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Writing to reach you or losing the plot?

#3 --- The Script --- 2012 (Phonogenic)
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Having released their debut album in 2008 and seen it rocket to the top of the UK and Irish charts, followed that up with their second album (previously reviewed) which not only hit the top spot in the UK and Ireland but also blasted the US market wide open for them, we come to Irish band The Script's third album, and what you wonder is left to do? They've had a number three position on the Billboard Hot 200 with “Science and faith”, so you would have to say they've conquered America in that regard, and that's always a difficult territory for a band from outside the States to crack. They've already been hailed as musical heroes in the native land and across the water, so is it time to sit back and reflect on this, their third album? Is the pressure, as such, off?

Well you certainly wouldn't think so, listening to the album. But it does open another can of worms, so to speak. The opener is a hard rocker with a sort of rap feeling, rapid-fire vocal delivery from Danny O'Donohue and a lot of synthesiser and what could be drum machines, though I feel there are “real” drums in there somewhere too. “Good ol' days” is something of a hybrid I feel, mixing hip-hop, pop and rock elements, even coming close to dreaded boyband territory, though a deal heavier. There's a lot of energy and power in the song, and it's a good starter, certainly doesn't show The Script resting on their laurels, but for me it's just a little less rock than I prefer to hear from these guys. “Six degrees of separation” is better, with a nice piano and keyboard line backed up by some moaning violin, a more restrained vocal from Danny , but then a duet with will.i.am moves everything back towards hip-hop territory in “Hall of fame”, which though it has a nice sparkly piano line and some decent percussion isn't really what I think these guys are about, and it just sounds a little strained to me.

I'm also a little concerned that I haven't really heard too much of Mark Sheehan's guitar; I'm sure it's in there somewhere, but so far the album has been heavily keyboard and drumbeat based, and I'm waiting to hear a decent solo or even contribution from him that stands out like some of the material on “Science and faith”. The next song is acknowledged as intensely personal to the two guys, as they both lost their parents at an early age and “If you could see me now” is a tribute to both Danny's father and Mark's mother, but I'm again disappointed that instead of a tender piano ballad, which I had expected, it's another rap/hip-hop uptempo energetic song. There's no doubting the sincerity in it, but I personally hate the rap element of it, which is, let's be honest, almost all of it.

There's a boppy, almost soul/motown feel to “Glowing”, and at last we get to hear Mark's guitar, albeit not terribly strongly, but there's a great catchy hook in the chorus and this is probably the first track on the album I can honestly say I like. It's more a look back to their previous work, and as I've said I'm not too happy with the direction The Script seem to be heading in, so it's good to hear something that reminds me why I started listening to them in the first place. Ah yeah, but then we're back to rapping --- well, of a sort --- with “Give the love around”, though it does have a nice soft kind of gentle guitar melody to it, nice vocal harmonies and an almost gospel feel. There's also a nice sort of sweeping orchestral keyboard sound built into it.

Good to hear some old school acoustic guitar on “Broken arrow”, but then they start rapping again. I don't remember this being the style on “Science and faith”, and as a non-aficionado of rap I'm disappointed. There's a great mournful violin line though before it all breaks out into a big drumshot, and it's not a bad song in fairness. I'm just not a fan of rap singing, so I guess that's always going to be there. I'd probably listen to it again though to be fair. There's a lot more guitar in “Kaleidoscope”, and it's a more uptempo, rocky number, great bass line and some almost Edge-style guitar from Mark, then “No words” is a nice little mid-ballad, but we're back to the rap vocals with some female backing vox, not sure who's performing them though. The album then ends on “Millionaires”, about which the best I can say really is that it's okay.

I have to say I'm pretty disappointed by this album. To my mind, The Script seem to have totally changed their musical direction, and are heading much more in the way of pop and even hip-hop than the rock roots they displayed on the previous album. It's not a bad album, but it's by no means a great one, not in my opinion. It's changed my opinion of the band, and not for the better, obviously.

Third time lucky? Third strike? Take your pick. But it's not for me.

TRACKLISTING

1. Good ol' days
2. Six degrees of separation
3. Hall of fame
4. If you could see me now
5. Glowing
6. Give the love around
7. Broken arrow
8. Kaleidoscope
9. No words
10. Millionaires

There are no passengers on this train!
English electric, part one --- Big Big Train --- 2012 (English Electric)
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If I had to pick just one word to sum up and typify Big Big Train, and notwithstanding the title of this album, it would have to be English. Whether they're writing about the Battle of Britain, as in the album “Gathering speed”, or talking about the building of Winchester Cathedral and Isembard Kingdom Brunel, as in their last album, “The underfall yard”, their quintessential Englishness is something that shines through their music and defines them. Put quite simply, they could not come from any other country. Their music resonates with images of the Devon hills, Yorkshire moors and the general beauty and wonder of the English countryside, and echoes with the long and often troubled history of England, but usually takes on a more reflective view of it, with gentle pastoral scenes painted in brushstokes of guitar and keyboard, flute and strings, creating a panoramic vista that is, as the poem says, forever England.

I must admit, I don't know how well they're known in the US, but I would hazard that their very Englishness might work against them. It's a peculiarly insular mindset, and much of their lyrics might not be fully understood by those who don't come from England, or at least Britain. Or Ireland. Genesis, whom they are continually compared to, and with good reason, found it difficult to break America under Peter Gabriel, their first few albums totally ignored “across the water”, and it wasn't until their charismatic frontman left and Phil Collins began nudging the band in a more commercial and modern direction that the USA began to warm to them. This is I fear the path BBT are heading down, and though I wish them every success, in every territory, and want to see them known across the world, I would yet prefer they remain unknown in America if it means that they have to change or tailor their sound to the, shall we say, less forgiving market over there.

Because what BBT have right now, and have had for almost twenty years, is an identity all their own which is inextricably linked and merged with the English countryside, the English way of life, English history and English lore, and it informs and drives their music in an almost supernatural way, as if the band are conjuring up the pagan gods of ancient Britain to stand beside them and be their muse. Should that Englishness be diluted or marred in any way, we will be unlikely to again hear albums of this incredibly high calibre.

As soon as David Longdon starts singing, if you haven't heard him before you instantly do a doubletake and wonder if Peter Gabriel has joined the band? His voice is that close to the ex-Genesis frontman's it's actually scary. Add in his flute playing on the opener “The first rebreather” and you're almost instantly back in Genesis territory, circa “Selling England by the pound” and “Trespass”. But there's much, much more to Big Big Train than a Genesis clone: they manage to somehow imbue the somewhat retro-progressive sounds with a spark of modern flair, so that you in essence get the best of both worlds: 70s original prog and bang up-to-date modern prog for the twenty-first century.

There are only eight tracks on this album, but each one is a revelation in and of itself. The gentle acoustic guitar of Greg Spawton merges with the harder electric from Dave Gregory to produce something that is very much more than just the sum of its parts, and Andy Poole's at times gentle, at times cantering keyboards lay another stratum on the beautiful edifice BBT are slowly building here. It is however the use of strings and woodwinds that truly sets this apart from some of the more comparable albums of this year, even Marillion's recently-reviewed “Sounds that can't be made”, although I love that album.

Everything from recorders and piccolos to trumpets and trombones is utilised across this album, making it much more than just another progressive rock album, and “The first rebreather” --- though I have no idea what it's about --- is a fine starter, preparing you for the lavish main course yet to come. Odd, then, you might think, when the next track opens on a hillbilly/bluegrass banjo and turns out to be a folky/country style eclectic little song, but it shows the band so confident in their ability, and in their fanbase, that they're not afraid to take a chance, and have some fun while doing it. It works quite well, Nick D'Virgilio's steady but happy drumbeats driving the song along, though the main melody is taken by the somewhat incongruous banjo, with some more fine flute from Longdon, who puts in a great performance on the light, crisp and whimsical vocal.

Flute and soft guitar leads in the laidback “Winchester from St. Giles' Hill”, with some beautiful vocal harmonies but with the main focal point of the piece being Longdon's lazy, gentle, again totally Gabrielesque voice, with the midsection graced by some truly beautiful sparkling piano, almost classical and certainly again recalling Genesis at their seventies best from Andy Poole, a sublime guitar solo from Spawton and then closes with some gentle flute. Ramping up the tempo very much then is “Judas unrepentant”, with a running organ line from Poole, heavy, solid percussion from D'Virgilio, and again sorry for the Genesis comparisons, but this reminds of nothing more than “In the cage” from “The lamb lies down on Broadway”, with its urgent, hasty rhythm and the frenetic keyboard line. It's not in any way meant to be a criticism.

A beautiful instrumental section follows at the midpoint, where flute, clarinet, violin and other orchestral instruments mesh with the keys and guitar and percussion to form a gorgeous backdrop to the song, until David Longdon's vocal comes back in, powerful and triumphant, and Poole goes off on a mellotron solo for a short moment before being reined back in by the vocal as the melody slows down to a sort of swinging, waltzy rhythm, lots of organ as it heads towards its end, finishing indeed on a drumroll flourish from Nick worthy of the ending of “The musical box”. Changing tack completely again, “Summoned by bells” is a soft, gentle, pastoral opening with the melody mostly driven by repeating piano and soaring violin, with some great bass lines by Greg Spawton. It's in fact the longest song on the album, over nine minutes, but just beating out the closer by twenty seconds, and meanders like a babbling brook winding through the English hills under the summer sun, evoking all sorts of images of bright sunlit days.

It's Spawton's bass pattern in fact, backed by trumpet and trombone that informs the last part of the song, as it moves into its seventh minute for an almost slow-jazz instrumental, with slow, measured and calculated drumming from D'Virgilio helping it on its way to the close. A lovely lilting guitar melody then opens “Upton Heath”, with Longdon at his vocal best, soft yet powerful with accompanying mandolin lines adding to the folkish flavour of the song, and some fine backing vocals from, among others, Martin Orford, and a real celtic feel added by accordion, also played by Longdon. Lovely interplay between the various violins, cellos and violas too.

But savour that feeling of innocence, of happiness, of enjoying life, because the mood is about to turn decidedly dark, with a tale about the plight of young boys who were sent down the mines in nineteenth century England. “A boy in darkness” is driven on sad cello and violin, with pealing church bells in the distance, then D'Virgilio's drums hit in like hammerblows and along their punching rhythm runs the urgent, almost screaming keyboard of Andy Poole, dramatic and tense. The tension is delineated even more by the dropping back of everything to a quiet, almost reflective vocal and soft melody for the verses, while everything explodes in a burst of anger and frustration for the chorus.

Suddenly everything is let loose, as Poole and Gregory go on something of a musical rampage, joined by flutes, violins, and of course the hammering drums until it all calms back down in the fifth minute, the soft violins crying their way back into the melody, with Longdon now sounding to my ears more like current Marillion vocalist Steve Hogarth. A big organ and guitar collaboration close the song, fading away on ominous dark keyboard chords.

After the darkness, the light, as the album closes on the upbeat and cheerful “Hedgerow”, with its almost Byrds-like guitar and happy Beatles-style drumming. Quite psychedelic in its way, it's a whimsical song, standing very much in contrast and apposite to “A boy in darkness”, and though you can't forget the former it's the latter you'll be humming to yourself as you put the album away. A song of hopes and dreams, simple things and desires, a song of a less complicated world, it does sound like it belongs more in the sixties than here, but then that's Big Big Train for you: fusing the old with the new, taking influences from the past to create the music of the present, and the future.

Every review I've read of this album has praised it to heaven, and I concur, with good reason. It's a brilliant album, and deserves all the kudos it's received. It shows Big Big Train maturing as a band, accepting some of the slight criticisms levelled at them --- for instance, being “too English”, sounding like a Genesis rip-off --- and instead of brooding about them or trying to change them, incorporating them into their sound and their music, and forging their own identity. BBT stand proudly and say “Yeah, we're influenced by Genesis, what of it? Doesn't mean we are Genesis, or would ever want to be!”

They know who they are, if they didn't before. They know where they're going, and if you like good progressive rock music that tips its hat unshamedly to the masters of the past, then you should hop along for the ride. Who knows where they're going next? Well, actually, we do: this is labelled as “part one”, and we're told part two will be released in March. It seems a long time, but I guess once we get past Christmas, that won't be all that long after all. I personally can't wait.

Big Big Train: long may they roll!

TRACKLISTING

1. The first rebreather
2. Uncle Jack
3. Winchester from St. Giles' Hill
4. Judas unrepentant
5. Summoned by bells
6. Upton Heath
7. A boy in darkness
8. Hedgerow

This week's planned reviews

As I mentioned in last night's music journals update thread, I kind of overreached myself trying to review too many albums at once, and it's become a bit of a strain, so from this week I'm taking it down to four per week. To keep both journals current, two will appear here and two will be shorter reviews which will go into "Bitesize", though I'm not telling you which is which (mostly as I haven't decided myself yet!). So with that in mind, here are the albums due for review over the course of this week:


On the 13th day by Magnum
Intersection by Nanci Griffith
Focus X by Focus (Yeah, they're still around!)
Ghostory by School of Seven Bells

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Been a long time since we looked at a cover version, so let's set that right now. I guess Rod must be something of a Waits fan; he's covered two of Tom's songs, both of which were hits for him, but of the two I prefer his cover of “Downtown train”. Now, I prefer Waits' version of course, being a big fan of his, but I have to admit Rod didn't do too bad a job with it. Mind you, he didn't exactly rewrite or rearrange it, and it's fairly much the same song, but sung without Waits' world-weary drawl and his vision of the world seen through the grimy window of a run-down motel. Rod did change a few things, like the phrasing, but stuck more or less to and retained the general spirit of the song. His version is also more polished, more fleshed out whereas Waits' is rawer, stripped-down, sparse but this is the very reason that it works as it does. Here anyway are the two side-by-side for you to compare, and decide which you prefer.

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Time to redress the gender balance here a little. Up to now I think I've only had one female artiste featured here, and that's not because I'm biased against women --- far from it --- but somehow my mind just tends to gravitate towards male artistes. I'll do my best to feature some more ladies, starting with this one.

One of the most accomplished songwriters I've come across, Suzanne Vega often picks odd topics for her songs. Sometimes they're dark and scary, like “Luka” from her “Solitude standing” album, or just weird, like “Small blue thing”, from her debut. But one thing she usually does is weave a story, however unsettling or fractured, around her lyrics, resulting not only in some amazing songs, but some damn fine prose too. This is one of those, taken from that debut, self-titled album that launched her career over a quarter of a century ago and gave her an instant hit with “Marlene on the wall”. This however was not a hit, but is a fine song, almost an adult fairytale, in which nobody gets to live happily ever after!

The queen and the soldier (Suzanne Vega) from “Suzanne Vega”, 1985
Music and lyrics by Suzanne Vega

It tells the story of a soldier who, tired of fighting, climbs the hill to the castle that overlooks the battlefield, demanding an audience with the queen, for whom the armies fight. Declaring he will no longer take part in battles that seem to be for her own personal amusement, he is surprised by how young and beautiful she is and despite his anger at her falls in love with her. He then makes an appeal to the young queen to come with him. She makes as if to agree, but at the last moment she gives the order to have him killed, and so the battles continue, endlessly.

