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Home to the articles, eBooks and commentaries by
Ross Muir
Freelance Writer, Music Review & Artist Promotion
Putting the Words to the Music - and a few other subjects
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Home to the articles, eBooks and commentaries by
Ross Muir
Freelance Writer, Music Review & Artist Promotion
Putting the Words to the Music - and a few other subjects
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February Message from FabricationsHQ
Family matters and related issues continue to be a personal priority but the time-consuming aspects of those issues should be a thing of the past by the end of February.
So it's still a case of reduced time and input in connection with FabricationsHQ but that's real life in action, from which music can sometimes be a healthy and necessary escape.
With that in mind there will still be the Muirsical Thoughts updates, some smaller articles/ Press Release information and the Muirsical Reviews for 2012.
But many of the larger articles, features or forthcoming interviews are on the backburner and will hopefully start appearing from March.
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Family matters and related issues continue to be a personal priority but the time-consuming aspects of those issues should be a thing of the past by the end of February.
So it's still a case of reduced time and input in connection with FabricationsHQ but that's real life in action, from which music can sometimes be a healthy and necessary escape.
With that in mind there will still be the Muirsical Thoughts updates, some smaller articles/ Press Release information and the Muirsical Reviews for 2012.
But many of the larger articles, features or forthcoming interviews are on the backburner and will hopefully start appearing from March.
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Latest Articles
(click on the title to go directly to the article)
Featured Album Review: Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth Was it worth all the hype? Arguably not. Does it prove you can teach old songs new tricks? Absolutely.
2012 Album Review Summaries The early entrants in FabricationsHQ 2012 reviews. Jes Falcon (Fake Bluff), Bill Nelson (Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists) and The Johnson Brothers (Out of the Blue).
Gig Review - The Big Dish, Glasgow First FabricationsHQ review of the year comes courtesy of friend and fellow music fan David Milloy, who reports on the return of one of the best melodic pop band Scotland ever produced.
Duncan Chisholm - Special Musical Forces The renowned fiddle player has had quite a career already, but recent musical activities may well have produced his most personal and satisfying works yet.
Peter Frampton - black Gibson gold dust - How Peter Frampton was reunited with his favourite guitar thirty-two years after it was presumed lost and destroyed.
Book Review - The Rock & Roll Times: Music Industry Bible by Will Beattie
Essential reading for the budding rock God in this electronically re-released work by Beattie. An informative and nicely mapped out Music Industry 101 guide.
Popular older articles
Gerry Rafferty - Humblebum to multi-million seller One year on from Gerry Rafferty's passing, his songs were celebrated with a show at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow. Time to look again at the career of arguably Scotland's greatest ever songwriter.
The Sweet - A Cut Above the Rest Muirsical Reflection on the most misunderstood rock band of the 70's. Known for their great Glam Rock era, but criminally under-rated in their own country as regards original product and musicianship.
The Fool Guitar - The Fool Story Article on the intriguing history behind one of the most iconic instruments in rock and roll.
(click on the title to go directly to the article)
Featured Album Review: Van Halen - A Different Kind of Truth Was it worth all the hype? Arguably not. Does it prove you can teach old songs new tricks? Absolutely.
2012 Album Review Summaries The early entrants in FabricationsHQ 2012 reviews. Jes Falcon (Fake Bluff), Bill Nelson (Songs of the Blossom Tree Optimists) and The Johnson Brothers (Out of the Blue).
Gig Review - The Big Dish, Glasgow First FabricationsHQ review of the year comes courtesy of friend and fellow music fan David Milloy, who reports on the return of one of the best melodic pop band Scotland ever produced.
Duncan Chisholm - Special Musical Forces The renowned fiddle player has had quite a career already, but recent musical activities may well have produced his most personal and satisfying works yet.
Peter Frampton - black Gibson gold dust - How Peter Frampton was reunited with his favourite guitar thirty-two years after it was presumed lost and destroyed.
Book Review - The Rock & Roll Times: Music Industry Bible by Will Beattie
Essential reading for the budding rock God in this electronically re-released work by Beattie. An informative and nicely mapped out Music Industry 101 guide.
Popular older articles
Gerry Rafferty - Humblebum to multi-million seller One year on from Gerry Rafferty's passing, his songs were celebrated with a show at the Celtic Connections Festival in Glasgow. Time to look again at the career of arguably Scotland's greatest ever songwriter.
The Sweet - A Cut Above the Rest Muirsical Reflection on the most misunderstood rock band of the 70's. Known for their great Glam Rock era, but criminally under-rated in their own country as regards original product and musicianship.
The Fool Guitar - The Fool Story Article on the intriguing history behind one of the most iconic instruments in rock and roll.
Latest Muirsical Thoughts
The Pension Top-Up (or 'our drummer needs a new Bedroom Extension') Tour.
Part 543. (Ah, colour me cynical).
