Those looking for blues, R&B, rootsy rock & roll, gospel-tinged ballads, loungy supper club jazz, and boogie-woogie piano pounding all led by an instantly recognizable powerhouse voice infused with gritty soul will rejoice with Marcia Ball. Although this is only her sixth album since her career shifted into high gear with 1984's Soulful Dress, Ball hits all those bases and more on her debut for Alligator. She's as comfortable with heart-wrenching lost-love songs like this album's touching "Let the Tears Roll Down" as with loose-limbed swampy piano/accordion-powered rockers such as "Louella." Her show-stopping piano virtuosity takes a back seat for the majority of this release, as Ball turns up the tough R&B heat on a cover of "Fly on the Wall" with guests Sonny Landreth on slide guitar and backing singers right out of Aretha Franklin's '60s heyday. Horns also play a large part, underpinning the Bobby "Blue" Bland-styled Crescent City soul-blues and rolling Fats Domino piano of Don Covay's "I'm Coming Down With the Blues."
Ben Harper & the Innocent Criminals entered Gang Studio in Paris in November of 2006, immediately after finishing a nine-month world tour that ended with eight weeks in Europe. They loaded in their gear, rehearsed, and recorded directly to analog tape - i.e., without the aid of computers or Pro Tools - and mixed in seven days. The result is a deeply focused, loose, and laid-back record that is musically compelling and deeply soulful, and contains some of Harper's finest songs to date. At this time, the Innocent Criminals are drummer Oliver Charles, percussionist Leon Mobley, Juan Nelson on bass, guitarist Michael Ward, and Jason Yates plays keyboards, with a pair of backing vocalists, Michelle Haynes and Rovleta Fraser. Clocking in at just over 40 minutes, this is a brief record for Harper, but it serves him well. The music is a seamless meld of soulful folk, gospel, countryish rock, and blues…
Double CD of unreleased alternative versions and different mixes of Daevid's first solo album - Banana Moon. Daevid Allen was one of the founders of the British progressive rock band the Soft Machine in 1966. After recording just one album with the group, he became the founder/leader of Gong, which he left in 1973 to begin a solo career (though his first solo album, Banana Moon, was released in 1971 while he was still in the group). Allen explored his quirky, folky take on rock throughout the '70s and '80s on albums like 1976's Good Morning and 1983's Alien in New York. His solo work also included collaborations with underground rock impresario Kramer like 1993's Who's Afraid? and 1996's Hit Men, which was released on Kramer's Shimmy Disc label.
For this Pablo album, the great tenor Zoot Sims (who doubles on soprano) interprets five pretty melodies plus his own "Pomme Au Four" with a quartet comprised of pianist Richard Wyands, bassist Frank Tate and drummer Akira Tana…
Originally issued in 1982, Born Innocent was the debut full-length release from Redd Kross, a band of suburban L.A. youth fronted by brothers Jeff (guitar, vocals) and Steve McDonald (bass). Aged 18 and 14, respectively, the aspiring punks are aided and abetted here by rhythm guitarist Tracy Lee and drummers Janet Housden and John Stielow as they attack these 16 songs with all the patience of over-stimulated teens and all the subtlety of a slasher flick…
After reaching an international level of success with Demons and Wizards, Uriah Heep continued to build their fan base by knocking out another album of prog-like metal before the year's end. The end result, The Magician's Birthday, is not as consistent or cohesive as Demons and Wizards but still offers plenty of highlights…
Innocent Eyes is a compilation album by Australian singer-songwriter Delta Goodrem, released only in Japan on 11 October 2006 through Sony Music Japan. The album comprises songs from her first two studio albums, Innocent Eyes and Mistaken Identity, as well as two new songs: "Never Fades Away" and "Flawed", which was released as a single. Delta Lea Goodrem is an Australian singer-songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Sydney, New South Wales, she enrolled in dancing, acting, singing and piano classes at a young age. She began her career as a child actress, starring in various television shows and rose to prominence in 2002 in the Australian soap opera Neighbours as Nina Tucker.
The hard-hitting, melodic heavy metal band Alcatrazz will once again throw down a studio gauntlet on July 31st 2020 with Born Innocent, their first studio venture since 1986’s Dangerous Game. Alongside the unique vocal prowess and range of star frontman and founding member Graham Bonnet, Born Innocent also features fellow founding members Jimmy Waldo and Gary Shea. And from the classic album art, featuring the mighty rock itself, Born Innocent is a journey into the sort of heavy, melodic and supremely articulated hard rock that is a cornerstone of the likes of Rainbow and the Michael Schenker Group, territory Alcatrazz successfully strode in the ‘80s before going on hiatus.