At its heart, of course, it's a parable of the futility of war and, perhaps, the pointlessness in trying to find a reason for it. It's also the tale of an essentially spoiled brat --- worse, a royal spoiled brat --- who can command her subjects to do anything she desires, including die for her, for no reason, and does. And who takes a perverse delight in doing so. It's clear from the song as it goes on that she sees the wisdom in what the young soldier says, and part of her does yearn to leave it all behind and go off with him, but reality asserts itself and she decides she would rather be alone and in command than the wife of some lowly soldier. The young man has uncovered a weakness within her, one she did not know existed and one which, as the queen, she cannot afford, so she makes the decision, tearing it out by the roots, and the status quo remains.

The first time I heard the song I was shocked by the ending. If you don't know it's coming it's hard to predict, as it really does seem as if the tortured queen has had enough, and is going to give up the pointless wars and leave the castle. When she gives the order, it's almost as if you've been shot yourself; it's that much of a surprise and a twist. And that's what Vega does best; creeps up on you from behind and hits you over the head with an iron bar of shock, leaving you reeling. It's still my favourite song from her.

”The soldier came knocking upon the queen's door
He said, "I am not fighting for you any more".
The queen knew she'd seen his face someplace before
And slowly she let him inside.

He said, "I've watched your palace up here on the hill
And I've wondered who's the woman for whom we all kill?
But I am leaving tomorrow and you can do what you will:
Only first I am asking you why?"

Down in the long narrow hall he was led
Into her rooms with her tapestries red
And she never once took the crown from her head;
She asked him there to sit down.

He said, "I see you now, and you are so very young
But I've seen more battles lost than I have battles won,
And I've got this intuition says it's all for your fun
And now will you tell me why?"

The young queen, she fixed him with an arrogant eye
She said, "You won't understand, and you may as well not try"
But her face was a child's, and he thought she would cry
But she closed herself up like a fan.

And she said, "I've swallowed a secret burning thread;
It cuts me inside, and often I've bled."
He laid his hand then on top of her head
And he bowed her down to the ground.

"Tell me how hungry are you? How weak you must feel
As you are living here alone, and you are never revealed
But I won't march again on your battlefield"
And he took her to the window to see.

And the sun it was gold, though the sky it was gray;
And she wanted more than she ever could say;
But she knew how it frightened her, and she turned away
And would not look at his face again.

And he said, "I want to live as an honest man
To get all I deserve and to give all I can
And to love a young woman who I don't understand:
Your highness, your ways are very strange."

But the crown it had fallen, and she thought she would break
And she stood there, ashamed of the way her heart ached.
She took him to the doorstep and she asked him to wait:
She would only be a moment inside.

Out in the distance her order was heard
And the soldier was killed, still waiting for her word;
And while the queen went on strangling in the solitude she preferred
The battle continued on.”

Take me back to school --- I'm ready to learn.

Ghostory --- School of Seven Bells --- 2012 (Ghostly International)
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Strange thing about School of Seven Bells: I would never have been exposed to their music had it not been for the inclusion of the review of this album in my favourite mag, “Classic Rock presents Prog”. I was intrigued, and thought they were in fact a progressive rock band, when in fact it turns out they're really more ambient, electronic, and if Wiki is to be believed, my first introduction to shoegaze. Hmm. Well, I can definitely say that I'm impressed. Having realised they weren't really what I would think of as my normal prog rock band, I was still interested and attracted enough not to discount them, and their music continued on my playlist as I got more and more into the album.

So, who are School of Seven Bells? Well, they're a three-piece consisting of two identical sisters, Alejandra and Claudia Dehaza, and Benjamin Curtis, who met while in other bands and decided to leave their various projects and form School of Seven Bells. Though only together since 2007 they've already released four albums, two this year, of which this is the first. After the first two, however, Claudia left for personal reasons, reducing SSB to a duo, which is how the last two albums were recorded. Rather surprisingly, considering the type of music we're talking about here, I don't see any credits for keyboards, and indeed the only instruments mentioned are guitar and drums, though Curtis is shown also as “mixing”, so perhaps that involves some samples/synthwork? Can't see any evidence of such on the album though.

There are only nine tracks on the album, and no real epics, with the longest being the closer, coming in at just over eight and a half minutes, so the question has to be asked: is the album good value for money? On the strength of what I hear here (hear, hear!) I would have to say yes, it is, because each track is great and there are no real low points at all, rather rare on any album, although given this is my first --- albeit unwitting --- step into what's termed shoegaze territory, perhaps that's standard for the subgenre? I don't know, but this is certainly impressive.

The first thing that hits you is some pretty cool guitar, then the drums kick in and riding along a jaunty bassline the vocals of Alejandra are wispy, ethereal, almost elemental, like mist rising off a moor, a spirit in search of her former life. They drive everything about School of Seven Bells, and it's rather amazing really to think that this whole thing is created by just three people. The soundscape is certainly full, as “The night” opens proceedings with a big, bouncy, almost rocky beat, some clangy guitar reminiscent of the Police with a pounding drumbeat from Chris Colley that stops short of hammering into your head, and some great little tricks on the guitar that I definitely would have attributed to a synth.

The track ends on Alejandra's almost acapella vocals, then “Love play” opens on another sharp guitar line, augmented by thick bass and percussion, much slower and almost broody, showing the versatility of the singer, that she can handle slow, almost downbeat vocals with as much aplomb as she does the more uptempo material, and sounds quite comfortable in either sphere. However Ben Curtis's massive contribution to the music should not be overlooked; after all, without him Alejandra would be singing acapella, or at least, with only percussion as backup. It's really impressive how expansive he makes his guitar melodies sound, and you really do have to remind yourself that this is his only instrument.

Like I said, if this is what shoegaze is all about I think I may like it. “Lafaye” edges more into trance territory, with big, heavy, thumping drumbeats and low bass, and it sounds as if Curtis is adding his vocal in here too, the net effect reminding me of The Eurythmics at times. Turning things a bit more on the industrial side is “Low times”, one of the longer tracks, with sharp, almost metallic drumming and a soft yet powerful vocal which for the first time almost --- how can I put this? --- solidifies. If we go back to my analogy of Alejandra as a disembodied spirit, her voice floating like a ghost, this is the first time she takes corporeal form and you hear a little more of the punch in her vocal. It's quite a boppy number, shades of New Order's “Blue Monday” maybe --- I don't know; I'm not that familiar with this sort of music. But there's definitely a part in the middle that mirrors that famous isolated drumming during that iconic song. Curtis's guitar is almost a heartbeat running through the music, simple but very effective. I don't really see him as being the kind of guy who does much shredding, or even rips off that many solos. He's more a workmanlike guitarist, concentrating on making it sound the best he can rather than showing off or being clever. There's a point near the end of the track however where I find it hard to believe he's not using a synth, but if that's the case then he's damn innovative. I can only go on what I've found about SSB, and no keyboards of any kind are mentioned.

Everything goes right down then for “Reappear”, with virtually no percussion and a very laidback, moody guitar line and sweeping soundscapes, Alejandra's vocal slow and dreamy, reflective and melancholic. Very ambient, and definitely the most downtempo on the album thus far. Some nice sliding bass accompanies the main melody, which is very ethereal, and then we're into “Show me love”, which fades in on a squeaky guitar line allied to a hard, churning guitar after which the drumbeat joins the melody and finally Alejandra's voice, ghostly and echoing, drifts across the music, painting her own little brushstrokes on the tune as the percussion gets a bit heavier and some sequenced voices come in and it definitely sounds like there's a keyboard in there. Hey, sue me if not. Or give Ben Curtis proper respect.

The tension in the melody builds up nicely right to the end, then “Scavenger” comes in on a driving drumbeat again somewhat reminscent of New Order, or what I've heard of them, which isn't much. Perhaps Depeche Mode. Something in that line. I'm not quite in my wheelhouse here, as they seem to be saying these days. Kind of reminds me of The The, now that I listen to it develop. Good uptempo track and again Alejandra's vocals are a little more back on earth and not quite so ethereal, with Curtis's guitar verging into Big Country/U2 territory. Time-delayed backing multi-tracked vocals add to the lady's already powerful and hypnotic vocal delivery, and there's a definite sense of OMD hidden away there in the melody.

One thing that really impresses me about this album is that really nothing drags. None of the songs are that overlong, to be fair, but every one seems to go by without any low points or bad ideas, and I doubt I'd skip a single track here. True, there are only nine tracks, but damned if they aren't all close to perfect. “White wind” rides on a recurring rocky guitar phrase from Ben Curtis, with again Alejandra's voice fuller, less ethereal, more grounded, and either some very fast basswork, or else it has to be a synthesiser. Very catchy anyway; I'm sure this would be great music to dance to. Or get stoned to.

School of Seven Bells have, however, saved the very best to last, and the standout comes in as also the longest track. Eight and a half minutes long, “When you sing” is a true triumph and really encapsulates what this band are all about. It starts on what surely must be strings, or at least a synth, then slow growling guitar slides in with spiralling soundscapes, some feedback and then a jangly guitar melody before everything stops for half a second, starts back up and the tempo rises. We don't hear any vocals till about two minutes in, and it's Alejandra at her ghostly, ethereal best, rising above the music, looking down and smiling upon it but subtly disconnected from it, a living spirit who can't touch the ground but can use her singing as her only communication, which is answered by Ben Curtis and drummer Chris Colley, the three meshing as one entity to produce something really special.

It's pure expressionism through music, ambient to the max, and yet with a rocky touch and some new-wave influences that really brings the song together into one cohesive whole. All through the album I've found it hard to make out the vocals, and really that would normally be a minus, but somehow with SSB this hasn't mattered to me as much as I would have thought it would. The pure, ambient, almost organic nature of the music makes it such that really, Alejandra could sing the telephone book or instructions for setting up Sky Plus on my TV and I'd still listen to her. She just has that sort of power, that magnetism in her voice that does, as I said before, really hypnotise you and you just want to listen to her sing. It doesn't matter what she's singing, you just want to hear her. And so this closing track is very appropriate, because Alejandra Dehaza, when you sing, I listen. And I enjoy.

TRACKLISTING

1. The night
2. Love play
3. Lafaye
4. Low times
5. Reappear
6. Show me love
7. Scavenger
8. White wind
9. When you sing

Sometimes there are happy accidents, and I would classify this as just such. Had this music not been quoted as being progressive rock, it's unlikely I would have got this album --- though I do tend often to be drawn to intriguing band names or album titles --- and I'm really glad I did. I'm not saying that I'm automatically going to like everything they do, or that I'm going to become a shoegaze aficionado (if this is indeed shoegaze), but I definitely want to hear more of this band's material.

It's not always an unlucky number...
On the thirteenth day --- Magnum --- 2012 (SPV/Steamhammer)
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What a joy it is to hear an album like this! Yeah, so prepare for a real nasty review, picking apart this sub-par load of ... no, seriously, this is one excellent album. I can't pick out a single track I don't like, and even then it's hard to tie down just one standout. It's a real triumph, and shows that the boys from Brum are still going as strong as ever, almost thirty-five years later. How bands who have been in the business that long can still manage to churn out releases of this quality is both amazing and uplifting. There's no sign of weariness, tension or even complacency as Magnum launch into what is now their sixteenth album, and their sixth since the reformation of the band in 2002.

It opens with the sound of synth and thunder, building slowly under the familiar humming vocal of Bob Catley until it all explodes into life and “All the dreamers” gets us underway with the screaming guitar of Tony Clarkin and the pounding drumbeats of Harry James, augmented by the instantly recognisable keys of Mark Stanway. I hear elements of the title track to “Brand new morning” in parts of the melody, and it strides along on cocky, confident lines showing a band with nothing to prove, just in it for the pure joy of making music. A great guitar section by Clarkin in the final minute really ramps up the power and tension before the end, then “Blood red laughter” is a punch to the face with a big churning guitar opening but dropping back quickly into an AOR-style melody, Catley's vocals less raw and gruff and Stanway's piano keeping a nice line behind him, the whole song possessing a sort of progressive rock vibe.

A violin-like keyboard melody opens “Didn't like you anyway”, stop-start with guitar backing it up, and it rides along a bouncing beat with Catley's vocals again dark and rough, the song ending as it began on those stabbing strings keyboards of Stanway's and then segueing directly into the title track, a big heavy AOR monster with driving guitar and that familiar Magnum sound, some great vocal harmonies between Catley and Clarkin, and a great guitar solo from the latter which shows he is certainly one of the most underappreciated guitarists in rock today. Nice piano intro into “So let it rain”, then it becomes a real anthemic pounder with a great hook and surely must be a contender for one of the singles from the album?

Much heavier, with grinding guitar and bassy piano, almost metal is “Dance of the black tattoo”, with another excellent hook delivered by Bob Catley's powerful drawl alongside Tony Clarkin's machine-gun guitar attack. This is a song that sticks in your head long after it's over, with elements of Ten and Dio in it, and a heavy enough effect to satisfy even the most discerning of headbangers. A rippling, jaunty piano line drives “Shadow town” in the finest of AOR melodies, with Catley's vocal pulled right back in just the way he knows how to do, toning down the growl but without losing the passion and power that characterises his singing. There are enough hooks in this album to outfit a tackle shop, and “Shadow town” is no exception as it drives along on a rollicking drumbeat and the bright, happy piano of Mark Stanway.

A big strings-heavy synth opens “Putting things in place”, the ballad on the album and again Catley is able to reduce the power in his voice to deliver a tender, passionate vocal as Stanway's piano takes the lead, some more great vocal harmonies courtesy of Clarkin and indeed Al Barrow on bass. It's another of Magnum's special power ballads, and really would be worth the price of purchase on its own, but there's so much on this album that you almost feel like you should be paying more for it. If you paid for it, that is. Quite country-influenced piano, reminds me of the best of Bob Seger, very emotional and very dramatic, then we're into “Broken promises”, with a big expansive guitar opening, leading into a real rocker riding on the twin rails of Clarkin's guitar and Stanway's organ work. Another big rocker then in “See how they fall”, very anthemic, lots of energy and the album then ends on a slower but no less heavy “From within”, a very worthy closer.

TRACKLISTING

1. All the dreamers
2. Blood red laughter
3. Didn't like you anyway
4. On the thirteenth day
5. So let it rain
6. Dance of the black tattoo
7. Shadow town
8. Putting things in place
9. Broken promises
10. See how they fall
11. From within

As I said at the beginning, a great album from a great band who have been going for almost three and a half decades now, and every time seem to pull a rabbit out of the hat. Since they reformed in 2002 Magnum seem to have found a new purpose, a new energy and a new determination to produce the very best music they're capable of. They've certainly succeeded in creating here an album that will go down on the shortlist for my best of 2012. Who'd bet against their fortieth anniversary concert?

