Reviews archive

December 2024

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24 articles

December 20
- "An example to all future box-set curators": Still Barking is 20 CDs of Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band comedy genius, but it may baffle younger folk
December 18
- "The whole thing is still as sick as ever." Slipknot put on 2024's biggest heavy metal nostalgia party in Manchester
December 16
- "Four words describe this album best - Adrian Smith's Finest Hour": Iron Maiden successfully embrace guitar synthesisers on Somewhere In Time
December 13
- “Far ahead of the 80s art-rock curve… forward-looking, new wave electronic music with trace elements of prog and glam”: Bill Nelson’s Quit Dreaming And Get On The Beam Deluxe Box Set
- “All over the shop… The template for The Rutles is clearly there, and there’s a bridge between The Goons and Monty Python”: The Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band’s Still Barking
- "I don't know how much time I have left": Disney+ documentary Elton John: Never Too Late finds Reg in reflective rather than acerbic form
December 12
- "An apocalyptic masterpiece": Neil Young's haunting On the Beach is bleak, stoned and bleary
- Marshall Monitor III A.N.C. Bluetooth wireless headphones
December 11
- “It won’t win over the doubters, but it’s neither as lightweight nor cheesy as some would have it”: The Jethro Tull Christmas Album – Fresh Snow At Christmas
December 10
- “Defiantly lo-fi, reassuring us that wrongness can feel so right sometimes”: The Flaming Lips’ Blu-ray edition of Yoshimi Battles The Pink Robots
- "Anyone who loves epic, powerful and ingenious metal needs this in their ears immediately." Hold those end of year lists: Múr just put out one of the best metal debut albums of 2024
December 9
- "The sound of a band that knew its influences and leaned into them unapologetically": Detective's debut album paints them as the original Greta Van Fleet
December 7
- “At any venue, every time, this band play like their lives depend on it”: While She Sleeps reiterate their place among the metalcore elite with exhilarating London show
- “Whether as a solo performer or part of a band, his remarkable playing and strident yet emotive voice remains a remarkable legacy”: John Wetton’s Concentus live box set, volume one
- "Confidence Man are ridiculous. They're also one of the best live acts on Planet Earth right now." Melbourne's EDM party starters turn Brixton Academy into a delirious rave with one of the gigs of the year
December 6
- "Sometimes a gig is more than just a gig." Friends of the late, great Mark Lanegan - including Josh Homme, Dave Gahan, Chrissie Hynde and Bobby Gillespie - assemble in London for an emotional, once-in-a-lifetime celebration of a truly singular talent
- From before he used the Elephant Man's spine for a marimba: Tom Waits' The Heart Of A Saturday Night still sounds smoky on anniversary coloured vinyl
December 5
- "Filled with ghosts from rock'n'soul’s illustrious past": True believers DeWolff express their love of music on Muscle Shoals
- “Pure alchemy – and rendered in Vangelis’ Atmos mix, it makes Armageddon sound surprisingly inviting”: Aphrodite’s Child witness the end of the world again with a repackaged 666
December 4
- “A compelling journey… expansive use of ambience, drones and sequenced electronic rhythms”: Klaus Shulze’s 101 Milky Way
- “Dismissed by some as too lightweight, time has reframed it as a pivotal album musically and historically”: Marillion’s This Strange Engine Deluxe Edition
- "Often mesmerising, sometimes strange but never less than compelling." Sleep Token show London why they've become metal's biggest success story in over two decades
December 2
- "Chris Cornell shows why he was one of the premier vocalists of his era": Temple Of The Dog's eulogy for a fallen friend still shines
December 1
- “All the poise and balance they exude in the studio flies out the window once they get their dander up”: Tears For Fears’ Songs For A Nervous Planet blends stunning live tracks with four powerful new songs