Artist: Neil Peart Title: “Anatomy Of A Drum Solo” Label: Hudson Music Release Date: 12/12/2005 Genre: Progressive Rock/Instructional Rating: 9/10
When it comes to “The Professor”, I have said it before and will say it again: Neil Peart is a God on the drums! For years in the Progressive Rock giant that is Rush, he has done things that seem impossible on a regular basis. Those that hear his songs or have seen him perform live will agree that his talent is of a super human level. With impeccable timing and sense of style, he has often been imitated, yet never truly duplicated. Neil’s level of play has inspired drummers around the world for over 30 years since Rush began and he continues to do so to this very day. The other great aspect of Neil Peart is his ability to explain to you where he is coming from and while it surely takes years of practice, it shows you that all is achievable when one sets their mind to it. This DVD takes Neil’s area of expertise on the drum solo and examines what he does, how he came up with it, and what he feels makes the particular section of music so interesting. Broken into two separate DVD’s, I will showcase some of what awaits the viewer. Continue reading “Anatomy Of A Drum Solo” by Neil Peart (Rush)→
Artist: Green Carnation Title: “The Quiet Offspring” Label: The End Records Release Date: 3/22/2005 Genre: Hard Rock/Progressive Rating: 7/10
Green Carnation is an interesting band who when you begin to play their music will bring to mind a number of different Metal and Rock influences from across the gamut. Research into the band found me discovering that they seems to change their sound with each record and while that might not seem to be a smart thing it certainly allows for them to direct music at all levels of fans. It’s been written that a heavy amount of Progressive and Death has been done by Green Carnation yet on this album you will find none of this. Instead there is a level of Atmosphere in its Gothic Hard Rock and Roll with a couple of moments of speedy Metal riffs. Crafted well, this fourth album from the group might be their most effective since it has a larger scale of appeal in its overall style. “The Quiet Offspring” itself is a nice track with some interesting Purple-esque keyboard work that one does not always find in Metal bands. The use of this across the board might have led to the labeling of this as on the Gothic side. “Pile Of Doubt” races by like your classic 80’s Metal rocker while “When I Was You” comes off as something you might expect of Pink Floyd or The Gathering (it’s also the albums longest song at 7 minutes). Like I said, this was one diverse album with almost every track and this made listening to it something fun and interesting at the same time. The rocking is done early on and pretty much ends with track 9. We are then treated to moody and slower tracks as the album closes out. The piano work on “Childs Play Pt. 2” is excellent and just has such a quiet power to it. The end of this release will be a good lead in to their next album which is to be an all acoustic release. Readers who are finding this intriguing might be interested in knowing that the previous album “Light Of Day, Day Of Darkness” was one long 60 minutes song that was all Progressive and Progressive Metal. Continue reading “The Quiet Offspring” by Green Carnation→
Artist: John 5 Title: “Songs For Sanity” Label: Shrapnel Records Release Date: 9/13/2005 Genre: Progressive Rock Rating: 8/10
Guitarist John 5 from Marilyn Manson will surprise a lot of people with the release “Songs For Sanity”. On this album there is none of the Gothic Horror Show Metal that one might expect from the guitarist but instead a wild display of technical ability and style that will quite literally blow you away. For the most part it’s a heavy album with lots of skillfully composed runs and thundering drumming. Songs that prove this best are “Gods And Monsters” and “Soul Of A Robot”. The bluesy feel is given its time to shine in “Blues Balls” which is brief and to the point. The track has a Stevie Ray Vaughn feel and is done quite well. “Fiddlers” is truly a song that is among the most fun; while it’s rocking, it has a strong bluegrass feel to it. This was probably my favorite on the album, along with the moody “Sin”. Joining John 5 for the album’s recording is the legendary Steve Vai, whose contributions are solos and some lead work on a couple of tunes. John 5 himself plays most of the guitars and even does a little bass. Other players across the record include Larry Klein & Joah Jones (bass), Rodger Carter & Aaron Rossi (drums), Sid Riggs & Kevin Savigar (keyboards). Legendary axe wizard Albert Lee makes an appearance by soloing on “Death Valley” and it’s nice to see his talents represented for the world to enjoy on an artist of today’s work. “Perineum” was also one of my favorites as it had such a level of progressive technicality to it and was perhaps the heaviest of the numbers on the album. Continue reading “Songs Of Sanity” by John 5→
Artist: Mastermind Title: “Broken” Label: Unsigned Release Date: 12/22/2005 Genre: Progressive Hard Rock Rating: Very Good
It’s been too long for fans of Mastermind, the Progressive Rock/Fusion outfit from New Jersey and now the wait is over with some new material and a couple of surprises that make up the EP release “Broken”. Holding at 8 songs this is an EP that does not disappoint existing fans and was a lot of fun to listen to for new fans such as myself. The lineup remains at 4 core members, and this will be first official recording for singer Tracy McShane and new bassist Laura Johnson (who completed the lineup about a year ago). Guitarist Bill Berends is on top of his game with this one and those who had wondered about the long wait will be pleasantly surprised at the result he was able to put together . The rhythm of drummer Rich Berends (Bill’s Brother) and Johnson is solid and lead singer Tracy McShane shines all over the recording. “Broken” begins a lot like “Tom Saywer” by Rush almost as if the band was offering props to the Progressive Rock giants. The track is hypnotic and is destined for heavy rotation if the right people are paying attention to the release. “Break Me Down” is more on the Gothic side and can stand along the likes of Lacuna Coil. The remainder of the album is essentially the band treating you to some fun from their past and some of their favorite tracks from other artists. There are covers of a classical piece in “William Tell Overture” and you can literally feel the fun that the band is having with this energetic rendition right through your speakers. There is also a cover of A Perfect Circle’s “Weak & Powerless” and it was interesting to hear a strong female vocal to it. I think Maynard himself would be pleased with how it came out. “I’m So Glad” is a heavy rock/blues version of the Cream classic and given the bands recent reunited tours this holds strong to the times and to Masterminds own love of the Clapton, Bruce, Baker juggernaut. Listeners will be interested in knowing that several tracks were recorded live in the studio and they are indeed very strong in their presentation on the EP. “Million Miles Away” and “Queen Of Sheba” are just as Berends denotes in the insert, “this is how we would sound if we were playing in your living room”. Now that’s a rocking party if that was the case. Continue reading “Broken” by Mastermind→
Artist: Rush Venue: Radio City Music Hall – NYC Date: 7-19-2004
New York City truly rocked this evening as Rush brought their 30th Anniversary Tour to the historic Radio City Music Hall. It is possibly one of the best sounding theaters ever built and to be able to sit as close for this show as I was made it a stellar evening. For several years Rush shows have been entitled “An Evening With Rush”, which means no opening band would be on the bill. This is a smart move for Rush to have taken as otherwise they would need to limit their set to a little over an hour and a half and when it comes to their music, the diehards don’t care about the openers. With Rush material, as far as the classics are concerned these are all long tunes and it’s more enjoyable to simply have them with no one else to watch. The group does a brief intermission and as result is able to offer some of the best tunes from their 30 year history. To start off the nights show, the band started with a humorous video bit featuring Jerry Stiller (from King Of Queens and most notably Seinfeld). From there a kick-ass instrumental medley of some of the earliest material was performed. This was very interesting to experience as I don’t think they ever did this before. Continue reading Rush @ Radio City Music Hall (7/19/2004)→