For the first time in over 19 years the original, definitive line-up of the Happy Mondays will reform for a UK tour.
Following the success of their shows in Brussels, Paris and London at the end of last year, New Order have announced their first UK tour for 6 years.
The Human League will embark on a fourteen date 'XXXV' UK tour at the end or the year, celebrating their 35 years in the music business.
I blame The Stone Roses (but then I usually do).
And on a global reformation/ reinvention/ re-imaging scale, who the fek is left?
The Beatles?
A bit of video and audio trickery, couple of look-a-likes, tribute performers or family members (or some black-art necromancy and a touch of exhuming) and everything and anything is musically possible...
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Part 543. (Ah, colour me cynical).
For the first time in over 19 years the original, definitive line-up of the Happy Mondays will reform for a UK tour.
Following the success of their shows in Brussels, Paris and London at the end of last year, New Order have announced their first UK tour for 6 years.
The Human League will embark on a fourteen date 'XXXV' UK tour at the end or the year, celebrating their 35 years in the music business.
I blame The Stone Roses (but then I usually do).
And on a global reformation/ reinvention/ re-imaging scale, who the fek is left?
The Beatles?
A bit of video and audio trickery, couple of look-a-likes, tribute performers or family members (or some black-art necromancy and a touch of exhuming) and everything and anything is musically possible...
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One year on from Gerry Rafferty’s passing, daughter Martha and his long-time friend, singer songwriter Rab Noakes, put together an event for the 2012 Celtic Connections Festival to celebrate the music of Gerry Rafferty.
The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall hosted ‘Bring it All Home: Gerry Rafferty Remembered,’ which featured a long list of Rafferty’s friends, family, and fellow musicians performing many of his best and lesser-known songs.
The line-up included The Proclaimers, Barbara Dickson, Maria Muldaur, Jack Bruce, Tom Robinson and ex-Rafferty sidemen High Burns, Graham Preskett and Mel Collins, all backed by the evenings house band Roddy Hart and the Lonesome Fire.
Bring it All Home was one of the fastest selling shows at Celtic Connections and a second date was added due to ticket demand.
I'm not surprised and, having watched the show on BBC Scotland as I couldn't make the gig itself, thoroughly deserved.
I'd have like to have seen Ayrshire's own Alan Frew, a great singer songwriter in his own right, given more of a mention, mind (he performed with the 'Rafferty Family' and was also part of the finale)
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The Glasgow Royal Concert Hall hosted ‘Bring it All Home: Gerry Rafferty Remembered,’ which featured a long list of Rafferty’s friends, family, and fellow musicians performing many of his best and lesser-known songs.
The line-up included The Proclaimers, Barbara Dickson, Maria Muldaur, Jack Bruce, Tom Robinson and ex-Rafferty sidemen High Burns, Graham Preskett and Mel Collins, all backed by the evenings house band Roddy Hart and the Lonesome Fire.
Bring it All Home was one of the fastest selling shows at Celtic Connections and a second date was added due to ticket demand.
I'm not surprised and, having watched the show on BBC Scotland as I couldn't make the gig itself, thoroughly deserved.
I'd have like to have seen Ayrshire's own Alan Frew, a great singer songwriter in his own right, given more of a mention, mind (he performed with the 'Rafferty Family' and was also part of the finale)
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Roxy Music are celebrating their 40th Anniversary with the definitive back catalogue box set.
The Complete Studio Recordings 1972-1982 is an 8 CD + 4 DVD collection that includes not only all eight studio albums but a number of non-album singles, B-sides and remixes.
Needless to say, all albums have been re-mastered and the die-hard Roxy Music fan or collector can grab their copy come the 2nd of April.
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The Complete Studio Recordings 1972-1982 is an 8 CD + 4 DVD collection that includes not only all eight studio albums but a number of non-album singles, B-sides and remixes.
Needless to say, all albums have been re-mastered and the die-hard Roxy Music fan or collector can grab their copy come the 2nd of April.
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The major advantage to downloadable audio is its instant availability.
The major disadvantage is the overall sound quality which, dependant on format of the audio and playback options, can range from pretty listenable to bloody awful.
But Paul McCartney has taken that issue on board with his latest solo album, Kisses On The Bottom.
Produced by Tommy LiPuma, the album has been mastered specifically for iTunes to optimize sound quality when downloaded.
This is one of the first name players to cater directly for the ever-growing download audience and as much as Sir Macca’s new album won't be first on my Muirsical listens list come release day, good on him.
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The major disadvantage is the overall sound quality which, dependant on format of the audio and playback options, can range from pretty listenable to bloody awful.
But Paul McCartney has taken that issue on board with his latest solo album, Kisses On The Bottom.
Produced by Tommy LiPuma, the album has been mastered specifically for iTunes to optimize sound quality when downloaded.
This is one of the first name players to cater directly for the ever-growing download audience and as much as Sir Macca’s new album won't be first on my Muirsical listens list come release day, good on him.
