Saturday, May 18, 2013
Friday, May 17, 2013
Review: The Inner Road-Ascension
Ascension is an excellent album full of great
instrumental progressive rock. Steve Gresswell has created an album full of
emotions and Jay Parmar helps brings those emotions to life with his guitar
skills.
“Two Worlds Two Tomorrows” is an excellent rock song. Parmar does a wonderful job on guitar. He also provides some incredible solos throughout this song. He really shows his skills on this track. At over eight minutes long, this is the second longest song on Ascensions; the longest is the epic “Flight Through Eternity” at over ten minutes.
The darker sounding “A Fleeting Dream” contains a great
riff throughout the song. Once again Parmar provides some incredible guitar
solos. The drumming on this song is also worthy of mention. There is a keyboard
solo towards the end that would make any guitar fan want to take the keyboard.
“The Awakening” begins with an instrument that sounds
like aborigine instrument, and continues through the song to provide the beat.
Like the rest of the songs on the album, Parmar provides some excellent guitar
playing as well as a few exceptional solos.
The Inner Road is an excellent band, and Steve Gresswell
has done a great job a creating a marvelous progressive rock album, and Jay
Parmar gives the album a unique sound with his amazing guitar skills. Ascension is a wonderful album, and any
progressive rock fan will want to check it out.
4.5/5 Stars
Key
Tracks: Two Worlds Two Tomorrows, A Fleeting Dream, The Awakening
Craig Kidd - MuzikReviews.com Staff
May 17, 2013
Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Review: Liquid Tension Experiment-2 (Ltd. Ed. 2 Colored Vinyl LPs)
Liquid Tension Experiment was a short lived successful
venture by four legendary performers. At the time Tony Levin (Chapman Stick
& Bass) was the older veteran musician and the other members were becoming
firmly established in another band. As history would unfold the other three
would carve their own legendary path to superstardom in Dream Theater. Jordan
Rudess (keyboards), John Petrucci (guitar) and Mike Portnoy (drums and
percussion) would complete this phenomenal gathering of talent to create two
masterpieces of progressive rock, metal and fusion.
Their self-titled maiden release came out in 1998 which I
covered on CD and again in 2008 to celebrate the 10 year anniversary with a
limited run of colored vinyl (1,000 copies). Their second release simply titled
2 arrived the following year. With
Record Store Day on April 20th the label Magna Carta, released a
limited run of 1000 copies of the second release on vinyl. This time there were
300 copies of translucent coke bottle green and 700 copies of the translucent
electric blue vinyl dispersed worldwide of the two album set. These gorgeous
slabs of 180 gram virgin vinyl are stored in gatefold sleeves with never before
seen photos and plenty of commentary from all the band members regarding the
tracks. Also worthy of note is that each album side brandishes a photo of a
band member.
Another point of interest for fans and collectors is the
track arrangement, which is broken down differently into 4 sides opposed to the
8 tracks (original sequence) like you will find on the CD. The most extensive
track is “When the Water Breaks” clocking in at 16:57, needing all the space of
side two to accommodate it.
Perhaps the most interesting and implausible aspect of
this music is that it was recorded live off the floor and at some points in the
wee hours of the morning. It was a matter of constructing tracks and letting it
fly to see what came of the sessions. As fate would have it the recordings are
superb and each one features something different whether it be straight ahead
rockin’ prog metal or a slice of rock-jazz-fusion with dabs of classical
interspersed. This band of four amazing musicians made history with some ambitious
music now forever etched in the annals of time.
From the bone crunching riffs of “Acid Rain” to the
gentle beauty of “Hour Glass,” LTE was able to touch upon so many different
genres and moods it defied logic for this type of session work even if it was
freeform in the approach. My personal favorite is the opener on side four “Another
Dimension,” which brings to mind the thought of these musicians seemingly
originating from somewhere beyond a mere mortals understanding of a normal
existence. The track rocks and rolls along at a tremendous pace. Petrucci’s
guitar cuts away a path like a freshly sharpened blade and the Rudess keyboards
are the driving force behind those pinpoint licks, then to complete this
onslaught of audio ecstasy, the locomotive force behind it all is the rhythm
section of Portnoy and Levin (a match made in heaven). Another aspect of this
ever changing track is how it can knock your socks off with sheer power and
force then lull you into a relaxed state with a passage of acoustic guitar
painting a soundscape of everlasting beauty. It never lets you down too easy or
for any length of time and it always comes roaring back at you like a tidal
wave of sound to keep you on your toes. I have always loved the way the track
ends with Portnoy hollering at the end “Yeah Baby! Yeah!” - what a great way to
wind up the best track on the album. The entire album ebbs and flows just like
this track, providing an endless array of twists and turns that keep your ears
glued to the speakers at all times.
