News
April 29, 2004
WRONG TURN ON M3
Well, it wasn't destined to become a permanent fixture anyway, but nobody expected that M3 CLASSIC WHITESNAKE's split with Tony Martin would be as acrimonious as it turned out to be. The singer, now recharging his batteries to come back with a vengeance, explained the reasons of him having parted ways with Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody and Neil Murray in a statement on his site. The band will continue once they've found another vocalist, yet the major hope is Tony will churn out something as great as his only solo album to date, 1992's "Back Where I Belong".
BEWARE THE SAVAGE JAW
Fans of David Bowie seem to have no reason to be complaining to as to how their Duke treat them: the Dame Bowie re-issues his classic catalogue in style, and each album re-appears right in time for its 30th anniversary. He might pass on "Pin Ups", yet after "Ziggy Stardust" and "Aladdin Sane" comes another 2CD set with another face of the artist: "Diamond Dogs". Out on June 7th, it will be available in this exclusive packaging until December 31st; the main attraction, though, is the content of the second disk, as the first is the remastered version of the original recording. Disk Two has something more unique...
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1. 1984 / Dodo (the last SPIDERS recording, planned for the "1984" musical) |
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DRAGGED UP, RAISED TOUGH
River Records is a label promoting Scottish artists, and who's more Scottish of those than NAZARETH? "The River Sessions", that's out now, is surely for collectors, but people who know how great NAZ are now will want to see how they rocked on the "Fool Circle tour" in 1981. That's no "Snaz", but it's what makes this release more interesting. Meanwhile, River Records are also working on more from the band, including a possible DVD version of the "Live in Texas" video.
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Glasgow Apollo |
Houston,Texas |
April 18, 2004
VOICES FROM THE NIGHT BEFORE
That was a perfect match, with Annie Haslam's magnificent voice and Tony Visconti's tremendous production immensely multiplying each other's quality on the former RENAISSANCE singer's 1995 album, "Blessing In Disguise". A must-have in every house, it's to be re-released on Annie's own White Dove Records on July 13th featuring not only new cover artwork and booklet but two bonus tracks, co-written by Ms Haslam and Visconti back in 1992 and recorded in 2002. The songs are "High Above", dedicted to Annie's father, and "Paintings Last Forever"
INTO THE FIRE
There's more fuel to the fire which Matteo Filippini's MOONSTONE project is going to be. The already star-spangled line-up is joined by Chris Catena, whose own "Freak Out!" album had performers like Bernie Marsden and Glenn Hughes as guests. Chris will be singing on a two songs, with one, called "Fire Woman", featuring Tony Franklin on bass and Ian Paice on drums.
More so, Catena's up to immersing himself into two other endeavours: PAVIC by the Serbian guitar slinger Marko Pavic and a prog metal opera "Neurastasia" written by SHADRANE. No rest for the wicked!
DEAD MEN WALK ON
There have been some collaborations between Colin Blunstone and Rod Argent since THE ZOMBIES dissolution, but now the two have new songs strong enough to credit their album "As Far As I Can See" out on April 26th, to that glorious name which brought the two fame and fortune. Well, one cut isn't that new, yet "I Don't Believe In Miracles" underwent some significant re-working to fit in among the tracks partly featuring an orchestra. Time of the season has come!
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1. In My Mind A Miracle |
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DARK THOUGHTS CREEP IN
Three years on since "The Seventh House", IQ are finally ready to treat their fans to another masterpiece. Called "Dark Matter", the album - to be released officially on June 21st but to be on sale at the band's European shows in May - has a 24-minute epic "Harvest Of Souls" in its center, something the IQ aficionados have been looking forward to for quite a long time. Something to think of, that's for sure.
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1. Sacred Ground |
WHAT KIND OF DEMON IS THIS?
If there's a living artist that's sorely missed on the music scene, it's Cat Stevens. While he's happy having embraced a religion, his fans are not. Everybody, then, was glad to see him in South-Africa singing at 46664 charity show, and perhaps that prompted the release of the "Majikat" DVD. The 80-minute footage captures Cat on his now legendary 1976's North American tour, a memorable traveling circus involving live magicians, synchronised film projection and a large stage set that was to be the artist's last shows as Cat Stevens. Next, he became Yusuf Islam.
