Camel's Coming of Age DVD begins with a fly on the wall style mini documentary showing the band in rare form rehearsing for a show. They discuss various chord structures and movements to get that distinct Camel sound and they play full pieces effortlessly. It is a wonderful start to this fabulous DVD. The sound check follows which is basically the band preparing prior to a show on a stage with an empty auditorium…
Rebounding from the breakup record of 2008's Flavors of Entanglement, Alanis Morissette is in a sunny mood on Havoc and Bright Lights, her first album in four years and first she's released since leaving her longtime home at Maverick Records…
Christopher Cross' debut was a huge hit and widely acclaimed, at least among industry professionals (critics didn't give it a second listen), leading to multi-platinum success and Grammys. In retrospect, it might seem like the kind of success that's disproportional to the record itself, especially to hipper-than-thou younger generations, but in truth, Christopher Cross was a hell of a record – it just was a hell of a soft rock record, something that doesn't carry a lot of weight among most audiences. That doesn't erase Cross' considerable gifts as a craftsman. Yes, he does favor sentimentality and can be very sweet on the ballads, but his melodicism is rich and construction tight, so there's a sturdy foundation for the classy professional gloss provided by his studio pros and friends, including indelible backing vocals by Michael McDonald. And while the hits like the dreamy "Sailing" and the surging "Ride Like the Wind" deserved all the attention, they're hardly the only highlights here – to borrow a sports metaphor, this has a deep bench, and there's not a weak moment here. In fact, soft rock albums hardly ever came better than this, and it remains one of the best mainstream albums of its time.
Warm Winter is an epic Art Rock album by Tim Bowness (No-Man) and Giancarlo Erra (Nosound). While occasionally drawing on the atmospheric nature of their main bands, MoM carves out a unique space for itself with an emphasis placed on direct songwriting and powerful instrumental arrangements as much as on mood.
Warm Winter includes stellar guest contributions from the likes of Peter Hammill (Van Der Graaf Generator), Colin Edwin (Porcupine Tree), Robert Fripp (King Crimson), Steven Wilson (Porcupine Tree), Julianne Regan (All About Eve), Jim Matheos (OSI/Fates Warning) and Ricard Huxflux Nettermalm (Paatos)…