Tag Archives: album review

The Duckworth Lewis Method, Sticky Wickets. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * *

Neil Hannon divides popular opinion as if having to choose between two certain brands of cola or picking out a holiday destination in two rival but equally well thought of islands. There are those that love what he does, the clever intonation, lyrics that play with the English language in such a way that he has become a master of the baroque and ornate. However all is not that plain sailing the polarising view is that he too intellectual, not that this is a bad thing, just some for whatever reason find it irritating.

Sirenia, Perils Of The Deep Blue. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Stakes are raised and battle lines drawn as Sirenia release their new album Perils of the Deep Blue. What the Scandinavians do, the continentals especially in the newly emerging metal markets of Italy, France and further abroad try to outmatch and Britain’s Black Sabbath, still very much one of the Gods, tops with rightful fervor. It is the release of Perils of the Deep Blue that propels the Norwegian band into the realms that Ozzy Osbourne, Geezer Butler and Tony Iommi have claimed that makes the album so intense and laden with open promise.

Deap Vally, Sistrionix. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 7/10

Some things are meant to be, a meeting of minds born out of frustration, the chance encounter which goes on to greater challenges and pursuits, such is life and the way of the world. For the two women who make up Deap Vally, Lindsey Troy and Julie Edwards chance meeting and a shared disaffection with getting their music being played has led to the formation of the group and an interesting and attention grabbing debut album, Sistrionix.

Michael And The Lonesome Playboys, Bottle Cap Sky. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

One listen to Bottle Cap Sky is all it takes to understand why Michael Ubaldini is called The Jack Kerouac of Americana. Even half way through the first track, Walk Through Fire, really is enough to wallow in the ensuing imagery and words that glide that through the air and smack you as if hit by the aftermath of water from someone dive bombing into a swimming pool.

Queensryche, Queensryche. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Obituaries that had been written can now be filed, shredded and destroyed, the king may have seemed to breathe a final terminal breath, outdone by seeing double at the last but Queensryche lives on. In some bizarre way there are now two Queensryches fighting for the crown as if stuck in some York/Lancaster melodrama for the nation of England. Geoff Tate, the former vocalist of the band Queensryche, now with his own band…Queensryche in one corner and the carriers of the flame with Todd La Torre at the helm ready to storm battlements and carry this new rejuvenated band forward. There really can be only one winner, the King is dead but Queensryche will survive.

Lloyd Cole, Standards. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

Some people don’t need to have big charting hits to know that they are loved by their core audience, what they release will always seem to be taken to the crowd’s heart and much played, that though doesn’t pay the bills in a world that has become increasingly, despairing and depressingly about how you are defined is by what you are worth in monetary value to others and not for the enjoyment or sense of love you may install in others.

Kerry Ellis And Brian May, Acoustic By Candlelight. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

There are many things that are worth repeating in life so soon after first experiencing them; your first passionate kiss, the first book that spoke to you and awoke something deep about yourself, the first play that made you laugh so hard you forgot you were in a different set of company and a gig that delighted and entranced you.

On the back of their tour in 2012, Kerry Ellis and Brian May recorded songs from various venues and have released them in time for the 2013 Born Free Tour on a delightful new album, Acoustic By Candlelight.

Ian McNabb, Eclectic Warrior. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

If you come across Ian McNabb at a gig or sitting in a pub somewhere in Liverpool over the next few months, politely shake him by the hand and tell him what a fantastic and expansive recording Eclectic Warrior is. You would be doing one of Liverpool’s finest sons a great honour because it is not just fantastic, this is Ian McNabb, the man who can sing Pink Floyd harmonies with random strangers and make the interloper sound polished and professional, at his very, very best. Part belligerent, confrontational, creatively fiery and impassioned in his lyrics, wonderfully passionate in his music and if Great Things in 2010 was a huge stepping stone, this sees Ian leaping gaping chasms in the music cause.

Lena Anderssen, Letters From The Faroes. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating * * * *

The Faroe Islands might not be on top of the vast majority of people’s thoughts when it comes listening to music, it is a shame as the tiny archipelago with a population of about 50,000 has some excellent traditional music of which it justly and rightly proud but also some incredible contemporary musicians who give their all in their performance and studio albums.  One such musician is Lena Anderssen.

Lena Anderssen’s 2011 album Letters From The Faroes fills any musical void that may have opened up between the U.K. and the small set of islands is immediately plugged completely by the tantalising music on offer by the young Faroese woman.

Kingbathmat, Overcoming The Monster. Album Review.

Liverpool Sound and Vision Rating 9/10

Progressive Rock isn’t quite the same without a band releasing two great and phenomenal albums within a year of each other, Queen, when they were Prog managed it, Genesis revelled in it and now Kingbathmat show exactly why critics and the public loved them when they released Truth Button and now, just a few short months on they have come back with astounding Overcoming The Monster.