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Reviews
Weekly Reviews For October 23, 2005 I am Managing Editor at Metal4Life
I also contribute reviews to getreadytorock I am also featured reviewer at spacerock.co.uk
I
was Editor & reviewer at MetalUK.
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New Reviews
Now they do the impersonation very well, and if you have a hankering for Muse type theatrical rock, then this is going to be very much up your street. Just don't park your car there:-) They can also write songs which might help them overcome their influences and shoddy reviewers writing sentences like my first one. I actually preferred it when they get all moody as they do on the "The Thousandth Man" which gets all acousticy and dreamy. They're aiming for stadiums and there's nothing wrong with lofty ambitions. They've got off to a good start with this, and should be worth keeping half an eye on.
He has also written seven of the ten pieces on this CD and also plays piano on one of the album highlights, "Spaghetti & Meatballs Of Sullies". People who know about these things have mentioned Gary Burton as an influence, which could explain why his approach has little in common with the more avante garde approach of Milt Jackson and Lionel Hampton, the vibraphonists I'm most familiar with. And it's an approach that works well through the complex arrangements of "Dae La" amd "Day Tripper's" , as well as the standards he reinterprets with "That's All" being the best of the trio. The real standout track on the album, though, is "Blues For Jo" where pianist Oscar Perez absolutely rips through his keyboard. That's the tune I've been playing to people just to watch their jaws drop!
The Davolinas - Edge Of A New Day Ah, stoner rock! Fabulous music with unfortunate fans. If I wanted to spend my time wandering round in a basement surrounded by the sweet smell of brain cells dying off, I'd move to Gorgie. There are actually only two Davolinas, Foxy and Drama, in the Davolinas. For some reason Satan has taken over the drum stool in the guise of El Diablo. I suspect they may be using aliases. Female fronted stoner has a certain novelty value but the genre requires big riffs not novelties, and this album has them in spades. There are some songs that really impress with "Exit repression" and "Nightfall" being particular standouts. The doom rock of the latter is a particularly fine slab of desert rock, although I'm not sure how many deserts there are in Denmark. Probably not many. A solid album ,perhaps lacking the killer touch, but there's enough here to tempt me back for a further helping.
Aether - Apart We were quite taken with the psychedelic post-rock on the last Aether release, so I was looking forward to this latest chapter. And it was worth the anticipation. Dealing in shifting, shape-changing moods, the trio have put together another fine set of intricate, introspective instrumentals. I would have liked further exploration of some of the themes - my favourite "Mantra" just seems to get going and then it's gone - but you'll be hard pushed to find a better present for the Tortoise fan in your life.
Heaven And Earth - same An album with a long history, some of the material was released back in 1999, an EP emerged a couple of years back, and now you can get all the material plus a couple of bonus tracks on one CD package. The son of an R.A.F. jet fighter pilot, Stuart Smith was born in York, and has been playing guitar professionally since he was 17 years old. Originally classically trained from 7 years old and further taught by Ritchie Blackmore, guitarist of Deep Purple (to whom this CD is dedicated), he's managed to pull together a stellar cast for this project. Now, if you were to ask me for my perfect project, I'd want some classic melodic eighties hard rock (much like Unruly Child), a Deep Purple cover version, a touch of the blues, perhaps a legendary vocalist or two, and the finest musicians money can buy. Let's see; Unruly Child soundalike - that would be "Don't Keep Me Waiting". Chuck in a cover of "When A Blind Man Cries". Hire not one, but two ex Deep Purple vocalists - Glenn Hughes and Joe Lynn Turner. Get one of them to sing an old Blind lemon Jefferson tune. Then, if that were not enough, follow the Ritchie Blackmore template from "Straight Between The Eyes", a couple of numbers that would sit happily on a Blackmores Night release, and for good measure, a Spinal Tap moment of Mach madness. "That would be a cross between Mozart and Bach." Track by track, here's how it goes. "Don't Keep Me Waiting" featuring Kelly Hansen (Hurricane). An absolutely epic, blistering opener, and the song that should be on the debut Unruly Child album. An absolute classic which encompasses everything great about classic melodic hard rock. "Heaven & Earth" sees the first ex Purple appearance from Joe Lynn Turner on on eof the big ballads that he excels at. "See That My Grave is Kept Clean" sees ex Purp number 2 arriving with Glenn Hughes throwing everything into the old Blind Lemon Jefferson tune. With Carmine Appice on drums and Richie Sambora playing some mean dobro, this is pure delight. Then on to the Purple cover, "When A Blind Man Cries". Now I happen to think that Richie Sambora is a far better vocalist than the bijou Mr Bon Jovi he plays alongside, but his gritty, rough edged vocals don't really capture the pain and pathos of the original.
