It was my ubercool English friend, Steve Dalton of the Black Vines, who originally introduced me to Black Stone Cherry–a band that makes me realize that rock is not only not dead, but it’s breathing like mad! And, I’m quite partial to Mascot, too!
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Seven Sacraments to Song: Talk Talk’s LAUGHING STOCK (1991)
Even for those die-hard Talk Talk fans among us, the band’s final album, LAUGHING STOCK, gets only a rating as “SPIRIT OF EDEN II.” It’s not that folks don’t absolutely love it. They do. But, when it comes to the history of Talk Talk and the history of rock, 1988’s SPIRIT OF EDEN is better remembered as the innovating album, the heroic but not so polite one in and on which Hollis told EMI and the commercial world where to go and what to do when they got there.
Begin obsessed with Talk Talk since 1986’s THE COLOUR OF SPRING, I, too, am guilty of ranking LAUGHING STOCK somewhere in the band’s top three, but never number one. Of course, I’ve always loved LAUGHING STOCK. No question there. What’s not to love? Yet, it’s always been—at least in my mind—a kind of final moment, a release, an innovative remake of SPIRIT OF EDEN, featuring the core that made the 1988 album so successful: Hollis; Friese-Green; and Brown.
I first purchased the CD of LAUGHING STOCK (even before I owned a CD player) at Waterloo records in Austin on the day it came out. Craig Breaden (also of Progarchist infamy) and I were attending a history conference there, and Waterloo was across the river from our hotel. Stunningly, when it came to the band, I actually knew far more than Craig. Believe me, this is important, as no one knows the history of rock from the early 60s to the early 90s better than does Craig.
Continue reading “Seven Sacraments to Song: Talk Talk’s LAUGHING STOCK (1991)”
Detailed review of deluxe edition of Chris Squire’s “Fish Out Of Water”
I came very late to Squire’s 1975 solo album, but once I really listened to it, I gained an entirely new appreciation for his musical genius: the album is melodic, soaring, sometimes surprising, often lush yet constantly energetic, and filled with monster—but always deeply musical—bass playing.
Originally released by Atlantic, Esoteric Recordings’ new deluxe edition is, well, deluxe:
The highlight of this limited edition deluxe boxed set is a stunning new 5.1 Surround Sound mix (exclusive to this set on an NTSC / Region Free DVD), along with a new stereo mix, from the original multi-track master tapes by JAKKO JAKSZYK and a new re-master of the original 1975 mix by Paschal Byrne. FISH OUT OF WATER also includes four bonus tracks of the single edits of ‘Lucky Seven’ and ‘Silently Falling’, along with both sides of the 1981 single by CHRIS SQUIRE and ALAN WHITE; ‘Run With the Fox’ and Return of the Fox (appearing on CD for the first time).
The boxed set also includes a replica 180 gram gatefold LP with poster of FISH PUT OF WATER (mastered and cut from the original tapes at Abbey Road studios), along with two seven inch singles of ‘Lucky Seven’ b/w ‘Silently Falling’ and ‘Run With the Fox’ b/w ‘Return of the Fox’, both in picture sleeves. To complete the content is a visual DVD (NTSC / Region Free) featuring the 1975 FISH OUT OF WATER promotional film featuring the songs Hold Out Your Hand and ‘You By My Side’, along with a 2006 interview with Chris Squire conducted by Jon Kirkman and a 2006 audio commentary by Chris Squire. Finally, the set also contains a 36-page book with an essay by Sid Smith featuring exclusive interviews with BILL BRUFORD, PATRICK MORAZ, GREGG JACKMAN and JAKKO JAKSZYK.
The prolific John Kelman, who has written several exceptional reviews of prog albums for AllAboutJazz.com (and who has authored liner notes for many jazz and prog albums) has a very informative review of the new set. Here’s a taste: Continue reading “Detailed review of deluxe edition of Chris Squire’s “Fish Out Of Water””
Burning Shed News (6-14-2018)
My apologies for being several days late with this. I’ve been out of town and without any serious access to the internet. Now, though, I’m back! And, with always great news from Burning Shed.
Yes
Fly From Here – Return Trip (cd pre-order)
The classic Drama line-up reunited on a 2018 version of 2011’s Fly From Here, featuring all new vocals from Trevor Horn, alongside a more organic mix highlighting Chris Squire‘s unique voice and bass contributions plus additional parts from Steve Howe and Geoff Downes.
Includes the six part title track, the full version of Hour Of Need, and album outtake Don’t Take No For An Answer.
