Reviews archive

August 2024

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66 articles

August 31
- “History tends to point to 1975 as something of a slump… worthy names prove it was another very good year”: Ring The Bells And Sing – Progressive Sounds Of 1975 box set
August 30
- “Enough character, charm and chutzpah to ensure that they transcend their obvious influences.” Palaye Royale shoot their shot for immortality on the life-affirming Death or Glory
- “Their story, though well-known, still beguiles”: Mike Cormack’s Everything Under The Sun: The Complete Guide To Pink Floyd
- “It might be the most accessible thing they’ve put out, but they’ve hardly turned into a garage rock band”: Leprous ditch the excess baggage on Melodies Of Atonement
- "Pristine pop and rock with a twist of glam and bursting with arena-ready songs": Tuk Smith & The Restless Hearts shine on Rogue To Redemption
- "Every track on it either was a single or just acted like it was": The 30th anniversary edition of Definitely Maybe is a reminder of the cockiness and verve of Oasis
August 28
- "It does what great art is supposed to do, taking the artist's experiences, however dark, and making them universal": Nick Cave returns to the water on Wild God
August 27
- "Melodies Of Atonement feels like a culmination of two decades’ worth of experience, energy and insight." Leprous show exactly how they've become prog metal royalty
August 26
- "A lurid, increasingly Neanderthal-minded caricature of the band’s trademark sound. It's an absolute blast." US hardcore brutes Nails are reborn anew on Every Bridge Burning
- "From a period when the band's theatricality had yet to spill over into pretension": Styx successfully fight the pomp rock wars on The Grand Illusion
August 23
- Melt Banana's 3+5 is one of the extreme albums of the year. It's also completely off its baps
- “Prog pop, maxed out and magnified… they sound like a band built for enormodomes”: Meer’s Wheels Within Wheels sees them braced for the big time
- "The first thing you notice is a glaring issue with its pacing": Georgia Thunderbolts fail to rise above it all on second album Rise Above It All
- "More in common with classic European hard rock than many of their peers": Mike Tramp matures like fine wine on Songs Of White Lion II
- "Inspirational": Steve Cropper is a sublimely understated presence with The Midnight Hour on Friendlytown
- "The most comprehensive collection of Fanny material to date": The full Fanny and more celebrated on The Reprise Years 1970-1973
- "The sound of a man pushing his own boundaries and having an absolute ball": Ian Anderson's solo years, now in a handy box
- "Arguably the greatest singer of his generation": Mark Lanegan rarely sounded as soulful as he did on Bubblegum
- "Meticulously unravelling the album's complexities": The Alan Parsons Project's Pyramid, decompiled and recompiled
- "Hugging the corners of Seventies Yes with just the right balance of mimicry and mutability": Jon Anderson and The Band Geeks capture the right essence on True
August 22
- Bowers & Wilkins Pi8 True Wireless earbuds review
- "Unravels the horrors and joys of the world through a rouge-tinted pair of spectacles. The results are epic." Simone Simons soars on solo debut Vermillion
August 21
- Fleshgod Apocalypse’s Opera is surprisingly moving, given it’s by a band called ‘Fleshgod Apocalypse’
- "The excavation of suffering body and soul." New York noise extremists Uniform confront lifelong struggle with bulimia nervosa on harrowing, brilliant new album American Standard
August 20
- "It feels like a vision for the future." Nu gen star Cassyette lives up to the hype on her long-awaited debut album This World F***ing Sucks
August 19
- Death metal veterans Nile have crafted their best album in nearly 20 years with The Underworld Awaits Us All
- "Now they’re seeing how deep the rabbit hole can go." Avant-garde metallers Zeal & Ardor have unleashed their adventurous side on the excellent Greif
- "Easier on the ears if you're a King Crimson fan than a Kiss fan": The Mars Volta confound the ears on frenetic debut De-Loused In The Comatorium
August 16
- “If anybody had him pigeonholed as the master of epic melancholy, they’re in for a shock”: Tim Bowness displays a stunning change of pace with Powder Dry
- "It's not hard to see why they struck gold": The riffs still ring as Creed's Human Clay is expanded for its 25th birthday
- "This sort of seat-of-the-pants indulgence would never fit the corporate cosiness of today’s major festivals": Ten Years After showcase the solos on Woodstock 1969
- "Scarlet Rebels make no bones about going straight for the FM-rock jugular": Trad rock tropes abound on Where The Colours Meet
- "A real labour of love": Troy Kingi pays tribute to desert rock on Leatherman & The Mojave Green
August 15
