News
May 29, 2003
A TIMELY CHEER-UP
If there ever was a legendary unreleased album, it must have been THE BEACH BOYS' "Smile". Originally planned as a follow-up to 1966's classic "Pet Sounds" and preceded by the "Good Vibrations" single, the project didn't take off, although the band's mastermind, Brian Wilson, recorded some much-bootlegged material, which hinted on a masterpiece. Whether those demos will see the light of day is a million-dollar question, yet February 2004 is to see Brian perform the entire song collection - as well as songs from his forthcoming album - at The Royal Festival Hall in London. That will be four nights, less than last year when the same venue hosted "Pet Sounds Live" for six evenings.
NOT SO FIDE
When Classic Rock Productions announced the forthcoming release of the WISHBONE ASH live album "Bona Fides" on CD and DVD later in the year, it caused some confusion, because the band's last studio outing has a title of "Bona Fide". That was a mistake, says the label's recent update, and the recording of the Mean Fiddler show now bears a working title of "Wishbone Ash - Almighty Blues, Live In London".
A NEW CURE
He played with BODAST, had Hendrix in awe when with TOMORROW, rocked the '80s with ASIA and GTR, yet shoot to fame with YES. Now the dinosaurs are on tour, and with the trek coming to an end, this autumn is to bring the first record by Steve Howe's REMEDY, the project veteran master pursuea his vision of prog, blues and jazz perfect blend with. The artwork by Roger Dean is imminent as well.
INSPIRED CONSPIRED
Meanwhile, the YES camp has another offering for fans to be drooling about, as they could taste the first fruit of Chris Squire and Billy Sherwood's CONSPIRACY back in 2000. Now, there's a new one, called "The Unknown", the title reflecting all the information available at the moment.
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1. Conspiracy |
HARI'S SON, A KEEPER OF THE FLAME
In recent interview George Harrison's son Dhani has lifted the veil on the state of his father's catalogue re-issue programme. It appears, there will be some classic albums released next year, including two TRAVELLING WILBURYS albums and featuring bonus material excluded from 1979's "George Harrison" and a couple more records. As for previously unreleased stuff, the are an "Anthology" in the works and a DVD.
WHO? THE WHO!
There were quite a few live albums from THE WHO through the years, but this one is special, as "Live At The Royal Albert Hall" may be the very last recording featuring their great late bassist John Entwistle play alongside Pete Townshend and Roger Daltrey. Committed to tape on November 27, 2000, the concert staged to benefit the Teenage Cancer Trust saw the band, rounded off with Ringo's son Zak Starkey on drums and a long-time keyboard warrior John "Rabbit" Bundrick, joined violinist Nigel Kennedy, Bryan Adams, Paul Weller, Noel Gallagher, STEREOPHONICS' Kelly Jones and PEARL JAM's Kelly Jones for a great performance, which is documented now on 2 CD and 3 CD sets.
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1. I Can't Explain |
11. Baba O'Riley |
21. Won't Get Fooled Again |
May 21, 2003
NO SLAMMING THE DOORS
While there's no decision yet regarding Jim Morrison's family's demand to ban the current version of THE DOORS from using the band name, a court ruling is issued on the drummer's John Densmore's petition on the same subject, and the ruling is in favor of guitarist Robbie Krieger, organ player Ray Manzarek, vocalist Ian Astbury and whoever their drummer is now, after ex-POLICE Stewart Copeland backed out of the tour and filed a suit against the band as well. Sure, most of the quartet's potent material had been written by Ray and Robbie, but one will hardly agree there can be THE DOORS sans Jim, as two albums recorded after his death proved so efficiently.
GET HEEP!
That's quickly becoming an annual celebration of all things URIAH HEEP who, on November 8th will host the third Magician's Birthday Party at London's Astoria. The band, in their usual manner are to play their much-adored numbers alongside new things from the forthcoming album, and dust off some gems from the past. Among the songs being discussed currently are: "Pilgrim" which was played at 2002's event, "Shadows Of Grief", "Been Away Too Long", "The Hanging Tree", "Wise Man" and "Firefly".