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Europe will have a new album, Bag of Bones, out by April or May of this year.
The band that didn’t so much launch a thousand melodic metal cliché’s as invent them, will tour behind the Kevin Shirley produced album in the summer.
So it seems it isn’t quite The Final Countdown yet.
Damn.
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The band that didn’t so much launch a thousand melodic metal cliché’s as invent them, will tour behind the Kevin Shirley produced album in the summer.
So it seems it isn’t quite The Final Countdown yet.
Damn.
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Colour me sceptical on just about any re-released re-mastered Deluxe Limited Special Edition Super Dooper release, but I have to say my Muirsical interest was more than a little heightened when I heard the first six Rory Gallagher solo albums have been given an overhaul.
Each album has been re-issued in digipack form, with the audio re-mastered from the original 1/4" inch tapes. The releases also coincide with the 40th Anniversary of the start of Gallagher’s solo career.
Available now are: Rory Gallagher (1971), Deuce (1971), Live in Europe! (1972), Blueprint (1973), Tattoo (1973), Irish Tour ’74 (1974).
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Each album has been re-issued in digipack form, with the audio re-mastered from the original 1/4" inch tapes. The releases also coincide with the 40th Anniversary of the start of Gallagher’s solo career.
Available now are: Rory Gallagher (1971), Deuce (1971), Live in Europe! (1972), Blueprint (1973), Tattoo (1973), Irish Tour ’74 (1974).
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I see/ hear Steven Tyler got some pelters for his rendition of the Star Spangled Banner before the NFL’s AFC Championship game between the New England Patriots and the Baltimore Ravens.
Various Sports sites, commentators and news panellists threw a flag on his rendition of the American National Anthem with comments generally bringing a 15 yard “terrible” or “awful” penalty.
Greg Gutfeld of Fox News went further, or at least went as far as his back yard:
“I went outside to put a raccoon out of its misery, then I realized my neighbor was watching Steven Tyler sing the Star-Spangled Banner.”
I heard Tyler tackling the tune, but then I would. There was an NFL game to watch and this was a good seven hours before the depression over Candlestick Park in San Francisco set in.
I couldn’t agree with the criticism.
Primarily because it sounded exactly like I expected it to sound.
It sounded exactly like Steven Tyler singing the American National Anthem.
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Various Sports sites, commentators and news panellists threw a flag on his rendition of the American National Anthem with comments generally bringing a 15 yard “terrible” or “awful” penalty.
Greg Gutfeld of Fox News went further, or at least went as far as his back yard:
“I went outside to put a raccoon out of its misery, then I realized my neighbor was watching Steven Tyler sing the Star-Spangled Banner.”
I heard Tyler tackling the tune, but then I would. There was an NFL game to watch and this was a good seven hours before the depression over Candlestick Park in San Francisco set in.
I couldn’t agree with the criticism.
Primarily because it sounded exactly like I expected it to sound.
It sounded exactly like Steven Tyler singing the American National Anthem.
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America singer Etta James, who musically and vocally crossed many musical genres from blues to rock and roll and soul to jazz, died on the 20th January 2012 after complications of Leukaemia.
The 73 year old made her name in the 1950’s as a rhythm and blues singer but she was quite at home with pop, blues and jazz.
Her biggest hit was 'At Last,' best termed a pop standard but one of her four Grammy Awards was for best jazz vocal (for the album Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday) in 1995.
She had a versatile and emotive voice but her career certainly had its up and downs, due in part to being hard to pigeonhole but more related to the changing musical fashions as the decades progressed and her own drug problems.
A heroin habit in the 1960’s was overcome but she would later use cocaine.
Etta James found herself back in fashion in 2008 when Beyoncé Knowles covered 'At Last' and starred as James in the musical biopic Cadillac Records.
For all the ups and downs and in and out of fashions experienced by Etta James, she will always be known as one of the great American female voices.
In thirty to forty years time I doubt the Beyoncé Knowles of the world will, and how anyone can compare her take of 'At Last' to Etta's (in terms of soulful, emotive vocality) is beyond me. Sorry, beyoncé me.
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The 73 year old made her name in the 1950’s as a rhythm and blues singer but she was quite at home with pop, blues and jazz.
Her biggest hit was 'At Last,' best termed a pop standard but one of her four Grammy Awards was for best jazz vocal (for the album Mystery Lady: Songs of Billie Holiday) in 1995.
She had a versatile and emotive voice but her career certainly had its up and downs, due in part to being hard to pigeonhole but more related to the changing musical fashions as the decades progressed and her own drug problems.
A heroin habit in the 1960’s was overcome but she would later use cocaine.
Etta James found herself back in fashion in 2008 when Beyoncé Knowles covered 'At Last' and starred as James in the musical biopic Cadillac Records.
For all the ups and downs and in and out of fashions experienced by Etta James, she will always be known as one of the great American female voices.
