Latest Nov 2011 Album Reviews
Mutemath ODD SOUL. Warner
I saw this USA band perform couple of years ago in Manchester and was impressed. ODD SOUL is the band’s third full-length release and as the album title implies it majors on soul sounds, but with a powerful rock twist. Arguably the most indicative tracks are the epic ‘Blood Pressure’and the highly original narrative ‘Tell Your Heart Heads Up’. There are much calmer examples also with the contemplative, gentle and melodic ‘All Or Nothing’. There’s also clever and surprising tracks like ‘One More’ which opens with ghostly, mesmerising electronics but soon opens out in rocky soul splendour. There’s much to like about this album that could so easily have misfired with its soul intentions.
Highly recommended.
4/5
Emily Barker & The Red Clay Halo ALMANAC. Everyone Sang
A thoroghly likeable modern folk album with Barker’s fluid, easy vocals coming through loud and strong. The song writing is intelligent and at times memorable. I’m immediately impressed with the album’s second track, ‘Reckless’, which encompasses everything that’s good about this album. Lovely vocals and harmonies, strong melody, wonderful instrumental performances, meaningful lyrics and excellent production. ‘Dancers’ reminded me of an acoustic Beatles track during its opening passages, while ‘Pause’ is the standout track with its darker subtext, mesmerising slow pace, haunting vocal quality and telling vocal harmonies. This album gets better with each play and for lovers of singer/songwriters and the folk genre, this is pretty much a must-have.
4/5
Daniel Pearson SATELLITES. Saint In The City Records
Satellites’ is the debut album from UK singer-songwriter Daniel Pearson and features ten examples of alt. country and classic rock ‘n’ roll. Pearson has a pleasant, easy voice and here proves he can write a decent song. However, there’s not enough here to convince me that he’s up there with the very best UK singer/songwriter talent, as has been claimed by others. Opener ‘Masquerade’ is a pleasing solo acoustic folk-pop effort with strong melody and good lyrics. But it lacks the ‘wow’ factor for me. Next track ‘Wishing Well’ is better with very effective background instrumental, clapping sounds and backing vocals, however, it sounds initially very like the ‘Wishing Well’ from Phil Campbell/White Buffalo…
‘Tracks’ takes an alt-country route with guitars and Pearson making appropriate sounds. It works and is one of the the standout track here. ‘4th July’ and ‘Black N’ Blue’ liven things up with fast-paced rocky numbers boasting tangible melodies that win my vote. There’s little to complain about here but there’s also little to shout out from the rooftops about. But what do I know…
3.5/5
Amplifier THE OCTOPUS
The Band Explains…
We are, or were, AMPLIFIER.
We’ve had enough of all that now.
Now we are just us.
We spent a long time trying to fit in being a band in the music industry, but it just didn’t work out. Looking back, basically we were more interested in playing music together than anything else. That kind of approach just doesn’t work out with business. So we’ve ditched that now. We found it unhealthy for our happiness. We just do what we want. And this is what we wanted to do. The Octopus is actually a kind of experiment:
Firstly
The Octopus is an exercise in not compromising your artistic output. We wanted to prove that you can do something world class without all the interference and watering down that happens when you have a record company or in fact, any kind of third party involved with what you do.
Secondly
The Octopus is an experiment in how we relate to people in the outside world.l mean - If you really think about it - music only really exists where there is a listener. That’s where you fit in.
The Octopus is a kind of ongoing experiment in creating and evolving something much more than just some record by some band. There are no time limits to it’s growth. If you dip into it, we think that The Octopus is representative of some core values that we all share as people. This makes it timeless. We are humanistic - We are fedup with all the faceless and valueless rubbish that seems to invade every level of modern life. We want to make things of value and worth. We do not agree that cash and profit should be the overriding factor that drives all elements of existance and creative output. We think that some things are worth doing just for the pleasure of doing them and in the hope that they make the world a better and more thoughtfull place. We don’t agree with the idea that what we make can’t be grand in scale and intellectually stimulating - because people don’t want and don’t have the time for that kind of thing in their lives.
Clearly that is just a lie. We want to play our part in removing that lie.