The same thing that attracted me to this music when it
was first released still holds true to this day. This is original, exciting,
progressive and above all, timeless music. It will always have the ability to
take you to a different realm, just give it a spin on your turntable, listen to
the CDs or you iTunes and the effect is similar. One thing to keep in mind
though is the sound that vinyl can provide if you have a good stereo system.
This is not compressed, it is full bodied and succinct without flaws, just like
a perfect cup of coffee, which is of course liquid tension if you drink it with
caffeine. Grab your copy and fill your cup with music beyond compare before
they disappear!
5/5 Stars
Key
Tracks: Another Dimension, Acid Rain, Hour Glass
Keith “MuzikMan” Hannaleck-Founder MuzikReviews.com
May 15, 2013
Saturday, May 11, 2013
UK Prog Legends Nektar To Tour The US Summer 2013!
London, UK – One of the summer’s most highly anticipated tours, “Legends of U.K. Classic Rock”, will feature progressive rock legends Nektar, beginning in June 2013. After a bit of an absence from U.S. Stages, Nektar is sure to be a treat for concert-goers who will be fortunate enough to catch one of the shows!
Nektar founding member Roye Albrighton (guitars/lead vocals) says, “We can promise you high quality performances wherever we play. I know I speak on behalf of the band when I say we are all looking forward to it.”
Nektar, featuring Albrighton, founding drummer Ron Howden, keyboardist Klaus Hentasch and bassist Lux Vibratus, is British, but was formed in Hamburg, Germany in 1970. Their early albums featured a heady, exhilarating mix of progressive, experimental rock sounds that soon caught on worldwide at the height of the international prog-rock boom. Touring the world behind numerous album releases throughout the ‘70s & ‘80s helped to cement the band’s reputation as an influential prog-rock legend. Having undergone a variety of personnel changes over the past decade or so, the band now boasts its strongest lineup in years and is ready to prove so yet again to its many fans throughout North America. In celebration of the 40th anniversary of the original release date of the band’s classic album, Remember the Future, Nektar is looking to perform in its entirety this most heralded release from its vast catalog, a rarity in that the band has not performed the entire album live in years.
Nektar’s new album, Time Machine, featuring the band’s first album of new original material in several years, will be released on Cleopatra Records on June 18.
Nektar Tour Dates:
June 20 – Chantilly, WV – Sully's
June 21 – Pittsburgh, PA – Altar Bar
June 22 – Sellersville, PA – Sellersville Theatre
June 23 – New York City – B.B. King’s
June 26 – Cleveland, OH – The Winchester Music Hall
June 28 – Milwaukee, WI – Shank Hall
June 29 – Lincolnshire, IL – Viper Alley
June 30 – Minneapolis, MN – Famous Dave’s Blues Club
For Further Information:
Nektar facebook page: https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nektar/198355536955655
Nektar website: http://nektarsmusic.com/nn/home/home_new.asp
Nektar Press Inquiries: Glass Onyon PR, PH: 828-350-8158, glassonyonpr@gmail.com
CLEOPATRA RECORDS, Inc.
11041 Santa Monica Blvd #703
Los Angeles CA 90025
www.CleopatraRecords.com
Thursday, May 9, 2013
Review: Nosound-Afterthoughts
Nosound
is an Italian neo-prog band that has previously released 3 studio albums, Sol29 (2005), LightDark (2008) and A Sense
Of Loss (2009), thus making Afterthoughts
(released 21st May) studio album number four. After several reviews
for artists that I was relatively unaware of, I can safely say that Nosound is
a superb band and have featured on my radio show in the past. Having said that,
does album number four, Afterthoughts,
live up to the standard that I, and many others, have come to expect?
