“NO” TO YES
There rumors that have been in circulation for more than a year proved to be true: Rick Wakeman won’t be a part of the forthcoming YES tour. The keyboard wiz didn’t split as such but he finds it exhausting to travel so much. More so, Rick finds such an intense schedule damaging to the band’s uniqueness. While not ruling out future possibilities, Wakeman stays at home trekking over the UK with his Grumpy Old Picture Tour which makes it soon onto the DVD. But Chris Squire, Jon Anderson, Steve Howe and Alan White didn’t have to seek out the deputy ivory-tinkler: the new one is also Wakeman – Oliver Wakeman, Rick’s first-born, who knows all the four since his childhood days and even recorded an album with Howe before. A nice turn.
QUEEN IN NEED OF PR
Brian May has just been made a Chancellor at Liverpool’s John Moores University for his astronomy researches, but that’s not what the QUEEN guitarist has had on his mind lately. The band – which means Brian and his drumming cohort, Roger Taylor – are to release their first studio album with Paul Rodgers on September 1st and go on the road two weeks later, starting the 7-weeks tour which will span 14 countries in Moscow. Then there’s an American trek that’s not been mapped out yet.
There’s a priority pre-sale ticket booking for the European Tour exclusive to The Official International Queen Fanclub Members that’s to launch on 9 am on April 2nd and for The Paul Rodgers Mailing List and Queenonline.com Mailing List that’s to launch on 1 pm and end on April 4th. The privileged ones will also have the possibility to pre-order a special limited edition version of the new album that will only be available through the Queen Online Store for three months and will feature an exclusive slipcase and one-off QUEEN + PR poster.
As of now, the record has no title, but it’ll include the song “Say It’s Not True” which Roger sang during the QUEEN + PR first tour and was made available a couple of months ago for free download in a new, studio version sung by Taylor, May and Rodgers each taking a verse, a cover version – for the first time in the band’s history! – and a track called “C-lebrity” that will be premiered on UK’s ITV Al Murray’s Happy Hour on April 4th.
WAKE-UP CALL
Delayed for a good – well, bad – six months, “Wake The Sleeper”, the first URIAH HEEP album in ten years and the first with a new drummer, Russell Gilbrook,, is scheduled for released on June 2nd. While before the band leader Mick Box said the band wouldn’t perform fresh material until the CD’s out (and there’ll be a gloirous vinyl LP as well), because “in today’s world it would be up on the Net before we had played the last note”, the wait’s been so long that HEEP presented the fans with “Tears Of The World”, “Overload” and “Shadow” included into the concert set and uploaded to YouTube which whetted the appetite. Now, the date is set, and the waiting seems to be almost over.
| 1. Wake The Sleeper 2. Overload 3. Tears Of The World 4. Light Of A Thousand Stars 5. Heaven’s Rain 6. Book Of Lies 7. What Kind Of God 8. Ghost Of The Ocean 9. Angels Walk With You 10. Shadow 11. War Child |
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TOO BAD
The grapewine brings the news of another supergroup being formed around the former BABYS and BAD ENGLISH singer John Waite and FREE and BAD COMPANY drummer Simon Kirke which may – or may not – include THE SMALL FACES and THE FACES keyboard operator Ian MacLagan. Sound-wise, there’s surely a great deal of common ground between two BAD bands, so the prospect looks teasing, Simon has confirmed something is brewing up with him and some well-known musos but didn’t give away any name.
LET THERE BE LIGHT
April 4th will see the launch of the Martin Scorsese-directed THE ROLLING STONES concert documentary, “Shine A Light”. Three days earlier, on April 1st, the film soundtrack is released as double – or, in the USA, single – album. There’a an interesting selection of songs, including the rarely performed “Connection” from 1967’s“Between The Buttons”, THE TEMPTATIONS’ “Just My Imagination” which THE STONES covered in 1978 on “Some Girls”, the first Jagger-Richard co-write “As Tears Go By”, Muddy Waters’ “Champagne And Reefer” played with Buddy Guy, “Loving Cup” with Jack White guesting, and “Live With Me” featuring none other than Christina Aguilera. No matter what the visuals are, the aural component shines indeed.
Disc 1:1. Jumping Jack Flash |
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Disc 2:1. Sympathy For The Devil |
WHITE HEAT
Ever since Doogie White left RAINBOW who he’d shot to fame with, he’s been in demand. Working with Billy Liesegang, CORNERSTONE, M3 CLASSIC WHITESNAKE and doing tribute work, Doogie’s main project for the last six years has been Yngwie Malmsteen’s band. Now the gig is over, as the Sweden maestro decided to change the gears and hired ex-JUDAS PRIEST Tim ‘Ripper’ Owens as the singer.
White, meanwhile, found himself free at last to get to work on his first solo set he’s started mapping last year with help from the DIO axeman Craig Goldy. Featured on the album, planned to be out in 2008, will be three great bassists: Rudy Sarzo, still with DIO, Neil Murray of WHITESNAKE fame, and Doogie’s RAINBOW cohort Greg Smith, plus Derek Sherinian. More so, the vocalist got in touch with Ritchie Blackmore’s management with a proposition to record some parts and maybe finish some of the ideas dropped when their second album together became an unlikely perspective. Given the similar permission obtained by Joe Lynn Turner, new Blackmore / White songs are possible. Fingers crossed, then.
CELEBRATION CUP
2008 marks the 40th anniversary of JETHRO TULL and the band are to shake some action – with some archive releases to remember the signposts of their four-decade life. One of these is a remastered edition of TULL’s debut album, “This Was”, is out on April 28th as a 2 CD edition with the record in both stereo and mono forms augmented with single mixes and unissued mono mixes as well as nine BBC tracks from July and November 1968. Yet if this is for collectors only, of more interest is a DVD titled “Jack In The Green – Live In Germany” that’s to be released on May 5th and will present Ian Anderson and his likely lads’ appearances in Deutschland from 1970 to 1993 with the main focus on the ’80s. Not the one to miss on.
| Rockpop In Concert, 1982 1. Hard Times 2. Pussy Willow 3. Heavy Horses 4. Jack In The Green 5. Keyboard Solo 6. Sweet Dreams 7. Aqualung 8. Locomotive Breath 9. Cheerio Rocksummer, 1986 10. Hunting Girl |
Out In The Green, 1986 11. Thick As A Brick 12. Black Sunday 13. Improvisation II 14. Too Old To Rock ‘N’ Roll, Too Young To Die Live In Germany, 1993 15. My Sunday Feeling 16. So Much Trouble Beat Club, 1970/1971 17. With You There To Help Me 18. Nothing Is Easy |
FROM THE WRECKAGE PHOENIX’LL ARISE
April 11th will see the release of the long-awaited ASIA album, “Phoenix”, the band’s first studio record on the original line-up of John Wetton, Geoff Downes, Carl Palmer and Steve Howe since 1983. Judging on the sound snippets, the 25 years haven’t change their music much, so a fan will hardly be disappointed as well as an occasional listener.
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1. Never Again 2. Nothing’s Forever 3. Heroine 4. Sleeping Giant / No Way Back / Reprise 5. Alibis 6. I Will Remember You 7. Shadow Of A Doubt 8. Parallel Worlds / Vortex / Deya 9. Wish I’d Known All Along 10. Orchard Of Mines 11. Over And Over 12. An Extraordinary Life acoustic bonus tracks: – An Extraordinary Life (European limited edition) – I Will Remember You(Japan) |