Most importantly - we believe that ordinary people like us can make all the chances and opportunities that we need for ourselves by being pro-active and inclusive of other people who share that ideal, hopefully like you. We tiptoe a silver tightrope. To one side you fall to your death selling your soul to the money machine. To the other you fall on your sword in failing to feed your family. Maybe being in a band is even more important than both of those things. Because it is actually a way of understanding the world. And The Octopus is how we have come to understand the world.
We never intended to have a manifesto. But somehow we have ended up with one. All our future decisions and plans will now be based on The Octopus. So, Away we go….
Review
The first thing that strikes me here is how on earth an unsigned band can take on something of this weight, complexity and length - and succeed. For a long time now I have liked this band but have never been totally convinced - I’ve consitently witnessed flashes of brilliance along with moments of frustration. From a dispassionate viewpoint, Amplifier had nothing to lose but everything to gain. The Octopus therefore seems to be a do or die effort both musically and from a marketing perspective. In fact The Octopus may be the only album in many years to become its own major marketing tool/brand with its tentacles harnessing support from a worldwide audience.
But what about the music…? An early question from me was could this have been compacted down from 2 hours on 2 CDs to a single 75-minute CD? I think so and could have been managed without compromising artistic integrity or short/longer-term aims (perhaps even allowing for a follow-up). As the album opens I’m reminded of Pink Floyd who it appears are a major influence for this band, as are other older prog rock bands. But what Amplifier have achieved is an original, long musical narrative punctuated by great heavy rock riffs and underpinned by tangible melody and a sense of adventure rare in today’s rock/pop marketplace.
Break this down into songs and it’s then that the strength of the album shows. ‘Minion’s Song’, ‘Interglacial Spell’, ‘The Wave’, ‘Planet Of Insects and ‘White Horse At Sea//Utopian Daydream’ from the first CD are all excellent songs in their own right and some of the best from any UK rock band in 2011. Production values are incredibly high for a self-funded album and so this works on several levels with the potential to appeal to serious lovers of rock.
My only criticism therefore is its length which has the potential to turn the listening experience from engrossing to a tad boring… Think Dark Side Of The Moon in terms of length and timelessness. The Octopus is different of course and not yet of such enormity, but there’s an interesting future emerging here for a band who have been underground and undervalued for far too long.
4.5/5
Korn: The Path Of Totality
KORN released their tenth studio album,’The Path of Totality’ on December 5th, 2011
It’s my ‘Rock Record Of The Year’ simply because it’s retro sub 1995 rock sound has been re-invented with a forward looking bass sound that will define the forthcoming years in all areas of the genre where the band resides, it’s the bands follow up to it’s amazing debut in the sense that nothing else around it, sounds quite like it. ‘The Path of Totality’ is an experimental album which finds Korn shifting gears and exploring new territory. The band have collaborated with some of the world’s leading dubstep and electronic producers, including Skrillex, Excision, Downlink, Datsik, Noisia, Kill the Noise and 12th Planet. Leave it to a band like Korn to continue to reinvent itself two decades deep into its career. Jj:2011
“We’re mixing metal and electro music” states frontman Jonathan Davis,”and you’re not supposed to do that. Since day one, Korn has always been all about going against the grain, experimenting, and trying to take music different places.” In 2009, Davis began to envision the place where Korn would venture next. A lifelong electronic music fan and DJ, he’d cruise Beatport and fervently download the latest tracks from various underground dubstep artists.
Last year, his obsession intensified. Speaking to his band mates, James ‘Munky’ Shaffer (guitar), Reggie “Fieldy” Arvizu (bass), and Ray Luzier (drums), the four agreed to tread new ground and incorporate dubstep into a couple of tracks. Davis called longtime Korn fan and rising electronic music star Skrillex to join the band at his studio for a collaboration. After merely three hours, “Get Up!” was born. A deluge of wobbling synths, bludgeoning riffs and propulsive hooks, the song instantly became a 21st century arena-ready anthem in the vein of “Blind”. The buzz began in Coachella’s dance tent in April, when Jonathan and Munky joined Skrillex on stage for a show-stealing unannounced performance of the song. Korn released the track in May and it caught fire online, selling over 200k digital downloads and became the surprise rock hit of the summer in the US. There was no question. Korn knew they needed to do an entire album following this muse. The band would record with dubstep DJs back in Davis’s home studio in Bakersfield during inspired sessions. Vocals were actually tracked in the singer’s home theater or in closets and hotels everywhere from Korea to Japan. The record came together at light speed. Before they knew it, the eleven songs comprising The Path of Totality were complete.
