THIN LIZZY Box Up Their Breakthrough Year

August 8, 2024

They were not an overnight sensation – it had taken THIN LIZZY half a decade of toil, trouble and tribulation to take on the world, but 1976 saw the Irish ensemble finally getting to the top where they belonged once getting transformed from to a foursome from the original trio a couple of years earlier and tirelessly working on creating a perfect blend of urban and traditional mythology. This alchemical wedding happened over the course of two albums released within a seven-month span, which is why September 27th is to see “Jailbreak” and “Johnny The Fox” issued within a single box set.

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HELD BY TREES Embrace Vocals With Ex-DELIRIOUS? Frontman

August 7, 2024

Letting their music do all the talking, British instrumental proggers HELD BY TREES left strong impressions on their listeners even with the ensemble’s first album, "Solace" from 2022, and upped the ante with a double-edged "Eventide / Solace - Live At Real World" a year later, and still the time has come for them to find a vocal expression for what didn’t require lyrics before. Cue Martin Smith, a former frontman for DELIRIOUS? and an old idol of HBT’s mastermind David Joseph, the singer who also brought his erstwhile bandmate, guitarist Stu Garrard on board, the result of this collaboration being the collective’s new mini-album.

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GRATEFUL DEAD Release Rare 1978 Concert

August 7, 2024

From non-Deadhead point of view, by the late ’70s Jerry Garcia’s coterie of merry pranksters had long lost their lysergic luster and mass appeal; from an actual perspective, though, GRATEFUL DEAD were flying as high then as the success of 1977’s “Terrapin Station” allowed them to, and the band’s forthcoming live album, titled “Duke ’78” and slated to be issued on September 20th as a three-CD or four-LP set as well as digitally, illustrate the point in style. Yes, a few volumes of the “Dick’s Picks” might have come close to this performance in terms of recording dates, yet the quality of two-track tapes targeted only the faithful, while the document of the ensemble’s show at Cameron Indoor Stadium, in Durham, NC’s Duke University, should impress wider circles of their listeners.

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Shemekia Copeland Shoulders The Blame

August 7, 2024

Being considered Queen of the Blues by one’s peers may not be too considerable a compliment to many a listener – after all, there have been quite a few ladies wearing the same mantle, but having first Dr. John and then Steve Cropper to execute production duties for Shemekia Copeland‘s third and fourth albums – respectively, “Talking To Strangers” in 2002 and 2005’s “The Soul Truth” stressed creative quality of the singer’s oeuvre. She’s been going from strength to strength for a couple of decades now, the title of 2022’s “Done Come Too Far” suggesting just that, yet its follow-up threatens to become the chanteuse’s best work.

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Melanie’s Farewell Single To Feature BAUHAUS Bassist

August 6, 2024

Melanie Safka may have passed away in January of this year, yet the singer’s legacy lives on – although the “Beautiful People” single which will be released as a vinyl-only ’45 on September 6th seems to be her belated farewell. And a remarkable one at that. It features the veteran artist in the company of quite an unexpected, for her, musician: BAUHAUS’ own David J, also known for LOVE AND ROCKETS, who added both bass and vocals to this classic.

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