Review: David Bowie - A Reality Tour

Six and a half years ago, glam rock musician David Bowie went on the road in support of his most recent studio album, 2003’s Reality. A tour that was anticipated to take place in 24 countries, it was not only rearranged due to postponements, but cut short due to the icon’s health problems. But now, over six years after the tour took place, any listener can have a piece of the tour, with appropriately named A Reality Tour.

 

Now as I write this, it’s probably safe to assume that that this review will be shorter than most of what I write, as it tends to be the case with live releases. Because some musicians just have got it together, both live and in studio. And David Bowie, now at age 63, manages to uphold his iconic status with this release. So, in these cases, the biggest thing that will either make or break the release is sound quality...

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Review: The Murder of My Sweet - Divanity

Upon hearing the name The Murder of My Sweet, my initial thought was that it was, forgive me, a typically long-winded name of a newer metalcore band. So, I approached Divanity, the band’s upcoming debut release with a little bit of skepticism. Yet, here we have is another example of an inaccurate assumption.

 

With the first tracks, I was pleasantly surprised to be greeted by the beautiful vocals of Angelica Rylin, coupled nicely with symphonic keyboards and heavily distorted guitars. This combination, while present throughout is absolutely chilling, in the second “Follow the Rain.” The dark riffs, combined with the haunting synths and soaring vocals, are not only very well put together, but make for a surprisingly ear-catching hook for something of this magnitude...

 

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Review: Sunstorm - House of Dreams

When I first listened to House of Dreams, the second album by the hard rock band Sunstorm, I, for the life of me, could not place the vocals. I could recognize them like anything, but where did I hear them? A quick trip to Google, and I was informed that it was Joe Lynn Turner, whom I knew for his work with Yngwie Malmsteen, and is somewhat less known for his work with Deep Purple but gained more notoriety with DP guitarist Ritchie Blackmore in previous years with Blackmore’s Rainbow. Which now seems fairly obvious to me, but I digress.

Sunstorm, I noticed, within the first track of House of Dreams, has a certain 80’s rock meets modern power metal feel to their music. Divided, an excellent opening track to the album, starts out with some dark synths and some very strong riffs.

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Review: Steve Hackett - Out of the Tunnel's Mouth

Out of the Tunnel’s Mouth, the most recent solo release from ex-Genesis guitarist Steve Hackett, is a prime example of something being “worth the wait.” An album that had to be put on hold due to some legal troubles, fans eagerly awaited Mr. Hackett’s return to progressive music since 2006’s Wild Orchids. And while Tunnel’s Mouth isn’t usually regarded as his best work to date, it still manages to hold its own.

 

The album opens, pretty slowly, with “Fire on the Moon.” The interesting thing about this track is the absolutely contrasting changes it makes. While it starts off, much like a lullaby, with bells, very light, clean guitar, and soft vocals, it breaks into a much more intense chorus section, and eventually by the end, the two sounds are blended to create something rather chilling.

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