"Still Got the Blues" is another new track with marries the strange concept of a Gary Moore blues song, sung by Joe Lynn Turner. Now Joe is 100 times the singer Mr Moore is, but Gary had the edge guitar wise, so I'll just call it a draw. "Do You Ever Think of Me" returns Kelly Hansen of Hurricane to the fray, but it's one of the lesser tracks on offer. Joe Lynn Turner brings things right back on track with another gem, "It's Got to Be Love". With it's faux brass, handclaps and chorus of 'You know I hate you so much, it's gotta be love', this would have been a huge US radio hit back in the day. Time for some madrigal madness as "Shadow of the Tyburn Tree" arrives. Now it probably never entered your mind to wonder what it would sound like if Richie dumped Candice and brought Joe Lynn Turner into Blackmores Night. Well, now you can find out. And it's better than ou might imagine. Time for another instrumental, "Road to Melnibone" and despite my Elric obsession, it doesn't really do much bar drift along pleasantly.
Stuart Smith and friends deserve all the plaudits going for this,
and you should dip into your credit card and buy it now.
Dimension X - So…This Is Earth Dimension X are a prog-metal hybrid, following in the footsteps of Dream Theater and thieir. So, lots of noodling, extended pieces of music and solos. Well, yes, but it is performed proficiently, manages to keeo a hold of the melody, and rarely outstays its welcome. Of course, no prog-metal album would be complete without an epic and this album has the near 17-minute epic,"Xeno's Paradox" for the progtastic hordes to sink their teeth into. It is a fine example of how to shove as many time signature changes into one piece of music, but still has space for some delicate moments. It's certainly promising. There are some clever arrangements and some memorable songs with
"Intrigue" being my particular favourite. All the musicians
put in good performances with the now departed drummer, Andy Jiminez,
particularly good. It might take some getting used to, but vocalist
David Hoover II has a very distinctive voice. It can make or break
a band, so fingers crossed on that score.
Bruce Main - Layers Now you've got to admire someone who claims on their press release that 'the performances are stellar'. I'll be the judge of that, sonny Jim, me lad! Stellar is pushing it a bit, but it is a very good album. As others have said before me, there are broad similarities to Pink Floyd in their mid seventies heyday. And better to aim for that level of excellence than, say, mid seventies Partridge Family. Most of the tracks are lengthy and exploratory with "Gwendolyn" being the pick of the bunch. Bruce has an unusual voice so I personally prefer the instrumental passages. The percussion is a bit ropy in places, but the music is always interesting and challenging. As Bruce himself says he's thrown some classic Jethro Tull into the mix and it works well. Definitely a prog release worth checking out for some exemplary instrumental passages.
Autorickshaw - Four Higher Well, this is certainly an interesting one. Self-proclaimed 'indo-jazz world music' Autorickshaw have combined jazz with Vedic chant and South Indian classical music, a first for me, and an absolute delight. Normally, the kind of forced fusion that he has me running, screaming away from hordes of Guardian readers, but here it works. A mixture of original material, rearrangements of some South Indian classical pieces and cracks at a couple of jazz standards, the band have sidestepped the trap door to dull chill out and created a fascinating hybrid. Suba Sankara has a hypnotic, inviting voice, and her fellow band members, Ed Hanley, Rich Brown and Debashis Sinha just seem to flow in and out of each other. The originals are of uniformly high standard, but if you're feeling a bit jaded with poor interpretations of classic jazz (hi, Jamie), take a listen to their run though of Duke Ellingtons "Caravan". Fabulous.
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