Let Go” is a new collection of songs written and recorded by multi-instrumentalist Matt Dorsey. Stylistically it stands as a blend of all the artists and bands that influenced him including, Rush, Yes, Genesis, Pink Floyd, XTC, The Police, Peter Gabriel, Steely Dan and more. It can be described as progressive-pop-rock. On it Matt sings and plays guitars, bass, keyboards, percussion and, on two of the songs, the drums. Marco Minnemann provides drums on three tracks and Jonathan Mover on another three. Dave Kerzner performs a keyboard solo that he wrote for one of the songs.
Says Matt, “‘Let Go’ is a collection of songs that cover many aspects of life. I studied philosophy in college and the first song I wrote following my studies was MAN, which is something of a summary of the human condition and a celebration of the mystery and miracle of human existence. Following my college days, I shifted my focus from western to eastern philosophy and you can hear a sense of that influence in the song Echo which expresses a deep connection with all living things. ‘Let Go,’ too, is a reflection of the eastern philosophical tradition expressing a sort of taoist disposition toward the flow of things and a zen-like non-attachment. Waiting for the Fall and Castles Made of Sand are a bit darker, expressing a more existential despair, the one about perpetual failure and the other about the fleeting nature of time. But, to round the album out, Compromise, Dangerous and Impossible Friends are more straight-forward love songs. Life is many things. Art should reflect that. ‘Let Go’ is an album about the philosophy of life.”
The album contains 8 tracks recorded almost entirely at Matt’s home studio in Orange County, except for the drum tracks provided by Minnemann and Mover, and the keyboard solo by Kerzner. The album was mixed by Matt and mastered by Andy VanDette. The album artwork was created by Ed Unitsky.
Best known as a founding member of Sound of Contact, he has also played with Beth Hart, Dave Kerzner, In Continuum, and most recently with the all-star progressive rock cover band ProgJect.
Says Matt, “I hope those who listen to my music actually get something meaningful or useful out of it, even if it’s just the enjoyment of the rhythms and melodies or the tapping of the foot. If one gleans anything more deeply significant, all the better. If I’m honest, I write and play music entirely for the sheer joy of it. I guess that’s a bit selfish to say. That said, I know there is power in music, to be sure, and it can move people in very potent ways. I feel privileged to be a part of that. I guess to sum it up my message is simply, life is extraordinary and we would do well to look longer and more carefully at it.”
Track List:
1. Castles Made of Sand 2. Compromise 3. Waiting for the Fall 4. Man 5. Impossible Friends 6. Echo 7. Let Go 8. Dangerous
Arjen Lucassen’s Supersonic Revolution will release their spectacular debut album Golden Age of Music on May 19 via Music Theories Recording/Mascot Label Group.
You can watch the lyric video for “SR Prelude & The Glamattack”
You think you know Arjen Lucassen? Towering Dutch prog rock polymath? The man behind the super successful prog rock conceptualists Ayreon? Not to mention his prog metal of Star One and Guilt Machine? Enormous overarching concept albums about space and time, packed to the hilt with special guests that read like a who’s who of modern day progressive rock? Arjen Lucassen? Well, think again…
Supersonic Revolution, the band behind ‘Golden Age Of Music’, are simply five men: Arjen on bass, long-standing keyboard player Joost van den Broek, guitarist Timo Somers, drummer Koen Herfst and singer Jaycee. Five men rocking out and having one hell of a time doing it.
The whole project grew from a request to provide a track for a cover CD for the German music magazine Eclipsed. “They asked if I had any cover versions lying around,” he recalls. “I said, ‘No but I’ll happily record one for you.’ So, they gave me a list of bands and I saw a ZZ Top song ‘I Heard It On The X’ that I really like. I said I could record it for them, but then they told me it had to be ready in one week…”
“I was like ‘Oh my god!’. I contacted my favorite musicians in Holland via WhatsApp and literally within 30 minutes I had assembled five people. A band basically. From there the seed was sown in Lucassen’s mind. ‘I want to form a band. And I want to simply have fun!’.
