When artists say they embark on the farewell tour, there’s always a doubt, although when they’re about 80 years of age, such doubts are hardly unfounded, yet when musicians say a forthcoming album will be their last, one is often inclined to believe. That’s how it goes for Snowy White, whose 2025 platter "Unfinished Business" suggested he was willing to deliver quite a few more records, but the veteran’s fresh offering might very well be his parting opus.
This year has seen a resurgence of interest in RAINBOW, possibly because a new box set, spanning the first two years of Ritchie Blackmore’s band, was released recently, so it’s only fitting that a new tribute album to this ensemble is about to delight those who like such things. Still, even those who don’t might find the multi-artist collection titled “Ride The Rainbow” interesting, because it seems to be the first project of the kind to feature no fewer than five former members of the group: four out of five vocalists who served with the outfit – Graham Bonnet, Joe Lynn Turner, Doogie White and Ronnie Romero – as well as bassist Bob Daisley and keyboard player Don Airey.
Back in the mid-’70s, Jerry Garcia was on a roll, touring and recording both with the band which bore his name and GRATEFIL DEAD. No wonder, then, that the half-century expansion of the latter collective’s "Blues For Allah" is to be followed soon by a reissue of his next venture. 1976’s “Reflections” was the American master’s third solo album, one he said explored the same groove as the DEAD venture preceding it and one featuring the ensemble’s members, because he had dismissed JERRY GARCIA BAND, including Nicky Hopkins, after a few tracks were laid down.
Six studio opuses released over three and a half decades may not seem to make an impressive legacy, yet it’s always been quality, rather than quantity, that ANEKDOTEN valued from the start, and there’s hardly a progressive rock aficionado out there who’s not familiar at least with the cover, if not musical content, of this Swedish ensemble’s first longplay. Issued in 1993, “Vemod” remains a firm favorite with many of their chosen genre’s followers, and the band’s 35-year anniversary is a great excuse to revisit the album.