This week's planned reviews

There's something of a progressive rock flavour to my choice of album reviews for this week (what a surprise!), with albums which, unlike last week's crop, you probably have never heard of. There's something for metalheads too, though. So with that in mind, here are the albums due for review over the course of this week:


Guardians by The Winter Tree
Music for sharks by Red Sand
Arrivals and departures by The Calm Blue Sea
Wolfsbane saves the world by Wolfsbane

Quality over quantity, always.

Behind the mask --- Red Sand --- 2012 (Self-released)
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Okay, so I made a mistake in announcing what albums were to be reviewed this week, but it's sort of understandable. I've been listening to “Music for sharks” for a few weeks now, and it's a damn fine album. Unfortunately, for our purposes here it's not eligible as it was actually released back in 2009, but from what I've heard from this band this album should be as good if not better. So apologies if you were expecting a review of “Music for sharks” --- I'm sure I'll get around to it in the new year. But for now, we're concentrating on albums released this year, so we're looking at their new one.

All of which probably means nothing to you. Red Sand, you ask? Who the hell are they, and why should I care? Essentially the solo project of one man, Simon Caron, who you're unlikely to have heard of unless you know the other bands he was involved in, such as Fenix and Ocean (yeah, thought not: me neither), who took a break from the music biz for some time but eventually returned to it and put together Red Sand in 2004, putting out their first album that year with four more following, the last being released in 2009, that aforementioned “Music for sharks”. This, then, is their fifth and latest album. Based in Canada, Red Sand have been receiving a lot of praise from those over there in the know about progressive rock, and look to have a pretty bright future if they, in common with many Canadian acts, can break out of the somewhat insular world of Canadian rock music and walk out onto the world stage.

Red Sand are a little unusual in that their albums are usually quite low in terms of track count. Their first three albums had only four (yeah, I said four!) songs each, though some of them were epics in fairness, with 2005's “Gentry” having one that was eighteen minutes and one that was nineteen, while “Human trafficking” had a sixteen and an eighteen. In fact, “Music for sharks”, although it had two extra tracks, so six in all, was the first album not to feature two songs over ten minutes long, having just the one, “Shark man”, which runs for just over sixteen. This one pushes that boundary even further, with six tracks but the longest of which is a mere (!) eleven minutes, with some quite short ones too.

“Zero of war” opens the album, with strong eastern elements in the melody, powerful guitars from Simon Caron and thundering percussion from Perry Angellino, a thick bassline from Matthieu Rosselin carrying the opening melody until vocalist Matthieu Lessand comes in with a strong vocal and then the keyboards that have characterised Red Sand for years and damned them --- unfairly --- as Fish-era Marillion rip-offs take control, and you can see why people say this about them. Like recently reviewed Mystery's links to Yes though, or even Big Big Train's protestations that they are not Genesis, these similarities, while striking, are surface, and if you dig below that veneer to the real music and heart of this band you'll find a lot more going on.

Again, there's Steve Rothery-like guitar in the piece, but then Simon has been influenced over his life by the work of the Marillion guitarist, as well as giants like Gilmour and Albert Collins, so something is bound to translate through into his own work. But listen for the subtle nuances in his playing, and though at first you might think you were listening to Steve, you can soon make out that this guy is a whole different kettle of fish (sorry!) and has his own style, which blends the influences of all his heroes into one overarching whole.

Truth to tell, over its eight and a half minute run there's not that much in the way of vocals on “Zero of war”, making them the more effective when they come back in near the end and you realise what an asset Matthieu Lessand is to Red Sand, and how well, and sparingly, they use him. But of course it's Caron's band, and his guitars and keyboards take centre stage most of the time, showing him to be a real virtuoso on both instruments.

The title track then is the longest, as mentioned, just under eleven and a half minutes, and opens with indeed a very Marillionesque chiming guitar, with some squealy keyboards backing and then we hear how Lessand sounds when he tones it down, his voice still strong and powerful but quite restrained. You can hear the French accent (should I say Canadian? I'm not sure which is more acceptable) leaking through, but his English is perfect and the end result is a sort of exotic blend of dialects and tones which makes his singing that much more effective. It's a slow start to the song, but there's plenty of time to change it up, as we're only in the third minute.

Big breakout guitar solo from Caron then, on the back of slow, steady drumbeats from Angellino, more Mark Kelly-style keys coming into the melody as it ramps up then falls back in the fifth minute, before Caron unleashes a second solo, very evocative and emotional, continuing into the seventh where it picks up the tempo a little, the percussion and bass changing to match Caron's lead. And still it goes on, into the eighth with no signs of stopping: certainly one of the longest guitar solos I've heard, falling finally to rippling piano and bass as we head into the ninth minute, and again it's clear that the vocal line on this song too is going to be sparse, in fact it's well into the ninth when Lessand comes back in on the back of the piano melody. He sings more strongly now as the song moves towards its final minutes and begins to wind down, ending on, you guessed it, another fine guitar solo, but this time evoking much more of Gilmour than Rothery, quite similar in small ways to the ending of “Comfortably numb”.

It's clear, as the album goes on, that Red Sand are primarily a vehicle for Simon Caron's guitar playing, and this is shown again in the short instrumental which he calls “Reflection”, a minute and a half of lovely laidback acoustic work, featuring him solo, and then “Memory of past” opens with a big growling synth then some sharp strummed guitar lines, the synth settling down to a nice soft piano which then takes over the song, joined by what sounds like a violin or cello, and with the song two minutes already into its five, you have to wonder if this is another instrumental? As the drums crash in and the electric guitar fires off, it seems obvious that it is, and the tempo rises slightly as Caron's guitar again takes over, the piano replaced by synthesiser lines now a good bit further down in the mix.

You could, perhaps, chide Caron for his overuse of the guitar, and it certainly is the star of just about every track, but then, when you hear him play you sort of understand why he gives so much time to his weapon of choice. I mean, he's good on keys too, but it's at the fretboard that he really shines, and really, it's hard to imagine getting tired of listening to his playing. That said, some variety might be nice, not to mention some more vocals. The Marillion influences come back on the rocky “Mask of liberty”, with an opening almost lifted out of “He knows you know”, but some nice choral vocals on the synth lift the song away from such comparisons as it develops.

Lessand emulates Magnum's Bob Catley as he breaks in with the vocal along a busy keyboard line and as another guitar solo hits, and for the first time I hear backing vocals here, though they could be his multi-tracked. Nice little carnival-style keyboard-driven melody about halfway through before the choral vocals come back in and the guitar chimes in workmanlike as the squeaky keys return, then a lovely mournful little guitar solo backed by bass brings the song home as slow, steady percussion joins in, then we're into the closer.

“Veil of insanity” features some nice violin and acoustic guitar, a slow, balladic feel to it, then a sort of incongruous hard guitar before piano takes over and Lessand's tortured vocal takes the song into new dimensions with a fine performance, perhaps his best on the album. It does however fade out a little too ineffectually, though strangely enough my copy has an unnamed seventh track on it which is a really nice instrumental, mostly led by keys and percussion. Whether that's meant to be part of the album, is a track from another, or is an extra I don't know. Not surprisingly, information on Red Sand is not exactly Wiki-friendly. I would like it if this were the closer though: it would make more sense.

TRACKLISTING

1. Zero of war
2. Behind the mask
3. Reflection
4. Memory of past
5. Mask of liberty
6. Veil of insanity

To be fair, I like “Music for sharks” better than this album. For one thing, the vocalist is better utilised there, although maybe that's because it's Matthieu Lessand's first outing with Red Sand. But the music just seems a little tighter on MFS than here. That's not to say this is not a great album; it certainly is, but with only six tracks to judge them on I think it was something of a mistake to have so much of it instrumental. The album is, essentially, an instrumental one with the odd vocal thrown in. A strange idea, but yet it does seem to work. I'll be watching closely for their next release, and having only listened to MFS up to now, I think I'll have to go back and catch up on their earlier work too.

Don't let the strangely cartoonish album sleeve fool you: these are some very serious musicians!

Not as calm and collected as I would have wished to have been...
Arrivals and departures --- The Calm Blue Sea --- 2012 (Modern Outsider)
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Here, once again, is a band I know nothing at all about, just liked the name and had a quick listen then decided to buy. What I can tell you, from their own website, is that they appear to be natives of Austin, Texas, but other than that their site falls into the fatal trap of assuming everyone who visits it knows who they are, like a Facebook page. I don't, and I can't get even a band resume or biog from their site, which I feel deserves pointing out. You're not superstars yet, gents! If you want people to find out about you, post some bloody information on your website!

I had to dig around on the web and came across a blog, which helpfully informed me that the band are a quintet, and that their names are Chris, Max, Steve, Noah and Jeff, but that's it. No surnames. Jesus guys, you may be a great band but tell someone who the **** you are! It's really frustrating, having to search so hard for this very basic information that anyone needs, whether they're going to buy your albums, go to your shows or write a review of you. Calm, calm, calm... (blue sea)...

Okay, well that didn't work. Going to their record label's website I get even further frustrated, as here they're trumpeted as a four-piece, named Chris Patin, Steve Bidwell (okay so far) and, er, Kyle Robarge? Taylor Wilkins?What the hell? What happened to Noah and Jeff? And Max? And where did these other guys come from?

Ah, me head hurts! Let's just listen to the music, shall we? Hopefully it'll calm me down.

The album, their second, has only eight tracks, and they're all instrumental. Well, mostly. Sort of. It opens with the title, nice soft piano with swirling synthy sounds behind, simple tune which lasts just over a minute and segues directly into “Samsara”, the piano getting a bit deeper and fuller but retaining the same basic melody. Somewhat similar to recently-reviewed band The Deadstation, there are vocals it would seem, but they're buried deep in the mix, quite echoey and distant, which I think is intentional, so as not to distract perhaps from the purity of the music. They also don't last too long, fading away as percussion hits in and guitar thrums in on the back of it, and the song appears to be slow and laidback but with a certain power of its own.

Piano certainly drives this track, though from the fragmented information I've managed to piece together I can't tell you who plays it, which is a pity. Good guitar work though from Chris Patin, as the tempo jumps and the song gets a good deal faster, mostly on the back of his fretwork and Bidwell's drumming. There's a big, unexpected, almost metal guitar ending to the song, falling back to the lone piano to take it out, and then we're into “We will never be as young as we are tonight”, which again opens on strong piano but this time backed almost immediately by guitar, and coming across as much heavier altogether. The song slows down then about halfway through, keyboards coming in to soften the sound and wispy, ethereal vocals drifting in like morning mist.

Then it all changes again as the guitar ramps up, putting the punch back into the track before it slips back on piano and bass to its conclusion. “Pont des mouton” comes in very slowly and quietly on chiming keyboard notes and soft guitar, then heavy percussion cuts in and the guitar gets a bit more snarly, getting again quite metal in the closing minutes of the track as it powers ahead. Some more fine guitar work here from Chris Patin. “Diaspora” then sort of revisits the theme of the opener, but with ghostly vocals added --- really not sure about this. I don't think it adds anything to the music, in fact I believe it detracts from it. Better if they just left this as instrumental. Nice languid tune though with sort of repeat pattern on the keyboard beneath the piano melody, almost like pizzicato strings in a way. Moving on into “Mary Ann Nichols” we have another soft piano melody with more echoed/faded vocals and some nice guitar lines, another slow song, quite laidback though again that's not true, as Patin fires up his guitar and pulls the whole thing off-course and into heavy metal/rock territory, changing the whole shape of the song, and not for the worse.

“Tesoro”, at least, starts as it means to go on, with big heavy guitar and pounding drums, a pulsating bass line and a nice driving rhythm that pretty much keeps constant throughout the song, and we end on “To approach the Vivian girls”, which is slow and lazy, downtempo and really rather beautiful, with some soft introspective guitar, some echoey, slow drumming and a nice piano line to it. It builds up about halfway with what sound like vocal harmonies and powerful guitar, and fades out quite nicely.

The problem reviewing instrumental albums has been mentioned by me here before, and yet this is not quite an instrumental outing, as there are some vocals, albeit sparse and even then not very discernible. The music can't be faulted, but I would definitely have preferred to have had some more information about the band before writing this, and I just could not find it. I'm not sure whether to take that as arrogance, that The Calm Blue Sea believe everyone knows who they are, or if it's a genuine oversight, though obviously I hope for the latter.

TRACKLISTING

1. Arrivals and departures
2. Samsara
3. We will never be as young as we are tonight
4. Pont des mouton
5. Diaspora
6. Mary Ann Nichols
7. Tesoro
8. To approach the Vivian girls

There are, of course, a lot of these bands around now, and you'd have to ask yourself what makes these guys stand out from the many others out there. I really don't have the answer; they may not be destined to be the biggest band in the world, even the biggest instrumental (or nearly instrumental) band, but I really like this album and I can see them doing well.

How well, only time will tell.

Upto Page 134

Manowar: Just finished looking at your Hail to England Manowar review but I do actually think this is their best album along with the Triumph of Steel. Their first two albums are great stuff as well but Hail to England was their peak achievement and was the album the band were always leading upto. This is in your face heavy metal with a cranked up volume, that only Manowar really know how to do. It's one of the great metal albums of its type, but I appreciate that's it's mostly going to appeal to lovers of power metal only.

Another great band passes by in virtual obscurity...
Guardians --- The Winter Tree --- 2012 (Self-released)
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It's rare you come across an album like this by accident, so I'm grateful for the fortunate happenstance. Formerly known as Magus, The Winter Tree have only been in existence in this form since 2010, with this their second album, though they have had several under the name of Magus. They have also undergone lineup changes, though the driving force behind both bands, and founder of both, remains Andrew Laitres (who for some strange reason is also known as Andrew Robinson), multi-instrumentalist and composer. For the new band (or second incarnation of the old one, if you prefer) he has enlisted the aid of a husband and wife team, Mark Bond on guitars and vocals, and his wife Deb on keyboards.

The overall sense you get from this album is soft, gentle, pastoral, even acoustic. It's laidback music, though not always; soft-focus and mesmerising, with some amazing musical talent behind it. The opener, “Visions”, is a short instrumental, which features dramatic, ethereal keys and some fine guitar from Mark Bond, almost Gilmouresque at times, leading into the first real track, “Voice on the wind”, in which we get to hear that not only does Mark Bond play a fine guitar, he has a great voice too. With a funky, almost Alan Parsons-style melody and rhythm, it's punctuated by rippling piano almost reminiscent of the Doors on “Riders on the storm”. The guitar gets a bit harder and punchier, and Deb Bond's keyswork is at times quite Genesis-like, particularly in the arpeggios and runs.

“The sparrow” then has a long, atmospheric instrumental introduction, about two minutes of the six the song runs for, and when Bond's vocal comes in it's on the back of a solid piano line, the tune itself a little rustic and gentle, with some fine brass effects on the synth from Andrew, quite Van Der Graaf Generator in tone. Nice sort of uptempo folky feel to the song, taking us into the title track, which has shimmering keyboard effects and some bright piano from Deb Bond, almost vibraphone-like, then solid percussion cuts in and with some rising keyboard and some guitar touches this becomes the second instrumental, much more boppy and uptempo than the previous track. It fades out, leading into a lovely acoustic guitar opening for “Elune”, another folk-tinged gentle tune where again Bond's voice shines as the main light.