That's no coincidence that four of these come from 1977's "Firefly", as one of the guests to grace the show is a man who sang on the album, John Lawton. John will surely strut his best stuff and plug in the cuts from his new album, "The Sting In The Tale" (tracks see below).
So whatever there will be it will be great, and Classic Rock Productions offer an opportunity to reserve a place in the line there, at Astoria, and to reserve the special DVD and CD package limited to 1000 copies. Hurry up and get Heep!
STRAWBERRY FIELDING
June 10th will see the release of some special artefact of a long-gone era when THE STRAWBS were immensely huge, so now everybody could come gardening with a DVD called "Live In Tokyo '75/ Grave New World - The Movie", that caught the British prog-folk band in their halcyon days performing live on Japan TV their famous epics:
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1. Lemon Pie |
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And that's not all yet, as the second half of the DVD is occupied by "Grave New World", one of the first full-length rock videos, recorded at Television International's studios in London in 1972 and featuring the then new technique of color separation overlay, call it a video-album if ye will, then:
1. Benedictus
2. Hey Little Man - Thursday's Child
3. It Is Today, Lord
4. New World
5. The Flower And The Young Man
6. On Growing Older
7. Ah Me, Ah My
8. Tomorrow
9. Hey Little Man - Wednesday's Child
10. The Journey's End
11. Benedictus Reprise
Still, that's not all either, with a smattering of bonus tracks, one of great rarity:
- "The New Era / Til The Sun Comes Shining Through" was recorded in 1970 on Granada TV show and stands out as the band's first appearance in England with their new keyboardist Rick Wakeman;
- "Strawbs At Sea" is Dave Cousins' 1974 interview about the single "Grace Darling";
- "Hummingbird Preview: The Young Pretender" comes as a teaser for Cousins / Wakeman 2002's "Hummingbird" album (tracklisting's here).
ANOTHER EYESIGHT TO THE BLIND
How often a rock musician makes a good actor is moot question - not with THE WHO lead singer, Roger Daltrey though, who's most famous for playing Tommy in the eponymous movie based on his band's classic album, but starred also in Ken Russel's "Lisztomania". OK, those occasions were celluloid-bound, while now Rog is to dip his toes into real stage production, namely "My Fair Lady" to open in LA on August 3rd. The singer will turn into Eliza Doolittle's father, who else?
CLASSICALLY WISHFUL
Classic Rock Productions are to break open a magic box of new releases, all of them too remarkable to miss.
John Wetton has no solo DVD in his backlog still, although there are DVDs from his former band, ASIA, and "More Than Conquerors" where John shares the spotlight with Ken Hensley, so this will be his first: called "From The Underworld", and mirrored by the CD release, it was recorded a month and a half ago in London. Playing with Wetton were Martin Orford on keyboards, John Mitchell on guitar and Steve Christey on drums, all featured on the veteran's latest studio outing, "Rock Of Faith", material of which is present here alongside John's classic material:
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1. Mondrago |
Next in line come 'Bona Fides", a DVD and CD from WISHBONE ASH, not the last year's studio album - that was "Bona Fide", without "s" - but a freshly recorded live show spanning the band's glorious career:
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1. Bona Fide |
9. Ancient Remedy |
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But if that's more history, there's the real news - former URIAH HEEP warbler John Lawton presents his latest work, an album entitled "The Sting In The Tale", all fresh and rockin':
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1. Firing Line |
And then, some more action, a mighty and fragile one, as only Steve Hackett can pull on with a show. Now riding high after some years of keeping a bit lower than suits former GENESIS guitarist, Steve's concerts are a treat, and with a couple of DVDs from 1996's Japanese tour and 2002's South American a time comes to zoom back to 1990's Nottingham, which is what the new DVD, "Horizons", is all about:
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1. Camino Royale |
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And if that's too ordered for those who need some madhouse, here's the very "it" - a VAN DER GRAAF GENERATOR's "Godbluff Live 1975" DVD, recorded at Charleroi, Palais des Expos, that has Peter Hammill and his merry pranksters reproduce live their magnificient album from that same year:
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1. The Undercover Man |
