Print World Asia From January 2014

With its dark, mystical and obsessive sound, Black Sabbath built a unique brand that has influenced countless groups since its inception in the late 60s until today. As usual in our series The Many Faces, we will take you into the fantastic and great world of Black Sabbath. We will revisit his forgotten collaborations, its best songs and the artists (and even music styles) that the band have influenced.
We started with Disc 1, entitled "The Players (and more)" that features musicians who have been part the band. To begin with, who else than Tony Iommi, the founding guitarist and the only member who has been in all the band s formations…

"Alpha" is the second album by the "supergroup", and once again comprises entirely of shorter, more commercially orientated songs than those of the members' previous groups. The album is very much a follow on from the band's debut album, but benefits from the famous four knowing each other that bit better, and thus working more cohesively together…

Released in 1985, Astra is Asia's third studio album and first without guitarist Steve Howe. While somewhat unfairly regarded in comparison to Asia's first two albums, Astra is nonetheless a solid prog rock outing that finds bassist/vocalist John Wetton, keyboardist Geoff Downes, drummer Carl Palmer, and replacement guitarist, Krokus' Mandy Meyer, delivering a set of melodic and driving rock anthems…

Roots band Birds of Chicago formed in 2012 as a collaboration between Chicago's JT Nero (JT & the Clouds) and Vancouver's Allison Russell (Po' Girl). Although both singer/songwriters were actively leading their own projects, their combined efforts were convincing enough to make a go of it and they set about recording their debut. Though a talented songwriter in her own right, a big part of the Birds of Chicago sound came from the material Nero had written specifically for Russell to interpret, and it was their combined voices that won over fans on 2012's self-titled Birds of Chicago LP.