Beautiful violin or violin-effects on the synth add drama to the proceedings, with soft sprinklings of piano, the whole thing evoking a scene from “Lord of the Rings”. A superb little guitar solo from Bond sets the seal on the song, while “The woman and the dragon” is yet another instrumental, revisiting the very best of early to mid-seventies Genesis, but in a very good way, almost a tribute, with a sort of marching/breathing rhythm to the keyboards and soft but insistent piano very redolent of Banks at his best. There's a whistling keyboard and soft acoustic guitar intro to “Beautiful world”, a lovely little ballad where Mark Bond really comes into his own as a vocalist, his voice gently bitter yet without any rancour or recrimination as he talks to the earth and asks for forgiveness: ”Have we poisoned your waters/ And ruined your air/ We're just killing ourselves/ So many don't care.” The theme fits in perfectly with the organic nature of the music of The Winter Tree, and it's topped off by a searing guitar solo. Another long instrumental intro to the longest track on the album, “Good times”, led by Bond's classical guitar under which his wife's keyboards ripple and chirp like birds. As the drums punch in, backing vocals with a very Pink Floyd/Roger Waters feel join the song, but it continues to ride on the main guitar line.

Deb's keys set up quite an orchestral sound in the final minute, and her hubby comes back with again a guitar solo worthy of the great G himself, the album closing on “City of light”, an almost incongruously uptempo, thumping tune driven on solid keyboards and of course heavy percussion. Another instrumental, it features a very rock-and-roll guitar solo from Mark Bond, slowing down about halfway before kicking back into life again and taking off at full speed under Debs' trumpeting keys. It's an interesting, unexpected way to end the album, and while I think I might have liked to have heard more of Mark Bond's singing, The Winter Tree have crafted a fine album here that is probably going to remain quite obscure and unknown, which is a real pity.

TRACKLISTING

1. Visions
2. Voice on the wind
3. The sparrow
4. Guardians
5. Elune
6. The woman and the dragon
7. Beautiful world
8. Good times
9. City of light

(Footnote: This is the first album I've come across where there are no samples at all on YouTube. Not one. And due to legal complications I'm reluctant to make any more Yts myself, so the best I can do is direct you to some sound samples here Home or you could decide to buy the album from either of the links on that page.)

Stick THIS in your stocking!!!!
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He's makin' a list, checkin' it twice... ooh yeah, we're into the final runup to that favourite of department stores and advertising executives, for some the most important birthday of the year, for others a chance to get the family together and have a big fight. The month credit cards dread, and which trees live in fear of. That time of the year when you look despairingly at your budget and wonder if the kids would still believe in having an “imagination Christmas”?

Twenty-four days to go to the big one; Santa Claus is gearing up his sleigh, Rudolph is desperately trying to clean up his act again this year, and everyone from Argos to Boots, from Walmart to PC World have ideas for “the perfect Christmas gift”, but you know you're going to end up with either a voucher or some badly-needed socks and underwear, or maybe aftershave, the latter of which is even worse to receive if you're a guy! ;) But here at Music Banter we all know what we're going to hope to get for Xmas, and whether it's hardcore punk, freestyle jazz, depressive suicidal black metal or progressive rock, we're all pointing to our favourite albums online and hoping our parents/friends/significant other/anyone who has money is watching, and taking note.

But this is a selection of albums nobody in their right mind is going to want to see in their stocking come Christmas morning!
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I'm not talking about “Santa's Greatest Hits”, or “Now that's what I call Christmas”, or any of the other many, many compilations or collections of dubious Christmas songs that get churned out every year. They're bad enough, but hey, we all want to hear Christmas songs at the party, don't we? And there have been some decent ones down the years, from the perennial favourites like Slade's “Merry Xmas everybody”, Lennon's “Merry Xmas (War is over)” and Wham's “Last Christmas” to the downright awful, with songs like Mud's “It'll be lonely this Christmas”, Brenda Lee's “Rockin' around the Christmas tree” and, er, Wham's “Last Christmas”, to say nothing of timeless gems like Bing's “White Christmas” and Mathis's “When a child is born”. No, these songs all have their deserved place in the season, and Christmas without them would be like Christmas without Santa or the cold silence following the argument at the dinner table, or pretending to like that horrible pressie your aunt just gave you. Again. For the fourth Christmas in a row.

No, I'm talking here about artistes who make one-off Christmas albums; people who have no business doing so, some who in fact have no business making albums at all, and are only cashing in on the Christmas market in order to sell some units and beef up their already healthy bank balance. Albums with titles like “A [insert artiste name here] Christmas” or “Christmas with [insert artiste name here]”; albums that you know are either going to be filled with the artiste's interpretation of carols and Christmas songs, or which, even worse, are going to contain original Christmas songs, written by them (or for them) “especially for this festive season”. Ugh!

So anyway, these are not in order, as I would never have the time nor the stamina to listen to them enough to be able to rate them, but they are without question some of the worst Christmas albums ever recorded. They will in no way be the usual in-depth reviews I write --- you'll hear no mention of “a rippling keyboard melody backed up by growling guitar” --- and will in fact be very short, whimsical and satirical reviews, mostly focussing on the possible reasons why someone would record such a thing, apart from the obvious.

I'll be doing one a day, right up to Christmas Day, so no matter how awful that Christmas gift is, be thankful no-one thought to get you any of these turkeys!

Disclaimer: Oh come on! I shouldn't have to write this, should I? Oh very well then, my lawyers insist... This section is meant to be for fun only, so any jokes made here at the expense of any artiste should not be taken as overly critical of them. No insult or disrespect is intended, and please try to take everything said here with a pinch of reality (or cop-on, as we say here in Ireland) and in the spirit of Christmas.

And so.. on, Dasher! On, Prancer! On... er, the other ones! We've got twenty-five terrible albums to feature, and Christmas Day is fast approaching!

Now, few things in life are as scarily wholesome as the Waltons! The image George H.W. (no, I don't think it stands for “huge wank---”) Bush wanted America to emulate, they were for decades the most sickeningly sweet family on TV. I much preferred the Ingalls. But this is their album, and you're going to be subject to the full force of their “Mom and Apple Pie” (TM) brand of Americana on it.


A Waltons Christmas: Together again --- The Waltons (cast) --- 1999 (Page Music)
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To get us “in the mood” (for slitting our wrists, perhaps?) we have the famous (or infamous, depending on how you remember it) theme from the show, followed by a spoken narrative about how great life was on Walton Mountain, where time always seemed to stand still and no-one hated anyone, on into some bluegrass on “Christmas time's a-comin'” --- yeah, we know, guys. There are no less than four “intros”, which are basically a minute or less of spoken material, and much of the rest is what you'd expect from the Waltons: hillbilly, thigh-slappin', toe-tappin', I'm-in-Hell country downhome uptempo tunes, with some Christmas favourites thrown in. But hold on, cos even those Xmas standards like “Sleigh ride”, “All I want for Christmas” and “Have yourself a merry little Christmas” are all dang-fired countryfied, y'all! Yeah, everything comes with a double-thick helping of country and bluegrass, making me almost wish I was listening to “Now that's what I call Christmas” --- yeah, that bad! Christ, we even get “John Boy” reading a poem! Shoot me now!

Ah, if you loved the Waltons, you'll love this. Probably. If, like me, their unpalatable, unreal over-niceness stuck in your throat, you're gonna think you've got a turkey bone lodged there if you are unlucky enough to have to listen to this. Me, I'm for headin' up that thar mountain trail with a loaded double-barreled and a few mean dogs: who's with me?

TRACKLISTING

1. Waltons theme
2. Earl Hamner's narrative
3. Christmas time's a-comin'
4. Intro to mama's applesauce cake
5. Mama's applesauce cake
6. Sleigh ride
7. Follow that star
8. That's what Christmas means to me
9. Intro to Have yourself a merry little Christmas
10. Have yourself a merry little Christmas
11. Intro to Snowmanland
12. Snowmanland
13. Twas the night before Christmas
14. Little drummer boy
15. Home for the holidays
16. Santa's big parade
17. Intro to All I want for Christmas
18. All I want for Christmas
19. Good night

PS Luckily for you good folks I was unable to track down any videos from this album, but on for the other albums, where I can, I'll feature one video. You have been sufficiently warned; click on future YouTubes at your own risk... :laughing:

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Country Christmas Party --- Various Artists --- 2000 (Planet Song)
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Yeah, I know Country music has its detractors, and is well placed to be the butt of many a joke about farmers, hicks and steel pedal guitars, but come on! This has got to set their cause back by fifty years at least! You have the likes of John Denver singing “Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer”, accompanied by a very annoying children's choir, Charley Pride crooning about “Christmas in my town”, and Gene Autry, “the Singing Cowboy” himself, belting out a cracked version of “Frosty the snowman”! And that's without enduring “The 12 days of Christmas” in the company of the Nashville Session Singers, listening to Liberace (Liberace?) doing “The little drummer boy” STOP IT (wasn't he a pianist? Oh, right: it's an instrumental piano version. Of course!) while Glen Campbell wishes you should “Have yourself a merry little Christmas”. Not bloody likely, Glen!

Even the class acts get roped in, with Crystal Gayle, one of the first ladies of Country, contributing a song called “Whose child is this?” set to the air of “Greensleeves” (must admit, it's quite nice), Lynn Anderson giving her rendition of “Joy to the world” and even the mighty Johnny Cash drawling “Hark the herald angels sing”. Oh yeah, and Charley Pride, not content with the one contribution, has to pop up near the end for an encore with “O little town of Bethlehem”. O dear, say I!

Now, before anyone asks “Well have you actually listened to this album before damning it?” I check and see my ears are still attached and functioning, and I say no, not all the way. I've sampled some of the albums in this list; listened to a few tracks, as many as I could bear, but in the end they're essentially the same material, perhaps with the odd slant on one or two, but generally they're the Christmas songs, carols and hits we all know and either love or loathe.

Sure, there will be the odd original composition, and in those cases I'll lend them an ear, but otherwise it's just a quick hop-skip-and-a-jump through these albums to get a feel for them. How then do I feel justified in criticising something I haven't bothered to listen to? To that I say, it's Christmas, it's a bit of fun, and I don't have the time or desire to actually listen to all of the music here. I'm happy just to slag it off. You have a problem with that, here's a linkGoogle Image Result for http://dorrys.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/03/flip-the-bird1.jpg you can use...

(Don't worry, Country fans: I'm sure there's a “Metal's Greatest Christmas Hits” in there somewhere too, and if so it'll be getting just such a pasting. You are not alone!)

TRACKLISTING

1. Hark! The herald angels sing (Johnny Cash)
2. Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer (John Denver)
3. Virgin Mary (Lonnie Donegan)
4. Christmas in my home town (Charley Pride)
5. I heard the bells on Christmas (Eddy Arnold)
6. Holy night (Ronnie Milsap)
7. The twelve days of Christmas (The Nashville Session Singers)
8. Frosty the snowman (Gene Autry)
9. I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus (Bobby Sherman)
10. Christmas lullaby (Melanie)
11. The little drummer boy (Liberace)
12. Have yourself a merry little Christmas (Glen Campbell)
13. Jingle bells (Pat Boone)
14. Pretty paper (Willie Nelson)
15. What child is this (Crystal Gayle)
16. Joy to the world (Lynn Anderson)
17. O little town of Bethlehem (Charley Pride)
18. Sing we Noel (The Kingston Trio)

This week's planned reviews
Ooh, we're into the last month! I'm so excited about Christmas! Not. When you get to my age there's little left to get excited about, other than that you wake up not dead every morning. But as we move into December and there are now only four weeks left to go in 2012, we're pushing ahead with our reviews of albums released this year, hoping to get through the lion's share of them.

Here's what we have for you this week, all going well... By the way, from now on I'm going to give a little information about each, just so you know what I'm rabbiting on about (sorry Big Ears, I know you have that phrase trademarked: my people will talk to your people)...
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The calling by Neal Schon
Solo album from the Journey guitarist and driving force behind the AOR giants. Neal was also briefly in Santana before forming Journey.
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Ouroboros by Status Minor
A totally unknown band, so far as I'm aware, outside of their native Finland, Status Minor have only been together since 2006 and released their debut in 2009, but have the talent to be one of the big progressive rock bands of this century. This is their second album.
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Heresy and creed by Ten
A favourite band of mine, Ten released their first album in six years last year. Now, a year later, they have another. This one is far superior to "Stormwarning", which I reviewed a while back.
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On the air tonight by Colin Blunstone
Most people will know Colin, if at all, as the voice behind such Alan Parsons Projects hits as "Old and wise" and the Zombies' mega-smash "She's not there". This is the first of his solo albums I've reviewed, though it's his twelfth overall.

As mentioned in the Journals Update thread last night, I missed the deadline to include
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Wolfsbane save the world by Wolfsbane in last week's reviews, but it's going up tonight.

Ah yeah, I love Manowar! Just can't take them seriously is all. Personally I rate "Into glory ride" as their best, but then, I really only got the first three albums and at the time they were something really different, so I like them all. (Just as an Irish person, it sort of stuck in my throat buying an album that was called "Hail to England", y'know?) ;)

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Christmas in Gracelands --- All American Karaoke --- 2010 (Conway International)
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I can't think of anywhere I'd like to be less. You know when people say "I'm a huge Elvis fan"? Well, I don't say that. Elvis has never appealed to me, and as for karaoke: well, give me a choice between the two Japanese "art forms", as it were, and I'd be climbing into a Zero every time. I bloody hate the whole phenomenon! Why is it funny when people who can't carry a note in a bucket or follow a melody to save their lives attempt to sing? Isn't that what we have "The X Factor" for? But put the two together, and I'm tellin' ya, I'm in Hell.

I suppose if you're having a party, as I've heard does happen at this time, then maybe --- maybe --- you might be interested in this. Or if you're a fanatical Elvis junkie. But come on: the King doesn't even sing here! It's just the music without his voice. What's the point? Well anyway you end up with the standards --- "Silent night", "The first Noel", "White Christmas" etc, alongside a much larger percentage of Elvis's own material --- "I'll be home for Christmas", "Holly leaves and Christmas trees", and of course "Blue Christmas". But to me it's all soulless, empty pop pap --- I think I'd even rather hear Elvis himself than this, and that's saying something!

To be played only when everyone is sufficiently drunk that no-one is going to care what's on the stereo, then put away and forgotten about until next Christmas, or perhaps given away to a charity shop when you sober up and realise what you've done. That is, if any charity shop will take it...

TRACKLISTING

1. Santa Claus is back in town
2. Blue Christmas
3. Here comes Santa Claus
4. Holly leaves and Christmas trees
5. If every day was like Christmas
6. If I get home on Christmas Day
7. I'll be home for Christmas
8. It won't seem like Christmas without you
9. Merry Christmas baby
10. O little town of Bethlehem
11. Come all ye faithful
12. On a snow Christmas night
13. Santa bring my baby back
14. Silent night
15. Silver bells
16. The first Noel
17. White Christmas

I guessed that was the reason:soccer:

Ouroboros: the ancient symbol of a snake eating its own tail, symbolises eternity, rebirth and continuance.

