All the World's a Stage (and people falling off it)
FabricationsHQ's 2015 in Review
FabricationsHQ's 2015 in Review
It’s official.
Based on record setting sales numbers, anticipation, success of previous, undeniable vocal talent and the teensiest sprinkle (ahem) of pre-release promotion and hype, 2015 was the year Adele became…
well, the new Adele, quite frankly.
It may have been a late 2015 release, but the breaking-every-chart-and-sales-record-in-the-book success of 25 left the other big hitters in the world of pop, including new arrivals to Commercial Success Street James Bay, Jess Glynne and Sam Smith (whose 2015 'Drowning Shadows' Edition of 2014 debut album In the Lonely Hour was the tenth variant of the album) out in the Coldplay, who themselves were kept off the #1 spot just about everywhere by the face that launched 14 million worldwide album sales in six weeks.
Runner-up to Adele is a position just about any pop band will take and the good news was A Head Full of Dreams was more musically positive and far more upbeat than the "conscious uncoupling" soundtrack that was Ghost Stories; the bad news however was it was also just A Head Full of the tried and tested Coldplay formula.
For Adele’s part, she played to her strengths – her voice, its emotional rise and fall and her vocal intelligence – but the never off the radio songs such as 'Hello' were big, booming, echoey... and cut from the same mould as her biggest successes.
25 was a top of the charts hit and an off the charts unqualified success, but a few honest appraisal reviews did note that while 25 was full of of striking vocal performances it was also fairly middle of the road, safe, and more of the same from an artist who should have moved on from the "heartbreak" and "break-up" stylings of her first two albums.
Fair comment, because although 25 is Adele’s "make-up" record it still carried themes of nostalgia, "melancholia about the passage of time" (which raised a chuckle here at FabricationsHQ; maybe on your twelfth album entitled 55, Miss Adkins) and nods to past relationships, the latter leading one social media commentator to quip "third album and she's still singing about her ex... he must have been some ride..."
25 was musically and emotionally strong in places and fitted the current profile for big-song singer songwriter pop (and serious kudos to Adele for refusing to make the album available for on-line streaming), but while it was good, it wasn’t quite Carling.
Based on record setting sales numbers, anticipation, success of previous, undeniable vocal talent and the teensiest sprinkle (ahem) of pre-release promotion and hype, 2015 was the year Adele became…
well, the new Adele, quite frankly.
It may have been a late 2015 release, but the breaking-every-chart-and-sales-record-in-the-book success of 25 left the other big hitters in the world of pop, including new arrivals to Commercial Success Street James Bay, Jess Glynne and Sam Smith (whose 2015 'Drowning Shadows' Edition of 2014 debut album In the Lonely Hour was the tenth variant of the album) out in the Coldplay, who themselves were kept off the #1 spot just about everywhere by the face that launched 14 million worldwide album sales in six weeks.
Runner-up to Adele is a position just about any pop band will take and the good news was A Head Full of Dreams was more musically positive and far more upbeat than the "conscious uncoupling" soundtrack that was Ghost Stories; the bad news however was it was also just A Head Full of the tried and tested Coldplay formula.
For Adele’s part, she played to her strengths – her voice, its emotional rise and fall and her vocal intelligence – but the never off the radio songs such as 'Hello' were big, booming, echoey... and cut from the same mould as her biggest successes.
25 was a top of the charts hit and an off the charts unqualified success, but a few honest appraisal reviews did note that while 25 was full of of striking vocal performances it was also fairly middle of the road, safe, and more of the same from an artist who should have moved on from the "heartbreak" and "break-up" stylings of her first two albums.
Fair comment, because although 25 is Adele’s "make-up" record it still carried themes of nostalgia, "melancholia about the passage of time" (which raised a chuckle here at FabricationsHQ; maybe on your twelfth album entitled 55, Miss Adkins) and nods to past relationships, the latter leading one social media commentator to quip "third album and she's still singing about her ex... he must have been some ride..."
25 was musically and emotionally strong in places and fitted the current profile for big-song singer songwriter pop (and serious kudos to Adele for refusing to make the album available for on-line streaming), but while it was good, it wasn’t quite Carling.
