As far as the more casual observer is concerned, the prog rock revival of the 80s was kicked off by Marillion and their ‘Market Square Heroes’ EP and subsequent hit album ‘Script for A Jester’s Tear’ in 1983. Marillion certainly flew the flag for prog’s unexpected commercial success during that decade, but the rumblings of a brilliant, but terminally unfashionable musical revival had actually begun much earlier.
Category Archives: Album & EP Reviews
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Psych!: British Prog, Rock, Folk & Blues 1966-1973
The world isn’t short of great psych and prog themed anthologies. The fact is, if you’re a keen psych/freakbeat/early prog fan, you’ve probably got those Cherry Red sets bringing together a wealth of stuff from between 1967-69, the many ‘Rubble’ releases, and more besides. Why should you add another psych oriented release to your already solid collection of compilations? Simply that ‘Psych!: British Prog, Rock, Folk & Blues 1966-73’ brings together a wealth of great music in less of a scattershot manner. Its three disc, sixty four track selection celebrates the more “out there” releases from Decca Records and their Deram off-shoot, and in doing so, plays more like a journey through an ever changing landscape from a more focused perspective, showing how the label often found themselves at the forefront of one of history’s most exciting periods in music.
VARIOUS ARTISTS – Punk Floyd: A Tribute To Pink Floyd
Tribute albums have always been a good showcase for the strange and interesting. Where else would you find Lisa Loeb singing Ozzy Osbourne’s ‘Goodbye To Romance’, or Sonic Youth turning in a pleasingly dreary version of Delaney & Bonnie’s ‘Superstar’ via Karen Carpenter? Or even stumble upon Lemmy growling his way through Queen’s ‘Tie Your Mother Down’ with the help of the terminally dislikable Ted Nugent? Yup. When handled with care, the all-star tribute album can be a breeding ground for all manner of great curios.
MARCELLA DETROIT – Jewel
Marcy Levy is a legend. Throughout the 70s and 80s, she put in some seriously hard yards as a session vocalist and touring singer, working with Eric Clapton, Bee Gees, Alice Cooper, Belinda Carlisle and many others. Clapton’s mellow blues ‘Better Make It Through Today’ aside, Marcy’s contributions to the guitarist’s 1975 album ‘There’s One In Every Crowd’ are the record’s highlight, and on recordings from the 1977 tour for ‘Slowhand’, she and second guitarist George Terry can be heard doing some seriously heavy lifting as the heart of the best band EC ever had. In the late 80s, Levy became famous as Marcella Detroit, one half of sophisticated pop duo Shakespears Sister; her unmistakable vocal gymnastics turned ‘You’re History’ from a good pop track into a great one, and she will be forever associated with their 1991 mega-hit ‘Stay’. Never one to be stuck in a musical rut, Marcella’s career powered forth and in the mid 90s, her second solo album, 1994’s ‘Jewel’ was a massive success.
THE LOST WEEKEND BAND – One Hell Of A Time EP
According to The Lost Weekend Band’s history, the band came together after a man calling himself “Hardcore Dave” had a change of heart. As his name more than implies, Dave began his musical career fronting punk bands. He played at the legendary CBGB’s; he supported the hardcore legends Agnostic Front. …But he then took a liking to the sounds of outlaw country, and his career took off in a different direction.