Ouroboros --- Status Minor --- 2012 (Lion Music)
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Status who? I had never heard of this band until a few months back, when I bought their debut album, "Dialog", and liked it so much I hopped on this as soon as it was released. They're a progressive rock/metal band hailing from the mecca of prog rock, er, Finland. They are, in fact, the only band I know of in that genre who come from that country, though as I say I've been having something of a resurgence in interest in Finland with bands like Human Temple coming out of there. Status Minor is the brainchild of guitarist Sami Saarinen, and his work is stamped all over the music like an indelible fingerprint.

The album opens on a big heavy number, quite metal with screeching guitars and rolling drums, the latter courtesy of sticksman Rolf Pilve, and vocalist Markku Kuikka is certainly up to the task, with a strong powerful voice that easily handles all the registers. Some great keyboard work from Jukka Karinen too, and the opener "The wind" definitely sets the tone for the rest of the album, as we move into "Hollow", another fast powerful puncher, with a somewhat dramatic feel to the melody, Karinen's piano playing this time a greater role and a great guitar solo from Saarinen, with quite an eastern tinge to it.

Things continue to rock along nicely with "Glass wall", then gentle piano from Jukka Karinen introduces the ballad "Like a dream", which features female vocals but I can't find out whose they are. They lead in the first verse, then Markku Kuikka comes in to take the lead while Sami Saarinen racks off some powerful riffs to add teeth to the ballad, with a great solo about halfway through. A strong and emotional duet takes the song out on the back of Karinen's piano, ushering in darker, more sombre piano as "Confidence and trust" gets going with a very classical intro, and again those female vocals (why aren't they credited?) frame another ballad, though this one is quite short, just over two minutes.

We're back to rocking then with one of the standouts, "Stain", opening on a termendous guitar solo then giving way to sprightly piano from Karinen, Kuikka's voice a bit harder and more ragged here, the song quite Threshold in feel. Those female vocals are back to add something of an ethereal timbre to the song, and she stays with it as the track picks up again and rockets off. There's no slowing down either as we head into "Smile", which just pounds along with hammering drums and churning guitar worthy of any headbangers' ball --- kind of reminds me of Kamelot in places.

Nice acoustic guitar opening to "Flowers die", with a very gentle and clear vocal from Kuikka, almost folk in feel until the percussion hits in on the back of the synthwork and the song gets a little heavier, yet I'd still count it as the third ballad, which is quite unusual on an album of this nature. It has a lovely swaying rhythm, which I would think would go down very well on stage, and indeed marks it as another standout. Kuikka's voice rises to match the change in if not tempo then intensity in the song, and Saarinen racks off another fine solo without actually taking over the track completely.

The perhaps expected epic comes in the closer, the ten-minute-plus "Sail away", opening on powerful drumming and hard guitar, then some very proggy keyboard --- maybe Hammond? --- and a Yes-style guitar riff that takes the song into almost the third minute before it breaks down to soft rippling piano and what sounds like violin, and finally the vocal comes in on the back of a mighty bassline and sprinkly piano. Once it gets going properly then, the song rocks along in fine style and is indeed a great closer, even featuring some more contributing vocals from the mystery lady who added vocals to some of the other tracks, and it's yet another standout.

TRACKLISTING

1. The wind
2. Hollow
3. Glass wall
4. Like a dream
5. Confidence and trust
6. Stain
7. Smile
8. Flowers die
9. Sail away

Bands like Status Minor are too easily overlooked. There's a danger in coming from a country not generally associated with rock music or even a particular genre --- Poland has recently established itself as something of a musical "Silicon Valley" with the emergence of bands like Riverside, Amarok, Mordor and Abraxas --- but if you look in most countries you'll find bands of quality. They don't all have to hail from the UK or USA, or indeed even Germany or Sweden. Expand your horizons geographically and you could vastly expand them musically too.

As for Status Minor, with an album of this calibre I would be very hopeful that their status is very soon due to change.

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Sounds of the season --- Lionel Ritchie --- 2006 (Island)
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Well, let's at least credit the ex-Commodore with one thing: his album is short. Well, two things actually, as our Lionel goes for the path of least resistance and just records a bunch of Christmas songs, giving them the old soul treatment, rather than try to reinterpret, rewrite or (God help us!) write some original material for this short album. Picking liberally from the tree of obvious songs he takes the likes of "Little drummer boy", "Come all ye faithful", "Joy to the world" and "Silent night", and adds his own rich baritone to the arrangements, making the songs at least pleasant to listen to, in smooth, soulful way.

Mostly carols, with a few others like "Have yourself a merry little Christmas" and "Winter wonderland" thrown in, and only eight songs in total, you'd have to say the album would be poor value for money were you to go mad and buy it, and not too much of a present were you to receive it, but for review purposes here it does at least get marks for keeping it short and simple, and not tampering too much with an extremely tried-and-tested formula that stretches all the way back to the greats like Como, Crosby and Williams.

TRACKLISTING

1. Little drummer boy
2. Silent night
3. The first Noel
4. Joy to the world
5. The Christmas song
6. Come all ye faithful
7. Have yourself a merry little Christmas
8. Winter wonderland

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The Disney Channel Christmas Hits --- Various Artists --- 2007 (Disney)
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God save me! Is there any depths ol' Walt won't stoop to? His reach extends beyond the grave, and while I guess you can't really blame him for things such as this, it was him that started Disney back in the twenties, and eventually moved towards world domination of the animated/cartoon movie market, a position they have stubbornly defended against all comers in recent years. This is, apparently, an album made by some of the brightest stars of the Disney Channel, but I'll be damned if I know more than a few of them! Course, I'm not exactly in the demographic the channel is aimed at, but still, you would think some of these names would be familiar...
(Hey, I warned ya!)
Hannah Montana, of course I know, and her alter-ego Miley Cyrus (or should that be the other way around?) sings my most hated of all Christmas songs, the godawful "Rockin' around the Chrismas tree", but really she's the only name that means anything to me. Oh wait: I've heard of The Jonas Brothers, and they here do an incongruously non-festive song (or so it seems to me) called "Girl of my dreams". But the others? Corbin Bleu? The Cheetah Girls? Kyle Massey? Jordan Pruitt? Never 'eard of yer! Even Miley's owl fella, Billy Ray, pops up (disturbingly adult among all these kids, hmm?) to hit us with "Run Rudolph run", and Ashley Tisdale (who?) does her version of Wham's "Last Christmas", but although there's "Greatest time of the year" and "Best time of year" there's no "The most wonderful time of the year", er, here.

The final nail in the coffin comes in Kyle Massey (who are these people?) who unleashes "Jingle bells (A hip-hop carol") upon us, and I just press STOP. I suppose the kids'll enjoy it, maybe, but all I can say is. 'tweren't like this when I were a lad!

TRACKLISTING

1. Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree (Miley Cyrus as Hannah Montana)
2. Girl Of My Dreams (Jonas Brothers)
3. Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas (The Cheetah Girls)
4. Last Christmas (Ashley Tisdale)
5. This Christmastime (Corbin Bleu)
6. Home For The Holidays (Album Version) (Keke Palmer)
7. Best Time of the Year (Album Version) (Christy Carlson Romano)
8. Run Rudolph Run (Album Version) (Billy Ray Cyrus)
9. Celebrate Love (Album Version) (Jordan Pruitt)
10. Let It Snow (Album Version) (Lucas Grabeel)
11. Jingle Bells (A Hip-Hop Carol) (Album Version) (Kyle Massey)
12. Greatest Time Of Year (Aly & AJ)
13. Christmas Vacation (Album Version) (Monique Coleman)

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Time for some more blues standards. Most, if not all, of today's music has some basis in the blues, and we owe that genre a lot more than we often realise. So, as they say, time to pay our dues to the men and women who have given us some of the very best, iconic and enduring music over the past seventy years or so.

A little more contemporary, this is Roomful of Blues, with the great “There goes the neighborhood”.


The legendary Peter Green pledges to be a “Fool no more”.


Another legend, this is the late Albert Collins, with “Lights are on, but nobody's home”.


Two legends for the price of one; sadly only one of whom is still with us. The late lamented Gary Moore teams up with John Mayall on this classic, “If I don't get home”.


And the legends just a-keep on comin'! It's Johnny Winter, who tells us “Life is hard”. Indeed it can be. Just ask any family in Ireland today.


Something bang up to date now, proving that the blues is still alive and kickin' even in the twenty-first century. This is from Robert Cray's new album, it's called “I'm done cryin'”


And one of the Daddies, this is Howlin' Wolf, with “Smokestack lightnin'”.


And another, this is Fats Domino, and “Blue Monday”. No, not the New Order song, you philistine!


Let's hop on “The Midnight Special” with Leadbelly...


... and continuing, and ending in that vein, we'll end with “Choo choo boogie” from Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown.

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In these dark days of economic recession, wars and looming destruction of the earth if we're to believe those pesky Mayans (about eighteen days and counting now) it's nice to have those songs that can lift you out of yourself, make your smile, and brighten your day. Sometimes it's hard to know why this happens, why certain songs make us feel good, but often it's enough that they do. Here are some that always cheer me up.

There's something about this Hall and Oates song. I remember back when I used to work, getting into a taxi late for work and fretting about giving my excuse --- we all just hate walking in late, don't we? It's the worst way to start your day --- when this came on the radio. Somehow, it just cheered me right up and I said to myself, if I ever make a collection of happy songs this is gonna be on it! And here it is.

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“Kiss on my list” --- Daryl Hall and John Oates, from the album “Voices”, 1980


A real summer song, I just love the energy and enthusiasm that's in this, from the first yelp from Katrina to the almost rockabilly fadeout ending, to say nothing of the guitar solo in the middle. And then there's the joyous brass. Yeah! Just makes ya feel good!
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“Walking on sunshine” --- Katrina and the Waves, from the album “Katrina and the Waves”, 1985


I'm also fond of this late eighties hit from the Thin White Duke. Just something very up and catchy about it, and I think it rips along at a fine lick, comes across as very uplifting, to me at any rate.
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“Modern love” --- David Bowie, from the album “Let's dance”, 1983.


Probably no coincidence that many of the songs that make me feel good come from the eighties, as that's when I was in my twenties and listening to music most. It remains my favourite decade, with the seventies a close second. Rap or hip-hop is something I don't tend to listen to really at all, but back then they had a more innocent vibe, with songs like DJ Jazzy Jeff and the Fresh Prince, and this one, from Whistle.
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“(Nothin' serious) Just buggin'” --- Whistle, from the album “Whistle”, 1986


and finally, though I know little of his music, I always get a surge of happiness and optimism when I hear this one from Eddie Money. Yeah, it's from the eighties again: whaddya gonna do, huh? Hey! Waitaminnit! The album was released in 1989, but the single didn't chart till 1990! How about that? Also, this song was only on his greatest hits album: how strange is that? Great song though.
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“Peace in our time” --- Eddie Money, from the album “The sound of Money: Greatest Hits”, 1989

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Dream a dream --- Charlotte Church --- 2000 (Sony Classical)
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I suppose the best thing you can say about this album is that at least there's a picture of a pretty girl to look at on the cover! To be fair to Charlotte Church, if anyone was going to release a Christmas album you would probably expect it to have been her. She did after all start her career in classical and operatic singing, and has been closely identified with hymns and carols and so forth. Even at that though, her soprano voice does tend to grate after a while.

It's a relatively decent collection, with the title track familiar to me from some classical album I have, and a rather nice version of "Far over Bethlehem" in, presumably, her native Welsh. It's quite long though, nineteen tracks in all, and though somewhat atypical fare like "Chestnuts roasting on an open fire (The Christmas Song)" and the rather nice "Lo! A rose e'er blooming", not to mention "Coventry carol (Lully lullay)" pull you a little away from the usual expected songs about Jesus, Santa and toys, it's still one of those albums you'd be unlikely to make it all the way through, unless you're one of her fans.

Not the worst ever, but certainly not a present I want to see coming my way anytime soon!

TRACKLISTING

1. Dream a dream
2. O come all ye faithful
3. Little drummer boy
4. Mary's boy child
5. Ding Dong! Merrily on high
6. Winter wonderland
7. The Christmas Song (Chestnuts roasting on an open fire)
8. Hark! the Herald Angels sing
9. The Coventry Carol (Lully Lullay)
10. Joy to the world
11. When a child is born
12. What child is this
13. God rest ye merry gentlemen
14. Draw tua Bethlehem (Far over Bethlehem)
15. Ave Maria
16. Gabriel's message
17. O holy night
18. Lo! How a rose e'er blooming
19. Silent night

Ten out of ten! (Come on: you KNEW I was gonna say that, didn't you?) ;)

Heresy and creed --- Ten --- 2012 (Frontiers)
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Anyone who read my review of Ten's last album, "Stormwarning", will have been aware that I was very disappointed. Oh, the review was warm enough, but if you read between the lines and compare it to my gushing writeup on 2000's "Babylon" you'll see I was very underwhelmed, even dismayed by how sub-standard I found the album to be. The first album from the Manchester AOR powerhouse in five years, at the time, I had been eagerly awaiting any new material from them, so when "Stormwarning" came on the market I of course jumped at it. But after listening to it I found it fell far short of what I have by now come to expect in over five years of listening to Ten's music, and I felt hugely let-down. It just didn't grab me instantly the way every other album from this band has. I was distinctly unimpressed, and wondered if after half a decade the Ten I knew were no more? Perhaps they had been away too long?

This album puts all that worry to bed and blows the previous album out of the water. THIS is what I expect, even demand, from Ten. I've listened to the album about five or six times now, and each time I hear it I'm happier. I started just including it in a rotating playlist, and even then every track I heard I loved. I soon decided time to listen to the whole thing, start to finish, and with the addition of the tracks that had not so far made it into my shuffled playlist, I was even happier. There's not one single bad or even slightly sub-par track on the album this time around, whereas with "Stormwarning" I really had to work to find one I liked, and that I wasn't just saying I liked because it was Ten and I was reluctant to give them a bad review. Which, in the end, I did, as the album really did not merit anything else. It was a big big disappointment, though in fairness I only listened to it the once, a situation I will probably redress once I've finished this review, to see if I missed anything, if I was overly harsh, and if the album speaks to me now in ways it did not last year.

But this one has gone right in near the top of my favourite Ten albums (and I don't mean my ten favourite albums; I'm talking about the albums from Ten which I like), right up there with "The name of the rose", "Babylon" and "Return to Evermore". There are more lineup changes, with some returning members and some new ones. The core of the band, which has remained as centred around Gary Hughes on vocals and John Halliwell on guitars, remains, with bassist Steve McKenna returning after a seven-year absence, making up the old trio that recorded such gems as "Return to Evermore", "Babylon" and "Spellbound". They're joined by two new guys, with Darrel Treece-Birch replacing Paul Hodson on keyboards and new drummer Max Yates. Last time out they had Neil Palmer supplementing Halliwell's guitar work, this time they've replaced him with Dan Mitchell, though it must be pointed out that Gary also plays guitar on the album, so in effect it's almost a triple attack at times.