In thirty to forty years time I doubt the Beyoncé Knowles of the world will, and how anyone can compare her take of 'At Last' to Etta's (in terms of soulful, emotive vocality) is beyond me. Sorry, beyoncé me.
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After mentioning last month that Tom Petty & The Heartbreakers will be making a rare British appearance when they play the Isle of Wight festival in June, it was recently announced that headlining show will be preceded by a performance at the Royal Albert Hall on the 20th June, just two days before the festival performance.
So not one but two rare treats for the Petty fans.
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So not one but two rare treats for the Petty fans.
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From rare treat to absolutely inevitable…
Scott Gorham has been talking about it being time for Thin Lizzy to write and record new material, and under the Thin Lizzy name.
The Californian six-stringer, who was very much a part of the classic Lizzy line-up, first confirmed the possibility back in March 2011 but it’s a far cry from when the band reformed in 1996 around Gorham and guitarist John Sykes.
Sykes, who was a member of Thin Lizzy before the band’s original disbandment in 1983, felt the reformation was always more of a tribute to Phil Lynott and the classic Lizzy catalogue and it would be wrong to record new material under the Thin Lizzy name.
But that was then. This is now.
And now, with no Sykes, a further revamped version of the band (including one-time Lizzy keyboard player Darren Wharton and founder member Brian Downey) and classic rock gaining more interest than it has since the Hay Daze (but with a much smaller piece of the musical pie for many bands) new material from acts like Lizzy is being welcomed by a new generation of rock fans and some of the back-in-the-day hard core.
New albums/ material from reformed or re-imagined bands is even denting the charts again – no matter how good, bad or indifferent the new musical quality turns out to be.
So it’s no surprise whatsoever that Gorham would be rethinking the recording philosophy, because the name on the tin doesn’t just sell tickets, it now sells CD’s.
Albeit to a far lesser degree.
The debates have already started of course, with fans from the aforementioned die-hard to the casual fan-of-the-music taking stances from “absolutely they should” to “absolutely they shouldn’t.”
The problem with a band called Thin Lizzy is that although musicians like Gorham and Downey (a brilliant yet unheralded drummer who may well be the best musician Lizzy ever had) were core and integral parts of the classic Lizzy sound, Phil Lynott was the heart & soul, primary songwriter & lyrical poet, Irish brogue voice & charisma of the band in one roguish package.
If they had called themselves The Lizzies or some such derivative there wouldn’t be the 'name' calling hoo-hah we have now. But Thin Lizzy it is.
While at the same time Thin Lizzy it isn’t. And never can be again.
It’s the same issue I have with bands like Big Country and It Bites.
Another Country and It Bites Back would have been perfect nods to the past while looking forward, but those names would never carry as much interest or, arguably, ever sell as many tickets.
Best of luck to you, Mr Gorham. I’ll still be at the nearest Limehouse Lizzy gig.
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Scott Gorham has been talking about it being time for Thin Lizzy to write and record new material, and under the Thin Lizzy name.
The Californian six-stringer, who was very much a part of the classic Lizzy line-up, first confirmed the possibility back in March 2011 but it’s a far cry from when the band reformed in 1996 around Gorham and guitarist John Sykes.
Sykes, who was a member of Thin Lizzy before the band’s original disbandment in 1983, felt the reformation was always more of a tribute to Phil Lynott and the classic Lizzy catalogue and it would be wrong to record new material under the Thin Lizzy name.
But that was then. This is now.
And now, with no Sykes, a further revamped version of the band (including one-time Lizzy keyboard player Darren Wharton and founder member Brian Downey) and classic rock gaining more interest than it has since the Hay Daze (but with a much smaller piece of the musical pie for many bands) new material from acts like Lizzy is being welcomed by a new generation of rock fans and some of the back-in-the-day hard core.
New albums/ material from reformed or re-imagined bands is even denting the charts again – no matter how good, bad or indifferent the new musical quality turns out to be.
So it’s no surprise whatsoever that Gorham would be rethinking the recording philosophy, because the name on the tin doesn’t just sell tickets, it now sells CD’s.
Albeit to a far lesser degree.
The debates have already started of course, with fans from the aforementioned die-hard to the casual fan-of-the-music taking stances from “absolutely they should” to “absolutely they shouldn’t.”
The problem with a band called Thin Lizzy is that although musicians like Gorham and Downey (a brilliant yet unheralded drummer who may well be the best musician Lizzy ever had) were core and integral parts of the classic Lizzy sound, Phil Lynott was the heart & soul, primary songwriter & lyrical poet, Irish brogue voice & charisma of the band in one roguish package.
If they had called themselves The Lizzies or some such derivative there wouldn’t be the 'name' calling hoo-hah we have now. But Thin Lizzy it is.
While at the same time Thin Lizzy it isn’t. And never can be again.
It’s the same issue I have with bands like Big Country and It Bites.
