Classic Rock

Blu-ray review: Queen - ‘Days Of Our Lives'

2/10/2012
Daniel S Levine
Artist: 
Queen

For a long time, Queen was the biggest band in the world. During the mid-’80s, following their triumphant performance at Live Aid, they actually went on an entire tour of just gigantic sports stadiums, selling out tickets everywhere they went. The group celebrated their 40th anniversary last year, and, like every other classic rock group that celebrates an anniversary, they re-issued all of their records.

Hell or Highwater's 'Begin Again' album review

10/21/2011
My Nguyen
Artist: 
Hell or Highwater

The product of Brandon Saller’s – renown drummer to the metal-core group Atreyu – creative efforts, Hell or Highwater is the emblem of greasy-haired musicians returning after a late-night show from some wayside bar back to their seedy motel rooms. The occupants of the rooms, who still possess the same after-glow of a good rock session, all unanimously fall back into stride from where they left off and jam until the pre-morning dawn fug alters their plans.

Status Quo- Pictures: Live at Montreux 2009

9/9/2011
John Woodruff
Artist: 
Status Quo

England’s Status Quo is one of the most accurately named bands of all time. Their sound isn’t radically different from any of the other late-Sixties/early-Seventies acts that combined hard rock, blues, psychedelia, and boogie. Despite not breaking any molds, they’re certainly good at what they do, and have been good at it for the better part of four decades. Live at Montreux, being released for the first time on CD, demonstrates that age has not slowed them down in the slightest.

Eddie Vedder gives us a new side to himself with the ukulele

6/18/2011
Amanda Steffan
Artist: 
Eddie Vedder
Ukulele songs a gift to fans

My best friend is the biggest Pearl Jam fan I know, and for some reason he loves to play the ukulele also. When I saw that Eddie Vedder released a new album called "Ukulele Songs" I couldn't believe it.
I am a Pearl Jam fan as well, so I knew I had to check out this new Vedder album.

Ukulele's are often put into a "Hawaiian music" type song. Think of Israel "IZ" Kamakawiwoʻole's "Over the rainbow." The two go together so well.

Pieces

11/17/2009
Joseph Bland
Artist: 
Manassas

In 1971, Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young gathered musicians to record sessions for his third solo album. Some of the people invited included members of the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Byrds. The resulting group worked out so well that they decided to record an album together as their own band.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.00Stars

Pieces

10/20/2009
Alicia Neubauer
Artist: 
Manassas

In 1971, Stephen Stills of Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young gathered musicians to record sessions for his third solo album. Some of the people invited included members of the Flying Burrito Brothers and the Byrds. The resulting group worked out so well that they decided to record an album together as their own band.

The still unnamed band partook on a small tour. While at the train station in Manassas, Va., a photo of the band under the Manassas sign was taken, finally giving them a moniker and an album cover.

Reviewer Rating: 
3.50Stars

Live!!! At the Ohio Theatre!

9/9/2009
Adaora Otiji
Artist: 
The Polka Floyd Show

A hybrid of accordions and electric guitars, The Polka Floyd Show put an interesting spin on classic Pink Floyd hits.

The band's newest album, "Live!!! At the Ohio Theatre!" shows the Floyd revering group in their natural habitat, on stage, and simultaneously proves there's actually a demand for the quirky genre by the fans screaming in the background.

While not necessarily bad, the concept of Pink Floyd and polka music is different and definitely and acquired taste, which could only be bred in the band's native Ohio.

Reviewer Rating: 
3.50Stars

Waiting for the Sun

7/26/2009
Adam Rowan
Artist: 
The Doors

After the stylistic flourishes--and excesses-?of the band's first two seminal albums, the Doors' third record, "Waiting for the Sun" is almost jarring with its straightforward sound. While the eponymous debut album and "Strange Days" delighted in strange soundscapes that lyrically, musically and philosophically defied the reigning hippie mentality of the era, "Sun" is more akin to the Byrds than America's leading experimental blues-rock band.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.00Stars

Layla and Other Assorted Love Songs

6/30/2009
Adam Rowan
Artist: 
Derek and the Dominos

Despite his fame and adoration as one of the best living rock guitarists, Eric Clapton has rarely made music that could be described as transcendent. At best, he is a workmanlike blues player, unable to rise above the genre's origins. Cream and Blind Faith certainly had moments of greatness but, overall, Clapton's career has been marred by something many classic guitar players suffer from.

Reviewer Rating: 
4.50Stars

Some Girls

6/8/2009
Adam Rowan
Artist: 
The Rolling Stones

One of the many things done correctly in Martin Scorsese's 2008 Rolling Stones concert film "Shine a Light" was to present the band playing a set-list of some of their best songs, rather than the awful tripe the "world's greatest rock band" has elected to put on their last few studio albums. Not only did the song selection show the band in a light more flattering than their dinosaurian performance at the 2006 Super Bowl halftime show, it also demonstrated the vitality of the group's music decades after it was released, as well as the Stones themselves.

Reviewer Rating: 
5.00Stars
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