Yeah, you wouldn't really expect that from a band who started off punk and remained one of the louder, dirtier metal bands of the era would you? Just shows the danger of prejudging; always worth digging a little deeper, as you never know what you might find. I loved the "Filth hounds of Hades" album but was surprised to see the direction Tank evolved towards. If you're impressed with them don't forget to check out my feature on them in the NWOBHM series in my main journal.

Thanks for the comment!

Now these guys do fly the flag for Canada!
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Artiste: Rush
Nationality: Canadian
Album: Permanent waves
Year: 1980
Label: Mercury
Genre: Progressive rock (yeah...)
Tracks:
The spirit of radio
Free will
Jacob's ladder
Entre nous
Different strings
Natural science
Chronological position:Seventh album
Familiarity: "2112", "A farewell to kings", "Caress of steel", "Hemispheres"
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Hey! I know this one!
Best track(s): Spirit of radio, Free will, Jacob's ladder
Worst track(s): I don't really hate anything here, despite expecting to.
Comments: Me, I've always been a seventies Rush guy. Love "2112" and all that, the heavier, progressive material, never cared too much for their later, more commercial output. Then again, in total fairness, I never listened to any of it other than what I heard on radio, and when I heard New world man I lost interest. Rush doing a reggae tune? Thank you, and goodnight. But like much of the music in my life at the time, I probably dismissed it too quickly and with a rather large slice of naivete with a generous helping of arrogance to go. Why should a band remain the same year after year, decade after decade?

So this is my attempt, at least partially, to give post-seventies Rush a go. I'm pleasantly surprised to find that I know the first track, as it is also on the excellent double live album "Exit: stage left", which I listened the hell out of when younger, and it's a good solid rock track, even if they do throw in some unwelcome reggae as well as a line from Simon and Garfunkel's classic The sound of silence! But it's familiar, and that helps. There are only six tracks on this album, and the longest just over nine minutes, so that's interesting, given Rush's prior reputation for long, rambling epics.

And the next two I know also, again from that live album. A little more proggy but snappy and upbeat, Free will is a good song while Jacob's ladder is more rooted in their progressive seventies past, and indeed it's the second-longest at seven and a half minutes, recalling the likes of By-Tor and the snow-dog and The Necromancer. Lots of wibbly keyboard, time signature changes, marching guitars. Lovely!

Different strings is good too, and I don't see a hugely marked departure from albums such as "Fly by night" or "Caress of steel" here, while the closer, the nine-minute Natural science has some great guitar work by Alex Lifeson, though I do find it a little disjointed and I'm not quite sure why it needs to be so long.
Overall impression: Not the totally different animal I was expecting, but then taking into account that this is only a few years after albums like "2112" and "Hemispheres" that's not so surprising.
Intention: I think I'll move up along the Rush timeline and see what I find, maybe one of their albums from the nineties?

This is one of the few 'golden era' Rush albums I could never get into or see the fuss over.

Of course you knew the opening track, it's probably the band's most successful single.

Permanent Waves is one of my favorite Rush albums. It just holds a permanent place in my heart since it was my companion for a few years while I was in High School. Natural Science is probably my favorite track on it but I've also loved playing Jacobs Ladder too:


JacobsLadder001 - YouTube

Yes, thats me singing, and playing the guitars over a BT. I was trying not to laugh as I sang into my phone.

I gotta say that's a good cover and I'm not just saying that because you're a member on this site:thumb:

tyvm us.

Father's footsteps are not being followed in
http://s5.postimg.org/b88jqzk9f/cookierating2.jpg (I can't even stretch it to two and a half for the sake of nepotism; just not that good)
http://www.ninebullets.net/wp-images...e-midnight.jpg
Artiste: Justin Townes Earle
Nationality: American
Album: Midnight at the movies
Year: 2009
Label: Bloodshot Records
Genre: Country
Tracks:
Midnight at the movies
What I mean to you
They killed John Henry
Mama's eyes
Dirty rag
Can't hardly wait
Black eyed Suzy
Poor fool
Halfway to Jackson
Someday I'll be forgiven for this
Walk out
Here we go again
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: "Nothing's gonna change the way you feel about me now"
Interesting factoid: As if you needed to be told, Justin is the son of country rocker Steve Earle
Initial impression: A lot more laidback and countryfied than I had expected.
Best track(s): Mama's eyes, Can't hardly wait, Halfway to Jackson, Someday I'll be forgiven for this
Worst track(s): Pretty much everything else really :(
Comments: I've already reviewed Justin's latest album in my main journal and was reasonably impressed by it. Mind you, my view of it was certainly coloured by the pedigree of the guy, as I'm a big Steve Earle fan. County itself, not so much, and this is definitely starting off more Country than rock, quite laidback and sort of a mixture of early seventies Eagles with a whiff of Waits' debut off it. Nice though, but hardly anything to get the blood pumping. Even less so is the next one, which mixes classic country sound with a kind of twenties vibe that does nothing for me. Not quite "Copperhead Road" now, is it? :rolleyes:

There's a nice little bit of folky guitar pickin' on They killed John Henry with some fun fiddle too, but it's pretty "square dance" material so far. Grab yer partner by the hand... Mama's eyes tackles for the first time his troubled relationship with his famous father, where he croons "We don't see eye to eye/ He hurt my mother", and in ways it must surprise Justin that he's essentially following in his daddy's footsteps, having caught the music bug. He's certainly took another direction though, and were it not for the name I would not know he was Steve's son. Thirty seconds of rather cool guitar pickin' and we're into the first track that reminds me of his father. Can't hardly wait is much more uptempo and while perhaps not quite rock, it comes the closest of the tracks so far to breaking out of the often stifling Country strictures.

Black eyed Suzy is pure bluegrass, tripping along at a fine lick with great fiddle work and that uptempo drumming Country does so well, upright bass ticking away, while Poor fool sounds like something out of the fifties --- I hate fifties music! Nice uptempo bopper in Halfway to Jackson, with some very cool harmonica, then a slick little ballad in Someday I'll be forgiven for this --- Country does ballads well, I have to admit --- and this is probably the first time I can really hear Steve's voice in Justin's. The closer is another ballad, and very close to his father's My old friend the blues, so not a bad way to finish off what I have to say is a pretty third-rate album really. Some small highlights, but not enough.
Overall impression: He's certainly not crossing over into the bad side of town like his daddy. This is okay but pretty generic Country. Not really my thing.
Intention: It may be a while, if ever, before I pick up another of Justin's albums.

About time I got around to listening to this classic
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Artiste: Megadeth
Nationality: American
Album: Rust in peace
Year: 1990
Label:
Genre: Thrash Metal
Tracks:
Holy wars ... the punishment due
Hangar 18
Take no prisoners
Five magics
Poison was the cure
Lucretia
Tornado of souls
Dawn patrol
Rust in peace ... Polaris
Chronological position: Fourth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Nowhere near as fast or overwhelming as I thought it might be.
Best track(s): Hangar 18, Tornado of souls, Dawn patrol, Rust in peace ... Polaris
Worst track(s): Five magics, Poison was the cure
Comments: Thrash metal is not something I generally have much truck with --- I'm not crazy about Metallica --- and this will probably end up being a bad idea, but you know, I want to see what all the fuss is about. This is, after all, essentially the bastard half-brother of the giants of thrash, with Dave Mustaine having formed Megadeth after being asked politely to leave Metallica, and there's a lot of history there. But what about the music? Is there any? Let's check it out.

Well it rocks out fast enough, as you would expect, but hey, I'm not hearing anything I haven't heard on an Iron Maiden or Scorpions album to be honest, not yet anyway. Good screaming guitar intro, great steamhammer drumming: nothing to complain about, even when Mustaine comes in on the vocal. I can understand him, in fact he's a decent enough vocalist, which I hadn't really expected. It also helps that the opener references "The Troubles" in my native land. Nice bit of acoustic thrown in there, along with a lot of fine shredding. But it's Hangar 18 that really gets my attention, with a real melodic line and some very ominous sounds. This is apparently one of Megadeth's standards, and I can understand why. Smokin' guitar work on this!

There's a certain sense of humour at work too (at least, I hope it's a sense of humour!) as they paraphrase JFK's famous speech in Take no prisoners, and then Five magics is one of two tracks composed along the theme of fantasy, a genre usually reserved for progressive rock or metal and normally sneered at by thrash metal I believe. It sounds something akin to their arch-rivals' huge hit Enter Sandman if I'm honest, but it soon shakes off those comparisons as it gets going and becomes entirely its own animal.

Much of this album though sounds pretty much the same, and I'm aware it's seen as one of their best, which would make me concerned about how the rest of their material fares. It's not that it's bad, or poor, because I am enjoying it: I'm just not seeing a massive distinction between the various tracks, to the effect I could identify one from the other. That said, Tornado of souls is a pretty damn fine track, with a great guitar solo, and Dawn patrol grinds along so slowly and moodily it's almost a shock: nearly sludge metal here. The vocal is as deep and dark as the music, and it's another good one.

