Reviews roundup – Whitesnake vs. Sons Of Apollo vs. Christy Scott vs. Uriah Heep vs. The Honey Pot
WHITESNAKE
1987 (30th Anniversary Super Deluxe Edition)
Parlophone
It’s ludicrous really. But no-one could ever accuse David Coverdale and his Whitesnake of going half cocked at anything .
And so it is with this 5 disc collection. That’s four CDs and a DVD for a record that only had nine tracks on its initial US release. Even a mental Snake fan like me is going to toil here. But I’ve got nothing else in my life these days apart from plenty of time so I’ve done it so you don’t have to. The first disc is a remastered version of the eleven track European release of the original album. And it’s not very good. First time around there were sounds that terrified dogs and it seems like the mastering engineer has decided that’s what made the record great. He’s wrong and what warmth there was has been stripped out. I’ll be sticking to the original.
The second disc was recorded on their 1987-88 World Tour and it’s the first time a concert from this tour has ever been officially released. Which has always surprised me as you would have thought once it went mega they would have made sure to capture it. They didn’t and “Snakeskin Boots” is actually a glorified bootleg. Well I’ve got those already so, again, it’s not essential. Disc 3 is where it gets a bit interesting as “87 Evolutions [Demos and Rehearsals]” sees Dame Dave’s collection of cassettes getting ransacked and does exactly what is says on the tin shedding some light on the recording process. You won’t listen to it twice but it was worth a peek.
Some remixes on Disc 4 with the singles getting an overhaul. Again, it doesn’t really work for me and they’ve stretched it out by adding the four tracks from the Japanese “1987 Versions” mini-album, including 1987 re-recorded versions of ‘Standing In The Shadows’, a cover of Fleetwood Mac’s ‘Need Your Love So Bad’, the 1988 radio mix of ‘Here I Go Again’ and the single version of ‘Give Me All Your Love’. Which collectors, of course, already have. Then there is the DVD which has the hit single videos from the album, fully restored, a half hour documentary of the making of the album based on a new interview with Coverdale, and a new video for the 1988 radio version of ‘Here I Go Again’, plus rare footage of the band on stage performing ‘Crying In The Rain’ and ‘Still of the Night’.
The box is fleshed out with a 60-page hardbound book with rare and unseen photos from the era, an extended essay based on new interviews with Coverdale, plus a booklet of the album’s lyrics, handwritten by Coverdale. Which is rather nice. The packaging has some flimsy aspects with the rear label badly glued on and a flimsy band to hold it together. Do you need it? Not unless you’re an eejit like me who needs Everything. To be fair, the price mark makes it very attractive when you look at the crazy money box sets are retailed at, so it will make a lovely pressie for the Snake fanatic in your life.
SONS OF APOLLO
Psychotic Symphony
Inside Out
Now this is good. It’s usually the case that supergroup projects tend to disappear up their own arses faster than a terrier down a fox hole but this one manages to avoid the usual pitfalls.
That’s not to say it’s the best thing Ever. It’s not. But it is very good so Mike Portnoy, Billy Sheehan, Derek Sherinian, Jeff Scott Soto and Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal can consider this a job well done. And it’s a job spectacularly done on two songs in particular. The opening ‘God Of The Sun’ and the closing ‘Opus Maximus’. They’re both over ten minutes long and the band fling an assortment of kitchen sinks into the mix to make sure that no genre cliche remains untouched. But thing is, when it comes to prog metal, you want all the cliches and you want it to be overblown. That’s the whole bloody point.
The album is, as you would expect, very heavy and the instrumental work is mind boggling. Not all of the songs are quite up to the mark but when they do get it spot on, then it’s a magnificent beast of a records. It’s a shame they’re all so busy with other things because this is one project you would like to see take on a life of its own.
CHRISTY SCOTT
Amaranthine
independent
Some folk now fae Buckie. Via the stupidly named Royal Conservatoire of Scotland. What the hell was wrong the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama. At least then I knew what it was whereas the poncy new name just makes me grit my teeth in anger.
Anyway, Christy Scott is a new young folkie who, on the basis of this, certainly seems to have the talent to make a wee name for herself. Although what exactly is wrong with playing in pubs and clubs eludes me. It’s folk music. From the heart. You don’t need a conservatoire. Calm doon because she’s a really good singer and the songs aren’t far behind. She’s got some well known musicians to help her along with Aidan Moodie (Gnoss) on acoustic guitar (and vocals on ‘Another Song About Another.’), Madeleine Stewart (Eriska) on fiddle and vocals, Charlie Stewart (BBC Radio Scotland’s Young Traditional Musician of the Year, Dosca) on double bass, Neil Paton (Brodie Jarva Septet) on percussion, Alice Allen on cello, and Davie Dunsmuir (Scotts Wood Band) on electric guitar.
There are a few modern touches hither and thither which will certainly broaden her appeal and for a first release this really does a grand job. Fans of modern folk should definitely be checking it out.
URIAH HEEP
Raging Through The Silence
Uriah Heep Records
Apparently it took a lot of detective work to track down the master tapes for this show which originally came out on VHS (ask yer grandad) back in the olden days.
Well, they were found and now make up this, the latest release on the bands own record label. It sees the 1989 twentieth anniversary show featuring Mick Box, Lee Kerslake, Bernie Shaw, Phil Lanzon and the late Trevor Bolder doing what they do best. Namely, banging out a fine set of near prog, hard rock. They were actually promoting the “Raging Silence” album at the time so there’s a fair few new tunes for the audience to get their teeth into including the opening one two of ‘Bad Bad Man’ and ‘Cry Freedom’ before they hit the first classic of the night.
Form then on it’s a mixture of the old and the new with the latter half of the set seeing some fine workouts on ‘July Morning’ and ‘Look At Yourself’. They’ve chucked in the video on the third disc and it’s actually the DVD that works best as the sound quality is a wee bit lacking in places on the audio discs. But they’ve even bubged in an audio interview with the late Chris Tetley which originally came out as picture disc 12″ so it’s certainly value for money for Heep fans.
THE HONEY POT
Ascending Scales
Fruits de Mer
This is the 100th vinyl release on Fruits de Mer and even if I personally don’t approve of the plethora of 12″ releases as opposed to 7″ releases it’s certainly something to be celebrated. And so it proves as Icarus Peel, Crystal Jacqueline and The Honey Pot have put together a double album of new songs along with classic and obscure songs from the 60s/early 70s, along with an array of special guests.
So keep an ear open for the likes of Nick Saloman (The Bevis Frond), Dick Taylor (The Pretty Things), Judy Dyble (Fairport Convention/Trader Horne), James Lowe (The Electric Prunes), Ade Shaw (Hawklords), Bruce Woodley (Buggles) and many, many more.
And it’s exactly what you would expect from Fruits de Mer with oodles of psych wig outs and wibbling frippery to spare. Highlights include ‘Solomon Deep’ featuring Dick Taylor from The Pretty Things. ‘Dr Crippen’s Waiting Room’ with Anton Barbeau and ‘Sitting all Alone’ featuring Judy Dyble. Best of all, though, is ‘Time Machine’ which has Nick Saloman and Ade Shaw adding their magic to a Stray classic. As with most things Fruits de Mer, this is probably gone already but pay them a visit anyway.
http://www.fruitsdemerrecords.com/index.html
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St Columba’s Hospice Tribute Fund for Linda Hamilton
http://linda.hamilton.muchloved.com/
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The Rocker - The Artist Formerly Known As Zeitgeist. TAFKAZ 
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