Lord of The Files

By 1968 there was a growing consensus that something had gone horribly wrong with the American dream. With urban riots, Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, and ever-climbing divorce rates, the American way of life was under scrutiny from all sides. The nation’s youth had loudly made their feelings clear, but now the older, pre-Beatles generations began to look at the country and wonder what the hell was happening.

The Choir of Trinity College, Cambridge, is one of Britain’s great mixed choirs. Under its new director, the mercurial Stephen Layton, it has reached new heights of musical excellence in this latest disc for Hyperion. Accompanied throughout by the Academy of Ancient Music, the choir performs one of Handel’s most florid and dazzling works, the Dettingen Te Deum, which was written to celebrate King George II’s triumphal return from the Battle of Dettingen in 1743. As might be imagined, much of this work is thrillingly bellicose, but some highly cultivated writing shows the composer’s range, expressive versatility and imagination.

The result of the meeting of Michael McCartney (brother of Beatle Paul), who would work as Mike McGear to avoid accusations of coat-tailing, and Post Office engineer John Gorman, the Scaffold took a blend of absurd humor and catchy songs to chart-topping glory throughout the 1960s. Their lineup filled out with Roger McGough and Adrian Henri, the group was briefly known as the Liverpool One Fat Lady All Electric Show, to the horror of everyone around them. Henri soon departed. A change of name later, they were gaining a reputation as one of the most amusing outfits on the scene, with a residency at Peter Cook's Establishment Club (where the Bonzo Dog Doo-Dah Band also held court). The Scaffold's biggest successes were their cheerfully silly singles, starting with "Thank U Very Much" and continuing with "Lily the Pink" (a sterilized adaptation of an old rugby song, featuring Jack Bruce on bass) and the somewhat incomprehensible "Gin Gan Goolie," all of which had a knack for sticking in the mind on endless repeat without causing undue annoyance. These three songs, in particular, are well remembered even as the 1990s draw to a close.

By 1968 there was a growing consensus that something had gone horribly wrong with the American dream. With urban riots, Vietnam, the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy, and ever-climbing divorce rates, the American way of life was under scrutiny from all sides. The nation’s youth had loudly made their feelings clear, but now the older, pre-Beatles generations began to look at the country and wonder what the hell was happening.

The genre of epic, speedy and symphonic power metal has pretty much been dominated by bands like Rhapsody and Skylark up to this point. Labyrinth have also dabbled with the speedy symphonic sound and relative newcomers Fairyland, really surprised us all with the quality of their debut album Of Wars In Osyrhia. Italy’s Kaledon have always been somewhat of a fringe band up until now. Playing the same sort of epic fantasy based speedy, symphonic power metal as bands like Rhapsody and Skylark, Kaledon has finally delivered the kind of album with Legend Of The Forgotten Reign - Chapter III: The Way Of The Light that should propel them into the ranks of some of the best in the genre.

Undisputed kings of symphonic power metal BLIND GUARDIAN have been beavering away at a brand new project, and it is finally here for all to enjoy. But know this, true believers: the new project isn’t the same epic power metal band we know and love. It is, instead, the BLIND GUARDIAN TWILIGHT ORCHESTRA. It’s a whole new thing, and in collaboration with celebrated German fantasy author Markus Heitz, they have brought to light a fantasy tale of epic proportions in the form of Legacy of the Dark Lands…