“I’m a perfectionist as you know, so I’m always sending musicians their parts back and asking them to change stuff,” he acknowledges. “But this was all brilliant. We were having fun, calling and WhatsApping all the time, and within a week we had a complete product.” He continues, “Also I wanted to have an up-beat, positive project.”
“I was like, let’s form a band and let’s write songs in the style of the 70s, and have the lyrics be a celebration of all the memorable things from that time, because those were my formative years,” he enthuses. “But I didn’t want it to sound like the 70s because that’s already been done, and I can’t do it any better than ‘Stargazer’ or ‘Kashmir’.”
“The guys are all younger than me – around 30 – so they weren’t even alive yet in the 70s. So, it was a great way for me to make 70s music with lots of Hammond and blistering guitars, but to update it to this time.”
The end result is 11 tracks of high energy, progressively inclined heavy rock that swings with the kind of groove Deep Purple rocked with in the early to mid-1970s. “This album is not a typical prog album. It’s not Yes or Genesis. But it’s not a metal album either. There’s a track called ‘Burn it Down’,” Lucassen notes, “it’s totally based on ‘Smoke On The Water’ but written from the perspective of the ‘stupid with a flare gun’ mentioned in the original lyrics.
The album also features covers of some legendary songs given the Arjen Lucassen treatment as bonus tracks: T-Rex’s ‘Children of the Revolution,’ ZZ Top’s ‘Heard It On The X,’ Earth Wind and Fire’s ‘Fantasy’ and Roger Glover’s ‘Love Is All.’
That, ladies and gentlemen, is the real Arjen Lucassen. Job done. Having fun.
01 SR Prelude 02 The Glamattack 03 Golden Age Of Music 04 The Rise Of The Starman 05 Burn It Down 06 Odyssey 07 They Took Us By Storm 08 Golden Boy 09 Holy Holy Ground 10 Fight Of The Century 11 Came To Mock, Stayed To Rock 12 Children Of The Revolution (Bonus Track) 13 Heard It On The X (Bonus Track) 14 Fantasy (Bonus Track) 15 Love Is All (Bonus Track)
The album will be available on various formats; 2LP Transparent Blue, 2LP Pink Marble, 2LP Purple Marble, 2LP Yellow Marble, CD, Digitally and Artbook. You can pre-order it from here: https://lnk.to/SupersonicRevolution
TRANSATLANTIC – the Prog Supergroup of Neal Morse, Mike Portnoy, Roine Stolt & Pete Trewavas – are set to release the new concert set ‘The Final Flight: Live At L’Olympia’ on Friday, February 17th, 2023. It was recorded and filmed in France on the last stop of a tour to promote the band’s fifth and most audacious album to date, ‘The Absolute Universe’. This was the multinational group’s first outing in eight years.
Watch the live clip for ‘We All Need Some Light’, originally featured on the bands debut album, here:
Watch the band performing ‘Owl Howl’, a highlight from ‘The Absolute Universe’ album, here: https://youtu.be/7kHEtZNPtsQ
Released in February 2021 to unanimous praise, ‘The Absolute Universe’ came in two alternate formats; an abridged 64-minute record known as ‘The Breath Of Life’, and a companion piece entitled ‘Forevermore’ that added a further four songs, clocking in at an hour and a half. Though the foundations of both were shared, each format featured lyrics and music independent of the other.
However, when Transatlantic finally hit the road they opted to perform a third format of the album, a full-bells-and-whistles, 96-minute Blu-ray culmination of both takes known as ‘The Ultimate Edition’ that had been released in 5.1 surround sound. Following that segment of the show Transatlantic took a short intermission and returned to the stage for a rollercoaster trawl through the remainder of their lavish catalogue. From the first note of ‘Overture (The Absolute Universe)’ through to the medley based around the first two Transatlantic albums that closes the evening, the performance comprised 3 hours of music in total.
“Ever since the start of this band we have played for three hours, so that’s something we’re all used to,” states drummer Mike Portnoy, who grins whilst describing his own experience as “butt-numbing”. However, Roine Stolt is ready to admit that this time felt very slightly different.
