Weltwoche July 2023

"It’s one thing to create an excellent three-and-a-half-minute dance-pop song, but another to sustain the appeal over an entire album. Kylie managed it with Fever, Madonna followed suit on Confessions on a Dance Floor. Dannii’s contribution to the genre on Neon Nights is every bit as good as those classics." Neon Nights is the perfect snapshot of the early noughties dance-pop zeitgeist. Propelled by a veritable pick and mix of the European dance production scene, Dannii’s album spawned 4 UK Top Tens smashes and 13 No.1 spots across the UK Dance Charts.

On 21st and 22nd April, 1983, Brian May was joined at Record Plant Recording Studios, Los Angeles, California, U.S.A. by his friends Eddie Van Halen (guitar), Alan Gratzer (drums), Phil Chen (bass), and Fred Mandel (keyboards). The output of the two days’ sessions was captured on a 3-track mini album and released on October 31st, 1983, titled Brian May + Friends: Star Fleet Project. Now celebrating its 40th anniversary, Star Fleet Project will be given the full reissue treatment as part of Brian’s ongoing Gold Series. Brian and his studio team, Justin Shirley-Smith and Kris Fredriksson, have created a completely new 2023 mix of the sessions from the original multi-track master tapes, and the artwork has been completely digitally recreated from the original 1983 source material, to give fans the very best experience at the highest possible quality.

Following the release of Marillion’s June 1987 album, Clutching at Straws, with its darker exploration of excess, alcoholism, and life on the road representing the strains of constant touring, Fish took the decision to depart from the band to pursue a solo career. Fish’s debut solo album, Vigil in a Wilderness of Mirrors, was released in January 1990. Several well-known musicians contributed to the record, including former Dire Straits guitarist Hal Lindes, who played guitar on most tracks and also contributed to the writing of three of the album’s songs. Frank Usher, a Fish companion from pre-Marillion times, also contributed.

Founded in 1979, MARILLION from England are among the most well-known artists in the world. With frontman Fish, the band was able to establish itself as one of the most influential bands of neo-prog, a form of progressive that flourished in the 1980s. This 2 disc set in a beautiful digisleeve contains concert recordings from 1994 (Mexico City) and 1997 (Pittsburgh, USA), broadcast by radio stations.

'Speak Now (Taylor's Version)' is the third re-recorded album by American singer-songwriter Taylor Swift, released on July 7th 2023. It is a re-recording of Swift's third studio album, 'Speak Now' (2010), and follows her 2021 re-recorded albums, 'Fearless (Taylor's Version)' and 'Red (Taylor's Version)'. The re-recording is a part of Swift's counteraction to her 2019 masters dispute. It features collaborations with American rock acts Fall Out Boy and Hayley Williams. The CD includes 22 songs, including 6 previously unreleased songs from the vault.