Mike Portnoy, whom last year, quit his post as Dream Theater’s drummer after more than two decades has unveiled details of his new musical venture.
Adrenaline Mob is an all-star affair, and features Symphony X vocalist Russell Allen, Stuck Mojo/Fozzy guitarist Rich Ward, Sonic Stomp guitar player Mike Orlando and Nena bassist Paul DiLeo.
The are currently working on a debut album and will make their live debut in New York next week on June 24th.
September 2011 will see the release of four expanded Jimi Hendrix releases, overseen by the Hendrix Family.
A four CD set comprising live recordings made at San Francisco’s Winterland and an expanded version of ‘Hendrix In The West’ will be issued on CD on September 13th, while expanded versions of Hendrix’s appearances on ‘The Dick Cavett Show’ and at The Isle of Wight festival will be released on DVD.
The new version of ‘Blue Wild Angel: Live at The Isle of Wight’ is expected to have a running time approximating 3 hours, which is a huge improvement on the currently available 60 minute version (first issued in 2002).
‘Hendrix In The West’, a compilation of live recordings made between 1969/70 – first issued in January 1972 – has been out of print in the US since 1974 and never available on CD in it’s original form in the US., although all tracks from the original LP were subsequently issued as part of the ‘Experience’ box set, first issued in September 2000. The new CD version of ‘Hendrix In The West’ will feature 3 previously unreleased cuts.
Full details for all four releases can be found here.
Ex-White Zombie frontman and film-maker/solo artist Rob Zombie has been awarded Metal Hammer’s “Golden God” award. Presented the award by the legendary Alice Cooper, Zombie is celebrating over a quarter of a century in the music business.
Other awards given out at the ceremony included “Metal Icons”, awarded to stalwarts Judas Priest, whose debut album was released 37 years ago. Priest are about to embark on their “final tour” – their first without long-serving guitarist KK Downing – and can be seen in the UK at the following dates:
15th July Newport Centre, Newport, UK
16th July The Apollo, Manchester, UK
17th July The Dome, Doncaster, UK
19th July SECC, Glasgow, UK
20th July Newcastle Arena, Newcastle, UK
21st July Wolverhampton Civic, Wolverhampton, UK
23rd July High Voltage Festival, London, UK
24th July BIC, Bournemouth, UK
Skindred were named as “best live band”.
It’s no secret that Bruce Dickinson is a fully trained pilot (between fronting a world famous rock band, being a pilot and enjoying a spot of fencing, when does he find any free time?). His knowledge of aeroplanes and air-safety has landed him the role of presenter in an air-safety film for the Civil Aviation Authority.
The promotional film can be viewed by clicking below:
Eliza Carthy’s career has two distinct paths. While she is well known for her interpretations of traditional English folk songs (her renditions of which have gained many accolades), Carthy is just as likely to release an album of well-crafted, self-penned songs which fuse rock, pop and folk in a way that cannot be easily categorized. She followed 2004’s excellent ‘Rough Music’ (a collection largely comprised of traditional folk numbers, with an excellent rendition of Billy Bragg’s ‘King James Version’ thrown in for good measure) with ‘Dreams of Breathing Underwater’ in 2008, which stylistically could be seen as a successor to her very commercial ‘Angels and Cigarettes’ release from 2000. 2011’s self-penned ‘Neptune’ follows suit, once again showcasing Carthy as a gifted songwriter and arranger.
‘Neptune’ focuses on the imperfections of life, of relationships and is a journey across a number of years. It opens with a rousing number ‘Blood on My Boots’ – a drunken stomp across nearly six and a half minutes, opening with an electric guitar twang, before Carthy’s husky vocal compliments a gentle double bass line. For the chorus, the track takes on a old style bar-room quality, with dominant tack piano. Carthy’s lead is augmented by a pleasing backing vocal mixing gruff male voices and female oohs. The combination of darker story-telling and fusion of blues, jazz and folk works excellently as it leads up to a brief appearance of accordion before moving back to the main piano refrain. While each of the featured musicians plays a great part during this number, it’s Alexander’s piano line which leaves the greatest impression. The mood changes swiftly as we move into ‘War’, a quirky calypso influenced number. The vocal arrangement on this number is superb and the lyrics (concerning a fight) are at odds with the sunny arrangement. Of particular note is the excellently arranged horn section which fills an instrumental break. While Carthy appears adept at mixing folk and calypso elements, these talents do not stretch to a second calypso/reggae number. ‘Monkey’ has a really great Hammond organ part – but that’s it. The reggae is far, far too light, putting Carthy in a similar musical frame as Paolo Nutini and his nasty forays into reggae-pop.
After an a cappella opening where Carthy and her bandmates launch into the traditional folk song ‘The Oak and The Ash’, ‘Britain is a Car Park’ is one of the album’s most upbeat and adventurous numbers. The music is quirky, driven by an upright bass and fantastic horn section. The horns provide plenty of punch on a number which sounds like it could lapse into the theme from ‘Mission: Impossible’ at any given moment. Just when you think you’ve heard all it has to offer, it takes an unexpected turn with an extremely discordant accordion solo followed by police sirens. The musical quirks (and tightness of the arrangement) more than sustain an extremely busy five minutes. The mid-paced ‘Romeo’ is far moodier, with a vocal melody which recalls Carthy’s roots in English folk music. It’s a lyrically angry number concerning a relationship on breaking point, its edge given a little softness by a musical arrangement which features smooth strings and piano.
The closing of the album finds Carthy in a different place to where we found her at ‘Neptune’s beginning, with tales of family and motherhood. During ‘Hansel (Breadcrumbs)’, Carthy sounds vocally very assured against a full sounding band, once again dominated in places by Alexander’s piano lines on a number which melds tango influenced rhythms with European folk and a bitter edge. ‘Thursday’ tells of the sadness when it’s time to leave family members to go on tour. Against Phil Alexander’s gentle piano line and Bethany Porter’s cello, Carthy’s soft vocal is full of sadness and longing (one of ‘Neptune’s best), bringing the album to a low-key, but superb end.
Destined for heavy rotation on both Mike Harding and Bob Harris’s BBC Radio 2 shows, it’s an album full of very sophisticated adult singer-songwriter material with rootsy leanings. It’s a little light of English folk influences in places, so rather predictably, it should resonate with those who really loved ‘Angels and Cigarettes’ and ‘Dreams of Breathing Underwater’. Despite a couple of misses, ‘Neptune’ is one of Eliza Carthy’s strongest original works, with ‘Hansel’ in particular marking a career high.
May 2011