson who previously came up with extensive works on ELP, THE NICE and GROUNDHOGS. But this time Martyn has stuck with finding an appropriate publisher. A pity, as the tome is fully authorized, edited and supplied with additional material by Hiseman himself, a drummer par excellence and a great character to boot. Here's how Hanson describes his latest project:
"The book documents that great time in the late 60’s when jazz, blues, classical and rock were blended to create what was loosely known as 'progressive music'’, and goes right up to the present day. The story will appeal to quite a wide spectrum of fans as Jon Hiseman has worked with some of the all-time greats. It will also attract fans from both the jazz and rock fields. I have interviewed most of the main protoganists for this project including two unsung members of COLOSSEUM. These are Jim Roche, who was originally the lead guitarist when the band started in 1968, and Louis Cennamo who briefly took over bass playing duties from Tony Reeves".
Himself having spoken to the some of the band members - Hiseman and Reeves as well as Dick Heckstall-Smith, Clem Clempson and Mark Clarke - DME's pretty sure there's a great read waiting to be issued. So if there's a publisher out there willing to pay tribute to one of the great ensembles in the world, please, contact mr. Hanson via his site.
SOME THINGS THAT GLITTER
The word "special" can have a different meaning. When QUEEN + Paul Rodgers burst on stage risen on on Freedom Square in Kharkov, Ukraine, on September 12th, 2008, before the first date of "The Cosmos Rocks" tour, it was special for the band and for the post-Soviet public. Statistics have it that more than 350,000 punters came to see the band and more than 200 millions watched the show live on television, plus innumerable downloaders snatched the video from the web, even though the sound there wasn't well balanced. Whether the recording will be special for those who's to have an opportunity to buy 2CD or DVD "Live in Ukraine" on June 15th is a moot point, as there's only three songs from the new album, including "Say It's Not True" which was performed during their previous tour, while later on, as the world trek progressed, more fresh cuts entered the set list and made the Q+PR show much more interesting. In "no pain, no gain" situation, there's a hope the veterans won't be sqeezing money from their fans as they did with "Live In Japan" DVD released in the titular country soon after "Return Of The Champions".
For now, aficionados have some choice anyway. There will be a 2CD version of the show which also will be available as a digital download as well as a limited edition 2CD and DVD set - with even more exclusive variant in a tin box with a T-shirt added. As for the real deal content, it looks like this:
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1. One Vision |
15. Shooting Star |
ALSO KNOWN AS... TO BE KNOWN YET
To say that the TOTO break-up last year was unexpected is equal to saying nothing. Still, the band members didn't let themselves be stranded, music-wise, and while Steve Lukather's been exploring the many possibilities of a full-blown solo career, the band's singer, Bobby Kimball, has engaged himself in a new band situation with AKA and is working on a CD at the moment with YES associates and alumni Tony Kaye on keyboards, Billy Sherwood on bass and Jimmy Haun on guitar - all having not long ago played with Alan White in CIRCA - plus ASIA's Jay Schellen on drums. Which means progressive elements should be in place on the finished product - but will the TOTO fans like it?
SLIPPIN' AND SLIDIN'
The return of WHITESNAKE has a relentless quality to it with a new record and a re-issue of their monumental "1987" album to be followed on June 8th with two CD + DVD sets marking the 25th anniversary of 1984's "Slide It In" and the 20th year since "Slip Of The Tongue" made it to the shops in 1989. Both will be housed in a digipack with thick booklets containing sleevenotes by David Coverdale, while extras come in shape of bonus tracks and videos plucked mainly from the concerts that the fans have been waiting for a DVD release of for a long time.
"Slide It In" is based on the US remix of the album which features John Sykes on guitar and Colin Hodgkinson on bass stepping accordinly in for Mel Galley, whose solos remained in place though, and Neil Murray who played on the UK version of the LP that's still not been released in remastered form yet included partly - why, the hell, partly? - on this, new set. Essential purchase, anyway.
CD
1. Gambler |
DVD
1. Guilty Of Love |
For many, "Slip Of The Tongue" signalled the end of the real WHITESNAKE with Steve Vai diluting what remained of the band's bluesy core after Adrian Vandenberg came into the picture. Still, the songwriting here is strong and consistent for the most part, even though a re-make of "Fool For Your Loving" lacks the delicacy of the original cut. Yet that's the history.
CD
1. Slip Of The Tongue |
DVD
1. Fool For Your Loving |
CHASING RAINBOWS FOR A LIFETIME
They were a short-lived supergroup, U.K., featuring Eddie Jobson and John Wetton, initially with Bill Bruford and later with Terry Bozzio and Allan Holdsworth, but their two studio albums, the self-titled one, out in 1978, and "Danger Money" from the following year, as well 1979's live "Night After Night", are classic examples of free-thinking prog-pop. Eagerly awaited as remastered CDs, all three will be released on July 14th by Jobson himself as special 30th anniversary editions. The sound quality pristine, there'll be no additional material. As Eddie noted on his forum, "Having already shut down planned re-releases of these albums containing superfluous 'bonus' tracks, I very much wanted to leave the albums untouched, other than some sonic enhancement and minor repackaging. There may be an opportunity in the future to release some live recordings, but there are a fair number of ownership and quality issues with such an endeavor". A good point, even though some out-takes which have appeared on bootlegs before would make a nice extra.
LOOKING BACK AT THE PHOTOGRAPHS
If Gary Moore's studio works might be dull sometimes, live he's a fantastic proposition - which makes a good point to make good of it and release at first the DVD collection of the Irish maestro Montreux endeavors and now a 5CD set "Essential Montreux" which will see the light of day on June 15th. A great compilation, of course, which explores Moore's bluesy side, but there's too much of the same for a casual buyer.
Disc One: 1990
1. All Your Love |
Disc Two: 1995
1. If You Be My Baby |
Disc Three: 1997
1. One Good Reason |
Disc Four: 1999
1. Walking By Myself |
Disc Five: 2001
1. You Upset Me Baby |
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