News
November 20, 2006
DME & NAZ: WHAT'S THE STORY
The story of DME's image with NAZARETH used in Moscow ads is still afoot. A couple of Russian attorneys are weighing our - slight - chances to sue those behind the picture stealth. As for the band, they found it rarther funny. That's what Pete Agnew wrote in:
"This is so typically Russian. Whoever did it has no idea what everyone looks like and assumes it's a band photo.
Welcome to Nazareth!!!"
So let's wait and see, then...
THEY'VE GOT A FEELING
There's a smattering of THE BEATLES' remixes flying around: some primitive, some fantastic - such as "The End" treatment on "BRG Abbey Road Remix". But when Cirque Du Soleil went to create their marvellous Las Vegas show called "Love" based on the Fabs' music, it's for the real meister's hand the troupe called. With an approving nod from Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, Yoko Ono and Olivia Harrison, George Martin and his son Giles have created something unique. "Love" is a vertiginous collage of familar tracks - in unusual form. The band themselves had a way with combining seemingly disparate songs into one, like they did with "A Day In The Life" and "I've Got A Feeling", but just imagine - or believe this scribe who's given the album a listen - "Octopus's Garden" vocals set against "Good Night" backdrop or "Sgt. Pepper's" buzz morphing into the "In My Life" pseudo-harpsichord and then into the "Penny Lane" piccolo - all in the course of "Strawberry Fields" development sequence. It's not that good, it's much much better. And it's much better to be enjoyed in 5.1 than plain stereo. Thankfully, the November 21st release will be available as both regular and a 2CD special editions that will include the stereo CD and an audio-only DVD. That's how it should be done!
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1. Because |
EXPLODE INTO SPACE
Recent years have seen several DVD releases from Paul McCartney but "The Space Between US" (sic!), out on November 14th, is said to be the greatest of them all. The concert movie documents Macca's 2005 American tour that was sold out before the veteran hit the road. It's during that tour that Paul's performance was beamed onto the international space station - this part of the show is on the DVD as well as interviews, soundcheck which includes "Whole Lotta Shakin' Goin' On", "Friends To Go" and "How Kind Of You", and other special features. As for the setlist, it's really amazing - there's even a BEATLES' B-side, "I'll Get You", that's never been played live at all, and "Till There Was You" which hasn't been performed since 1964.
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1. Magical Mystery Tour |
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15. Hey Jude |
THEY'RE SO HEAVY
Shooting from the hip as CACTUS or playing with other artists, VANILLA FUDGE seem to never be far away. Now, the four original band members - Carmine Appice, Tim Bogert, Vince Martell and Mark Stein - are together again and are reported to be recording a tribute to their dear friends, a LED ZEPPELIN covers album, and hoping to take their heavy show on the road around the globe.
AWAKE AND COOL
"Stage": thus simple is a title of the IQ new DVD. Just like their "1020: The Twentieth Anniversary Show", it's a double-disc affair but, inlike the previous set, the new one contains two shows from 2005, straddling the Atlantic.
Disc One
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Disc Two
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LEESE'S LICKS
Howard Leese, well-known for his guitar work for HEART and Paul Rodgers, has finally gotten round to recording a solo album, Still in production, the CD features Joe Lynn Turner on two tracks, "Alive Again" and "Hot To Cold", the latter a duet with Deanna Johnston of the TV show, "Rock Star: INXS", fame. Turner and Leese were both on "Heaven And Earth" by Stuart Smith whose band's album, "Windows To The World", Howard produced and on whose label the new album will appear.
FROM COAST TO COAST
Better late than never. Both excellent audio and not-so-good video versions of Glenn Hughes' June concert at "The Basemenr", in Sydney, are in circulation among the fans since a couple of days after this brilliant, mostly acoustic show with JJ Marsh on guitar and Lachlan Doley on keyboards. In 2007 the recording will appear officially - on both CD and DVD. That's much more intimate and fabulous than appalingly presented "Soulfully Live In The City Of Angels" and is not something to miss.
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1. Coast To Coast |
REACHING OUT BEYOND
Having finished the UK solo tour and performed with QUEEN at VH1's Rock Honours show, Paul Rodgers holed up in a studio with Brian May and Roger Taylor - for the first time, not counting their appearance on 1989's "Rock Aid Armenia - Smoke On The Water" single. The QUEEN + Paul Rodgers tour yielded no new songs, the opener "Reaching Out" being a cover Paul and Brian recorded as part of Rock Therapy charity programme, and the singer's trek presenting "Smile", a new take on "I Just Wanna See You Smile" that he cut aeons ago with THE MAYTALS. Now, there are really new songs which May described as "very different from anything Paul or QUEEN have ever done, and pretty epic". Let's hope the album - if it's going to be an album - or EP will be not as out-there as THE FIRM, a real fire-and-water union of Rodgers and Jimmy Page.
NOT A CUPPA POISON
It's close to 30 years that Cat Stevens, having changed name to Yusuf Islam, stopped singing. He did an occasional recording of Muslim music, performed an interesting version of his perennial "Peace Train" a couple of years ago and duetted with Ronan Keating of BOYZONE on a new take of his own "Father And Son", but finally the Cat delivered what all of his fans have been waiting for, another album. Called "An Other Cup", it's really a returm to form Yusuf has never lost but was only rejecting. It's a spiritual record that has a place for a cover of "Don't Let Me Be Misunderstood" which surely takes a new meaning here. The rest is Islam's own compositions. Have a gulp, then!