The first thing that stands out about this album is that it opens on an instrumental. Truth be told, Ten don't do very many of them, and most of the ones they do are sort of preludes into the next track, which indeed is how this turns out, but to the opener itself first. "The gates of Jerusalem2 is quite short, just over a minute and a half, and the first chance for Darrel Treece-Birch to show off his chops on the big booming sombre organ intro, over which Halliwell and Mitchell lay an arabic-styled guitar line which is quite sitar-like at times, recalling the likes of Rainbow's "Gates of Babylon", or indeed their own "Rome" from "The twilight chronicles". There's heavy, powerful percussion and a thumping bassline too before the whole thing explodes into the first vocal track, "Arabian nights", which as you might expect keeps the eastern theme but lets loose the twin guitars, like charging stallions waiting to be unleashed and pound across the desert sands.

Some great soloing, then the powerful clear voice of Gary Hughes comes through with the vocal, though in truth at first he has to struggle to be heard against the blistering wall of guitars. They quickly correct this though, and the song has as good a hook as any fan of Ten will expect and want, with a very hard punch from the guitars, one of them carrying on the arabian-style melody while the other grinds off in the background. Not too much in the way of keyboards here, as the song is generally guitar-led, but you can hear them swirling and bubbling along during the song. It's a great opener (I know the instrumental is really the opener, but this is the first track I would really count as being judgeworthy) and sets the scene for an album that never lets up in quality and never once looks like disappointing in any way.

It's a powerful rocker and the tempo doesn't slow for "Gunrunning". Now, using war as a metaphor for love and relationships and sex is nothing new, but I love the way Gary uses the military imagery here. It's a real boogie rhythm with a danceable bass line that defies you to stay still. Gary's vocals are much clearer here as the guitars don't quite take a backseat but tone it down a little, though Halliwell does rip off a Lizzy-style solo early in the song. Again there's an amazing hook and you really have to take your hat off to Gary Hughes' songwriting. Treece-Birch gets to shine near the end of the song, where his synthlines accompany Gary's vocal alone, but the guitars quickly pile in and to be fair, he's swamped out of it. He's surely there still playing, but it is quite hard to make out his contribution.

I see this album already as returning to the heavier style of "Spellbound" and "Return to Evermore", whereas the previous one had few if any of the trademarks of earlier records. There's a great piano intro to "The lights go down" joined by heavy guitar riffs, and it's another bopping rocker with some great vocal parts and some fine solos. The rhythm section of Max Yates and Steve McKenna really come together here, and I must say the latter certainly sounds happy to be back. A lot of Ten's music is, as I mentioned in my review of "Stormwarning", quite commercial, stuff you could envisage hearing on the radio --- at least, rock radio --- and some of their previous material in fact would not be out of place in the charts. This is one such, with a great hook but paradoxically, where usually the chorus is where you find that hook, I feel that the verses, written in a slightly separate melody, are the most memorable, and it's definitely an AOR monster that should be a huge hit, but no doubt won't.

Although like most of us here, I don't get paid for writing, I try to apply a professional approach to my own writing and be as unbiased as I can when reviewing albums. If I hate an album, but it has some undeniable good points, I'll put those across and similarly if I love an album but it has some downside I won't shy from mentioning that. It's here that that downside, as such, puts in an appearance. I have always found Gary Hughes' songwriting to be original and fresh; he generally shies from copying other rock/AOR artistes and using formulae, but here I'm afraid I have to say he is guilty of at worst plaigarism and at best lazy composition. A lovely little half-ballad with a somewhat medieval feel, "Raven's eye" nevertheless not only borrows from, but steals wholesale the melody from the traditional folk ballad "Scarborough Fair", popularised and of course made famous by Simon and Garfunkel in the late sixties. The arrangement is so close to that of the ballad that you actually expect to see "Trad: arr Hughes" after the song credits, but it's not there. So I suppose you could give him the benefit of the doubt and say he didn't realise how similar the melody was, but even I, who have never composed a song in my life (well, none that should ever see the light of day!) instantly recognised the tune, and if I, with my untrained, unprofessional ear could see it right away, how can we assume Hughes could not?

So it must be accepted that he either took the melody for use in his own song, or somehow just happened to write something not only similar but almost identical. Much as I love Gary and his music, I can't really put forward a case for the latter. Notwithstanding this, it's still a great song and indeed the first one on which Ten slow the tempo down, while still managing to retain an ominous and powerful air overall. Stylistically, it's a real harkback to "Spellbound", with some pretty mythic/fantasy imagery in the lyric: The dragon's claw glints... reflections of light/ In the lifeless lustre of the raven's eye."* Some great acoustic guitar to open the song, with almost mandolin-style and harpsichordal keyboard adding to the medieval feel. "Right now" is the first song that gives full vent to Treece-Birch's sprightly keyboards and indeed they're very new-wave and electronic here, at least until the hard guitars of John Halliwell and his axe partner cut in. The song is typical Ten: a powerful, heavy but melodic track with great guitar and a deep, controlled vocal. It's not the best on the album, but I wouldn't call it below par at all, just not as immediately impressive as what has preceded it. Perhaps it's its similarity to previous Ten songs that does it something of a small disservice.

No such complaints about "Game of hearts", which uses again great imagery to paint a scene of taking a chance on love, with lines like "It makes me wonder/ If I'm the victim of a loaded dice" and "You stack the deck against me/ One more time". It's a real showcase for Max Yates, whose steamhammer drumming drives the track along at a powerful pace, and during the verses it's good to see Gary only really sings against the backing of the rhythm section, so there's no danger of his voice being drowned out. I mean, he's a powerful singer, but sometimes the two boys on guitar do tend to get a little carried away! Great keyboard lines too from Treece-Birch, his synth warbling away in the background, bubbling under but not being subsumed by the guitars.

Ah, the familiar sound of the piano introduces us to the first ballad, with beautiful swirling keys from Treece-Birch, and soft guitar. Anyone who knows of Ten's work will probably agree that one of their major strengths lies in the wonderful love songs Gary Hughes writes, and "The last time" is another triumph, destined to go down among their followers as yet another great ballad. As in most Ten ballads, Halliwell knows when to tone his histrionics on the guitar down a notch or two, and new boy Mitchell follows his lead, allowing the keys to take centre stage and frame Gary's soulful voice against the drumbeat. There's a hint of accordion in the melody, probably made on Treece-Birch's synth, and though there's nothing much new about the lyrical content, it's a great improvement on the one ballad that made it onto their previous album.

Returning to the hard and heavy style and themes of "Spellbound" and "Return to Evermore", with a shot of "The twilight chronicles" thrown in, "The priestess" is a boogie rocker with almost Led Zep tones, great guitar work from Mitchell and Halliwell, a hook many bands would kill for, and a great vocal from Hughes quite reminiscent of perhaps a lower-register Plant or maybe Coverdale. A funky little bassline helps throw a certain flavour of soul or rhythm and blues into the mix, with something of the general melody from "The alchemist" off the "Spellbound" album, which is another small criticism, or perhaps just an observation, which turns up again later, as we will see. There's nothing deriviative about "Insatiable" though, one of the fastest and hardest tracks on the album, which gives the lie to those who claim Ten are not metal. If this track isn't metal then I don't know what is.

Powering along in freight-train mode, the twin guitar attack hits you right between the eyes, and while it's certainly not one of the most original songs Gary has ever penned, it definitely provides something to bang the head to, while retaining always that melodic element that is the very core of Ten music. I must say, the two guitarists certainly enjoy themselves on this one, let loose as they are to ply their craft, then "Another rainy day" comes a little back to earth with a more restrained melodic tune, a guitar hook right from the off that should have this song rocketing into the charts, but surely won't. The harkbacks continue here, with a melody pretty much borrowed from "Standing on the edge of time", from 1997's "The Robe". Even at that, it's a great song that you're more than likely going to be singing long after you first hear it. Gary really has an eye (or ear) for a catchy chorus and a memorable hook, and this song has both in spades. With "The lights go down", this is surely the most commercial track on the album.

Great little Bruce Hornsby-style piano run which flows into a fine guitar solo, and another great strength of this band, vocal harmonies, which although they're all Gary's just multi-tracked, make this song even more a possible hit. Back to the heavy rock then with "Unbelievable", another to get the feet moving and the hair (should you have it) shaking from side to side. Those excellent vocal harmonies are in evidence again from Gary, and hooks abound in the song with some great guitar solos too. This one too, though, has elements from a previous Ten song, though for the moment I can't identify which, not that it really matters. After this final onslaught, the album winds down with two slow tracks --- well, one really. I'll explain.

The closer is actually "The riddle", and though both that and the previous track have titles that could indicate they're covers of Nik Kershaw and EMF songs respectively, they're all Gary Hughes originals: I don't think Ten have ever included a cover version of anyone else's song on their albums. "The riddle" is another beautiful ballad, driven on bright digital piano, with I have to admit quite a lot of the melody of Bread's "Everything I own" in the verses, but that's okay. It's a lovely song, really soul-searching with some expressive piano which really gives Darrel Treece-Birch his deserved spot in the band, chiming guitars from the guys and some measured drumwork from Yates. It is in fact the closer, and at that it's a fine and fitting final track, and brings the album to a wonderful close.

And that would normally be it. Thing is, the version I bought (Japanese) has an extra track, and as anyone who's read my album reviews will know, I don't feature extra, additional, bonus or other tracks not seen as part of the album proper. Ever. But, this is my journal and I am certainly not above breaking the rules I laid down myself, and this extra song is so good I feel it needs to be written of. And so, we have one more ballad, a shorter song but no less gorgeous, making "I found love" the third full ballad on the album.

It's just a few seconds over three minutes long, making it certainly the shortest track on the album, bar the opener which is an instrumental. It opens on Darrel Treece-Birch's soft and sumptuous mix of piano and keyboards, with Gary singing his heart out against this backdrop, and I really don't hear any other instruments, including percussion, so it's a real showcase for the understanding between the two, the one veteran and founder of the band, the other only just joined but already showing signs of being indispensable.

As indeed is this album, to any Ten fan, or any fan of good melodic rock.

TRACKLISTING

1. The gates of Jerusalem
2. Arabian nights
3. Gunrunning
4. The lights go down
5. Raven's eye
6. Right now
7. Game of hearts
8. The last time
9. The priestess
10. Insatiable
11. Another rainy day
12. Unbelievable
13. The riddle
14. I found love (Bonus track)

As I said at the beginning, the difference between this and Ten's previous album is the difference between night and day. I was very disappointed with "Stormwarning", and I worried that they were losing it. I was also concerned that, having left five years between albums at that point, I would not see any output from Ten for a few more years, so I was delighted to have the chance to see if "Stormwarning" was a blip. I'm glad to report that as far as I can tell, it was, and that Ten are back to making the sort of records that made me fall in love with their music five or more years ago. I'm sure with some more listens I'll get into "Stormwarning" --- I haven't really spun it since I reviewed and was so let down by it --- but this is one album I have already listened to at least ten (hah!) times, and will surely be on my regular listening playlist for a very long time to come.

Welcome home, boys! Glad you made it.

(* = There are no lyrics available for this album yet, and I should know, having searched high and low for them. So the ones quoted are just what I have been able to discern from listening to the song over and over. In the end, there were a few words I just could not make out, hence the three dots in the quote, denoting words I could not fill in. )

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Christmas Party --- Boney M --- 2003 (BMG)
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Ah, Boney M! What Christmas would be complete without them crooning about "Mary's boy child"? Certainly bringing a real sense of gospel to their disco funk trademark sound, this is one of several (and I mean several) Christmas albums released by the boney ones down the years, most of which are the same lineup with either very slight track changes or just a change of title. Then again, Christmas albums ain't exactly rocket science, y'know?

So you get what you'd expect: the carols, the party songs, some non-English language ones like "Feliz navidad" (Spanish?) and "Petit Papa Noel" (French, I think), but they all mean the same basic thing. You can't blame the artist here: no-one's exactly going to experiment when putting together a Christmas album: it's not quite reinventing the wheel, is it? Nonetheless, they do at least throw in some interesting ones, like "Zion's daugher", "Darkness is falling" and even "Auld lang syne", presumably to ensure the album gets a spin on New Year's Eve. There's a Christmas medley as an opener, and another near the end, with the expected inclusion of "Mary's boy child/Oh my Lord".


TRACKLISTING
1. Christmas Medley: Silent Night, Holy Night/Snow Falls Over The Ground/Hear Ye The Message/Sweet Bells
2. Oh Christmas Tree
3. Hark The Herald Angels Sing
4. Zion's Daughter
5. The First Noel
6. Oh Come All Ye Faithful
7. Petit Papa Noel
8. Darkness Is Falling
9. Joy To The World
10. White Christmas
11. Jingle Bells
12. Feliz Navidad
13. When A Child Is Born
14. Little Drummer Boy
15. Medley: Mary's Boy Child/Oh My Lord
16. Auld Lang Syne

Guitar virtuoso records instrumental album that is one step too far for me
The Calling --- Neal Schon --- 2012 (Frontiers)
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Come on, everybody knows Neal Schon. Whether you know him as a Journey fan or by reputation, he's been responsible for some of the true classic guitar solos in rock, including the sublime outro to "Who's crying now" and that soaraway from the almost-unbelievably recently popular "Don't stop believin'", among many many others. He began his musical career in Santana, playing with them for two albums in the early seventies before leaving to form Journey, one of the most successful AOR bands ever, and has also played with the likes of Sammy Hagar, Joe Cocker, Jan Hammer and Michael Bolton, as well as being in the rock supergroup Bad English with bandmate Jonathan Cain. This is in fact his tenth solo album, but the first I've heard, never mind reviewed.

The title track starts us off, with as completely expected an army of guitars, very seventies hard rock, with percussion supplied by Journey's Steve Smith. There's something of classic Hendrix in Neal's guitar licks, and keyboard accompaniment is provided by Igor Len, who's well known as a composer and producer of film soundtracks, classical and jazz musician who has previously partnered up with Schon. Guitar instrumental albums can be a little wearing, particularly when the artist injects some jazz fusion into proceedings, and I have to admit my mind is beginning to drift already. I find a keyboard/synth instrumental album much more involved and easier to keep my attention on, but as we move into the second track, scarily (in my case) named "Carnival jazz", I can feel myself already losing interest.

But let's be fair to the guy and keep an open mind, and an open pair of ears. This track recalls much of his early work as a teenage prodigy with Santana, and you can hear the big guy's influence on his playing, which is still rocky and powerful as hell, but given that he plays all guitars and basses himself it leaves, possibly, less room for innovation and variation than it would had he for instance recruited in an extra guitarist, or even a bass player. Still, it's his album so we'll assume he knows what he's doing. As expected/feared, this track does wander off into jazz experimentation all too easily, which is not good for my struggling attention span. My attempt to stay focussed on the playing is lost completely when Igor Len goes off on one of those annoying jazz piano runs I hate so much, and I find myself kind of tuning out and hoping for better things to come.

