album reviews
Reviews of albums old and new from iconic artists and up and coming musicians alike.
'Olias of Sunhillow' Climbs 50 Summer Mornings
In the period from 1975 to 1976, following the release of and touring for progressive rock band Yes' Relayer album, the members of the band each went on to do their own solo album. One of them, which is the topic here, is lead vocalist Jon Anderson's Olias of Sunhillow, released around the time of this article 50 years ago. This was the last of those five solo albums released during that period, and Anderson has talked about how he locked himself up for months to finish the album. The result, an album where all the singing voices are Anderson, and where he plays all of the instruments, as arguably as solo as one can get.
By Steven Shinder3 months ago in Beat
'Mirror to the Sky' – For Those Who Wish to Seek
After the band Yes released the album The Quest in October 2021, their first new full-length studio album since 2014's Heaven & Earth, fans now had an idea of what the 2020s iteration of Yes were capable of composing. Some like myself really enjoyed much of the music, while others were mixed on it or flat out did not like it. Whether one was all in or not, there was the curiosity of where they could go if they made another new album.
By Steven Shinder3 months ago in Beat
'Invention of Knowledge' by Anderson/Stolt (Review)
Invention of Knowledge is an album by Anderson/Stolt, a collaboration between former Yes vocalist Jon Anderson and The Flower Kings composer / guitarist / keyboardist / vocalist Roine Stolt. The music definitely feels like a Flower Kings album if it had Anderson sing along to it throughout. Originally released June 24, 2016 via Inside Out Music, it is an album I still admire ten years after its release. It is the album that I needed during junior year of college, which was in some ways the worst year of my college career. I got to the album the year after it came out, and my impression then which I still feel is that it is a prog rock masterpiece overflowing with positivity.
By Steven Shinder4 months ago in Beat
Jazz Samba
In the beginning there was a dance called the "Maxixe". This was a dance that first hit the floors, the streets and beaches in Rio de Janeiro in 1868. About the same time in Uruguay and Argentina the tango was becoming popular so it is no great surprise that the Maxixe was sometimes known as the Brazilian Tango".
By Alan Russell4 months ago in Beat
1234 - Of Course, It's A Ramones Playlist
Introduction The reason being is that every live and some studio Ramones songs start with the shout "1 2 3 4". I remember buying "Blitzkrieg Bop" and then their first album and someone described their songs like smarties, you can't have just one, you gotta swallow the whole tube.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 months ago in Beat