But it's very short, less than two minutes, and the album ends on the rollin' rollickin' title track, getting back to basics. Great rockin' boogie rhythm brings the album to a fine close, and despite the uniformity of some of the tracks I still reckon I liked this.
Overall impression: A little faster than the metal I'm used to, but not bad. Not bad at all.
Intention: Not sure. I'm not suffficiently impressed to go seeking another of their albums, but if I happened across one I wouldn't ignore it.

It's always amusing to read your reviews on famous and much loved extreme metal albums. Again I'm surprised that you're not already familiar with Megadeth due to their fame. This album of course is a revered album in many ways and one of the best from that movement. In fact this album was probably my entry point into extreme metal and prepared me for what lay ahead. Megadeth were not really that heavy in comparison to the other extreme metal acts but they were damn fast and technical and great at what they did and you either loved or hated Dave's voice. You'd probably had been better off reviewing the album after this Countdown to Extinction, an album better suited to your ears as its more commercial in most aspects.

You know, I don't find this too heavy at all. No moreso than Maiden or Saxon or Motorhead anyway. I also would not have considered this Extreme Metal: I thought that was more Slayer, Children of Bodom, Cradle of Filth etc ?I did think that perhaps I should have saved this for my Classic Albums journal, but sure, by then it was already posted. Decent album. I don't know Megadeth or Metallica, other than reputation, simply because they've never appealed to me that much. But compared to the Black Album for instance I would certainly cite Mega over Met, or Dave over James definitely. Could be an interesting comparison .... hey, now there's an idea! Wheels turning, wheels turning.... :D

Good point but it qualifies as it's thrash, largely for its speed element more than its aggressiveness or heaviness. If you look at Anthrax they're thrash and there isn't too much extreme about them at all. I'd just call Megadeth a borderline band when it comes to extreme metal.

Discovering new frontiers (Geddit? Magellan? No? Doesn't anyone here read their history?) :rolleyes:
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Artiste: Magellan
Nationality:American
Album: Symphony for a misanthrope
Year: 2005
Label: InsideOut
Genre:Progressive Metal
Tracks:
Symphonette
Why water weeds?
Wisdom
Cranium reef suite: (i) Youthful enthusiasm (ii) Psych 101 (iii) Primal defence
Pianissimo intermission
Doctor Concoctor
Every bullet needs blood
Chronological position: Sixth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Love the big instrumental intro: real prog metal here!
Best track(s): Why water weeds?, Wisdom, Cranium reef suite
Worst track(s): Nothing really.
Comments: Magellan are basically a duo, formed by two brothers, Trent and Wayne Gardner, though the likes of Ian Anderson and Tony Levin have guested on their albums. This one, however, appears to be all their own work, and starts out with a pretty cool proggy instrumental, heavy with keyboards and synth, and ringing, chiming drumwork, and things get even better once we get to the second track, with Trent proving a damn fine vocalist. There's a real sense of power and majesty about this music, and I'm reminded both of progressive rock bands I admire and also some of the electronic composers like Jean-Michel Jarre and to a lesser extent, early Eloy. I also hear some elements of Spock's Beard here.

Wisdom is a nice, hard-edged little ballad with some very political lyrics and a lovely stark piano line. The album only has seven tracks, but in true progressive rock fashion one is an epic, over eighteen minutes long, and Cranium reef suite starts off great, with another instrumental that actually sounds like a seventies soul tune for a few moments, then moves into the second movement, on the back of some fine guitar work and a lot of Genesis in the melody, before bringing the piece to a nice soft slow and gentle close with the third movement. Well, mostly.

A sprightly interpretation of a Bach piano piece shows off Trent's skills on the ivories, then we're into Doctor Concoctor with the return of Wayne's big heavy guitars and it's quite a mesh between Yes and Spock's Beard, before we wind up more or less as we began, with a big synth prog number, growling guitars cutting through the keys as Every bullet needs blood takes us out.
Overall impression: Quite impressed by this. Seem to remember listening to it some time ago and being somewhat underwhelmed. Perhaps it's a grower?
Intention: I think I may have to give this album a few more spins.

A killer blow out of obscurity!
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Artiste: Ice Age
Nationality: American
Album: The great divide
Year: 1999
Label: Magna Carta
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
Perpetual child
Sleepwalker
Join
Spare chicken parts
Because of you
The bottom line
Ice Age
Look away
Miles to go
To say goodbye, part I: Worthless words
To say goodbye, part II: On our way
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: After trying with Ice Age for two albums, the band changed their direction slightly and rebranded as Soulfractured in 2006. However they seem to have been doomed, as they only released two EPs under this name before disbanding altogether.
Initial impression: Great powerful progressive intro and when the singer gets going he's really quite good.
Best track(s): Perpetual child, Join, Spare chicken parts, The bottom line, Ice age
Worst track(s): Sleepwalker(but only in that it's marginally less excellent than the rest of the album)
Comments: These guys don't seem to have had much luck (see above blurb); perhaps, since they hail from the Big Apple, the lyrics of that old classic are right: if I can make it there I'll make it anywhere, and conversely, if I can't make it there I've no hope anywhere. Their output at any rate is limited to two albums under the Ice Age name and two EPs under their later identity as Soulfractured, each seeming to have been as unsuccessful as the last. They finally gave it up as a bad job in 2006, after their second EP was released.

So, did we miss something? Was there greatness there, unrecognised talent, a band who never got the chance to shine as they should have done? Or was it fitting they be consigned to the musical trash-heap of history? Well, opener Perpetual child is certainly full of energy and enthusiasm, though whether it's a good idea to hit the world with a ten minute song as your first offering ever I'm not sure. It would, to be sure, want to be damn good to hold the attention. So far, I have to say, mine's not drifting. There's about two and a half minutes of music before the vocals come in, and when they do they're pretty good really.

There's a lot happening in this song and it never gets boring, so I'd have to say a successful opener and perhaps not so much of a gamble as I thought about the length: this is a song that needed to be more than four or five minutes long, and it certainly whets the appetite for the rest of the album. And it doesn't disappoint, with Sleepwalker, Join and Because of you all solid tracks, with a cool, er, little instrumental --- nine minutes long, almost, and seriously, worth every second --- in between, during which we even get a drum solo and a soundbite from "2001: a space odyssey" into the bargain! Don't see anything wrong with this! Of course, sometimes it's just bad luck, and not every good band makes it, so failure to break through doesn't necessarily mean you were no use, and that seems to be the case with Ice Age; from what I've heard so far, they should have made it. They just didn't.

Because of you just keeps up the high quality I've already come to expect from these guys and honestly, I'm already becoming a fan. Bit late, now that they are no more, but better late than never. It's almost becoming irrelevant talking about the tracks because each one seems to be as good as the previous, with Bottom line a hard, stomping rocker with vocalist Josh Pincus snarling out the vocal like Meat Loaf and his compatriot Jimmy Pappas grinding his guitar like an angry wolf. But hold on: there's another epic coming, this one eleven minutes long, and it's the title track.

And it's another winner. I'm beginning to think there are no bad or even low quality tracks on this album. It literally just keeps getting better as I listen.Oh my god, now a beautiful, aching piano ballad in One look away! Does this album ever stop improving? Thankfully, the answer appears to be no!
Overall impression: Seriously impressed, and rather amazed these guys had to break up without finding any sort of real success. What a shame.
Intention: Must listen to their other album, see if I can track down the EPs. That's unfortunately as much as I can do. But I highly recommend you listen to this one. You can get an idea of how impressed I was by the awarding of what I think may be the first ever four and a half cookies above!

Requiem would be right...
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Artiste: Eniac Requiem
Nationality: American
Album: Space eternal void
Year: 1998
Label: Shrapnel
Genre: Progressive Metal
Tracks:
Prelude
Amulet of the sun
Wyrm
Endless cosmos
Shadows fall
Lost in the void
Sad clown in Europe
The slow poisoners
Nemesis
Darkness planet Earth
Guenhwyvar
Empire of dolls
Finale
Chronological position: Debut (and only) album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Meh
Best track(s): Endless cosmos, Shadows fall, Lost in the void, Darkness planet Earth, Guenhwyvar
Worst track(s): Nothing I'd classify as bad really. Closing instrumental cuts off too abruptly but it's good even so.
Comments: This is apparently one of those bands that released one album and then faded away. They've been compared to Dream Theater and Symphony X, which is not good for me as I don't like either of those bands. The first few tracks I find unremarkable, which to my mind justifies the above comparisons, but Endless cosmos, when it kicks in is very good indeed. The quality continues to increase with Shadows fall, with some lovely organ work and a great vocal, and it just kinda seems that after a slow start this album is getting steadily better.

