Those who know Moody Blues music will be most pleased by tracks like “Night in White Satin,” “Question,” and “Legend of A Mind (Timothy Leary's Dead)”. But be warned the audio on this, for obvious reasons, isn't the best one can get from 40 year old recordings. It was a pleasant enough way to spend 70+ minutes of time, but I'm not sure the limited amount of extras will please the normal DVD fan. Think this might be one for hard-core fans of the band only.
CD reviews
OSI: Blood
Kevin Moore and Jim Matheos playing with Porcupine Tree’s drummer on board, along with a touch of Opeth's Mikael Akerfeldt on a couple of tracks make for a cool combination. You would be shocked if this were awful or even just good, and you would be right. The third OSI album takes their previous outings and really ups the antee to take them to progressive metal over-achievers.
It’s a bit of a mixture of ambient rock mixed with heavy progressive music that is an aural delight. “Radiologue” for instance is quite simply a stunning example of the genre. Its epic soundscapes evoke a mood reminiscent of Pink Floyd and, of course, Opeth. There is something quite over the top and pretentious about this release, but they get the combination just right. Its obvious they know this release will only be truly appreciated by a certain type of prog-metal fan. Fortunately I am one such person.
If you want to expand your mind with some truly epic progressive metal/rock/ambient music then seek this out post haste. It certainly has the potential to be up there in top albums of the year. I rather doubt you will hear anything this jaw droppingly impressive. I enjoyed every minute of it and suspect you will too.
Hardline: Leaving the End Open
I was one of those who was very impressed with this band’s debut that featured Neal Schon and Dean Castronovo. Schon and Castronovo were recent escapes from Bad English and they made Hardline sound a wee bit like that band. Whatever it sounded like, their debut was one of hell of a hard rock album. They then followed it up many years later with the less spectacular II, a sophomore effort that failed to live up to expectations which were inevitably high.
Now that they have rid themselves of the dreaded sophomore slump, via a live album recorded at the GODs in 2002, they have moved on with their career. Now with only Johnny Giolli on vocals from the original line-up and Josh Ramos from the second album they have set out to create out the quality album that is expected of them. The title track is one such quality example.
Article comments
1 - Brian aka Guppusmaximus
Thanks for the heads up on the new OSI. It sounds awesome & I'm glad they went back in a atmospheric metal direction. They really know how to progress with their own sound. Their first release is still a great spin,but, Free was a little to safe for me.
It's a bit unfortunate that this album has me more interested than the new Dream Theater.