Back from England with some great interviews and some good plans, DME’s back to the normal site schedule – well, as much as the main work allows it…
ALL THINGS COLOSSAL
There’s been a long milk jive as to what’s COLOSSEUM are up to, what with Dick Heckstall-Smith‘s health problems. Having visited the sax legend in a hospital, DME found Richard rather ill – yet it’s still the same stubborn Dick who’s defiantly looks forward to the band’s March, 2005 tour of UK. Heckstall-Smith is eager to play – even in a wheelchair – alongside Barbara Thompson. And it’s Barbara who will be featured on a live album recorded during the last tour that’s being worked on now by Jon Hiseman. Once the trek’s over and the album’s out, COLOSSEUM will be no more, said Interview with JON HISEMAN talking to DME.
NINE STARS IN THEIR EYES
Now it looks official: Tony Iommi has confirmed that he and Glenn Hughes are to record new album in 2005 and tour to promote it, after Hughes is finished with promotion of his album, “Soul Mover”, out in January. This will be the third Iommi / Hughes platter, the first being 1986’s “Seventh Star” by BLACK SABBATH and the second, “DEP Sessions”, formerly known, in bootleg form, as “Eighth Star” committed to tape in 1996 and released as late as 2004.
STROLLING DOWN THE BOULEVARD
STROLLING DOWN THE BOULEVARD
As far as solo albums go, Eric Clapton‘s greatness may seem rather fictious – yet not with “461 Ocean Boulevard”. Recorded in 1974, now the glorious thing sees its 30th Anniversary Deluxe Edition expanded to two CDs. For many, there’s one gem, Bob Marley’s “I Shot The Sheriff” which topped the charts and, together with LED ZEP’s “D’yer Mak’er”, brought reggae into the hearts of the Western folks, but for others the album’s a gem in its entirety. Especially in this edition, where the first disc features the original album remastered and augmented with out-takes from the sessions that produced it, and the second being a compilation of the Slowhand’s performances at Hammersmith Odeon on December 4th and 5th, 1974, with most of the tracks previously unreleased. Something to buy and savour – no question.
CD 1out-takes: |
CD 2live at Hammersmith Odeon: |
November 3, 2004
IF YOU CAN’T BEAT ‘EM, JOIN ‘EM
Bootlegs aren’t fair to an artist’s right to earn money by his trade, yet they’re fair to his ability to deliver, that’s why fans are so eager to get a recording that’s not legitimate but has not been twiddled with. Nowadays, many bootlegs receive the approved release sourced from the best quality tapes than those in circulation for years, and now on this stage come QUEEN.
Queen Online decided to provide the most interesting recordings for download from the band’s official shop for a very reasonable price of only J5. The list of the live albums will grow monthly, and now there are three available already:
“Queen Last Stand” – May 15th, 1985
“Jazz Final” – June 6th, 1979
“Life Is Real” – August 9th, 1982
WHERE THE SHADOWS RUN
He’s one of the greatest rock poets – and not only. Pete Brown can be righly considered an English beatnik who used to take part in the Jazz festivals in the ’50s and ’60s before hitting the big time with Jack Bruce whose music provided a perfect foil for Pete’s ornate, allegorical, images-filled lyrics. (“She walked like a bearded rainbow”… Ah, how’s that!) Many of those became true classics such as CREAM’s “White Room” and “Sunshine Of Your Love” or “Theme For Imaginary Western”, but Brown also struck on his own, with PIBLOKTO!, THE BATTERED ORNAMENTS and other outfits, and performs to this day, having just recently joined the board of reborn Bronze Records (interview with the label’s boss, Gerry Bron, expect here).
Back in November 2002, Pete Brown took stage of London’s Borderline with THE INTEROCETERS, his latest ensemble, and now the concert makes it onto a CD called simply “Live”. As a compendium of the great artist’s work the album is really indispensable.
1. Brain Money 2. The Old Rock Singer 3. Hard To Say 4. Computer Generated Woman 5. Waiting For The Call 6. Do The Dispute 7. Dark City 8. I Read The Funky Times 9. The Politician 10. Thousands On A Raft 11. White Room 12. Theme For An Imaginary Western |
A PRESENT FOR THE FRIENDS TO OPEN
A real king of today’s stage Elton John does all things royal, swinging the Vegas like Elvis – and following closely in the wake of THE ROLLING STONES fantastic “Four Flicks” DVD set with that of his own. “Dream Ticket”, out on November 15th, is cut in the same shape: three discs present three shows in three different types of venue – a hall, an arena and an open-air amphitheater filmed in 2000-2002 and sprinkled with bonus footage, while the fourth DVD is dedicated to documentaries and corresponding videos. Much of the songs performed are what one expects from the Big El, yet there’s a great surprise in the form of “Sixty Years On” resurrected from Reg Dwight’s “Elton John” LP, a classical live version of which appeared on “17-11-70”. Not as diverse and alluring as THE STONES’ package, Elton’s fans will undoubtedly drool about this.