“It was a great tour,” acknowledges the guitarist and multi-musician, “but when you include our spot at Morsefest [where besides performing ‘The Absolute Universe’ the band also revisited their 2009 album ‘The Whirlwind’ and revised a cover of Procol Harum’s ‘In Held (’Twas) In I’ that had featured on their debut from 2000, ‘SMPTe’] I felt the challenge of learning, or re-learning, three-and-a-half hours of music before leaving Sweden. Now that I am getting slightly older, I was a little worried about playing for that long – it requires a lot of concentration: ‘Is this one in 7/8 or 9/8? Maybe we’ll play it in 13/8 and in a different key?’ But of course, once we got out there onto the stage, those thoughts went straight out of the window.”
With a chuckle, vocalist and keyboard wizard Neal Morse reveals that as the tour found its feet Transatlantic threw an additional curveball. “We started playing songs slightly differently to the way you’ve heard them on ‘The Ultimate Edition”, he grins. “So what you get with this live album is similar, but essentially it’s a fourth version [of the record]. When you play live, from night to night it helps to keep things fresh by jamming a bit and changing things up as you go. There are a few examples of that, for instance, the beginning of the last section that starts with ‘Belong’ is quite different than the record – partly because we couldn’t remember it! So we made up a new structure.”
“We’re always as well prepared as we can be but in a way Transatlantic is kind of a show band” points out bassist Pete Trewavas. “Playing alongside Mike who is a powerhouse on the drums, there is this raw power. If he wants to raise the energy that’s what we do. We’re all taking solos here and there, though we get the songs across we’re all showing off as much as we can”.
Filmed by Paul Green (who also shot their ‘Whirld Tour 2010: Live in London release), and mixed by longtime collaborator Rich Mouser, this set will be available as a Special Edition 3CD+Blu-ray Digipak (incl. 5.1 surround sound) & as a Gatefold 180g 4LP release. Both feature artwork by Thomas Ewerhard & photos by Nidhal Marzouk.
1. The Absolute Universe Intro 2. Overture 3. Reaching For The Sky 4. Higher Than The Morning 5. The Darkness In The Light 6. Take Now My Soul 7. Bully 8. Rainbow Sky 9. Looking For The Light 10. The World We Used To Know 11. MP Intro 12. The Sun Comes Up Today 13. Love Made A Way (Prelude) 14. Owl Howl 15. Solitude 16. Belong 17. Lonesome Rebel 18. Can You Feel It 19. Looking For The Light (Reprise) 20. The Greatest Story Never Ends 21. Love Made A Way 22. The Whirlwind Suite 23. NM & RS Intro 24. We All Need Some Light 25. The Final Medley
Line-Up (on this recording): Neal Morse – Keyboards, Acoustic Guitar & Vocals Mike Portnoy – Drums & Vocals Roine Stolt – Guitar & Vocals Pete Trewavas – Bass & Vocals
With:
Ted Leonard – Guitar, Keyboards, Percussion & Vocals
We’re living the most surreal, creepy and tragic years of modern era history.
This album tries to translate in words and music the sensations, the emotions and our sense of loss of these strange days. MMXX is the latin notation for 2020, the year that changed our lives forever. MMXXII stands for 2022, and our sense of loss gets worse and worse.
MMXX was recorded in two years. It was a great challenge because of its structure and its complex arrangement including a rock band and a choir, merging several styles together. – Dario Lastella
Written and produced by Dario Lastella, except MMXXII (music by Lastella – Mesina – Giugliano)
Arranged and performed by ifsounds Mastered by Steve Kitch – audiomaster.co.uk
MMXX Sessions
Lino Giugliano – piano, organ, synth and keyboards Dario Lastella – guitars, bass guitar, synth and vocals Lino Mesina – drums Italo Miscione – bass guitar Runal – lead vocals Ilaria Carlucci – lead and backing vocals
Guest Musicians: Claudio Lapenna – vocals on MMXX and piano on Kandinsky’s Sky Nadezhda Chalykh – vocals on MMXX Mariano Gramegna – vocals on MMXX Giovanni Liberatore – vocals on MMXX
Sleeve design by Laura Meffe
Release Date: Spring 2023 Catalog No. MRRCD 22220 Label: Melodic Revolution Records Format: CD, Digital and Streaming Barcode: – 198015284826
Introduction of ifsounds
Dario Lastella is the guitarist, producer and the main songwriter of ifsounds. He founded the band in the 90s and has led the band since then.