“Get Up” started as a bit of an experiment,” states Munky “but we had such an amazing response from our fans and had such a great time collaborating, that a full album of tracks came together in a couple of months. We couldn’t wait to get to the studio every day to finish the next song. You need to be pushed out of your comfort zone to take chances. We were able to do that by collaborating with all of these brilliant writers and challenging ourselves. We’re still pushing ourselves to grow.”
“It was a very different recording process,” Fieldy adds. “In fact, it was the most easy and organized album that we’ve ever done. We got a bunch of different flavors from the DJs. Instead of picking up a guitar or bass and jamming out, we’d get inspired by these weird sounds and work around them. It’s a new approach to an old formula.” Lyrically, Davis also broke ground. Known for his heart-wrenching introspective verbal exorcism, the singer turned to both the world around him and inside his own head for inspiration. “I came at the lyrics from a different direction,” he goes on. “I wasn’t writing about me on this record. I was writing about things I’ve witnessed and things I’m into. I’m looking at what goes on in my mind.”
The album’s second official single, “Narcissistic Cannibal” featuring Skrillex and Kill the Noise, is the perfect example. Davis delivers a haunting and theatrical refrain over synth swells as a glitch hop death march commences. Everything blossoms into one of the catchiest hooks of the band’s career. “The key changes make it so unpredictable,” Shaffer exclaims. “It’s not how we would traditionally write, but it’s still extremely heavy. That song is a good representation of this record as a whole.”bDavis reveals, “It’s about me watching people who are so narcissistic destroy themselves. They basically eat themselves alive because of their narcissism. That’s the gist of the story.”
Taking on a project of this magnitude that encompasses two genres is a monumental moment for the band. That’s why the title proves so apropos. Davis actually asked Shaffer to come up with ideas for an album name. While on a flight to Asia, the guitarist watched a documentary about solar eclipses, and he came upon the phrase The Path of Totality. As soon as the plane landed, he shared it with Davis. “I wanted to come up with a name that felt otherworldly,” Shaffer explains. “A shadow is cast on the earth when a solar eclipse occurs. The moon has to be perfectly aligned with the sun to create this flawless shadow that completely covers the sun from the earth. Similarly, all of the producers and writers had to come together at the perfect time to cast these songs onto tape.”
Ultimately, Korn’s rebirth starts at The Path of Totality. “I want people to experience something sonically that they never have when they listen to this record,” Shaffer states. Davis echoes that sentiment, “I want to trail-blaze. I want to change things. I want to do things we’re not supposed to do. I want to create art that’s different and not conform to what’s going on. We didn’t make a dubstep album. We made a Korn album.”
The album will be released in two configurations: as a standard 11 song CD and a special edition CD that will include bonus tracks as well as a DVD of ‘The Encounter’, a full length video concert of Korn’s once in a lifetime performance in the middle of a 900ft long crop circle in a Bakersfield wheatfield. The complete concert, previously seen last year on TV and online in an abbreviated form, will be offered in its entirety to those who purchase the deluxe version.
For further info point your mouse at www.korn.com.
Rodrigo y Gabriela Tour 2012
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA ANNOUNCE NEW STUDIO ALBUM
‘AREA 52′ RECORDED IN HAVANA WITH CUBAN ORCHESTRA
Mexican acoustic rock duo Rodrigo y Gabriela will release their new album on 23 January 2012. Entitled ‘Area 52′, the album is their first recorded collaboration with another group of musicians; a thirteen piece Cuban orchestra composed of some of Havana’s finest young players, collectively known as the C.U.B.A.
The album has been produced by Peter Asher, known for his work with James Taylor, Bonnie Raitt, 10,000 Maniacs and Diana Ross; as well as being A&R at Apple Records. The album was co-produced by Rodrigo. It has been mixed by Rafa Sardina, 25 times nominated (and 11 times winner) at the Latin Grammys. On ‘Area 52′ Rodrigo y Gabriela revisit nine of their compositions and reinterpret them in a new and dramatic fashion, this is Rodrigo y Gabriela as they have never been heard before.
