US band Supernal Endgame started out around the year 2000 as a new project for John Ergle and Rob Price, long time collaborators in a number of different bands. The main idea for this specific endeavour was to create a band with a spiritual emphasis, blending symphonic progressive rock with power pop and the pomp rock of the late 70's. As the project evolved Dan Pomeroy got involved, effectively becoming a third member of the band.
Just about half the album draws the main inspirations from acts like Yes and Kansas, clearly and distinctly symphonic in style but perhaps not as sophisticated as the hardcore fans of this genre might like it. Shifting compositions exploring multiple themes is the name of the game for these efforts, but with just as much emphasis on vocals as instruments, the latter at times taking on more of a backdrop…
Career spanning 17 disc (11 CD + six DVD) box set from the British Rock icons. Timeless Flight is a definitive career-spanning Moody Blues box set. The Moody Blues have released 24 albums in a career spanning nearly five decades. They have sold over 50 million albums, earning them eighteen platinum discs and all manner of awards. This set contains 11 remastered CDs featuring key album tracks, previously unreleased mixes, out-takes and complete live concerts, three DVDs of rare television performances from around the world, promotional videos and the previously unreleased live concert from Olympia, Paris in 1970, three DVD audio discs containing the long-deleted 5:1 surround sound mixes…
The album is taken from the Trident Studios 1/4” stereo tapes dated 15th December 1971, which were created for the then-provisional track listing of what would become THE RISE AND FALL OF ZIGGY STARDUST AND THE SPIDERS FROM MARS album. The tracklisting for Waiting In The Sky (Before The Starman Came To Earth) runs differently from the Ziggy Stardust album and features four songs that didn’t make the final album.
After bassist/composer Charles Mingus' death on January 5, 1979, a reunion band featuring some of his former sidemen called Mingus Dynasty was formed. Cut just six months after the bassist's demise, this album was the first Mingus Dynasty recording, and it has its moments. Such alumni as altoist John Handy, trombonist Jimmy Knepper, trumpeter Jimmy Owens, and tenorman Joe Farrell meet up with two members of Mingus' last major band (pianist Don Pullen and drummer Dannie Richmond), plus bassist Charlie Haden, who ably fills in for the late bandleader. In addition to "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" (which was becoming popular at the time), the septet performs three numbers from Mingus' collaboration with Joni Mitchell, plus "Boogie Stop Shuffle" and "My Jelly Roll Soul." Handy and Pullen, in particular, fare well in this spirited setting, although one does miss the innovative bassist.
There has been no shortage of Deep Purple compilations over the years, but unlike some of the British hard rock legends' contemporaries (Sabbath, Zeppelin, etc.), they've managed a fairly consistent stream of output since their 1968 debut. Rhino's A Fire in the Sky, a 40-track career retrospective that includes at least one song from every studio album through 2013's Now What?!, is easily the most comprehensive anthology that the band has released to date – a more manageable, largely singles-oriented 20-track version is also available, as is a triple-vinyl edition. Despite cycling through too many lineup iterations to mention, the band has consistently adhered to the heavy blues-rock foundation that made career highlights like "Hush," "Smoke on the Water," "Highway Star," and "Woman from Tokyo" so essential.
Rick Wakeman spent much of the '80s and '90s recording instrumental albums that veered toward either classical or ambient, so 2003's Out There comes as a bit of a shock: it's an honest to goodness revival of the full-throttle prog rock Wakeman pursued on his solo albums in the '70s. A large part of this is due to his decision to form a full-fledged supporting rock band. Called the New English Rock Ensemble, they're a quintet led by Wakeman and featuring Damian Wilson on vocals, Ant Glynne on guitar, Lee Pomeroy on bass, and Tony Fernandez on drums and percussion. They're a powerful and skilled outfit, able to follow Wakeman's shifting tempos and moods with dexterity without ever losing sight of their forceful rhythmic core, which keeps this rock, not new age.