But there's more to the DVD, out on May 17th: it'll include a new interview with Yusuf, the original promo video for the "Father & Son" album, several TV performances from 1971, a short animated film, a full discography and songs lyrics. Initial pressing is to come in a fold-out digipack in a slipcase with a reproduction of the 16-page Majikat tour programme.
Islam will attend special premieres of the DVD in the USA; proceeds from the events will benefit "orphans, needy families and young students in deprived countries". Islamic, that is...
PALACE OF DELIGHTS
Oh yes, it's long overdue, but it seems that the legendary German TV programme Rockpalast is opening its archives. A real treasure trove, there's been some trickles leaking from it onto DVD, like Jack Bruce and Friends show, all those RAINBOW and many more performances on Brazilian disks being just pirate pressings. These are looking like the real thing.
The first "At Rockpalast" DVD comes from great late Rory Gallagher: nearly 4 hours long, this will make a nice addition to "Irish Tour 1974":
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WDR Studio L Koln, 1976: |
Grugahalle Essen, 1977: |
The following, running about 2 hours, is the THIN LIZZY's 1981 concert at Loreley featuring some songs previously unavailable in live versions:
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1. Are You Ready |
11. Cowboy Song |
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Then, another 4-hour gem, from FAMILY gurgler Roger Chapman. Not with that band, though, and not so solo, but with two other groups of his, THE STREETWALKERS and THE SHORTLIST.
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Roger Chapman and THE SHORTLIST |
Grugahalle Essen, 1981: |
14. Midnite Child |
April 8, 2004
THE INNER LIGHT
With FAIRPORT CONVENTION re-issue program proving a storming success, a time came for the folk legends' spin-off projects be exposed anew and given another peek into. Which means, there would be a warmest welcome for Richard and Linda Thompson records even without the great guitarist's high solo profile. Each of the couple's albums has some mouthwatering bonus cuts on it, and here are those extras for the first batch of the Thompsons' catalogue:
"I Want To See The Bright Lights Tonight" (1974)
- I Want To See The Bright Lights (live)
- Together Again (live)
- Calvary Cross (live)
"Hokey Pokey" (1975)
- Wishing (BBC)
- I'm Turning Off A Memory (BBC)
- Heart Needs A Home (BBC)
- Hokey Pokey (live)
- It'll Be Me (live)
"Pour Down Like Silver" (1975)
- Streets Of Paradise (live)
- Night Comes In (live)
- Dark End Of The Street (live)
- Beat The Retreat (live)
"First Light", "Sunnyvista" and "Shoot Out The Light" will surely follow soon - but what about Sandy Denny's classics? Let's hope FOTHERINGAY sole album was a beginning, because there's too much material left outside the "Who Knows Where The Time Goes' box set...
CUTTING EDGE
Never a slow hand, guitarist Rolf Munkes always has some project going about him, and here's a new one. With EMPIRE put on hold, along come RAZORBACK consisting of Munkes, former COMPANY OF SNAKES' vocalist Stefan Berggren, bassist Marcus Bielenberg, another guitarist Chris Heun, Pierre Fienhold on drums and a special guest Joakim Svalberg on keyboards. Their album, "Animal Anger", is out in two weeks, with samples available for download at razorback-online.com. Let's get cut, then.
