Rob Moratti’s first solo album ‘Victory’ (released via Escape Music in 2011) featured a very strong set of AOR numbers. Musically accomplished, session bassist Tony Franklin and Winger guitarist Reb Beach gave the arrangements a great punch, but the extensive use of vocal filters made the release hard to listen to in long doses. However, given the quality of the songwriting, it was a record that showed off Moratti’s talents well and gave hope that a follow up might just be of a similar standard…and hopefully, with a slightly more natural vocal sound, as such material surely deserves.
SHOOZE – Classified EP
In the early 80s, the Midlands was home to a few reggae and ska bands with a disheartened view of life under the burgeoning Tory government. While the messages from those bands may seem to some to be relevant only to the times in which they were created, the political messages have endured the passing decades and – frighteningly, by the summer of 2015 – some seem as relevant as ever. The bulk of UB40’s first two albums are filled with biting political and social commentary, their ‘Madame Medusa’ arguably the most savage anti-Thatcher song ever. The Beat, meanwhile, mixed old ska classics with more of the same levels of anger – their ‘Stand Down Margaret’ choosing a more obvious message over UB40’s dystopian horror tale, but their upset regarded the same issues as the bulk of the young left in Britain at the time. Over the years, many other bands mixed reggae with punk politics and anger – usually citing either the 2-Tone scene or The Clash as a vital influence.
LAZY LIONS – When Dreaming Lets You Down
Lazy Lions is a project bringing together the talents of four musicians whom, in their own words, “have been around the block enough” to have an extensive musical CV. Frontman Jim Allen has had a prior career as a singer/songwriter; bassist Anne Marie Stehn was previously a member of Antigone Rising; drummer Sean McMorris has recorded his own material in addition to being a seasoned session guy (most notably for Television’s Richard Lloyd), while guitarist Robert Sorkin previously held a place within the Monterey Symphony. Unsurprisingly, with his song writing skills and big vocal presence, it’s often Allen who appears to be firmly in the driving seat. The band’s preferred sound borrows heavily from 70s power pop and a few later Elvis Costello devotees, but essentially what we have with ‘When Dreaming Lets You Down’ is an adult pop/rock affair that almost seems timeless. There’s a loudness to some of the material that occasionally belies the Lions’ latter-day rechanneling of these older sounds as opposed to this being a 1984 recording, but in terms of songs, these could have been written by anyone at any time.
Mastodon: Summer tour schedule
Mastodon are playing a huge run of dates from next month through the summer and into September, including appearances at the UK Reading and Leeds Festivals. All confirmed dates are listed below.
THE BIG GENESIS POLL: Part Two, The Pop/Rock Years 1978-97
When Steve Hackett left Genesis at the end of the ‘Wind & Wuthering’ tour in 1977, for some of the more dyed-in-the-wool prog fans, that signified too much of a potential change waiting in the wings. The fact that the three-man band of Phil Collins (drums/vocals), Mike Rutherford (guitars/bass) and Tony Banks sounded more commercial upon their return and even scored a genuine hit single with a pop ballad marked the end for some. For those, supper had gone cold. For the fans Genesis lost at this time, their new, more commercial sound gained new fans in droves and although the band became far less prolific – partly due to all three members embarking on extra-curricular recording – it marked the beginning of a very commercially successful decade.