Decent instrumental then followed by a track that starts off balladic and almost medieval then picks up and becomes a real proggy bopper, another good instrumental with some last decent tracks though it ends ridiculously abruptly, so much so that I thought my copy was corrupt until I checked the running time against the track listing and it's correct. WTF? I'd have to say I'd rate this album as quite good but not quite great. I still wonder they broke up so quickly after it though, because like Ice Age reviewed in the previous post, they seem to definitely have had some talent. Maybe they didn't stand out enough from the crowd, or else they weren't prepared to stay in it for the long haul. Either way, sad loss.
Overall impression: Decent album and decent band. Sorry they didn't get a chance to make more of a mark.
Intention: Nothing I can do. This is their one and only album.

Oh dear, oh dear, oh dear!
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Artiste: Glory Bells
Nationality: Swedish
Album: Century rendezvous
Year: 1984
Label: Sounds of Scandinavia
Genre: Heavy Metal
Tracks:
Flight back home
Wardrummer
Big thunder
My life
After twelve
Indian rainsong
Sweet Irene
Five foxes
In the attic
Chronological position: Second (and last) album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Good solid heavy metal without any pretensions; great guitar work
Best track(s): Flight back home, Wardrummer and Big thunder
Worst track(s): My life and everything after that
Comments: Another band I've never heard of, but on first listen I'm impressed. Quite NWOBHM in its execution, though these guys hail from Sweden and are no longer around apparently. Singer has a really powerful voice, think Accept or Scorpions and you're on the right track, then throw in a bit of Dio and Dickinson. Sorry to discover that the man in question, vocalist Glory North, died in 2006. Doesn't say what of. Mind you, he was fifty at the time. Seems this band waited till a little late in life to try to achieve fame. Sounds like they had some real talent, but they only produced this album and their debut two years prior then went their separate ways.

Listening to Glory North now, I think perhaps his delivery is lacking a little something; it's powerful and his range is good, but somehow it's missing, I don't know: warmth? Emotion? Can't quite put my finger on it. It's almost like he's consciously or unconsciously imitating some of the best metal vocalists of the time, without stamping his own identity on his singing. The guitars on this album are great, especially on Big thunder and Flight back home. The obligatory piano ballad is up next, and if they're not trying to send up the power ballad then they've vastly overstretched themselves on My life: to be completely fair to them, it's absolute rubbish. Even the sax is so tacked on it's not true. Oh dear! "Ballad Writing 101"?

I have to say, after that my confidence in this album has really taken a knock and it's going to take a lot to bring it back. Hmm. No, that won't do it. Nor will that. Or that. Hope is fading fast as this album devolves into something of a parody of its quite good opening tracks. If this were Twisted Sister, I could see the self-deprecating humour, but I truly think these guys are taking themselves seriously, and that's bad news. And now they think they're Queen. Sigh. The final track is called In the attic and I'm sorry, but if you bought this album that's probably where you should throw it. Awful.
Overall impression: Not even so bad it's funny; just bad with a capital B.
Intention: Never allow this band to assault my ears again.

A delightful vision
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Artiste: Visions of Atlantis
Nationality: Austrian
Album: Ethera
Year: 2013
Label: Napalm Records
Genre: Melodic/Symphonic Power Metal (says Encyclopaedia Metallum!)
Tracks:
The ark
Machinage
Avatara
Vicious circle
Hypnotised
Tlaloc's grace
Burden of divinity
Cave behind the waterfall
A.E.O.N 19th
Bestiality vs integrity
Cleric's emotion

Chronological position: Fifth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Kind of reminds me of the likes of Lacuna Coil or Within Temptation; pretty good start
Best track(s): Vicious circle, Cave behind the waterfall, Tlaloc's grace, Cleric's emotion though I really like every track.
Worst track(s): There's nothing here I don't like.
Comments: With a name like Visions of Atlantis I assumed these guys would be in the progressive rock/metal sphere, but nothing doing so I looked further and found them on EM as a symphonic metal band, and I must say from what I hear the tag fits, though I definitely hear a lot of progressive elements in their music. Mind you, the average length of their songs would show why they would not be really classed as prog metal, with the longest coming in at just over five minutes. No epics here!

It's good, uptempo, high-powered and well-constructed music so far, with the vocals being shared between female (Maxi Nil) and male (the unfortunately-named Mario Plank), creating a powerful and dramatic soundscape against which the keyboards and guitar lay down some superb melodies. There's a really nice ballad in Vicious circle and the double-vocal works really well when the two harmonise; again no trace of an Austrian or German accent. Some great steamhammer drumming in Tlaloc's grace (I'm pretty sure Tlaloc was an old ancient Aztec god) and some lovely atmospheric guitar and keys in Cave behind the waterfall. As a matter of fact, though it's not yet over I'll go out on a limb and say now that I doubt there's one bad track on this album.

I was right. :)

Some mention must also be given to the one bonus track, an orchestral version of Tlaloc's grace that really shows a different side to this band and is well worth hearing.

Overall impression: Really impressed here. Very together band who should be better known than they are. Superb.
Intention: Going to go back into their catalogue and hear what else they have to offer.

Note: from this point on I intend to review mostly new albums here, as in, ones from this or last year. As I listen to quite a lot of new albums but don't always have the time to write a full review of them, this is where a lot of them will end up. Of course, there's nothing to say that something that really impresses me won't eventually get the full treatment, as has always been the case here. Also, I may throw in the odd older album from time to time --- nothing's written in stone --- but generally expect to see newer albums, especially those from the current year, being mini-reviewed here from now on.
It's okay but a bit slow and plodding
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Artiste: Gamma Proxima
Nationality: Finnish
Album: Home beyond nowhere
Year: 2013
Label: ?
Genre: Acoustic rock/Ambient
Tracks:
Soil
Endeavour Pt 1
The search
Augur
For a futile wait
Illusion of pleasure
Eventual collapse
Endeavvour Pt 2
Rooms
Worthwhile?
Chronological position: Debut album?
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Very relaxing, very ambient and entrancing
Best track(s):This isn't really an album you pick individual tracks out to focus on; it's more an overall experience: not quite one continuous piece of music but not too far from that.
Worst track(s): See above
Comments: I just hate it when bands use a Facebook page as their "official site". Well, let me qualify that. I hate it when they do that, and put the tiniest bit of information about themselves up. I mean, this band are impossible to track down. Not sure what genre they fit into but they come up on none of my usual music sites (so not metal , prog or AOR) and when you go looking for them on Google you get equally nothing. All I have found out so far is that they're a duo from Finland, and I think this may be their first album. It may also be self-released as I can't find any label information.

All of which is annoying, because this is some of the most beautiful, laidback and heartfelt music I've heard since Buckethead's "Electric sea" album. It seems to be a mix of mostly acoustic guitar with some synth and possibly piano backing, and it's very relaxed indeed. It slips into a semi-prog vein at times, while at others it borders on soft folk or even ambient. The tracks don't exactly flow one into the other but it's often the case that you suddenly realise one has completed and you're into another: the music is quite similar which is not to say bad or samey, but the same general themes and melodies do tend to thread through the whole album.

All I can really do here is pick out some highlights: nice atmospheric acoustic guitar in For a futile wait, little more upbeat with Eventual collapse, though I feel that's probably a good description of my interest in the album at the moment. The problem is that there's nothing that stands out and catches your attention. It's all really good music and very pleasant, but after the initial glow wore off I found myself becoming a little bored with this. If you're going to make an instrumental album --- unless it's intended to be all one piece of music --- you need to be able to differentiate the tracks and make them differ from each other, and the worry here is that all of the material on this album sounds so similar that it becomes hard to identify one from the other, leading to a sense of nice-but-so-what? But I still like it. I just don't love it as I did the first time I heard it.

Overall impression: Just really ambient and relaxing. Would have been nice to have had some standout tracks, but everything kind of melds together, although in a very good way.
Intention: Try to find out more about this artiste: not an easy task, from my research so far!

Yee --- and may I venture to add --- HAW!!!!
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Artiste: Blue Sky Riders
Nationality: American
Album: Finally home
Year: 2013
Label: 3Dream
Genre: Country/Rock
Tracks:
I'm a rider
How's that workin' for ya?
Little victories
Just say yes
Feelin' brave
You're not the boss of me
Another sping
Dream
A thousand wild horses
I get it
Say I like it
Windeer woman
As luck would have it
You took the words (right outta my mouth)
How about now
Chronological position:Debut album
Familiarity: "Footloose"...
Interesting factoid: Blue Sky Riders is the pet project of Kenny "Footloose" Loggins
Initial impression: Great country rock, like this from the start
Best track(s):I'm a rider, How's that workin' for ya?, Little victories, Another spring, A thousand wild horses, Dream, Just say yes
Worst track(s): Pretty much everything after A thousand wild horses
Comments: Now, the above is something of a misnomer. Although this is a debut album for Blue Sky Riders, they're helmed by Kenny Loggins, whom I think we all know from that movie. This is his outfit but there's little of the uptempo dance/pop of "Footloose" about it. From the start you're hit with a big country rock sound reminscent of Seger or Earle with the title track (well it's not really, but it has the title in it) and then the next one just ups the ante with a bitter viewpoint on how people give up everything to get what they want, and then maybe wonder if this is what they actually wanted in the first place? Quite an Eagles feel to this, slower but no less powerful than the opener, then things slow down to allow Georgina Middleman to show what she can do solo, and Little victories is a lovely little bittersweet country ballad.

