2025 – Page 21

Cutting Crew

Town Hall, Selby Friday 14th February 2025 It might be hard for me to believe that I am old enough, but I remember the Cutting Crew when they had their all too brief moment in the spotlight. Their 15 minutes…

Random Earth Project – Changes

Back in April 2023 I gave a qualified thumbs up to Random Earth Project’s debut release Airwaves. I felt at the time that if the band could channel its energy into playing to its strengths, then the they would have…

Chris Thompson – The Final Round: Live

I have always been a fan of Chris Thompson. His powerful, raw, emotional and extremely characteristic voice has brought many a Manfred Mann Earth Band (MMEB) album to a hit status. The band, led by the eccentric South African keyboardist…

Blue Öyster Cult – 50th Anniversary Live: Third Night

The final instalment of Blue Öyster Cult’s September 2022 three night stand at Sony Hall in New York City has arrived, featuring the third album from the band’s long career, Secret Treaties. This is the album that found the band…

Gleb Kolyadin – Mobula

Mobula is a fine companion piece to Gleb Kolyadin’s last album The Outland, from 2022. It’s another instrumental album and there is the familiarity of his busy, rhythmic style of playing but this time he presents his ideas in a…

Jan Akkerman – My Focus

The Fire Station, Sunderland Saturday, 8th February 2025 Just because Jan Akkerman might not leap to the mind when thinking about the best guitarists on the planet, that doesn’t mean that his skill and pure talent is any less spectacular.…

Phil Collins – No Jacket Required

As a lifelong Phil Collins and Genesis fan, when it comes to reviewing an album that is coming up to its 40th anniversary there is a lot of emotional bias which I recognise and realise that I must approach this…

Dream Theater – Parasomnia

You go on a date. On paper, they look great and have all the qualities you’d expect of a potential match. You meet the person and they’re fun, friendly and feel very familiar. Too familiar. They remind you of an…

Various Artists – Dearly Beloved: A Prince Songbook (3CD Digipak)

Dearly Beloved: A Prince Songbook, a compilation of Prince covers by a wide variety of artists, proves two things. First, Prince Rogers Nelson was a musical genius (but you already knew that). Second, he was also an underachiever of sorts.…

Das Rad – Funfair

Keeping alive the flame of mostly improvised music in the fields of jazz and rock, up there in Sheffield is one Martin Archer, and his label Discus Music. There is a conglomerate of like-minded radical musicians in the locality who…

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Year: 2025