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1. The Hymn |
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ASHEN PEARLS
Late '70s weren't the best time for WHISHBONE ASH, as punk's idiom of hit-and-run didn't gel so smooth with the twin-guitar engine of the band. Not that the foursome cared - they still produced quality stuff, and though it wasn't in the class of "Throw Down The Sword", throwaway music it wasn't either. To prove the point, the band have just released a compilation of tracks recorded in 1978-1979, when the quartet worked on "No Smoke Without Fire" and "Just Testing" albums. A collection of demos, that indeed had been thrown out to let kinds of "Living Proof" in, features Claire Hamill on vocals - yes, these bravehearts had a female singer in their ranks - was previewed at the 2002 AshCon and then re-mixed and remastered by the original bassist Martin Turner. Now called "The Lost Pearls", it comprises:
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1. Is Justice Done? |
Meanwhile, the "Phoenix Rising" DVD is taking shape. Previously reported details are still valid, but here's what's supposed to be a complete tracklisting, although the video collection should really have something more to be a double-disc set:
1. Vas Dis (Old Grey Whistle Test, 1972)
2. The King Will Come (London, 2003)
3. Blowin' Free (Australian TV, 1972)
4. Phoenix (London, 2003)
5. Warrior (Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, 1973)
6. Cosmic Jazz (Bristol, 1989)
7. Living Proof (London, 2003)
8. Jail Bait (Old Grey Whistle Test, 1972)
9. Wings of Desire (London, 2003)
10. Why Don't We (Bristol, 1989)
11. Ballad of the Beacon (London, 2003)
12. Real Guitars Have Wing (Bristol, 1989)
13. Blowin Free/Bad Weather Blues (London, 2004)
14. Where Where You Tomorow (Don Kirshner's Rock Concert, 1973)
STINGY THINGY
In the last couple of years SCORPIONS seemed to have taken a well-deserved break - to be back now. The fans who were all happy to get a hold of the band's orchestral and then acoustic endeavours wanted something new nevertheless, and now can check if the four-year term was worth the wait. On May 3rd the Deutsch ensemble issue "", another entry in their long and tasty discography. Letdown it can't be.
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1. New Generation |
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SO FAR FARLOWE
The band gets cracked to let out a solo performer, and that's the way it usually goes. Not for ogre-like vocal giant Chris Farlowe who, having scored massively with Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate label in the '60s, felt enough jazz buzz in him to join COLOSSEUM, then crank the crank up with ATOMIC ROOSTER and later let it loose on his own again. A feat, really - no mean one, especially now, when Chris has a solo album out, "Farlowe That!", and a COLOSSEUM's "Tomorrow's Blues" to tour. Quite a time, then, to remind those awestruck by this voice of the singer's glorious past. "Rock 'N' Roll Soldier" is a triple-CD anthology embracing the period from '70s to the present moment, with no early hits - which are available on the Immediate compilation - and no band collaborations, but a whole array of rarities to make the completists drool over. So far it's complete. So far...
CD 1:
1. Where Do We Go From Here |
CD 2:
1. Chris's Shuffle (live) |
CD 3:
1. Don't Wanna Sing the Blues No More (live 2000) |
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UNPLUGGED YES-TASY
Dinosaurs they may be, yet all things Jurassic are capable to pull in the multitude and that's not funny, though gross. YES continue celebrating their 35th anniversary with a mighty stomp. Or not so mighty as, following in the trail of last year's "YesSpeak" DVD, on June 21st the band release another one, simply titled "Acoustic". The performance was recorded live in front of a Los Angeles studio audience on January 26th and premiered through the satellite broadcast across a line of American cinema theatres for those who had just watched a 75-minute version of three-hours-plus "YesSpeak". Steve Howe and Rick Wakeman did unplugged tours before; Alan White, Chris Squire and Jon Anderson didn't, but the five sound real fantastic. There'll be more to the DVD, and tracks to be included are:
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- Long Distance Runaround |
FACE TO FACE
Oh yes, the wait is over! After almost two years of getting the gears ready, THE FACES' box set "Five Guys Walk Into A Bar" is finally assigned a release date: May 24th. Containing mostly rare performances, it's a must for all fans - and even for those who don't like their Rod Stewart too sweet. It's even the more timely with Ronnie Lane Memorial Concert approaching, but what with the rumors of the five guys reunion... Facing the past can be too hard, but reading Ian MacLagan's liner notes will make it easy.
CD 1:
1. Flying |
CD 2:
1. Pool Hall Richard |
CD 3:
1. You're So Rude |
CD 4:
1. The Stealer (BBC) |
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