- Old blokes: What is it with them and when will they stop? A sort-of review of the Sex Pistols and Frank Carter at Bush Hall
- "Thirteen albums in and still no duffer." Melodic death metal veterans Dark Tranquillity show they're still one of the genre's best on Endtime Signals
August 13
- “They’re unquestionably ready for the big time”: Malevolence break records (and a good few bodies) with weekend-stealing Bloodstock set
- “A fine overview of the label’s underground credentials… unclassifiable obscurities abound”: History of Deram (and Decca) celebrated in Psych! British Prog, Rock, Folk & Blues box set
August 12
- “To the Yungblud family, Bludfest may be a near-religious experience.” Unstoppable UK dynamo makes his dream festival a reality
- “A good show as opposed to a legendary one”: Architects don’t quite rise to the occasion at first-ever UK festival headline show
- "If it had come out two years earlier, it would have captured the zeitgeist": Captain Beyond miss their moment on much-loved debut album
August 11
- "We haven't done anything decent in 15 years. Message received." Opeth embrace the classics in old school Bloodstock headline set
August 9
- “A mighty and nimble love letter to the world they grew up in”: And So I Watch You From Afar’s Megafauna
August 8
- "A laid-back collection of gentle boogies and carefree shuffles": Bill Wyman ages in easy-going fashion on Drive My Car
- "These cast-offs show Weller free of constraint and commercial restrictions": Paul Weller's b-sides and remixes revisited on Fly On The Wall
- "A rewarding retrospective, not dissimilar to the kind revered artists get at major museums": Elvis Presley's Memphis recordings are immortal gold
- "If it's dumb fun in the sun you're after, these are the rodents you're looking for": Dune Rats' world is an exuberant playground on If It Sucks, Turn It Up
- With Funeral Soundtrack #4, Californian punks Destroy Boys flip a defiant middle finger to an industry that has repeatedly tried to take advantage of their naivety
August 7
- “Conventional ideas about love and romance are blurred, twisted and contorted here.” Fontaines D.C. explore love in all its beautiful, messy, euphoric and melancholic confusion on Romance
August 6
- LG Tone Free T90S wireless earbuds review
- "Not only the biggest crowd of the weekend, but undoubtedly their careers." Amon Amarth conquer 85,000 metal fans with epic, flamethrowing, serpent-bashing setlist at Wacken 2024
August 5
- "I'm sure this sounded perfectly bitchin' blasting out of a Camaro's hi-fi": Sammy Hagar provides the late-70s party soundtrack on All Night Long
- “Raw and candid in its touching analysis of trauma, pain and love.” Beabadoobee bares her soul with the emotional intimacy of This Is How Tomorrow Moves
- “Their love of Yes shines through once more… but their simpler arrangements are just as striking”: IZZ’s Collapse The Wave
- "Avenge The Fallen can be dubbed ‘more of the same’, but every album stands or falls on the strength of its songs." Hammerfall remind everyone why they remain one of heavy metal's most trusted defenders
- "Heilung have become a bona fide phenomenon." Lifa Iotungard (Live At Red Rocks) shows off one of the best shows in music at one of the world's most magical venues
- “Personal and sometimes uncomfortable … an elegant exploration of the abyss for those willing to be drawn in”: Returned To The Earth’s Stalagmite Steeple
August 4
- "A performance worthy of their own legendary status." Scorpions rock Wacken Open Air like a hurricane
- "Eternal Blue is old news, and only the beginning of what this band could possibly achieve." Spiritbox stun Wacken Open Air with one of the sets of the weekend
- “Proof that three men can grate on each other’s last remaining nerves but still retain unique chemistry and deliver diamonds”: The Police’s Synchronicity (40th Anniversary Edition)
August 3
- “These shamans are about to bewitch metal’s mainstream”: Green Lung prove they’re the next big thing at awe-inspiring London show
- “Where the joy and the pain started – and fittingly, where they end too”: Fish’s circle-closing reissues of Vigil In A Wilderness Of Mirrors and Internal Exile
August 2
- “A showcase for wondrous mandolin and banjo… and the majesty and clarity of Maddy Prior’s voice”: Steeleye Span’s 50th anniversary edition of Now We Are Six
- “The perfect doorway into a world of energy, invention, badass musicianship and great songwriting”: Beardfish’s 15th anniversary edition of Destined Solitaire
- "Simmering tension ensures that the album comes with a few genuinely jaw-dropping moments": Blues Pills explore their demons on Birthday
- "Even at this distance, it's a freaky ride": Ween's breakthrough album still startles, 30 years on
August 1
- "When they do hit, they hit hard, but other songs feel disappointingly rote and cliché": Black Smoke Trigger fall short on debut album Horizons