Another Country and It Bites Back would have been perfect nods to the past while looking forward, but those names would never carry as much interest or, arguably, ever sell as many tickets.
Best of luck to you, Mr Gorham. I’ll still be at the nearest Limehouse Lizzy gig.
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Destroyer, the hard glam rock KISS classic from 1976, will be re-released as an expanded 35th Anniversary edition in February.
The release is expected to feature remixes of the original album by producer Bob Ezrin, various outtakes and the original cover art.
The latter might be the most intriguing aspect of the reissue as the original artwork by Ken Kelly was rejected by the record company for being, allegedly, too violent.
The original also sported the band members wearing their KISS Alive! costumes, which were updated for the album, reworked cover and subsequent tour.
You can almost smell “KISS Kollector’s Klassic” in amongst the grease paint and makeup.
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The release is expected to feature remixes of the original album by producer Bob Ezrin, various outtakes and the original cover art.
The latter might be the most intriguing aspect of the reissue as the original artwork by Ken Kelly was rejected by the record company for being, allegedly, too violent.
The original also sported the band members wearing their KISS Alive! costumes, which were updated for the album, reworked cover and subsequent tour.
You can almost smell “KISS Kollector’s Klassic” in amongst the grease paint and makeup.
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As most rock fans will already be aware it was recently confirmed rock legend Tony Iommi has been diagnosed with the early stages of lymphoma.
The Black Sabbath guitarist is positive, upbeat and still working on what is hoped to be a new Sabbath studio album this year, the first to feature the original line-up in more than thirty years.
With the illness diagnosed early, it’s also hoped there will be a full and successful recovery.
Similarly, keyboard player and composer Jon Lord announced back in August 2011 that he was battling an unspecified form of cancer.
He too, while taking a break from performance for treatment hasn’t stopped writing and hopes to be back behind the keys at some point this year.
One can only hope Lord and Iommi do indeed make full and speedy recoveries, but it is a stark reminder that even rock legends are not immortal or immune to such dark illnesses.
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The Black Sabbath guitarist is positive, upbeat and still working on what is hoped to be a new Sabbath studio album this year, the first to feature the original line-up in more than thirty years.
With the illness diagnosed early, it’s also hoped there will be a full and successful recovery.
Similarly, keyboard player and composer Jon Lord announced back in August 2011 that he was battling an unspecified form of cancer.
He too, while taking a break from performance for treatment hasn’t stopped writing and hopes to be back behind the keys at some point this year.
One can only hope Lord and Iommi do indeed make full and speedy recoveries, but it is a stark reminder that even rock legends are not immortal or immune to such dark illnesses.
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The Van Halen Update Part 538
No sooner have the Halen-ites got the new single, ‘Tattoo,’ out the door than the ex-members are lining up to conform it isn’t all that new. Sort of.
Original bassist Michael Anthony has confirmed what many already knew or suspected when he spoke recently about some of the new material coming from old material that he helped write. Or that was even written before he joined the band.
Anthony also confirmed he wouldn’t be chasing down any song writing credits however and is happy to let it be having already been there, played that and drunk the Jack Daniels straight from the bottle, rather than buying the JD t-shirt.
Keeping on that Van Halen story it seems that Wolfgang Van Halen, Edward’s son and the band’s bass player, suggested the band revisit the past for their musical present.
Wolfgang apparently instigated the archive and live bootleg search and that would seem to be borne out from the fact ‘Tatoo’ is clearly a reworking of ‘Down in Flames,’ a song that was only ever played live back before the debut album was released.
Last year Sammy Hagar made mention that he had heard the rumour that the next VH album would be made up of such material.
Old musical news is seemingly good musical news for Van Halen, their fans and the inevitable Top 5 Billboard album.
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No sooner have the Halen-ites got the new single, ‘Tattoo,’ out the door than the ex-members are lining up to conform it isn’t all that new. Sort of.
Original bassist Michael Anthony has confirmed what many already knew or suspected when he spoke recently about some of the new material coming from old material that he helped write. Or that was even written before he joined the band.
Anthony also confirmed he wouldn’t be chasing down any song writing credits however and is happy to let it be having already been there, played that and drunk the Jack Daniels straight from the bottle, rather than buying the JD t-shirt.
Keeping on that Van Halen story it seems that Wolfgang Van Halen, Edward’s son and the band’s bass player, suggested the band revisit the past for their musical present.
Wolfgang apparently instigated the archive and live bootleg search and that would seem to be borne out from the fact ‘Tatoo’ is clearly a reworking of ‘Down in Flames,’ a song that was only ever played live back before the debut album was released.
Last year Sammy Hagar made mention that he had heard the rumour that the next VH album would be made up of such material.
Old musical news is seemingly good musical news for Van Halen, their fans and the inevitable Top 5 Billboard album.
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As I start to get back into Muirsical mode for 2012, I’m reminded of just how important the Internet has become as regards music and the music business, because without it I certainly wouldn’t have heard one artist’s work or even heard of the artist.