CD in Media Book with new artwork by Roger Dean. One of the best Yes albums of the last three decades just got better!
Pre-order for 6th July shipping.
Sanguine Hum Joins BEM
Wow, this is absolutely huge news. Congratulations to all involved, but especially to David Elliott! One of the finest labels in prog snags one of the finest bands in prog!
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Van der Graaf Generator, Live at Rockpalast: Rick’s Retroarchy
Following in the wake of King Crimson, ELP, Yes and early Genesis, Van der Graaf Generator were pioneers of progressive rock that never cracked mass appeal, even in their native Britain. Not that they necessarily tried; VdGG’s music (created from 1969 to 1972, 1975 to 1978 and 2005 to the present) was acerbic, obsessive and challenging from the word go. Reveling in collision and contradiction, at once sharp-edged and tender-hearted, out of control and in sync, the music Peter Hamill, David Jackson, Hugh Banton and Guy Evans made on their 2005 reunion album Present and the resulting tour was the equal of what had come before — urgent, authentic, a triumph of their unique approach and chemistry, done for all the right reasons.
Now Germany’s MiG Music has released the climax of that tour — Van der Graaf’s concert from the Leverkusen Jazz Festival, recorded for German TV’s Rockpalast, the only full length live video by the classic line up. This bargain CD/DVD set is strong stuff, with rough edges proudly on display; not for the faint of heart, yet ultimately life-affirming and absolutely essential.
Continue reading “Van der Graaf Generator, Live at Rockpalast: Rick’s Retroarchy”
Album Review: Gygax, “2nd Edition” @GygaxGuild
What if the kids from Stranger Things got a little bit older and then formed a band with their number one influence being Thin Lizzy?
That’s exactly what Gygax sounds like on their 2nd album, 2nd Edition (2018), which achieves the magical combination of geeky Dungeons and Dragons lyrical themes and a resurrected Phil Lynott hard rock aesthetic.
The first album Critical Hits (2016) from Gygax didn’t quite hit the mark with me, but I did really love two tracks from it, which I listened to quite a bit: “The Rope of Shadow” and “Demons.” Both are excellent, especially “The Rope of Shadow,” which is my favorite Gygax song.
On their second outing, “Dice Throwers & Rock ‘n’ Rollers” kicks things off with a spot-on Thin Lizzy hard rock shuffle. Then “It Makes It Worth It” ups the ante with even more intense blistering funk and some tasty flamethrower lead guitar lines. And “The Lascivious Underdark” makes it a hat trick with yet more of the magical Gygax 70s spell.
Things shift down slightly with “Pure Hearts,” which is unexpectedly perhaps the finest track on the disc, being an uncanny imitation of Phil Lynott at his most moving. But “Song of the Silverhands” ramps up the action once more into the speedy shuffle zone. Although “Wish” returns to more subtle rocking, the downshift is again highly satisfying as the tension builds nicely and the groove is undeniable. Toes will tap: resistance is futile.
The only skippable track for me is the penultimate no-drums “Heavy Meddle,” and yet it is an appropriately deployed smoke break before the pull-out-all-the-stops grand finale “Second Wind.”
I’ve always been a big fan of Thin Lizzy, and even though Black Star Riders continues to fly the flag, I am more impressed by the second Gygax outing, since its exercises in nostalgia come across as truly heartfelt.
Like the aforementioned “Pure Hearts,” what we have here is youthful joy captured like bottled lightning. And who wouldn’t want to drink that magic potion? Well, now you can.
Gygax = D&D R&R
Eric (Cleric) – Bass, Vocals
Bryant (Fighter) – Guitar
Wes (Wizard) – Guitar
Ian (Druid) – Keys
DROWNING IN PLASTIC. BOMBER GOGGLES DIRE WARNING ON THEIR NEW CONCEPT ALBUM, “GYRELAND.”
Perhaps it is a fortuitous time for this three-piece band hailing from California to be promoting their first album (although released in March of this year) given the news over the past month on the worldwide concerns around the growing mass of pollution in various oceanic parts of our planet. Namely the dumping of plastic bags and other items having a terrible ecological effect on the life that dwell in our seas. The beginning of this month set off alarm bells when an autopsy on a dead whale revealed over 80 plastic bags lodged in its stomach. When these sorts of things happen then you know we all have to do something before its too late. So maybe a poignant allegoric reminder via music is a good way to get the message across and that’s what Bomber Googles have done with this wonderful and highly conceptual, well, Prog concept album, Gyreland [CD Melodic Revolution Records, 2018].
