In their forty-three year (!) recording career, it isn’t unfair to say UK rock stalwarts Def Leppard are known for a pretty steady formula and approach of, in the main, pristine, polished hard rock songs, centred in an eighties sheen. Most of us could recognise a Def Leppard-style song without too much difficulty, and they aren’t (a few deviations – RetroActive, Slang, Taylor Swift, and Ghostly interactions – aside) known for their musical risk-taking or surprises.
Spring time on planet Earth. Flowers are blooming. The weather is heating up. New music is dropping. But what, dear readers, should you be blasting from your 8-tracks this season? Oh, you don’t have an 8-track? Well, never fear, Verdena shall provide you with an 8-track worthy tome in Volegio Magia (Capital Records Italy / Universal Music).
Crown Lands claim the crown with this truly fearless album. Which crown? The crown of the New Kings of Progressive Rock. This virtuoso, exciting and engaging Canadian duo – guitarist/bassist/keys player Kevin Comeau and singer/drummer Cody Bowles – have delivered a record that, if you hold any prog in your soul, will leave you smiling from sated ear to sated ear. It’s also a record full of ideas, that will make you think, that fulfills its promise, and is well worth the wait – how many albums can we say that about? As Bowles sings on ‘Context’: “If life is a wheel/ Please let it spin/ And doors that may open/ Please let me in …” You’re in guys, you’re in.
Ghost Cult welcomes in guest contributor, podcaster and Pink Floyd expert Nik Cameron of The Glacially Musical Pouredcast to wax on about Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, which turned 50 years old today (March 1st, 2023).
The Dark Side of the Moon, 50 Years Later
As we sit here, author and reader, what could be arguably called the greatest prog rock album of all time, The Dark Side of the Moon, by Pink Floyd, has aged fifty years. At the time of this writing when I attempt some words about this massive achievement, I am 47 years old.Continue reading
Thunderous. Anticipatory. Windswept. A Bugatti Veyron driving at top speed through the Uyuni Salt Flats. Batman. Witch Ripper’s The Flight After the Fall (Magnetic Eye Records) is all of this and more.
With 25 studio albums under his belt after forming Uriah Heep back in 1969, Mick Box is not your average 75-year-old. While it is a travesty that Uriah Heep are left in the shadows of their contemporaries, such as Led Zeppelin and Deep Purple, the consistent high-quality of Uriah Heep’s albums puts them up with the aforementioned bands.
Over the years, the ever-talented J Mascis has been creating powerful impacts on the underground music scene by being involved in a myriad of projects. He is best known for being the frontman of the legendary three-piece alternative rock act Dinosaur Jr., but there are also plenty of other projects that he has left marks on. Some of them being the short-lived hardcore punk quartet Deep Wound, the Sabbath-influenced stoner/doom act Witch, and the rather underrated sludge/doom act Upsidedown Cross, to name some.
In shocking news to begin 2023, guitar hero for over 50 years, Jeff Beck has died. He was 78. He passed after a brief bout with bacterial meningitis”, a message from Beck’s representative’s state. Beck was an innovator across several different genres first rising to fame with the Yardbirds, infamously replacing Eric Clapton. After founding the Jeff Beck Group (which inspired the founding of Led Zeppelin by Jimmy Page, who played with Beck briefly in The Yardbirds). Jeff made several albums in classic rock, and making forays into the jazz-fusion sound he pioneered the Jazz fusion genre with several all-star-laden albums and collaborations. One of his generations frequently mentioned greatest guitarists, Beck once has his fingers and thumbs were famously insured for over 7 m GBP.– He continued to tour and record constantly, despite suffering from major hearing loss. Beck also featured on Ozzy Osbourne’s recent album Patient Number 9. RIP.
In a new feature here, we recap the biggest stories of the week that was here at Ghost Cult! We went over ten, but we are rebels at heart! This week the big stories include Metallica ending their vinyl club, Slipknot growing the Knotfest brand some more, our Album of The Year countdown coverage, new interviews with Bayside and Candlemass, Damnation Festival review, Led Zeppelin reunion concert stream, remembering Dimebag Darrell, Muddy Roots tickets on sale, a review of Soen and Oceans of Slumber, Ne Obliviscaris returns, a Tool statue drops this week, Crosses (deftones + far) and more! and more.
On a day in 2007, Fifteen years ago this weekend, Led Zeppelin performed a reunion concert as part of a charity concert. The historic show at London’s O2 Arena, was turned into a 2012 concert album and DVD/Blu-ray Celebration Day. For the anniversary this weekend, Saturday, December 10, at 8 p.m. U.K. / 3 p.m. EST / 12 p.m. PST will broadcast the entire performance on the official Led Zeppelin YouTube channel. UPDATED: Watch at the new link below!