Finally bored with ambient music, a genre he pioneered in the 1970s, pop polymath Brian Eno emerged with Another Day on Earth, his first solo recording of "conventional" songs since Another Green World. From the rhythm track of opening song "This," the sound is unmistakable. A quirky hook covered in layers of atmosphere and a bouncy loop, it's a smart little tune with additional guitars by Leo Abrahams. Lyrically, Eno's process is poetic, employing not only his own strategies, but a computer generating words as well…
One of England's top session vocalists, Lesley Duncan sang on recordings by Elton John, the Dave Clark Five, Pink Floyd, the Alan Parsons Project, Michael Chapman, and Joyce Everson and the soundtrack of Jesus Christ Superstar. Her songs have been covered by Elton John, Olivia Newton-John, and Long John Baldry.
Arista dropped them but the Church soldiered on – Tim Powles fully joined in the songwriting process a number of times, while Peter Koppes guested on various cuts after his absence from Sometime Anywhere. Violinist Linda Neil also appeared along with other guests from that record, with Magician Among the Spirits being the attractive end result. If the band was still a touch fragmented, Magician shows them well on the road to becoming a fully tight unit once again, with a number of interesting diversions along the way. Sonically, things followed in the vein of Sometime to a large extent, trying out different approaches and backing, often exploring more spacious, sometimes very late-night, relaxed arrangements.
Jethro Tull‘s 1968 debut album, This Was, will be reissued as a 3CD+DVD deluxe edition in November with stereo and surround mixes by Steven Wilson and rare recordings.
The companion release to the quiet-moments compilation TENDER, Wishbone Ash collection TOUGH represents the more hard-rocking side of this stalwart British band. Wishbone Ash made their name in the 1970s with their dueling guitars and epic tunes, but TOUGH features a number of latter-day selections from the long-lived band, proving that as the decades went on, they managed to retain that hard-rock bite that had always endeared them to their legions of fans.