“Gyreland tells the story about a new continent constructed out of the plastic debris floating in our oceans. As the currents swirl, they bring the plastic together, something we are witnessing in our oceans today. The oceanic swirl is called the Gyre, and so in our story the new inhabitants name the new floating continent “Gyreland.”
Funnily enough I was doing some background research on another artist I was aiming on writing about and purely by accident came across the music being played on an online Prog radio station. I liked it well enough to want to find out a bit more about them as hadn’t come across them before.
Bomber Goggles are Steve Bonino (Avtograph, Tomorrow’s Game, The Trip) on Vocals & Bass; Peter Matuchniak ( Janysium, Mach One, Kinetic Element) on Guitars and Vance Gloster (WZMG, Tge Coot, Gekko Projekton) on Keyboards. Jimmy Keegan (ex-member of Spock’s Beard, 2011-2016) guests as drummer.
One of the things that really got my attention was their great band name. Almost like one of those Big Big Train moments when you hear it. Prog reviewer, Kev Rowland asked Peter Matuchniak how their name came about. “I had a temporary band name made up of the first two letters of our last name: Bo, Ma, Gl, and pronounced it phonetically as “Bomaggle”. It was never intended to be our real band name, until I accidentally referred to us as “Bomber Goggles”. We all laughed, but the name stuck and everyone we knew told us to keep the name!”
These guys don’t muck around either. Gyreland was an album that came together pretty fast at the end of last year recorded over a couple of months based around a conceptual idea Gloster came up with and the band expanded on. Jimmy Keegan spent just one day getting the drums down for these thirteen tracks! Even though there is an important message behind if not in front of this album, there’s also an enjoyable tale to get into.
“As more people are drawn to it, they experience a strange phenomenon; they can almost anticipate each other’s thoughts, and this ability allows them to build Gyreland at an unprecedented pace. Some think the Gyre possesses strange forces or powers, while others believe it enhances our empathy or telepathy. Or perhaps it’s the earth’s way of rewarding those who choose to take care of her? We never find out the reason, but Gyreland attracts the interest of countries around the Pacific Rim who now want a piece of its power.
Three powerful countries form an alliance to invade Gyreland. At home, their citizens protest, but the “Triangle of Power” proceeds with their invasion plans, as well as plans to break the alliance once they get what they want.
The new people of Gyreland have no armies or weapons, and so they wait uneasily for the invasion to occur. Some hope the oceans that gave them a second chance will provide them an answer, an answer in the wistful waves. But on the day of the invasion, something strange happens. As the invading soldiers set foot on Gyreland, they are overwhelmed by a sense of empathy, which prevents them from wanting to fight. Perhaps empathy is the same force that allowed Gyreland to be built in the first place? Whatever the reason, the transformation makes any hostile takeover impossible because the new invaders simply abandon their army and join the people of Gyreland, a new turning point in the history of mankind. “
If you like Kayak, Pendragon and Roine Stolte to name drop but a few, then I think this will appeal to you. That’s not to say they’re exactly the same but there are bit and pieces here and there throughout that made me think of them in a neo prog frame of mind. They’ve also thrown in some interesting instrumentals that I think will serve them well if ever they plan on touring. Enjoy.
To purchase GYRELAND either download or CD click here
Bomber Goggles FACEBOOK page link https://www.facebook.com/BomberGoggles/
Bomber Goggles TWITTER page link https://twitter.com/BomberGoggles
De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas
For an album which emerged out of utter chaos, De Mysteriis Dom Sathanas is flawlessly breathtaking. Just imagine, some of the real world events surrounding its release included suicide, murder conviction, conspiracy and deception. An ancient Greek philosopher once said — “The whole is more than the sum of its parts” – never been this evident. Musically and culturally, seems like Mayhem just defined the pinnacle of Norwegian black metal, which includes all its marvels and malice.
The album derives on that Darkthrone like dissent, the same aesthetic and cultural statement. But then proceeds to elevate black metal to a stunning jazz like refinement. It’s sophisticated and raw, complex and grounded, malevolent and dazzling. A rare infernal blend. Beneath the layers of intricate drums, riffs and abominable vocals is a sheer morbid coherence. Halfway into the record Csihar wails – “The past is alive” – followed by a staggering Hellhammer drum passage. Just about then you will realize, the album is unforgiving, and it’s just not going to relent on that technical intensity.
