On VHS is the latest release from instrumental rockers The Fierce And The Dead. It may only be an EP of four tracks but they are a pretty damned fine four tracks! Damned fine tracks which at times conjure forth echoes of the 1980s incarnation of King Crimson (Oh, my!) and at others the post-rock […]
There are many albums out there in music-land which are described as concept albums, concerning themselves with a particular theme. There are a handful which are more ambitious, pushing beyond a unifying theme and attempting to tell one story from beginning to end. Of those that fill this latter camp, I don’t think there are […]
Fly From Here is the title of the most recent album by Yes and I have been pleasantly surprised by it. I must confess that I had some doubts about how good it would be as it is now 10 years since their last release (Magnification) and even longer since a Yes album really grabbed […]
Peter Gabriel’s third studio album is another release that has remained high on my playlist for the last 30 odd years. It is also my favourite of PG’s solo output but only just – his first album, also referred to as Car, is right up there too. In fact, if I’m honest, there is actually […]
Woe to you Oh, Earth and Sea For the Devil sends the beast with wrath Because he knows the time is short Let him who hath understanding reckon the number of the beast For it is a human number Its number is six hundred and sixty six How many times have I listened to those […]
Ah, the boogie-metal-rocking majesty that is Blue Oyster Cult’s 1974 album Secret Treaties. Another of my long time favourites, featuring a cornucopia of delights to name but, well, all of them: Career of Evil Subhuman Dominance and Submission ME 262 Cagey Cretins Harvester of Eyes Flaming Telepaths Astronomy A truly magnificent album from which come […]
Once upon a time, there was a New Wave Of British Heavy Metal. This new wave included the likes of Iron Maiden, Def Leppard, Tygers Of Pan Tang, Witchfynde, Saxon and Diamond Head – amongst many, many others. I remember it well as the wave was getting going as I started my own musical journey […]
Last night [30/08/2011] I was watching the Fish perform acoustically at An Lanntair in Stornoway. I enjoyed this immensely. Which is not quite all… He was accompanied on piano by the very nimbly-fingered Foss Paterson and on guitar by the equally dextrous Frank Usher (visit his own site here). In combination they made a very […]
So, to get this thing going, I’m going to (re)post a series of album reviews that originally appeared on my A View From The West blog. Once I’m done with these, I’ll start on some all new reviews of favourite albums of mine. Here we go… I thought I’d indulge myself in a spot of […]