News
October 17, 2004
TO OZ AND BACK
More news on the mentioned below Ozzy Osbourne's covers albums: it's said to be a part of the 4CD-box set, due out in February 2005, and alongside MOUNTAIN's "Mississippi Queen" will feature THE ROLLING STONES' "Sympathy For The Devil" - that's the choise for the Black master, - THE BEATLES' "In My Life", KING CRIMSON's "21st Century Schizoid Man" and Arthur Brown's "Fire". More details to come - on the box as well as on the CD.
October 15, 2004
MADMAN'S BACK PAGES
Over the years, Ozzy Osbourne hasn't recorded too many covers - one that immediately springs to mind is Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" - but now, Oz decided, is the time to indulge in it, and set off doing an album tentatively called "Songs I Wish I Wrote". One may only wonder how many there will be classics by THE BEATLES, the singer's favorite band, yet one cut is already notched, the MOUNTAIN's "Mississippi Queen" - which must be very good, as the track features its author, original guitarist / singer Leslie West.
A RIGHT TO LIVE
On November 5th and 6th, London's Shepherd Bush will host the fifth annual festival event centered around ever-vivacious URIAH HEEP. Unfortunately, MANFRED MANN'S EARTH BAND won't be able to share the bill, and the chance to see Manfred behind the Moog reproducing his original part on "July Morning" becomes a distant perspective again. The replacement is good, though: Doogie White's WHITE NOISE who'll add some PURPLE and RAINBOW music to the proceedings. With the main attraction holding some surprises as usual, the Heepsters are to meet some former band members, namely drummer Keith Baker, original bassist Paul Newton and the main songswith in the '70s, Ken Hensley.
As for Ken Hensley, the meister arranges an event inside the event, reading excerpts from his forthcoming book, performing live and playing cuts from soon-to-be-released "Anthology - Volume 1" CD, the initial part of the ambitious project which sees Ken re-recording highlights of his back catalogue. This album was recorded in Moscow, and the tracks marked with * feature Russia's Presidential Symphony Orchestra.
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1. The Wizard * |
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As a coincidence, these days two more URIAH HEEP re-issues are being released, the last two of the Hensley era. Both are newly remastered and feature very attractive bonus material, many tracks making their debut on there, and here it is:
”Fallen Angel”
- A Right To Live (promo B-side)
- Cheater (single)
- Gimme Love (B-side)
- Last Farewell (“One More Night” alt. version, unreleased)
- Street Lady ('Woman Of The Night” alt. version, unreleased)
- Struttin' (“Gimme Love” alt. version, unreleased)
- Falling In Love (live, unreleased)
- Woman Of The Night (live, unreleased)
”Conquest”
- Love Stealer (single)
- Been Hurt ( B-side)
- Think It Over (single)
- Lying (out-take, unreleased)
- No Reason (out-take, unreleased)
- Lost (out-take, unreleased)
- Feelings (live, unreleased)
FOUR ARE TWO PERFECT PAIRS
To what extent KING CRIMSON is visually delightful depends one one's demands, yet compelling the band have always been. And, perhaps, ever more so in the early '80s than before or after, because the quartet of Robert Fripp, Adrian Belew, Tony Levin and Bill Bruford posessed pop tunefulness applied to the usually wild dynamics and aligned to a certain musical discipline. In order to compare different line-ups, there's a chance to invest into a new career-spanning 8CD-box "21st Century Guide To King Crimson", the first part of which is out, but it features just a pinch of previously unreleased material; what matters for fans, then, is a DVD called ”Neal And Jack And Me”, a visual document of the mentioned foursome caught live in their prime in 1982 as well as on the verge of the ensemble's breakup in 1984. Something to lay the hands on, for sure
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Three Of A Perfect Pair - |
The Noise - |
WAITING FOR THE SYN
There's a new entity launched, called YesServices, which is quite self-explaining: yes, it deals with YES and the band's paraphernalia. But no, it seems to have nothing to do with an official bootlegs series promised some time ago and since unheard of. Instead, it has something other to offer, an exclusive edition of an archival recording that runs back to the days when YES didn't exist - there was such a time, in the '60s. The recording comes from THE SYN, the group featuring young Chris Squire, still to become a squire of the bass.
Not to be confused with THE SYNDICATS who had Steve Howe in the ranks, THE SYN might feel proud of writing "The Gangster Opera", a rock opera recorded before THE WHO grasped the concept and at the same time as PRETTY THINGS did, and the opus is there, on "Original Syn" alongside THE SYN's grandiose take on YES' "Time And A Word". The special packaging includes a 20-page booklet telling the band's history, and a bonus CD with Squire's extensive interview where Chris answers questions submitted by the fans.
IN THE SHADOW OF THE MOON
What with Yusuf Islam's recent scandal of not being allowed an entry in the USA on the grounds of possible links with terrorism, the music of Cat Stevens still has wonderful ring to it. Having converted to Islam, the singer did his last tour in 1976, in America, and left the scene to pursue his religious concerns, but many still miss him. So there's an opportunity to remember how it was in the last days of Cat the musician: following the DVD of the same title, out is the ”Majikat” CD recorded on that last trek:
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1. Wild World |
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11. Majik Of Majiks |
HIT THE GAS, HERE THEY GO
Always eager to spare no expense in order to deliver the best in terms of production, IRON MAIDEN embark on a new venture. The double DVD "The History Of Iron Maiden - Part 1: The Early Days”, out on November 8th, is the first chapter in a whole series of DVDs plunging into different periods of the band's career and gathering re-mastered footage as well as rare and previously unseen visuals from the players' own archives. The next in series will be the "Live After Death" that picks up a story from the famous Long Beach Arena in 1984 and takes it to the Somewhere in Time tour in 1987.
And live after death the first chapter is to be indeed, as the MAIDEN are going to bring the "Early Days" back to life by adopting their stage scenery to that of their beginnings and performing some old songs. Viva la metal Diva!
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The Early Years – documentary |
Live at Dortmund, 1983 |
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Extras: |
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HUNGARY DAZE
No rest for the Steve Hackett fans: only recently having grabbed a couple of live albums, the last being "Live Archive 04", they're facing a treat of having a DVD version of it. ”Once Above A Time – Live In Europe 2004”, to be issued on November 22nd, presents a show recorded in Budapest in April, the final show of the European tour in support of ”To Watch The Storms” album. Now, there's a real matter of choice, as Steve's two previous DVDs, "Somewhere In South America" and "Hungarian Horizons", mirrored in CDs, could be purchased with those CDs as special packages. This time it's not so. Anyway, what's remarkable is that the new DVD is the second one commited to tape in Hungary, so the “Backstage In Budapest” documentary adds to the impression.
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1. Valley Of The Kings |
11. Please Don’t Touch |
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