Late last year singer songwriter Jes Falcon contacted me to ask if I would be interested in hearing his debut album or at least a number of his tracks.
Purest Falcon, which Jes refers to as a "big demo" was actually released in 2010 but with no mainstream U.K. distribution, it was of no surprise I had not heard of Jes or his album until we hooked up.
Originally from Spain but living in Amsterdam (and seeing himself as “an Amsterdammer”) Jes Falcon has a very distinct vocal sound, both in accent and vocality, and delivers songs best described as alternative rock.
I would go further – if the Punk movement had got tired of their own brand of music one day and decided to invent their own form of slightly off-centre guitar-riff rock they may well have created songs like ‘Nights Are Not the Same Without You’ and ‘No Cover.’
Jes’s voice and to some degree the style of songs, are very much an acquired taste, but there is a discordant warmth and charm to both. Prime examples are the quirky ‘San Francisco Square’ (but then I was probably always going to like it on title alone) and lighter ‘She Came with the Rain.’
But as hinted at Jes Falcon is not for everyone – Boston based Skope magazine were very favourable to what Jes was producing but other reviews/ comments have varied from “creative genius” to “horrid.”
That’s quite a critical swing but both are wide of the musical mark.
Jes has since released Fake Bluff, an album featuring new songs along with re-recordings of tracks that first appeared on Purest Falcon (but featuring stronger production values).
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Late last year singer songwriter Jes Falcon contacted me to ask if I would be interested in hearing his debut album or at least a number of his tracks.
Purest Falcon, which Jes refers to as a "big demo" was actually released in 2010 but with no mainstream U.K. distribution, it was of no surprise I had not heard of Jes or his album until we hooked up.
Originally from Spain but living in Amsterdam (and seeing himself as “an Amsterdammer”) Jes Falcon has a very distinct vocal sound, both in accent and vocality, and delivers songs best described as alternative rock.
I would go further – if the Punk movement had got tired of their own brand of music one day and decided to invent their own form of slightly off-centre guitar-riff rock they may well have created songs like ‘Nights Are Not the Same Without You’ and ‘No Cover.’
Jes’s voice and to some degree the style of songs, are very much an acquired taste, but there is a discordant warmth and charm to both. Prime examples are the quirky ‘San Francisco Square’ (but then I was probably always going to like it on title alone) and lighter ‘She Came with the Rain.’
But as hinted at Jes Falcon is not for everyone – Boston based Skope magazine were very favourable to what Jes was producing but other reviews/ comments have varied from “creative genius” to “horrid.”
That’s quite a critical swing but both are wide of the musical mark.
Jes has since released Fake Bluff, an album featuring new songs along with re-recordings of tracks that first appeared on Purest Falcon (but featuring stronger production values).
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Michael Schenker will be playing four dates in the U.K. in May as part of the Temple of Rock tour and album of the same name from 2011.
The band features ex-Rainbow and Yngwie Malmsteen singer Doogie White and ex-Scorpions members Herman Rarebell and Francis Buchholz, whom Schenker worked with (albeit briefly) in his two stints with the German rockers.
Keyboard player Wayne Findlay completes the line-up.
The set is expected to feature not just songs from the 2011 album Temple of Rock but classic UFO numbers 'Rock Bottom' and 'Doctor Doctor,' original Michael Schenker tunes such as 'Armed and Ready' and 'Into The Arena,' and a couple of noted Scorpions songs including 'Another Piece of Meat' and 'Rock You like a Hurricane.'
The dates are:
9th May - Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall
10th May - Manchester, HMV Ritz
11th May - Glasgow, O2 ABC
12th May - London, Shepherd's Bush Empire
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The band features ex-Rainbow and Yngwie Malmsteen singer Doogie White and ex-Scorpions members Herman Rarebell and Francis Buchholz, whom Schenker worked with (albeit briefly) in his two stints with the German rockers.
Keyboard player Wayne Findlay completes the line-up.
The set is expected to feature not just songs from the 2011 album Temple of Rock but classic UFO numbers 'Rock Bottom' and 'Doctor Doctor,' original Michael Schenker tunes such as 'Armed and Ready' and 'Into The Arena,' and a couple of noted Scorpions songs including 'Another Piece of Meat' and 'Rock You like a Hurricane.'
The dates are:
9th May - Wolverhampton, Wulfrun Hall
10th May - Manchester, HMV Ritz
11th May - Glasgow, O2 ABC
12th May - London, Shepherd's Bush Empire
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From old Scorpions to the current/ last Scorpions...
The Scorpions retirement announcement from back in January 2010 hasn’t been rescinded but it’s certainly been delayed.
Which is of no surprise given the quality of that year’s album Sting in the Tail and the success of the subsequent tour.
