Category Archives: Music

John R. Chatterton. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Such words have to be delivered with solemnity and with hand on heart, a declaration of involvement from the soul must be admitted, and yet upon hearing the genius that is John R. Chatterton you cannot help but feel the sense of occasion that arises, whether in the live, or in the fantastically produced self-titled recording welded together out of intent and presence…it is a clear message for those attending a gig that this album captures and frames the outstanding guitar playing of a musician to whom the world in its entirety should listen to.

John R. Chatterton. Album Review. full post

(415 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Yes: The Yes Album. Vinyl And C.D. Reissue Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The cynical will openly insist that any remix or even reissue is taken with perhaps more than eye on the pension coffers and lifestyles of the older statesmen and women of music, or worse…to line the pockets of the label owners who still revel n the success of those they once treated as cash cows.

Yes: The Yes Album. Vinyl And C.D. Reissue Review. full post

(416 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Rob Clarke: Blues Beats And Brel. Maxi Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Alliteration can be seen in some hands as a clumsy side effect of pretention, but in the hands of a true lover of human expression, observation, and sound, it is a heartbeat that cannot, must not, be ignored, for it is the prelude of the beauty of articulation that brings power to the performance and meaning to the soul.

The alliterative title of Rob Clarke’s three strong song maxi release, Blues Beats and Brel is one that sets the tone with a special resonance for the listener, and the tracks themselves are achingly cool and feel the surrounds with a generous and unrepentant heart.

Rob Clarke: Blues Beats And Brel. Maxi Single Review. full post

(299 words, estimated 1:12 mins reading time)

John Wetton: An Extraordinary Life. Album Box Set Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Time is not always our friend, that much is certain when we not only look at the way we have lived our lives, but that which is encapsulated in the mercurial and those with aura’s as big as their souls. Time does not grant us immortality, nor is it gentle enough to dare offer all An Extraordinary Life; we just make of it what will, our mistakes a guide, our inspirations the hopeful pleasure we take in their company.

John Wetton: An Extraordinary Life. Album Box Set Review. full post

(447 words, estimated 1:47 mins reading time)

Steve Logan: Psych Ward. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The spotlight on Steve Logan should be shining so bright that the reflection we see in our dark glasses would be one of complete illumination and thanks for the music released in his name.

That is not a complaint, after all to be in Steve’s company is to feel as though you are in an elite conversation, and whilst you know it won’t be a select crowd for long, in the meantime what passes is a sheer and scintillating continued introduction.

Steve Logan: Psych Ward. Album Review. full post

(415 words, estimated 1:40 mins reading time)

Jethro Tull: War Child II. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

We have become almost hypnotised by the sense of the quick reel on social media, the snapshot of a film, a conversation, a short piece of fan fiction given a human face…it reflects our capacity to ignore the long game, to allow the dictation of modern thinking that we can be amused for less than a minute before requiring shifting our attention to the next quick fix of pleasure.

Jethro Tull: War Child II. Album Review. full post

(442 words, estimated 1:46 mins reading time)

Teenage Fanclub: Nothing Lasts Forever. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Nothing Lasts Forever, even quality and heroism struggles to be remembered beyond the broken subjective details etched in stone and written in ink as decades turn to centuries, as truth becomes lost in the myths of time.

It is in this proof of burden that we turn to the dream of being in the here and now and understanding that we can embrace what may have alluded us in the past, the forgotten hit that in the moment of release we can find comfort, discover illumination, be one in the knowledge that our senses can be thrilled in our life time….the era that matters most to our souls.

Teenage Fanclub: Nothing Lasts Forever. Album Review. full post

(345 words, estimated 1:23 mins reading time)

Madness: Theatre Of The Absurd Presents Madness C’est La Vie. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 8.5/10

Acknowledging the absurdity of life is a gift that passes by so many people, caught as they are in the stringent sobriety of emotion that they cannot see the joke for the punchline they imagine.

To relish the sense of the absurd is the privilege of those that see beyond that punchline, those enigmatic beings who seek out our souls with every desire to inform us of the generosity of the meaningful purpose of farce and logical madness.

Madness: Theatre Of The Absurd Presents Madness C’est La Vie. Album Review. full post

(507 words, estimated 2:02 mins reading time)

Hegarty: Tranquillity of Mind. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * * *

Peace is a state of mind that is all too fleeting; a problem solved can only be thanked for so long before another comes along to send troubles into the world. This is one of the truths of peace, that we must bask for as long as possible in the presence of the Tranquillity of Mind, the belief that we can breathe easier and not feel the pull of other’s insurrection and fierce opponent of concord and cease-fire.

Hegarty: Tranquillity of Mind. Album Review. full post

(335 words, estimated 1:20 mins reading time)

Only Child: Everything I Know. Single Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

The poet’s responsibility is to reveal the inner beauty in the uncomfortable feeling. Sadness and hurt are as vital as joy and celebration when creating a piece of art that digs deep into the heart, and even in a melancholy view can be uplifting and reverential, a pleasure of memory despite what was lost in the process.

Everything we know is down to the lessons that were given to us with a price, that of love, for in that love we know one day we will lose that special person, they will leave us; it is an inevitable as a poet’s lament or a musician’s exploration.

Only Child: Everything I Know. Single Review. full post

(357 words, estimated 1:26 mins reading time)