The work of producer/multi-instrumentalist Michel Simons and multi-instrumentalist Adrian Jones, Jet Black Sea was originally conceived as a side project to Jones’s prog rock band Nine Stones Close. A vehicle for experimentation, their debut release ‘The Path of Least Existence’ mixed elements of prog rock, ambient music, electronica and post rock with fantastic results. A follow-up ‘Absorption Lines’ was almost five years in the making. Absorbing more mellow prog rock sounds than before – presumably since Nine Stones Close had, by that time, veered towards a more prog metal sound on their 2016 LP ‘Leaves’ – the album was well received among online prog fans.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
REO SPEEDWAGON – The Early Years 1971-1977
During the first half of the 80s, REO Speedwagon were one of the bands who really helped define the sounds of the decade’s melodic rock. Along with Journey and Survivor, the band became US radio staples and their ‘Hi Infidelity’ and ‘Good Trouble’ albums sold in huge numbers. The REO story started much earlier, however, and before arriving at their signature sound on 1978’s ‘You Can Tune A Piano, But You Can’t Tuna Fish’, the band honed their craft across a series of albums that dabble in different styles of rock, featuring a succession of different vocalists. This comprehensive box set tells the formative REO story, presenting each of the early albums with a smattering of bonus tracks.
SNAKES IN PARADISE – Step Into The Light
Back in the mid 90s when melodic rock was going through a bit of a purple patch with regards to independent releases, Scandinavian Whitesnake obsessives Snakes In Paradise released two excellent records in the classic rock mould; albums which owed so much to David Coverdale and company, yet came with their own European charm largely thanks to vocalist Stefan Berggren, one of the best voices in the business at that time. After the demise of Snakes In Paradise, Berggren made a very logical move and joined Company of Snakes, a band featuring ex-Whitesnake members Bernie Marsden, Micky Moody and Neil Murray which, as you’d expect, drew more heavily from the ‘Snake’s enduring legacy.
GOODBYE BLUE MONDAY – Misery-Punk Ruined My Life EP
Glasgow’s Goodbye Blue Monday make no attempt to disguise their geographic origins. Even though a good proportion of the vocals on their 2018 EP ‘Misery-Punk Ruined My Life’ are of the group/gang shouty variety, there are lots of times where a heavy accent can still be heard. Although their brand of street punk – or “misery punk” as they bill themselves – already attempts to be of a forthright nature, this only gives the material an extra feeling of urgency. This, their third release, features three songs that despite the misery punk tag are actually really rousing.
New Mott The Hoople box set to be released in November
Mott The Hoople were one of the great bands of the 1970s. Whilst principally known for their mega hits ‘All The Young Dudes’, ‘Roll Away The Stone’ and ‘All The Way From Memphis’, the Mott story started a few years earlier. Between 1969 and 1971, the band recorded four albums for Island Records of a far more experimental nature.
Those albums and various associated extras have been compiled on a lavish six disc box set entitled ‘Mental Train: The Island Years 1969-1971. A very comprehensive set, there’s never been a better way to experience a run of often overlooked albums.
A full press release can be read below.
A review of Ian Hunter’s ‘Fingers Crossed’ can be found here.
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