The
band comprises of 6/7 members, Giancarlo Erra (vocals, guitars, keyboards),
Marco Berni (keyboards, vocals), Alessandro Luci (bass, upright bass,
keyboards), Paulo Vigliarolo
(electric/acoustic guitars), Guilio Canepone (drums, percussion, noises), Chris
Maitland (drums) and Marianne DeChastelaine (cello), although Marianne doesn’t
seem to be a permanent member of the band, hence the starting comment of 6/7
members.
Afterthoughts is a
9 track album which has a total running time of around 51 minutes with track 4,
“The Anger Song” being the shortest track at 4:19 minutes and the penultimate
track, “Paralysed,” the longest at just over 8 minutes in length (8:08).
The
music of Nosound is certainly in an area of its own although it does have
tendrils that reach out into many different styles, including ethereal, flowing,
spacey (a la Pink Floyd), progressive, ambient, cinematic and even touching on
the psychedelic. This new album, Afterthoughts,
conjures up magnificent, almost sparse, soundscapes which build from a subdued
start into walls of sound before receding back into sparseness again. So
without continuing to tease the reader, what did this reviewer make of the new
album?
The
highlights from the album after several listens to the album are, “In My Fears,”
“Two Monkeys” and “Encounter,” although it was indeed a very hard choice to
decide between all the tracks.
The
opening track to Afterthoughts is “In
My Fears” (7:56) and sets the scene with a solo electric guitar gently
strumming, a somewhat familiar sound on Nosound albums. This is joined by a
guitar/keyboard effect that almost “whines” away around the strumming guitar
before the drum and bass feature just before the emotive vocals of Giancarlo
weave their way into the track. This gentle, almost ethereal, sound continues
and then slowly builds with soft piano and then the superb rounded sound of the
cello. The drums, bass and guitar continue to intensify, almost overpowering
Giancarlo’s vocals and then the track is stripped bare again leaving only the
sparse drums and cymbals which are then joined by that superb, haunting piano
melody before Giancarlo reappears with the vocals. The track settles back into
the initial motif with the instruments again intensifying the sound, and the
cello reappears, yet again threatening to completely mask the vocals but they
rise over the music. This more intense feel to the track takes the opening
track out. A stunning and very atmospheric start to the album, and sets the
listener up for a musical voyage through the remaining eight tracks.
Track
3, “Two Monkeys” (5:44) has some superbly played beautiful piano, backed by the
softest of bass notes and a guitar which soars over everything else. The drums
add to the atmosphere before the vocals, emotion drenched, appear and tell the
story of the two monkeys. This track simply drips with emotion, from the
instrumentation to the vocals, it is a stunning piece of work, gently changing
direction and easing the listener along. Around the 4:30 minute mark there is a
terrific passage which takes the track to its finale. It seems to be finished much
quicker than its 5:44 minutes, so enveloped do you become in the track that all
sense of time simply disappears.
“Encounter”
(4:53) enters the fray with a gentle, almost meandering piano passage, soon
joined by crisp but unobtrusive drumming and floating guitar chords. The superb
cello enters and is soon joined by Giancarlo’s vocals, forming an amazingly
atmospheric track. The keyboards form a sort of “surround sound” to the track,
wrapping everything else in. This must be the ultimate emotion soundscape on
the album, with that melancholic cello so stunningly fusing with the vocals and
painting the almost perfect aural experience.
You
will gather that this reviewer was well impressed with Afterthoughts, but it does take a few plays before you realize that
you are listening to a simply stunning album. I have heard Nosound being
described as minimalist but this is far from being correct as the band of
musicians move effortlessly between sparseness to walls of sound and back. Set
aside the 50 minutes required to hear this album from start to finish and
immerse yourself in an experience. I think that it almost goes without saying
that this album, Afterthoughts, gets
the special “One To Buy” sticker on the front, and indeed also gets a “This
Experience Will Last Forever” sticker just below it.
5/5 Stars
Key
Tracks: In My Fears, Two Monkeys, Encounters
Jim “The Ancient One” Lawson-MuzikReviews.com Staff
May 9, 2013
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Posts