Runal is the lead vocalist of ifsounds since 2013. He provides strong rock and blues vocals to the band’s progressive rock music.
Lino Mesina is a talented drummer. He joined ifsounds in 2015 and he is one of the main driving forces of the band.
Lino Giugliano is a pianist, keyboard player and composer. He joined ifsounds for live performances after the An Gorta Mór album, and as a full time member of the band for MMXX album.
Italo Miscione is an experienced bass player well known in the musical scene of Abruzzo. He joined ifsounds for the MMXX album.
Ilaria Carlucci is a talented vocalist, pianist and music teacher. She provided excellent vocals for the MMXX album.
The mad man is the happiest one but he frightens the right-minded world”
ifsounds are the images of our dreams and our nightmares. Music is just the shape we give to our stories, our hopes and our fears.
The ifsounds project brings together the talents of a group of musicians, all very different from each other, whose idea is to create a sound that is able to express an emotion, to describe a state of mind, to recount a story, to make a journey into the realms of inner consciousness.
The aim of ifsounds is to reproduce not only the world around us, but above all the world inside us, because each of us is the author of his own reality and his own existence.
**LIMITED EDITION POSTCARDS AVAILABLE WITH PRE-ORDERS WHILE STOCKS LAST!**
• A DELUXE LIMITED EDITION BOXED SET OF THE CLASSIC ALBUM BY THE ALAN PARSONS PROJECT.
• THREE CDs AND ONE BLU-RAY DISC (REGION FREE), REMASTERED AND REMIXED FROM THE ORIGINAL MASTER TAPES BY ALAN PARSONS.
• FEATURING AN ADDITIONAL 42 BONUS TRACKS DRAWN FROM ERIC WOOLFSON’S SONGWRITING DIARIES, STUDIO SESSION OUT-TAKES AND A STUNNING NEW 5.1 SURROUND SOUND FROM THE ORIGINAL MULTI-TRACK MASTER TAPES BY ALAN PARSONS AND FOUR PROMOTIONAL VIDEOS.
• INCLUDES A LAVISHLY ILLUSTRATED BOOK WITH NEW ESSAY AND A REPLICA POSTER.
First released in November 1980, “The Turn Of A Friendly Card” was the fifth album by The Alan Parsons Project, the brainchild of composer, musician and manager Eric Woolfson and celebrated producer and engineer Alan Parsons.
Inspired by the period in which both Eric Woolfson and Alan Parsons had resided in Monte Carlo, this legendary album was recorded in Paris. The album sessions featured the contribution of musicians such as Ian Bairnson (guitars), David Paton (bass), Stuart Elliott (drums) with Eric Woolfson playing keyboards and providing lead vocals, along with Elmer Gantry, Chris Rainbow and Lenny Zakatek. “The Turn Of A Friendly Card” would become one of the biggest selling albums for The Alan Parsons Project, attaining gold status in many European countries and the USA. The album featured such classic compositions as “Games People Play,” “Time,” “The Gold Bug” and “The Turn Of A Friendly” suite which dominated the album’s second side.
This new deluxe edition comprises 3CDs and a Blu-Ray disc (Region Free) with an additional 42 tracks drawn from Eric Woolfson’s song-writing diaries, studio session out-takes and a stunning new 5.1 surround sound mix by Alan Parsons and a high resolution remastered original stereo mix, along with the promotional videos of “Games People Play,” “The Gold Bug” and “The Turn Of A Friendly Card” plus a promotional television advertisement. This stunning set also features a lavish illustrated book with a new essay with photos, memorabilia and features recollections from Alan Parsons and Sally Woolfson. It also includes a reproduction poster.
