It’s been three years since Canadian musical contortionist Devin Townsend confused the hell out of everyone with Empath, an album of such relentless eclecticism and stupefying eccentricity that even now it remains almost beyond comprehension. A kitchen sink album in every respect, our heroic Canuck threw literally everything into the mix. From death metal and jazz to Chad Kroeger and cats, Empath was the mindfuck to end all mindfucks.
As one cycle ends, another begins. The flamboyant, dancing Cardinal Copia has been anointed Papa Emeritus IV and the plague-ridden doom of the 14th century is gone. Taking place hundreds of years after Prequelle, Tobias Forge and his band of Nameless Ghouls, otherwise known as psychedelic doom rock popsters Ghost, leave the rats behind as latest chapter Impera (Spinefarm/Loma Vista) tells of new empires built from the ashes of the old.
Rush will release an extensive 40th anniversary album series with new, expanded editions of the band’s groundbreaking 1981 release, Moving Pictures, April 15th, UMe/Mercury and Anthem Records label groups. The Moving Pictures-40th Anniversary collection will be available to fans in six distinct configurations, including the (1) Super Deluxe Edition, (2) three-CD Deluxe Edition, (3) five-LP Deluxe Edition, (4) one-LP Edition, (5), Digital Deluxe Edition, and (6) Dolby Atmos Digital Edition and can be pre-ordered and pre-saved at the link below. Watch an unboxing video now for the sets.
Today is the two year anniversary of Rush icon Neil Peart. As part of our remembrance we are sharing this memorial piece written by our own writing icon, Mathew Davies, who sadly passed away last year. RIP Neil.
Photographer Deborah Samuel is credited for capturing the now-iconic album cover images for the Rush albums Permanent Waves, Moving Pictures, Exit…Stage Left, and Signals. Now in the 40th anniversary year of Moving Pictures – long considered one of rock’s all-time classic albums – fans will be able to obtain extremely rare photograph outtakes from the album cover shoot. Incredibly, these Moving Pictures photographs have never been made public. No alternate versions have appeared in magazines, in calendars, in books, or online anywhere, and have now been made available for the first time ever with the release of the Deborah Samuel Collection. Contained in this ultra-limited-edition curated collection are: three alternate front album covers, three alternate back album covers, and twelve alternate interior album art photographs of both Alex Lifeson and Geddy Lee taken from the original ‘Moving Pictures’ photo shoot.
The fifteenth studio album from prog legends Dream Theater finds the Bostonian act with nothing left to prove but still in the form of their lives. At a mighty seventy minutes in length yet featuring a mere seven tracks, A View From the Top of The World (InsideOut Music) explores and probes new ideas while reinventing the past with gleeful abandon. Complex compositions which could seem forced, unwieldy or contrived in the hands of others, Dream Theater pulls off with unerring and enviable ease.
Lansdowne Street in Boston, MA in October. It’s either extremely noisy and busy or it’s completely silent, in this instance it was the former rather than the later. Because we have Angels & Airwaves playing at the House of Blues the very same night that the Red Sox are facing the Houston Astros in the ALCS championship series… On the exact same street. We have baseball fans and music fans thrown together and it was pure magic. It’s gonna be a fun night, let’s dive right in.
Hudson Music has announced The Neil Peart Drumset Scholarship, in tribute to Neil Peart the late Rush drum legend who passed away earlier in 2020. They made the announcement over social media. Applications begin in March 2021 through the Percussive Arts Society (PAS.org). PAS (Percussive Arts Society) will annually award four drummers the opportunity for online drumset lessons from well-known artists/educators. Peart died on January 7 in Santa Monica, California after a three-year battle with glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain cancer. He was 67 years old. Check out the post here and read our tribute to Neil here. Continue reading
I assume it’s easy to look back at the aughts and be dismissive of the entire decade particularly from the perspective of metal or punk fan. Nu-Metal was slowly being phased out as any goodwill from the previous decade had eroded and acts like Simple Plan and Good Charlotte made everyone realize that maybe the idea of Pop-Punk was a mistake. But those who kept their ear close to the ground knew better than to become jaded. Hard rock was alive and well and young bands were doing very exciting things. Young bands like Between the Buried and Me with their seminal Alaska (Victory Records 2005/Craft Recordings 2020).
Stoner Rock legends Fu Manchu have shared their cover of Rush’s early classic “Working Man”, as a tribute to late Rush drummer Neil Peart, who died in January 2020, after a long battle with brain cancer. All sales proceeds from the track, which was recorded in January, will be donated to brain tumor research at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Peart’s memory.