Reviews roundup – Deep Purple vs. Eden vs. Ray Quinn vs. Block Of Flats

Reviews roundup – Deep Purple vs. Eden vs. Ray Quinn vs. Block Of Flats

DEEP PURPLE
Live In Verona DVD
Eagle Rock

I must admit to having been bored with Deep Purple for a long time now.  The same old set was getting churned out tour after tour, so I just stopped going.  And then, just when you think it’s all over, they go and bung out a live DVD that makes you wish you’d been there.

Of course, it helps that this show was filmed at the Arena di Verona, a Roman amphitheatre originally built in 30 AD,  and that they were joined on stage by the Neue Philharmonie Frankfurt. Now I know that Purple have done the whole symphonic thing before, but there is something about the setting and the performance that just works

Quite why it’s taken three years for this to see the light of day is beyond me, but it really is a bit of a treat.  Granted, the set list is exactly what you would expect – ‘Highway Star’, ‘Strange Kind Of Woman’, ‘Woman From Tokyo’ etc,but at least they found room for ‘Rapture Of The Deep’ and ‘Contact Lost’.  It’s out as a Blu-Ray as well, and comes with two bonus tracks in the shape of ‘Hush’ and ‘Black Night’, although quite what they’re doing as bonuses is anyones guess.

Otherwise, a late return to form.

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EDEN
Wicked Game
Gemstone

Oh, I’m a sucker for this sort of thing.  A classical pop / rock crossover, with large numbers of kitchen sinks being thrown at things.  This time around it’s from Eden, who are Lucy Campbell and Libby Johnstone.

And it’s a cracker.  The production and arrangements are magnificent, they’ve both got great voices, and they’re more than happy to have a crack at everything from Chris Isaak to Metallica to ‘Nessun Dorma’.  They also bung in some Les Mis and some Sarah Brightman (via Andrea Bocelli), with the only stinker being the Robbie Williams song, ‘Angels’.

It seems that Libby has always been a classical-style singer, while Lucy had previously done musical theatre, hence the range of material they tackle, and which was road tested on cruise ships.  But they deserve much better on the basis of this.  They’re not alone in their field, but compare this to some of the dull as ditch water turns Britain’s Got Talent churns out, and they should be top of the league.

Even better, they’d done it all themselves.  More at the link below.

http://www.pledgemusic.com/artists/edengb

RAY QUINN
Young Soul, Old Blood
Rabbit Hole

An on the subject of talent shows, here’s cheeky chappie off of the X-Factor / Dancing On Ice, Ray Quinn.

After finishing second on the X Factor, he had a roller coaster year (well 7 months actually), releasing a swing / Rat Pack styled album that went to number 1 in the UK, going gold in the process, and then getting dropped by his record company before the end of the year.  Since then he’s done more reality TV, done West End musicals, and has now released his first record since the heady days of 2007.

It’s a five track EP, which is supposed to be heralding a new album, and it sees him continuing in the same vein as before.  It doesn’t start well, as the Cullum-lite version of ‘Got To Get You Into My Life’ really doesn’t work, but then a fair bash at ‘One For My Baby’ steadies the ship, before the highlight (and featured track) ‘Love You More Today Than Yesterday’.  If you avoid the closing cover of the Police song, ‘Roxanne’, and like the aforementioned Jamie Cullum, you may well enjoy this.

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BLOCK OF FLATS
Ashes
independent

Finally, for today, we’re off to Finland for some alternative rock.  Which is unusual for Finland as I always associate them with the metal.  But no, it’s post grunge, pop punk and alt rock for frontman Jonne Nikkila and his cohorts, Jesse Katayya (guitar), Oscar Berg (bass) and Ossie Ogren (drums).

It’s another 5 track EP, which is probably about right.  They throw their best tune in first, in the shape of ‘Erase Me’, and it’s certainly good enough to get the alt rock masses sitting up and paying attention.  ‘We’re Gonna Send You Down With Ashes’ is another good one, before they start heading into the world of Foo Fighters B-sides.

They’ve certainly got the musical chops, now all they need are a few more good songs.

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