DISC ONE
THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD’ REMASTERED
1 MAY BE A PRICE TO PAY
2 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
3 TIME
4 I DON’T WANNA GO HOME
5 THE GOLD BUG
6 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (PART ONE)
7 SNAKE EYES
8 THE ACE OF SWORDS
9 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE
10 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (PART TWO)
BONUS TRACKS
11 MAY BE A PRICE TO PAY (INTRO DEMO)
12 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE (BASIC BACKING TRACK)
13 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE (CHRIS RAINBOW OVERDUB VOCAL COMPILATION)
14 TIME (EARLY STUDIO ATTEMPT)
15 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY (ROUGH MIX)
16 THE GOLD BUG (DEMO)
DISC TWO
ERIC WOOLFSON’S SONGWRITING DIARIES
1 MAY BE A PRICE TO PAY
2 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY
3 TIME
4 I DON’T WANNA GO HOME
5 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD
6 SNAKE EYES
7 NOTHING LEFT TO LOSE
8 TOFC / SNAKE EYES / I DON’T WANNA GO HOME
9 LA LA LA LAH
10 NEXT YEAR
11 SOMEONE ELSE
12 TAKING IT ALL AWAY
13 TO THOSE OF YOU OUT THERE
DISC THREE
RECORDING SESSIONS BONUS TRACKS
1 MAY BE A PRICE TO PAY (EARLY VERSION – ERIC GUIDE VOCAL AND UNUSED GUITAR SOLO)
2 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY (EARLY VERSION – ERIC GUIDE VOCAL)
3 TIME (ORCHESTRA AND CHRIS RAINBOW BACKING VOCALS)
4 THE GOLD BUG (EARLY REFERENCE VERSION)
5 THE GOLD BUG (CHRIS RAINBOW BACKING VOCALS)
6 THE GOLD BUG (CLAVINET WITH NO DELAY)
7 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD – Part One (EARLY BACKING TRACK)
8 SNAKE EYES (EARLY VERSION – ERIC GUIDE VOCAL)
9 THE ACE OF SWORDS (EARLY VERSION WITH SYNTH ORCHESTRATION)
10 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD – Part Two (ERIC GUIDE VOCAL AND EXTENDED GUITAR SOLO)
SINGLE EDITS
11 GAMES PEOPLE PLAY (SINGLE EDIT)
12 THE TURN OF A FRIENDLY CARD (SINGLE EDIT)
13 SNAKE EYES (SINGLE EDIT)
DISC FOUR – BLU RAY
5.1 SURROUND SOUND MIX (2019) AND HIGH- RESOLUTION ORIGINAL STEREO MIX BY ALAN PARSONS
Writer, producer, raconteur, comedian, singer-songwriter, fashion icon and renown hand-model Jason Bieler and the Baron Von Bielski Orchestra has returned once again with Postcards From The Asylum, the follow up to 2021’s critically acclaimed Songs For The Apocalypse.
The Baron Von Bielski Orchestra’s music has been described as Nordic Ambient Post-Classical Satanic Love Songs for Nomadic Peoples Living Above the Arctic Circle catering specifically for those who staff Musk Oxen Rescues and wear hemp based sweaters.
When aggressively prodded for comment The Baron says…“Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water. And east is east and west is west and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now you tell me what you know.”
Postcards From The Asylum features a guest appearances by: •Andee Blacksugar: Blondie, KMFDM, Peter Murphy •Marco Minnemann: The Aristocrats •Todd “Dammit” Kerns: Slash & The Conspirators, Toque •Edu Cominato: Geoff Tate, Soto •Ryo Okumoto: Spock’s Beard, Progject and more
Tracklisting: 1. Bombay 2. Numb 3. Heathens 4. Mexico 5. Birds Of Prey 6. Flying Monkeys 7. Sic Riff 8. The Depths 9. Beneath The Waves 10. Sweet Eliza 11. 9981 Dark 12. Feels Just Like Love 13. Bear Sedatives 14. Deep Blue 15. Human Head
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