Where a drink or two deserved to be raised was in salute or celebration to the other music genres that don’t get the same recognition (and perhaps never will again, such is the musical climate change of the 21st century) but still produced the more rock-orientated goods in 2015.
The British Blues rock scene is on a high right now and shows no sign of plateauing.
Veteran stager Robin Trower showed he can still hit a slow-blues groove and throw some beautifully phrased six-string shapes around (Something’s About to Change), contrasting with but complementing the feistier sound of newer bands such as King King who, against serious competition from the likes of Laurence Jones (What’s it Gonna Be) and Chantel McGregor (Lose Control) produced not just the best blues rock album of the year but one of the best rock albums of 2015 with Reaching For the Light.
The British Blues rock scene is on a high right now and shows no sign of plateauing.
Veteran stager Robin Trower showed he can still hit a slow-blues groove and throw some beautifully phrased six-string shapes around (Something’s About to Change), contrasting with but complementing the feistier sound of newer bands such as King King who, against serious competition from the likes of Laurence Jones (What’s it Gonna Be) and Chantel McGregor (Lose Control) produced not just the best blues rock album of the year but one of the best rock albums of 2015 with Reaching For the Light.
Not that the UK has any sort of lock on the best blues rock – new kid on the blues block Jarod James Nichols produced as feisty a blues rock outing as you’ll hear on his debut album Old Glory and the Wild Revival while his fellow American, Walter Trout, delivered one of his finest and arguably best album to date with Battle Scars; a feat made all the more remarkable when you consider that a year prior it looked like seriously declining health was leading to a blues world without the renowned Walter Trout in it.
In terms of rock (spelt r a w k !) a number of acts and albums made quite the impact, not least Thunder (Wonder Days), Operation Mindcrime (The Key) and Iron Maiden (The Book of Souls).
Progressive metallers Iron Maiden haven’t exactly raised eyebrows or pricked up ears here at FabricationsHQ in recent years (but then it isn’t a metal featuring site) but the band certainly made their mark with their 2015 double album, which made Feature Review status at FabricationsHQ alongside the aforementioned releases from King King, Thunder and Operation Mindcrime.
Also making the Feature Review pages were releases from guitar maestros Steve Hackett and Joe Satriani, Toto, The Zombies and Rush, the latter ending large scale touring (given Neil Peart's "retiral" statement) and perhaps even their career on a high with their R40 tour and subsequent R40 Live DVD/ Blu-ray release.
If, as that Billy Shakespeare bloke once wrote and Rush expressed on their first live release, "All the World's a Stage," then the Canadian power-prog trio were among its finest players in 2015 and the forty years prior.
Rush's R40 show was arguably the recorded/ filmed rock event of 2015 but it certainly wasn't the most talked about...
Kanye West's appearance at Knebworth in June, which had sparked a 133,000 signatures petition to have him not play and have a rock act headline instead, became one of the Must See or Refuse to Watch events of 2015 from an artist who has created such a controversial and outspoken public persona (how he hasn't thought to title one of his albums Gobshite is beyond me) that he makes Justin Bieber look mature, well-mannered and grounded.
But at least during West's Glastonbury performance we received confirmation, for those of us that were still unsure, that we were "watching the greatest living rock star on the planet," straight from the Horse's Mouth. Sorry, Horse's Arse.
In terms of rock (spelt r a w k !) a number of acts and albums made quite the impact, not least Thunder (Wonder Days), Operation Mindcrime (The Key) and Iron Maiden (The Book of Souls).
Progressive metallers Iron Maiden haven’t exactly raised eyebrows or pricked up ears here at FabricationsHQ in recent years (but then it isn’t a metal featuring site) but the band certainly made their mark with their 2015 double album, which made Feature Review status at FabricationsHQ alongside the aforementioned releases from King King, Thunder and Operation Mindcrime.
Also making the Feature Review pages were releases from guitar maestros Steve Hackett and Joe Satriani, Toto, The Zombies and Rush, the latter ending large scale touring (given Neil Peart's "retiral" statement) and perhaps even their career on a high with their R40 tour and subsequent R40 Live DVD/ Blu-ray release.