"Six string waltz" is a lot better, with a swaying, waving sort of rhythm as the guitars set up a wall of sound in a kind of blues style, much more in the way of melody about this where the last two tracks seemed to me more displays of virtuosity, which it cannot be denied Schon has, but they seemed more like showing off without any real eye or ear for a tune. This one is different, and I could almost hear someone coming in on vocals, which of course doesn't happen. That the guitar playing is first-rate goes without saying, but though I like guitar I'm still finding this a little hard to stay with. Much has been made in other reviews of this album about "Irish fields", but I was expecting something slower, maybe with uileann pipes or flute, and I really don't get the sense of celtic music from it that other reviewers have. It's short, just over a minute, but doesn't raise the bar as I felt sure it might.

It's really hard to review this objectively. Most of the the pieces seem quite similar, and I have no doubt that a guitar player or fan of Neal Schon would enjoy this a whole lot more than I'm doing at the moment, but "Back smash" is another hard rocker with screaming guitar and pounding drums, and I hear little of the keyboards Len is meant to be supplying; in fact, since "Carnival jazz" I haven't really been able to identify any synth passages at all. Okay, I stand corrected: I hear them now, sort of fading up from within the barrage of guitars, and yes some nice Spanish guitar is coming through too, making this song a good bit more palatable. It's also slowed down in the closing two minutes, Schon's guitar smashing out a Brian May riff then there's a sort of arabic flavour to "Fifty-six", Neal renewing his collaboration with Jan Hammer, best known for his Miami Vice theme. I'm reliably informed Schon uses an electric sitar in this, which is fine, but then Hammer or possibly Igor Len rips off another bloody jazz piano solo, and my heart sinks again.

There's some pretty dramatic keyboard work from Hammer and it, er, hammers along at a fine pace, but I'm really starting to think this album is not for me. I bought it because it was Neal Schon, and I do like Journey. I didn't know at the time it was all instrumental; had I, perhaps I would have thought twice about buying it, certainly about reviewing it. I mean, Yngwie is a great guitarist but he employs singers because he knows that no matter how great you are on the axe, it's only the diehards that will listen to you if the album is full of nothing but music. I must say though, "True emotion" does surprise me and perk me up, raising the ante with a totally gorgeous and, yes, emotional guitar piece that would not be out of place in one of Journey's ballads. With soft, flowing synth lines and measured drumming, Schon of course takes centre stage but for the first time on the album (we're halfway through now) makes me sit up and take notice, and gives me hope that this album may be turning a corner. Well, we'll see.

Hammer is back for his final contribution in "Tumbleweeds", and he does a great job on the synth and what I think may be a synth-guitar (do they still call them "key-tars"?) while Schon does what he does best, but lord above! It's almost seven minutes long! That's stretching it, even for the most avid guitar enthusiast, I would think. Certainly is for me anyway. And so it goes. "Primal surge" has some nice odd percussion which sets it briefly apart from the vast body of work here, "Blue rainbow sky" has a nice blues mood to it, large slices of Journey classic material coming through, pretty anthemic really, and then "Transonic funk" is harder blues with quite Rory Gallagher-like guitar and some fine boogie organ from Len. But the highly technical and proficient playing notwithstanding, my boredom and lack of interest is increasing, and the brief flash of hope engendered by "True emotion" has been well and truly snuffed out now. I'm just waiting for the end of the album, and trying to suppress the urge to hit the fast-forward or even stop buttons. Well, that's not fair: it has improved over the last few tracks, but not enough to change my overall opinion of the album.

That opinion is that unless you're a guitarist, or a big big fan of Journey or Neal Schon, or guitarists in general, you're unlikely to be able to make it through this album. Well, I don't know; that's just my own opinion and perhaps you'll feel quite differently. But I definitely found it a struggle. The closer, "Song of the wind II", is a nice little Santanaesque bluesy/jazz laidback number that apparently acts as a sequel to the track off Santana's debut album, which of course Neal played on, and it's nice to see him nod back to his roots and his beginnings. It's a lovely little closer, but I just think that had Neal engaged some vocalist to even take a few of the tracks the album might not have been the hard slog for me that it was.

As it is, I would seriously expect to stay well away from any future or indeed previous Neal Schon solo effort. He's a great guitar player, a great composer there's no doubt, but even he can't make over fifty minutes of guitar music seem like anything other than hard work, and a relief to get to the end of. Look, I'm not going to put Neal Schon down and say this is a bad album; I'm sure it's great, and deserves all the praise it's received in other quarters. It's just not for me.

Sorry, Neal.

TRACKLISTING

1. The Calling
2. Carnival jazz
3. Six string waltz
4. Irish field
5. Back smash
6. Fifty-six
7. True emotion
8. Tumbleweeds
9. Primal surge
10. Blue rainbow sky
11. Transonic funk
12. Song of the wind II

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An Irish Christmas --- Various artists --- Year unknown (Celtic Note)
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Be the hokay, 'tis an Irish Christmas an' no mistake, boy!

Ah, sure: I'm not averse to slagging off my home country when it suits, and if there's one thing Irish people love it's Christmas. And drink. And presents. And drink. And Santy. And drink. You get the idea. Here we have some of the (ahem) cream of Irish music belting out or playing their renditions of Christmas songs and Irish traditional ones too. So we have the great Phil Coulter giving us a lovely version of "O holy night", Maura O'Connel singing "My Irish Molly-o" (yeah...) and Moya Brennan with a lovely little Irish song called "Codail a linbh" (sleep o child), while some shower called The Voice Squad tackle "The parting glass" and "The holly she bears a berry" (indeed), with the youngsters from, er, Slane National School taking us through "Away in a manger" and "Silent night" (sung in Irish).

Yeah, it's enough to make you hide your head and feel embarrassed to be Irish! We even get a snippet from "Angela's ashes", with something called "The pig's head", and the Celtic Tenors (yeah, we have them too, though due to the financial meltdown they're only worth about eight-fifty!) hit us with "O come all ye faithful" and of course, "Danny boy". Sigh.

TRACKLISTING

1 The Holly She Bears A Berry - The Voice Squad
2 An Irish Blessing - Roma Downey
3 The Parting Glass - The Voice Squad
4 Away In A Manger - Slane National School
5 The Dromcolliher Set - Ger Kiely And Band
6 Flower Of Maherally - Brian Kennedy
7 Oh Holy Night - Phil Coulter
8 Adeste Fideles (Come All Ye Faithful) - Celtic Tenors
9 Oiche Ciuin (Silent Night) - Slan National School
10 My Irish Molly-O - Maura O'Connel
11 Codail A Linbh (Sleep O Child) - Moya Brennan
12 Be Thou My Vision - Roma Downey
13 Remember Me - Brian Kennedy
14 The Pig's Head (excerpt from Angela's Ashes) - Frank McCourt
15 Danny Boy - Celtic Tenors
16 Steal Away - Phil Coulter

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8 days of Christmas --- Destiny's Child --- 2001 (Sony)
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Just on the cusp of their breakup to allow Beyonce Knowles to take the world by storm, Destiny's Child came together in 2001 to record this pile of muck. You want Christmas songs with an "orr an bee" flavour? You got it! You want original songs, written by the girls? You got it. You want Christmas medleys? Hell, you got that too! You want a loaded gun? ;)

I can't for the life of me work out what the significance of "8 days of Christmas" is. The song is "12 days of Christmas". There aren't only eight tracks (unfortunately) so where does the title come from? More to the point, who really cares?

Featuring some of the most popular Christmas songs --- "Silent night", "Little drummer boy", "Winter wonderland" and so on --- the album also has three original songs, all written by Beyonce, and that Christmas medley just rounds things off making you wonder why anyone in their right mind would buy this album. The girls try to claim writing credits, it would seem, to such standards as "O holy night" and the 1962 hit "Do you hear what I hear", but though they may have arranged them they certainly didn't compose them. I think the turkey's about ready now, girls.

TRACKLISTING

1. 8 Days of Christmas
2. Winter Paradise
3. A 'DC' Christmas Medley ("Santa Claus Is Coming to Town"/"Jingle Bells"/"Frosty the Snowman"/"Have a Holly Jolly Christmas"/"Deck the Halls"/"Here Comes Santa Claus")
4.Silent Night
5. Little Drummer Boy
6. Do You Hear What I Hear
7. White Christmas
8. Platinum Bells
9. O Holy Night
10. Spread a Little Love on Christmas Day
11. This Christmas
12. Opera of the Bells

This week's planned reviews
Four more albums to get through this week, with something of an eclectic (for me, anyway!) mix.

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Unbreakable by Primal Fear
One of my favourite modern heavy metal bands storm back with a new offering for 2012.

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Silverthorn by Kamelot
And one of my favourite progressive metal bands, Kamelot, have a new album just released this month, so we'll be taking a look at that.
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Pandora's pinata by Diablo Swing Orchestra
You never know quite what you're getting with DSO, so this new one will be very interesting to say the least.
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The march of ghosts by Gazpacho
I've been listening to this for a while; one of the newest progressive rock bands I've gotten into, this is only their second album on a proper label, though it's their seventh overall, and it's a monster!

Nothing to fear: these guys ain't breaking any time soon!
Unbreakable --- Primal Fear --- 2012 (Frontiers)
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With all the power metal bands emerging out of Germany in recent years, it's nice to listen to a proper heavy metal band like Primal Fear, who do what they do very well and with consummate ease. I've listened to most of their output over the last year or two and they've consistently impressed me, so I hold this album, their latest, to quite high standards, which I'm sure they'll reach. It's their ninth in a career spanning almost fourteen years now, and just their second since longtime guitarist Stefan Leibing left to spend more time with his family, and was replaced by Magnus Karlsson.

It opens with a short, orchestral-style instrumental, the title track in fact, but only part one (part two will come later), and there's more of the progressive metal about this opener than heavy metal, with some fine keyboard work from Karlsson and rolling, cinematic drums as well as choral vocals, but when "Strike" kicks in like a lumphammer to the head everything takes off on twin guitars and trundling drums, with the well-known and recognised powerful vocals of band founder Ralf Scheepers bellowing out the lyric. The basic melody seems to borrow a little from Maiden's "Two minutes to midnight", and it rockets along with bucketloads of energy and purpose. Great guitar solo as you'd expect of course, very melodic, almost Malmsteenesque in places, then we're into "Give 'em Hell", which of course is a soft ballad --- not. More powerful screaming guitars and thundering drums, with Scheepers' voice a little rawer on a Dio-style track which will no doubt have the iron-studded leather fists punching the air in agreement when this is played live.

Big military style drumroll to start off "Bad guys wear black", then it heads into a boogie metal groove which again is fairly reminscent of Maiden, thumping along nicely and with a very infectious melody. Metalheads will be happy to hear the joyously shouted lyric Bang your head/ Until you reach the end/ Bang your head and don't look back!" After that things ramp up considerably for the pounding, galloping fretfest that is "And there was silence", which seems to envisage World War Three, driven on the furious drumming of Randy Black. There is of course also blistering guitar work from Karlsson and second axeman Alex Beyrodt. A lot of Primal Fear's material centres around nuclear war and the fear of it, and this certainly has an apocalyptic feel to it. Slower and more of a grinder is "Metal nation", which for some reason reminds me of some of Gary Moore's music, particularly "End of the world" and "Nuclear attack". It has a great hook and some powerful guitars, with Scheepers on top form.

Primal Fear have never been a band who are big on experimentation or I guess what you'd call progression. They know what they're good at, and they stick to that, playing to their strengths, so you usually know what you're going to get with one of their albums. This is no exception, and while some people might call that predictable I prefer to see it as reliable. Some fine basswork from Mat Sinner and another great guitar solo and we're into the longest track on the album by some way. Opening on a soft acoustic guitar from Beyrodt, backed up and pretty much blown away then by electric from Karlsson, "Where angels die" is an eight-minute metal monster, with a relatively soft opening vocal from Ralf, growled and again I have to say in places similar to Dickinson and a very catchy chorus. Some really nice use of atmospheric keyboards here, again courtesy of Magnus Karlsson.

Off rockin' and rollin' again with "Unbreakable (Part 2)", which I must say I see bearing no resemblance to the instrumental that opened the album, but it's a good headbanger, as is "Marching again". That haunting, dramatic keyboard is back, with a sudden explosion of growling screeching guitars taking us into the second minute, then the somewhat sedate opening pace is kicked right up the arse and everything fires off like bombs going off and we're heads-down, take-no-prisoners as the song pounds along at breakneck speed. A band Primal Fear closely mirror is Axxis, also another favourite of mine, with close-harmony vocals not that often seen in metal, and killer guitar attacks. Somehow their music always seems that little bit more commercial than other metal bands I could mention. They also do ballads, which I know a lot of metal bands do, but Primal Fear do them very well indeed.

Case in point is "Born again", which has some powerful dramatic backing vocals and almost strings-like keyboard passages, very emotional and almost Steinman-worthy in its production. Karlsson knows just when to break in and add the fire of his guitarwork to the music, and when to hold back and allow his keys to paint the soundscape. Like quite a lot of the band's material, this song concentrates on the possibility of life after death, as Ralf cries "Is there a god?/ Will we be born again?/ Will I ever see your smile again?" Contender for standout on the album, certainly. Lovely lonely little chiming guitar outro, then all sentiment is forgotten and set aside as we power into "Blaze of glory" on the back of some pretty angry guitar from Karlsson and Beyrodt, a thumping drumbeat from Randy Black and a killer bass line from Mat Sinner.

The final track, "Conviction" is, to be fair, nothing terribly great, nothing to write home about, and I would have preferred to have closed on either of the last two tracks, or even on the full title track, which would have bookended the album well. As it is, "Conviction" is not a bad track at all, but compared to what has preceded it it sort of comes across to me as something of an afterthought, like a track tacked on at the last minute. I'm sure it wasn't, but that's how it seems to me. Not the worst closer I've ever heard by a long shot, but definitely not among the best.

TRACKLISTING

1. Unbreakable (Part 1)
2. Strike
3. Give 'em Hell
4. Bad guys wear black
5. And there was silence
6. Metal nation
7. Where angels die
8. Unbreakable (Part 2)
9. Marching again
10. Born again
11. Blaze of glory
12. Conviction

Look, I'm not going to pretend this album is going to change your life. It's not even likely to make you a fan of Primal Fear, if you're not already one. But it delivers what you expect: fast, loud, heavy metal with a lot of melody and some pretty deep lyrics. The guys have been going for almost fourteen years now and they've obviously discovered a formula that works, so why change it now? May not be the most progressive of albums, but hey, like they say, it does what it says on the tin.