***************** Image Attribution ***********************
By Cecil [GFDL or CC BY-SA 3.0], from Wikimedia Commons
Ancient Empire’s Epic Metal Trilogy
One of my greatest listening pleasures this year has been the discovery of the upper-echelon studio metal band Ancient Empire, consisting of Joe Liszt (vocals, bass, guitars), Steve Pelletier (drums), and Rich Pelletier (lyrics).
If you check out their Facebook page, right away you will see they have instant credibility — because they endorse the new Judas Priest album for all the right reasons!
You will have a hard time finding them online, because they do not do releases through streaming services or other corporate sources. Instead, you can buy CDs direct from the band (try eBay) or download their killer albums from Bandcamp (which is what I did, and you can buy the whole trilogy for a discount: highly recommended).
These guys are the real deal. They are anti-corporate enslavement and they do what they do for the pure love of metal. Their sound is classic traditional heavy metal, 1980s New Wave of British Heavy Metal, power metal, and speed metal shred thrash awesomeness.
The heavy drumming excellence on their first album When Empires Fall (2013) hooked me right away on the amazing first track, “Shadow of the Cross.” I couldn’t believe it when the second track was even better than the first. Listen to “Wings of Steel,” you will see what I mean, it is unbelievable how it rocks. Every track on that album is fantastic (even if you will, like me, have favorites among them like “The Final Day” and “Ghost Soldiers”), but the climax with the last two tracks — “Ancient Empire” and “When Empires Fall” — will have you delighting in both the band name and album name, because if you had two songs that good, you would certainly name some things after them!
Other World (2016) has some brilliant sci-fi lyrics (e.g., finding another planet to survive on), and you can pick your favorite off of the every-track-is-awesome menu. I am particularly fond of “Resistance.”
The Tower (2017) leads off with the epic title track about the Tower of Babylon. Not since Ted Chiang wrote his mind-bending short story on this subject has there been a comparable artistic achievement about the myth. Here, we get the definitive metal treatment.
Again, every track on The Tower slays. You cannot go wrong. Seriously guys, just get all the music today; if you have liked my metal reviews in the past, I give this my highest endorsement.
Because the band has a low corporate profile, news is scarce. So here is their history straight from Joe’s mouth (on their Facebook page, Dec 3, 2017):
Hellhound and the Keep It True Festival are to blame!
People have said that there is not a lot of information about Ancient Empire online. That is true, maybe we should have named the band Mysterious Empire. It’s a simple story, one that I will briefly tell. I joined the band Hellhound in the fall (I believe) of 2010, ready to play the Keep It True festival in the spring of 2011. Hellhound was on the Stormspell label at the time. I was not aware of the band or label, i only responded to a craigslist add because they were my age, playing my style and their cd cover was cool as shit! After playing the festival I realized just how popular metal was in Europe. It wasn’t that popular in the states anymore at the time but I now see a slight resurgence.
We returned to the states from germany and I had decided along with Shadowkiller as my live band I wanted to do a straight classic metal style project inspired by our trip. A quick email to Steve and Rich and thats really all it took to get the ball rolling. AE is a studio project. We never intended to play live and it is only myself on vox, guitars and bass, Steve on drums and Rich writing lyrics. We do not get together in a traditional band manner and all of this is structured, written, recorded, mixed and mastered through the virtual realm.The question then is “How will you play live?” In the immortal words of the Beatles, with a little help from my friends! When headbangers Open Air called us to arms it wasn’t hard to figure out what could be done. I spoke with Jordan from Stormspell and told him “hey, i can get Gary and Dan from Shadowkiller and Rob from Hellhound.” His exact words were “that sounds like a pretty damn good Ancient Empire to me!”
Really, Hellhound, Shadowkiller and Ancient Empire are part of my big metal family.
So here we are, flying the metal flag in Germany once again, heading to Headbangers Open Air in July of 2018. Hard to believe…i wish Steve and Rich were there to rock out like the old days but logistically and because of the places we are at in our lives it just isn’t possible. I feel completely fortunate that people have made this project as popular as it has become. I look forward to bringing this music to life in a live music atmosphere! \m/ \m/
Joe Liszt, Somewhere in Northern California 2017
Happily, here is the latest news (May 1):
The Empire rolls on! Update on the Ancients:
We are currently working on our fourth release. Only meant to be an EP, it has turned into a full-fledged album. The title: Eternal Soldier!
It is amazing how quickly these songs come out. All the music and lyrics have been written.
With the Metal Gods on our side we hope to see the release by the end of July for the Headbangers open air festival in Germany.
Prost from Joe, Steve and Rich!
I predict it will be an Album of the Year. On what basis, you ask? Dude… listen to the trilogy… and you will understand!
Progarchy 