If, as that Billy Shakespeare bloke once wrote and Rush expressed on their first live release, "All the World's a Stage," then the Canadian power-prog trio were among its finest players in 2015 and the forty years prior.
Rush's R40 show was arguably the recorded/ filmed rock event of 2015 but it certainly wasn't the most talked about...
Kanye West's appearance at Knebworth in June, which had sparked a 133,000 signatures petition to have him not play and have a rock act headline instead, became one of the Must See or Refuse to Watch events of 2015 from an artist who has created such a controversial and outspoken public persona (how he hasn't thought to title one of his albums Gobshite is beyond me) that he makes Justin Bieber look mature, well-mannered and grounded.
But at least during West's Glastonbury performance we received confirmation, for those of us that were still unsure, that we were "watching the greatest living rock star on the planet," straight from the Horse's Mouth. Sorry, Horse's Arse.
Other notables making on-stage news by being unexpectedly off it were the Foo Fighter's Dave Grohl, who took quite the heider (to use the Scottish vernacular) off the Sweden Rock Festival stage in June; the previous month a pretty famous guitarist by the (other) name of David Evans not so much fell as stepped off, ironically, the Edge of U2's extended stage in Vancouver – and straight in to the no mans land pit between stage and audience.
Madonna managed to outdo both Grohl and Edge however when a cape-pulling wardrobe malfunction led to wee Madge taking a tumble backwards down some steps during her live spot at the Brit Awards in February – but while the trips taken by Messrs Grohl and Evans were directly related to the pair being so involved in their music, Madonna's calamity was all to do with how she, her dancers and the set dressing looked and not how the music sounded.
And there, in one stumble, is the summary of the difference between rock and the high-gloss and little substance variant of pop – the latter has long since become music to watch; or listen to with your eyes.
On that very subject "pop" has become a bit of a dirty word in recent years, primarily because in commercial terms manufactured commodity has, sadly, far more value than musical creativity – and mediocrity sells, people – but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some fantastic and creative pop still being produced.
Two of the finest examples of 2015 were Universal Mind from This Oceanic Feeling (YES 90125 meets the Synchronicity of the Police while bumping into The Buggles) and, as mentioned above, Still Got That Hunger by The Zombies (an outstanding mix of melodic pop and jazz-tinged light rock and the best work to carry The Zombies name since the days of incorrectly spelled Odesseys).
Country music can all too easily fall in to the trap of being no more than Grand Ole Opry pastiche or one yeehaw short of a line-dance, but the old and new delivered solid examples, yet differing styles, of the genre.
Madonna managed to outdo both Grohl and Edge however when a cape-pulling wardrobe malfunction led to wee Madge taking a tumble backwards down some steps during her live spot at the Brit Awards in February – but while the trips taken by Messrs Grohl and Evans were directly related to the pair being so involved in their music, Madonna's calamity was all to do with how she, her dancers and the set dressing looked and not how the music sounded.
And there, in one stumble, is the summary of the difference between rock and the high-gloss and little substance variant of pop – the latter has long since become music to watch; or listen to with your eyes.
On that very subject "pop" has become a bit of a dirty word in recent years, primarily because in commercial terms manufactured commodity has, sadly, far more value than musical creativity – and mediocrity sells, people – but that doesn’t mean there isn’t some fantastic and creative pop still being produced.
Two of the finest examples of 2015 were Universal Mind from This Oceanic Feeling (YES 90125 meets the Synchronicity of the Police while bumping into The Buggles) and, as mentioned above, Still Got That Hunger by The Zombies (an outstanding mix of melodic pop and jazz-tinged light rock and the best work to carry The Zombies name since the days of incorrectly spelled Odesseys).
Country music can all too easily fall in to the trap of being no more than Grand Ole Opry pastiche or one yeehaw short of a line-dance, but the old and new delivered solid examples, yet differing styles, of the genre.
Don Henley was an Eagle who landed back in Cass County to produce an across the boards country album that was a nod to the East Texas county he grew up in and the sounds and music he grew up with.
Raintown meanwhile, to a lot less fanfare, released their second album Writing on the Wall.
