Category Archives: Music

John Entwistle: The Ox Box Set. Box Set Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

In a band of four exceptionally strong personalities and absolute proficiency, no matter what was produced in combination someone was always going to feel relegated, to be almost pushed aside in the pecking order. It is not a new sensation for anyone filled with creativity, George Harrison after all felt the burden so much that he famously quit whilst on camera during the filming of a Beatles’ documentary; so it perhaps is no wonder that the man credited as one of the finest bass players to ever perform on stage, The Who’s John Entwistle, found himself relieving his artistic tension by becoming the first of his own musical clan to delve into his own ferocious talent and come up with a solo album of pure gold.

John Entwistle: The Ox Box Set. Box Set Review. full post

(497 words, estimated 1:59 mins reading time)

Don McLean: American Boys. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

There are few signs that the image of Americana formed from post war influence has lasted the course and remain as part of the collective aura of today; few idols in music have stayed the course from a period when Apple Pie and Picket Fences were more than just a staple of cliché and the formulaic, and those that have are often unwilling to divert away from the feelgood sessions that made their name and to continue to bask in the glow of the light of what made the genre so alluring, so enthralling in a world recovering from despair, the haunted masques of misery.

Don McLean: American Boys. Album Review. full post

(451 words, estimated 1:48 mins reading time)

Kombos Collective: Uproot. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The birthplace of democracy, the works and thoughts of Aristotle, Plato, and Socrates, the legends and myths of Gods, of true warriors defending a narrow pass, of theatre set against the Mediterranean sky, and seas that carried idea across vast seas; they all require one thing, and it is just as vitally important now in the modern era as it was in times less troubled by those whose notions were presented with an even greater degree of ill-intent today.

Kombos Collective: Uproot. Album Review. full post

(393 words, estimated 1:34 mins reading time)

The Lovely Eggs: Eggsistentialism. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

If you don’t feel the hackles rising and the wrath coursing through each vein   as the body responds to the old, desperate retort of “Get a proper job” as you plunder the soul for the opportunity to bring something unique, something spiritual, anything artistic into the world; then frankly there is no hope for you. You may as well reserve your place at the end of the line marked mediocrity and hope that the existential parade never finds you sulking as you march to the beat of other’s dogma and insecurity.

The Lovely Eggs: Eggsistentialism. Album Review. full post

(401 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

Queen: Rock Montreal. Album Reissue Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

A timely reissue of an old favourite is guaranteed to be successful, but a re-release of arguably one of the best examples of a craft being undertaken at the height of an artist’s popularity is a reveal that belongs in the soul of the one willing to embrace a sound, a time, to which will never happen again.

Queen: Rock Montreal. Album Reissue Review. full post

(455 words, estimated 1:49 mins reading time)

Jill Jackson: Curse Of The Damned. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

The sensitivity of a voice is what we first notice when our soul is captured by a sound breaking down our resistance to the day, the trials and tribulations, the moments of anguish, the long hard stare of a fierce predator shaped in the distressing gowns of grief….that voice can bring it all down and surrender itself to peace because of the timbre and the beauty that resonates deep within us.

Jill Jackson: Curse Of The Damned. Album Review. full post

(349 words, estimated 1:24 mins reading time)

Troy Redfern: Invocation. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

To call upon the supernatural and the spirits that guide us in our dedication to artistic endeavour may feel to some as nothing more than an invitation to devilry, the incantations of witches and occultists; where in truth the Invocation is cast by magicians, by entertainers and not illusionists.

To understand that magic is held by the creative soul and not one who practises deception is to feel the freedom of the soul, to watch it soar, to be at peace with the result of the Blues and the Rock that is brought forth into the world, and in that, in his own powerful truth, Troy Redfern brings forth the spell of tremendous musical wealth in his brand new studio recording, Invocation.

Troy Redfern: Invocation. Album Review. full post

(405 words, estimated 1:37 mins reading time)

Gothminister. Pandemonium II: The Battle Of The Underworlds. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

For some the sound of an album immersed in the realm of the concept is a joyous occasion, it is the epic novel in a surround sound experience where a single journey isn’t enough, and a three-minute track does not do justice. To be in that realm, in any genre that can cope with the dynamic and the expected, is to marvel at the scope of the imagination and the ease in which the minefield of illusion is traversed with speed, agility, and promise.

Gothminister. Pandemonium II: The Battle Of The Underworlds. Album Review. full post

(486 words, estimated 1:57 mins reading time)

Belinda Carlisle: Decades Volume 3: Cornucopia. Box Set Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

A missed opportunity or a solid finale to a series of re-releases, Decades Volume 3: Cornucopia treads a path for Belinda Carlisle in such a way that the chance to hear and reflect on songs that never made it to albums, to run through the songs released from the eight studio albums, a small set of new recordings, and live recordings that made it on to the B sides of seven inch singles is a perfect way to sign off on a project that details the entrancing career of the former Go Go’s vocalist; or in some eyes as a release too far, not enough emphasis on the live experience, perhaps even just one whole cd dedicated one of the concerts she gave at the height of her fame as a solo performer…unless that is the plan and a fourth release of her works is even now being planned.

Belinda Carlisle: Decades Volume 3: Cornucopia. Box Set Review. full post

(400 words, estimated 1:36 mins reading time)

John Jenkins: I Don’t Want To Be That Guy Anymore. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Whilst nobody else watches us struggle with today’s angst and the shifting patterns of torment that comes from opening our heart to the world, we can take solace in that we ourselves believe our truth, that our cry, whether in silence and overwhelming tears, or in full throated declaration and an intent to shake the universe, the opportunity to change and be that man that says I Don’t Want To Be That Guy Anymore is one to be taken notice of, to be admired, to be respected.

John Jenkins: I Don’t Want To Be That Guy Anymore. Single Review. full post

(324 words, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)