Then, two CARAVAN titles, both committed to tape during 2002's shows and now to be out on CDs. "Nowhere To Hide" features one of the final recordings by original keyboard player, David Sinclair, who decided to leave the band one more time:
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1. All The Way - A Very Smelly Grubby Little Oik |
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And if this has one new track, "With Strings Attached" could be considered a companion album as there are CARAVAN's best songs on it, a fully orchestral version of "For Richard" among them:
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1. Headloss |
* Caroline |
The last one for now would be "Captured Live" from PENTANGLE, a folk combo that was the house for two guitar wizards, Bert Jansch and John Renbourn, both captured here playing on French TV in 1971:
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1. Will The Circle Be Unbroken |
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TYGER BRYGHT
While the New Wave of British Heavy Metal stronghold TYGERS OF PAN TANG are deep in the work on a new album, due out this autumn, fans can get a hold of the "Visions From The Cathouse" DVD, recorded back in 1998 at the Wacken Festival in Germany:
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1. Detonator |
11. Deja-Vu |
May 15, 2003
BIG FOR THE LAST TIME
MR. BIG are no more but, to bid farewell, they resurrected their spirit one more time, the result being "Mr. Big - Influences and Connections", an album and a DVD which see the band members and their celebrity guests do songs that gave the world the group and those Billy Sheehan and Co gave to the world.
The standard is set as high as to bring in Paul Rodgers who co-wrote and sang the original version of "Mr. Big", a piece which lent the American rockers their name, to record it again with Billy stepping in for Andy Fraser - and it's the only track with Sheehan on; the other vocalists include Glenn Hughes handling "Price You Gotta Pay" and "Alive & Kicking", John Waite on "Wild World", Joe Lynn Turner on "Daddy, Brother, Lover, Little Boy" and Ann Wilson of HEART on "Promise Her The Moon", while the guitars duties go to Steve Lukather and Marty Friedman, yet there'll be more big names involved.
With Pat Regan producing, the CD and DVD are released at the end of June.
NO AXIS BOLDER
Classic rock seem to be dying, with so many a great performer passing away one by one. The latest is Noel Redding whose solid and bold bass playing provided a real axis for Mitch Michell's bottom groove and Jimi Hendrix's guitar pyrotechnics. He served for the JIMI HENDRIX EXPERIENCE from the very off, when in 1966 THE ANIMALS' former bassist Chas Chandler brought the axeman over to Britain and arranged for him a band that would cut such groundbreaking albums as "Are You Experienced?" and "Electric Ladyland". With Hendrix surrounding himself with black musicians, Redding founded a heavy psychedelic combo FAT MATTRESS, popular among the collectors, and later did session work. Noel died on Sunday, May 11th at his home Southern Ireland home, aged 57.
BEASTIE VISUAL
You don't need to be a Maidenhead to keep in esteem the beast of a project IRON MAIDEN are to unleash on June 2nd, a double-DVD set "Visions Of The Beast" comprising every promotional videos the British ensemble ever made from 1980's "Women In Uniform" through to 2001's performance of "Brave New World'". To up the value and the volume, thereon are previously unseen Camp Chaos animated versions of six tracks, discography and hidden extras. A treasure trove where Eddie lives on.
Disc 1:
1. Women In Uniform |
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Disc 2:
1. Bring Your Daughter |
GETTIN' DEEP
Some may think that new EMI series, "Early Years", will be another long line of budget compilations, yet the DEEP PURPLE entry will prove them wrong as, in order to make the collection special, forgotten master tapes had been revisited and worked on for inclusion on a CD alongside regular material. So there might be a chance to explore new ground with...
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- And The Address (remix) |
Meanwhile, here's a cover artwork for the upcoming BLACKMORE'S NIGHT album, "Ghost Of A Rose", out on June 30th.
A LAD INSANE
May 26th will see another re-issue of another classic, David Bowie's "Alladin Sane", this time - following in the wake of "Ziggy Stardust", which received similar treatment - as a 2-CD deluxe edition with extensive sleeve notes, unseen photos by Mick Rock, a chronology and other time-pieces expanding the perspective of 1973's artefact further, as if the bonus disc of single versions and live cuts isn't enough. Fans must be jumping insanely... Will there be "Pin-Ups" next?