The band, built around the Scottish singer songwriter husband and wife team of Paul Bain and Claire McArthur-Bain, delivered an album that mixes bright, up-tempo guitar-led Americana, country pop-rock, Nashville country, the occasional chime of Byrds-styled guitars and those country love songs, all arranged around well-blended harmonies, duets and back and forth vocal deliveries.
Raintown meanwhile, to a lot less fanfare, released their second album Writing on the Wall.
The band, built around the Scottish singer songwriter husband and wife team of Paul Bain and Claire McArthur-Bain, delivered an album that mixes bright, up-tempo guitar-led Americana, country pop-rock, Nashville country, the occasional chime of Byrds-styled guitars and those country love songs, all arranged around well-blended harmonies, duets and back and forth vocal deliveries.
FabricationsHQ has been less than complimentary in recent years about the state of progressive rock (in terms of those bands – and fans – that feel rewriting the book of Genesis or capturing the classic Yes sound is the way forward; a stale state of affairs which is anything but progressive).
On a more positive musical note a number of acts and bands are suiting up to be part of the charge of the truly progressive brigade, led by the creative mind and talents of Steven Wilson, all doing what they can to reboot the genre and take it to new and interesting places.
Kscope, a label who both nurture and champion those bands who dare to be different or simply have something fresh to say (whether that be art-rock, ambient or post progressive depending on what label is being pinned on it this week) are helping to put prog back on the map for all the right reasons; site contributor John Stout covered just about every 2015 Kscope release for FabricationsHQ, a review trait we hope to continue in 2016.
Anyone wanting to broaden their musical horizons or take a dip in to truly progressive waters could do a lot worse than check out Kscope and acts such as Tesseract, Katatonia, Nordic Giants, Nosound, Riverside, Sweet Billy Pilgrim and, of course, that Steven Wilson fella who produced another of the best albums of 2015, Hand.Cannot.Erase.
Not that Kscope have the monopoly on those with genuinely progressive tendencies.
IOEarth, a band with a multi-genre dynamic like very few others, delivered the goods yet again with third (and second double) album New World, which featured the recording debut of new singer Linda Odinsen.
Modern melodic progressives Lifesigns, led by the song writing and composing skills of John Young, continued their onwards and upwards climb by releasing the fan-funded and excellent Under the Bridge Live DVD towards the end of 2015; they would later find themselves in the Top 10 of seven different categories in PROG magazine’s 2015 Readers Poll.
Considering that, after the little promotional and distribution push from Cherry Red/ Esoteric for the 2013 self-titled debut album, all the heavy lifting and getting-the-word-out work has been done solely by Lifesigns and their band of little helpers, that's serious Prog-ress.
On a more positive musical note a number of acts and bands are suiting up to be part of the charge of the truly progressive brigade, led by the creative mind and talents of Steven Wilson, all doing what they can to reboot the genre and take it to new and interesting places.
Kscope, a label who both nurture and champion those bands who dare to be different or simply have something fresh to say (whether that be art-rock, ambient or post progressive depending on what label is being pinned on it this week) are helping to put prog back on the map for all the right reasons; site contributor John Stout covered just about every 2015 Kscope release for FabricationsHQ, a review trait we hope to continue in 2016.
Anyone wanting to broaden their musical horizons or take a dip in to truly progressive waters could do a lot worse than check out Kscope and acts such as Tesseract, Katatonia, Nordic Giants, Nosound, Riverside, Sweet Billy Pilgrim and, of course, that Steven Wilson fella who produced another of the best albums of 2015, Hand.Cannot.Erase.
Not that Kscope have the monopoly on those with genuinely progressive tendencies.
IOEarth, a band with a multi-genre dynamic like very few others, delivered the goods yet again with third (and second double) album New World, which featured the recording debut of new singer Linda Odinsen.
Modern melodic progressives Lifesigns, led by the song writing and composing skills of John Young, continued their onwards and upwards climb by releasing the fan-funded and excellent Under the Bridge Live DVD towards the end of 2015; they would later find themselves in the Top 10 of seven different categories in PROG magazine’s 2015 Readers Poll.
Considering that, after the little promotional and distribution push from Cherry Red/ Esoteric for the 2013 self-titled debut album, all the heavy lifting and getting-the-word-out work has been done solely by Lifesigns and their band of little helpers, that's serious Prog-ress.
