It’s a pretty ballsy move to put out a live album of the record you just released, but that’s what Iron Maiden has done with Book of Souls: Live Chapter. And they manage to pull the feat off impressively well.
Given that this live set of classics and new (for the time) tracks came out just one year after Pink Floyd decided to carry on without co-founder Roger Waters, it was easy to cynically write this one off as a cynical cash grab in case the new Water-less era of the band faded away quickly. Reflecting on the release nearly 30 years later, that cynicism was clearly unwarranted.
Bob Dylan has had a lot of moments throughout his career. There was the “going electric” moment, the motorcycle accident and reclusive period followed by the “Pink House” era. But probably most fascinating was Dylan’s conversion to Evangelical Christianity in the late 1970s after being raised Jewish. The conversion came, as has been noted in book after book and countless articles on the event as a result of proselytizing by…
Much like Ray and Dave Davies before them, the Gallagher Brothers have nearly let their rivalry and constant sniping at each other almost entirely overshadow their talent. But as Liam Gallagher shows with his first proper solo effort, “As You Were,” when he’s focused on the music, he is one of the best pop singers going nowadays.
In 2017 it’s difficult to believe any band that says their last tour is their last tour. Thanks to a list that includes musicians like Kiss, The Who, Nine Inch Nails, Judas Priest, um Ozzy Osbourne, you can’t help but roll your eyes when “farewell” is tacked onto the band’s tour t-shirt.
Australia’s long running band The Church have had an envious career. Together since 1980, they’ve consistently managed to turn out one great record after the next and tour consistently without breaking up or even taking the expected decades-long hiatus like many of their contemporaries. There has been speculation over the years that singer/bassist Steve Kilbey would leave the band, but ultimately it was longtime guitarist Marty Willson-Piper who ended up…
The Tempe-based roots rockers Pistoleros are hardly a household name. But, damn, they sure deserve to be. With only a handful of studio albums to their name, the five piece is celebrating a reinvigorated line up and their 25th anniversary with the stand out “Silver,” easily the best in their five-LP canon. Throughout the years, members of the Gin Blossoms and other local bands have joined and left the ranks, but…
Even among musicians, Paul H.R. Hudson is certainly interesting guy. As leader of the seminal D.C. punk band Bad Brains, his primitive vocal style has influenced hundreds and just as it seemed the band was finally taking off, he left the group. He flirted with religion and switched his focus to Reggae when the world was finally coming around to his take on hardcore.
Atomic Blonde is the latest in a series of fantastically imaginative action movies, alongside John Wick and the Mad Max reboot, that are helping to revive the once-stagnant genre, injecting it with stunning fight scenes, smart plot lines and A list actors.
Amazing story telling is being able to take a movie where the lead character is almost entirely computer generated and make it a compelling drama.
You know you’ve got a drug problem when Courtney Love – circa the late ‘90s – is taking part in your intervention.
Over the decades, Sting has evolved from being at the forefront of the punk/New Wave movement as front man for The Police, to being a go-to for adult contemporary radio programmers thanks to his mid-career slide to much softer fare. And yes, the jokes at his pretentiousness and self-indulgence are certainly easy to make, thanks in part to his fondness for the lute. All that aside, it’s hard to argue…
Guided By Voices are nothing, if not prolific. Despite breaking up a few times between the late ‘80s and now, they’ve already turned in 25 albums, ranging from great to, well, so-so. With a spotty track record, it’s nice knowing you can easily dip into their catalogue thanks to this fantastic live collection from 2004. Recorded on the set of Austin City Limits as part of the band’s first farewell…
On the surface, this appears to be just another standard music legend/world class orchestra collaboration; A gift to fans, but a collective shoulder shrug from everyone else. “A Love So Beautiful,” however, is so much more.
Since leaving the V-Boys in the late ‘90s, Scott Miller has forged a career as a solo artist, making waves in the alt country scene, but managing to fly under the radar of most outside the genre. It’s a shame though, as his 10th effort, “Ladies Auxiliary” shows, Miller is a fantastic songwriter.
Boasting probably the best album title since someone decided to name Paul Westerberg’s best of album Besterberg, Carmaig de Forest’s I Shall Be Released (christened I Shall Be Re-Released for this collection) gets the full re-release treatment from Omnivore for its 30th anniversary. While de Forest may never have been as popular as the acts he was always grouped with (Violent Femmes, They Might Be Giants), he was one of the smartest,…
While technically not a new album from the storied Athens dance post-punk band Pylon, “Part Time Punk Sessions EP” is probably the next best thing. Pylon Reenactment Society started three years ago and is comprised of Pylon’s Vanessa Briscoe Hay and a supergroup of other Athens Indie bands, including members of Big Atomic, Casper & The Cookies, and The Glands.
In what hopefully kicks off the first of several expanded edition albums from Drivin’ N’ Cryin’, Island and UMe have just re-released “Mystery Road” (on vinyl and CD), with seven demos tacked onto the classic record. Curiously, the re-release started with the band’s third album, though arguable one of their best. Criminally underrated as a group during their initial run in the ‘80s and early ‘90s, “Mystery Road’s” “Honeysuckle Blue”…
At first blush it could appear to be a tad bit sacrilege: taking a punk rock classic, the Dead Boys debut, “Young, Loud and Snotty,” and re-recording the album four decades later… with a new singer. But, in realty, the re-recorded version is actually a better product sonically.
From the tight jeans and mullets uniform of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal, the cringe-worthy hairspray and glitter era, to the burning churches and scary-as-fuck Norwegian Black Metal sect, Axl Rosenberg and Chris Krovatin have managed to break down just about every imaginable subgenre of Heavy Metal in their satisfyingly thorough Hellraisers. This massively heavy hardcover is crammed with hundreds of color photos, playlists and essays throughout.