Now, I'm not saying every track here is great, and at some point it hits a wall and some of the songs are just, well, cliched and a bit embarrassing, but up to that point there is some serious decent country rock to be had. Great vocal harmonies on this one, then a real sense of Fleetwood Mac in Just say yes which kicks the tempo back up, while uileann pipes, whistles and slow drums give Feelin' brave a very celtic sound, with again really great vocal harmonies. On this one the trio share vocal duties, switching the verses around between them. Very effective. Some great fiddlin' too.

You're not the boss of me is a little too honky-tonk for me, sort of thing you might hear Garth Brooks singing. Doesn't really appeal to me, though it's not a bad track. I wouldn't say it marks the turnaround point on the album, far from it, but it's the first one I haven't loved. Normal service is quickly resumed though with the aching Nanci Griffithesque Another spring, a lovely ballad with some beautiful vocals from Georgina and, yes, superb vocal harmonies. And next up is a super radio-friendly track that should be a single, AOR delight in Dream.

But perhaps the best has been held back, as the unquestioned standout of the album is the acoustic ballad A thousand wild horses, but then that's where the album takes something of a nosedive unfortunately. It's as if with the previous track "Finally home" achieved critical mass, and then sort of imploded, everything following pretty substandard. Even a decent ballad can't rescue the inevitable slide towards mediocrity that is so annoying after such a powerful first half. Particularly puke-inducing is the awful You took the words (right outta my mouth) which probably goes down as my least favourite track on the whole thing. Bah! The supporters are already leaving, and we've still ten minutes to go to the end. That's what happens when you stop playing before the final whistle.

Overall impression: A mighty impressive debut, with more than a few flaws. Sort of the typical game of two halves almost: some of it I absolutely love, some of it I ...don't. A great first shot though.
Intention: Just wait for the next album, ah reckon, and hope they make sure the second half of that is as good as the first...

An interesting, if flawed, debut
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Artiste: Caves of Glass
Nationality: American
Album: Caves of Glass
Year: 2013
Label: Self-released I think
Genre: Ambient/Progressive/New Age/Metal/Insert here....
Tracks:
The hollow
Gone from Oceania
Mariana
Barren earth
The end
Chronological position: Debut album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: Relaxing and ambient, then it kicks in!
Best track(s): Gone from Oceania, Mariana
Worst track(s): Nothing
Comments: Apparently this is a collaboration between a lot of people I personally have never heard of, but you may --- Larry Hansen, Jim Tobakos, Dan Leader, Zach Galkin? Ring any bells? --- and seems to meld ambient, progressive and possibly death metal in a rather uneasy alliance. When I heard the sample tracks I must admit I didn't hear the scratchy, screeched vocal, but here it's kind of subsumed into the music, almost as an extra instrument (as someone, I think Janszoon, once told me) or as a sound effect. So it's not the sort of vocal that ruins the music. And the music is pretty good I must say. The opener is nine minutes long and doesn't feature too much in the way of "singing", some very nice acoustic guitar and haunting keyboard.

There are in fact, as you can see above, only five tracks on the album, but one is almost thirteen minutes long. It's impressive stuff. You know, I kind of don't hate the vocal style, now that I listen to it. It's almost like someone with a sore throat trying to sing, and it's not anywhere near as aggressive or overbearing as some death metal I've heard. In Gone from Oceania for example it fits very well with the laidback piano and guitar, and then a proper vocal comes in, which is very surprising but welcome. Mariana is very slow, ambient and atmospheric, kicking up with some powerful effective guitar closer to the end. Another standout.

You know, ever since that "real" vocal came in at the end of Gone from Oceania I haven't heard the screechy one, and the next track seems to be instrumental, so far. Though I shouldn't jump to conclusions, as this is the thirteen-minute one. Still, we're five minutes in and only music up to this point. Okay, well with a nice piano passage halfway through and then finishing on heavy electric guitar this is indeed a thirteen-minute instrumental. Which leaves only one track, appropriately titled The end, with soft acoustic guitar and synthy effects, some lovely piano and wind sounds. Some nice backwards masking tape effects too, really completes the album, finishes well.
Overall impression: Different to what I had expected. Kind of reminds me of The Deadstation in ways. Something here for fans of many different musical styles and genres.
Intention: Look out for their next release.

One-man-band sounds like a whole prog orchestra!
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Artiste: Willowglass
Album: The dream harbour
Nationality: British (English)
Year: 2013
Label: Self-released
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
A house of cards pt 1
A short intermission
A house of cards pt 2
Interlude no 2
The dream harbour
Helleborine
The face of Eurydice
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Mostly a solo act
Initial impression: Is it 1973 again?
Best track(s): I like pretty much everything here.
Worst track(s): See above
Comments: The first word that will come instantly to your brain when you hear the opening track is Genesis: there's just no getting away from the comparisons with that wibbly, uptempo, bouncy keyboard, which takes you right back to 1973 and the very best of Tony Banks. But Willowglass has only been around since 2005, though its driving force, composer and multi-instrumentalist Andrew Marshall, has been playing in bands since the early eighties. And when I say multi I mean multi: here he plays guitars (electric, acoustic, Classical and twelve-string), keyboards and bass! He's ably assisted by Hans Schmitz on drums and Steve Unruh helps out by adding flute, violin and more guitar.

It's all instrumental, so might be a little hard for anyone to get into who isn't a prog rock fan (we love this sort of thing) and the likes of mellotron, flute and woodwinds are prevalent all through the album. The opener is almost twenty-one minutes long too, so that will certainly do away with anyone who's not into prog. But if you take the time to sit back and listen you will hear a wealth of musical talent and gorgeous soundscapes here. Unruh's beautiful violin passages in A house of cards part 1 alone are worth the price of the album, and there's so much more than that on offer. Marshall's skill on the various guitars is virtually unparalleled in the sphere of current prog rock.

There's some nice Supertramp-style piano work going on in A short intermission then arabic influences on A house of cards pt 2 with some really great guitar and violin and a very classical influenced approach, the tone getting a little darker. The album's over before you realise it, and it's been a hell of a journey.
Overall impression: One of the best progressive rock instrumental albums I've heard this year.
Intention: Going to check out his other two offerings.

Pity the fool who misses out on this!
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Artiste: Ghost Riders
Nationality: American
Album: Five
Year: 2013
Label: Phoenix Records
Genre: Country/Southern Rock
Tracks:
Pray for me
Gettin' my love
Cajun Jesus
Gone with the wind
Own this town
Long live Southern Rock
Mister Manager
Money magnet
Fried chicken baby
My sweet papa
Won't let you down
I pity the fool
An act of murder
You're here
Chronological position: Fifth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Spinoff band formed from The Outlaws and The Henry Paul Band
Initial impression: Good heavy southern rock in the style of Skynyrd, Hatchet or early ZZ
Best track(s): Cajun Jesus, Gone with the wind, My sweet papa, Won't let you down, An act of murder
Worst track(s): Fried chicken baby, Money magnet
Comments: First impressions, they say, last, and so it's just as well that I didn't judge this album on the basis of one or two bad tracks. Had I heard only Money magnet or the godawful Fried chicken baby from this album I would have probably shook my head, hit delete and said not for me. That would have been a pity, because though this album is slightly flawed and far from perfect, there are some great songs on it and it's definitely worth listening to if you're into southern rock, a bit of country and some downhome rockin' fun. In addition to hard rockers like the two opening tracks there are slower, more laidback fare such as Gone with the wind and the heartfelt if a little cloying My sweet papa.

But it's with the incendiary An act of murder that these guys from down sarth really come into their own, kicking off the cowboy boots for a moment and grabbing their placards while they lay siege to the capital, denouncing the war on terror, and all wars in general. When vocalist Steve Grisham snarls "I'd rather be torn to shreds than to be part of this action", you know he's not just singing someone else's lines: these words come right from the heart. They rock hard too though, and enjoy themselves, as they fly the flag for Dixie in Long live Southern Rock and go all Creedence in Cajun Jesus. Just great fun.

Unfortunately though they also seem to know how to write a real turkey. Or two. Money magnet contains one lyric only: "I'm a money magnet". Yeah. And the rockabilly mess that is Fried chicken baby is so cliched and contrived that it sets my teeth on edge. Still, they do have the good sense to follow up these two trainwrecks, which come one after the other, with the superb ballad My sweet papa, and things get back on track quickly. From there on the album never dips, ending on a lovely ballad that bookends it nicely, and the memory of those --- in fairness, only --- two throwaway tracks is already fading.
Overall impression: Good solid southern rock. The South shall rise again!
Intention: May check out their other material. Wonder how those Outlaws sound?
(Note: Sorry, but with "Ghost riders in the sky" and the movie "Ghost rider" taking up every bloody YouTube result I got, I was unable to find even one song from this band, never mind this album.)