2015 produced some sublime to ridiculously good moments in music, especially in the rock based genres, making a musical mockery of the oft-heard phrase "there’s no good, new music any more."
Nothing could be further from the truth; the problem is simply that you have to look a little harder for it in among, or hidden behind, classic-rock-by-numbers releases, Best Of tours, re-recorded or rewritten Greatest Hits albums, manufactured acts, reality stars and the Youtube sensations.
But not to worry, sites like FabricationsHQ and 2015 noticeable and notable bands such as the Liverpudlian brace of melodic poppers The Hummingbirds and alt rockers Matchstickmen, the R&B blues of the Rainbreakers, the harder edged blues rock of The Reckoning and the heavier grunge-blues of These Wicked Rivers, to name but five, will help you find it.
Nothing could be further from the truth; the problem is simply that you have to look a little harder for it in among, or hidden behind, classic-rock-by-numbers releases, Best Of tours, re-recorded or rewritten Greatest Hits albums, manufactured acts, reality stars and the Youtube sensations.
But not to worry, sites like FabricationsHQ and 2015 noticeable and notable bands such as the Liverpudlian brace of melodic poppers The Hummingbirds and alt rockers Matchstickmen, the R&B blues of the Rainbreakers, the harder edged blues rock of The Reckoning and the heavier grunge-blues of These Wicked Rivers, to name but five, will help you find it.
Finally, sadly and inevitably, as old favourites become even older favourites, a number of famous or noteworthy artists and musicians producing that still great music were lost in 2015, especially towards the end of the year (and it didn’t get any better in the early weeks of 2016).
Among the 2015 fallen were Edgar Froese (Tangerine dream), Daevid Allen (progressive pioneer and co-founder of Soft Machine), Andy Fraser, B.B. King, Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver), Cory Wells (Three Dog Night), Chris Squire (YES) and Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister of Motörhead (drummer Phil Taylor, a previous member of the band, died seven weeks prior to Kilmister’s passing).
On the very last day of 2015 the music world lost soul-pop singer Natalie Cole, daughter of the late and legendary Nat King Cole.
Many of the Kings and Queens of music are dead; long live the Kings and Queens who continue to produce good music and those that will continue to promote, review, champion, buy and make the effort to go and see it in 2016 and beyond.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
FabricationsHQ was pleased to be associated with, and promotionally assist in, the spreading of the musical word in 2015 with many like-minded sites, individuals, labels, PR companies and promoters including:
Noble PR; Cherry Red Records; The Publicity Connection; MyRockRadio, Campbell Stewart and the Fatman's Rock Show; Red Sand PR; Frontiers Records; BJF Media; Manhaton Records; Rock and Blues Promotions; Solid Entertainments; Impressive PR; Republic Media and dozens of artists, musicians and bands independently.
Here's to doing it all again in 2016...
Among the 2015 fallen were Edgar Froese (Tangerine dream), Daevid Allen (progressive pioneer and co-founder of Soft Machine), Andy Fraser, B.B. King, Scott Weiland (Stone Temple Pilots, Velvet Revolver), Cory Wells (Three Dog Night), Chris Squire (YES) and Ian "Lemmy" Kilmister of Motörhead (drummer Phil Taylor, a previous member of the band, died seven weeks prior to Kilmister’s passing).
On the very last day of 2015 the music world lost soul-pop singer Natalie Cole, daughter of the late and legendary Nat King Cole.
Many of the Kings and Queens of music are dead; long live the Kings and Queens who continue to produce good music and those that will continue to promote, review, champion, buy and make the effort to go and see it in 2016 and beyond.
Ross Muir
FabricationsHQ
FabricationsHQ was pleased to be associated with, and promotionally assist in, the spreading of the musical word in 2015 with many like-minded sites, individuals, labels, PR companies and promoters including:
Noble PR; Cherry Red Records; The Publicity Connection; MyRockRadio, Campbell Stewart and the Fatman's Rock Show; Red Sand PR; Frontiers Records; BJF Media; Manhaton Records; Rock and Blues Promotions; Solid Entertainments; Impressive PR; Republic Media and dozens of artists, musicians and bands independently.
Here's to doing it all again in 2016...