War

Swedish rock legends Europe released their 10th album, War of Kings, in March 2015. Recorded at the brand new PanGaia Studios in Stockholm, Sweden, produced by Dave Cobb (Rival Sons) and engineered by John Netti, War of Kings sees the classic rocking quintet confidently creating 11 monsterously melodic, yet hard-hitting, classic rock’n’roll standouts for their fervent global audience. War of Kings will be available in multiple formats, as a CD digipak, a CD jewel case, a vinyl LP and in digital download format. The album will be released in the UK on March 2nd, Japan on March 4th (via JVC), the EU on March 6th and the US on March 10th.

Gods of War Live is the third live album by heavy metal band Manowar. It was recorded in 2007 during the band's tour promoting the Gods of War album.

Mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato has gained a strong following with novel, even fearless programs, flawlessly executed. The stimulus for In War & Peace was extramusical: DiDonato temporarily shelved a different project in the wake of the terrorist attack at the Bataclan concert hall in Paris. The concept is ambitious: the booklet includes quotes about finding peace from figures as varied as Patrick Stewart, Riccardo Muti, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, and an inmate at New York's Sing Sing prison. Does it directly connect with DiDonato's program of Baroque arias? Listeners will have to decide for themselves, but the good news is that the program stands on its own.

The album that broke America; that stated a political manifesto; that toured to sell-out crowds worldwide and formed the creative synergy that informs their almighty shows to this day, War was the beginning (or fruition?) of so much for a young band on the cusp of monumental success.
This film takes you to the very heart of War. With the help of immaculately researched archival performance and interview footage, War is here deconstructed and analysed by a dedicated team of critics and insiders.

"War Child"'s achievement is in its music: some of the richest in recent memory, the arrangements are consistently stunning in their execution, courting excess but impossibly balanced by admirable dexterity. Also, I'd be remiss if I didn't mention that "Skating On The Thin Ice of The New Day" is one of my favorite songs (a musical epiphany, if you will).

On last November's Record Store Day Black Friday event, Rhino revisited WAR's 1972 classic The World Is a Ghetto for its 50th anniversary on five newly-remastered 140-gram LPs; a four-channel surround Quadio release followed on Blu-ray. The hard-hitting, socially-conscious soul-jazz-funk-blues-rock-psychedelia best-seller was the California band's fifth album and third following the departure of vocalist Eric Burdon of The Animals. On July 19, the landmark 5LP box featuring previously unreleased session tracks and "making of" montages will be released on 4 CDs and digitally.

This is another great, but completely underrated album by obscure UK rock band (from Liverpool) which wasn't issued in their homeland (in contrast to some of their singles). The same fate met the other British groups from early 70's like Light Of Darkness, Diabolus, lronbridge or Grail. This LP was recorded in London and released in 1971 in USA (by Cadet Concept) and in Italy (by Music Records). The highlight is very moving anti-war anthem ‘Six Days War‘ and the beautiful progressive ballad Lord High Human Being. This fascinating, quasi-progressive and very melodic album contained an eclectic mix of styles, ranging from atmospheric psychedelia, through guitar based soft-progressive to folky ballads - not far away from late 60's The Beatles combined with early 70's The Strawbs and The Moody Blues.

War Paint falls somewhere between the excellent Watch Me and the drastically uneven Trainwreck of Emotion, War Paint finds Lorrie Morgan making a tentative comeback after Trainwreck. Morgan still sings beautifully, but her clean contemporary country arrangemnts are as predictable as her material. The three hit singles - "My Night to Howl," "War Paint," "If You Came Back from Heaven" - hold up really well, but the rest of the album is a little too familiar for comfort.