Just a regular guy, gettin' back to what he does best!
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Artiste: Steve Earle
Album: The low highway
Nationality: American
Year: 2013
Label: New West
Genre: Country/Folk
Tracks:
The low highway
Calico County
Burnin' it down
That all you got?
Love's gonna blow my way
After Mardi Gras
Pocket full of rain
Invisible
Warren Hellman's banjo
Down the road, pt II
21st century blues
Remember me
Chronological position: Thirteenth album
Familiarity: Oh, everything! I've all his albums and am a big fan. Oh, you want the names, do you? Okay then: "Guitar town", "Exit 0", "Copperhead Road", "The hard way", "Jerusalem", "El corazon", "I feel alright", "Transcendental blues", "The revolution starts now", "Washington Square serenade", "I'll never get out of this world alive", "Townes", Train a-comin'"...
Interesting factoid: This is the first Steve Earle album credited to "Steve Earle and the Dukes and Duchesses" --- guess Steve likes to be seen as an equal opportunities employer!
Initial impression: Now that's the Steve Earle I've been waiting to hear!
Best track(s): The low highway, That all you got?, Burnin' it down, Love's gonna blow my way
Worst track(s):
Comments: Thirteen, unlucky for some? For me, it was Earle's last album that was the first real let-down since "Jerusalem", the first time I really felt like he had failed to reach the high standards he had set for himself over three decades, and which I continue to hold him to. My main gripe with "I'll never get out of this world alive" was that it seemed to eschew the rock for folk, the hard electric guitar for the acoustic, and made, for me, of Earle a pale shadow of the man I had fallen (musically) in love with over such albums as "Copperhead Road", "El Corazon" and "I feel alright". I worried this might be a new direction he was heading in, doing a Bob Dylan in reverse; changing from hard electric country rock to more low-key folky material, perhaps reflecting his advancing age? The title of the album didn't, I have to say, inspire confidence that this was not the case.

Nor indeed the opener, and title track, which is indeed an acoustic country/folk number, but somehow seesm to have more teeth in it than almost all of the tracks off the previous album combined. A lot of weary anger and resignation in the song, but still, it is acoustic. So were my fears confirmed? Well no, not really. The very next track kicks out the stays with almost a return to the style of "Guitar Town" and "Exit 0", his first two albums, and from then on it just really gets better. Burnin' it down has a sense of The devil's right hand on it, while That all you got? faces the world squarely, daring it to try to lay him low. He's joined on this by his wife Alison Moorer I believe, and there's some great fiddle and accordion giving the song a feel of The Galway girl in its celtic flavour. Great rocking guitar too, good to hear it again.

Yeah, we're only four tracks in now and I'm already happier than I was listening to "I'll never get out of this world alive" all the way through. Love's gonna blow my way reintroduces us to the hardcore troubadour of such album as "I feel alright", "Transcendental blues" and "El corazon", nice and boppy, sort of blues mixed with Country, Pocket full of rain zips along on bright piano with a great sense of fun, and in all honesty the next acoustic track isn't till eight tracks in and it's a great little brooder, Invisible. Some super pedal steel on this. And speaking of super, listen to the banjo on Warren Hellman's banjo! Throw in the fiddle and you see if you can keep your toes from a-tappin'!

Add to this feast a return to the closer on his debut album in Down the road, Pt II and you have close to as perfect a Steve Earle album as I've come across in the last decade or so. His take on why things have not improved that much with the turning of the millennium is just caustically hilarious --- "No man on the moon/ Nobody on Mars/Where the hell is my flying car?" --- with some great organ work in almost Dire Straits Walk of life mode, and then really the only ballad on the album, a song it would seem to Earle's child, has Steve actually sounding a little tired and almost defeated. Something of a disappointingly downbeat ending to a very impressive album that has re-established my faith in this pure force of nature we know as Stephen Fain Earle.
Overall impression: Welcome back to the fold, my man!
Intention: Meh, same as ever: I'll always be a fan of this guy. Even if he does release the odd duff album. Sure who's perfect? Other than me, of course! ;)

This journal is a goldmine of albums worth checking out, I think I should at least consider following it.

Yep, Trollheart, I completely appreciate your reviews. You have helped me to discover many great bands (even if you don't like The Ramones...;) )

Power Metal by the numbers...
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Artiste: Heimdall
Nationality: Italian
Album: Aeneid
Year: 2013
Label: Scarlet Records
Genre: Power Metal
Tracks:
Book I: Prologue
Book II: Forced by fate
Book III: Save you
Book IV: Waiting for the dawn
Book V: Ballad of the Queen
Book VI: Funeral song
Book VII: Underworld
Book VIII: Gates of war
Book IX: Hero
Book X: Night on the world
Book XI: All of us
Book XII: Away
Book XIII: The last act
Chronological position: Fifth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: It's been nine years between this and Heimdall's previous album, 2004's “Hard as iron”.
Initial impression: Big spoken intro, oh so scary! Bit formulaic...
Best track(s): Save you, Ballad of the Queen, Gates of war, Night on the world, Away
Worst track(s): Nothing terrible, nothing I'd class as a bad track, but some are much better than others.
Comments: Another Italian power metal band? Seems like if I ever went there I wouldn't be able to go down a via or a plaza without bumping into any number of them. Italy must have the largest percentage of power metal bands, per capita, next to the USA. But are Heimdall any different? Well, like many bands in this genre they take the mythology of Scandinavia as their subject matter, indeed their name is taken from that of the guardian of the Rainbow Bridge in Norse mythos. Their vocalist, Gandolfo Ferro, subscribes to the high-pitched-without-actually-screaming school of singing, and he's not bad at all. Triple guitars from Umberto Parisi, Fabio Caluori and Carmelo Claps (I kid you not!) provide the power in this power metal, but oddly enough unlike many of their contemporaries they seem not to use keyboards. And yet I'm sure I hear a keyboard riff there as Book III: Save you opens --- yeah, each track is numbered like a book in a series.

This is actually the first point at which I get interested. Has a great hook and powerful keys --- damn it, they are keys, I don't care what anyone says! --- and rides along on a real wave of energy with some superb solos from the trio of axemen, then there's a real familiarity about Ballad of the Queen --- which is obviously a ballad --- oh yeah! It sounds a lot like Maiden's Blood brothers, at least the opening section. Decent song. Note: I'm leaving out the “Book” suffixes here; just serves to number them really, nothing else. Funeral song consists mostly of low percussion, pealing doomy bells which are joined by what sounds like violin and then church organ and, just to confuse us, some uileann pipes or tin whistle, but it's a short little instrumental that I think Heimdall perhaps try to pack too much into.

Underworld is a good rocker with gothic overtones and some fine shredding, then marching boots, thunder and storm noises bring in the slightly more AOR-like Gates of war, where whoever is on the keys takes the reins, the song a more muted affair than the previous but just as heavy. Bit of an odd ending, little confused. Everything kicks back up to ten then for Hero which pounds along nicely and into Night on the world, riding on some nice keyboard lines and some scorching riffs.

There's a really nice second ballad, piano-led with some powerful vocal harmonies and choruses in Away --- this is actually a far superior ballad to the first one, though sadly much shorter, at less than two minutes. The closer is the powerful metal punch and finale you'd expect, and the album certainly ends strongly after not really losing too much in the way of quality or power throughout its run.

I guess Power Metal is not exactly the most innovative subgenre there is; there's not a lot that hasn't already been done and often bands seem to be just retreading old ground which can make them seem unoriginal. Yet for what they do, Heimdall here seem to know what they're about and they put on a good show. They're not exactly reforging the sword first wielded by Manowar and Virgin Steele, but they're certainly keeping an edge on it.

Overall impression: Not bad, but nothing I haven't heard a million times before.
Intention: Might look into the rest of their albums, but won't be too rushed about it.

Another recruit here! Where do I enlist?
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Artiste: The War on Drugs
Nationality: American (Pennsylvania)
Album: Lost in the dream
Year: 2014
Label: Secretly Canadian
Genre: Indie Rock
Tracks:
Under the pressure
Red eyes
Suffering
An ocean in between the waves
Disappearing
Eyes to the wind
The haunting idle
Burning
Lost in the dream
In reverse
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Three of the ten tracks here are single words which end in the suffix -ing (Burning, Suffering and Disappearing.) Add in The haunting idle and you have four. Hey, it's the most interesting snippet I could come up with for a band about whom I know nothing and have heard nothing!
Initial impression: Uptempo and poppy but with a strong edge and I really like the piano.
Best track(s): Pretty much everything
Worst track(s): Pretty much nothing
Comments: About time I got back to these mini-reviews. Cue this one and then nothing for months! :rolleyes: Well I'll do the best I can. I've been hearing a lot about this album so thought I'd give it a shot. Nice boppy start, cool piano work and the vocalist puts me in mind of a cross between Roger Waters and Dylan. Yeah, whatever. Sue me. The average settlement is ten thousand dollars. Really like the extended instrumental bit in the middle of the first track, also the long ambient ending. Oh yeah, further impressions bring to mind The Waterboys. Hey, I'm weird, y'know? Good start, certainly. And it just gets better with the first single Red eyes, kicks up nicely in the middle with a lot of energy.