To be fair, the tour was always going to run at least two years to cover as many areas and catch as many fans as possible but since the announcement that Sting in the Tail was to be their last album the band have released a covers album and are still gigging.
In a recent interview founder member Rudolph Schenker made it clear he didn't regard the Comeblack covers album to be a new studio album and confirmed the extended tour is still to be their last:
“…this will be the last tour and the last studio album. And we will stick to it. Comeblack is a side-project. It’s something that we did, but there are no new songs on it.”
That’s not quite the end of the musical output however.
Schenker also went on to confirm that the band have a massive amount of unreleased material and a box-set will undoubtedly be released come official retirement time:
“…we have a lot of songs, and what we want to do, especially after we finish, we want to give the fans a box or something, maybe with bonus tracks from the Scorpions, and maybe another film on DVD or Blu-ray, with a live concert of the Scorpions, which will be happening the end of 2012, the beginning of 2013.”
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The Scorpions retirement announcement from back in January 2010 hasn’t been rescinded but it’s certainly been delayed.
Which is of no surprise given the quality of that year’s album Sting in the Tail and the success of the subsequent tour.
To be fair, the tour was always going to run at least two years to cover as many areas and catch as many fans as possible but since the announcement that Sting in the Tail was to be their last album the band have released a covers album and are still gigging.
In a recent interview founder member Rudolph Schenker made it clear he didn't regard the Comeblack covers album to be a new studio album and confirmed the extended tour is still to be their last:
“…this will be the last tour and the last studio album. And we will stick to it. Comeblack is a side-project. It’s something that we did, but there are no new songs on it.”
That’s not quite the end of the musical output however.
Schenker also went on to confirm that the band have a massive amount of unreleased material and a box-set will undoubtedly be released come official retirement time:
“…we have a lot of songs, and what we want to do, especially after we finish, we want to give the fans a box or something, maybe with bonus tracks from the Scorpions, and maybe another film on DVD or Blu-ray, with a live concert of the Scorpions, which will be happening the end of 2012, the beginning of 2013.”
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Talking of lots of back-in-the-day unreleased material...
It seems that before his death in 1986, Phil Lynott gave an unidentified caretaker 150 tapes of nearly 700 songs, all of which are unreleased.
The collection includes out-takes and alternative versions of well known Thin Lizzy songs plus recorded but never released material. The recordings themselves span from 1971 to 1981.
Universal have obtained the rights to the material and project manager Steve Hammond believes it to be "an absolutely stunning find."
Just how stunning a find it truly is will be revealed when the best of the material is released as a box-set later in the year.
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It seems that before his death in 1986, Phil Lynott gave an unidentified caretaker 150 tapes of nearly 700 songs, all of which are unreleased.
The collection includes out-takes and alternative versions of well known Thin Lizzy songs plus recorded but never released material. The recordings themselves span from 1971 to 1981.
Universal have obtained the rights to the material and project manager Steve Hammond believes it to be "an absolutely stunning find."
Just how stunning a find it truly is will be revealed when the best of the material is released as a box-set later in the year.
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Supergroup Black Country Communion look set to keep up their prolific consistency with a third offering later this year.
In an interview with Artisan News Service Glenn Hughes confirmed another album, with the band scheduled to start studio work in June.
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In an interview with Artisan News Service Glenn Hughes confirmed another album, with the band scheduled to start studio work in June.
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From the original country to a new country. Or another country?
Big Country will be performing their classic/ debut album,The Crossing, during tour dates across the UK and Germany in the first quarter of 2012.
As most Big Country fans will know Mike Peters (voice of The Alarm and his own later incarnations of that band) now fronts the group, replacing the late and great Stuart Adamson (Big Country reformed in 2007, originally as a trio of the remaining members).
There is no argument there is an audience for the songs, as seen on recent tours, and while the members of Big Country have every right to celebrate that music Stuart Adamson’s distinct vocal, role as primary songwriter and his guitar work in tandem with Bruce Watson's make it a different beast with Mike Peters.
The band recently released 'Another Country,' their first single/ new song for twelve years, and although the single will almost certainly lead to an album and an extended life for the band I would have liked to have seen the boys perform and record under the name of that very song.
They would still be paying homage to their own origins and a back catalogue loaded with great tunes, but could look forward while acknowledging this is now a slightly different Country.
But based on the sound and style of 'Another Country' it's hard to gauge just how much looking forward will be incorporated into this new musical chapter for the band.
The single was produced by Steve Lillywhite (who was at the desk for the band's first two albums) and 'Another Country' makes for a punchy, but retro, step back, not forward. It sounds like a cross between early 80's Big Country and The Alarm.
But then with Mike Peters singing and Lillywhite producing, that was probably always going to be the case.
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Big Country will be performing their classic/ debut album,The Crossing, during tour dates across the UK and Germany in the first quarter of 2012.
As most Big Country fans will know Mike Peters (voice of The Alarm and his own later incarnations of that band) now fronts the group, replacing the late and great Stuart Adamson (Big Country reformed in 2007, originally as a trio of the remaining members).