The new arrangements were done by Switzerland based composer / arranger / pianist Alex Wilson, best know for his work with Courtney Pine and Ernest Ranglin. Recording took place during the summer at Abdala Studios in Havana and later at Rod & Gab’s studio in Ixtapa, Mexico. Guests on the album include Anoushka Shankar on sitar, rock drummer John Tempesta (The Cult, White Zombie, Testament) on two tracks, jazz bass player Carles Benavent (Miles Davis, Chick Corea) on two tracks and Palestinian group Le Trio Joubran.
The album is called ‘Area 52′. Rodrigo explains: “we felt like Mulder and Scully approaching this; it was just a crazy idea, to see if a big Cuban band could play our music, a step in the dark”. He adds: “we knew it was out there, everyone has heard of Area 51, but we wanted to take it a little further.”
Rodrigo y Gabriela have sold in excess of 1.2 million albums, and earlier this year collaborated with Hans Zimmer on ‘Pirates Of The Caribbean: On Stranger Tides’. They have sold-out world tours that span London to Los Angeles, Paris to Tokyo and Dublin to Sydney. In recent years they have worked with Robert Trujillo from Metallica, Zack De La Rocha from Rage Against The Machine, Al Di Meola, L Shankar, Alex Skolnick from Testament and Strunz & Farah.
‘Area 52′ will be released on Rubyworks on January 23rd 2012.
RODRIGO Y GABRIELA ANNOUNCE LIVE UK TOUR DATES FOR FEBRUARY 2012
Rodrigo y Gabriela and C.U.B.A. will be live in the UK and Ireland at the following venues:
Sunday 19th February - The Olympia, Dublin
Tuesday 21st February - The O2 Academy, Glasgow
Wednesday 22nd February - HMV Ritz, Manchester
Friday 24th February - The O2 Academy Brixton, London
Rodrigo y Gabriela will be touring the UK and Ireland with the C.U.B.A. in February - the dates are the first time Rod & Gab will have toured with a full band, and the shows will offer a unique opportunity to experience this already amazing live act as never before.
Paul McCartney: Live: On The Run
Paul McCartney is ‘On The Run’ From Abu Dhabi to the UK - rock icon Paul McCartney to bring 2011 to a spectacular close with eleven special shows across three different continents
In 2011 Paul McCartney is still leading the way. July saw Paul voted the ‘Best Live Act’ of the last year at the prestigious UK Nordoff Robbins Silver Clef Awards. It was a public vote and Paul beat acts from a shortlist of 30 including Muse, Green Day, Jay Z, Pink and Black Eyed Peas. In the same month, Paul and his band of nearly ten years (Paul ‘Wix’ Wickens, Brian Ray, Rusty Anderson and Abe Laboriel Jr.) embarked on their all new ‘On The Run’ tour. The tour kicked off with a two-night run at New York’s iconic Yankee Stadium and then took in six massive shows in North America and Canada. The unrivalled feedback and reviews backed up the ‘Best Live Act’ Award as well as cementing Paul’s reputation as one of the world’s greatest performers ever.
Paul announced his new ‘On The Run’ tour is coming home and he will bring 2011 to a close with 11 special shows. Starting out with his first ever show in U.A.E at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the tour will then rock n’ roll into Europe and Russia. It concludes with a concert in Paul’s hometown of Liverpool exactly a year to the day since he played a tiny intimate show at Liverpool’s O2 Academy late last year, which ended with Paul handing out hot drinks to fans waiting outside the venue in freezing weather conditions. Paul is already earning something of a reputation for his extraordinary Christmas homecoming shows after a series of special UK shows last December as well as his first ever, much talked about show at London’s O2 Arena in December 2009. These new dates will also take in the O2 Arena once more, Paul’s first visit back to the venue since using it to rehearse for his massive 2010/2011 ‘Up and Coming’ tour.
As well as his first visit to Abu Dhabi, the ‘On The Run’ tour will see Paul’s first ever live show in Bologna, Italy as well as his first shows in Sweden and Finland in seven years. He also returns to France, Germany and England and will make his third ever appearance in Russia; his first of which was immortalised in the historic 2003 DVD ‘Paul McCartney Live in Red Square’ and his last being in 2004 in St Petersburg.
