Following the June reissues of the first three Led Zeppelin albums, the next two albums from the band’s catalogue are scheduled for reissue in October.
Tag Archives: classic rock
YES – Heaven & Earth
The first Yes studio album in a decade – 2011’s ‘Fly From Here’ – came under fire from various quarters. Since the core of the material first took shape in the early 80s, some (unfairly) lambasted the release for scraping the barrel for ideas, while others were less specific, wheeling out their beliefs that “no Jon Anderson = No Yes”. Neither short-sighted opinion held much water, since the album featured some of the best material the band had committed to record since the mid 90s, possibly even before. Benoit David did a great job vocalising both the new material and those ideas laid down by Trevor Horn and band some decades previously; Steve Howe sounded very comfortable in his role as guitarist – happy not to overplay his role (as he perhaps had done on some other Yes work) – while bandleader Chris Squire’s bass work appeared impeccable throughout. As with the often maligned ‘Drama’ of 1980 and the pop-oriented ‘90125’ from 1983, this more than showed that whatever the incarnation, there can be enjoyable results.
Queen “Live at the Rainbow” released in full in September
To coincide with the fortieth anniversary of the much celebrated Rainbow shows, Queen will finally make those legendary gigs available in a deluxe package this coming September.
Although circulating on bootleg recordings for years, up until now, only highlights of Queen’s Rainbow gigs have ever been released officially, with 45 minutes worth of gig footage available as part of a limited edition box set.
NEAL SCHON – So U
Taking time off from touring with Journey, guitarist Neal Schon released his seventh solo album in October 2012. His first release for Frontiers Records, ‘The Calling’ showcased the more indulgent elements within his repertoire and while the heavy jazz-rock leanings may not have been in keeping with what most Journey fans were looking for, most of the results were spectacular. An album so good, in fact, he mightn’t top it if he attempted something similar so soon…and so, with ‘So U’ Schon looks far more towards song based material to ensure it isn’t just a retread of its predecessor.
URIAH HEEP – Outsider
For most people Uriah Heep are a band consigned to the seventies with their some of their earliest albums ‘Very ’Eavy, Very ’Umble’, ‘Demons & Wizards’ and ‘The Magicians Birthday’ their best known. Those same people probably still regard the band as a poor man’s Deep Purple and are blissfully unaware that the band’s twenty third studio release – 2011’s ‘Into The Wild’, their first for Frontiers Records – is among their absolute best. Although the straight forward hard rock on display owed more to the band’s output from the early 80s and beyond than the flowery fantasies and psudo-prog of their 70s heyday, the whole album showcased a class act – a band still more than capable of delivering the goods in the classic rock vein and in some cases really outshining their peers. Since that last album, the world also lost bassist Trevor Bolder. With that in mind, 2014’s ‘Outsider’ had much to live up to and need to work incredibly hard to match the great impression left by its immediate predecessor.