Author: Steve Earles
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Revolution: Underground Sounds of 1968
Various Artists – 3CD boxed set 1968 was a milestone year, both musically and socially (as evidenced by an excellent documentary series that recently aired on the History Channel). We very much live today in a world that is shaped by the events of 1968, such as the assassinations of Robert Kennedy and Martin Luther…
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Tangerine Dream – The Blue Years Studio Albums 1985-1987
I’ve only recently gotten into Tangerine Dream via their excellent soundtrack for the ‘Wages of Fear’ remake ‘Sorcerer’. So I really enjoyed reviewing this boxset. ‘The Blue Years’ is a value-for-money four-CD set comprising four albums released by Tangerine Dream between 1985 and 1987, a prolific period. The first, ‘Le Parc’, is excellent and includes…
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The Race To Save The Romanovs by Helen Rappaport
I really enjoyed reading and reviewing Helen Rappaport’s previous book Caught in the Revolution: Petrograd 1917. As I wrote in my review of that book at the time, as well as being an informative and entertaining read, Caught in the Revolution is an historically important book, collecting as it does many valuable viewpoints and insights…
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Shining – Animal
The dilemma most bands face is whether to progress or not. AC/DC have made a very successful career out of sticking to the same formula; so too have Slayer. Conversely, bands like Rush, Voivod and Mastodon have followed the path of constant change and innovation, and done well as a result. Shining have chosen, on…
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‘The Duke of Monmouth: Life and Rebellion’ by Laura Brennan
The Restoration is one of my favourite periods of history and the Duke of Monmouth is a significant character of this time. In 1660, Charles II, son of the murdered Charles I, was restored to the English throne following the death of Cromwell. The Duke of Monmouth was the illegitimate son of Charles II (the first…
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Venom – Storm The Gates
After Black Sabbath and Motorhead, I consider that Venom are the third most influential metal band; few bands have inspired and influenced three genres of metal, black metal, death metal and thrash metal. The first two Venom albums, ‘Welcome To Hell’ and ‘Black Metal’ are essential for any metal fans collection. Now, many years later,…
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Bryant and May: Hall of Mirrors by Christopher Fowler
To my mind Christopher Fowler is the great unsung hero of modern popular literature, which is a compliment – Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins were all popular writers, and Fowler fits well into their company. Christopher has written more than forty novels at this stage (I’ve read many of them, and none of them disappoint),…
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Sigh – Heir To Despair
Hailing from Japan, Sigh bring a unique perspective to metal. On one hand it’s very traditional; Sigh are great musicians and composers, and you can hear the influences of the New Wave of British Heavy Metal very strong, particularly Iron Maiden. On the other hand, Sigh are so out there as to be in a…
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The Spiritual Meaning of the Sixties by Tobias Churton
The Magic, Myth and Music of the Decade That Changed The World Without doubt, as I have said before, and indeed, hope to say again in the future, any book by Tobias Churton is a special event. For instance, his books on Aleister Crowley are, without doubt, the most important books written on the Master…
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G.B.H. – The Rough Justice Years
Once again Cherry Red have excelled in presenting an important and influential band’s work in the best possible light. A huge influence on Cliff Burton-era Metallica, G.B.H are a special band indeed. This box set, which has 76 tracks over 5 discs, covers GBH’s output for the Rough Justice label between 1984 and 1985. Disc…