Paul said, “Playing live is one of the most exciting parts of my job. I’m really looking forward to the next run of shows and to playing places that I have never played before with my band. I’ll be starting with my first ever U.A.E concert and from there I’m on the run across Europe and Russia, before finally getting back to my hometown of Liverpool in time for Christmas. My audiences seem to get better each year and the band and I love the buzz and feedback that they give us. I can’t wait to see you all for some wild nights of rock n’ roll and partying”
As anyone who has seen it will confirm, the Paul McCartney live experience goes so much further than simply a normal concert. Throughout, Paul takes his audience on an emotional journey that touches everyone in a different way. Whether performing to just 200 or 500,000 people, Paul has the ability to connect with everyone in the audience. When this is coupled with the most envied and respected back catalogue in music, you have the ingredients for a once in a lifetime experience. On stage, Paul barely has time to catch his breath as he jumps from instrument to instrument, bounds tirelessly around the stage and sings nearly 40 songs - the ultimate value for money show.
In a lifetime of performing, Paul has played a truly staggering range of venues and locations. From pub gigs to huge outdoor parks and stadiums; unannounced stripped-back university shows with Wings to performing at Buckingham Palace, Paul has even played into Space, in Moscow’s Red Square and at the White House to name just a few. In recent years, Paul’s live shows have even acquired a new legendary status, garnering unprecedented reviews from fans and critics alike wherever he goes.
Krazyhouse: Lvrpl: Live: 2011
Krazyhouse Live: The Return…
How many great music cities are there? America: L.A./New York? Australia: Sydney? Europe: Berlin? Ireland: Dublin? UK: Liverpool: The city of the birth of rock ‘n’ roll, which
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Mastodon: Hunter: Track x Track
Mastodon drummer/vocalist Brann Dailor has done a track by track rundown of the bands forthcoming new album “The Hunter“ which comes out 9/27
“Black Tongue“: That’s a song about a parrot. They have black tongues. I don’t know if you’re familiar. You know, looking in that fucking mirror all day playing with that bell, it just gets to you. If you could fly and then get someone to put you in a cage, you’re not going to be too happy. It’s a big, bad ass riff. Troy’s put his vocals over the top of it and he just kills it. Bill and I wrote the music for that one. And that’s just a really powerful song. It flows real nice and it just sounds totally evil and I love that. I like evil and darkness. That’s what turns me on. That’s what gets me off, evil and darkness, upside down crosses, skulls…
“Curl Of The Burl“: It’s about meth heads in the woods running around with chainsaws, chopping down trees and trying to sell the burls for more money to get more meth, to get hopped up on meth and run around the forest and repeat that cycle. They get addicted to the meth and then the meth makes them addicted to trying to find the best burls. So I guess it’s about addiction. Brent was kind of messing around on the guitar one day and the tape was rolling and practicing bass with just me and him. I just started playing along…just kind of jamming and that sort of came out of it. I had a riff that was in another song that I took out and put it in with what we were playing and agreed that would sound good in that section. It just developed from there. We recorded it and came up with the chorus on the spot. We all dug it. I really dug it because it was like the kind of beat unlike anything I’ve ever done with Mastodon before. I like to lay into a solid beat like that; more of a Bonham-esque groove oriented thing. That’s one of those things that just sounded cool. It’s going to be a huge hit. I’m pretty sure…I’m going to buy a drum shaped swimming pool with the money that I get from that song. I’m just kidding. I think it was a great song. I love it.
“Blasteroid“: This one is the most fun song to play on the record. It’s like two and a half minutes or something. It’s really fast and reminds me of being a little kid or something. The lyrics are really childish as well. That’s the point of the lyrics: “I wanna drink some fuckin’ blood. I wanna break some fuckin’ glass”; just something that maybe a 12-year-old might write. Even the verses feel like they were born on a playground somewhere. I don’t know. It’s fun. That one I’m excited to play live. All these songs are going to be cool to play live but I think this is more of a live record then the previous one. I hope “Blasteroids” in particular will draw a big response from people who jump around and punch each other in the head and, rip their clothes when we play it.