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Merry Christmas --- Mariah Carey --- 2008 (Columbia)
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If I had to pick one female singer I despised above all others, I think it would be Mariah Carey. It was she, after all, who started this whole trend of dragging a note out to the nth degree, as if doing that is going to make you sound better, and now they're all doing it. I also tend to call her the "ghost singer" (among other names!) as she makes a sound when singing reminiscent of a spirit haunting some lonely hallway: "Whooo--whooaa---ooohhhhh--woh-woah," You know the sort of thing. Hey look, I never said these reviews would be unbiased! In fact, if anything, they're totally biased.

Unlike Lionel, she can't resist the temptation of putting on some original songs here, so in addition to the expected (dreaded, in my case) "All I want for Christmas is you", we get two more self-penned ditties, in "Miss you most (at Christmas time)" and "Jesus born on this day." Other than that, it's the usual mix of "Joy to the world", "Silent night", "God rest ye" and so on. Pretty generic really, but given that added annoyance of having to listen to Carey's voice drone on and on throughout the album. Fair put me off me Christmas dinner, it would!

TRACKLISTING

1. Silent Night
2. All I Want For Christmas Is You
3. O Holy Night
4. Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)
5. Miss You Most (At Christmas Time)
6. Joy To The World
7. Jesus Born On This Day
8. Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
9. Hark! The Herald Angels Sing/Gloria (In Excelsis Deo)
10. Jesus Oh What A Wonderful Child
11. God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen

The orchestra from hell is back! Abandon all hope... :)
Pandora's piñata --- Diablo Swing Orchestra --- 2012 (Candlelight)
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A band I stumbled across quite by accident, and only checked out due to their incredibly weird name, Diablo Swing Orchestra combine the best elements of showmanship and vaudeville with art-rock, avant-garde and heavy metal, but that's not the be-all and end-all of them. Quite frankly, and quite truthfully, you really don't know what you're going to get with DSO: one minute you could be listening to gothic female vocals singing an operatic aria, next you're nodding to a tarantella, and it's followed by a blistering guitar solo which segues into a trio of cellos. And that can be in the same song, never mind the same album! So what's on offer here I can't tell you; let's explore this mysterious rabbit hole together and see where we end up, what do you say?

Well, we're thrown right into the fray with hard metal guitars and hammering drums alongside Mardi Gras-style trumpets and the vocal is indeed female, high and lilting, joined by a deeper male voice, as Daniel Hakansson joins Annlouice Loegdlund, and the whole thing staggers along like some glorious mid-thirties Chicago street festival or a Broadway musical with some very dark elements. Nice bit of strong violin coming in then, before the trumpets and trombones take the lead, courtesy of Martin Isaksson and Daniel Hedin respectively. "Voodoo mon amour" then is typical --- if anything about this band can be described in that way! --- of the sort of music melange you can expect from Diablo Swing Orchestra. "Guerilla laments" opens with a big bongo drum intro then some really mariachi trumpets before Annlouice comes in with the vocal, very salsa feel to it, almost like watching a parade during the Day of the Dead festival.

She does really well with the vocal here, unsupported by Hakansson, let loose solo, and the sense of fun and carnival this track unleashes really has to be heard to be believed. Some really mournful cello somehow doesn't dampen the mood, then Hakansson does indeed contribute to the song (well, he does anyway: in addition to singing he plays guitar on the album) but his vocal is distant, echoey and Annlouice is quickly back taking over. There's great energy and oomph about the song, then proceedings slow down considerably for "Kevlar sweethearts", with Annlouice exercising the softer side of her vocal talents, the music mostly built on violin and brass, a hard metal style guitar from Daniel Hakansson underpinning everything. A soft, atmospheric instrumental driven on violin and synth follows, lasting less than a minute before we're into the total insanity that is "Black box messiah", everything jumping back up in tempo and the initial vocal sounding like kids or chipmunks or something: totally trippy! Great bass line from Anders Johnasson keeps everything together as the track rocks along on Hakansson's churning, boogie guitar. Don't ask me what it's about! I haven't a clue, and most of DSO's songs are so out there you really don't even attempt to try to decipher the lyrics.

"Exit strategy of a wrecking ball" goes into overdrive on the metal guitar and hammering drums from Petter Karlsson, with for the first time Hakansson taking the lead vocal, almost more moaning than singing really. The big heavy guitar is quickly replaced by sonorous organ and a thrumming bass as Daniel croons the lines over the new musical soundscape, then it changes again as violins briefly intrude before the drums kick back in and the guitar screeches back into life. Great trumpet and trombone section then, synth blasting away as the track heads towards its end. Chiming bells and music-box style keys introduce "Aurora", sparse violin backing Annlouice in full operatic mode again, pizzicato strings keeping the beat behind her as cinematic synth swells in the background, fuller violins and cellos joining the musical backdrop with rolling, dramatic drums. It's Annlouice Leogdlund's finest hour, I believe, as she gives it all she has, really belting out those notes, and the power and emotion that comes from her singing is a thing to behold.

After so dramatic a performance, the song kind of peters out towards the end, fading on strings and cello with violin and bringing in strummed guitar and sitar on "Mass rapture", with a very eastern feel to the music, some more great basswork from Johansson and a double-violin attack, also a double vocal as Hakansson and Loegdlund combine once more with devastating effect. The song has something of the idea of those sort of belly-dances about it, where the music gets faster and more intense as it goes along, and you can imagine some girl jerking her body to the rhythm, getting into a higher frenzy as the music increases in tempo and intensity. It just doesn't let up really at all, and you feel quite exhausted by the time it hammers to a halt.

"Honey trap aftermath" gets boogeying again with a great blast of brass and a catchy chorus, Daneil taking the vocal amid trumpets and trombones with again a real carnival atmosphere, some fine solo trumpet by Isaksson matched by some just as effective 'bone from Hedin. Great acapella ending, like a Welsh male voice choir, then we're into the pounding "Of Kali ma calibre", quite medieval sounding and with again Annlouice back in opera diva mode. Great male backing vocals supporting her, a mid-paced sort of song --- no it's not, my mistake. Just shows you can never take anything for granted with DSO: don't you even read your own intros, Trollheart? It just leapt into a fast rocker, then back again, then up again, leaving me to reflect that it's quite hard to even review a DSO album properly. Now it's dropped to gorgeous cello and violin, slowed right down in a stately waltz almost, and here come the trumpets and we're off again with the tempo ratcheting back up. Man, I'm tired!

The closer is also the longest track, eight and a half minutes long, so if the above was only half that, and went through that many changes, god only knows how much this is going to evolve! "Justice for Saint Mary" opens on a slow, violin and brass-led passage, with Daniel Hakansson on lead vocals; I'd say a ballad but we all know this going to change, and probably soon. Lovely bit of interplay between violin and cello, then acoustic guitar comes in, backed by violin, a lovely trombone line holding while Isaksson plays a mournful trumpet above it. Very little in the way of percussion really, just a few shimmering cymbals and timpani, and I'll take a chance and say that the basic melody is going to remain the same now, as we're almost three-quarters of the way through the song. Strong violin now and the drums are finally kicking in bringing with them a heavy metal guitar that smashes all in its way, the tension in the track kicking up several notches as it fades then sort of breaks into disjointed sounds, almost like samples, or as if the track is corrupt, but knowing DSO I expect this is actually intentional, and ends the album in the weirdest way possible.

TRACKLISTING

1. Voodoo mon amour
2. Guerilla laments
3. Kevlar sweethearts
4. How to organise a lynch mob
5. Black box messiah
6. Exit strategy for a wrecking ball
7. Aurora
8. Mass rapture
9. Honey trap aftermath
10. Of Kali ma calibre
11. Justice for Saint Mary

Don't worry if you come away from this album saying to yourself "Wtf was that?" because this is most people's reaction to Diablo Swing Orchestra. It's impossible to prepare anyone for what they'll experience, listening to one of DSO's albums, and the best if hackneyed advice is to expect the unexpected. But even then, you can't predict what weird and wonderful ideas the guys will come up with, what styles they'll mesh and what genre boundaries they'll gleefully cross over, with no respect at all to rules or conventions. It doesn't matter if it's acid jazz, punk fusion, progressive rock, salsa or blues, if it fits in a song these guys will use it. Opera, classical, gothic, metal, folk, country --- to Diablo Swing Orchestra there are no barriers, no rules and nothing they won't try.

Which I guess must surely make them contender for one of the most progressive bands of this century.

If the Devil has an ipod, he must be grooving along to this!

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The Christmas Album --- Jackson 5 --- 1970 (Motown)
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Proving that even back in the seventies, pop artists were putting out Christmas albums, this was in fact --- perhaps surprisingly given their appeal and fame --- the only Christmas album put out by Micheal Jackson and family, though it was reissued twice, once in 2003 and again in 2009, with slight changes. NOT surprisingly, it features Michael's vocals heavily, as he was already being groomed for solo stardom and would in fact release his first solo album two years later, setting him on a path to superstar status and indeed controversy,

The album? Well it's fairly standard, by today's yardstick of course, but back then it was probably considered innovative and different. The album eventually went on to sell over three million copies, and yielded the Jackson 5 a hit single with their version of "Santa Claus is coming to town." It also features an original song, written by The Corporation, Motown's big-gun songwriters, among whom were Berry Gordy, founder and supremo of Motown Records, as well as a cover of Stevie Wonder's "Someday at Christmas", and one of the oldest Christmas songs known to exist, the nineteenth-century "Up on the housetop", perhaps the first song to propose the idea of Santa landing his sleigh on the roof of a house.

TRACKLISTING

1. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
2. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
3. The Christmas Song
4. Up on the Housetop
5. Frosty the Snowman
6. The Little Drummer Boy
7. Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer
8. Christmas Won't Be the Same This Year
9. Give Love on Christmas Day
10. Someday at Christmas
11. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus

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A very Ally Christmas --- Vonda Shepard/Cast --- 2000 (Epic)
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Ever get into a show on TV and suddenly end up realising you hate it after all? I thought Ally McBeal was really quite cute until about halfway through I think the second season, when I realised just what a whiny little biyatch she was, and how annoying just about everyone around her was. That was the end of my association with Flockhart and her bunch, though I must admit I did like Vonda Shepard's theme tune to the series. No surprise, then, that when the Christmas CD from the show came out in 2000 it would be mostly Shepard's baby.

There is involvement (sadly) from the cast though, (egos like those are never left at the door) and so we have Callista "Ally" Flockhart painfully trying to sound sexy on "Santa baby" (and failing miserably), Lisa Nicole Cannon's really weird "Santa got stuck up my chimney" (please keep your sexual proclivities to yourself, young lady!) and even Jane Krakowski singing TWO songs, "Run Rudolph run" and "I saw mommy kissing Santa Claus", the latter of which, given the character and actress's age is just creepy and wrong.

There's an attempt to rescue things by the great Robert Downey Jnr and his rendition of Joni Mitchell's "River" shines through this like a jewel in a pigsty, but it's not enough and the rest of the album is so-so Christmas fare like you'd expect, with "Let it snow", "White Christmas" and my favourite, "Silver bells", plus Macy Grey getting unnecessarily involved in "Winter wonderland". Gaah!

TRACKLISTING

1. This Christmas
2. The Man With the Bag
3. Please Come Home for Christmas
4. Silver Bells
5. Let It Snow, Let It Snow, Let It Snow
6. Winter Wonderland - Macy Gray
7. Run, Rudolph, Run - Jane Krakowski
8. Santa Claus Got Stuck in My Chimney - Lisa Nicole Carson
9. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus - Jane Krakowski
10. Santa Baby - Calista Flockhart
11. Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas
12. River - Robert Downey Jr.
13. White Christmas
14. What Are You Doing New Year's Eve

Guys, can this spam comment be deleted (and the other one)? No idea how they got approved but they have no place here in my journal. Thx

Done. :)

Also, though I hate Mariah Carey as much as you do, I have to admit to liking both the song "All I Want for Christmas" and the way she looks in that skintight Santa outfit.

Thanks man. Appreciate it. :thumb:
As for Carey, have to admit that if I awoke to find her on the edge of my bed I'd close my eyes and dive under the sheets, hoping it was a nightmare and when I awoke she'd be gone. Can't stand the woman, on any level.

Merrrryy Christmas! :)

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Ultimate Christmas --- The Beach Boys --- 1998 (Capitol)
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Whether you see it as the title above or the later-released "Christmas with The Beach Boys" --- essentially exactly the same album, released six years later and with one track removed --- there can't be anyone you would tend to associate Christmas with less. The Beach Boys have an image of, and sing about, sun, surfing, babes, beaches, all that sort of stuff that takes place under the hot bright California sunshine. So to hear them singing Chritmas songs, song about snow and winter and mulled wine and what have you --- well, it just seems weird.

It's a damn huge album too, containing a total of nineteen tracks, twenty-six if you include all the remixes, alternate versions and Christmas messages. It's pretty much a collection of every Christmas song the Beach Boys ever recorded, and I guess to their credit there's very little on the album that's not one of their own original compositions. If you're a fan you'll know the likes of "Little Saint Nick", "The man with all the toys" and "Merry Christmas baby". I'm not a fan --- can't stand them personally, and this record does nothing for me. To rub salt into the wounds they include a cover from another of my least favourite artistes, Elvis, whose "Blue Christmas" they do a passable version of.

I guess it's fun, but really, it all comes across as a little silly and hard to take seriously. Songs about winter fires and snow falling, snowmen and cold nights are all just a little out of place when you know the guys went surfing after recording these songs. Baby it's cold outside? Not for these guys, I'll wager.

TRACKLISTING

1. Little Saint Nick
2. The Man with All the Toys
3. Santa's Beard
4. Merry Christmas, Baby
5. Christmas Day
6. Frosty the Snowman
7. We Three Kings of Orient Are
8. Blue Christmas
9. Santa Claus Is Coming to Town
10. White Christmas
11. I'll Be Home for Christmas
12. Auld Lang Syne
13. Little Saint Nick
14. Auld Lang Syne
15. Little Saint Nick
16. Child of Winter (Christmas Song)
17. Santa's Got An Airplane
18. Christmas Time Is Here Again
19.Winter Symphony
20. (I Saw Santa) Rockin' Around The Christmas Tree
21. Melekalikimaka (aka "Kona Christmas")
22. Bells of Christmas
23. Morning Christmas
24. Toy Drive Public Service Announcement
25. Dennis Wilson Christmas Message
26. Brian Wilson Christmas Interview

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Iron Maiden- Nice background and also hearing something about your family when you bought this album. Those albums especially of our teenage years always seem to have a special place that a lot of future albums might not have. Hence my love for numerous AOR albums that I was listening to in my teenage years.

As for the album, it's such a monolith in the history of metal and may well be the first album that anybody getting into metal for the first time should listen to.

Def Leppard- I've always had a soft spot for this album and it's a classic of its time. Along with British Steel this may be the best pop metal album ever written.

Despite the fact that we tend to like a lot of the same bands, we also tend to disagree with what their best albums and songs are. But have to say "Die Hard the Hunter" might well be the stand out track on the album.

Mutt Lange was probably the most revered producer around at the time and he was notorious for putting band's through their paces to get that perfect cut. I remember reading how the Cars complained about his ideas of perfection on Heartbeat City.