Some of this really reminds me of the early work of Springsteen and perhaps to a lesser degree the more recent Gaslight Anthem material; it's very American, very workingman's music, and in track three we get the first ballad in Suffering, which features some very introspective guitar work that recalls Prefab Sprout around the “Jordan” era. Some superb organ here also, and then you really hear the influence of Dylan on vocalist Adam Granduciel in An ocean in between the waves, which is a mid-paced rocker with a great beat. Disappearing has an almost chart/soul/pop feel about it, and is another slower song, though not what I'd call a ballad. Sweet slide guitar. Reminds me in places of seventies or eighties Chris Rea.

I like everything I hear so far. The thing I'm finding as I go through the album is that though there are long songs (the opener falls just shy of nine minutes, ambitious or what?) they don't seem long. Nothing tends to drag and even when there's an extended instrumental, be it an intro, outro or middle section, it fits in really well with the rest of the song and just makes you enjoy it more. There's nothing here (so far) that I've thought was too long, overstretched or unnecessarily extended. Some really laidback piano and guitar work and we're into Eyes to the wind, but to be honest at this point I don't think it matters as every single track so far has been superb and I don't really see that changing.

I spoke in the Prog Rock Album Club about a phenomenon I like to call the Hum Factor, which is just what it sounds like: the temptation or desire to hum one or more tracks you like off an album. In my opinion, if you don't have a reasonable Hum Factor for an album it's probably not going to be something you enjoyed. This happened with the Ozric Tentacles album we were reviewing, and even though it's instrumental I don't give it a pass as you can hum tunes as easily as songs. What has that got to do with this album? Well I think I'll be humming --- or at least remembering --- most if not all of the songs here. The Hum Factor is so important to me that I'm adding it in as a new category in this mini-reviews.

By the way, there was a great sax outro on that last song, and the next one up is pure ambient abstract goodness; nice to see the guys mix it up a little. Burning kinds of fade-echoes in from that, sort of continuing the basic theme almost as if The haunting idle was an intro to it, then kicks up into a really nice commercially appealing rocker, uptempo and really emotional, with a touch of Rod Stewart's Young Turks in the rhythm, particularly the percussion. The title then is a somewhat more laidback song with elements of country and folk in it, nice chingling guitars and a great rhythm, then we end as we began, on a long track as In reverse showcases some of the best elements of The War on Drugs's guitar skills with some very ambient keyboard too and some nice soundscapes. Thought it would be a downbeat ending but no, it picked up halfway and it really ends the album well.
Overall impression: Seriously impressed and I can see why this album is so highly regarded.
Hum Factor (Out of 10): 8
Intention: Definitely going to have to listen to more of this band's work.

Remove the first word and you have my impression of their album
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Artiste: Cloud Nothings
Nationality: American (Cleveland, OH)
Album: Attack on memory
Year: 2012
Label: Carpark
Genre: Indie Rock/Post-punk?
Tracks:
No future/no past
Wasted days
Fall in
Stay useless
Separation
No sentiment
Our plans
Cut you
Chronological position: Second album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Apparently Cloud Nothings used to be a power-pop band. Don't see it myself I must admit.
Initial impression: Nice opening but the vocals totally suck...
Best track(s): Stay useless, Separation
Worst track(s): Didn't much like any of the other tracks.
Comments: Back in 2012 I either bought this album and never got to listen to it, or, which is more likely, meant to buy it and forgot. Since then it seems Cloud Nothings have become something of darlings of the indie rock scene, with their latest album due out in a few days, so time to see if I can hop on this bandwagon before it leaves town. Where's my giant foam finger? I must admit, the opening track has a very nihilist/punk sound about the title, belied by a beautiful piano intro then some bouncy bass and it seems to be a slow song, whether or not it's a ballad I can't tell yet. Hmm. Don't care much for the off-key vocals which sound like the singer is drunk or spaced. Will this continue? We'll see. Gets faster near the end and the vocals come to life though they get very angry in a definite punk vein. Oh dear.

Wasted days is just short of nine minutes, and on the basis of the opener I'm not really looking forward to that, but it's a faster, more uptempo song with angry guitars and at least vocalist Dylan Baldi is awake now: awake and angry. Still not my thing though, this aggressive, shouty music. Some good guitar work though; song seems overstretched, could have ended in fifth minute rather than running on for what seems to me to be another pointless four. It's not bad, but pretty much more of the same to the end. Fall in has a military marching beat for a short moment then kicks into life, and it sounds like there's a female voice joining Baldi on the chorus? A darker, chunkier guitar on Stay useless which is actually quite catchy, while Separation appears to be the only instrumental. Yep, it is. I must admit, I wasn't expecting an instrumental on an album like this is turning out to be, but this is pretty damn fine. Lots of energy and power, and sounds like the guys just having fun.

Sort of a Sabbath riff, of all things, underpinning No sentiment, very dark and heavy with a pained, shouted vocal, and the album ends okay, but I see a lot of samey material here and the singing style as I mentioned just isn't my cup of Tetley. A decent album but I doubt I'll be checking out that new one after all. Pity.
Overall impression: Bit disappointing. Too punky for my tastes.
Hum Factor: 4
Intention: Might check their back catalogue, though probably not.

Ho-hum; another post-rock instrumental band...
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Artiste: This Patch of Sky
Nationality: American (Oregon)
Album: Newly risen, how brightly you shine
Year: 2012
Label: Oxide-Tones
Genre: Postrock
Tracks:A light in the attic
How he loves --- to sink a ship
Newly risen, how brightly you shine
Cities beneath
With morning comes hope
Chronological position: Hard to say really. This is apparently an EP, their second, with their first actual album only released last year. So if you include Eps, then it's their second overall.
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: The label that put out this, and their previous, debut EP, Oxide-Tones, went out of business in 2013 so they had to release their first real album, “Ghosts”, themselves.
Initial impression: Nice guitar, gripping start that builds nicely
Best track(s):How he loves --- to sink a ship, Cities beneath, With morning comes hope
Worst track(s): Nothing bad really, just the other two tracks are not as good as the ones named above.Comments: With only five tracks on it I guess this really does earn the term EP, and as it's instrumental all the way through maybe that's not a bad thing: sometimes, as I've pointed out before, it's hard to maintain the interest for more than a few tracks of such an album. It starts off well though, with a high pitched guitar then some punching drums coming in kind of mid-paced as the guitar gets harder, and it certainly grabs the attention, sort of in a ASIWYFA way, or maybe Pg.Lost. Even so, for an opener the first track is a little sparse, and the last thirty seconds or so are just totally superfluous. How he loves--- to sink a ship has a much punchier and immediate start, then settles into the kind of melody I can dig, sort of a waltzy rhythm to it.

The title track is good too, though in general I find it a little hard to get too excited over these “postrock” instrumental bands unless they do something really different or memorable. I'm thinking the Hum Factor index on this one will be quite low, though that doesn't necessarily mean it's a bad album, just that I don't hear too much on it I'd envisage humming later. I do like the militaristic drumming here and something that comes close to sounding like bagpipes but I'm pretty sure is a guitar. I also don't think I'm hearing enough keyboards, despite the fact that Chris King is credited with everything from synth to Fender Rhodes: it's very guitar oriented. Nothing wrong with that but I would like to hear a little variety, instrument-wise.

Another sort of reprise for the last minute, which does seem to bring in some low synth but again is dominated by guitars, which show some initial promise in Cities beneath with a bit of a change in direction, oh and now we've got some sort of vocals, more chanting really but it's good to hear. Adds another dimension to the song. I think I hear some death growls in there, but they're subsumed by the main vocals and not at all obtrusive or invasive. The closer then is the longest of the tracks, at a whopping nine minutes. I'm not sure how I feel about that. Could be a chance for This Patch of Sky to really spread their wings and show us what they can do, could just be an excuse for nine minutes of guitar wankery. We'll see. Well, it starts off with a low synth so that's a start. Then the guitar comes in, almost acoustic and slowish, getting harder and more electric now. In fairness, it's almost halfway through and it doesn't seem like it. Bit of a Peter Gabrielesque fadeout on the end, gives the synth something to do, but still not enough keyboards on this for me. Nice, but nothing special.Overall impression: Good music, well played. A bit too much focus on the guitar. Not the kind of thing I'd sit down and listen to, but good for background I would think.
Hum Factor: 2
Intention: That's probably it for me with them. Not that I dislike the music, just that it doesn't move me in any particular way and I don't find it any different to a lot of other, perhaps better, postrock instrumental bands I've listened to.