“Stargasm“: It’s about having sex in space. I think the main riff developed during the Alice in Chains tour. We would set up amps backstage and those guys would jam. Brentwould sit down and just start jamming out. Brent lives to play the guitar. He’s just always jamming. I had my iPhone with the recorder and I’d hear some shit going on over in his direction. He’s just deep in it and I’d come over and start taping. When we got back home I just kind of unloaded all this stuff. I think that chorus riff from that was in the shuffle along with all the riffs we’d collected during the Alice in Chainsbackstage jamming. The way that one came together was awesome. The chorus was really pretty and then it just… moves. It’s like another groove. But then the whole album just has a lot of groove to it, you know? Crazier, spastic. We’re kind of laying into some grooves. It’s a nice variation from what we have been doing, I think, because that’s kind of like the music that we want to listen to nowadays; stuff that’s more groove oriented. I did that one. You can shake your ass to it.
“Octopus Has No Friends“: That’s just some wild guitar stuff. Brent came in and said “I can barely play this at the moment.” Suddenly he said, “Wait, and hold on, I got it. I got it.” That just turned out to be such a killer song. Troy came in and put his really triumphant vocals over the top of Brent’s crazy guitar work. It just took off. I really didn’t even see it coming. Troyhas a really good ear for where to lay vocals over certain parts. It sounds real triumphant to me. It has this “I’m on my way back home” lyric in it that just means a lot to us. You know, we say that to each other when we’re on our way back home from a really long tour. That song has some sort of deep meaning for us because when we go away for a long time, we miss our home so badly. Like the last week of a six weeklong tour is just like, oh God, you just start to envision yourself in your house and in your bed and, you know, on your toilet.
“All The Heavy Lifting“: That was the first song that I felt like, yeah, okay, we got something. We’d been messing around with some other stuff and it was really during the first week of writing. For the first couple of days you’re just re-familiarizing yourself by playing stuff that you’re not quite sure yet just how it goes. After you’ve been on tour for a very long time, you’re just so used to playing the songs a certain way. Then when you sit down and start writing, it’s like, well, I don’t know how quite to play this yet – it doesn’t feel right immediately. Things were discombobulated and everyone was just kind of like, “Eh, I don’t know.” And then again, it just came together and sounded so evil and badass. So we thought, “Yeah, that’s cool. Let’s do that.”
“The Hunter“: Just a beautiful epic. We don’t have any super long songs this time but this one has the same sort familiar feel to some of those longer pieces we done in the past. Again, that’s a lot of Brent’s beautiful guitar work on this one. Brent and Troy sing on it and it sounds awesome. They just did a great job. That’s the title track – it’s a big song so it’s a beauty.
Nickelback: Here & Now
NICKELBACK: HERE & NOW
Having staked my claim reasonably close to the front of the queue here and established up front the expectation, it qualifies me more than the fools to comment on Here & Now. It’s easy to take pot-shots at a band that have set themselves up for target practice. Go ahead and ask any of the bands that have been accused of all the things currently levelled at Nickelback. AC/DC, ZZ Top spring to mind off the top of my head which puts them in good company as far as I’m concerned. Take a look at any of the reviews that will follow the release of Hear & Now. I guarantee that 95% of them will give it a poke with stick like it’s a dead bird, criticism will abound for it sounding the same as the last album, and the one before that…
But that misses the point somewhat. There’s a new Jane’s Addiction album out at the moment too. From them, I expect an adventurous, questioning spirit. That’s what they do. Nickelback not so much. What I expect from them is ten big-ass chunky arena rock tracks. Sure - swap ‘em around from album to album. I don’t care but I can honestly say that over the last ten years, Nickelback have probably been my most constant companion in the car. That’s what they do.
Sigh… more tales of drinking, rocking hard, leaving your lovers behind. Freakin’ A. I was beginning to lose faith that anybody would make a decent album this year that I coul connect with and wouldn’t walk away from before the end of it. Sad as you may think it, it took until this far in the year for anything to surface that was worth a damn and that came from Kelly Clarkson. Level the guns if you wish but after a lifetime of being subjected to earth shattering rock shows and innovation in the studio, I’ve reached a point now where what I want to hear is some solid records being made. Nickelback are part of that pantheon.
Here & Now has no need for description. You already know what it sounds like - shit, even my Ma could venture a stab at what it sounds like (she could even write areview without hearing it if she tried hard enough), though it should be noted that the production is white hot. I guess Joe Normal would never notice that the production values have been raised with each subsequent album but that’s OK.