There is no argument there is an audience for the songs, as seen on recent tours, and while the members of Big Country have every right to celebrate that music Stuart Adamson’s distinct vocal, role as primary songwriter and his guitar work in tandem with Bruce Watson's make it a different beast with Mike Peters.
The band recently released 'Another Country,' their first single/ new song for twelve years, and although the single will almost certainly lead to an album and an extended life for the band I would have liked to have seen the boys perform and record under the name of that very song.
They would still be paying homage to their own origins and a back catalogue loaded with great tunes, but could look forward while acknowledging this is now a slightly different Country.
But based on the sound and style of 'Another Country' it's hard to gauge just how much looking forward will be incorporated into this new musical chapter for the band.
The single was produced by Steve Lillywhite (who was at the desk for the band's first two albums) and 'Another Country' makes for a punchy, but retro, step back, not forward. It sounds like a cross between early 80's Big Country and The Alarm.
But then with Mike Peters singing and Lillywhite producing, that was probably always going to be the case.
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The Show Must Go On…
Something I made mention of exactly two years ago in one of my ‘Muirsical Re-Imagining’ articles may well come to be.
In November 2009 Roger Taylor and Brian May suggested they may tour with Adam Lambert (that year’s American Idol runner-up) and in a recent interview with Billboard Taylor revealed that he and May were talking to Lambert about the possibility of live dates in the future.
Lambert has performed with Queen before (at the 2011 MTV Europe Awards) and, according to Taylor “…has grown into a really great performer with an astonishing voice with a range that's great."
Taylor also confirmed to Billboard that plans were nearing completion for his Queen Extravaganza show, the tribute project he has been putting together over the last few months.
The officially endorsed tribute act will undertake a three month tour in May 2012 and will incorporate three singers and a five piece band.
As regards (Queen) tributes, or at least those based in the United States, Taylor has in the past been critical of their overall quality and has now decided “…there are so many of them I thought we need to have the one (we endorse).”
The Show(s) Must Go On, eh Rog?
And On. And On.
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Something I made mention of exactly two years ago in one of my ‘Muirsical Re-Imagining’ articles may well come to be.
In November 2009 Roger Taylor and Brian May suggested they may tour with Adam Lambert (that year’s American Idol runner-up) and in a recent interview with Billboard Taylor revealed that he and May were talking to Lambert about the possibility of live dates in the future.
Lambert has performed with Queen before (at the 2011 MTV Europe Awards) and, according to Taylor “…has grown into a really great performer with an astonishing voice with a range that's great."
Taylor also confirmed to Billboard that plans were nearing completion for his Queen Extravaganza show, the tribute project he has been putting together over the last few months.
The officially endorsed tribute act will undertake a three month tour in May 2012 and will incorporate three singers and a five piece band.
As regards (Queen) tributes, or at least those based in the United States, Taylor has in the past been critical of their overall quality and has now decided “…there are so many of them I thought we need to have the one (we endorse).”
The Show(s) Must Go On, eh Rog?
And On. And On.
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Usually I’m sceptical or cynical about any musical comeback, reappearance, re-invention or what-have-you, primarily because it’s usually to do with tapping in to the classic rock resurgence and little to do with the music.
There are exceptions to every rule however and none more so than Dick Wagner’s own musical – and physical – comeback...
Guitarist Wagner, who was part of the classic Alice Cooper Band, is playing his first shows in five years after recovering from a heart attack, stroke and other serious debilitating illnesses.
The heart attack and stroke left Wagner unable to play the guitar and the years that followed included the further setbacks of kidney failure and a coma.
In January of this year he suffered a near-fatal blood clot.
However physical therapy, having to re-learn the guitar, “sheer determination and some brilliant doctors” (as Wagner himself reported to the Detroit Free Press) have put him back on a stage again and he is currently touring in the US with Prakash John.
Now that’s a comeback.
Wagner, who appeared on Alice Cooper’s recent album Welcome 2 My Nightmare, is also planning to write his autobiography. And that should be some story…
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There are exceptions to every rule however and none more so than Dick Wagner’s own musical – and physical – comeback...
Guitarist Wagner, who was part of the classic Alice Cooper Band, is playing his first shows in five years after recovering from a heart attack, stroke and other serious debilitating illnesses.
The heart attack and stroke left Wagner unable to play the guitar and the years that followed included the further setbacks of kidney failure and a coma.
In January of this year he suffered a near-fatal blood clot.
However physical therapy, having to re-learn the guitar, “sheer determination and some brilliant doctors” (as Wagner himself reported to the Detroit Free Press) have put him back on a stage again and he is currently touring in the US with Prakash John.
Now that’s a comeback.
Wagner, who appeared on Alice Cooper’s recent album Welcome 2 My Nightmare, is also planning to write his autobiography. And that should be some story…
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