CD 1 - the original album:
1. Watch That Man |
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Disc 2 - bonus material:
1. John I'm Only Dancing (sax version) |
May 13, 2003
THEY'VE SEEN THAT MOVIE TOO
Elton John might have had a huge success when he opted for Tim Rice as a libretto writer for "Aida", yet it was nothing in comparison with the amount of popularity earned by his partnership with Bernie Taupin. Their body of work is immense and amazing but with all the theatricality in it, the two never had a chance to cross over onto the theater stage together - until now, when old buddies sat working on adaptation of another Rice, Anne Rice's trilogy for a Broadway musical, to open in 2005 under the tentative title of "The Vampire Lestat".
ALL EYES TO SEE THE FIGURE OF THE WIZARD
Anyone who chance to see DIO on-stage can hardly forget all the energy exchange between the band - the leader in particular - and the audience. Re-living this experience though, comes difficult even with the concert album spinning, especially when there's only one full record of the kind, 1998's "Inferno: The Last In Live". Visual component is too vital, so now all of it comes together on magnificient DVD called "Evil Or Divine". To be out on July 1st, the show - unedited - was recorded on December 13th, 2002 at Roseland Ballroom, NYC. As of bonus features, there are extensive interview with Ronnie James Dio, backstage scenes, photo gallery, and the video for "Push" from 2002's "Killing The Dragon".
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1. Killing The Dragon |
HEAVY KISSIN'
Do you remember Swan Song that ground to a halt with LED ZEPPELIN? What about The Rolling Stones Records of which only the famous tongue logo remained? Well, THE BEATLES' Apple Corps. still virtually runs. Yet what the destiny has for the newly-established KISS Records? A joint venture between KISS and Sanctuary Records Group is up now to debut on July 21st with "Kiss Symphony: Alive IV" album, nailed this year by the masked ones and the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra. There will be a DVD, in the future, too. But with the band on a verge of the end who needs another dead label?
HE'S FREE
The four-month long nightmare is over, and Pete Townshend has been found innocent and cleared on charges of downloading child pornography from the Internet. Someone seemes to have gotten real eventually.
BETWEEN TWO WORLDS
A band who can be as powerfully electric as subtly acoustic, last autumn URIAH HEEP finally brought both of their sides together having played at the Classic Rock Festival first in New Jersey and then in London, each venue seeing two shows, the fully plugged one and the unplugged. HEEP showed the class many of their fans, unfortunately, missed out on, and now the highlights are out on CD and, a bit later, on DVD titled "Live In The USA". If only there were the complete sets...
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1. Easy Livin' |
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A ROSY GHOST
If one guessed why the current BLACKMORE'S NIGHT tour is called as it's called, the answer would be: because the band's new album, due in July, has a title of "Ghost Of A Rose". Here's the song list, which suggests no change in their exquisite style - yet one thing may get many a heart beating fast. "Rainbow Blues". Cool down: that's a JETHRO TULL tune, as Ritchie's an avid fan and Ian Anderson played on the BLACKMORE'S NIGHT debut album, "Shadow Of The Moon". And "Diamons And Rust" is written by Joan Baez. Folk reigns, then.
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1. Way To Mandalay |
9. Ghost Of A Rose |
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THE BATTLE AXE
There seems to be many of THE MICHAEL SCHENKER GROUP fans out there to indulge with another official bootleg 4-CD box set "Back To Attack" which follows in the wake of last year's "Reactivate Live". Three of the four discs on the new one feature, alongside blonde guitarist, vocalist Gary Barden, Chris Glen on bass, Ted McKenna on drums and Andy Nye on keyboards, while the last one sees Michael, Chris and Gary join forces with guitarist Paul Raymond and legendary Cozy Powell on drums. As of the sound quality, if you're a fan... you should like it anyway.
