BURNT RELIEF ~ EMERGENT

 

For those of you that would like NEW AGE music or instrumental mind relaxing music, this is the album for you.  There are 8 songs on this album, which, seemed to me, played out as one long song. The songs merge together so well, that you can’t tell where one stops & the other continues, except maybe a change in tempo. There’s not much change in tempo but it does happen. There are 3 musicians on this album. Colin Edwin on Basses & Programming, Jon Durant on Guitars & Pianos (Keyboards), & Vinny Sabatino on Drums & Percussion.  All songs are written by Edwin & Durant as well. This is the third in a trilogy of Emergent albums. This is a nice relaxing disc to listen to. This gets 4.5 out of 5 Music Guru Stars

NEON ALLEY

 

A REALLY FUN ROCK POP ALBUM.  This is a drive in the car with your radio blaring album. Songs with great melodies, good lyrics & good vocals. There are great hooks that catch you from the very first song. It doesn’t stop there either. It continues with the rest of the album. The slowest song on the album, which, is not slow, would be track 5, “Let Your Love Come Down”. the album finishes off on an up note, just like the opening track. Bands that you may compare them to would be BON JOVI, ALICE COOPER (Early), BEATLES, or maybe even ZZ TOP. Neon Alley is a great, fun album & highly recommended. 5 out of 5 Music Guru stars on the Music Guru charts.

Holon ~ The Time Is Always Now

 

This album seems to be a bit of a story, since it starts off with an overture. The album is progressive, but, not the same way as a YES album, or an ELP album. The album is very melodic & pleasing, but, not what you may expect. The Closest that I could put them up against would be DEAR HUNTER. My favorite tracks are “Dancer In The Sky” & “Time To Go”, which seems to go off into different directions within the same song. This song would be similar to YES’s “Close To The Edge”, and the same way that, “Close To The Edge” goes off into different tangents. The vocals aren’t bad, but, to me, they don’t stand out either, although there are moments when they really do. I rate this 4 out of 5 Music Guru Stars.

RESOLUTION ~ MEHMET ALI SANLIKOL & WHATSNEXT?

 

This album is a jazz combo which features multi-instrumentalist Mehmet Ali Sanlikol, who writes in both contemporary classical & jazz. You can really hear it on this album as well. The album starts off with a fast paced track titled “The Turkish 2nd Line (New Orleans Ciftetellisi)”, then follows up with a slower track titled “A Dream In Nihavend”. This track, I don’t like as much as the first track, but, this album seems to go in that direction. Some good, some not as good. The third track, “Whirlaround” the first track to feature vocals, starts off slow, then picks up. There is a nice synth solo floating around on this track that I like. The vocals weren’t bad either. The next 3 songs are concertos for saxophone. If you’re a fan of improv sax, then you’ll enjoy these 3 tracks. The “Niyaz Suite” didn’t really work for me, but, it may for you, especially if you’re a drummer. The last track titled “Love Theme from Ergenekeon” is a pretty piano piece which features a little bit of vocals going along with the melody of the piano. This gets a 3.5 out of 5 Music Guru Stars.

The Livesays ~ Hold On…Life Is Calling

 

 

 

This album really stands out above most of the releases that I hear. The band is called the Livesays. The songwriting is wonderful, as are the harmonies and the music. This album could be the next “Dark Side Of The Moon” or “Abbey Road”. Guitarist Billy Livesay use to play with Clarence Clemons, Foghat, Kansas, Carmine Appice, America, Davey Jones, Bruce Springsteen and more, so you know that this is going to be good. Along with Billy Livesay you have Jorge Laplume on bass/vocals, Victor Berrios on Hammond Organ/vocals and, Eddie Zyne on drums. Top tracks for me (possible singles) are “No Promises” and “Pop Star”. This album gets 5 out of 5 Music Guru Stars. You must check this one out!!

Backroom Blues Volume 3

 

Another fine release from Bongo Boy Records. This is the third volume of their Blues compilation. Once again, the production quality is excellent. The only problem that I have with this volume is that most of the songs sound similar, which was not the case with volumes 1 & 2. Because of this, I only rate this album with 3 Music Guru Stars. There are a couple of tracks that stand out above the rest.

Anderson Stolt ~ Invention Of knowledge

 

When you take 2 exceptional musicians from 2 different bands that are also exceptional, You get an album that sounds like Invention Of Knowledge. Taking the lead singer & one of the main songwriters from Yes, plus adding the musical skill of Roine Stolt from the Flower Kings, Transatlantic, etc. & putting them together gives you this great album, which is the best I’ve heard from Jon Anderson in quite awhile. This album brought back fond memories of “Tales From Topographic Oceans” & also, “Relayer”. I’m thinking Roine Stolt must have been a big fan of Yes, when he wrote some of this stuff with Jon. This is not another Yes album, but, you will be comforted by the sounds coming out of your speakers. This album gets 5 out of 5 Music Guru Stars. EXCELLENT!