Mental note: never offer to support Iron Maiden!
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Artiste: Edge of Thorns
Nationality: German
Album: Insomnia
Year: 2014
Label: Killer Metal
Genre: Power Metal
Tracks:
In your dreams
Dark side of your life
Yearning has begun
Insomnia
Metal unity
The Watchmaker
A caress of souls
Walking like a ghost
Death dealer
... Of hearts that burn
The 7 sins of Arthur McGregor
... Is this the way it ends?
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Not so much interesting as possibly dismaying: the band have been in existence since 1996, that's 18 years and have only released three albums?
Initial impression: Noddy Holder plays Metal??
Best track(s): Dark side of life, Insomnia, The Watchmaker, A caress of souls, The 7 sins of Arthur McGregor, ... Is this the way it ends?
Worst track(s): Nothing really.
Comments: Well there's an interesting child's nursery rhyme to open the album, which I think is from some horror films (but I don't watch them so can't confirm) then it seems like Slade have gone metal. No seriously: the singer sounds just like Noddy Holder. More gravelly perhaps but the similarities are definitely there. The music is heavy as hell of course; what else would you seriously expect from a German power metal band? The inevitable comparisons surface --- Helloween, Maiden, Stratovarius --- but the somewhat rawer vocals of Dirk Schmitt help EoT to stand apart from the greats and the not so greats in this often overcrowded subgenre. The two guitarists are excellent as you would expect, and this is one power metal band who will have no truck with synthesisers or keyboards, which makes them, again, that little bit rawer, gives them more of a hard edge (geddit?) ;)

Keep your day job, Trollheart? I don't have a day job. Which is why I'm always writing this stuff. Anyway, looking down the tracklist I see two songs which are over seven minutes. This gives me pause: power metal is not always the best suited to longer, epic songs, even though most proggers would scoff at the brevity of a song that only lasts seven! But it's longer than many standard metal songs. Have they the creativity to sustain that sort of track? We shall see. The title track has a nice punchy guitar opening, but the roaring of Schmitt is wearing on me a little.

Metal unity is a bit embarrassing, lyricwise, but then, who expected it to be anything else with a title like that? :rolleyes: Oh, there's a guitar riff taken right out of Maiden's The Prisoner! Oh dear. Nice acoustic opening to The Watchmaker, the first slow track and is that violin? Also nice to hear ol' Dirk do other than roar and scream. He's a decent enough singer you know. Some very nice fretwork here too from the lads as the song ramps up about halfway through. Not quite the ballad I had expected!

Oh dear lord! Now the bass opening to A caress of souls is ripped right out of Rime of the Ancient Mariner! Enough already guys! You love Maiden: we get it. It even has a Maiden “Whoa-oh-oh-oh!” chorus in it! Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, sure, but I'd rather hear something original. This is one of those seven-minuters I was talking about earlier. To be fair it does hold the attention and it's a good song, but I can't help hearing Bruce and the boys as I listen to it. There's some fine shredding opening Death dealer, but overall I'm not hearing anything here to mark Edge of Thorns out as anything other than just “another power metal band”.
Overall impression: Too much Iron Maiden-lite...
Hum Factor: 3
Intention: Not impressed enough to check into their other albums. Just another in a slew of “okay” power metal bands; nothing sufficient to make them stand out.

Only you could come up with a rating called hum factor:)

What? I thought it was good. :shycouch: It's certainly one of the criteria I (subconsciously) use to decide whether an album is worth listening to or not...

Perhaps I should apply for a patent on that. Or not.

More like A Perfect Yawn!
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Artiste: From Oceans to Autumn
Nationality: American
Album: A perfect dawn
Year: 2013
Label: Self-released
Genre: Post-rock?
Tracks:
Aurora
Zenith
Eos
Halo
Visible light
Legend
Split sky
The absolute
The illusion of a moving sun
Faultless
Chronological position: Fifth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: It's mentioned that the band changed their name (after five albums) to Mountains Among Us, though their Bandcamp page still shows them as From Oceans to Autumn... Oh, and the previous band of founder and mainman Brandon Helms was ... Autumn is Forever. Apparently not.
Initial impression: Atmospheric, powerful, moving music. Definitely instrumental.
Best track(s): Eos, Split sky
Worst track(s): Not really interested enough to pick out worst tracks
Comments: Another band I chose purely on the basis of their name. I like bands with the word “autumn” in their names. It just always seems a very creative thing to do. I found these guys on Progarchives so they must or should be some sort of progressive band, but whether rock, metal, experimental or something else I do not know. I do get the impression they may be an instrumental outfit though. Well, the first track certainly is.

And so, it would seem, is the rest. Mostly it's driven on the sort of hard guitar work you get with ASIWYFA and God Is An Astronaut, but occasionally there are quieter, more reflective pieces, such as Eos, which is short but very ethereal with what appears to be synth guiding the music. Other than that it's pretty basic. Great music, there's no doubt, but the same as I could hear on any of these post-rock instrumental albums from any band in that genre. Losing interest....
Overall impression: Meh
Hum Factor: 0
Intention: Not intending to check any more of their stuff out.

Melodic? Or just Metal?
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Artiste: Mooncry
Nationality: German
Album: A mirror's diary
Year: 2013
Label: SAOL
Genre: Melodic Metal
Tracks:
Burning curtains
Puppet crow
Defamed pride
Scylla
Reflection of lies
A thousand lives
Pictures of thee
The beast within me
A mirror's diary
Angel of darkness
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: More like death met --- oh wait. Power? Not so sure I'd call this melodic metal, which is often just a harder form of AOR...
Best track(s): Defamed pride, Scylla, Reflections of lies, Pictures of thee, The beast within me, A mirror's diary, Angel of darkness
Worst track(s): None
Comments: According to the lineup there is only one vocalist, in which case Sali Hasan has a very versatile range, as we start off with death growls and roars, then fall into a more intelligible and listenable style. I wonder is it more than one guy singing? Whatever, it's heavy as hell with elements of gothic and progressive thrown in, but definitely more in the line of speed or power metal than melodic I feel. Some great keyboard work, with the gothic influence most keenly displayed in the choir-like vocals opening Puppet crow, and a really nice orchestral style keyboard passage in the middle of Defamed pride, then the first real evidence of Mooncry being any sort of melodic metal band comes with Scylla, which I must say is one of my favourite tracks so far.

Reflections of lies keeps the quality high, with Hasan's ability tested as he sort of mutter-growls the low-key vocal, and it becomes a sort of slow cruncher with some crushing guitar. More orchestral/gothic material in Pictures of thee with lovely acoustic guitar then on The beast within me and a very decent closer. Overall a pretty decent album with nothing bad about it, but again does it stand out? Still working that out.

Overall impression: Pretty good metal, though again not what I'd categorise as “melodic”.
Hum Factor: 2
Intention: Probably happy with just hearing this really.

Daddy would have been proud...
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Artiste: Roseanne Cash
Nationality: American
Album: The river and the thread
Year: 2014
Label:
Genre: Country
Tracks:
A feather is not a bird
The sunken lands
Etta's tune
Modern blue
Tell Heaven
The long way home
World of strange design
Night school
50,000 watts
When the Master calls the roll
Money road

Chronological position: Thirteenth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Ah you know what I'm gonna say!
Initial impression: Kind of more rocky than I expected
Best track(s):Etta's tune, World of strange design, 50,000 watts, Night school, When the Master calls the roll
Worst track(s):[i] None
Comments: I suppose it's inevitable that if Country icon Johnny Cash was going to have children that some of them at least would take after their late pa and go into the music biz. Roseanne is the eldest daughter from Johnny's first marriage, and so has the inestimable honour of being the first in the “line of succession”, as it were. She has three other sisters, and her marriage to Rodney Crowell in 1979 just solidified her love for and interest in Country music. And so we come to her thirteenth album, in a career that has spanned over thirty-five years, and I didn't even know of her existence until a short while back...

Nice bit of slide guitar to get A feather is not a bird going, and it's really more a sleazy boogie/blues feel to it than Country, while Etta's tune has a lot of early Nanci Griffith in it with some fine male vocals adding to its atmosphere. There's a sense of resignation and weary triumph as she sings “We're just a mile out from Memphis/ And I've finally made it home.” Nice bit of orchestral work on The long way home, and I'm noticing that much of this album is reflective, I guess Cash is looking back on her life and career and assessing where she is now.

World of strange design seems a journeyman (or woman) song, with some uptempo guitar and handclaps and the inevitable reference to the J-Man. It's quite rocky in its way and I really like it. According to ZZ, Jesus just left Chicago, but if we're to believe Cash then he was born in Mississippi! Night school has a very Dan Fogelberg feel to it, while 50,000 watts is more sort of Carpenters and has a great beat and swaying rhythm to it, almost gospel at times. Another favourite. Great backing vocals on When the Master calls the roll and some fine accordion I think? Trumpet too possibly. Not to mention that I hear Irish folk artist Mary Black's influence in there. Good stuff.

Overall impression: Damn fine Country album, a credit to her da, but I doubt I'll be listening to the previous twelve. Well, maybe one or two...
Hum Factor: 4
Intention: Might look into more. Might not.