That’s what Joe Normal does. Mr Smith
** Jj (Shake Co-Ed) Mr Smith has hit the nail on the head… Nickleback will never be cool or happening, but what they will be is played in 20 years time and called ‘Classic Rock From the Early Noughties’ and many will crave for their sound. For me they are one of the best rock bands of the opening ten years of this new century simply because they deliver on all levels, and this is another great album from them…
Duran Duran All U Need: Live!
Duran Duran: Lvrpl Echo Arena: Sat 10th Dec!
So what happens when you are a chart band that’s sold over 80 million albums and you put out a great new album and you have always had a reputation for being a great band? Answer: You continue to do what you always have done and get out on the road! So I’m in my favourite city in the world tonight with Penny Lane who is my fave Scousewife! We get into what is also one of the best arenas in the world and there is a support act (cockandbullkid) she’s quite pleasant, but nothing more and not even a good starter for the main…
That main is Duran Duran and when they do hit the stage it’s obvious that you are watching a band that knows exactly what its doing, the pace, the delivery, the setting, this is an act that’s refined their live show to suit themselves while knowing what works with their audience. Three songs in and we already have hit ‘Planet Earth’ and ‘View To A Kill’ which are two of the best songs ever!
They of course roll out some ‘new’ numbers’ after all like I said before, they are a band who continue to make albums and the latest one (All You Need Is Now) can definitely stand next to any of their previous work guitarist Dom Brown fills the guitar part with ease jumping in and out of all the styles of past and present Duran with the help of extra backing vocalist, saxaphonist and percussion, every song is spot on, I am a fan of that new record and I hate the word ‘Re-Invention’ yet this band has brought their forward thinking sound kicking and screaming into the 21st Century with a new sound and vision which they certainly deliver live… Now if only we can get a bass heavy dubstep re-mix!
It has to be noted that as musicians Roger Taylor is an effortless drummer, the kind that makes you believe drumming is so easy because he makes it look so, Nick Rhodes soundscape keyboards fill all the gaps within the Duran Duran spectrum, you really don’t notice he is there, but you would if he wasn’t, in my opinion he is as important as Brian Eno in the influential keyboard player stakes, just as Brian defined Roxy Music, Nick defines Duran. John Taylor is a different monster altogether, his good looks and sex appeal have often overshadowed what an amazing bass player he is, when the band go from pop to funk through rock and beyond, Join drives the whole sound forward creating a rhythm section with Roger that’s second to none, watching him play is such a joy and he is without doubt in my top ten of all-time list. Then there’s Simon! Ahh Simon Le Bon, perhaps not the greatest vocalist of all time, but like Jagger, Ozzy and many more before him no one else can do what he does, nobody can sing these songs like him, his vocal style is now second skin and he seems more comfortable than ever with who he is, the swagger is still evident as is the attitude (he is a singer!) but more than ever now he is the frontman of a great band, and he now knows it and just delivers his role with ease and a cheeky grin that let’s face it with an audience of mostly females is no bad thing. They are now the perfect amagimation of Duran / Power Station / Arcadia, they have no need for solo or side projects because they have become all the things they wanted to be both inside and outside, this is the the place they were born to be.
People can sneer at this band and joke about them being just another pop act, but trust me I have seen most of the so called ‘legends’ and ‘greats’ over the years both old and new and Duran Duran have earned their place at the top table and are still able to deliver at this level, oh and I haven’t even mentioned all the songs yet! Songs that when they come on the radio you just turn them up, songs that make you want to drive faster, have sex, dance, sing and believe you can do anything, and above all else THAT is the legacy of any great band, make no mistake, Duran Duran are a great band! Jj: Dec 2011
Before The Rain / Planet Earth / A View To A Kill / All You Need Is Now / Blame The Machines / Come Undone / Safe (In The Heat Of The Moment) / The Reflex / The Man Who Stole A Leopard / Girl Panic! / Is There Something I Should Know? / Tiger Tiger / White Lines / Careless Memories / Ordinary World / Notorious / Hungry Like The Wolf / Reach Out For The Sunrise / Wild Boys/ Rio
Loose Records Free Sampler
Loose Records Free Sampler! Available Online and in Independent Stores. Loose Music are very proud to bring you their label sampler which corrals together tracks from last year’s albums from The Felice Brothers, Jim White, Dawes and Hurray For The Riff Raff, plus an exclusive track
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