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1. Midday (Avoid City After Dark) |
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FROM THE NEST
Forget about poor Janis: there's never been a white lady singing the blues better than Maggie Bell when she was fronting STONE THE CROWS. Peter Grant's charges alongside mighty ZEPPELIN, the band somehow didn't fly as high as they could, and when their guitarist Les Harvey was electrocuted and died on-stage, THE CROWS entered the freefall jump and soon ceased to exist. They left behind some good albums and live recordings - and now, there's a visual document of their flight ready to hit the stores in January. The DVD titled "In Concert, Beat Workshop, Germany, 1973" features a show with Jimmy McCulloch on guitar - that was after his stint with THUNDERCLAP NEWMAN and before WINGS - as well as the STONE THE CROWS history and new interviews with their incendiary singer Maggie and drummer Colin Allen.
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1. On The Highway |
LONG DISTANCE RUNNER
It's more than a year that talks of Jon Anderson's rarities collection have started circulating, yet no one has expected it'll take on a shape of a huge box set. "The Lost Tapes", compiled with full cooperation from the singer who opened his personal archive, is to house 20 albums. Not all of them will be released at once: initially, there should be just seven, out by the end of this year, with the rest of slots in the box to be filled later on. Jon seems to be no less prolific writer than his friend Rick Wakeman who Anderson's currently touring with, it's only that he's not been releasing as much material. Some years ago, Voiceprint, the label behind the project, came up with Rick's fantastic "Treasure Chest" box set but made a blunder with a booklet - said to be destroyed by fire, it's never reached the box buyers. Hopefully, with the scale of Anderson endeavor, there will be no misses.
As for what's in the box, the first portion looks like this - quite familiar to those who, like this scribe, has amassed some bootlegs.
Disc 1 - an interview with Jon Anderson
Recorded by Jon Kirkman during the Anderson/Wakeman Tour, Jon talks about the box set, other rarity releases, YES and his hopes for the future. The disc will never be available apart from this set.
Disc 2 - The Mother's Day Concert
Recorded in 1996 in California, the show is an interesting mix of YES, Jon and Vangelis, and solo songs, with the singer's recalling the concert in his liner notes that are accompanied by color pictures.
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1. Intro |
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Disc 3 - Searching For The Songs
A collection of 1986's demos known from the "Preparation For The Songs" bootleg. Some of the recordings turned into officially released songs such as "The Meaning Of Your Love" which became "The Meeting" on the ABWH album.
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1. Take Take My Love |
Disc 4 - Live In Sheffield, 1980
A great document of The Song Of Seven Tour that didn't see a bootleg release, though there are similar recording from Bristol and rather different from London. These, newly discovered tapes, are said to be of excellent quality - as well as tracks 6-20 from CD 2, which are tour rehearsals. Originally known from bootleg, tracing back the trades of those has led to the finding of the original stereo master tape.
CD 1:
1. Some Are Born |
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CD 2:
1. Petrushka |
Disc 5 - Watching The Flags That Fly
Another demos collection, from 1990, when the work was being done on the second ABWH album. Mostly unreleased, except on bootlegs such as "Dialogue / We Make Believe", some songs ended up on YES records: for instance, "Take The Water To The Mountain" that's out on "Union".
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1. Hold You In My Arms |
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Disc 6 - The Lost Tapes Of Opio
A set of instrumental pieces recorded in France in 1989 to be sold through Jon Anderson's Opio Foundation to the fan club members. Originally a charity cassette, now of the profits from the CD will be donated to UNICEF. Portions of Longwalker's narration were used on Anderson's "Toltec" album.
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1. Release |
If you choose to order the box from the dedicated site, there'll be one more CD included. But that's not the 21st title, that's the 20th, so if you find the box somewhere else - possibly cheaper - you'll have a glaring empty slot in it. Talk about not screwing up, then!
Disc 20 - Binaural In Boston
A recording made from the first row on Jon's 2005 US Tour to be listened to on headphones.
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1. Harmony |
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November 4, 2006
While being friends with some great musicians, I have never pretended to be a part of any band I've been involved with as a journalist. So imagine my surprise when I was informed that my face is all over Moscow as a quasi member of NAZARETH! You see here the abusive picture of the Russian festival's poster for which this photo has been stolen from this very site. Not only bloody Russians don't know what the copyright is and that the use of anyone's likeness is prohibited without the person's consent, but they don't know who's in the bands they invite to play; note Ken Hensley's being billed as a URIAH HEEP member, and Glenn Hughes as an ex-DEEP PURPLE, while there's no mention of BLACK SABBATH next to Tony Martin's name. It's hard to sue anyone in a country notorious for its unlawfulness but I'll try to take what legal actions are possible, and have already written to NAZ to see what they think of it. Talk, then, about gratitude of what I'm trying to do for my readers... By the way, the guestbook is closed for good now: I'm sick and tired of cleaning it from the porn and other stupid ad that were being posted in spades each day.
Sincerely yours,
DME
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