Disc One:Madison Square Garden, NY, 2000 |
Disc Two:The Royal Opera House, London, 2002 |
Disc Three:The Great Amphitheatre, Ephesus, 2001 |
Disc Four:1. Your Song – documentary |
THE LAST STRAW
Bidding farewell to the touring, CAMEL still bring their fans a lot of delight – there’s need to be some sweetening to the pill, after all! – and put forward a new DVD, “Camel Footage”. As simple as the title suggests, there are great moments from different eras of the prog greats, from 1973 up to the recent reunion of Andrew Latimer, Andy Ward and Doug Ferguson who started it all as THE BREW – and are going to record an album under this name in 2005. The issue dates for all the releases aren’t set as of yet.
1. Never Let Go – Guildford Civic Hall, 1973 2. The Snow Goose – Old Grey Whistle Test, 1975 3. Friendship – Old Grey Whistle Test, 1975 4. Rhayader Goes To Town – Old Grey Whistle Test, 1975 5. First Light – Hippodrome, 1977 6. Metrognome – Hippodrome, 1977 7. Unevensong – Hippodrome, 1977 8. Lunar Sea – Hippodrome, 1977 9. Rain Dances – Hippodrome, 1977 10. City Life – Old Grey Whistle Test, 1981 11. Captured – Hammersmith Odeon, 1984 12. Hopeless Anger – Town & Country, London, 1992 13. Whispers In The Rain – Town & Country, London, 1992 14. Preparation – Billboard Live, LA, 1997 15. Dunkirk – Billboard Live, LA, 1997 bonus: Left Luggage – Little Barn Studios, California |
ECCE MANN!
In quite in unexpected turn, Manfred Mann comes up with a new album, “Manfred Mann ’06”, the main surprise lying not in the year in the title but in the fact that the EARTH BAND play only on part of the tracks, while guest musicians include Thomas D, Barbara Thompson and Chris Thompson (no relation here, Barbara’s married to COLOSSEUM’s Interview with JON HISEMAN) and writing credits cite Holst, like on “Solar Fire”, Leiber & Stoller, SUPER FURRY ANIMALS and Tchaikovsky. That’s Mann-made madness!
1. Demons And Dragons 2. Two Brides 3. Down in Mexico 4. Happenstance 5. The History Of Sexual Jealousy 6. Black Eyes 7. Mars 8. Get Me Out Of This 9. Frog 10. Two Friends 11. Monkmann 12. Marche Slave 13. Independent Woman 14. Dragons |
UNCOVERING THINGS THAT WERE SACRED
It’s a safe bet Ozzy Osbourne has a helluva valuable artefacts stashed away in his gothis vaults, as exposing those gems to the light always seemed as risky as for all the other night creatures. So neither BLACK SABBATH, nor the singer’s solo stuff heft over from the albums never made it public – officially, that is. Maybe, then, the time came for Osbourne to play not only TV joker but also an artist with a long, well-archived biography. That’s why on February 8th, the fans of the Birmingam’s Bat-Eater will have the possibility to grab a 4CD-box entitled “Bible Of Ozz”, although some sources state the bill’s already been changed to the banal “Prince Of Darkness”. Anyway, it’s the inside of the box – looking like a a weathered medieval and hosting a 60-page booklet with an Ozzy career overview and rare photos – not the outside what matters, and in it are many saliva-inducing things.
The first two discs gather remastered versions of the most famous cuts – still not known whether with the original rhythm section of Lee Kerslake and Bob Daisley or those grisly re-recordings of late – live performances, demos and some of the B-sides, sans the likes of “Party With The Animals”. The third one collects some of the singer’s curious collaborations, but there’s no the Ozz and COAL CHAMBER’s go at Peter Gabriel’s “Shock The Monkey”. The fourth disc holds the covers project laid down just recently, with Leslie West and Ian Hunter helping out on the corresponding MOUNTAIN and MOTT THE HOOPLE tracks. The question is not if it’s worth buying, but the asking price…
CD 1:1. I Don’t Know (live) |
CD 2:1. Ultimate Sin (live) |
CD 3:1. Iron Man (with THERAPY) |
CD 4:1. Good Times (by Eric Burdon) |