You can run but you can't hide from the melodies
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Artiste: Carbon Based Lifeforms
Nationality: Swedish
Album: Refuge
Year: 2013
Label: Leftfield
Genre: Ambient
Tracks:
RCA (+)
Birdie
RCA (-)
Leaves
Lost
Escape
Marauders
Chronological position: Seventh album
Familiarity: “Interloper”
Interesting factoid:
Initial impression: More or less what I expected. I really like these guys!
Best track(s): Pretty much all of it
Worst track(s): Nothing
Comments: I've liked CBL ever since I went looking for some ambient electronic music that wasn't dance or trance or dubstep, and was advised by I think Rezz to try these guys out. I tasted “Interloper” and was hooked. Now this appears to be a motion picture soundtrack but that's ok: this Swedish duo are well suited to the atmospheric nature of cinematic music, as is evident from the soft opener, the enigmatically titled RCA (+) which builds from a gentle beginning into something a little more tense, with swirling synth soundscapes and ethereal piano.

CBL are known too for their slowly building soundscapes, rather like Solar Fields, and indeed the first minute of Birdie is nothing but a softly rising synth effect until piano and guitar fill in, and RCA (-) has a much darker and threatening undertone with a big wailing guitar line growing to something of a crescendo, while Lost is almost minimalistic, the music nearly in the background, if you can imagine such a thing. Escape has a darker, throatier feel to it and is carried mostly on some bassy synth. There's definitely a sense of running, of flight about it.

Like most of CBL's repertoire, you're talking about spacey, laidback, mostly soft and definitely ambient music. Great to drift off to sleep to, study to or anything else that requires or allows music in the background, but can be enjoyed by direct listening too.
Overall impression: What I expected. Another flawless album from the Carbon Based ones.
Hum Factor: 0 (You can't hum this stuff)
Intention: As ever; keep up with the releases

Kiske does it again!
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Artiste: Place Vendome
Nationality: German
Album: Thunder in the distance
Year: 2013
Label: Frontiers
Genre: Hard rock/AOR
Tracks:
Talk to me
Power of music
Broken wings
Lost in paradise
It can't rain forever
Fragile ground
Hold your love
Never too late
Heaven lost
My heart is dying
Breakout
Maybe tomorrow
Thunder in the distance
Chronological position: Third album
Familiarity: Zero with this band but a lot with its individual members' bands
Interesting factoid: Place Vendome is actually an area in Paris. Whether or not this has anything to do with why the band chose this name I don't know.
Initial impression: Interesting. Violins, then it breaks into a real power rocker. Good start.
Best track(s): It can't rain forever, Fragile ground, Hold your love, Heaven lost, My heart is dying, Maybe tomorrow, Thunder in the distance
Worst track(s): None
Comments: When I downloaded this I had no clue what it was other than it had an AOR tag. Now I find it's the band Michael Kiske formed when he left Helloween, and not only that, but members of Stratovarius, Labyrinth, Adagio and Primal Fear are also involved, some playing, some writing the songs. Impressive pedigree and I really hope this lives up to the expectations which have just appeared in my mind now considering who's in the band. This is their third album, and Kiske also apparently plays or played in another band called Unisonic with another ex-Helloweener, Kai Hansen. Small world, eh?

I always thought Kiske was the better of the two Helloween vocalists, and he shows it here from the off. The music is a little softer than the likes of his work on the seminal “Keeper of the seven keys” of course, but it's still powerful with some great guitar work from Uwe Reitenauer, and the bulk of the material here appears to be written by my mate from Eden's Curse, Allesandro del Vecchio. It's commercial of course and Helloween fans might shudder, but this is a different arena. Given that, I so far don't hear anything that blows me away. Interstingly enough, it's a song not written by ADV that impresses me first.

It can't rain forever has that classic AOR sound with a killer hook (must never have visited Ireland eh?) and really showcases Kiske's already-established vocal credentials, but proves he can also sing “soft rock” as well as heavy metal. Great keyboard work too from Gunther Werno. The next one is brilliant too and now I think we're really starting to get somewhere. Most of the tracks are good from here, some better than others. Good AOR is usually built both on great hooks and vocal harmonies, and this album has both, especially on My heart is dying, which features some heavy guitar.

There's only the one ballad, rather surprisingly, and it comes with Maybe tomorrow, some fine orchestral keyboard work in it, with the closer another strong track. Speaking of orchestral, there's an orchestral version of Maybe tomorrow as a bonus track and it's really worth listening to. For an album that started slow this really found its feet and never really looked back once it got going.
Overall impression: Great AOR album and it's great to hear Michael Kiske again.
Hum Factor: 6
Intention: Will check out their previous albums now.

Been away too long...
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Artiste: Bram Stoker
Nationality: British
Album: Cold reading
Year: 2014
Label: Sunn Creative
Genre: Progressive Rock
Tracks:
Climbing the gyroscope
Cold reading
Fast decay
Calling me home
Chasing red
Joust
New adventure
Like autumn now
Fingal's cave
Light at the end of the tunnel
Chronological position: Second album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: Their first album was in ... 1972!!! Also, in 1971 they were supported by a young band looking for their first gigs. You may have heard of them: Queen? ;)
Initial impression: Very Genesisesque but with a doomy undertone
Best track(s): Cold reading, Fast decay, Calling me home
Worst track(s): None
Comments: Now this is a weird one. I can't recall any band leaving such a gap between their debut and their next album, in this or any other genre. Forty-two years? Many bands celebrate if they last that long, and usually have a string of albums and live albums and gigs under their belt. But what is known of Bram Stoker? Originally formed in 1972 as a sort of session band to record “Sabbath-like” music, they produced an album called “Heavy rock spectacular” (later re-released, for some reason, as “Schizo/Poltergeist”) which apparently was the closest thing prog has ever come to Doom Metal. What happened to them in the interim? I have no idea. But now they're back with what is, by all accounts, a much more mellow, um, follow up.

You can definitely hear the influence of early Genesis on these guys as the opener gets going, but there's a darker, doomier undercurrent running through much of this music, mostly delivered through a low bassy piano but there's a lot going on with the keyboards too. Then, just as I think this is going to be an instrumental outfit, the title track brings in vocals in a very Alan Parsons direction, reminiscent of Colin Blunstone or the late great Eric Woolfson himself. A nice ballad, though it speeds up halfway on uptempo keys and guitar. Fast decay is a great instrumental that really funks up (or I should probably say progs up) Bach, with the old Toccata getting the full treatment. Class.

That doom overtone has disappeared now and the music is definitely wavering between early seventies Genesis and early eighties APP, a good combination. I also hear a certain Mike Oldfield influence here too. It's hard to compare this to an album --- albeit released four decades and more ago --- that was supposedly just put together to cash in on what was doom metal at the time. Bram Stoker have certainly come a long way. Just not sure why it took them so long to get their second album out? Been worth waiting for though.

Overall impression: Very worthy blend of prog and balladic APP material. Gets progressively (geddit?) better each time i listen to it.
Hum Factor: 4
Intention: I may listen to the original album, not sure.

Thoroughbreds in every sense of the word
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Artiste: The Donkeys
Nationality: American
Album: Ride the black wave
Year: 2014
Label: Easy Recording
Genre: Indie/Folk
Tracks:
Sunny daze
The Manx
Nothing
I love Alabama
Scissor me cigs
Imperial Beach
Ride the black wave
Brown eyed lady
Blues in the afternoon
Bahamas
Shines
Chronological position: Fourth album
Familiarity: Zero
Interesting factoid: There's also a British band called The Donkeys
Initial impression: Liked this from the start; great mix of Country and rock
Best track(s): Sunny daze, The Manx, Scissor me cigs, Ride the black wave, Brown eyed lady, Blues in the afternoon, Bahamas
Worst track(s): Nothing.
Comments: There's something I can only describe as a full or solid sound about the opener, Sunny daze and an infectious sense of optimism that just pulls me in right away. The second track is a superb instrumental that somehow conjures up empty, windblasted beaches, while Nothing has a sort of Beatles feel to it. Unfortunately these guys are another band who, though they have a website, neglect to include a bio or any band information, so I can't tell you anything about them other than that they're from San Diego and twice were nominated for that state's music awards, winning on one of the occasions.

They have been compared to CSNY and the Grateful Dead, and with the sound of accordion, electric piano and booming organ in their songs, I can see why. Their vocal harmonies are gently beautiful while yet being powerful, and there's a folk sentimentality to their music which is quite rare these days. In fact, did I not know better I might have thought this was a band from the sixties. The title track is just immense. Love this. Blues in the afternoon is even better, just makes you want to relax and chill. And then there's Bahamas. Good lord, can this get any better?
Overall impression: Superb and a really good find. I can see why they won an award.
Hum Factor: 9
Intention: Must listen to their other albums now.

Well, you sold me. I'm checking that album out.

You won't regret it. It's amazing. More coming soon.