Skopitone Sisko [69]

German rockers Pink Cream 69 caught the tail-end of the '80s party-metal boom before adopting a more traditional European hard rock/power metal approach that they would cultivate into the next century. Founded in 1987 by vocalist Andi Deris, guitarist Alfred Koffler, drummer Kosta Zafiriou, and bassist Dennis Ward, the band released their eponymous debut long-player in 1989 via Epic. Deris left the group in 1994 to join Helloween, and was replaced by British vocalist David Readman, who made his first appearance on the group's fourth LP, Change. The band became a five-piece in 2003 with the arrival of second guitarist Uwe Reitenauer, who was hired to help out Alfred Koffler, who was struggling with Focal Dystonia, a neurological condition that made playing difficult - Reitenauer made his debut on 2007's In10sity…

As It All Began: The Best of John Mayall & the Bluesbreakers 1964-1968 is an excellent 20-track retrospective, capturing Mayall's band at their peak. The Bluesbreakers went through several different lineups during those four years, with musicians the caliber of Eric Clapton, Mick Taylor, Paul Butterfield, Mick Fleetwood, John McVie, and Peter Green floating through the group. Hardcore fans of any of those musicians, or of British blues, will naturally want to familiarize themselves with the original albums, but As It All Began is a fine sampler for the casual fan, featuring such staples as "Lonely Years," "Bernard Jenkins," "All Your Love," "Parchman Farm," "Double Trouble," "The Death of J.B. Lenoir," and "Miss James." Even at 20 tracks, there are a number of fine moments missing from this collection, but As It All Began remains the best available single-disc overview of the Bluesbreakers' prime period.

Founded in the Finnish capital some 25 years ago, The 69 Eyes spawned a total of ten full-length records and an additional selection of live, best-of and re-mastered albums. With the release of their tenth and most current studio encounter »X« in 2012, vocalist and frontman Jyrki69 observes the bands’ resemblance with one certain masked superhero: “I just saw “The Dark Knight Rises” and realized that The 69 Eyes is like Batman: we always rise and return - our only mission being to save Gotham City and serve its people. Everybody else is gone, nobody does it better & someone's got to do it. So, sunglasses on and here we go again: the Helsinki Vampires are back!”

Released in a cardboard sleeve with German magazine "eclipsed" nr. 210 Mai 2019.