album reviews
Reviews of albums old and new from iconic artists and up and coming musicians alike.
Moondance by Van Morrison
The Aftermath of Astral Weeks I recently wrote a piece on “Astral Week”s by Van Morrison. The New Musical Express said that it was one of the top ten rock albums but Moondance was even better, so did that mean that two of his albums were in the top ten.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 years ago in Beat
Astral Weeks By Van Morrison
The Genesis of Van Morrison In the early sixties, Van Morrison played and wrote Rhythm and Blues with the band Them and wrote the proto-punk classic “Gloria”. This song was perfect for anyone picking up a guitar and using the simplest chord sequence E D A repeated and sung over.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 years ago in Beat
A Better Mousetrap
Here's a little something I penned for reviewermag.com back in June 2014. Oh musical gods, why hast ye forsaken me? Once, long ago, in a place where only vinyl and 8-track tapes existed, a band’s first album was titled using the band’s name, i.e., eponymously. That’s how we got Bread, Boston, [The] Chicago [Transit Authority], [Fresh] Cream, Supertramp, Buckingham Nicks . . . well, you get the idea.
By Brent Tharp4 years ago in Beat
A Saucerful of Secrets by Pink Floyd
“A Saucerful of Secrets” - A Turning Point For Pink Floyd In many ways "A Saucerful of Secrets" could be considered Pink Floyd's most pivotally important album. It is not their most musically important, or their best album although in my opinion is it very good and contains some of my favourite Pink Floyd songs
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 years ago in Beat
Gris-gris - Voodoo New Orleans Gumbo from Dr John
An Introduction To Gris-gris By Dr John Although I love a lot of his albums, “Gris-gris” by Dr John (Malcolm John Rebennack Jr. <November 20, 1941 – June 6, 2019>) is one of the most brilliantly disconcerting albums in my extensive collection.
By Mike Singleton 💜 Mikeydred 4 years ago in Beat
Album Review: Camila Cabello explores new depths on the Spanish-sung "Familia"
The Cuban-American singer's follow-up from her self-titled debut is her first album taking over her Latina identity "Familia" was released on March 8, 2022, via Epic Records, a division of Sony Music Entertainment.
By Dom Deveraux4 years ago in Beat
Ryan Reviews: It Was Written (1996) by Nas
As the second generation of Queensbridge hip hop came to fruition in the first half of the 90s, the leader of that new generation, Nas, gave the world an absolute gift in 1994, dropping his debut album Illmatic. Needless to say, after how influential Illmatic was from the get-go, Nas created a high standard for himself, but was able to capitalize off of Illmatic’s success and, two years later, came back with one of the better sophomore albums in hip hop history. On July 2, 1996, It Was Written was released, like its predecessor, on Columbia Records. And while it isn’t quite on the same overall level as Illmatic, it’s a fantastic follow-up for which Nas deserves eternal credit.
By Ryan Moore4 years ago in Beat
Olivia Rodrigo Driving Home 2 U
I just watched Olivia Rodrigo’s Driving home 2 U and it was excellent. It was great seeing her process. I am writing this the day of the Grammys. I am hoping at the end of this I can say she has won a lot of Grammys and maybe even the Big Four.
By Jeremy White4 years ago in Beat
Frenetic Nostalgic Angst in OPN's "Garden of Delete."
In my experience, many of my peers, all in the tail-end of the millennial generation, have a special appreciation for the shining synth and electronic basis of various film scores. The likes of films such as Drive and It Follows are often more renowned for their soundtracks and original scores more so than their direction and content.
By J.C. Traverse4 years ago in Beat
Mainstream Sellout Album Reaction - In Writing
MAINSTREAM SELLOUT LIVE WRITING [ADDED AT THE END: I thought I was writing on a blank Word document but it turns out I had started what is written below. I’m leaving it for two reasons. One is I was thinking about how MGK says in Downfalls High that there are no happy endings so I wrote this paragraph with no thought as to what I would do with it. The second reason is that I like it and it fits the style of the rest of the writing so maybe reading it first will help you wade into a somewhat confusing style that’s maybe a little unusual or maybe somebody else did it first because what didn’t somebody else do first, am I right? And also, it’s relevant to what happens later.
By Shelly Slade4 years ago in Beat
