Pink Floyd - The Early Years 1965-72
“It’s always worth hearing the multiple, myriad ways in which Floyd collectively ascended their particular peaks, even if the sound quality is a touch grainy. Most immediately arresting are the opening tracks on disc one, their earliest recordings from 1965 onwards, a revelation if you’ve never heard them on bootleg or limited release. On Lucy Leave Syd Barrett tries, unconvincingly, to match Mick Jagger for macho swagger over a callow, white bluesy back beat. But he shows a sense of humour and pastiche on Double O Bo, re-imagining Bo Diddley as a James Bond spy over the R&B star’s trademark riff. Remember Me is pleasantly colourised by Rick Wright’s keyboards, while on Butterfly Barrett is more true to his fragile character, chasing down the girls with a butterfly net.” Read the full review here.
Simple Minds - Acoustic
“The thrillingly named Acoustic is a strange album, seeking as it does to homogenise the Minds’ ever-changing sound, lending a weird Celtic tinge to material as diverse as The American and Sanctify Yourself, while KT Tunstall guests on Promised You A Miracle.” Read the full review here.
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The Neal Morse Band - The Similtude Of A Dream
“Having consecrated his band in 2012, most of whom have been with him since the beginning of the century, Morse and his gang are recharged and energetically focused on keeping the listener fully engaged for 100 minutes – harder now than it was then.” Read the full review here.
Rick Wakeman - No Earthly Connection reissue
“Whereas previously The Caped Crusader was capturing the essence of well-known stories – acting as a soundtrack – here he could take flight, going in any musical direction. So you hear classical, folk, funk, metal and jazz touches throughout, sparked by an almost spontaneous desire to celebrate the human mind.” Read the full review here.
John Lennon and Yoko Ono - Reissues
“No one understood the gaps between commercial music and experiment more than Yoko Ono (New York art) and her collaborator John Lennon (world-famous pop star). Their first record together, Two Virgins, released in ’68, is still far from easy listening, being tape collage, random sounds and the first appearance of Yoko’s from-nowhere stormy squall.” Read the full review here.