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CD 1:
1. Captain Nemo CD 2:
11. I'm Gonna Make You Mine |
CD 3:
1. Captain Nemo CD 4:
1. Cry Of The Mad Axeman |
May 11, 2003
NEW MINSTREL HALL
A young guitarist with a unique style of his own is a rare event but if there's one that sends shivers down a listener's spine in the last in the last couple of years, it must be Dave Kilminster whose amazing work added a special flavour to John Wetton's and Ken Hensley's songs. Now David, currently touring with Keith Emerson and THE NICE, comes to much deserved prominence and finally has a solid web presence at DaveKilminster.com. Don't miss a chance to drop by.
BACK TO THE EGG
This Paul McCartney tour is of a special kind, as well documented by his "Back In The U.S" and "Back In The World" live albums. And where to conclude the trek, which is grandiose enough to take in Rome's Coliseum and Moscow's Red Square, if not at a place where it all began, in Liverpool. The show at King's Dock will be held on June 1st.
Says Paul,
"I'm so chuffed with the success we've had with this tour and me and the band are really looking forward to its final night in Liverpool. I've a feeling it will be a good and emotional ending to a wonderful year ".
SLOW BURNING
When the thought-to-have-been-lost masters of DEEP PURPLE's "Burn" were unearthed last year, the question arose as to who would take the responsibility of bringing the classic 1974's album into the digital era. Having talked to Ian Paice and Jon Lord, the only founding members who played on the LP, the band's bassist Roger Glover - he'd been behind earlier albums remastering - agreed to the EMI proposal to do the work, and the future seemed bright. No more now, as Rog thought it over and retreated to other commitments, like PURPLE's new album, due out this August.
OVER THE RAINBOW
Meanwhile, DEEP PURPLE singer has a new archival release, the one strictly for aficionados, as IAN GILLAN BAND - guitarist Ray Fenwick, bassist John Gustafson, drummer Mark Nauseef and keyboard player Colin Towns alongside Ian Gillan - were more about edgy fusion than hard rock, although some classic tracks made it to the "Live At The Rainbow 1977" DVD anyway. Recorded on May 14th, 1977 at London's Rainbow Theater, its content looks like this:
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1. Twin Exhausted |
bonus features: |
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THREE LETTERS ARE ENOUGH
This man also served in DEEP PURPLE - and in RAINBOW, too. Now knee-deep in the work on the second outing of THE HUGHES-TURNER PROJECT, a successor to last year's "HTP, Joe Lynn Turner, managed to cut another album of his, while out of tour with Glenn Hughes. Joe's new album's title is of three letters as well, them being his initials, "JLT", and the record's out in June:
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1. Cold Blood |
WHEN ROCK GOES HUNTING
He's know as Rock, but Ronnie Dio's cousin and bandmate in ELF's name is David Feinstein, and FEINSTEIN is the name of a new band the guitarist formed with John West, famous for his stint with ROYAL HUNT and, previously, great late Cozy Powell. The deal with MANOWAR's Magic Circle Music is already struck, so the release of their debut album, "Third Wish", is just the matter of time.
RADIO ANT
Quite sad is that Anthony Phillips' work with GENESIS has doomed his wonderful solo works - and there are many albums! - to relative obscurity. Not all, though, as Ant's first albums, "The Geese & The Ghost" and "Wise After The Event", are highly acclaimed. The material off those, plus more pieces still to make it to the vinyl, was played live in the studio in 1978, when Phillips paid a visit to Glasgow's Radio Clyde station. Having been aired once, the recording lay dormant for 25 years to crop up now on a must-have CD simply called "Radio Clyde".
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1. Reaper |
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CRAWLIN' OUT
Strange things happening, and one may only contemplate why early collaboration between John 'Rabbit' Bundrick, Terry Wilson and Tony Braunagel must be called CRAWLER. It's the name under which their demos will be out on CD called "Roots - Chapter 1: A Pre-History Of Crawler", although the band had been christened such after Paul Kossoff died and his BACK STREET CRAWLER decided to roll on further with new recruits Geoff Whitehorn on guitar and Koss' FREE colleague Rabbit on keyboards - note here "Unseen Love" that FREE played live yet never recorded properly.
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1. Better Be Ready |
10. Every Little Bit Hurts |