Collage (1971) is the real "first" Le Orme LP, after two previous albums of beat music. It is also the first album to feature the trio's progressive rock sound, albeit in an embryonic stage. As such, it is a mixed bag. On the one hand you get pompous, excessive keyboard workouts that owe a lot to the Nice ("Collage," "Sguardo Verso Il Cielo"), down to orchestral arrangements. On the other hand, you also get songs like "Era Inverno" and "Morte di un Fiore," both typical Italian prog songs (with acoustic guitar), both heralding what will become Le Orme's classic sound. "Evasione Totale" takes things deeper into experimental territory (ELP-style), with improvised passages and more arcane developments…
Ward One: Along the Way is the debut solo album from Black Sabbath drummer Bill Ward. Originally released January 10, 1990, and features a wide array of guest musicians, including then-former Black Sabbath band member Ozzy Osbourne.
Classy West coast AOR. Lush keys and fantastic guitars highlight this awesomely played album where the combination of producer/songwriter Clif Magness, guitar player Jay Graydon and keyboardis/producer Glen Ballard brings us a wonderful collection of songs. All songs are written by the creative songwriters – two time Grammy winner and 12 times nominated Los Angeles top songwriter, recording artist, guitarist, producer, arranger, engineer, and more – Jay Graydon, and his band partners Clif Magness and Glen Ballard.
This gargantuan package – a ten-LP set now compressed into a chunky six-CD box – once was derided as the ultimate ego trip, probably by many who didn't take the time to hear it all. You have to go back to Art Tatum's solo records for Norman Granz in the '50s to find another large single outpouring of solo jazz piano like this, all of it improvised on the wing before five Japanese audiences in Kyoto, Osaka, Nagoya, Tokyo, and Sapporo. Yet the miracle is how consistently good much of this giant box is.
This episode opens with a dramatic account of the turning point of war: the Battle of Gettysburg, the greatest ever fought in the Western Hemisphere. For three days 150,000 men will fight to the death in the Pennsylvania countryside, culminating in Pickett's legendary charge. This extended episode then goes on to chronicle the fall of Vicksburg, the New York draft riots, the first use of black troops, and the western battles at Chickamauga, Georgia and Chattanooga, Tennessee. The episode closes with the dedication of a new Union cemetery at Gettysburg in November, where Abraham Lincoln struggles to put into words what is happening to his people.
BLOODLETTING was the album where Concrete Blonde launched into the mainstream, without losing their conscience and true center. Underrated vocalist/bassist Johnette Napolitano's descending chromatic bass line that opens "Bloodletting (The Vampire Song)" is a sinister backdrop to lyrics that pay tribute to the urban legends of New Orleans. The blistering "The Sky Is A Poisonous Garden" keeps the Blonde's punky roots intact while "Caroline" speaks to heart-wrenching emotions…
Friday the 13th: The Series is an American-Canadian horror television series that ran for three seasons, from October 3, 1987 to May 26, 1990 in first-run syndication. The series follows Micki and Ryan, owners of an antiques store, and their assistant, Jack Marshak, as they try to recover cursed antiques, to put them into safety in the store's vault.